Method and Device for Lessening the Consequences of an Accident on a Vehicle Occupant
First Claim
1. A method of lessening consequences of an accident affecting a vehicle occupant in an event of a collision of a vehicle with an obstruction, the method comprising the acts of:
- detecting an imminent collision of the vehicle; and
before the collision occurs, reducing an absolute speed of the vehicle occupant relative to the obstruction independently of a traveling speed of the vehicle by way of a reduction of a speed of the vehicle occupant relative to the vehicle without the vehicle occupant experiencing a first displacement movement against a vehicle movement direction beyond an initial destination-related traveling position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and device are provided for lessening the consequences of an accident affecting a vehicle occupant in the event of a collision of the vehicle with an obstruction. Before the collision, the absolute speed of the vehicle occupant relative to the obstruction is reduced independently of the traveling speed of the vehicle by way of a reduction of the vehicle occupant'"'"'s speed relative to the vehicle, without the vehicle occupant experiencing a first displacement movement against the vehicle movement direction beyond his initial destination-related traveling position.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of lessening consequences of an accident affecting a vehicle occupant in an event of a collision of a vehicle with an obstruction, the method comprising the acts of:
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detecting an imminent collision of the vehicle; and before the collision occurs, reducing an absolute speed of the vehicle occupant relative to the obstruction independently of a traveling speed of the vehicle by way of a reduction of a speed of the vehicle occupant relative to the vehicle without the vehicle occupant experiencing a first displacement movement against a vehicle movement direction beyond an initial destination-related traveling position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for lessening consequences of an accident affecting a vehicle occupant in an event of a collision with a vehicle with an obstruction, the system comprising:
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a collision detector that detects an imminent collision of the vehicle with the obstruction; and a vehicle occupant restraining system comprising a vehicle occupant accelerator that, before an occurrence of the collision, accelerates the vehicle occupant in a first time period before the collision to an absolute speed higher than a traveling speed of the vehicle, and brakes the vehicle occupant in a second time period before the collision to a speed below the traveling speed of the vehicle during the collision with the obstruction. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A method of operating a vehicle occupant restraining system to reduce consequences of an accident affecting a vehicle occupant in an event of a collision of the vehicle with an obstruction, the method comprising the acts of:
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detecting an imminent collision of the vehicle with an obstruction; upon detecting the imminent collision, accelerating the vehicle occupant in a forward direction of the vehicle in a first time period before the collision to an absolute speed higher than the forward traveling speed of the vehicle; and subsequently accelerating the vehicle occupant in a backward direction in a second time period before the collision to a speed below the traveling speed of the vehicle during the collision with the obstruction. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification