Patent ID: 7120554
Filing Date: 2006-10-10
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
1. A method of indicating occupancy status of a vehicle seat based on a measure of seated weight, comprising the steps of: applying the measure of seated weight to a low-pass filter function having an adjustable time constant to form a filtered weight; establishing a weight threshold and a band about said weight threshold; setting said adjustable time constant to a first value that provides relatively fast tracking of the measure of seated weight by the filtered weight when at least one of the measure of seated weight and the filtered weight are outside said band; setting said adjustable time constant to a second value that is lower than said first value to provide relatively slow tracking of the measure of seated weight by the filtered weight when the measure of seated weight and the filtered weight are both within said band; and determining and indicating occupancy status of said seat based on a comparison of said filtered weight with said weight threshold.