Patent ID: 7518073

Claim:
A vehicle occupant sensing system adapted for detecting a condition of a vehicle seat assembly, said vehicle occupant sensing system comprising: at least one emitter; at least one sensor disposed in spaced relationship to said emitter and operable to detect relative distance to said emitter to thereby detect the condition of the vehicle seat assembly; and at least one sensor assembly with a base and an upper slide member slidingly supported for movement toward and away from said base, said base including a base guide extending toward said upper slide member and defining a rim on the terminal end of said base guide, a contamination barrier member including a ring and a skirt, said ring attached to said upper slide member and extending over said base, said skirt generally extending from the outer periphery of said ring toward said base so as to partially surround and enclose said rim of said base when said upper slide member is in its fully extended position away from said base to thereby block contaminants from entering said sensor assembly, and wherein at least one of said emitter and said sensor is supported by said upper slide member.