Steven E Davidson

US Patent:

6539771, Apr 1, 2003

Filed:

Oct 11, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/768691

Inventors:

Steven Lee Davidson - Carmel IN
Timothy Dean Garner - Kokomo IN
Samuel Joseph Parr - Kokomo IN
Ronald Lee Anderson - Kokomo IN
Keith Kendell Roberts - Noblesville IN
James O Anderson - Atlanta IN

Assignee:

Delphi Technologies, Inc. - Troy MI

International Classification:

G01G 1952

US Classification:

73 113

Abstract:

An air bag calibrator that is used to calibrate a plurality of seat sensors within a seat simultaneously. The calibrator uses controlled pressure contained within an air bladder and an air press cylinder to apply a controlled force across an entire seat surface that actuates all of the seat sensors in a consistent and repeatable manner, a major improvement over existing seat calibration methods. This is accomplished by loading a seat onto the calibrator, recording a baseline seat sensor value for each of the seat sensors, extending the air press cylinder to an extended position and applying a controlled force across the entire seat surface. The air pressure in the air bladder is then increased or decreased to a target pressure for a predetermined time, at which time an actuated seat sensor values for each of the seat sensors is recorded. A PODS controller in contained within the seat that is used for controlling the deployment of air bags in a crash situation is then calibrated as a function of the recorded baseline seat sensor values and the actuated seat sensor values.