Occupant judgment device and occupant judgment method
First Claim
1. An occupant determination apparatus comprising:
- a first sensor section having a plurality of seat section electrodes arranged on a seating section of a seat having the seating section on which an occupant sits and a backrest section; and
a first determination section which detects each capacitance formed between the seat section electrodes by using a predetermined first signal for capacitance measurement, in order to determine the size of the occupant, wherein the first sensor section has a reference electrode array where a plurality of reference candidate electrodes, included in the plurality of the seat section electrodes, are arranged by a predetermined rule, the first determination section comprises;
an electric field generating device which outputs the first signal;
a capacitance measuring device which detects each capacitance between the seat section electrodes based on a current flowing through each of the seat section electrodes corresponding to the first signal;
a switching device which sequentially switches a connection of the capacitance measuring device to the plurality of the seat section electrodes based on a switch control signal; and
a controlling device which outputs the switch control signal, and the controlling device comprises;
a selecting device which sets one of the reference candidate electrodes included in the reference electrode array as a reference electrode, based on measurement capacitances of the seat section electrodes determined by detection capacitances of each of the seat section electrodes which are detected by the capacitance measuring device;
a first calculating device which determines the size of the occupant based on a distance between the reference electrode and the occupant which is calculated from the measurement capacitance and an area of the reference electrode, and the measurement capacitances of the seat section electrodes included in the first sensor section; and
a switch signal generating device which outputs the switch control signal.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An occupant determination apparatus and an occupant determination method are provided that can accurately determine the size of an occupant, with a simple configuration where a plurality of electrodes are arranged on one layer, and can eliminate errors due to the capacitance between an occupant and surrounding car-body metal parts or the like, and thus suppress erroneous determination. The occupant determination apparatus (10) comprises a first sensor (11) including a plurality of seat section electrodes (111 to 117) arranged on a sitting section (1a), and a first determination section (20). The first sensor section (11) comprises: a first seat section electrode (111); a reference electrode array (12a) where second seat section electrodes (112 to 114) are arranged separate in the x-direction; and a reference electrode array (12b) where third seat section electrodes (115 to 117) are arranged separate in the x-direction, arranged separate in the y-direction. The first determination section (20) comprises: an oscillator (22); a capacitance detecting section (23) which detects the current flowing through a seat section electrode in order to detect the capacitance; a switching circuit (21) which switches the connection of the capacitance detecting section (23) to the seat section electrode; and a controlling section (26) which outputs a switch control signal.
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Citations
58 Claims
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1. An occupant determination apparatus comprising:
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a first sensor section having a plurality of seat section electrodes arranged on a seating section of a seat having the seating section on which an occupant sits and a backrest section; and
a first determination section which detects each capacitance formed between the seat section electrodes by using a predetermined first signal for capacitance measurement, in order to determine the size of the occupant, wherein the first sensor section has a reference electrode array where a plurality of reference candidate electrodes, included in the plurality of the seat section electrodes, are arranged by a predetermined rule, the first determination section comprises;
an electric field generating device which outputs the first signal;
a capacitance measuring device which detects each capacitance between the seat section electrodes based on a current flowing through each of the seat section electrodes corresponding to the first signal;
a switching device which sequentially switches a connection of the capacitance measuring device to the plurality of the seat section electrodes based on a switch control signal; and
a controlling device which outputs the switch control signal, andthe controlling device comprises;
a selecting device which sets one of the reference candidate electrodes included in the reference electrode array as a reference electrode, based on measurement capacitances of the seat section electrodes determined by detection capacitances of each of the seat section electrodes which are detected by the capacitance measuring device;
a first calculating device which determines the size of the occupant based on a distance between the reference electrode and the occupant which is calculated from the measurement capacitance and an area of the reference electrode, and the measurement capacitances of the seat section electrodes included in the first sensor section; and
a switch signal generating device which outputs the switch control signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 43, 47, 48, 49, 50, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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6. An occupant determination apparatus comprising:
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a second sensor section having a plurality of back section electrodes arranged on a backrest section of a seat having a seating section on which an occupant sits and the backrest section; and
a second determination section which detects each capacitance formed between the back section electrodes by using a predetermined first signal for capacitance measurement, in order to determine the size of the occupant, wherein the second determination section comprises;
an electric field generating device which outputs the first signal;
a capacitance measuring device which detects each capacitance between the back section electrodes based on a current flowing through each of the back section electrodes;
a switching device which sequentially switches a connection of the capacitance measuring device to the plurality of the back section electrodes based on a switch control signal; and
a controlling device which outputs the switch control signal, and the controlling device comprises;
a reference value storage device which stores a predetermined reference curve which is preset so that a capacitance for each position of the backrest section has an extreme value at a predetermined position;
a second calculating device which determines the size of the occupant based on the reference curve and a capacitance distribution graph which is generated based on measurement capacitance of each of the back section electrodes determined by respective detection capacitances detected by the capacitance measuring device and the position in the backrest section of each of the back section electrodes; and
a switch signal generating device which outputs the switch control signal. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 51)
