Printed strain gage for vehicle seats
OwnerFrank Speckhartinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for a printed strain gauge affixed to a structural member of a seat for detecting and measuring the weight and position of an occupant or object on the seat. In various embodiments, a strain gauge is printed directly on a member of the seat that is subject to a bending force or other stress when an object is placed in the seat. The strain gauge includes at least one resister of thin-film conductive material printed on a stress bearing member. In one embodiment, the strain gauge is a resistor sensitive to the stress of said member. In another embodiment, the strain gauge is a group of resistors forming a Wheatstone bridge sensitive to the stress.
Claims37
An apparatus for detecting a weight and position of an object in a vehicle seat, said apparatus comprising:
- a seat member providing structural support of at least a portion of the vehicle seat, said seat member subject to a stress when the object is on the vehicle seat;
- an insulated coating on a selected area of said seat member;
- and
- a strain gauge affixed to said insulated coating on said seat member in a location subject to said stress, said strain gauge including four traces of a thin-film conductive material in contact with said insulated coating, each of said four traces having a selected resistance, each of said four traces interconnected to form a Wheatstone bridge circuit, said strain gauge including a plurality of pads for making electrical connection to said strain gauge;
- whereby said strain gauge is sensitive to said stress.
An apparatus for detecting a weight and a position of an object in a vehicle seat, said apparatus comprising:
- a member subject to a stress when the object is on the vehicle seat;
- and
- a first strain gauge affixed to said member, said first strain gauge subject to said stress, said first strain gauge including at least one trace of a thin-film conductive material applied directly to said member, each of said at least one trace having a selected resistance, said first strain gauge including a plurality of pads for making electrical connection to said strain gauge;
- whereby said first strain gauge detects said stress of said member, thereby sensing the weight of the object on the vehicle seat.
An apparatus for detecting a weight and a position of an object in a vehicle seat, said apparatus comprising:
- a member subject to a stress when the object is on the vehicle seat;
- a circuit means for directly measuring said stress on said member.
An apparatus for detecting a weight and position of an object in a vehicle seat, said apparatus comprising:
- a member subject to a stress when the object is on the vehicle seat;
- and
- a strain gauge affixed to said member, said strain gauge subject to said stress, said strain gauge including four traces of a thin-film conductive material applied to said member, each of said four traces having a selected resistance, each of said four traces interconnected to form a Wheatstone bridge circuit, said strain gauge including a plurality of pads for making electrical connection to said strain gauge;
- whereby said strain gauge detects said stress of said member, thereby sensing the weight of the object on the vehicle seat.
An apparatus for detecting a weight and position of an object in a vehicle seat, said apparatus comprising:
- a member subject to a stress when the object is on the vehicle seat, said member being a seat pan;
- and
- a first strain gauge affixed to said member, said first strain gauge subject to said stress, said first strain gauge insulated from said member;
- whereby said first strain gauge detects said stress of said member, thereby sensing the weight of the object on the vehicle seat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.