Occupant detection system
First Claim
1. A system for detecting an occupant in a vehicle and for controlling a safety restraint system responsive thereto, comprising:
- a. a transmitter for transmitting wave energy;
b. a receiver for receiving said wave energy and for generating a signal responsive to said wave energy, wherein said transmitter and said receiver are disposed within the vehicle so that said wave energy from said transmitter to said receiver is intersected by a normally seated occupant on a seat of the vehicle and said wave energy is not intersected by an occupant positioned away from a back portion of said seat;
c. a range/proximity sensor for sensing if an object is within a region proximate to the safety restraint system, wherein the safety restraint system is disabled responsive to the detection of an object within said region by said range/proximity sensor; and
d. a controller for controlling the power of the safety restraint system responsive to said signal responsive to said wave energy.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An occupant detection system (10) for controlling the activation of an air bag inflator (40) incorporates a transmitter/receiver subsystem (20) that generates a beam of wave energy (28, 25) through a region that is occupied by a normally seated occupant and that is not occupied by either an out-of-position occupant or by a rear facing infant seat. If a normally seated occupant is detected from the interaction of an occupant with the beam of wave energy (28, 25), then the air bag inflator (40) is enabled. A range/proximity sensing subsystem (30) determines if an occupant is sufficiently close to an air bag inflator (40) to be at risk of injury by deployment thereof, and if so the air bag inflator (40) is disabled.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A system for detecting an occupant in a vehicle and for controlling a safety restraint system responsive thereto, comprising:
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a. a transmitter for transmitting wave energy;
b. a receiver for receiving said wave energy and for generating a signal responsive to said wave energy, wherein said transmitter and said receiver are disposed within the vehicle so that said wave energy from said transmitter to said receiver is intersected by a normally seated occupant on a seat of the vehicle and said wave energy is not intersected by an occupant positioned away from a back portion of said seat;
c. a range/proximity sensor for sensing if an object is within a region proximate to the safety restraint system, wherein the safety restraint system is disabled responsive to the detection of an object within said region by said range/proximity sensor; and
d. a controller for controlling the power of the safety restraint system responsive to said signal responsive to said wave energy. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for detecting an occupant in a vehicle and for controlling a safety restraint system responsive thereto, comprising:
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a. a transmitter for transmitting wave energy;
b. a receiver for receiving said wave energy and for generating a signal responsive to said wave energy, wherein said transmitter and said receiver are disposed within the vehicle so that said wave energy from said transmitter to said receiver is intersected by a normally seated occupant on a seat of the vehicle, and the line of sight between said transmitter and said receiver is not intersected by a rear facing infant seat on said seat of the vehicle;
c. a range/proximity sensor for sensing if an object is within a region proximate to the safety restraint system, wherein the safety restraint system is disabled responsive to the detection of an object within said region by said range/proximity sensor; and
d. a controller for controlling the power of the safety restraint system responsive to said signal responsive to said wave energy.
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10. A system for detecting an occupant in a vehicle and for controlling a safety restraint system responsive thereto, comprising:
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a. a transmitter for transmitting wave energy;
b. a receiver for receiving said wave energy and for generating a signal responsive to said wave energy, wherein said transmitter and said receiver are disposed within the vehicle so that said wave energy from said transmitter to said receiver is intersected by a normally seated occupant on a seat of the vehicle;
c. a range/proximity sensor for sensing if an object is within a region proximate to the safety restraint system, wherein the safety restraint system is disabled responsive to the detection of an object within said region by said range/proximity sensor; and
d. a controller for controlling the power of the safety restraint system responsive to said signal responsive to said wave energy, wherein the frequency of said wave energy is adapted so that said wave energy is at least partially absorbed by a human body, said controller measures the attenuation of said wave energy from said signal and reduces the power of the safety restraint system responsive to said attenuation being less than a threshold. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A system for detecting an occupant in a vehicle and for controlling a safety restraint system responsive thereto, comprising:
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a. a transmitter for transmitting wave energy;
b. a receiver for receiving said wave energy and for generating a signal responsive to said wave energy, wherein said transmitter and said receiver are disposed within the vehicle so that said wave energy from said transmitter to said receiver is intersected by a normally seated occupant on a seat of the vehicle, one of said transmitter and said receiver is mounted in a headliner portion of the vehicle and the other of said transmitter and said receiver is mounted in a back portion of said seat;
c. a range/proximity sensor for sensing if an object is within a region proximate to the safely restraint system, wherein the safely restraint system is disabled responsive to the detection of an object within said region by said range/proximity sensor; and
d. a controller for controlling the power of the safety restraint system responsive to said signal responsive to said wave energy.
