Vehicle collision detecting apparatus
First Claim
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1. A vehicle collision detecting apparatus comprising:
- a. a collision detecting element means fixedly mounted on the vehicle at a position at which deformation or strain of the vehicle body is likely to occur due to vehicle collision which comprises;
1. a substrate means constituted of fragile material for breaking in response to vehicle body deformation or strain as a result of collision;
2. two lead terminals fixed to said substrate means at mutually distant positions; and
3. means for providing an electrical conductive path between said terminals, said electrical conductive path means being a conductive material fixedly disposed with respect to said substrate means and being rendered non-conductive upon breaking of said substrate means; and
b. switching means for producing an on-off signal corresponding to conduction and non-conduction of the conductive path between said lead terminals, said switching means including a magnet, a magnet member normally held in a stationary position by the attractive force of said magnet and made movable to a moving position according to the magnitude of impact of collision, a contact, to be closed when said magnetic member is moved to its moving position, a coil for producing a magnetic field superposed on the magnetic field of Said magnet exerting said attractive force, and means for supplying current to said coil through said detecting element means.
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Abstract
A vehicle collision detecting apparatus employs a detecting element constituted in a fragile material such as glass, with a coating of a conductive film for providing the detecting element with conductivity, or the fragile material contains a conductive material such as metal for providing the detecting element with conductivity. A circuit for continuously monitoring the conduction state of the detecting element is also provided wherein the detecting element is fixed in the periphery of the vehicle body, the conduction state of the detecting element is monitored, and an air-bag occupant protection device is actuated at the moment the detecting element breaks, due to vehicle collision and its conductivity vanishes.
13 Citations
6 Claims
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1. A vehicle collision detecting apparatus comprising:
- a. a collision detecting element means fixedly mounted on the vehicle at a position at which deformation or strain of the vehicle body is likely to occur due to vehicle collision which comprises;
1. a substrate means constituted of fragile material for breaking in response to vehicle body deformation or strain as a result of collision;
2. two lead terminals fixed to said substrate means at mutually distant positions; and
3. means for providing an electrical conductive path between said terminals, said electrical conductive path means being a conductive material fixedly disposed with respect to said substrate means and being rendered non-conductive upon breaking of said substrate means; and
b. switching means for producing an on-off signal corresponding to conduction and non-conduction of the conductive path between said lead terminals, said switching means including a magnet, a magnet member normally held in a stationary position by the attractive force of said magnet and made movable to a moving position according to the magnitude of impact of collision, a contact, to be closed when said magnetic member is moved to its moving position, a coil for producing a magnetic field superposed on the magnetic field of Said magnet exerting said attractive force, and means for supplying current to said coil through said detecting element means.
- a. a collision detecting element means fixedly mounted on the vehicle at a position at which deformation or strain of the vehicle body is likely to occur due to vehicle collision which comprises;
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2. first and second lead terminals installed in contact with said conductive film at both opposite ends of said tubular member, so that a normally conductive path is established between said first and second lead terminals;
- switching means for providing an indication signal representative of the collision of said vehicle in response to breakdown of the normally conductive path between said first and second lead terminals due to deformation of the vehicle body by a strong external impact, said switching means comprising;
a. a magnet for generating a main magnetic field;
b. a coil for operatively producing an auxiliary magnetic field which is increasingly superposed on the main magnetic field of said magnet, so that an attractive force is obtained from the superposition of said main and auxiliary magnetic fields, c. means for supplying current to said coil through said collision detecting element so as to actuate said coil, d. a magnetic member normally held in a stationary position by said attractive force and made movable to a moving position according to magnitude of impact of vehicle collision, and e. means for detecting said magnetic member held in its moving position, the movement of said magnetic member from its stationary position to its moving position being accelerated by breakdown of said collision detecting element due to deformation of the vehicle body.
- switching means for providing an indication signal representative of the collision of said vehicle in response to breakdown of the normally conductive path between said first and second lead terminals due to deformation of the vehicle body by a strong external impact, said switching means comprising;
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3. means for providing an electrical conductive path between said terminals, said electrical conductive path means being a conductive material fixedly disposed with respect to said substrate means and being rendered non-conductive upon breaking of said substrate means;
- and b. switching means for producing an on-off signal corresponding to conduction and non-conduction of the conductive path between said lead terminals, said switching means including a magnet, a magnet member normally held in a stationary position by the attractive force of said magnet and made movable to a moving position according to the magnitude of impact of collision, a contact, to be closed when said magnetic member is moved to its moving position, a coil for producing a magnetic field superposed on the magnetic field of Said magnet exerting said attractive force, and means for supplying current to said coil through said detecting element means.
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4. A vehicle collision detecting apparatus comprising:
- a. a collision detecting element means fixedly mounted on the vehicle at a position at which deformation or strain of the vehicle body is likely to occur due to vehicle collision which comprises;
- a. a collision detecting element means fixedly mounted on the vehicle at a position at which deformation or strain of the vehicle body is likely to occur due to vehicle collision which comprises;
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5. A vehicle collision detecting apparatus comprising:
- first means at a part exterior of the passenger space of the vehicle mechanically coupled to the vehicle and having first and second terminals, said first means including conductive means fixedly disposed with respect to said first and second terminals for providing a normally conductive path between said first and second terminals and for establishing an open circuit between said first and second terminals in response to a vehicle collision at the exterior part of the vehicle; and
second means coupled to said first means for providing an indication of said vehicle collision in response to the removal of the normally provided conductive path between said first and second terminals, said second means activating an occupant protection system of the vehicle in response to the detection of a vehicle collision.
- first means at a part exterior of the passenger space of the vehicle mechanically coupled to the vehicle and having first and second terminals, said first means including conductive means fixedly disposed with respect to said first and second terminals for providing a normally conductive path between said first and second terminals and for establishing an open circuit between said first and second terminals in response to a vehicle collision at the exterior part of the vehicle; and
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6. A vehicle collision detecting apparatus comprising:
- a. a collision detecting element mechanically attached to a part of a vehicle body where deformation is likely to occur, said element comprising,
Specification
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Current AssigneeFumiyiki Inose, Takashiro Iwasaki
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Original AssigneeFumiyiki Inose, Takashiro Iwasaki
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InventorsIwasaki, Takashiro, Inose, Fumiyiki
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Primary Examiner(s)Waring, Alvin H.
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Application NumberUS05/235,752Time in Patent Office1,271 DaysField of Search340/52H,61 200/61.08,61.45R 180/91,103,104US Class Current180/274CPC Class CodesB60R 21/013 including means for detecti...
