Patent ID: 7434481
Filing Date: 2008-10-14
Classification: B60N,G01G

Abstract:
1. Sensor apparatus for detecting the presence of a passenger on a seat, comprising: first and second rigid planar force translation plates disposed in said seat; joining means for joining said force translation plates in a manner that maintains them substantially parallel to each other while permitting movement of either force translation plate relative to the other in a direction perpendicular to said force translation plates; a set of springs disposed between said first and second force translation plates for exerting a bias force that biases said first and second force translation plates apart in said perpendicular direction; first and second conductor plates centrally affixed to inboard faces of said first and second force translation plates, respectively; and a control circuit responsive to a gap capacitance between said first and second conductor plates for detecting the presence of said passenger when a weight of said passenger overcomes the bias force of said springs.