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13. A system for detecting an occupant in a vehicle and for controlling a safety restraint system responsive thereto, comprising:
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a. a transmitter for transmitting wave energy;
b. a receiver for receiving said wave energy and for generating a signal responsive to said wave energy, wherein said transmitter and said receiver are disposed within the vehicle so that said wave energy from said transmitter to said receiver is intersected by a normally seated occupant on a seat of the vehicle, said transmitter and said receiver are adapted so that said wave energy is reflected from at least one interior surface of the vehicle between said transmitter and said receiver, one of said transmitter and receiver is mounted in an instrument panel portion of the vehicle and the other of said transmitter and said receiver is mounted in a back portion of said seat;
c. a range/proximity sensor for sensing if an object is within a region proximate to the safety restraint system, wherein the safety restraint system is disabled responsive to the detection of an object within said region by said range/proximity sensor; and
d. a controller for controlling the power of the safety restraint system responsive to said signal responsive to said wave energy.
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14. A system for detecting an occupant in a vehicle and for controlling a safety restraint system responsive thereto, comprising:
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a. a transmitter for transmitting wave energy;
b. a receiver for receiving said wave energy and for generating a signal responsive to said wave energy, wherein said transmitter and said receiver are disposed within the vehicle so that said wave energy from said transmitter to said receiver is intersected by a normally seated occupant on a seat of the vehicle;
c. a range/proximity sensor for sensing if an object is within a region proximate to the safety restraint system, wherein the safety restraint system is disabled responsive to the detection of an object within said region by said range/proximity sensor;
d. a controller for controlling the power of the safety restraint system responsive to said signal responsive to said wave energy, wherein said controller is not responsive to that portion of said wave energy that does not propagate directly between said transmitter and said receiver; and
e. a second transmitter, wherein the line-of-sight between said second transmitter and said receiver is not blocked by an occupant seated on said seat and said controller is responsive to the signal from said second transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A system for detecting an occupant in a vehicle and for controlling a safety restraint system responsive thereto, comprising:
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a. a transmitter for transmitting wave energy;
b. a receiver for receiving said wave energy and for generating a signal responsive to said wave energy, wherein said transmitter and said receiver are disposed within the vehicle so that said wave energy from said transmitter to said receiver is intersected by a normally seated occupant on a seat of the vehicle, said transmitter is disposed in a back portion of said seat so as to transmit said wave energy upwards from and forward of said back portion and said receiver is disposed in said back portion of said seat so as to receive said wave energy that is reflected by a reflective surface;
c. a range/proximity sensor for sensing if an object is within a region proximate to the safety restraint system, wherein the safety restraint system is disabled responsive to the detection of an object within said region by said range/proximity sensor; and
d. a controller for controlling the power of the safety restraint system responsive to said signal responsive to said wave energy. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of detecting an occupant in a vehicle and for controlling the actuation of a safety restraint system responsive thereto, comprising
a. transmitting a wave signal from a transmitter to a receiver, wherein said transmitter and receiver are disposed in relation to a seat in the vehicle so that the path therebetween is intersected by a normally seated occupant in said seat of the vehicle; -
b. measuring the attenuation of said wave signal from a signal from said receiver;
c. detecting if an object is within a region proximate to the safety restraint system, wherein an occupant positioned within said region would be at risk of injury from the safety restraint system;
d. disabling the actuation of the safety restraint system responsive to the detection of an object within said region; and
e. controlling the power of the safety restraint system responsive to the attenuation of said wave signal. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method of detecting an occupant in a vehicle and for controlling the actuation of a safety restraint system responsive thereto, comprising:
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a. transmitting a wave signal from a transmitter;
b. reflecting a portion of said wave signal with a reflective surface, and receiving said reflected portion of said wave signal with a receiver, wherein said transmitter and receiver are disposed in a back portion of a seat in the vehicle so that said wave signal from said transmitter is reflected by a normally seated occupant in said seat;
c. detecting if an object is within a region proximate to the safety restraint system, wherein an occupant positioned within said region would be at risk of injury from the safety restraint system;
d. disabling the actuation of the safety restraint system responsive to the detection of an object within said region; and
e. controlling the power of the safety restraint system responsive to said reflected portion of said wave signal that is received by said receiver. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification