Spring sensor assembly for a vehicle seat cushion

DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a sensor assembly for use in vehicle seat cushions for detecting the presence of an occupant.
The sensor assembly includes a first member defining an internal bore.
A second member has a portion slidably disposed in the bore of the first member.
The first member is movably mounted relative to the first member about an axis.
The assembly further includes a spring biasing the first member relative to the second member.
A sensor device is mounted in one of the first and second members.
The invention also includes a method of assembling a sensor assembly in which different springs may be used with common housing architecture such that various different sensors can be formed by simply altering the springs of the assembly.
A first sensor assembly is provided having first and second members movably mounted relative to one another.
One of a plurality of springs is selected having different spring constants.
One of a plurality of springs is installed in the sensor assembly, such that the spring biases the first member relative to the second member.
A sensor device is installed in one of the first and second members.
The sensor assembly is then mounted onto a mat adjacent a hall effect sensor attached to the mat.
The mat can then by installed on a vehicle seat cushion.
A second sensor assembly can then be created by providing a second sensor assembly including first and second members having the same dimensions as the first and second members of the first sensor assembly.
Another one of a plurality of springs is selected having a different spring constant than the spring installed in the first sensor assembly.
Instead of installing different springs, the present invention also includes a method assembling a sensor assembly in which different magnets may be used with common housing architecture such that various different sensors can be formed by simply altering the magnets having different gauss characteristics.
Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings