JP2000065658A - Seating sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an inexpensive seating sensor for detecting whether or not an occupant is in an automobile seat and controlling an airbag system. According to the present invention, a film sensor having a size approximately one-half of a seat is separated from a side end of the film sensor by a point inside a predetermined dimension as a starting point, and is separated from the starting point in parallel with the side end. Punched out in a continuous curve or straight line or a combination of these with the end point as the end point, open the inside and the outside punched out in a line around the side end as a plane, and if necessary, appropriately place This is a seating sensor characterized by being punched out as an air gap.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a seating sensor for identifying whether or not an occupant is sitting on an automobile seat.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent automobiles are equipped with an airbag device to ensure the safety of occupants in the event of an automobile collision. This airbag device is configured to protect not only the safety of the driver but also the occupant in the passenger seat. However,
In a conventional airbag system, for example, even when no one is seated in the passenger seat, the airbag in the passenger seat is automatically opened when a vehicle collides. Further, since the same pressure is applied to both the adult and the child occupying the passenger seat, an unexpected accident may occur when the child opens the airbag.

In order to solve such a problem, it is determined whether or not an occupant is in the seat, whether the occupant is an adult, a child, or a mere luggage. Systems for controlling the opening pressure have been developed. A seat sensor consisting of a film sensor is installed under the seat as a means to detect whether or not an occupant is in the seat, if it is on, whether it is an adult or a child, or luggage, etc., and the signal from this seating sensor A system for controlling an airbag has been developed.

In the film sensor, as shown in FIG. 4, conductive layers 3 and 4 are printed on a surface of a flexible insulating film such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with a conductive paint or a paint whose resistance changes with pressure. The two circuit boards 1 and 2 are arranged so that the conductive layers 3 and 4 are opposed to each other, and are adhered with the spacer 5 interposed therebetween, thereby forming the film sensor A. The spacer 5 is provided with a through hole 6 at a predetermined position. When pressure is applied to the film sensor A, the upper and lower conductive layers 3 and 4 come into contact with each other through the through hole 6 of the spacer 5 to be in a conductive state. , And pressure. The through holes 6 provided in the spacer 5 can be provided at a plurality of positions according to the purpose of use of the film sensor A.

[0005] In order to set a film sensor on an automobile seat (the film sensor set on the seat is hereinafter referred to as a seating sensor), the film sensor is buried in a cushion material forming the seat substantially in parallel with the seat surface. The system is installed so that the weight of the person is sensed as pressure and the presence or absence of sitting is output as an electric signal. If a paint whose resistance changes in accordance with a change in pressure is used as the conductive layers 3 and 4 of the film sensor, if a person is seated on the seat, there is movement, and if it is luggage, there is no movement. Can be determined by
Whether it is an adult or a child can be determined from the pressure distribution on the buttocks. By the way, whether the seated occupant is an adult or a child,
Since the distribution of pressure applied to the seating surface differs greatly depending on the person, such as differences in physique and weight, sitting in front of or behind the seat, a pressure detection part is placed over a wide area of the seat to reliably detect the occupant's seating There is a need to. FIG. 5 shows an example of a seating sensor B using a film sensor. As is clear from FIG. 5, the seating sensor B is arranged so that the pressure detecting portion (the through-hole 6 of the spacer 5) is distributed over substantially the entire surface of the seat (not shown).

The film sensor A is made of PE as described above.
It is composed of a plastic film such as a T film. When the seating sensor made of such a plastic film is embedded in the cushioning material of the seat, the deflection of the cushioning material due to the weight of the occupant is transmitted directly to the seating sensor B. Therefore, if the seating sensor cannot follow the deflection of the cushioning material, The sensor becomes wrinkled and may impair its role as a sensor. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5, the seating sensor B to be mounted on the seat is provided with a space 11 and an extension 12 in some places, and a space 13 is provided across a so-called hanging metal fitting for connecting a cushion material and a seat surface sheet. It has a shape.

