US 5901978

Patent Overview — US 5,901,978 A

Title: Method and apparatus for detecting the presence of a child seat.

Patent number / application: US 5,901,978 A; application US 09/084,641.

Assignee: Automotive Technologies International Inc. (original assignee; a 2010 assignment to the same-named entity is recorded, assigning inventors Breed, DuVall, and Johnson).

Inventors: David S. Breed, Wilbur E. DuVall, Wendell C. Johnson.

Key dates (as listed):

• Prior art date / priority date: 1994-05-09 (the text labels these as assumptions, not legal conclusions)
• Filing date: 1998-05-26
• Publication/grant: 1999-05-11
• Anticipated expiration: 2014-05-09
• Legal status: Expired – Fee Related

External priority claims noted: from US 08/640,068 (1996-04-30, patent US5829782A) and US 09/047,704 (1998-03-25, patent US6116639A).

Purpose and plain-language scope: The patent concerns detecting whether a child seat is present in a vehicle, based on the supplied prior-art keywords — "seat," "contents," "vehicle," "signal," "occupant" — and classification entries covering child seats with detection or alerting means responsive to presence or absence of children and to installation of child seats (e.g., B60N2/266, B60N2/268). In ordinary terms, the invention appears directed to sensing whether a child seat occupies a vehicle seat and signaling that condition.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5901978/en (fetched 2026-09-22).

What this excerpt does not establish: The supplied text contains no claim language, abstract, or written description. Therefore it does not establish the actual claimed subject matter, the specific sensing technology used, how detection is performed, embodiments, or the precise scope of the invention. It also does not contain the full text (the excerpt notes omitted material). No conclusions are drawn here regarding litigation, ownership validity, or prior art.