Occupant protection systems control techniques
DC
First Claim
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1. In a motor vehicle having a portion defined as a crush zone which is designed to crush upon an accident involving the vehicle, a control system for controlling an occupant protection system comprising:
- an occupant protection system arranged to be actuated in the event of an accident involving the vehicle to protect an occupant in a front passenger seat of the vehicle from injury arising from the accident;
a plurality of electronic sensors mounted at different locations on the vehicle, each sensor providing a measurement related to a state of the sensor or a measurement related to a state of the mounting location of the sensor;
a processor operatively connected to said sensors and said occupant protection system and that diagnoses the state of the vehicle based on the measurements of said sensors, the diagnosis of the state of the vehicle including a diagnosis relating to potential actuation of said occupant protection system; and
said processor further controlling said occupant protection system based at least in part on the diagnosed state of the vehicle,wherein at least a first one of said sensors is an electronic crash sensor mounted in the crush zone of the vehicle and at least a second one of said sensors is a sensor that measures occupancy of the front passenger seat of the vehicle,whereby said occupant protection system is controlled by said processor based in part on the occupancy of the front passenger seat of the vehicle as measured by said second sensor.
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Abstract
Control system for controlling at least one occupant protection system of a vehicle includes a plurality of preferably electronic sensor systems mounted at different locations on the vehicle, each sensor system providing a measurement related to a state thereof system or a measurement related to a state of the mounting location. A processor is coupled to the sensor systems and diagnoses the state of the vehicle based on the measurements of the sensor systems. The processor controls each occupant protection system based at least in part on the diagnosed state of the vehicle. The occupant protection system may be a deployable airbag whose deployment is controlled by the processor based on the diagnosed state of the vehicle. The diagnosis of the state of the vehicle may be a diagnosis of the overall condition of the vehicle with respect to its stability or a diagnosis of the vehicle itself.
111 Citations
24 Claims
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1. In a motor vehicle having a portion defined as a crush zone which is designed to crush upon an accident involving the vehicle, a control system for controlling an occupant protection system comprising:
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an occupant protection system arranged to be actuated in the event of an accident involving the vehicle to protect an occupant in a front passenger seat of the vehicle from injury arising from the accident; a plurality of electronic sensors mounted at different locations on the vehicle, each sensor providing a measurement related to a state of the sensor or a measurement related to a state of the mounting location of the sensor; a processor operatively connected to said sensors and said occupant protection system and that diagnoses the state of the vehicle based on the measurements of said sensors, the diagnosis of the state of the vehicle including a diagnosis relating to potential actuation of said occupant protection system; and said processor further controlling said occupant protection system based at least in part on the diagnosed state of the vehicle, wherein at least a first one of said sensors is an electronic crash sensor mounted in the crush zone of the vehicle and at least a second one of said sensors is a sensor that measures occupancy of the front passenger seat of the vehicle, whereby said occupant protection system is controlled by said processor based in part on the occupancy of the front passenger seat of the vehicle as measured by said second sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for controlling an occupant protection system in a vehicle having a portion defined as a crush zone which is designed to crush upon an accident involving the vehicle, comprising:
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mounting a plurality of electronic sensors at different locations on the vehicle, at least a first one of the sensors is an electronic crash sensor mounted in the crush zone of the vehicle and at least a second one of the sensors is a sensor that measures occupancy of a front passenger seat of the vehicle; measuring a state of the sensor or a state of the respective mounting location of the sensor; diagnosing the state of the vehicle based on the measurements of the state of the sensors or the state of the mounting locations of the sensors, the diagnosis of the state of the vehicle including a diagnosis relevant to potential actuation of the occupant protection system; arranging the occupant protection system to be actuated in the event of an accident involving the vehicle to protect an occupant in the front passenger seat of the vehicle from injury arising from the accident; and controlling the occupant protection system based at least in part on the diagnosed state of the vehicle in an attempt to minimize injury to the occupant, whereby the occupant protection system is controlled based in part on the occupancy of the front passenger seat of the vehicle as measured by the second sensor. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification
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Litigation Data
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Current AssigneeAutomotive Technologies International Incorporated
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Original AssigneeAutomotive Technologies International Incorporated
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InventorsBreed, David S.
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Primary Examiner(s)Dickson, Paul N
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Assistant Examiner(s)Coker, Robert A
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Application NumberUS12/034,832Publication NumberTime in Patent Office1,517 DaysField of Search280/734, 280/735, 180/273, 180/274, 180/282, 701/45US Class Current180/282CPC Class CodesB60N 2/002 Seats provided with an occu...B60N 2/02246 Electric motors thereforB60N 2/0276 reaction to emergency situa...B60N 2/2863 backward facingB60R 19/483 with obstacle sensors of el...B60R 2021/0011 Rear collision or recoiling...B60R 2021/01325 Vertical accelerationB60R 21/0132 responsive to vehicle motio...B60R 21/0136 responsive to actual contac...B60R 21/0152 using strain gaugesB60R 21/01558 monitoring crash strengthB60R 21/20 Arrangements for storing in...B60R 21/21 in vehicle side panels, e.g...B60R 21/33 Arrangements for non-electr...G07C 5/008 communicating information t...G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data...
