Occupant classifying device for vehicle seat
First Claim
1. An occupant classifying device for a vehicle seat, that includes a seat back at a rear portion of the vehicle seat, the occupant classifying device comprising:
- an occupant classifying means for classifying an occupant type on the basis of a seating load applied to the vehicle seat;
a first load sensor provided at a rear portion of the vehicle seat in order to measure a rear load that is a part of the seating load;
a second load sensor provided at a front portion of the vehicle seat in order to measure a front load that is a part of the seating load;
a rear load ratio calculating means for calculating a rear load ratio indicating a ratio of the rear load in the seating load on the basis of the measured rear and front loads;
a securing determining means determining whether or not a child restraint system is secured to the vehicle seat on the basis of the calculated rear load ratio;
wherein the occupant classifying means;
classifies an occupant type to an adult when the rear load is larger than a first load threshold;
classifies the occupant type to a child when the rear load is smaller than a second load threshold being set so as to be smaller than the first load threshold; and
classifies the occupant type on the basis of a result determined by the securing determining means when the rear load is equal to or smaller than the first load threshold and is equal to or larger than the second load threshold, andthe securing determining means determines that the child restraint system is secured to the vehicle seat when the rear load ratio is larger than a first ratio threshold.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An occupant classifying device for a vehicle seat includes an occupant classifying apparatus for classifying an occupant type on the basis of a seating load applied to the vehicle seat, a first load sensor provided at a rear portion of the vehicle seat in order to measure a rear load that is a part of the seating load, a second load sensor provided at a front portion of the vehicle seat in order to measure a front load that is a part of the seating load, a rear load ratio calculating apparatus for calculating a rear load ratio indicating a ratio of the rear load in the seating load on the basis of the measured rear and front loads and a securing determining apparatus determining whether or not a child restraint system is secured to the vehicle seat on the basis of the calculated rear load ratio.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. An occupant classifying device for a vehicle seat, that includes a seat back at a rear portion of the vehicle seat, the occupant classifying device comprising:
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an occupant classifying means for classifying an occupant type on the basis of a seating load applied to the vehicle seat; a first load sensor provided at a rear portion of the vehicle seat in order to measure a rear load that is a part of the seating load; a second load sensor provided at a front portion of the vehicle seat in order to measure a front load that is a part of the seating load; a rear load ratio calculating means for calculating a rear load ratio indicating a ratio of the rear load in the seating load on the basis of the measured rear and front loads; a securing determining means determining whether or not a child restraint system is secured to the vehicle seat on the basis of the calculated rear load ratio; wherein the occupant classifying means; classifies an occupant type to an adult when the rear load is larger than a first load threshold; classifies the occupant type to a child when the rear load is smaller than a second load threshold being set so as to be smaller than the first load threshold; and classifies the occupant type on the basis of a result determined by the securing determining means when the rear load is equal to or smaller than the first load threshold and is equal to or larger than the second load threshold, and the securing determining means determines that the child restraint system is secured to the vehicle seat when the rear load ratio is larger than a first ratio threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. An occupant classifying device for a vehicle seat, that includes a seat back at a rear portion of the vehicle seat, the occupant classifying device comprising:
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an occupant classifying means for classifying an occupant type on the basis of a seating load applied to the vehicle seat; a first load sensor provided at a rear portion of the vehicle seat in order to measure a rear load that is a part of the seating load; a second load sensor provided at a front portion of the vehicle seat in order to measure a front load that is a part of the seating load; a rear load ratio calculating means for calculating a rear load ratio indicating a ratio of the rear load in the seating load on the basis of the measured rear and front loads; a securing determining means determining whether or not a child restraint system is secured to the vehicle seat on the basis of the calculated rear load ratio; in which a result determined by the occupant classifying means is used for controlling the supplemental restraint system, wherein the occupant classifying means; classifies the occupant type to a first type, in which a first control is executed for the supplemental restraint system, when the rear load is larger than the first load threshold; classifies the occupant type to a second type, in which a second control is executed for the supplemental restraint system, when the rear load is smaller than the second load threshold being set so as to be smaller than the first load threshold; and classifies the occupant type on the basis of a result determined by the securing determining means when the rear load is equal to or smaller than the first load threshold and is equal to or larger than the second load threshold, and the securing determining means determines that the child restraint system is secured to the vehicle seat when the rear load ratio is larger than the first ratio threshold. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6)
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7. An occupant classifying device for a vehicle seat, that includes a seat back at a rear portion of the vehicle seat, the occupant classifying device comprising:
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an occupant classifying means for classifying an occupant type on the basis of a seating load applied to the vehicle seat; a first load sensor provided at a rear portion of the vehicle seat in order to measure a rear load that is a part of the seating load; a second load sensor provided at a front portion of the vehicle seat in order to measure a front load that is a part of the seating load; a rear load ratio calculating means for calculating a rear load ratio indicating a ratio of the rear load in the seating load on the basis of the measured rear and front loads; a securing determining means determining whether or not a child restraint system is secured to the vehicle seat on the basis of the calculated rear load ratio; in which a result determined by the occupant classifying means is used for controlling the supplemental restraint system, wherein the securing determining means; determines that the vehicle seat is in a first securing state, in which there is a possibility where the child restraint system is secured to the vehicle seat more firmly than a predetermined level, when the rear load ratio is larger than a first ratio threshold; determines that the vehicle seat is in a second securing state, in which there is a possibility where the child restraint system is secured to the vehicle seat less firmly than the first securing state, when the rear load ratio is equal to or smaller than the first ratio threshold and is larger than a second ratio threshold being set so as to be smaller than the first ratio threshold; and determines that the vehicle seat is in a third securing state, in which the child restraint system is not secured to the vehicle seat, when the rear load ratio is equal to or smaller than the second ratio threshold, and the occupant classifying means; classifies, in the third securing state, the occupant type to a first type, in which the first control is executed for the supplemental restraint system, not depending on the rear load; classifies, in the first securing state, the occupant type to a second type, in which the second control is executed for the supplemental restraint system, when the rear load is smaller than a first load threshold; and classifies, in the second securing state, the occupant type to the second type when the rear load is smaller than a second load threshold being set so as to be smaller than the first load threshold. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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Specification