Weight-responsive vehicle seat occupancy classification system

A vehicle seat occupancy classification system, comprising at least one weight-responsive sensor, including

• a supporting plate that is fixable to a top surface of a seat pan and/or to a suspension of the seat pan,
• a collecting plate that in at least one operational state is arranged substantially parallel to the supporting plate and, with regard to a direction of mechanical load to be applied perpendicular to the supporting plate by a seat occupancy, between the supporting plate and a seat cushion of the vehicle seat,
• a hinge member having an axis of articulation that is arranged parallel to the supporting plate, wherein the supporting plate and the collecting plate are mechanically connected by the hinge member so as to enable a rotational movement of the collecting plate relative to the supporting plate and about the axis of articulation,
• at least one elastic spring member that is disposed, with respect to the direction of mechanical load, between the collecting plate and the supporting plate and is spaced from the axis of articulation, wherein the elastic spring force of the elastic spring member is provided to serve as a counteracting force for a mechanical load that is applied to the collecting plate in the direction of mechanical load, and
• a position sensor that is configured to determine a gap dimension between the supporting plate and the collecting plate in a specified distance to the axis of articulation , and to provide an output signal that is indicative of the determined gap dimension;
• and an evaluation unit that is configured to receive the output signal from the position sensor and to provide a seat occupancy classification based on a level of the received output signal and at least a first pre-determined threshold value of the output signal.