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AssigneeHonda elesys Co., Ltd.
InventorsSatoshi Baba, Kazunori Jinno, Hiroshi Oikawa, Takashi Saito, Naoki Saito, Shingo Nagai, Yoshinori Masuda
Estimating the term…
In an occupant detecting apparatus for detecting an occupant seated on a passenger seat of a vehicle with an airbag for the occupant, a load sensor is provided in a bottom part of the seat. A plurality of first electric field sensors are provided in the bottom part of the seat, and a plurality of second electric field sensors are provided in a rear part of the seat. An airbag inflating permission control unit permits inflation of the airbag in accordance with output signals of the load sensor and the first and second electric field sensors.
An occupant detecting apparatus for detecting an occupant seated on a passenger seat of a vehicle with an airbag for said occupant, comprising:
The apparatus as set forth in claim, 1 wherein when the output signal of said load signal is between said first and second load reference values, an average value of the output signals of said first electric field sensors is between said first and second electric field reference values and an average value of the output signals of said second electric field sensors is higher than said third electric field reference value, said airbag inflating permission control unit determines that an infant with an infant seat is seated in a forward facing manner on said seat to permit the inflation of said airbag.
An occupant detecting apparatus for detecting an occupant seated on a passenger seat of a vehicle with an airbag for said occupant, comprising:
An occupant detecting apparatus for detecting an occupant seated on a passenger seat of a vehicle with an airbag for said occupant, comprising:
An occupant detecting apparatus for detecting an occupant seated on a passenger seat of a vehicle with an airbag for said occupant, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Passenger detection systems: using force or pressure sensing means
Using force or pressure sensing means: using strain gauges
Using field detection presence sensors: using electric or capacitive field sensors
Including means for detecting the presence or position of passengers, passenger seats or child seats , and the related safety parameters…
Term ended 5 Nov 2021 (estimated)
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an occupant detecting apparatus for detecting an occupant seated on a passenger seat of a vehicle with an airbag.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention will be more clearly understood from the description set forth below, as compared with the prior art, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIGS. 1A and 1B are circuit diagrams for explaining the operation of a prior art electric field sensor;
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a first embodiment of the occupant detecting apparatus according to the present invention;
Before the description of the preferred embodiments, a prior art electric field sensor will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B.
As illustrated in FIG. 1A, a high frequency oscillator 101 whose frequency is about 100 kHz is connected via a resistor 102 to an antenna electrode 103. Therefore, a differential AC electric field E is generated between the antenna electrode 103 and the ground GND, so that a load current I corresponding to the AC electric field E flows through the resistor 102. The AC load current I is converted by the resistor 102 into an AC voltage which is then transmitted by a voltage buffer 104 to a detector 105 including a bandpass filtering function which generates a DC output voltage Vout. Note that the antenna electrode 103 is mounted on an automobile seat, for example, and the ground GND indicates an automobile body.
As illustrated in FIG. 1B, when an object 0B such as an occupant is seated on the seat, the current flowing between the antenna electrode 103 and the ground GND is increased by a shunting current ΔI due to the presence of the object 0B in the electric field E. As a result, the detector 105 generates a DC output voltage Vout+ΔV larger than the DC output voltage Vout of FIG. 1A, thus determining whether or not the object 0B is seated on the automobile seat.