Patent ID: 7185916

Claim:
A vehicle seat assembly adapted to be supported on a floor pan of a vehicle, said assembly comprising: a plurality of rails arranged into rail pairs, wherein at least one rail pair defines a mounting rail and a triggering rail, wherein one of said mounting rail and said triggering rail is supported on the floor pan of the vehicle and the other of said mounting rail and said triggering rail is adapted to support a seat cushion, and wherein said mounting rail and said triggering rail are moveably supported relative to each other; and a field effect sensor operatively supported by said mounting rail such that said field effect sensor can be positioned in a first range of positions as well as a second range of positions relative to the triggering rail; a mounting bracket with a first surface, said mounting bracket adapted to operatively support said field effect sensor relative to said surface, said mounting bracket also adapted to be operatively supported by said mounting rail; and said field effect sensor defining a sensing area which is smaller than said first surface of said mounting bracket, said field effect sensor adapted to emit an electric field and to detect disruption of said electric field, wherein said field effect sensor detects disruption of said electric field when said field effect sensor is positioned in said first range of positions.