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:
Jan. 10, 2001
Osamu Fujimoto, Nisshin, JP;
Minoru Izawa, Okazaki, JP;
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota, JP;
Abstract
According to the invention, the presence of a child seat mounted on a vehicle seat or the presence of a passenger seated in the vehicle seat is determined automatically. A child seat detecting apparatus incorporated into a vehicle seat is provided with a plurality of load sensors comprising stress sensors or the like, and a determining function for monitoring a relative change of each load detected by each load sensor and determining whether a child seat is mounted on the vehicle seat or whether a passenger is seated in the vehicle seat by the difference of the change of each load. Accordingly, this child seat detecting apparatus makes it possible to accurately determine whether a child seat is mounted on the vehicle seat or whether a person of small stature yet who does not require a child seat is seated in the vehicle seat.