Next Generation Electronic Components for

Automobiles
Takeshi Togura1
The number of automotive electronic components is increasing year by year because of
newly added functions. In addition to miniaturization and weight-saving needs, safety-related
customer needs, in particular, are growing recent years. To satisfy these customer demands,
we are developing an advanced passenger detection sensor with membrane circuits which are
one of our core technologies in addition to the current seatbelt reminder sensor which can
distinguish a passenger from loads. Our advanced passenger detection sensor has the longdistance detection capability of a world top level and can dynamically detect the passenger is in
the dangerous zone at the time of air bag deployment.

1. Preface
Various new technologies for ecology, safety and
comfort are applied to recent automobiles. Because of
the addition of new functions, the number of electronic
components is increasing year by year. However, as
available space in a car is limited, size reductions of
the components are highly needed. The demand of
weight reductions is also increasing from the viewpoint of saving fuel.
We have been coping with these demands, have developed many electronic components, and put them
into practical use by applying our core technology,
such as flexible printed circuit technology, thermal
technology, optical technology and sensor technology.
Recently, the demand for various sensors particularly
in the field of safety technology is growing. To cope
with this, we are working on the development of passenger detection sensing system by applying our technology of membrane circuit board, which is a kind of
flexible circuit boards. This report describes the development of a passenger detection sensor and our core
technologies applied to it.

nology is applied.
Figure 1 shows the appearance of the passenger detection sensor for an SBR. To improve the capability of
distinguishing a passenger from a load, a dual cell sensor structure that turns the system on only when multiple switches in the sensor are turned on. Using this
structure, our sensor reduced the probability of false
detection because of confusion between a load and a
passenger to a quarter of previous systems. Furthermore, to achieve stable detection regardless of the
change of seating position or posture, we design an
optimal switch structure and layout by considering the
shape of human buttocks and the material of the seat.
The joint between the sensor and ECU is waterproof
by resin molding for installation of the sensor onto the
seating face that has relatively high possibility of getting wet 1).

2.2 Advanced passenger detection sensor

Occupant protection capability of airbag is strongly
influenced by seating situation, depending on whether
a child is sitting directly on the seat or sitting on the

2. Passenger detection sensor

2.1 P
 assenger detection sensor for seat belt reminder
The seat belt reminder (SBR) is a system that warns
a passenger to wear a seatbelt. This system is required
to distinguish a passenger from a load in the passenger seat. While laws and regulations for safety systems
commencing with SBR are being strengthened, we
have been working on the development of passenger
detection sensor to which our membrane switch tech
1 Automotive Products R&D Department

Fujikura Technical Review, 2013

switch

joint

Fig. 1. Passenger detection sensor for SBR.

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Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Terms.

SBRSeat Belt Reminder
FMVSSFederal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard

child-seat that is fixed to the seat. To ensure occupant

protection by airbag, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standards (FMVSS) 208 classifies occupants according to their body types for appropriate control of airbag deployment. The next step includes achieving
high-level occupant protection by dynamic detection
of the relative position of a passenger to the airbag for
appropriate airbag deployment control.
In addition to previous occupant detecting technologies, we are working on the development of advanced
occupant detecting sensor system that can detect passengers intrusion into the dangerous zone at the time
of airbag deployment, applying our successfully developed proprietary technology for a capacitive sensor of
world-top-level long-distance detection capability.
Figure 2 shows the block diagram of advanced occupant detecting sensor system under development
for controlling airbag deployment. Figure 3 shows the
appearance of the prototype system and the test scene
using a human body model. This system has multiple
advanced passenger
detection sensor
capacitive
sensor

CPU

Detection

Calculation

capacitance passenger's
(C1, C2 )
position
(x, y, z)

XbeadXbead
Registered trademark in Japan (No.5313404,
No.5313405).

capacitive sensors placed inside the car cabin, determines the relative position of the passenger from the
airbag by detecting each capacitance between sensors
and him/her, then sends the results to the airbag deployment system.

