Seat with seat sensor

Details Seat with seat sensor Seat with seat sensor

1998-07-17

2002-08-06

Barfield, Anthony D. (Department: 3636)

Chairs and seats

Combined

With electrical feature

C297S452200

Reexamination Certificate

active

06428095

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a seat with a sheet-like sensor which detects whether an occupant is seated in the seat.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
A sensor for preventing malfunction of a passenger air bag is known, which is provided on the upper surface of a vehicle seat cushion.
FIGS. 5 and 6
are sectional views showing conventional examples each of which comprises a pad
1
′ and a sensor
2
′ bonded on the pad
1
′. For eliminating bad touch due to the presence of the sensor, a slab
3
of about 5 mm in thickness is bonded to cover the sensor
2
′ as shown in
FIG. 5
or a frame laminate
4
of 5 mm in thickness is provided as shown in FIG.
6
.
Such a conventional seat in which the sensor
2
′ is bonded and the slab
3
or the frame laminate
4
is provided to cover the sensor
2
′ has disadvantages in that many laminating steps are required and cost is increased due to the laminating.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to solve the above disadvantages and to provide a seat with a seat sensor which allows easy manufacture and substantially completely eliminates the bad touch due to the presence of the sensor.
A seat with a seat sensor of the present invention comprises a soft pad and a pressure sensitive sheet-like sensor for detecting a human body seated on the pad wherein the sensor is disposed inside the pad.
Since the sensor is disposed inside the pad, the aforementioned seat with the seat sensor can substantially completely eliminate bad touch due to the presence of the sensor and also eliminate the necessity of providing a slab and a laminate for covering the sensor, thereby allowing easy manufacture and reducing the manufacturing cost.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the pad is provided with a slit for the sensor formed from a side (any one of front, rear, right, and left sides) toward the center of the pad and the sensor is inserted into the slit.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the pad is provided with a cavity formed upward from the bottom of the pad, a soft member is inserted into the cavity, and the sensor is disposed between the top surface of the soft member and the ceiling of the cavity. In this case, the cavity may be formed in such a manner that the lower end thereof is narrower, thereby preventing the soft member from coming off.


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