Patent ID: 6250671
Filing Date: 2001-06-26
Classification: B60R,G01G

Abstract:
A vehicle airbag control system for sensing the weight and position of an occupant in a vehicle seat and controlling an airbag, comprising:a) an airbag;b) airbag deployment means for deploying the airbag;c) a plurality of sensors, fixedly located in a weight path of the vehicle seat, the sensors located between a seat bottom and a vehicle floor, the sensors further located substantially near an outer perimeter of the seat, each sensor providing an electrical output signal representative of the weight applied by the vehicle occupant at the sensor location;(d) a seat zone located within the outer perimeter of the seat, the seat zone defined as a region of the seat which when the occupant is positioned within the seat zone the airbag can be safely deployed; and(e) controller means, connected between the airbag deployment means and the sensors for controlling deployment of the airbag in response to the electrical output signals, the controller means calculating a center of gravity of the seat occupant to locate the position of the occupant in the seat and determining if the center of gravity of the occupant is in a first position located inside the seat zone where the airbag is allowed to deploy or is in a second position located outside the seat zone where the airbag is prevented from deploying, the controller means calculates a seat inclination angle.