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US 2008/0164682 A1Published application
Airbag device and occupant classification device
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorMieko MATSUDA
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A seating state of an occupant including a presence, absence, and posture of the occupant is accurately determined. The device includes a seat belt provided with marks whose image is to be taken, an imaging portion that takes an image of the marks provided on the seat belt, and a seating state determining portion that determines the seating state of the occupant based on the image of the marks taken by the imaging portion.
Claims2
1-15. (canceled)
An airbag device, comprising:
- a seat belt;
- a light source which irradiates the seat belt;
- a string of labels on the seat belt, the string of labels being made of a material that reflects light from the light source more strongly than does the seat belt;
- a camera which takes an image of the string of labels on the seat belt;
- an airbag having a mechanism for adjusting an inflation amount or an inflation speed of the airbag;
- a processor;
- and
- a memory accessible by the processor,
- wherein the memory stores:
- table data that associates arrangement patterns with seating states, the seating states including a presence, an absence, and a posture of an occupant, and
- program code executed by the processor, the program code including steps of:
- detecting an arrangement pattern of the string of labels from the image,
- estimating a seating state of an occupant fastening the seat belt by comparing the detected arrangement pattern with the arrangement patterns in the table data, and
- controlling the inflation amount or the inflation speed of the airbag according to the estimated seating state.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.