VEHICLE OCCUPANT PROTECTION DEVICE
First Claim
1. A vehicle occupant protection device comprising:
- a front-rear impact magnitude detector detecting a magnitude of an impact of a vehicle along a front-rear direction of the vehicle;
a right-left impact magnitude detector detecting a magnitude of an impact of the vehicle along a right-left direction of the vehicle;
an occupant protector protecting a body of an occupant from impact with the vehicle;
a protection controller operating the occupant protector when an over-threshold impact is detected by the front-rear impact magnitude detector or the right-left impact magnitude detector;
a right-left threshold storage storing plural lateral thresholds for operating the occupant protector based on the magnitude of the impact detected by the right-left impact magnitude detector; and
an offset level detector detecting a level of an offset collision when an obstacle collides with a front portion of the vehicle, whereinthe protection controller selects one of the plural lateral thresholds stored in the right-left threshold storage based on the level of the offset collision detected by the offset level detector.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An airbag controller in a vehicle occupant protection device deploys airbags when one of a front-right acceleration sensor and a front-left acceleration sensor disposed on a front face of a vehicle detects an over-threshold acceleration exceeding a front threshold and one of a side-right acceleration sensor or a side-left acceleration sensor, which are disposed on a side face of the vehicle, detects an over-threshold acceleration exceeding a lateral threshold. A threshold acceleration storage device stores the front threshold and plural lateral thresholds that have respectively different values. An image processor processes image data from an in-vehicle camera and calculates the offset rate, an offset direction, a collision angle, a collision direction, and a relative speed at a timing just-before an offset collision between a subject vehicle and another vehicle. Based on a detection result, the airbag controller selects one of the plural lateral thresholds stored in the storage device.
-
Citations
13 Claims
-
1. A vehicle occupant protection device comprising:
-
a front-rear impact magnitude detector detecting a magnitude of an impact of a vehicle along a front-rear direction of the vehicle; a right-left impact magnitude detector detecting a magnitude of an impact of the vehicle along a right-left direction of the vehicle; an occupant protector protecting a body of an occupant from impact with the vehicle; a protection controller operating the occupant protector when an over-threshold impact is detected by the front-rear impact magnitude detector or the right-left impact magnitude detector; a right-left threshold storage storing plural lateral thresholds for operating the occupant protector based on the magnitude of the impact detected by the right-left impact magnitude detector; and an offset level detector detecting a level of an offset collision when an obstacle collides with a front portion of the vehicle, wherein the protection controller selects one of the plural lateral thresholds stored in the right-left threshold storage based on the level of the offset collision detected by the offset level detector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
Specification