Patent ID: 8269512

Claim:
A capacitive occupant sensor including a capacitive sensor mat that has a surface and is disposed in a seat cushion of a seat of a vehicle, the capacitive occupant sensor detecting an occupant on the seat based on a capacitance of the capacitive sensor mat, the capacitive occupant sensor comprising: a cushion member disposed on the surface of the capacitive sensor mat; and a floating electrode disposed on the cushion member and sandwiching the cushion member with the capacitive sensor mat, wherein a projected area of the floating electrode with respect to the surface of the capacitive sensor mat is smaller than the surface of the capacitive sensor mat, wherein the floating electrode is in an electrically-floating state with respect to the capacitive sensor mat, and wherein the occupant is detected based on an occupant capacitance between the capacitive sensor mat and the occupant and a floating capacitance between the capacitive sensor mat and the floating electrode; wherein when a center line is defined as a line bisecting the surface of the capacitive sensor mat in a left to right direction of the vehicle and extending in a front to rear direction of the vehicle that is perpendicular to the left to right direction, the cushion member and the floating electrode are disposed above a front portion of the surface of the capacitive sensor mat in the front to rear direction of the vehicle and are disposed above the center line.