METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SENSING SEAT OCCUPANCY
First Claim
1. A vehicle seat occupancy detection system comprising:
- a seat bun forming a portion of the seating cushion for an occupant'"'"'s seat, wherein said seat bun has substantially horizontal upper surface portion and a lower portion;
a sensor device having first and second relatively movable parts being aligned for relative movement substantially perpendicular to said seat bun surfaces, said first part being mounted within said seat bun and spaced below said upper surface, said second part also being mounted within said seat bun and being spaced below said first part;
said sensor device being operative to produce signals indicative of the distance between said first and second parts; and
a processor for receiving said sensor signals and interpreting the signals to produce an output to indicate the presence of an occupant in said seat.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for identifying and categorizing the weight and characteristics of the occupant currently occupying a vehicle seat. The method for identifying and categorizing the occupant or object involves measuring the deflection of the upper surface of the seat cushion at one or more points due to compression of the cushion produced by the weight distribution of the occupant. The system contains multiple sensor/emitter pairs for detecting the deflection. The system also includes a sensor to measure ambient temperature, preferably for temperature compensation due to the effects extreme temperatures may have on the compression properties of the seat cushion material and sensor/emitter pairs. A system processor interprets the data acquired by the sensors, and utilizes an algorithm and training tables to output a control signal indicative of the categorization of the occupant or object.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A vehicle seat occupancy detection system comprising:
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a seat bun forming a portion of the seating cushion for an occupant'"'"'s seat, wherein said seat bun has substantially horizontal upper surface portion and a lower portion;
a sensor device having first and second relatively movable parts being aligned for relative movement substantially perpendicular to said seat bun surfaces, said first part being mounted within said seat bun and spaced below said upper surface, said second part also being mounted within said seat bun and being spaced below said first part;
said sensor device being operative to produce signals indicative of the distance between said first and second parts; and
a processor for receiving said sensor signals and interpreting the signals to produce an output to indicate the presence of an occupant in said seat. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. In a vehicle seat occupancy detection system that includes a seat for an occupant:
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a seating cushion for an occupant'"'"'s seat, having a substantially horizontal upper surface portion and a lower portion;
a sensor device having first and second relatively movable parts being aligned for relative movement substantially perpendicular to said seat cushion surfaces, said first part being mounted within said seat cushion and spaced below said upper surface, said second part also being mounted within said seat cushion and being spaced below said first part;
said sensor device being operative to produce signals indicative of the distance between said first and second parts; and
a processor for receiving said sensor signals and interpreting the signals to produce an output to indicate the presence of an occupant in said seat. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 30, 31)
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25. A method of detecting an occupant in a seat comprising the steps of:
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providing a seating cushion having a substantially horizontal upper surface portion function as an occupant'"'"'s seating surface and a lower portion with an outer surface in substantial opposition to said upper surface;
providing a weight sensor device having first and second relatively movable parts aligned for relative movement substantially perpendicular to said seat cushion surfaces, wherein said sensor device is operative to produce signals indicative of the distance between said first and second parts;
mounting said first part of said sensing device internal to said seat cushion spaced below said upper surface;
mounting said second part of said sensing device below said first part; and
providing a means for receiving said sensor signals and interpreting said signals to produce an output to indicate the presence of an occupant in said seat. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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32. A method of analyzing the output of a predetermined array of linear displacement sensors that produce output signal values corresponding to known applied load values, comprising the steps of:
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substantially simultaneously reading the signals output from each sensor a predetermined number of times over a predetermined time period;
averaging said read signal values over said number of times said sensors were read;
analyzing said averaged signal values by applying an algorithm simulating a neural network to produce an output corresponding with the weight and pattern of a load applied to said sensor array. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
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Specification