US 8,818,637 B2 · Occupant classification system

Abstract

An occupant classification system classifies occupants on a vehicle seat and is capable of separating child seats from adults during wet seat cases. In the system, the seat structure is grounded. The classification system includes a measurement circuit, an identifying circuit, and a controller. The measurement circuit is configured to measure in-phase and quadrature components of a current sent out to the sensing element. The identifying circuit is configured to identify if a seat pan and a seat back frame of the vehicle seat are grounded to a circuit ground. The controller is configured to use measurements of the measurement circuit to classify the occupant. The sensing element can be located in a sensing mat that further includes a heating element.

Claims22

Dependent claims

An occupant classification system comprising:

a sensing element in a vehicle seat, the sensing element comprises a sensing electrode;
a measurement circuit that is configured to measure a property associated with the sensing electrode;
at least one wire that connects at least one additional conductor to a chassis ground;
a circuit that is configured to determine if the at least one additional conductor is grounded to the chassis ground;
and
a controller that is configured to classify an occupant by using measurements of the measurement circuit;
wherein the controller includes a mechanism that provides an alternative grounding path to a circuit ground for the at least one additional conductor when circuit determines that the at least one additional conductor is not grounded to the chassis ground.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Occupant classification system

Life of this patent

Occupant classification system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims22