Determining various parameters e.g. weight, height or posture of seated person for designing vehicle airbag systems - includes subdividing surface of seat into two or more sections and determining position of active weight barycentre in each section so that this information can be programmed in a microprocessor

摘要

The procedure consists of subdividing the surface of the seat (4) into at least two sections and determining the position of the active weight barycentre in each section, deducing the parameters of the seated person from the data obtained. The apparatus used for the procedure consists of a detector (2) of the forces applied to the surface of the seat, made up of a series of active surfaces in the form of strips (81, 82, 83) situated on either side of and parallel to a central dividing line. The active surfaces are fed with an electrical voltage in a potential gradient through a series of resistances branched in series so that the assembly of the active surfaces represents a linear potential. Each active surface incorporates a number of sensors with an electrical resistance which varies as a function of the force applied to them.