Seat occupant sensing system

A seat occupant sensing system comprising:

• (a) a seat having a seat support member and a seat pan member fastened to one another;
• (b) a frame disposed vertically above the seat pan in a spaced apart vertically juxtaposed relationship with the seat pan, the frame underlying a portion of a seat cushion;
• and
• (c) at least two sensors interposed between the frame and the seat pan such that all of the force transferred from the frame to the seat pan is transferred via the sensors which sense the magnitude of the force transferred therethrough and send signals to a device which processes the signals to determine the weight that the portion of the seat cushion is bearing.

A seat occupant sensing system comprising:

• (a) a seat having a seat support member and a seat pan member fastened to one another;
• (b) a frame disposed vertically above the seat pan in a spaced apart vertically juxtaposed relationship with the seat pan, the frame underlying a portion of a seat cushion, the portion of the seat cushion being spaced apart from a rear edge of the seat cushion;
• and
• (c) at least two sensors interposed between the frame and the seat pan such that all of the force transferred from the frame to the seat pan is transferred via the sensors which sense the magnitude of the force transferred therethrough and send signals to a device which processes the signals to determine the weight that the portion of the seat cushion is bearing.

A seat occupant sensing system comprising:

• (a) a seat having a seat support member and a seat pan member fastened to one another;
• (b) a frame disposed vertically above the seat pan in a spaced apart vertically juxtaposed relationship with the seat pan, the frame underlying a portion of a seat cushion, the frame and the seat pan being at least partially retained in the vertically juxtaposed relationship by a tension member;
• (c) at least two sensors interposed between the frame and the seat pan such that all of the force transferred from the frame to the seat pan is transferred via the sensors which sense the magnitude of the force transferred therethrough and send signals to a device which processes the signals to determine the weight that the portion of the seat cushion is bearing;
• and
• (d) a controller which processes a signal from the weight determining device to control the activation of at least one safety device for an occupant of the seat based upon the weight.

A seat occupant weight measuring system and air bag deployment logic comprising:

• a car seat;
• a rigid member incorporated in the seat and positioned to support the weight of an occupant of the car seat;
• a seat pan supported on the vehicle floor and positioned beneath the rigid member in spaced relation;
• a plurality of load measuring sensors positioned between the seat pan and the rigid member;
• and
• a means for determining whether an air bag should be deployed, wherein each sensor has a signal conducting means connecting each sensor to the means for determining whether an air bag should be deployed.