Occupant detection system and method of controlling the system
AssigneeDenso Corporation
InventorsHajime Nakagawa, Shoichi Yamanaka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A capacitance sensor outputs a signal indicating one of an occupant-seated state, a CRS-mounted state and a vacancy state. A load sensor is ON when a predetermined load applied to the load sensor through the seat, and is OFF when the predetermined load is not applied. A controller turns off both of an on-light indicating airbag inflation allowance and an off-light indicating airbag inflation prohibition, when the signal indicates the vacancy state, and when the load sensor is OFF. The controller turns on the off-light, when the signal indicates the vacancy state, and when the load sensor is ON.
Claims18
An occupant detection system comprising:
- a capacitance sensor to output a current/voltage signal based on a variation of weak electric field generated between a ground and an electrode arranged in a seat, the signal being one of
- an occupant-seated signal indicating an occupant seated on the seat,
- a CRS-mounted signal indicating a child restraint system mounted on the seat, and
- a vacancy signal indicating the seat being vacant;
- a load sensor arranged in the seat, the load sensor being ON when a predetermined load is applied to the load sensor through the seat, the load sensor being OFF when the predetermined load is not applied;
- and
- a controller to control an on-light indicating airbag inflation allowance for the seat, and an off-light indicating airbag inflation prohibition for the seat, wherein
- the controller turns on the off-light, when the vacancy signal is output, and when the load sensor is ON, and
- the controller turns off both of the on-light and the off-light, when the vacancy signal is output, and when the load sensor is OFF.
A method of controlling an occupant detection system comprising:
- controlling a capacitance sensor to output a first signal indicating one of an occupant-seated state in which an occupant is seated on a seat, a CRS-mounted state in which a child restraint system is mounted on the seat, and a vacancy state in which the seat is vacant;
- controlling a load sensor to output a second signal indicating one of a load-on-state in which a predetermined load is applied to the load sensor through the seat, and a load-off-state in which the predetermined load is not applied to the load sensor;
- controlling an ON-light indicating airbag inflation allowance for the seat, and an OFF-light indicating airbag inflation prohibition for the seat, based on the first signal and the second signal,
- determining the seat to be in the vacancy state, when the first signal indicates the vacancy state, and when the second signal indicates the load-off-state, and
- determining the seat to be in the CRS-mounted state, when the first signal indicates the vacancy state, and when the second signal indicates the load-on-state, wherein
- the controlling of the ON-light and the OFF-light includes
- turning on the OFF-light, when the seat is determined to be in the CRS-mounted state, and
- turning off both of the ON-light and the OFF-light, when the seat is determined to be in the vacancy state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.