US 6242701

US 6,242,701 B1 — Patent Overview

Title: Apparatus and method for measuring weight of an occupying item of a seat

Patent number: US6242701B1
Application number: US09/193,209
Inventors: David S. Breed, Wilbur E. DuVall, Jeffrey L. Morin
Original assignee: Automotive Technologies International Inc.
Current assignee (as listed): American Vehicular Sciences LLC
Priority date: 1995-06-07
Filing date: 1998-11-17
Publication/grant date: 2001-06-05
Legal status: Expired – Lifetime (anticipated expiration 2015-06-07)
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6242701/en

Purpose. The patent concerns an apparatus and method for measuring the weight of an occupying item of a seat. The keyword index associates the disclosure with a seat, strain, strain gage, weight, and occupying item. Related indexing terms include measurement, substrate, evaluation, mechanism, material, distribution, conditioning, and coupling, along with artificial neural networks and pattern recognition appearing in the description.

Plain-language scope. Drawing only on the supplied text, the invention relates to determining the weight of whatever occupies a seat (for example, a person) using strain-based sensing — notably strain gages — with the resulting measurement subject to evaluation. The specification's vocabulary indicates that weight data may involve a substrate, a distribution of loading, conditioning or coupling of signals, and computational processing such as calculation algorithms, correlation functions, and neural-network or pattern-recognition techniques. The priority chain links this patent to earlier applications (US08/474,783; US08/970,822; US09/128,490) and to later continuations, and the family shows foreign counterparts (GB, DE, AU, JP, PCT).

What the excerpt does not establish. The supplied text is a bibliographic and indexing excerpt, not the full specification or claims. It does not provide the actual claim language, the detailed description, drawings, or the specific prior-art references cited during prosecution. It does not establish the scope of any particular claim, the precise structure of the sensor apparatus, the exact algorithms disclosed, or which features are essential versus merely mentioned in the description. It states a legal status and assignee listing only as listed assumptions, not as legal conclusions, and provides no basis to assess validity, infringement, or the content of any litigation. No technical conclusions beyond the indexed terms and dates should be drawn.