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Vehicle collision detecting system

  • US 5,285,188 A
  • Filed: 05/29/1992
  • Issued: 02/08/1994
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/07/1991
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A vehicle collision detecting system, comprising:

  • an impact detecting sensor provided at the front portion of a vehicle, said impact detecting sensor outputting a signal immediately after detecting an initial impact caused by collision of the vehicle; and

    a vehicle collision predicting unit for predicting a collision from a rate of change of a distance to an obstacle from said vehicle, said vehicle collision predicting unit comprising;

    detecting means for detecting said distance to the obstacle;

    differentiating means connected to said detecting means for finding said rate of change of said distance by differentiating said distance by time;

    computing means connected to said detecting means and said differentiating means for computing a distance D(t) after a time t as a function of time based on said distance and said rate of change, said computing means outputting a collision unavoidable signal when said distance D(t) is zero within a predetermined time T; and

    an AND gate connected to said vehicle collision predicting unit and said impact detecting sensor, said AND gate outputting a collision signal to an air bag system only when and immediately after said impact detecting sensor detects the initial impact after said vehicle collision predicting unit outputs a collision unavoidable signal to said AND gate.

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