Seat occupancy sensor

US2018257513A1 · US · A1

Patent metadata
FieldValue
Publication numberUS-2018257513-A1
Application numberUS-201815915175-A
CountryUS
Kind codeA1
Filing dateMar 8, 2018
Priority dateMar 8, 2017
Publication dateSep 13, 2018
Grant date

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  1. Title

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  2. Abstract

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  3. Assignees and inventors

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  4. Key dates

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  5. First independent claim

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  6. CPC / IPC classifications

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  7. Citations and related patents

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Abstract

Official abstract text for this publication.

A seat occupancy sensor includes: a first sensor group having a plurality of first sensor cells that are arrayed in a front-rear direction of a seat and become conductive as a load is applied thereto; a second sensor group having a plurality of second sensor cells that are arrayed in the front-rear direction, farther on a front side of the seat and closer to an end of the seat in a width direction than the first sensor group, and that become conductive as a load is applied thereto; and an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit determines that someone is sitting on the seat when both of at least one of the first sensor cells and at least one of the second sensor cells become conductive.

First claim

Opening claim text (preview).

What is claimed is: 1 . A seat occupancy sensor comprising: a first sensor group having first detection units as a plurality of detection units that are arrayed in a front-rear direction of a seat of a vehicle and that become conductive as a load is applied thereto; a second sensor group having second detection units as a plurality of detection units that are arrayed in the front-rear direction, farther on a front side of the seat and closer to an end of the seat in a width direction than the first sensor group, and that become conductive as a load is applied thereto; and an electronic control unit configured to determine that someone is sitting on the seat when both of at least one of the first detection units and at least one of the second detection units become conductive. 2 . The seat occupancy sensor according to claim 1 , wherein detection sensitivity of the first detection units is lower than detection sensitivity of the second detection units. 3 . The seat occupancy sensor according to claim 2 , wherein the first detection units have an electrode area smaller than an electrode area of the second detection units so as to have the detection sensitivity lower than the detection sensitivity of the second detection units. 4 . The seat occupancy sensor according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to determine that someone is sitting on the seat when both of one of the first detection units and one of the second detection units that is separated from that one first detection unit by a predetermined distance become conductive. 5 . The seat occupancy sensor according to claim 4 , wherein the electronic control unit is configured to determine that someone is sitting on the seat when both of one of the first detection units and one of the second detection units that is located farther toward the front side of the seat from that one first detection unit with two of the detection units therebetween, become conductive. 6 . The seat occupancy sensor according to claim 4 , wherein the seat is a center seat section that is disposed at a center of a plurality of seat sections provided side by side in a width direction of the vehicle in a rear seat that is disposed on a rear side of the vehicle. 7 . The seat occupancy sensor according to claim 1 , wherein the seat is a center seat section that is disposed at a center of a plurality of seat sections provided side by side in a width direction of the vehicle in a rear seat that is disposed on a rear side of the vehicle.

Assignees

Inventors

Classifications

  • Operating force · CPC title

  • Two different sites for one circuit, e.g. for safety · CPC title

  • characterised by the spatial arrangement of the contact sites, e.g. superimposed sites · CPC title

  • with contacts carried by or formed from layers in a multilayer structure, e.g. membrane switches · CPC title

  • for redundancy, e.g. several contact pairs in parallel · CPC title

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What does patent US2018257513A1 cover?
A seat occupancy sensor includes: a first sensor group having a plurality of first sensor cells that are arrayed in a front-rear direction of a seat and become conductive as a load is applied thereto; a second sensor group having a plurality of second sensor cells that are arrayed in the front-rear direction, farther on a front side of the seat and closer to an end of the seat in a width direct…
Who is the assignee on this patent?
Aisin Seiki, Toyota Motor Co Ltd
What technology area does this patent fall under?
Primary CPC classification H01H13/803. Mapped technology areas include Electricity.
When was this patent published?
Publication date Thu Sep 13 2018 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (A1). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
What related patents are in patentsdb?
We list 2 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).