Patent Application
20130328676
This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2012 011 506.7, filed Jun. 9, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
An output device with an output unit for issuing a warning notice, which device can be activated by means of a seat-occupancy sensor connected with a control device for activating the output unit, if a safety belt of a rear seat comprising a foldable back rest is not used.
The U.S. Pat. No. 7,192,089 describes a rear seat which is equipped with a seat occupancy sensor. This sensor triggers a warning notice if the seat is occupied by a person who has not applied the safety belt. If, however, the back rest of the rear seat is folded over so that the back rest lies on a seat surface, it can happen that the warning notice is unintentionally triggered because the back rest presses on the seat surface but the safety belt has not been applied because of a folded-over back-rest.
In addition, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.
Accordingly, one aspect of the present disclosure is to avoid triggering of the warning notice for a folded-over back rest and unused safety belt.
In one exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure provides an output device with an output unit for issuing a warning notice, wherein the output device comprises a seat occupancy sensor which is connected with a control device for activating the output unit and which is designed, in case a safety belt on a rear seat comprising a foldable back rest has not been applied, to activate the output unit via the control device, and wherein the output device comprises a switch or a button which is designed to block activation of the output unit via the control device, when the back rest is not in a sitting position. In this way triggering of a warning signal which normally should alert the occupants of a vehicle to the fact that a person sitting on the rear seat of the vehicle has not applied his/her safety belt, is suppressed when there is no person sitting on the rear seat, but the rear seat is nevertheless subjected to a load. Such a load may, for example, be caused by the fact that the rear seat back rest is folded forward and resting on the rear seat thus pressing with its weight on the seat surface. In the exemplary embodiments according to the present disclosure these “false”, i.e. unfounded warning signals can thus be avoided, since they merely represent a nuisance to the occupants of the vehicle and may distract the driver from concentrating properly.
Whether the back rest is in a sitting position, i.e. in the upright position, can be detected by the switch or button on the basis of, for example, the angle of inclination of the back rest. To this end the switch or button according to one embodiment may be operated or triggered depending upon the angle of inclination of the back rest. If the angle of inclination, i.e. the angle between the back rest and the associated seat surface is less than a certain value of for example about 90° or about 80° measured clockwise from the seat surface to the back rest, the assumption can be made that there is no person on the rear seat. In case, however, the seat occupancy sensor registers that the rear seat is subject to a load, this load must be due to a cause other than a sitting person, for example the load could be due to a suitcase or some other load such as the folded-over back rest. Accordingly the output of a warning signal is blocked by an activation of the control device via the switch or button.
In order to enable the switch or button to be triggered or operated depending upon the angle of inclination of the back rest, the switch or button may be mounted on or in a hinge, on which the back rest is pivotably arranged on the rear seat.
In order to ascertain, whether the back rest is in a sitting position, a switch or button may be alternatively or additionally arranged on a locking mechanism with which the back rest can be arrested for leaning back, or may be configured to detect the sitting position depending upon whether the back rest is arrested by the locking mechanism. In other words, the switch or button on the locking mechanism can serve as a means for determining whether the back rest is arrested by the locking mechanism. If this is not the case, it can again be assumed that the respective rear seat is not occupied by a person, i.e. that nobody is sitting on the rear seat, which is the reason for issuing a signal by means of the switch or button to block the output unit. This means that no warning signal is issued even if the seat occupancy sensor indicates that the respective seat is occupied and no safety belt is applied.
The locking mechanism may generally be arranged on an inside wall of the motor vehicle or on a post in the interior or on a hat shelf.
In a further alternative the switch or button may be designed to be operated when the back rest has reached a certain point between its two end positions. For this purpose the switch or button may be located on or in the inside wall of a motor vehicle or in the hinge on which the back rest is pivotably arranged on the rear seat.
It is also possible alternatively or additionally, to use a switch which is a contactless switch, for example, such as a switch equipped with two sensors of which the first sensor is arranged in the back rest and the second sensor in the seat surface. As soon as the back rest when folded over forms a certain angle of inclination with the seat surface the output unit is deactivated by the switch.
The switch may be a micro switch or a micro button and/or a capacitive switch and/or an inductive switch and/or a reed switch. When the switch is implemented in this way it will fit into a very small space. The capacitive and/or inductive switches in particular can also detect the direction of movement thereof in addition to the angle of inclination of the back rest.
Conveniently the switch or button may be arranged between the seat occupancy sensor and the control device.
In order to reliably detect the warning notice, the output unit may issue an acoustic and/or a visual warning notice.
A person skilled in the art can gather other characteristics and advantages of the disclosure from the following description of exemplary embodiments that refers to the attached drawings, wherein the described exemplary embodiments should not be interpreted in a restrictive sense.
The various embodiments will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, and wherein:
The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure or the application and uses of the present disclosure. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background or the following detailed description.
In an alternative not shown other circuit arrangements are possible in principle, where release of the output unit is effected by the open switch, and where blocking of the output unit is effected by the closed switch.
In the exemplary embodiment shown here the switch 24 is preferably closed (as shown in
The switch 24 in this case is a micro switch which is operated by a locking mechanism 13. The locking mechanism 13 can click into place in the rear wall of the back rest 11. The locking mechanism 13 is fastened to a post 14 inside a motor vehicle (see
In a further exemplary embodiment shown in
In a further exemplary embodiment a switch 100 is integrated with an inside wall 101, here in the area of the C-column, and a bolt 102 which operates the switch 100, is present in the back rest 11 (see
While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2012 011 506.7 | Jun 2012 | DE | national |
