JP2002337588A - Occupant detector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an occupant detector capable of precisely and easily detecting the load of a seated occupant to thereby discriminate whether the occupant is the child or grown-up. SOLUTION: The occupant detector is provided with an assembly lever unit 11 constituted by a plurality of load detecting levers 12A extended from an end part 12B disposed in a corner position of the lower end of a seat to a lower central part 11D of the seat, seat fixing parts 18 mounted at predetermined positions from the respective end parts 12B on the levers 12A for fixing the seat, and a load sensor 19 disposed on the lower side of the assembly lever unit 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an occupant detection device which accurately and easily detects a load applied to a seated occupant and determines whether the occupant is a child or an adult.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An airbag device is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile to sense an impact at the time of a collision and inflates the airbag to protect an occupant. It is installed.

[0003] An adult is not always seated in the passenger seat, and there is a risk that an airbag will be pressed when a child sits in the passenger seat and an accident occurs.

[0004]

For this reason, there is an airbag device which determines whether a passenger sitting in a passenger seat of a vehicle is a child or an adult, and controls the operation of an airbag in the event of a collision. It is scheduled to be implemented from 2003. This airbag device activates the airbag with normal pressure when an adult is seated, and does not activate the airbag when a child is seated, or activates the airbag with weak pressure. It is. The occupant detection device used in this airbag device, which determines whether the occupant is an adult or a child, currently detects the height at which the backrest exerts a force using a capacitance-type sensor, or a bag incorporated in the front seat. Although there is a system for measuring and judging the pressure of the liquid confined in the system, there is no established system which is satisfactory due to high price or poor accuracy.

There is also an occupant detection device which measures an occupant's weight by various methods such as a conductive rubber type, a pressure resistance type and a strain gauge type to determine whether it is an adult or a child. Has not yet been established. 1. The position where the occupant sits on the seat is not constant, and it must be possible to detect the same load regardless of how and where the occupant sits in the seat. However, for that purpose, an extremely complicated structure is required. 2. In case of strain gauge type, support the sheet 4
It is possible to detect a constant load regardless of the sitting position by attaching a gauge to the metal fittings of the location and averaging the signals, but it is possible to protect the strain gauge so that it can withstand the harsh use environment, It is necessary to incorporate an amplifier circuit in order to prevent noise, but it is difficult to secure this space, to perform initial distortion processing by the incorporation, and to compensate for variations in individual sensor sensitivities.
3. It is conceivable to detect the load by incorporating four load cells at the four points supporting the seat, but this is too expensive and is difficult to put to practical use.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an occupant detection device that accurately and easily detects a load by a seated occupant and determines whether the occupant is a child or an adult.

[0007]

Therefore, the occupant detection device of the present invention comprises a plurality of levers for load detection which extend from the ends located at the corner positions at the lower end of the seat to the central portion below the seat. The assembled lever unit, a sheet fixing portion provided on the lever bar at a predetermined position from the respective ends to fix the sheet, and a load sensor provided below the assembled lever unit. And

In the assembly lever unit, the plurality of load detecting lever bars are connected to each other at the center.

[0009] Further, the sheet fixing portion is provided in parallel with a front-rear direction line of the sheet for each of the sheet fixing portions provided on the left and right of the lever bar.

Further, a pin fixed to the lever is used for the sheet fixing portion.

In the assembly lever unit, an extension lever is attached to the central portion, and the load sensor is installed below a tip end of the extension lever.

Further, in the assembly lever unit, an overload prevention mechanism is provided below the central portion.

Further, in the assembly lever unit, the load sensor is installed in a contact structure.

Further, the assembly lever unit is provided with a downward pulling mechanism at the central portion.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a structural view of an occupant detection device 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is an occupant detection device 10 according to the present invention attached to a front seat 20 for a vehicle. FIG. 1B is a plan view of an occupant detection device 10 according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1A, a front seat 20 includes a seat 21, a seat back 22,
1 and a slide rail 24B comprising a slider 24A and a slide rail 24B.
And two left and right slide mechanisms 24 fixed to the floor 1 of the vehicle.
4A is fixed downward, and the seat frame 23 is fixed upward. The load sensor 19 of the occupant detection device 10
It is attached to a transverse bracket 17 fixed between the sliders 24A below the assembly lever unit 11.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the occupant detection device 1
0 is an end 1 on the left and right sliders 24A with respect to the front F of the vehicle.
2B, each of which has two trapezoidal lever units 11 with left and right lever rods 12A extending toward the central part 11D.
A and 11B are formed, and the lever units 11A and 11B are connected to each other by the connecting bracket 11C at the central portion 11D to assemble the assembled lever unit 11. Below the central portion 11D of the assembled lever unit 11, the left and right sides of the vehicle front F are located. A load sensor 19 is mounted on a transverse bracket 17 fixed between the sliders 24A.

