Vehicle occupant safety system
First Claim
1. A crash determination system comprising:
- A crash sensor generating a crash signal based upon a severity of a crash, the crash determination system generating a continuously variable crash severity signal indicative of the severity of the crash based upon the crash signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle occupant safety system includes a crash severity determination system and one or more vehicle occupant safety devices. The crash severity determination system includes at least one crash sensor which generates a crash signal based upon the severity of the crash. A continuously variable crash severity output signal is generated based upon the crash signal from the crash sensor. Generally, for a given crash type, the crash severity signal is inversely proportional to the amount of time between the beginning of the crash and when the crash signal crosses a threshold. This continuously variable crash severity signal is sent to the vehicle occupant safety devices, which activate proportionally to the crash severity signal.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A crash determination system comprising:
A crash sensor generating a crash signal based upon a severity of a crash, the crash determination system generating a continuously variable crash severity signal indicative of the severity of the crash based upon the crash signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for determining a severity of a crash of a vehicle including the steps of:
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a. Generating a crash signal in response to a crash;
b. Comparing the crash signal to a threshold;
c. Determining a time period to when the crash signal reaches the threshold; and
d. Generating an analog crash severity signal indicative of a severity of the crash based upon the time period. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for determining a severity of a crash of a vehicle including the steps of:
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a. Generating a crash signal;
b. Comparing the crash signal to a threshold;
c. Determining a time period to when the crash signal reaches the threshold;
d. Calculating a continuously variable crash severity signal representing a severity of the crash as inversely proportional to the time period; and
e. Sending the crash severity signal to a continuously variable occupant safety device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification