SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING THE OCCUPANCY OF A VEHICLE SEAT
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A passenger occupancy detection system for detecting occupancy of a vehicle seat, said system comprising:
- a pressure sensor operatively associated with a passenger seat in a vehicle for sensing pressure applied to the vehicle seat; and
a controller for determining occupancy of the seat, said controller comprising;
first logic for monitoring the sensed pressure and determining a change in pressure as the vehicle is driven, said first logic comparing the change in pressure to a first threshold to generate a first output;
second logic for monitoring the sensed pressure and determining a change in pressure during at least one of an acceleration of the vehicle and a deceleration of the vehicle, and generating a second output based on the sensed pressure during the at least one of the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle; and
third logic for processing the first and second outputs to generate a third output indicative of occupancy of the seat.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A passenger occupancy detection system and method are provided for detecting occupancy of a vehicle seat. The system includes a pressure sensor for monitoring pressure of the seat. Routines are employed to monitor the pressure and to determine the occupancy of the seat based upon one or more of vehicle acceleration, vehicle deceleration and variances in inertia experienced during driving of the vehicle. A supervisory routine may combine outputs from the multiple routines to process the outputs and provide an output indicative of a detected occupancy of the seat.
34 Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A passenger occupancy detection system for detecting occupancy of a vehicle seat, said system comprising:
-
a pressure sensor operatively associated with a passenger seat in a vehicle for sensing pressure applied to the vehicle seat; and a controller for determining occupancy of the seat, said controller comprising; first logic for monitoring the sensed pressure and determining a change in pressure as the vehicle is driven, said first logic comparing the change in pressure to a first threshold to generate a first output; second logic for monitoring the sensed pressure and determining a change in pressure during at least one of an acceleration of the vehicle and a deceleration of the vehicle, and generating a second output based on the sensed pressure during the at least one of the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle; and third logic for processing the first and second outputs to generate a third output indicative of occupancy of the seat. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A method for determining occupancy of a vehicle seat, said method comprising the steps of:
-
sensing pressure applied to a passenger seat in a vehicle; monitoring the sensed pressure as the vehicle is driven; determining a change in sensed pressure as the vehicle is driven; comparing the change in pressure to a first threshold to generate a first output indicative of expected occupancy of the seat; monitoring the sensed pressure during at least one of an acceleration of the vehicle and a deceleration of the vehicle; determining a change in pressure during the at least one of the acceleration of the vehicle and the deceleration of the vehicle; generating a second output based on the sensed pressure during the at least one of the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle; and processing the first and second outputs to generate a third output indicative of occupancy of the seat. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A passenger occupancy detection system for detecting occupancy of a vehicle seat, said system comprising:
-
a pressure sensor operatively associated with a passenger seat in a vehicle for detecting pressure on the seat; vehicle dynamics inputs for determining at least one of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle; and a controller for detecting occupancy of the seat, said controller processing the vehicle dynamics inputs and determining at least one of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle and measuring pressure during at least one of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle and without the at least one of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle and determining a change in pressure, said controller further determining occupancy of the seat based on the change in the sensed pressure. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method for determining occupancy of a vehicle seat, said method comprising the steps of:
-
sensing pressure applied to a passenger seat in a vehicle; determining at least one of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle; measuring pressure during at least one of the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle and without the at least one of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle; determining a change of pressure sensed during the at least one of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle and pressure sensed without the at least one of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle; and determining occupancy of the seat based on the change in the sensed pressure. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A passenger occupancy detection system for detecting occupancy of a vehicle seat, said system comprising:
-
a pressure sensor operatively associated with a passenger seat in a vehicle for sensing pressure on the seat; and a controller for sampling the sensed pressure during operation of the vehicle and detecting change in pressure values, said controller further determining a change in sensed pressure and comparing the change in pressure to a threshold to determine occupancy of the seat. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method for determining occupancy of a vehicle seat, said method comprising the steps of:
-
sensing pressure on a passenger seat in a vehicle during operation of the vehicle; sampling the sensed pressure during operation of the vehicle; processing the sampled pressures based on amplitude; detecting a change in pressure values as the vehicle is driven; comparing the change in pressure values to a threshold; and determining occupancy of the seat based on the change in pressure values compared to the threshold. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
-
Specification