Vehicle occupant sensing system

• Main Authors: REICH DAN, COOK, JR. CHARLES R, WITT PAUL, BRAUNWARTH HUBERT, QUAIL ALANNA, O'ROURKE DAN, CLARK JEFF, CLARK MARK, PETERSON LAUREN M
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 27.08.2002
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION ORRERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; MEASURING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL; VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISEPROVIDED FOR

A vehicle occupant sensing system includes a laser array that generates three beams. A first beam is directed toward an upper body zone, a second beam is directed toward a middle body zone, and a third beam is directed toward a lower body zone. A first sensor assembly receives reflection beams from the upper body zone and generates a first signal that represents a proportional amount of an occupant present in the upper body zone. A second sensor assembly receives reflection beams from the middle body zone and generates a second signal that represents a proportional amount of the occupant present in the middle body zone. A third sensor assembly receives reflection beams from the lower body zone and generates a third signal that represents a proportional amount of the occupant present in the lower body zone. The laser array and the first, second, and third sensor assemblies are all mounted within a common housing that is mounted to a vehicle structure such as an A-pillar or rear view mirror. A central processor receives the first, second, and third signals and combines the signals to generate a control signal representative of the position of the occupant within the vehicle. The control signal is used to control deployment of an airbag based on the position of the occupant within the vehicle.