3. Core technologies
3.1 Capacitive sensor
3.1.1 Abstract
Capacitive sensor systems can measure the amount
of electric charge between sensor electrodes and a human body without contact, so the electrodes of the system can be placed hidden under the dielectric material
such as interior panel or fabric. But the usage of previous capacitive sensor for human detection has been
limited to touch detection or near-field detection of human body because of its short detection distance. We
solved this problem and have succeeded in developing
a capacitive sensing IC that has world-top -level longdistance detecting capability 2).

3.1.2 Capacitive sensing IC

airbag
ECU
airbag
deployment
control

Fig. 2. Block diagram of advanced passenger detection sensor

system.

To achieve long distance detection, we examined an

optimum detecting algorithm for high accuracy capacitive sensing and put it into a dedicated IC.
Figure 4 shows the block diagram of the capacitive
sensor IC that we developed. The detection circuit
consists of a capacitance-voltage(C-V) converting circuit, low pass filter (LPF), variable amplitude circuit,
temperature compensation circuit, offset circuit and
capacitive sensing IC
voltage
offset
C-V
converter*

offset circuit

sensor
electrode

Fig. 3. Evaluation of advanced passenger detection

sensor system(prototype).

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LPF *

variable
amplitude
circuit Output

temperature
compensation
circuit

shield driving
circuit
* C-V: capacitance - voltage
* LPF: low-pass filter

Fig. 4. Block diagram of capacitive sensing IC.

shield driving circuit. The output of the C-V converter

is input to the variable amplitude circuit after the voltage is shifted by the offset circuit, and the noise is removed by LPF. The C-V conversion efficiency is determined by amplification degree of the variable amplitude
circuit, which can be set by an external device. The
system includes a temperature compensation circuit
for cancelling out the temperature fluctuations of the
sensor electrodes.

3.1.4 Detection capability

3.1.3 Sensor module

According to the higher demand of miniaturization,

weight and cost reductions year by year, the number
of applications for automobiles using flexible circuit
boards, such as membranes and FPCs is increasing.
There is no waterproof connector that can connect a
film circuit of a sensor to the electronic components
such as an electronic control unit (ECU), so the existent occupant detection system for SBR needs an
adapter cord for their sensor-controller connection. As
automotive connectors are used under harsh environments, they require joints of high quality. However,
making a connector for film-type flexible circuit board
waterproof was difficult compared to a connector for a
wire, which is circular in cross section, and thus making a sealing is easy.
This time, we have developed an industrys first waterproof FPC connector that can connect between a
flexible circuit board and an ECU directly by achieving
highly reliable connection of Xbead terminal and waterproofness by hybrid structure of hot-melt adhesive
and rubber packing. Figure 7 shows the appearance of

Figure 5 shows the appearance of our capacitive

sensor module. This module is composed of a membrane and surface-mounted components, such as sensor electrodes and ICs to ensure its stable performance
even if the module is placed hidden in a passenger seat
or interior panel. The system has achieved low noise
and low current leakage by optimization of the electrode structure.

Figure 6 shows the simulation and the evaluation

results of human hand detection when the capacitive
sensor module was set inside car cabin. Table 1 shows
the specifications of our capacitive sensor module.
The sample has an over 300mm world-top-level detecting capability and 2fF measurement accuracy.

3.2 Waterproof connector for film circuit

3.2.1 Abstract

Table 1. Specifications of capacitive sensor module.

Fig. 5. Appearance of capacitive sensor module.

60
capacitance variation (fF)

simulated value

Parameter

Unit

Min.

Maximum detecting distance

mm

300

Measurement
accuracy

fF

C-V conversion
efficiency

mV/fF

Typ.

Max.

by hand
2

Supply voltage

2.7

Operating range

-40

Remarks

capacitance
increment

16
5

5.5
85

measured value
40
flexible
circuit board

20

0
0

100

200

300

400

distance between
sensor electrode and hand (mm)

Fig. 6. Capacitance versus distance inside vehicle.

Fujikura Technical Review, 2013

Fig. 7. Waterproof connector for film circuit.

