Abstract: A seat occupant sensing system has a plurality of variable resistance force sensors located between a rigid seat support member and the floor of the vehicle. The force transferred from the rigid seat support member to the floor of the vehicle passes through said variable resistance force sensors which sense the magnitude of the force transferred therethrough and generate a signal which is indicative of the force transferred therethrough resistance force sensors interposed between a rigid seat support member and a rigid seat pan member such that the weight supported by the seat pan member is transferred from the seat pan member to the seat support member via said at least one variable resistance force sensor which senses the magnitude of the weight transferred therethrough. A device, such as a microprocessor, processes a signal from the variable resistance force sensors to determine the weight that the rigid seat pan member is bearing.

Abstract: A vehicle horn and control function switch that has compensation for wide temperature variations and preloads from surrounding material due to manufacturing processes and material aging. Due to the very thin physical thickness of the force sensor, the switch is useful when the sensors are mounted on the hub of a vehicle steering wheel adjacent to an airbag assembly. The switch comprises a force sensor and a temperature sensor mounted in the hub of a steering wheel. The force sensor is connected to the input of an operational amplifier that has an offsetting input network and an amplifying feedback network that are controlled from a programmable microcontroller. The output of the operational amplifier and the temperature sensor are connected to the programmable microcontroller.

Abstract: A controller with a plurality of tactile sensors and a method of fabricating the controller is disclosed. The controller may be used for one, two or three parameter control in applications requiring manual user control of parameters such as temperature, volume, speed, direction and cursor position on a computer screen. The controller comprises two or more tactile sensors and a computing means. The centers of the tactile sensors are positioned at angles about a common center point. The computing means determines a magnitude and a direction of a resultant force from all the tactile sensors, using the force applied to each tactile sensor and the angle at which the center of each tactile sensor is oriented about a common center point. The configuration enables sensing applied force in two or more directions at angles from a common center point. Another parameter may be controlled based on the total force applied to all of the tactile sensors of the controller.