[0007]

The above-mentioned seating sensor B is manufactured by punching out a rectangular film sensor A having a size equivalent to the area of a seat by press working or the like, as shown in FIG. Therefore, since the void 11 and the space 13 to be punched are discarded as waste, the price of the seating sensor B is the price of the film sensor A, that is, the price of the area of the film sensor equivalent to the size of the seat. Becomes For this reason, the price of the seating sensor is expensive. One way to reduce the price of the seating sensor is to simply reduce the size of the seating sensor.However, if it is made smaller, it becomes difficult to distinguish between adults and children or between people and luggage as described above. It was not possible to reduce the size and the cost could not be reduced.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention breaks the conventional situation and provides an inexpensive seating sensor. A film sensor approximately half the size of a seat is provided at a side end of the film sensor. From the starting point, a point inside the predetermined dimension is defined as a starting point, and a continuous line is punched out at a point separated from the starting point in parallel with the side end, and the inside and the outside punched in a line are separated from the side end. The seating sensor is characterized in that the seating sensor is opened as a center, and if necessary, is punched out as an air gap to form a planar shape.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a film sensor used in the present invention. The film sensor A has a rectangular shape (in some cases, a square shape) having a size of about の of an area of an automobile seat described later. As shown in FIG. 4, the film sensor A is composed of two circuit boards formed by printing circuits on the surface of a plastic film such as a PET film with a conductive paint such as a carbon-based or silver-based paste to form conductive layers 3 and 4. 1 and 2 are configured by inserting a spacer 5 having a plurality of through-holes 6 in the middle and bonding them together so that the circuits face each other. Reference numeral 7 designates a point P, which is a few centimeters away from the lower end 8 of the film sensor A, passes upward through the left half surface of the film sensor A in a staggered manner, moves to the right half surface when reaching upward, and forms a staggered right half surface. With a continuous curved or straight (or a combination of these) linear cuts down to
The end of the cut 7 is a point Q several centimeters before the lower end 8.
It has become. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the sensor is separated by the cutout 7 punched out in FIG. It will be in a spread state. The film sensor whose size has been increased in this manner is disposed as a seating sensor B on a vehicle seat. When the seating sensor B shown in FIG. 2 is embedded in the cushioning material of the seat, if the seating sensor B becomes wrinkled, a gap 11 is provided at an appropriate place as shown in FIG. It is needless to say that the work may be appropriately worked as necessary, for example, by providing a space 13 that straddles a suspension fitting (not shown) constituting the seat.

FIG. 3 shows the seating sensor B manufactured in FIG. 2 buried in a cushion material or the like. The seating sensor B thus used is embedded in the cushion material of the seat. Although the above embodiment has been described with respect to an example in which the film sensor is provided with a staggered cut to increase the size, the cut shape should be designed so that the pressure can be detected most efficiently according to the place where the sensor is used. Can be.

[0011]

As described above, the seating sensor of the present invention can detect and detect the pressure on the entire surface of the seat with a film sensor approximately half the size of the seat. The size and the distinction between people and luggage can be accurately determined, and the cost of the seating sensor is reduced to about half the amount of the film sensor used, and the size of the equipment for punching the film sensor is reduced, resulting in lower equipment costs. It has excellent effects such as being considerably cheaper than conventional ones.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a first step of manufacturing a seat sensor of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a second step of manufacturing the seat sensor of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the seat sensor of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a film sensor.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a conventional seat sensor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A Film sensor B Seating sensor 1 Circuit board 2 Circuit board 3 Conductive layer 4 Conductive layer 5 Spacer 6 Through hole 7 Cut 11 Void portion 12 Expansion allowance 13 Space portion

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F051 AA01 AB07 AC01 3B087 CD04 DE08 3B088 QA05 3D054 AA03 EE09 EE10 EE11 EE31 FF17 5G006 AA01 AZ01 FB14 FB29

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A film sensor having a size approximately half of a seat is defined as a starting point at a point inside a predetermined dimension from a side end of the film sensor, and a point separated from the starting point in parallel with the side end. Punched in a continuous curve or straight line or a combination of these with the end point as the end point, open the inside and the outside punched out in a line around the side end as a plane, and as appropriate, as necessary, as a gap A seating sensor characterized by being punched out.