US 11,833,989 B1
Object detection systems for vehicles and methods of controlling airbags using object detection systems
Kenan Kurtovic, Troy, OH (US)
Assigned to Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US); and Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota (JP)
Filed by Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Plano, TX (US)
Filed on Aug. 3, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/880,000.
Int. Cl. B60R 21/015 (2006.01); B60R 21/205 (2011.01)
CPC B60R 21/01512 (2014.10) [B60R 21/205 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle comprising:
a vehicle structure comprising an airbag deployment location and an external skin layer that covers the airbag deployment location; and
an object detection sensor located on or covered by the external skin layer of a vehicle component and located within an object detection zone;
wherein the object detection sensor is configured to provide a signal to a controller upon detecting an object within the object detection zone, the object detection sensor comprising an object detection pad comprising a substrate whose dimensions define outermost boundaries of the object detection zone.