Patent ID: 7308347

Claim:
Apparatus for estimating the weight of an occupant of a vehicle seat supported by a floor bracket, the apparatus comprising: a force sensor; a compliant force transfer mechanism interposed between said floor bracket and a mounting bracket of said seat, including first and second co-joined lever arms coupled to said floor bracket and said mounting bracket, where said lever arms terminate in first and second jaws that engage said force sensor, where said jaws exert a pre-load engagement force on said force sensor, and where occupant weight applied to said seat produces movement of said lever arms that increases said engagement force, whereby said force sensor produces an output signal indicative of said occupant weight,wherein said first lever arm is rotatably coupled to said mounting bracket and said second lever arm is rigidly secured to said floor bracket, and wherein said first and second lever arms are interconnected at an active joint adjacent said jaws and a passive joint that limits relative displacement therebetween; and overload means for limiting upward movement of said seat mounting bracket with respect to said floor bracket to prevent said seat from becoming detached from said floor bracket, said overload means including a vertically extending plate coupled to one of said brackets and spaced adjacent the other of said brackets for engagement thereof in response to a predetermined upward displacement of said seat.