A seat comprising a backrest; a seating portion connected to the backrest; and at least one measurement area defined on the backrest and/or on the seating portion, the at least one measurement area comprising at least one interdigital capacitive sensor capable of measuring a distance or a movement of a user occupying the seat.

The present invention relates to a capacitive device (2) in a motor vehicle for detecting the presence of an occupant inside the vehicle, said device comprising a first electrode (20) separated from a second electrode (21) by a dielectric material (22) so as to form a capacitive sensor, said capacitive sensor being arranged on a surface of a component of the vehicle, a voltage generator (23) arranged to generate an AC voltage between said first and second electrodes (20, 21), and a current measurement circuit (24) arranged to measure the current between the second electrode and an exposed conductive part of the vehicle, the presence of said occupant near said component being a function of the measured current.

A switch assembly for a vehicle seat belt buckle comprising a switch housing defining an interior and a pocket, a cable extending into the interior and including hook-shaped ends extending around posts in the interior of the switch housing. In one embodiment, the interior of the switch housing includes first and second posts positioned in a co-linear and spaced apart relationship and the hook-shaped ends face each other and extend around the first posts and abut against the second posts. In one embodiment, the Hall Effect sensor is positioned in the pocket of the switch housing in an inclined relationship.

A capacitive sensor includes: a substrate that is in the form of a sheet; and a sensor electrode that is capacitive and disposed on a frontside of the substrate. The sensor electrode is a conductive fabric made by applying a metal plating on a mesh fabric that is woven of a plurality of warps and a plurality of wefts and that has openings each formed by two adjacent warps among the plurality of warps and two adjacent wefts among the plurality of wefts. An area defined by a maximum outside diameter of a warp or weft is smaller than an area of an opening space of each of the openings.

A system for detecting improper usage of a seatbelt of a vehicle includes a vehicle seat having a seat cushion and a seat back. A shoulder belt and a lap belt are intended to restrain an occupant sitting on the vehicle seat. The system includes a sensor module associated with the shoulder belt and the lap belt. The sensor module generates signals indicative of at least one parameter associated with the vehicle seat, the shoulder belt, and the lap belt when the occupant is sitting on the vehicle seat. The system also includes a controller that receives the signals indicative of the at least one parameter associated with the seat back, the shoulder belt, and the lap belt. The controller analyzes the received one or more signals, and determines whether the seatbelt is being used improperly by the occupant, based on the analysis.

A switch assembly for a vehicle seat belt buckle comprising a switch housing defining an interior and a pocket, a cable extending into the interior and including hook-shaped ends extending around posts in the interior of the switch housing. In one embodiment, the interior of the switch housing includes first and second posts positioned in a co-linear and spaced apart relationship and the hook-shaped ends face each other and extend around the first posts and abut against the second posts. In one embodiment, the Hall Effect sensor is positioned in the pocket of the switch housing in an inclined relationship.

A control system for controlling operation of a vehicle system is described. The control system includes a trim cover textile configured to cover at least a portion of a vehicle component and having an electrically conductive element configured to provide a capacitive touch functionality. In response to a user touch, the electrically conductive element generates a signal representative of a user command for the vehicle system. The system also includes a control unit adapted to be provided in electrical communication with the electrically conductive element of the trim cover. The control unit is configured to receive the user command signal and, in response, generate a control signal to effectuate control of the vehicle system.

A self-standing sandwich structure includes at least one capacitive sensor member and/or at least one heater member for automotive vehicle application. The self-standing sandwich structure includes an upper protective layer that is attached, for manufacturing and storage purposes, to a carrier film member of sufficiently low surface energy for enabling separating the carrier film member and the upper protective layer in a non-destructive manner, a lower protective layer, a bottom adhesive layer that is attached to the lower protective layer, and at least an upper electrically conductive layer arranged between the upper protective layer and the lower protective layer.

A capacitive measuring system includes capacitive sensors and an evaluation circuit having a multiplexer, a synchronous rectifier, a sinusoidal signal generator, and a reference voltage divider. The capacitive sensors are acted on by a mono-frequency voltage signal generated by the sinusoidal signal generator, output signals of the capacitive sensors are transmitted in alternation to the synchronous rectifier via the multiplexer, and signal amplification of output signals of the synchronous rectifier are calibrated as a function of an activatable reference impedance. The synchronous rectifier is formed by a MOS semiconductor switch. A source-drain section of the MOS semiconductor switch forms a shunt that is controlled by the mono-frequency voltage signal. A channel of the multiplexer is provided for transmitting a calibration signal, generated by the reference voltage divider, to the synchronous rectifier alternately with the output signals of the capacitive sensors.

A computing device in a vehicle can be programmed to receive an occupant position measurement from at least one of an acoustic and a light sensor, determine an estimated occupant size based on occupant weight, estimate a vehicle seat position based on the occupant position measurement, and, control a vehicle occupant safety device based on the estimated occupant size and estimated vehicle seat position.