Vehicle collision detecting system
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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Abstract
A vehicle collision detecting system includes an impact sensor, a distance sensor for detecting a distance to an obstacle, a differential circuit for differentiating the distance to provide a relative speed, and a microcomputer for computing a distance after a time, based on the detected distance and the relative speed, and determining whether the computed distance becomes zero within a predetermined time. If the calculated distance becomes zero within the predetermined time, a collision unavoidable signal is generated. A collision signal or air bag activating signal is then generated as soon as an impact is detected by the impact detector.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. A vehicle collision detecting system, comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A vehicle collision detecting system, comprising:
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an impact sensor provided at a first front portion of a vehicle for generating an impact signal immediately after detecting an initial impact caused by collision of the vehicle; a distance detector provided at a second front portion of said vehicle for detecting a distance between said vehicle and an obstacle in front of said vehicle; a differential circuit connected to said distance detector for providing a rate of change of said distance; a control circuit including a microcomputer connected to said distance detector and said differential circuit for forming a function of time D(t) based on said distance and said rate of change and generating a collision unavoidable signal only if said function has a value of zero within a predetermined time T, and an AND gate connected to said microcomputer and said impact sensor for generating a collision signal only when and immediately after said impact detecting sensor detects the initial impact after said control circuit outputs said collision unavoidable signal to said AND gate; and an inflator activating circuit connected to said AND gate for activating an inflator upon reception of said collision signal.
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Specification