The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.

Hiroyo Okamura

Takayuki Enomoto

Kyosuke Hashimoto

Naobumi Kuboki

Takuya Nishimoto

Shoichi Negami

A film pressure sensor to be interposed between a cover of an automotive seating equipment and a seat cushion material thereof and used suitably for measuring pressure to be applied to the seating equipment. A temperature sensing area ( ) for sensing the temperature of a pressure sensing area ( ) is formed on an insulating film ( or ) of the film pressure sensor ( ) using a substance whose electrical resistance changes depending on the temperature. Errors in pressure measurement to be caused by change in the temperature can be reduced or removed by utilizing the temperature determined by the temperature sensing area ( ).

Film pressure sensor

A passenger detecting apparatus determines the presence of a passenger or an object, such as a child seat, in a seat unit, estimates the weight of the passenger or determines the build of the passenger, thereby improving the usability of peripheral devices of a seat. The passenger detecting apparatus has a dielectric sensor ( ) and a pressure-sensitive sensor ( ) in a seat cushion ( ) and detects the presence of a passenger or an object on a seat based on their outputs, or has a dielectric sensor and a pressure-sensitive sensor in the seat cushion and a dielectric sensor ( ) in the back rest and an angle sensor ( ) for detecting an angle defined by the seat cushion and the back rest and determines the build of a passenger based on their outputs.

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Yokohama, Japan

Hiroyo Okamura