Patent ID: 7266471
Filing Date: 2007-09-04
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
1. A seat occupant identifying apparatus for a vehicle comprising: a right and a left sensor each of which is responsive to a change in preselected physical quantity acting on a seat of a vehicle which arises from occupancy of the seat by a passenger to provide an output indicative thereof, the right sensor being disposed on a right side of a bottom surface of the seat, the left sensor being disposed on a left side of the bottom surface of the seat; and a seat occupant identifying circuit working to identify whether the passenger on the seat is a first sized occupant of more than a specified physical size or not, when a total sensor output that is the sum of the outputs of said right and left sensors is greater than a first seat occupant threshold value, said seat occupant identifying circuit determining the passenger on the seat as the first sized occupant, when the total sensor output decreases below the first seat occupant threshold value after the passenger is identified as the first sized occupant, and only either one of the outputs of said right and left sensors is smaller than a second seat occupant threshold value, the second seat occupant threshold value being smaller than the first seat occupant threshold value, said seat occupant identifying circuit keeping determination that the passenger is identified as the first sized occupant, wherein the second seat occupant threshold value further includes a left second seat occupant threshold value corresponding to the left sensor, and a right second seat occupant threshold value corresponding to the right sensor, and wherein the left second seat occupant threshold value is different from the right second seat occupant threshold value to reflect an expected different lateral shift by the passenger.