System and method of occupant sensing
First Claim
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1. A system for determining a vehicle occupant characteristic, said system comprising:
- a plurality of sensors for sensing a parameter and outputting a parameter indicative signal, said sensors being arranged in a plurality of groups, with each sensor of a group sensing a similar parameter value; and
determination means for utilizing only a portion of said sensors within each group to make a determination regarding the occupant characteristic.
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Abstract
A system (11) and method determine a vehicle occupant characteristic. A plurality of sensors (50) sense a parameter and output a parameter indicative signal. The sensors (50) are arranged in a plurality of groups (e.g., A-F), with each sensor of a group sensing a similar parameter value. A controller (16) utilizing only a portion of the sensors within each group to make a determination regarding the occupant characteristic.
29 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A system for determining a vehicle occupant characteristic, said system comprising:
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a plurality of sensors for sensing a parameter and outputting a parameter indicative signal, said sensors being arranged in a plurality of groups, with each sensor of a group sensing a similar parameter value; and
determination means for utilizing only a portion of said sensors within each group to make a determination regarding the occupant characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for determining a vehicle occupant weight-related characteristic, said system comprising:
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a plurality of weight sensors, each for sensing an applied force and for outputting a signal indicative of the sensed force, said plurality of sensors being located to sense applied force at a plurality of areas of a vehicle seat; and
means for utilizing the force indicative signals from only a portion of said sensors to derive an indication of the occupant weight-related characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for determining a vehicle occupant characteristic, said method comprising:
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arranging a plurality of sensors that sense a parameter into a plurality of groups, with each sensor of a group sensing a similar parameter value and outputting a parameter indicative signal; and
utilizing only a portion of the sensors within each group to make a determination regarding the occupant characteristic.
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18. A system for determining an occupant weight-related characteristic, said system comprising:
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a plurality of weight sensors located within a vehicle seat, each of said sensors sensing an applied force land outputting a signal indicative of the sensed force; and
a controller that groups the plurality of sensors into a plurality of sensor sets;
wherein said controller samples the output of an Nth sensor in at least one set prior to sampling the output of an Nth+1 sensor in another set.
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19. A system for determining an occupant weight-related characteristic, said system comprising:
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a plurality of weight sensors located within a vehicle seat, each of said sensors sensing an applied force and outputting a signal indicative of the sensed force; and
a controller that groups the plurality of sensors into a plurality of sensor sets;
wherein said controller samples the output of an Nth sensor in each set prior to sampling the output of an Nth+1 sensor in any one set. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for determining an occupant weight-related characteristic, said method comprising:
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grouping a plurality of sensors located within a vehicle seat into a plurality of sensor sets, each of the sensors sensing an occupant characteristic and outputting a signal indicative of the sensed occupant characteristic; and
,sampling the output of an Nth sensor in each set prior to sampling the output of an Nth+1 sensor in another set. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
defining a plurality of subsets over a period of time from the sampled output of one or more of the sensors in each of the sets.
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30. A method as set forth in claim 29, further comprising the step of:
updating the sensed occupant characteristic with one or more of the subsets.
Specification