Method and system of actuating a deployment of a vehicle restraint system
First Claim
1. A method of actuating a deployment of a vehicle airbag during an impact event of a vehicle, the method comprising:
- providing a vehicle impact sensor having a plurality of sensor elements, each of the plurality of elements adapted to generate an impact sensor signal having a sensor signal value indicative of a severity level of the impact event;
receiving an impact sensor signal from each element during the impact event of the vehicle;
summing the sensor signal values of the impact sensor signals to define an aggregate sensor signal value;
determining a number of impact sensor signals having respective sensor signal values greater than an active sensor element threshold value to define a number of active sensor elements;
determining a threshold aggregate sensor signal sensor signal value based on the number of active sensor elements; and
generating an actuating signal for deploying the vehicle airbag, when the aggregate sensor signal value is greater than the threshold aggregate sensor signal value.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention involves a method of actuating a deployment of a vehicle airbag during an impact event of a vehicle. The method includes providing a vehicle impact sensor having a plurality of elements, wherein each element is adapted to generate an impact sensor signal having a sensor signal value representing a level of impact. The method further comprising receiving an impact sensor signal from each element during the impact event of the vehicle and summing the sensor signal values of the impact sensor signals to define an aggregate sensor signal value. The method further includes determining a number of impact sensor signals having respective sensor signal values greater than an active element threshold value to define a number of active elements and determining a threshold aggregate sensor signal value based on the number of active elements. The method further includes generating an actuating signal for deploying the airbag, when the aggregate sensor signal value is greater than the threshold aggregate sensor signal value.
28 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of actuating a deployment of a vehicle airbag during an impact event of a vehicle, the method comprising:
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providing a vehicle impact sensor having a plurality of sensor elements, each of the plurality of elements adapted to generate an impact sensor signal having a sensor signal value indicative of a severity level of the impact event;
receiving an impact sensor signal from each element during the impact event of the vehicle;
summing the sensor signal values of the impact sensor signals to define an aggregate sensor signal value;
determining a number of impact sensor signals having respective sensor signal values greater than an active sensor element threshold value to define a number of active sensor elements;
determining a threshold aggregate sensor signal sensor signal value based on the number of active sensor elements; and
generating an actuating signal for deploying the vehicle airbag, when the aggregate sensor signal value is greater than the threshold aggregate sensor signal value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of actuating a deployment of a vehicle airbag during an impact event of a vehicle, the method comprising:
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providing a vehicle impact sensor having a plurality of elements, each element adapted to generate an impact sensor signal having a sensor signal value representing a level of impact;
receiving an impact sensor signal from each element during the impact event of the vehicle;
determining an aggregate sensor signal value based on a summation of the sensor signal values of the impact sensor signals;
determining a threshold aggregate sensor signal value based on a number of elements having impact sensor signals with sensor signal values greater than an active element threshold value;
generating an actuating signal for deploying the airbag, when the aggregate sensor signal value is greater than the threshold aggregate sensor signal value. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of determining an impact event of a vehicle for deployment of an airbag, the method comprising:
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providing a vehicle impact sensor including an element adapted to generate an impact sensor signal having a sensor signal value representing a level of impact;
receiving an impact sensor signal from the element during the impact event of the vehicle, the sensor signal having a respective sensor signal value defining an aggregate sensor signal value;
determining whether the sensor signal value of the sensor signal is greater than an active element threshold value;
determining whether the aggregate sensor signal value is greater than the threshold aggregate sensor signal value, if the sensor signal value is determined to be greater than the active element threshold value; and
generating an actuating signal for deploying the airbag, if the aggregate sensor signal value is determined to be greater than the threshold aggregate sensor signal value. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system for actuating a deployment of a vehicle airbag during an impact event of a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a vehicle impact sensor having an element adapted to generate an impact sensor signal during the impact event, the sensor signal having a sensor signal value representing a level of impact and defining an aggregate sensor signal value; and
a processor in electrical communication with the impact sensor, the processor being capable of determining whether the sensor signal value of the sensor signal is greater than an active element threshold value and whether the aggregate sensor signal value is greater than the threshold aggregate sensor signal value, wherein the processor is configured to generate an actuating signal for deploying the airbag, when the aggregate sensor signal value is determined to be greater than the threshold aggregate sensor signal value.
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Specification