Vehicle safety control system
First Claim
1. A vehicle safety control system for a vehicle which includes passenger seats, comprising;
- at least one interface to a device which provides a signal indicating an emergency condition at least one electrical interface to an actuator which moves all or part of at least one seat; and
, a control unit connected to the interfaces, which in response to receiving an emergency condition signal, activates at least one seat actuator initiating at least one motion of at least one seat, such that the seat motion distance and duration depend on the configuration of the vehicle and seat occupants at the time of the emergency signal.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention is a safety control system for vehicle safety mechanisms. The novel control system uses acquired and stored data about the configuration of a vehicle passenger compartment at the time of an emergency event to determine the type, sequence and degree of safety device deployment. In one embodiment, the invention contains a novel power system employing a supplemental power supply specifically included to provide extra power beyond what is typically available from the power distribution system in conventional passenger compartment vehicle power systems. The novel power supply is routed to the appropriate safety mechanisms when the vehicle emergency event sensors, ie rollover, impact etc. detect a condition when the safety mechanism should be deployed and the extra power supply is required.
74 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A vehicle safety control system for a vehicle which includes passenger seats, comprising;
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at least one interface to a device which provides a signal indicating an emergency condition at least one electrical interface to an actuator which moves all or part of at least one seat; and
,a control unit connected to the interfaces, which in response to receiving an emergency condition signal, activates at least one seat actuator initiating at least one motion of at least one seat, such that the seat motion distance and duration depend on the configuration of the vehicle and seat occupants at the time of the emergency signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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16. A vehicle safety control system for a vehicle, comprising;
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at least one interface to a device which provides a signal indicating an emergency condition, at least one electrical interface to an actuator, requiring more power to operate in an emergency event then available for normal operation in the vehicle, a power source, supplemental to the main vehicle power system, specifically for powering the actuator during emergency deployment; and
,a control system which, in response to emergency identification, connects the actuator to the supplemental power source. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A vehicle safety control system for a vehicle, comprising;
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at least one interface to a device which provides a signal indicating an emergency condition, wherein devices include rollover sensors, impact sensors, proximity sensors and ECS, at least one electrical interface to an actuator, requiring more power to operate in an emergency event then available for normal operation in the vehicle wherein actuators include motors, slow burn pyrotechnic actuators, solenoids, and explosive bolts, a power source, supplemental to the main vehicle power system, specifically for powering the actuator(s) during emergency deployment; and
,a programmable controller connected to the actuator interfaces and connected to additional interfaces to vehicle passenger compartment configuration such as seat position, occupant size and weight and safety device status, and having stored data about the passenger compartment structure;
wherein,depending on the nature of the emergency signal, the starting position of the seats, the presence and size of seat occupants, and the constraints of the passenger compartment structure, causes actuators under it'"'"'s control to reconfigure the passenger compartment and other parts of the vehicle to improve the safety of the occupants.
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Specification