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13. An occupant determination apparatus comprising
a first sensor section having a plurality of seat section electrodes arranged on a seating section of a seat having the seating section on which an occupant sits and a backrest section; -
a second sensor section having a plurality of back section electrodes arranged on the backrest section; and
a third determination section which detects each capacitance formed between the seat section electrodes and each capacitance formed between the back section electrodes, by using a predetermined first signal for capacitance measurement, in order to determine the size of the occupant, wherein the first sensor section has a reference electrode array where a plurality of reference candidate electrodes, included in the plurality of the seat section electrodes, are arranged by a predetermined rule; and
the third determination section comprises;
an electric field generating device which outputs the first signal;
a capacitance measuring device which detects each capacitance between the seat section electrodes based on a current flowing through each of the seat section electrodes, and detects each capacitance between the back section electrodes based on a current flowing through each of the back section electrodes;
a switching device which sequentially switches a connection of the capacitance measuring device to the plurality of the seat section electrodes and the back section electrodes based on a switch control signal; and
a controlling device which outputs the switch control signal, andthe controlling device comprises;
a selecting device which sets one of the reference candidate electrodes included in the reference electrode array as a reference electrode, based on measurement capacitance of each of the seat section electrodes determined by detection capacitance of each of the seat section electrodes which are detected by the capacitance measuring device;
a first calculating device which determines the size of the occupant based on a distance between the reference electrode and the occupant which is calculated from the measurement capacitance and an area of the reference electrode, and the measurement capacitances of the seat section electrodes included in the first sensor section;
a reference value storage device which stores a reference curve which is preset so that the capacitance for each position of the backrest section has an extreme value at a predetermined position;
a second calculating device which determines the size of the occupant based on the reference curve and a capacitance distribution graph which is generated based on a measurement capacitance of each of the back section electrodes determined by each detection capacitance detected by the capacitance measuring device and the position in the backrest section of each of the back section electrodes;
a third calculating device which makes final determination of the size of the occupant based on the determination result of the first calculating device and the determination result of the second calculating device; and
a switch signal generating device which outputs the switch control signal. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 52, 53, 54)
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31. An occupant determination method for an occupant determination apparatus comprising:
- a first sensor section having a plurality of seat section electrodes arranged on a seating section of a seat having the seating section on which an occupant sits and a backrest section; and
a first determination section which detects each capacitance formed between the seat section electrodes by using a predetermined first signal for capacitance measurement, in order to determine the size of the occupant, and wherein the first sensor section has a reference electrode array where a plurality of reference candidate electrodes, included in the plurality of the seat section electrodes, are arranged by a predetermined rule, the method comprising at least;
a first detecting step for detecting each capacitance between the seat section electrodes based on a current flowing through each of the seat section electrodes corresponding to the first signal;
a reference electrode setting step for setting an electrode for which a normalized capacitance per unit area which is calculated from a measurement capacitance determined from the detection capacitance detected in the first detecting step is a maximum, among the reference candidate electrodes included in the reference electrode array, as a reference electrode;
a first size calculating step for calculating a measurement area from an area and the measurement capacitance of the reference electrode, and a measurement capacitance determined from the detection capacitance of each of the seat section electrodes; and
a first determination step for determining the size of the occupant by comparing the measurement area and a predetermined first standard value. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
- a first sensor section having a plurality of seat section electrodes arranged on a seating section of a seat having the seating section on which an occupant sits and a backrest section; and
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35. An occupant determination method for an occupant determination apparatus comprising;
- a second sensor section having a plurality of back section electrodes arranged on a backrest section of a seat having a seating section on which an occupant sits and the backrest section; and
a second determination section which detects each capacitance formed between the back section electrodes by using a predetermined first signal for capacitance measurement, in order to determine the size of the occupant, and wherein a planar external appearance of the backrest section is approximately quadrilateral, the backrest section is connected to the seating section on a second connection side which is one side of the quadrilateral, and assuming that two directions mutually orthogonal in the plane of the backrest section are an x-direction and a Z-direction and a direction of the second connection side is the x-direction, at least one of the back section electrodes is arranged on a straight line parallel to the x-direction in the second sensor section, and a plurality of arrays of the back section electrodes are provided mutually separate in the Z-direction, the method comprising at least;
a reference curve setting step for previously preparing a reference curve which is set so that the capacitance for each position in the Z-direction of the backrest section has an extreme value at a predetermined position h0;
a second detecting step for detecting each capacitance between the back section electrodes based on a current flowing through each of the back section electrodes corresponding to the first signal;
a second size calculating step for calculating a Z size, which is the size in the Z-direction, from the reference curve and a capacitance distribution graph which is generated based on measurement capacitances determined by respective detection capacitances detected in the second detecting step and the position in the Z-direction of each of the back section electrodes; and
a second determination step for determining the size of the occupant by comparing the Z size and a predetermined second standard value. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39)
- a second sensor section having a plurality of back section electrodes arranged on a backrest section of a seat having a seating section on which an occupant sits and the backrest section; and
Specification