Denso Corporation

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Fujikura Limited

Toshio Hosokawa

Yusuke Muramatsu

Takekazu Terui

Mikihito Kojima

Hideyuki Hayakawa

Motomi Iyoda

Hiroyuki Takahashi

Yujiro Miyata

Yasuo Takemura

Shoichi Yamanaka

Kenji Morikawa

Ryotaro Kachu

Shinji Namba

Yuji Ishitani

Tetsumasa Kawaguchi

Hiroki Nishimura

In an apparatus for determining a build of an occupant sitting in a seat within a cabin of a vehicle, an image acquirer is configured to acquire an image of the occupant. A position-information calculator is configured to calculate shoulder-joint information that is information representing positions of left and right shoulder joints of the occupant in the image. A twisted-posture determiner is configured to determine whether the occupant is in a twisted posture based on the shoulder-joint information. An occupant-build determiner is configured to determine a build of the occupant based on the shoulder-joint information. The occupant-build determiner is further configured to, in response to the twisted-posture determiner determining that the occupant is in the twisted posture, cancel making a determination of the build of the occupant based on shoulder-joint information that was used to determine that the occupant is in the twisted posture.

Apparatus for determining build of occupant sitting in seat within vehicle cabin

An occupant detection apparatus includes a first camera and a second camera. The first camera is arranged in a passenger compartment of a vehicle to capture images within a first field of view in the passenger compartment. The second camera is arranged at a different position in the passenger compartment from the first camera to capture images within a second field of view in the passenger compartment. The second field of view is different from the first field of view. Moreover, the first camera is arranged within the second field of view which is the field of view of the second camera. On the other hand, the second camera is arranged within the first field of view which is the field of view of the first camera.

Occupant detection apparatus

A vehicular occupant determination apparatus includes a load detection portion, an occupant determination portion, an acceleration detection portion, a transition prohibition portion, a drive state detection portion, and a prohibition release portion. The load detection portion detects a load of a left part or a right part. The occupant determination portion determines occupant types, and maintains or transits a determination result. The transition prohibition portion sets a transition prohibition state when the acceleration is equal to or greater than a predetermined acceleration threshold. The prohibition release portion sets a prohibition release state when (i) the acceleration is equal to or greater than the acceleration threshold, and (ii) the prohibition release portion detects that the vehicle is in stop based on a detection value detected by the drive state detection portion, the transition prohibition state being released during the prohibition release state.

Vehicular occupant determination apparatus

Load sensors are disposed on four corners of a seat cushion. An occupant decision section of an occupant detection ECU decides a type of an occupant on a vehicle seat based on loads detected by the load sensors. A CRS changing section that prohibits the occupant decision section from changing a decision to a decision result that an adult is seated in the vehicle seat and changes the decision to a decision result that a child seat is attached on the vehicle seat when an engagement of a tongue plate with a buckle of a seat belt device is detected by a buckle switch and a buckle load calculated by buckle load calculation section is less than a predetermined buckling load threshold in a case where the occupant decision section decides that an adult is seated in the vehicle seat.

Occupant decision device for vehicle

A vehicular occupant determination apparatus includes a load detection portion, an occupant determination portion, an acceleration detection portion, a transition prohibition portion, and a transition permission portion. The transition permission portion detects whether an acceleration increases or decreases a load, and sets a transition permission state even during the transition prohibition state. In the transition permission state, a determination result of a first occupant type is permitted to transit to a determination result of a second occupant type with a smaller load than the load of the first occupant type when the acceleration increases the load, and the determination result of the first occupant type is permitted to transit to a determination result of a third occupant type with a greater load than the load of the first occupant type when the acceleration decreases the load.

An occupant determination apparatus includes a load sensor and a determination section. The load sensor detects a load of an occupant seated in a seat of a vehicle to provide the detected load as a load signal. The determination section determines presence or absence of the occupant and a physical size of the occupant by classifying the load signal into a subject class among a plurality of classes that are ordered from small to large according to the physical sizes based on predetermined threshold loads. The subject class is stored as a determined class. The determination section permits the determined class to transition from a present class to an immediately adjacent larger class when the load signal equal to or larger than a threshold load between the present class and the immediately adjacent larger class continues being received for a threshold time.

Occupant determination apparatus using load sensor

A load sensor detects a load of an occupant on a seat of a vehicle and provides a load signal. A determination section determines a physical size of the occupant by classifying the load signal into a subject class among a plurality of classes ordered from small to large based on threshold loads and performs an inter-class transition of the subject class from a transition source class into a transition destination class based on change of the received load signal. When (i) both the transition source class and the transition destination class belong to an airbag-inflating class that enables inflating of an airbag, and, simultaneously, (ii) the transition destination class is smaller than the transition source class and immediately adjacent to the transition source class, the determination section makes the determined class remain in the transition source class.

