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:
Jan. 21, 2003
Filed:
Feb. 07, 2001
George B. Wolfe, Plymouth, MI (US);
TRW Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
A vehicle has a seat ( ) for a vehicle occupant and a vehicle floor pan ( ). An apparatus ( ) includes a vehicle seat frame ( ) for supporting a load of the vehicle occupant and a weight sensing mechanism ( ) for sensing the load. The weight sensing mechanism ( ) includes a parallelogram linkage ( ), a sensor lever ( ), and a sensor ( ). The parallelogram linkage ( ) includes a first beam ( ) and a second beam ( ) parallel to the first beam ( ). The beams ( ) have adjacent interconnected first ends ( ) that receive the load of the vehicle occupant and adjacent interconnected second ends ( ) that transmit the load of the vehicle occupant to the vehicle floor pan ( ). The beams ( ) bend in response to the load of the vehicle occupant. The sensor lever ( ) is interposed between the beams ( ) and deflects upon bending of the beams ( ). The sensor ( ) senses the deflection of the sensor lever ( ) and provides an output signal indicative of the amount bending of the beams ( ).