Patent ID: 7212894

Claim:
An occupant detecting device comprising: plural cells provided at a seating part of a vehicle seat and defined by an array of rows in a width direction of the vehicle seat and columns in a cross direction of the vehicle seat for detecting partial pressures of the seating part; a pad provided in the seating part of the vehicle; a peak row detecting means for calculating a total partial pressure of a predetermined number of rows continuing in a column direction and for defining as a peak row any row of the predetermined number of rows having a maximum total; a lateral width calculating means for calculating each total of the partial pressures of cells per column in the predetermined number of rows, for comparing the obtained total of the partial pressures per column to a predetermined width threshold per column, and for obtaining the lateral width by counting the number of the column in which the total pressure exceeds the corresponding predetermined width threshold per column; a determining means for determining a condition of the vehicle seat on which a passenger is sitting based on a comparison result between the obtained lateral width and a lateral width threshold; a temperature sensor for detecting temperature of the seating part of the vehicle seat; and a correcting means for correcting at least one of either the obtained lateral width or the lateral width threshold based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor in consideration of change of hardness of the pad being influenced by temperature change.