Vehicle rollover detection system
First Claim
1. A system for detecting a rollover condition of a vehicle, comprising:
- a. a roll angular velocity sensor operatively coupled to the vehicle, wherein said roll angular velocity sensor is adapted to measure a roll rate of the vehicle about a roll axis, and said roll axis is substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of the vehicle;
b. a lateral velocity sensor operatively coupled to the vehicle, wherein said lateral velocity sensor is responsive to a velocity of the vehicle in a direction that is substantially lateral to said vehicle, and said lateral velocity sensor is selected from an ultrasonic sensor, a microwave sensor, a radar sensor, and an optical velocity sensor; and
c. a processor operatively coupled to said roll angular velocity sensor and to said lateral velocity sensor, wherein said processor is adapted to generate a signal for controlling a safety restraint system, and said signal for controlling said safety restraint system is responsive to a signal from said roll angular velocity sensor and to a signal from said lateral velocity sensor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A roll angular velocity sensor and a lateral velocity sensor are operatively coupled to a processor, which generates a signal for controlling a safety restraint system responsive to measures of roll angular velocity and lateral velocity. In one embodiment, the processor delays or inhibits the deployment of the safety restraint system responsive to a measure responsive to the measure of lateral velocity, either alone or in combination with a measure of longitudinal velocity. In another embodiment, a deployment threshold is responsive to the measure of lateral velocity. The lateral velocity may be measured by a lateral velocity sensor, or estimated responsive to measures of lateral acceleration, vehicle turn radius, and either longitudinal velocity or yaw angular velocity, wherein the turn radius is estimated from either a measure of steering angle, a measure of front tire angle, or measures of forward velocity from separate front wheel speed sensors.
169 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system for detecting a rollover condition of a vehicle, comprising:
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a. a roll angular velocity sensor operatively coupled to the vehicle, wherein said roll angular velocity sensor is adapted to measure a roll rate of the vehicle about a roll axis, and said roll axis is substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of the vehicle;
b. a lateral velocity sensor operatively coupled to the vehicle, wherein said lateral velocity sensor is responsive to a velocity of the vehicle in a direction that is substantially lateral to said vehicle, and said lateral velocity sensor is selected from an ultrasonic sensor, a microwave sensor, a radar sensor, and an optical velocity sensor; and
c. a processor operatively coupled to said roll angular velocity sensor and to said lateral velocity sensor, wherein said processor is adapted to generate a signal for controlling a safety restraint system, and said signal for controlling said safety restraint system is responsive to a signal from said roll angular velocity sensor and to a signal from said lateral velocity sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method of providing for detecting a rollover condition of a vehicle, comprising:
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a. providing for acquiring a measure of roll angular velocity of the vehicle about a roll axis, wherein said roll axis is substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of the vehicle;
b. providing for acquiring a measure of lateral velocity of the vehicle, wherein said measure of lateral velocity is directly representative of a lateral velocity of the vehicle; and
c. providing for generating a signal for controlling a safety restraint system, wherein said signal for controlling said safety restraint system is responsive to said measure of roll angular velocity and to said measure of lateral velocity. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of providing for detecting a rollover condition of a vehicle, comprising:
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a. providing for acquiring a measure of roll angular velocity of the vehicle about a roll axis, wherein said roll axis is substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of the vehicle;
b. providing for acquiring a measure of lateral acceleration of the vehicle;
c. providing for acquiring at least one of a measure of longitudinal velocity of the vehicle and a measure of yaw angular velocity about a yaw axis;
d. providing for determining a measure of a turn radius of the vehicle;
e. providing for determining a measure of lateral velocity of the vehicle responsive to said measure of lateral acceleration, to said measure of said turn radius, and to at least one of said measure of longitudinal velocity and said measure of yaw angular velocity; and
f. providing for generating a signal for controlling said safety restraint system, wherein said signal for controlling said safety restraint system is responsive to said measure of roll angular velocity and to said measure of lateral velocity. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification