Magnetostrictive vehicle weight sensor

A vehicle seat assembly comprising:

• a vehicle seat having a seating surface;
• at least one sensor mounted below the seating surface, each sensor including a tubular inner wall adjacent a coil, the tubular inner wall defining an aperture for receiving a fastener, the coil measuring stress in the tubular inner wall to determine a weight on the seating surface, wherein the at least one coil includes an activation coil and a detection coil;
• and
• a fastener extending through the aperture of the at least one sensor, the fastener connecting two components of the vehicle seat, wherein the fastener preloads the tubular inner wall, the activation coil and the detection coil being separated by an annular divider between the activation coil and the detection coil extending radially outwardly from the tubular inner wall.

A method for installing one or more weight sensors having a coil coiled about a tubular inner wall in a vehicle seat assembly including the steps of:

• inserting a fastener at least partially through a passageway defined by the tubular inner wall of each weight sensor;
• securing a first vehicle seat component to a second vehicle seat component with each fastener;
• and
• securing the weight sensor between the first vehicle seat component and the second vehicle seat component with each fastener and wherein a tightening of the fasteners imparts a preload on the tubular inner walls of each sensor.