Coded failure indicator for an air bag system

• US 4,359,715 A
• Filed: 12/22/1980
• Issued: 11/16/1982
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/1980
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Visteon Global Technologies Incorporated (Visteon Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Inventors: Langer, Peter, Dominguez, Carlos
• Primary Examiner(s): Waring, Alvin H.
• Application Number:
  US06/219,174
• Time in Patent Office: 694 Days
• Field of Search: 340/52 R, 340/52 E, 340/52 F, 340/52 H, 340/53, 340/61, 340/517, 340/519, 180/271, 180/274, 307/10 R
• US Class Current: 280/735
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0176 for firing circuits using only mechanical switches as collision detecting means, in series with pyrotechnic fuses

Abstract

A diagnostic means is connected to various electrical locations in an air bag system to detect and process faults. When a fault is detected, it is assigned a unique code sequence consisting of equally spaced pulses of equal length. The number of pulses determines the fault which is indicated by a single light inside the car.

Claims

1. An air bag system for an automobile comprising:

deceleration sensor means for sensing deceleration of the automobile;

air bag means for providing occupant restraint;

air bag firing means coupled to said air bag means for deploying said air bag means;

diagnostic means coupled to said deceleration sensor means and said air bag firing means for actuating said air bag firing means in response to signals from said deceleration sensor means;

said diagnostic means being coupled to a plurality of different electrical locations in said air bag system to monitor voltage levels at those electrical locations thereby detecting the occurrence of faults at those electrical locations;

indicating means coupled to said diagnostic means for giving a unique coded indication of any of a plurality of faults; and

wherein

said diagnostic means associates a unique sequence of equally spaced pulses of an equal duration with a given fault so that a single indicating means can display a plurality of faults by displaying sequences of different length, each sequence including equally spaced pulses of equal duration.

2. An air bag system as recited in claim 1 wherein all of the faults are prioritized and only the fault with the highest priority is displayed.

3. An air bag system as recited in claim 2 wherein said diagnostic means includes the following assignment of priority and uniquely associated pulse sequence:

space="preserve" listing-type="tabular">______________________________________ Fault Code Fault Monitored (No. of Flashes) Priority ______________________________________ Disconnected Diagnostic Module 1 1 Connector Diagnostic Module Fault continuous light 2 Loss of Air Bag Deployment 3 3 circuit power (+12 volts) to Diagnostic Module Shorted left, center (high level) 5 4 or right forward crash sensor deployment circuit Defective firing circuit disarm 10 5 device Defective rearward sensor 4 6 (Attachment, Sensing Element, or input/output circuit) Driver air bag circuit inoperative 6 7 Passenger air bag circuit 7 8 Inoperative Open left, center, or right 8 9 forward crash sensor ground circuit Open left, center (high 9 10 level) or right forward crash sensor deployment circuit Open external flasher circuit 11 11 All forward crash sensor 2 12 disconnected ______________________________________

4. An air bag system as recited in claim 3 wherein said pulse has a duration of about 0.5 seconds and is spaced from an adjacent pulse by about 0.5 seconds.

5. An air bag system as recited in claim 4 wherein a pulse sequence is separated from a sequential pulse sequence by about 2 seconds.

6. An air bag system as recited in claim 5 wherein:

said indication means is a light capable of flashing and positioned so as to be visible by a driver of the automobile.