Patent ID: 6454304
Filing Date: 2002-09-24
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
Apparatus comprising:seat belt webbing for restraining an object in a vehicle seat of a vehicle; a tongue connected to said seat belt webbing; a buckle which receives and latches said tongue; an anchor which connects said buckle to the vehicle, tension in said seat belt webbing acting on said buckle and said anchor, said buckle moving relative to said anchor as tension in said seat belt webbing increases; a sensor associated with the vehicle seat for sensing a sensed weight of the object in the vehicle seat; a seat belt tension sensor for sensing the tension in said seat belt webbing, said tension sensor comprising means for sensing the movement of said buckle relative to said anchor; and a controller for determining a computed weight of the object as a function of both the sensed weight and the tension in said seat belt webbing.