The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 16, 1999
Filed:
Aug. 14, 1997
Craig W White, Grosse Pointe, MI (US);
Automotive Systems, Laboratory, Inc., Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Abstract
An occupant position sensing system (10) incorporates first (12) and second (42) position sensors, wherein the first position sensor (12) senses the distance to the surface of an object and the second position sensor (42) senses the electric-field-influencing properties of the object for purposes of controlling the activation of a safety restraint system (38). In an exemplary system, the first position sensor (12) incorporates either an infrared beam or an ultrasonic beam as the sensing element, and the second position sensor senses the capacitance of a plurality of electrodes (46) for either disabling an air bag inflator (38) if the combination of the first and second position measurements of an occupant (24) is within a threshold, or for controlling a controllable air bag inflator (38).