Vehicle occupant sensing system
First Claim
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1. A vehicle occupancy sensing system comprising:
- a first electrode connection and a second electrode connection, where at least one of the electrode connections is a seat back electrode connection;
a circuit parameter sensor connected with the first electrode connection and the second electrode connection; and
a controller coupled to the circuit parameter sensor, the controller operable to obtain a first parameter reading for the first electrode connection and a second parameter reading for the second electrode connection, and operable to determine an occupancy characteristic based on at least one of;
(a) a ratio of the first and second parameter readings, (b) a product of the first and second parameter readings, and (c) a derivative form of at least one of the ratio and the product.
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Abstract
A vehicle occupancy sensing system provides a mechanism for determining whether a child is present in a vehicle. The sensing system may determine that an occupied front or rear facing child seat is present in an automobile, for example. To that end, the sensing system may employ a reliable electrode sensing system that may be conveniently installed in one or more locations in the vehicle seats. The sensing system thereby helps reduce occurrences of the potentially devastating consequences of unintentionally leaving a child in a vehicle.
108 Citations
56 Claims
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1. A vehicle occupancy sensing system comprising:
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a first electrode connection and a second electrode connection, where at least one of the electrode connections is a seat back electrode connection;
a circuit parameter sensor connected with the first electrode connection and the second electrode connection; and
a controller coupled to the circuit parameter sensor, the controller operable to obtain a first parameter reading for the first electrode connection and a second parameter reading for the second electrode connection, and operable to determine an occupancy characteristic based on at least one of;
(a) a ratio of the first and second parameter readings, (b) a product of the first and second parameter readings, and (c) a derivative form of at least one of the ratio and the product. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for sensing vehicle occupancy comprising the acts of:
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sensing a first parameter associated with a first electrode connection;
sensing a second parameter associated with a second electrode connection, where at least one of the first and second electrode connections is a seat back electrode connection; and
comparing at least one of;
(a) a product based on the first and second parameter readings, (b) a ratio based on the first and second parameter readings, and (c) a derivative form of at least one of the ratio and the product. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A machine readable medium encoded with instructions that cause a vehicle electronics system to perform a method comprising the acts of:
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sensing a first parameter associated with a first electrode connection;
sensing a second parameter associated with a second electrode connection, where at least one of the first and second electrode connections is a seat back electrode connection; and
applying an occupancy sensing test comprising at least one of;
comparing a ratio based on the first and second load readings, comparing a product of the first and second parameter readings, and comparing a derivative form of at least one of the ratio and the product. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A vehicle occupancy sensing system comprising:
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a first electrode in a seat back;
a second electrode in the seat back;
a third electrode in a seat base, the third electrode non-switchably connected to a relative ground;
a circuit parameter sensor connected with the first and second electrodes; and
a controller coupled to the load sensor, the controller operable to obtain a first parameter reading for the first electrode and a second parameter reading for the second electrode, and operable to output a signal as a function of the first and second load readings. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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Specification