Seat belt occupant sensor
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsSteven Yellin Schondorf, Markus Hagen, Ralf Brosig
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An occupant sensor system 12 is coupled to an airbag deployment system 14. Occupant sensor system 12 has an occupant sensor 24 that comprises a seat belt and a plurality of wires extending a predetermined length within seat belt 26. Wires 28 are coupled to a controller 22 that is used to sense a changing electrical characteristic of wires 28 such as capacitance or inductance to determine the presence of an occupant. Controller 22 in response to the signal from occupant sensor 24 may then adjust the deployment of an airbag 18.
Claims23
An occupant sensor comprising:
- a seat belt;
- a plurality of wires extending a predetermined length of said seat belt and conforming to a shape of said seat belt;
- and
- a controller coupled to said plurality of wires measuring a change in an electrical characteristic of the wire and indicating the presence of an occupant in response to said electrical characteristic corresponding to a change in a shape of said wires.
An airbag deployment system for an automotive vehicle comprising:
- an airbag;
- a seat belt;
- an occupant sensor having wires extending a predetermined length of said seat belt and conforming to a shape of said seat belt;
- and
- an airbag controller module coupled to said sensor, said controller measuring a change in an electrical characteristic of the wire and indicating the presence of an occupant in response to said electrical characteristic corresponding to a change in a shape of said wires.
A method of determining the presence of an occupant within an automotive vehicle comprising the steps of:
- passing an electrical signal through wires within a length of a seat belt, said wires have a shape;
- measuring a seat belt electrical characteristic of said wires corresponding to the shape of said wires;
- comparing the seat belt electrical characteristic to a known characteristic;
- and
- indicating the presence of an occupant in response to the step of comparing.
An occupant sensor comprising:
- a seat belt;
- a plurality of wires extending a predetermined length of said seat belt and conforming to a shape of said seat belt;
- and
- a controller coupled to said plurality of wires measuring a change in an electrical characteristic of the wire and indicating the presence and size of an occupant in response to said electrical characteristic corresponding to a change in a shape of said wires.
An airbag deployment system for an automotive vehicle comprising:
- an airbag;
- a seat belt;
- an occupant sensor having wires extending a predetermined length of said seat belt and conforming to a shape of said seat belt;
- and
- an airbag controller module coupled to said sensor, said controller measuring a change in an electrical characteristic of the wire and indicating the presence and size of an occupant in response to said electrical characteristic corresponding to a change in a shape of said wires.
A method of determining the presence of an occupant within an automotive vehicle comprising the steps of:
- passing an electrical signal through wires within a length of a seat belt, said wires have a shape;
- measuring a seat belt electrical characteristic of said wires corresponding to the shape of said wires;
- comparing the seat belt electrical characteristic to a known characteristic;
- and
- indicating the presence and size of an occupant in response to the step of comparing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.