The assembly lever unit 11 includes a slider 24A.
L-shaped bracket 13 fixed to the
3 and a pin 14 attached to the end portion 12B, so as to be rotatable vertically.

The seat frame 23 is provided with each pin 1
Pins 16 are provided on the assembly lever unit 11 at positions separated by a predetermined dimension A from 4 and are attached via the seat frame bracket 15 and the pins 16. The seat frame bracket 15 and the pins 16 constitute a seat fixing portion 18. It is preferable that the ratio of the dimension A to the dimension B in the horizontal direction between the pin 14 and the central portion 11D be in the range of 1: 5 to 1:20 for load detection.

Referring to the ratio between the dimension A and the dimension B, generally, such a measuring range is approximately 150 kg.
However, sensors with large full scale are generally expensive. Also, if a sensor having a too small measurement range is used after being amplified excessively, the value becomes unreliable, and the amplification ratio becomes 5
20 times at most is desirable. In this case, an easily available and inexpensive full scale sensor of 7 to 30 kg can be used.

The occupant detection device 10 includes a front seat 20.
When the occupant is seated on the vehicle and the load of the occupant is applied to the four pins 16 via the seat 21 and the seat frame 23, the assembled lever unit 11 moves to the central portion 11D having the coupling bracket 11C with the four pins 14 as fulcrums. After moving downward, the load sensor 19 detects the load. The assembling lever unit 11 receives loads from the pins 16 of the four seat fixing portions 18, and the total load concentrates on the central portion 11D. The downward movement of the central portion 11D causes the load sensor 19 to detect the load by the occupant. Therefore, even if the seating position and posture of the occupant are different, it is possible to accurately detect the load and determine whether the passenger is an adult or a child based on the detected load.

Since the pins 16 are used for the seat fixing portion 18, it is possible to prevent the front end of the seat frame 23 from being pulled up by the load applied to the seat back 22.

Further, since the load sensor 19 is installed in a contact structure below the central portion 11D of the assembly lever unit 11, even if a horizontal force is generated in the seat frame 23, the load sensor 19 performs measurement with high accuracy. be able to.

The center part 11 of the assembly lever unit 11
In the case where D and play of the load sensor 19 become a problem, if a tension is applied to the central portion 11D of the assembly lever unit 11 using a coil spring 19A serving as a traction mechanism, accurate measurement can be performed by the contact structure.

Further, the four seat fixing portions 18 are installed in parallel with the front and rear direction lines of the seat 21 in the vehicle front F direction, two by two for each lever unit 11A, 11B, so that the force applied to the seat back 22 The measurement accuracy can be improved by eliminating the rising of the tip.

As described above, the occupant detection device 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes the assembly lever unit 11 and the load sensor 1.
According to FIG. 9, even if the seating position and posture are different, the load by the occupant can be accurately detected with the simple structure of one load sensor 19, and it can be determined whether the detected load is an adult or a child.

FIG. 2 is a structural view of an occupant detection device 30 according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2A is a plan view of the occupant detection device 30 according to the present invention. B)
2 shows a DD cross-sectional view of the occupant detection device 30 according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the occupant detection device 30
The lever unit 31A on the right side and the lever unit 31B on the left side with respect to the front F of the vehicle constitute an assembled lever unit 31. The extension lever 3 is provided at the center 31D of the lever unit 31B.
2 is horizontally fixed through the through hole 33 of the lever unit 31A, and the load sensor 39 is provided below the distal end of the extension lever 32.
Is installed.

Even in the case of the occupant detection device 30, the seat 2
1 (see FIG. 1) is close to the pin 34 so that the displacement of the seat 21 itself is small.

