Device for detecting the occupation of a vehicle seat

Claim 1

Device for recognising seat occupancy in vehicles, in which a light emitter (101) directed at the seat as well as a detector (102) receives the reflections occurring on the seat or on the person located thereon, and evaluation takes place with a processor (202). characterised in that an arrangement (100) for detecting a linear or two-dimensional image of the seat is provided, consisting of: a) a plurality of light emitters (101) which are directed at the seat and which form a plurality of individual spots of light, in order to detect the contour of the seat in the form of spots of light, and b) a photodetector array (102) which is disposed at a defined distance from the seat, and on the receiving surfaces of which the individual spots of light over the surface of the seat are imaged, and the detected image is processed with the processor (202) in that , from the geometric association of the individual spots of light imaged on the surface of the seat, there is determined the contour of the seat, so that it is possible to distinguish between the seat being occupied by a person, by an object or not being occupied.