Sensitron, Inc.

Other

Cesar A Montano

Gordon B Langford

David Brewster Beck

Thomas E Danielson

Richard G Allen

Greg A Putnam

David R Rowley

Doug Odom

Douglas Odom

An air bag system has an array of detectors positioned under the seat material of a vehicle seat upon which a person or mass can be positioned. The array has a plurality of sensor leaves extending from a plurality of sensor branches. The branches extend from a trunk. Each sensor is of the type which predictably changes resistance upon the mechanical deflection thereof. A deflector is positioned to concentrate the deflection forces on the sensor leaf. Each sensor leaf has a substrate with conductive material on one side and a backer on the other. The sensor array output is supplied to a terminal and then to operation means which are connected to arm or disarm an air bag actuator to regulate the operation of the air bag in accordance with the mass such as an occupant or a child car seat on the vehicle seat. Each sensor leaf senses the force of the mass in a segment or quadrant and supplies the signals to a computer which processes and compares to known data to regulate the enabling or disabling of the air bag actuator.

Mass profiling system

A deflection sensing system for detecting deflection includes one or more deflection sensors between opposing sets of extensions. When one set of extensions is moved toward an opposing set of extensions, the deflection sensors are deflected. A preferred deflection sensor is a flexible potentiometer, which has a resistance that changes as the flexible potentiometer is deflected A flexible potentiometer includes a variable resistance material on a substrate. In a preferred system, the flexible potentiometer includes a cantilevered section, which is deflected about an extension with respect to the remainder of the flexible potentiometer, or with respect to a portion of the substrate not including the variable resistance material. A flexible potentiometer experiences less stress when in cantilevered form than when stretched between two extensions. In either case, the extensions may be joined to first and second corrugated plates. A particular application for the system is in a horn activator used in connection with an automobile air bag system. A corrugated plate may be adhered to the inside of a hub cover. Alternatively, the extensions may be adhered directly to the hub cover. Analyzing circuitry senses the resistance of a resistive grid including flexible potentiometers. The analyzing circuitry interprets a change in resistance to mean there has been a deflection. The analyzing circuitry may consider merely that there has been a change in resistance, or it may consider the amount of change in resistance. The analyzing circuitry may essentially simultaneously analyze the resistance of more than one resistive grid or deflection sensor.

Cantilevered deflection sensing system

A vehicle has a seat configured to receive a person or object. An array of flexible potentiometers is positioned in the seat to sense the mass or weight and the footprint or profile of that which is in the seat. The flexible potentiometers supply a signal through circuitry to enable or disable an air bag system in the vehicle. The air bag system operates under selected conditions such as what may be experienced in a crash of the vehicle to deploy the air bag to preclude movement of a seat occupant into vehicle structure.

System for measuring parameters related to automobile seat

A system selectively completes a horn circuit through which electrical power is provided to a horn in an automobile. A relay is connected to a power supply and completes the horn circuit when a current signal passing through the relay has at least a threshold magnitude. A relay driver is selectively activated by processing circuitry. When it is activated, the relay driver is in a conductive state, and when it is not activated, the relay driver is in a high impendance state. When the relay driver is in the conductive state, it places the relay in series with a low potential conductor thereby establishing the current signal at at least the threshold magnitude. The processing circuitry is electrically connected to a manually actuated sensor, which may be a flexible potentiometer. The processing circuitry activates the relay driver when the manually actuated sensor is actuated. The processing circuitry receives electrical power from the relay when the relay driver is in the high impendance state, but receives essentially no electrical power from the relay when the relay driver is in the conductive state. While the processing circuitry receives essentially no electrical power from the relay, the processing circuitry momentarily places the relay driver in the high impendance state so that the processing circuitry may receive electrical power from the relay and determine whether the manually actuated sensor is still actuated. An auxiliary power supply provides electrical power to the processing circuitry while electrical power is not received from the relay.

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Pleasant Grove, UT, United States of America

Cesar A Montano