In the occupant detection device 30, when the load of the occupant is applied to the four pins 36, the center portion 31D of the assembly lever unit 31 moves downward with the four pins 34 as fulcrums. The assembling lever unit 31 receives the load with the four pins 36, and the total load concentrates on the central part 31D, and the central part 3D.
The downward movement of 1D causes the distal end of the extension lever 32 to move downward and the load sensor 39 to detect the load by the occupant. Therefore, even if the occupant's seating position or posture is different, the load sensor 39 can be mounted at any position. It is possible to accurately detect the load and determine whether the detected load is an adult or a child.

As described above, the occupant detection device 30 according to the second embodiment of the present invention comprises a load sensor 39 that can be attached to an arbitrary position with the assembly lever unit 31 even if the seating position and posture are different. With the simple structure of 19, the load by the occupant can be accurately detected, and it can be determined whether the detected load is an adult or a child.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an occupant detection device 40 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the occupant detection device 40
Right lever unit 41A and left lever unit 41
And B, an assembling lever unit 41 is formed. The extension lever 42 is horizontally fixed to the center portion 41D of the lever unit 41B through the through hole 43 of the lever unit 41A, and a load sensor 49 is installed below the tip of the extension lever 42. I do.

Below the central portion 41D of the assembly lever unit 41, the overload prevention mechanism of the load sensor 49 is provided to prevent the movement of the center portion 41D of the assembly lever unit 41 even if the assembly lever unit 41 is overloaded. Overload prevention member 48
Is installed.

In the occupant detection device 40, when the central portion 41D moves downward due to the load of the occupant, the distal end of the extension lever 42 moves downward, and the load sensor 49 detects the load by the occupant. Since the load sensor 49 is prevented from being overloaded by the member 48, even if the occupant's seating position or posture is different, a stable and accurate load can be detected at any mounting position of the load sensor 49, and the detected load is used. You can make an adult or child decision.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an occupant detection device 50 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the occupant detection device 50
A lever unit 51A on the right side and a lever unit 51B on the left side with respect to the front of the vehicle constitute an assembled lever unit 51, and an extension lever 5 is provided at a central portion 51D of the lever unit 51B.
2 is fixed horizontally through the through hole 53 of the lever unit 51A, and a spring 59 is provided below the distal end of the extension lever 52.
A load sensor 59 is installed via A.

Below the central portion 51D of the assembly lever unit 51, a mechanism for preventing the center portion 51D of the assembly lever unit 51 from moving even if an overload is applied to the assembly lever unit 51 to prevent the load sensor 59 from overloading. Overload prevention member 58
Is installed.

When the center portion 51D moves downward due to the load of the occupant, the tip of the extension lever 52 moves downward, and the load sensor 59 detects the load by the occupant. The member 58 prevents the load sensor 59 from being overloaded and the spring 59A maintains the relationship between the extension lever 52 and the load sensor 59 in close contact at all times. Also, it is possible to detect a stable and accurate load at an arbitrary mounting position of the load sensor 59 with a simple structure and determine whether the load is an adult or a child based on the detected load.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an occupant detection device 60 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, the occupant detection device 60
Lever unit 6 with a U-shape on the right side of the front of the vehicle
1A and a lever unit 61B having a U-shape on the left side constitute an assembly lever unit 61, and a load sensor 69 is installed below a central portion 61D of the assembly lever unit 61.

The occupant detection device 60 includes a lever unit 61.
A and 61B are U-shaped for easy processing, and when the central portion 61D moves downward due to the load of the occupant, the load sensor 69 detects the load by the occupant. The load can be detected, and it can be determined whether the child is an adult or a child based on the detected load.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an occupant detection device 70 according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, the occupant detection device 70
An assembled lever unit 71 having an end portion 72B formed in an X-shape by four lever rods 72A rotatable in the vertical direction with respect to the slider 24A, and a load sensor installed below a central portion 71D of the assembled lever unit 71. 79.

The occupant detection device 70 includes the assembly lever unit 7
1 is a simple structure composed of four lever rods 72A,
When the central portion 71D moves downward due to the load of the occupant, the load sensor 79 detects the load by the occupant. Therefore, even if the seating position or posture of the occupant is different, the load is accurately detected, and whether the adult or child is detected by the detected load. You can make a decision.

