Patent ID: 6253134
Filing Date: 2001-06-26
Classification: B60N,B60R,G01S

Abstract:
A seated-state detecting unit for ascertaining the identity of an object in a seat in a passenger compartment of a vehicle, comprising:a wave-receiving sensor arranged to receive waves from a space above the seat and generate an output representative of the received waves;weight measuring means associated with the seat for measuring the weight applied onto the seat and generating an output representative of the measured weight applied onto the seat; andprocessor means for receiving the outputs from said wave-receiving sensor and said weight measuring means and for evaluating the seated-state of the seat based thereon to determine whether the seat is occupied by an object and if the seat is occupied by an object, to ascertain the identity of the object in the seat by determining whether the object is likely to be one of a predetermined set of objects based on the outputs from said wave-receiving sensor and said weight measuring means.