A seat has an occupant detecting function and is installed in a vehicle. The seat includes a seating portion, a capacitance sensor, a controller, and a supporting member. The seating portion is adapted to support buttocks and thighs of an occupant of the vehicle. The seating portion includes a seat cushion therein. The capacitance sensor is attached to the seating portion. The controller is installed to the seating portion and configured to apply a voltage to the sensor and to detect a value of an electric current, which passes through the sensor because of the voltage. The supporting member supports the controller from a lower side thereof in a vertical direction, such that the controller is rotatable about the supporting member when the seating portion is pressed by the occupant.

Seat having occupant detecting function and occupant detection device

An electronic device includes an electronic control unit, a wire, and a wiring-side connector. When a movable member is arranged in a first arrangement relative to a wiring-side connector main body, the movable member is in a position where the movable member does not prevent the wire from projecting from the main body to extend straight in a counter-fitting direction. When the movable member rotates from the first arrangement to a second arrangement relative to the main body, a restricting member approaches a portion of the main body from which the wire projects, to press and bend the wire, so a direction in which the wire projects from the main body is limited to a direction crossing the counter-fitting direction. When the movable member is arranged in the second arrangement and the main body is fitted to an ECU-side connector, the second arrangement is maintained.

Electronic device with a movable member that bends a wiring and prevents fitting of another connector in certain arrangements

A load detecting device includes a substrate, a load receiver arranged on a first face of the substrate, a load detecting element arranged between the substrate and the load receiver, and a supporting portion to support the substrate. The supporting portion is made of metal. The supporting portion is located to overlap with the load receiver in a direction approximately perpendicular to the substrate. The supporting portion has a plurality of projections contacting with a second face of the substrate opposite from the first face. The projections located adjacent to each other are distanced from each other through a trench.

Load detecting device including a load detecting element between a substrate and a load receiver and method of producing the same

A colliding object determination device for a vehicle having a bumper reinforcement member () includes a sensor () and a determination circuit (). The sensor () is located in a front portion of a vehicle for measuring a collision state quantity correlating with a collision load generated in a collision of a colliding body with the vehicle. The determination circuit () determines whether the colliding body is a pedestrian based on the measured collision state quantity. The sensor () is located on an upper half region of a front end face of the bumper reinforcement member (). Thus, accuracy of discriminating the pedestrian from other objects can be improved.

Colliding object determination device and collision information detector for vehicle

An obstacle discrimination device has a first detection unit, a second detection unit which is more resistant to damage than the first detection unit, and an obstacle discrimination ECU. The obstacle discrimination ECU performs at least one of a discrimination for determining whether or not an obstacle colliding with a vehicle is a lightweight obstacle and a discrimination for determining whether or not the obstacle is a heavyweight obstacle based on detection signals of the first detection unit, and performs a discrimination for determining whether or not the obstacle is the heavyweight obstacle based on detection signals of the second detection unit. The obstacle discrimination ECU sends instructions corresponding to discrimination results to a pedestrian protection device and the like of the vehicle.

Obstacle discrimination device and obstacle discrimination method

A casing is provided for a reflection measurement device emitting a scanning beam and receiving an echo beam caused by reflection of the scanning beam at an object, and detecting a distance to the object in response to the received echo beam. The casing has a window for conducting a beam, and a protective member being transparent to the beam and covering the window from an inside. A predetermined range through which the beam passes is provided in the window. An interval between a lower edge of the beam pass range and a lower edge of the window is greater than an interval between opposing edges of the beam pass range and the window which differ from the lower edges thereof.

Casing for reflection measurement device

A radar apparatus for automotive vehicles is provided which is designed to emit laser beams to scan a forward zone for detecting moving object such as preceding vehicles and a downward zone for detecting lane marks printed on a road surface for defining a traffic lane. The downward zone is wider than the forward zone horizontally. Each zone has a minimum width required for assuring desired accuracy of radar detection of an object, thereby minimizing the number of emissions of the laser beams, resulting in an increase in lifetime of a laser diode and production of unwanted data on roadside objects having a low probability that the vehicle will collide them. The apparatus also includes a light focusing mechanism which focuses the laser beam on a given area in the downward zone to increase the power density of a return of the laser beam.

Automotive radar detecting lane mark and frontal obstacle

A radar apparatus comprises a rotary polygon mirror with a plurality of mirror surfaces inclined at different angles. A semiconductor laser diode and a collimator lens are disposed above the polygon mirror. An infrared pulse beam emitted from the semiconductor laser diode is reflected by a reflection mirror disposed at an upper position in front of the polygon mirror to reflect the pulse beam obliquely downward toward the rotary polygon mirror so that the pulse beam is reflected as a transmission beam advancing toward a measuring area in a forward direction. A light receiving means receives the transmission beam returned from an object positioned within the measuring area.

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Anjo, Japan

Toshio Hosokawa