It should be noted that the load sensors 19, 3
9, 49, 59, 69 and 79 can use not only strain gauge type but also all types of load sensors.

[0048]

The occupant detection device according to the present invention is an assembled lever unit composed of a plurality of levers for load detection, each extending from an end located at a corner position at the lower end of the seat to a central portion below the seat. And a seat fixing portion provided on the lever bar at a predetermined position from the respective end portions to fix the seat, and a load sensor provided below the assembled lever unit, so that a seating position is provided. Even if the posture is different, the load by the occupant can be accurately detected with a simple structure, and it can be determined whether the detected load is an adult or a child.

Further, in the assembled lever unit, since the plurality of load detecting lever bars are connected to each other at the central portion, the load by the occupant can be detected more reliably, and whether the adult or child is detected by the detected load. Can be determined.

Further, since the seat fixing portion is provided in parallel with the front-rear direction line of the sheet for each of the sheet fixing portions provided on the left and right of the lever bar, the force applied to the seat back causes Lifting can be eliminated and measurement accuracy can be improved.

Further, since the seat fixing portion uses a pin fixed to the lever bar, even if a force is applied to the seat upward, the seat is prevented from floating and can receive the load by the occupant.

In the assembly lever unit, an extension lever is attached to the center and the load sensor is installed below the tip of the extension lever. Therefore, the degree of freedom of the attachment position of the load sensor is increased. The load by the occupant can be detected.

Also, in the assembly lever unit, an overload prevention mechanism is provided below the central portion.
Even if the seat is overloaded, damage can be prevented, and the load can be detected by the occupant.

Further, since the load sensor is installed in a contact structure in the assembly lever unit, the bending moment and the lateral load by the assembly lever unit are not applied to the load sensor, so that the measurement accuracy can be maintained.

Further, since the assembly lever unit is provided with a downward pulling mechanism at the center portion, the play between the assembly lever unit and the load sensor can be reliably eliminated, and the detection accuracy can be further improved. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural view of an occupant detection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (A) is a side view of the occupant detection device according to the present invention attached to a vehicle front seat; FIG. 1B is a plan view of the occupant detection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a structural view of an occupant detection device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 (A) is a plan view of the occupant detection device according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of an occupant detection device according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an occupant detection device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an occupant detection device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an occupant detection device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an occupant detection device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 Occupant detection device 11, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71 Assembled lever unit 11A, 11B, 31A, 31B, 41A, 41B, 5
1A, 51B, 61A, 61B Lever unit 11C Connecting bracket 11D, 31D, 41D, 51D, 61D, 71D Central part 12A, 72A Lever rod 12B, 72B End part 14, 16, 34, 36 pin 18 Sheet fixing part 19, 39 , 49, 59, 69, 79 Load sensor 20 Front seat 21 Seat 22 Seat back 23 Seat frame 24A Slider 24B Slide rail 24 Slide mechanism 32, 42, 52 Extension lever 48, 58 Overload prevention member 59A Spring

Claims (8)

[Claims] An assembly lever unit comprising a plurality of load detection lever rods each extending from an end located at a corner position at a lower end of the seat to a central portion below the seat;
An occupant detection comprising: a seat fixing portion provided on the lever bar at a predetermined position from the respective end portions to fix the seat; and a load sensor provided below the assembled lever unit. apparatus. 2. The occupant detection device according to claim 1, wherein in the assembly lever unit, the plurality of load detection lever bars are connected to each other at the central portion. 3. The sheet fixing portion according to claim 1, wherein the sheet fixing portion is provided in parallel with a front-rear direction line of the sheet for each of the sheet fixing portions provided on the left and right of the lever bar. Occupant detection device. 4. The occupant detection device according to claim 1, wherein the seat fixing portion uses a pin fixed to the lever bar. 5. The assembly lever unit according to claim 1, wherein an extension lever is attached to the central portion, and the load sensor is installed below a tip portion of the extension lever.
Alternatively, the occupant detection device according to claim 2. 6. The occupant detection device according to claim 5, wherein the assembly lever unit is provided with an overload prevention mechanism below the central portion. 7. The occupant detection device according to claim 1, wherein the assembly lever unit has the load sensor installed in a contact structure. 8. The occupant detection device according to claim 1, wherein the assembly lever unit is provided with a downward pulling mechanism at the central portion.