83

the sample. Figure 8 shows an application example. By

omitting its adapter cord, weight and cost reductions
were achieved 3)4).

3.2.2 Xbead terminal

Xbead terminals consist of an upper plate and a lower plate. Each pair of contacts to a circuit is literally
crossed. This contact structure enables free connector
installation to front or back side of a flexible circuit
board. Because the Xbead terminals ensure a certain
contact area with a circuit, the connection between the
terminal and the circuit can withstand hostile automotive usage environments.

Figure 9 shows the structure of Xbead contacts. Figure 10 shows the appearance of Xbead terminals connected to a membrane circuit. Figure 11 shows the
appearance of Xbead terminals connected to an FPC.

3.2.3 Waterproof structure

Figure 12 shows the waterproof structure of our
newly developed connector. The hybrid structure of
hot-melt adhesive and rubber packing allows the terminals waterproofness. The procedures of building
the terminal are as follows:

flexible circuit board

nonwaterproof
connector
area
without
possibility
of
getting
wet

waterproof
connector
for frexible
circuit board

wires

no adapter
cord
needed

adapter cord

area
with
possibility
of
getting electronic
wet
control unit

Fig. 10. Connection to membrane circuit

electronic
control unit
waterproof
connector

(a) conventional connection

(b) connection using

developed connector

Our connector provides simple

and cost-reduced connection.

Fig. 8. Application example of the connector.

Fig. 11. Connection to FPC

rubber packing

terminal for flexible

circuit board

hot-melt
adhesive

flexible
circuit board
contacts

upper plate
retainer (top)

female housing

flexible circuit board

retainer (top)

lower plate

flexible circuit board

retainer (bottom)
hot-melt adhesive

contacts

Fig. 9. Xbead contacts structure

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terminal for flexible

circuit board

rubber packing

Fig. 12. Waterproof structure

- holding with a pair of retainer a printed circuit

board on which Xbead terminals are crimped
- filling the clearance with hot-melt adhesive and
leave to solidify, and
- fitting rubber packing into the part and inserting
the whole part into a female housing
The use of hot-melt adhesive solved the problems
that would happen if rubber packing was only used.
These problems include:
- nonfunctioning waterproof packing because of a
small gap caused by deformation of flexible
printed circuit board
- incapability of correct insertion into housing because of deformation of rubber packing, and
- incorrect insertion into the housing with rubber
packing flipped
Rubber packing adheres tightly to hot-melt adhesive and prevents water intrusion, by its restitution repulsion to compression. Its compression rate is determined to satisfy waterproofness even if hot-melt

(a) room lamp

(b) hidden switches (c) jam preventing

system

Fig. 13. Application example of capacitive sensor

Fujikura Technical Review, 2013

adhesive is crept. A polyamide-based material is used

for hot-melt adhesive for high adhesion.

4. Conclusion
This time, we report the development of automotive
electronic components focusing on our passenger detection sensor. Our core technology of the capacitance
sensor can be applied to input devices that can control
some systems by moving a hand or foot and to safety
systems that stop the operation of certain equipment
when a human body gets close to dangerous zone. For
example, as Figure 13, this technology is applicable to
various devices, such as a room lamp with a brightness control according to the distance to a hand, a hidden switch that appears only when a hand comes near
by and jam preventing sensors for a power seat, power
slide door or power window. In future, we will promote
the development of products that satisfy customer
needs ahead of the times.

References
1) A. kume, et al.: Seat sensor for seat belt reminder (SBR),
Fujikura Technical Journal No. 118, p. 48, 2010
2) T .Togura, et al.: Long-Range Human Body Sensing Module
with Electric Field Sensor, Fujikura Technical Journal
No.114, pp.27-31, 2008
3) M.Kondo, et al.: Membrane Circuit Connector, Fujikura
Technical Journal No.116, pp.30-33, 2009
4) Y.Takemura, et al.: Waterproof Connector for Membrane
Circuit Board, Fujikura Technical Journal No.122, pp22-25,
2012

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