CAPACITIVE VEHICLE SEAT OCCUPANCY DETECTION SYSTEM WITH DETECTION OF VEHICLE SEAT HEATER MEMBER INTERRUPTION

摘要

A capacitive detection system (10) for detecting occupancy of a vehicle seat comprises a signal generating unit (12) and a signal evaluation unit (18). The vehicle seat (26) comprises at least one seat heater member (36) configured for receiving time-varying output signals of the signal generating unit (12). The signal evaluation unit (18) is configured to generate an output signal that is indicative of the at least one seat heater member (36) to be defective, if the sensed capacitance of the at least one seat heater member (32) is less than a second predetermined threshold value (Cmin) for the sensed capacitance;