Personal wearable airbag device for preventing injury
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An airbag device wearable on a user body for preventing bodily injury of the user, comprising:
- at least one inflatable airbag, mounted on the airbag device for absorbing energy when an object hits the body of the user;
at least one airbag inflator, for accepting an igniting signal to inflate the at least one inflatable airbag;
at least one sensor of gravity, placed at predetermined at least one location on the airbag device;
a plurality of transponders, adapted to be placed at a plurality of distinct locations on the user body and configured to transmit, from each of the plurality of transponders, a time mark signal;
a plurality of receiving devices, placed at a plurality of distinct locations on the airbag device, for receiving the time mark signals from each of the transponders; and
a controller, coupled with the at least one airbag inflator, the at least one sensor of gravity, and the plurality of receiving devices, whereby the controller is operable todetermine a status indicating whether the user is falling based, at last in part, on a timing of the time mark signals received by the plurality of receiving devices, and a direction of gravity measured by the sensor of gravity,make decisions of airbag inflation based, at least in part, on the determined status of falling, andsend, upon positive decision of airbag inflation, the igniting signal to the at least one airbag inflator.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
For people with reduced physical ability such as elderly people, risks of bodily injuries are high. Once an injury occurs, a victim suffers, sometimes a victim even may not survive. To help such people, a personal wearable device without adding much inconvenience in normal life is disclosed. This personal wearable device is able to detect dangerous conditions and automatically deploy airbags when needed to prevent or mitigate potential bodily injuries.
38 Citations
17 Claims
-
1. An airbag device wearable on a user body for preventing bodily injury of the user, comprising:
-
at least one inflatable airbag, mounted on the airbag device for absorbing energy when an object hits the body of the user; at least one airbag inflator, for accepting an igniting signal to inflate the at least one inflatable airbag; at least one sensor of gravity, placed at predetermined at least one location on the airbag device; a plurality of transponders, adapted to be placed at a plurality of distinct locations on the user body and configured to transmit, from each of the plurality of transponders, a time mark signal; a plurality of receiving devices, placed at a plurality of distinct locations on the airbag device, for receiving the time mark signals from each of the transponders; and a controller, coupled with the at least one airbag inflator, the at least one sensor of gravity, and the plurality of receiving devices, whereby the controller is operable to determine a status indicating whether the user is falling based, at last in part, on a timing of the time mark signals received by the plurality of receiving devices, and a direction of gravity measured by the sensor of gravity, make decisions of airbag inflation based, at least in part, on the determined status of falling, and send, upon positive decision of airbag inflation, the igniting signal to the at least one airbag inflator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A personal airbag system for preventing bodily injuries of a user, comprising:
-
at least one inflatable airbag, each associated with a protection area of the user body; at least one airbag inflator, each associated with one of the at least one airbag, and in turn, associated with its protection area; at least one sonar transmitter and at least one sonar receiver, each said sonar receiver associated with at least one protection area of the at least one airbag, for detecting a velocity of an object towards and relative to the at least one associated protection area; at least one sensor placed on shoes of the user, for detecting a slipping condition on at least one foot; a controller with a storage medium, coupled with the at least one airbag inflator, the at least one sonar transmitter, the at least one sonar receiver, and the at least one sensor; computer instructions stored in the storage medium; and the computer instructions being executable by the controller for; determining a slipping condition on at least one foot based on information reported by the at least one sensor placed on shoes; determining a falling condition based, at least in part, on the slipping condition; determining, for each of the at least one sonar receiver, whether the detected velocity exceeds a preprogrammed threshold; and if determined positive, causing each of the at least one airbag inflator associated with the protected area that the sonar receiver in question is associated with, to inflate.
-
Specification