Vehicle safety device actuating apparatus with adaptive reference level
First Claim
1. A control apparatus for actuating a safety device in a vehicle, said control apparatus comprising:
- acceleration/deceleration sensing means for sensing the magnitude of acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle and producing an output signal showing this magnitude;
signal processing means for integrating the output signal to obtain detected vehicle speed data representing detected vehicle speed;
first means responsive to said signal processing means for detecting a value of a positive-going peak in a change in the detected vehicle speed data;
reference means for providing a basic reference level data for discrimination of a vehicle collision in the case where the vehicle collides with only an obstacle in front;
second means responsive to said first means and said reference means for determining a reference level data for discriminating the occurrence of a vehicle collision by changing the basic reference level data in accordance with the value of the positive-going peak;
third means for comparing the detected vehicle speed data with the reference level data to determine whether or not a vehicle collision has occurred;
means responsive to said third means for generating an actuating signal when a collision has occurred;
an actuator for actuating the vehicle safety device; and
,a driving circuit responsive to the actuating signal for causing said actuator to actuate the vehicle safety device.
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Abstract
In a control apparatus for actuating a vehicle safety device in response to the specific change in the magnitude of acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle which occurs upon a collision, the output signal from the acceleration/deceleration sensor is processed to obtain detected vehicle speed data relating to the running speed of the vehicle, and the maximum value of a positive-going peak in the change in the detected vehicle speed data is detected to determine a reference level used for discriminating the occurrence of collision. The magnitude of the detected vehicle speed data is compared with the reference level, whereby it is discriminated whether or not a collision has occurred on the basis of the condition of the change in the detected vehicle speed.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. A control apparatus for actuating a safety device in a vehicle, said control apparatus comprising:
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acceleration/deceleration sensing means for sensing the magnitude of acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle and producing an output signal showing this magnitude; signal processing means for integrating the output signal to obtain detected vehicle speed data representing detected vehicle speed; first means responsive to said signal processing means for detecting a value of a positive-going peak in a change in the detected vehicle speed data; reference means for providing a basic reference level data for discrimination of a vehicle collision in the case where the vehicle collides with only an obstacle in front; second means responsive to said first means and said reference means for determining a reference level data for discriminating the occurrence of a vehicle collision by changing the basic reference level data in accordance with the value of the positive-going peak; third means for comparing the detected vehicle speed data with the reference level data to determine whether or not a vehicle collision has occurred; means responsive to said third means for generating an actuating signal when a collision has occurred; an actuator for actuating the vehicle safety device; and
,a driving circuit responsive to the actuating signal for causing said actuator to actuate the vehicle safety device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification