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:
Jul. 01, 2003
Filed:
Feb. 26, 2002
Charles A. Gray, Noblesville, IN (US);
Duane D. Fortune, Lebanon, IN (US);
Morgan D. Murphy, Kokomo, IN (US);
Phillip E Kaltenbacher, II, Kokomo, IN (US);
James F. Patterson, Greentown, IN (US);
Stuart S. Sullivan, Peru, IN (US);
Delphi Technologies, Inc., Troy, MI (US);
Abstract
An improved vehicle seat occupant weight estimation method detects weight applied to both the seat cushion and the floor forward of the seat, and increases the measured seat weight of the occupant to account for occupant weight off-loaded to the floor. Fluid-filled bladders or other sensors are arranged to detect occupant seat weight and the weight applied to the vehicle floor forward of the seat. Upon opening of a vehicle door or an off-to-on transition of the vehicle ignition switch, the seat and floor weight sensors are monitored to detect the presence of an occupant. When the seat becomes occupied, or whenever there is a large change in the measured seat weight, the seat and floor weight are recorded, the occupant weight is estimated according to the recorded seat weight, and the inflatable restraints are allowed or suppressed based on the estimated occupant weight. When a sustained occupant weight shift is detected, the estimated occupant weight is increased in proportion to the amount of weight shifting, but is limited to a maximum value based on the detected floor and seat weights.