Collision type identifying device

• US 20040201275A1
• Filed: 02/27/2004
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Iyoda, Motomi, Imai, Katsuji, Oshima, Masuji
• Granted Patent: US 7,031,815 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 307/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0009 Oblique collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0023 Offset collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0025 Pole collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0132 responsive to vehicle motion parameters , e.g. to vehicle longitudinal or transversal deceleration or speed value
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0133 by integrating the amplitude of the input signal
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01332 by frequency or waveform analysis

Abstract

A collision type identifying device is disposed in a central portion of a vehicle main body and has first deceleration detecting means (22), peak time detecting means (32), required time detecting means (34), and type identifying means (36). The deceleration detecting means (22) detects a vehicle deceleration in the longitudinal direction. The peak time detecting means (32) detects, as a first peak time (tp), a time from the excess of a preset threshold (GTH) by a waveform of the vehicle deceleration (G) detected by the deceleration detecting means (22) to a first peak. The required time detecting means (34) detects, as a required time (tn), a time when an integrated deceleration (VG) obtained through time quadrature of the vehicle deceleration (G) becomes equal to a predetermined integrated value set in advance. The type identifying means (36; 78) identifies a vehicle collision type on the basis of the first peak time (tp) and the required time (tn). The collision type identifying device can identify a vehicle collision as one of a plurality of collision types at once.

Claims

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11. A collision type identifying device disposed in a central portion of a vehicle main body, comprising:

a first deceleration detector that detects a vehicle deceleration in the longitudinal direction;

a peak time detector that detects, as a first peak time, a time from the excess of a preset threshold by a waveform of the vehicle deceleration detected by the first deceleration detector to a first peak;

a required time detector that detects, as a required time, a time when an integrated deceleration obtained through time quadrature of the vehicle deceleration becomes equal to a predetermined integrated value; and

a type identifying device that identifies a vehicle collision type on the basis of a collosion type identifying map which is formed of the first peak time and the required time.

12. The collision type identifying device according to claim 11, further comprising:

a second deceleration detector that is disposed in front of and to the left and right of the first deceleration detector and that detects vehicle decelerations in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle as left-side and right-side decelerations;

a time ratio calculating device that calculats a time ratio between the first peak time and the required time; and

a symmetrical index detector that detects a lateral symmetrical index in the event of a vehicle collision on the basis of the left-side deceleration and the right-side deceleration;

wherein said type identifying device identifies a vehicle collision type on the basis of the time ratio and the lateral symmetrical index.

13. The collision type identifying device according to claim 12, wherein said symmetrical index detector has a function of calculating a left-side integrated deceleration and a right-side integrated deceleration through time quadrature of the left-side deceleration and the right-side deceleration respectively and detects a lateral symmetrical index in the event of a vehicle collision on the basis of the left-side integrated deceleration and the right-side integrated deceleration.

14. The collision type identifying device according to claim 13, wherein said symmetrical index detector detects the lateral symmetrical index on the basis of a lateral ratio between the left-side integrated deceleration and the right-side integrated deceleration, which are obtained through integration for a predetermined time set in advance after the first peak time or the threshold has been exceeded.

15. The collision type identifying device according to claim 12, wherein said type identifying device has a collision type identifying map which is formed of the time ratio and the lateral symmetrical index and on which a plurality of identification areas are set, and identifies a vehicle collision type by confirming to which one of the identification areas a specific point determined at the time of detection of the time ratio and the lateral symmetrical index belongs.

16. The collision type identifying device according to claim 11, wherein said predetermined integrated value is set in advance as a predetermined integrated deceleration corresponding to a required time, which is a critical value for determining whether to activate a passenger protection system in the event of a collision of the vehicle.

17. The collision type identifying device according to claim 11, wherein said required time detector has a function of calculating an integrated deceleration through time quadrature of the vehicle deceleration and is so set as to start calculating the integrated deceleration upon the excess of the threshold by the vehicle deceleration and to detect a required time when the integrated deceleration becomes equal to the predetermined integrated value.

18. The collision type identifying device according to claim 11, wherein said peak time detector confirms the first peak on the basis of an event in which a Wavelet phase obtained by subjecting the waveform of the vehicle deceleration to a Wavelet transformation processing is first inverted from 2* to 0, and detects the first peak time.

19. The collision type identifying device according to claim 11, wherein on said collision type identifying map a plurality of identification areas are set and said type identifying device identifies a vehicle collision type by confirming to which one of the identification areas a specific point determined at the time of detection of the first peak time and the required time belongs.

20. The collision type identifying device according to claim 11, wherein said predetermined integrated value is 0.7 to 0.8 m/s.