System and method for detecting the seat occupancy in a vehicle
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a system for detecting seat occupancy in a vehicle, comprising a microwave transmitter and several reflectors which are provided with a small area and are disposed within a vehicle seat, especially within the backrest of the vehicle seat. A greater or smaller number of reflectors are enabled if a person occupying the seat leans forward, resulting in a jump in intensity each time an additional reflector is enabled. Said jumps in intensity can be used in an advantageous manner for detecting the exact position of the person on the seat. In particular, an airbag can be prevented from deploying and the risks associated therewith can be avoided when the person leans far forward. Alternatively, receivers can he disposed within the seat instead of reflectors.
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Citations
58 Claims
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1-33. -33. (canceled)
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34. A system for detecting seat occupancy in a vehicle, comprising:
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at least one microwave transmitter;
a plurality of modulating backscatter reflectors disposed in a vehicle seat of the vehicle;
at least one microwave transmitter;
wherein said at least one microwave transmitter and said reflectors are disposed and configured such that;
radiation transmitted by said microwave transmitter reaches said reflectors when the vehicle seat is not occupied;
radiation reflected from said reflectors is influenced in dependence on a seat occupancy; and
said backscatter reflectors are distinguishable from one another by a modulation pattern modulated onto the reflected radiation. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method for determining a seat occupancy in a vehicle, which comprises:
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transmitting microwave radiation towards a vehicle seat, and reaching the vehicle seat with the radiation at least in case the vehicle seat is unoccupied;
reflecting the microwave radiation at reflectors in the form of backscatter devices disposed in the vehicle seat, and influencing the reflected microwave radiation in dependence on the seat occupancy by modulating the radiation by a modulating backscatter process; and
receiving the reflected microwave radiation and distinguishing the backscatter devices from one another by a modulation pattern modulated onto the reflected radiation. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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Specification