Patent ID: 7217891
Filing Date: 2007-05-15
Classification: B60N,B60R,G01G,G01L

Abstract:
1. Capacitive apparatus for sensing occupant weight applied to a seating surface of a seat, comprising: a deflectable dielectric mat disposed between said seating surface and a frame of said seat; an elongate flexible circuit folded around said dielectric mat and supporting first and second sets of conductor strips in proximity to upper and lower surfaces of said dielectric mat, respectively, where said first and second sets of conductor strips periodically overlap in a direction perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of said dielectric mat to define a distributed array of capacitive load cells responsive to occupant weight applied to said seating surface; and capacitance measurement circuitry coupled to said conductor strips for measuring a capacitance of a selected capacitive load cell by coupling a measurement circuit to a pair of conductor strips that define the selected capacitive load cell.