Failure Diagnosis Method of Seat Belt System and Seat Belt System Having Failure Diagnosis Function
First Claim
1. A failure diagnosing method for a seat belt apparatus for a vehicle of the type having a retractor to provide retracting power to a seat belt by driving to rotate a spool of the retractor by an electric motor, the method comprising:
- a step of applying a driving current by a driving circuit to the electric motor in a state in which an ignition switch of a vehicle is OFF and beginning with a time period when a vehicle entrance door located nearest to a seat to which the seat belt is attached is changed from its closed state to its opened state;
a step of collecting information about operation of the electric motor in response to the application of the driving current to the motor; and
a step of carrying out failure diagnosis of the driving system for the electric motor based on the information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A seat belt apparatus is provided which includes a retractor having an electric motor to retract or draw out a seat belt, a motor information detecting means to detect an amount of rotation and a current value of the electric motor, a first condition detecting means to detect that an ignition switch is in an OFF state, a second condition detecting to detect that a getting on/off door located nearest to a seat to which a seat belt is attached is opened, a failure diagnosis timing judging means to start a failure diagnosing operation when a detecting signal is output from both the condition detecting means, and a failure diagnosing means to apply a driving current to the electric motor when the failure diagnosing operation is stated and to carry out a failure diagnosis of a driving system including a electric motor based on an output, in response to the application of a current, from the motor information detecting means. By configuring as above, the failure diagnosis can be carried out without causing a feeling of abnormality of discomfort to a vehicle occupant.
23 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A failure diagnosing method for a seat belt apparatus for a vehicle of the type having a retractor to provide retracting power to a seat belt by driving to rotate a spool of the retractor by an electric motor, the method comprising:
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a step of applying a driving current by a driving circuit to the electric motor in a state in which an ignition switch of a vehicle is OFF and beginning with a time period when a vehicle entrance door located nearest to a seat to which the seat belt is attached is changed from its closed state to its opened state; a step of collecting information about operation of the electric motor in response to the application of the driving current to the motor; and a step of carrying out failure diagnosis of the driving system for the electric motor based on the information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A seat belt apparatus for a vehicle having failure diagnosing functions comprising:
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a retractor with an electric motor to drive to rotate a spool for retracting to a seat belt; a motor information detecting unit to detect information related to operation of the electric motor; an ignition detecting unit to detect an ON/OFF state of an ignition switch of the vehicle; an opening/closing detecting means to detect an opening or closing state of a vehicle entrance door located nearest to a seat to which the seat belt is attached; a first condition detecting unit to detect that the ignition switch is in an OFF state according to a first signal from the ignition detecting unit; a second condition detecting unit to detect that the vehicle entrance door is changed from its closing state to its opening state according to a second signal from the opening/closing detecting means; a failure diagnosis timing judging unit to start a failure diagnosis operation when the first and second signals are output from both the first condition detecting unit and the second condition detecting unit; and a failure diagnosing unit to apply a driving current to the electric motor when a failure diagnosing operation is started based on a judgment of the failure diagnosis timing judging unit and to perform a failure diagnosis of a driving system for the electric motor based on an output, in response to the application of the current, from the motor information detecting unit. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification