Control system for passenger protecting apparatus

• US 5,493,493 A
• Filed: 09/28/1993
• Issued: 02/20/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Shibata, Jun, Oobayashi, Hiroaki, Fukuzumi, Syuuzo, Kimura, Makoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Teska, Kevin J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Walker, Tyrone V.
• Application Number:
  US08/127,539
• Time in Patent Office: 875 Days
• Field of Search: 364/424.05, 340/436, 340/437, 340/438, 280/735, 307/10.1, 180/274
• US Class Current: 701/45
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0132 responsive to vehicle motion parameters , e.g. to vehicle longitudinal or transversal deceleration or speed value
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0133 by integrating the amplitude of the input signal

Abstract

A control system for a passenger protecting apparatus includes: a sensor (100) for detecting vehicle deceleration values; a calculating section (101) for calculating a deceleration dispersion value (Bu) on the basis of the detected deceleration values; a deciding section (103) for deciding whether the passenger protecting apparatus is activated or not, on the basis of the calculated deceleration dispersion value; and a drive and control section (104) for activating the passenger protecting apparatus when the activating section decides the activation of the passenger protecting apparatus (102). The control system can activate an air bag module or seat belt reliably in any collision modes by a simple adjustment.

Claims

1. A control system for a passenger protecting apparatus, comprising:

means for detecting vehicle deceleration values;

means for calculating a deceleration dispersion value on the basis of the detected deceleration values;

means for deciding whether or not the passenger protecting apparatus is to be activated on the basis of the calculated deceleration dispersion value; and

drive and control means for activating the passenger protecting apparatus when said deciding means decides the activation of the passenger protecting apparatus.

3. The control system for a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 1, wherein said calculating means further calculates an integration value of the sum total of squares of differences between the detected deceleration values and an averaged deceleration value obtained within a predetermined time period, with respect to time;

and said deciding means decides the activation of the passenger protecting apparatus on the basis of the further calculated integration value.

4. The control system for a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 1, which further comprises:

means for deciding a timing at which the passenger protecting apparatus is activated on the basis of the detected deceleration values; and

said drive and control means activates the passenger protecting apparatus when said deciding means decides the activation of the passenger protecting apparatus, at the timing decided by said timing deciding means.

2. A control system for a passenger protecting apparatus, comprising:

means for detecting vehicle deceleration values;

means for calculating a sum total of squares of differences between the detected deceleration values and an averaged deceleration value obtained within a predetermined time period, on the basis of the detected deceleration values;

means for deciding whether or not the passenger protecting apparatus is to be activated on the basis of the calculated sum total value; and

drive and control means for activating the passenger protecting apparatus when said deciding means decides the activation of the passenger protecting apparatus.

5. The control system for a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 2,

which further comprises:

timing deciding means for deciding a timing at which the passenger protecting apparatus is to be activated on the basis of the detected deceleration values; and

wherein, when said deciding means decides that the passenger protecting apparatus is to be activated, said drive and control means activates the passenger protecting apparatus at the timing decided by said timing deciding means.

6. The control system for a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 5, wherein said timing deciding means decides said timing at which the passenger protecting apparatus is activated by calculating relative speed of a passenger relative to a vehicle body on the basis of the detected deceleration values and comparing the calculated relative speed of the passenger with a predetermined value V1, said drive and control means performing activation of the passenger protecting apparatus in response to a combination of said deciding means for deciding the activation of the passenger protecting apparatus and said timing deciding means for deciding the timing of activation of the passenger protecting apparatus.

16. The control system for a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 5, wherein said timing deciding means decides said timing at which the passenger protecting apparatus is activated by calculating a relative speed V of a passenger relative to a vehicle body on the basis of the detected deceleration values and comparing the calculated relative speed of the passenger with a predetermined value V1 and outputs a timing signal in accordance with a result of said comparing,

said means for deciding generating a decision signal indicative of whether the passenger protecting apparatus is activated or not,

further including combining means for combining said timing signal and said decision signal to produce a combination signal,

said drive and control means responsive to said combination signal for activation of the passenger protecting apparatus.

17. The control system for a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 16, wherein said combining means comprises logical product means for providing said combination signal as a logical product of said decision signal and said timing signal, whereby said drive and control means is responsive to a logical product of the decision signal and the timing signal for activation of the passenger protecting apparatus.

18. The control system for a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 6, wherein said drive and control means performs activation of the passenger protecting apparatus on the basis of a logical product of output signals of said deciding means and said timing deciding means.

7. A method of activating a passenger protecting apparatus, comprising the steps of:

detecting vehicle deceleration values g at sampling times;

detecting vehicle collision on the basis of the detected deceleration values;

calculating deceleration status Bu by the steps of;

calculating a sum total value L1 of deceleration values detected at previous sampling times;

calculating an average deceleration value L on the basis of the calculated sum total deceleration value L1 and the current number N of samples;

calculating a sum total value S of squares of differences between the calculated averaged deceleration value L and respective detected deceleration values g; and

calculating a deceleration dispersion value Bu on the basis of the calculated sum total value S and the number T of samples;

comparing the calculated deceleration dispersion value Bu with a predetermined threshold value THL; and

if the calculated deceleration dispersion value Bu exceeds the threshold THL, activating the passenger protecting apparatus.

8. A method of activating a passenger protecting apparatus, comprising the steps of:

detecting vehicle deceleration values g at sampling times;

detecting vehicle collision on the basis of the detected deceleration values;

calculating deceleration status as a dispersion value of the deceleration values by the steps of;

calculating a sum total value L1 of deceleration values detected at previous sampling times;

calculating an average deceleration value L on the basis of the calculated sum total deceleration value L1 and current number of samples N; and

calculating a deceleration dispersion value as a sum total value Bu1 of squares of differences between the calculated average deceleration value L and respective detected deceleration values g; and

comparing the calculated deceleration dispersion value Bu1 with a predetermined threshold value THL1; and

if the calculated deceleration dispersion value Bu1 exceeds the threshold THL1, activating the passenger protecting apparatus.

9. A method of activating a passenger protecting apparatus, comprising the steps of:

detecting vehicle deceleration values g at sampling times;

detecting vehicle collision on the basis of the detected deceleration values;

calculating deceleration status by the steps of;

calculating a sum total value L1 of deceleration values detected at previous sampling times;

calculating an average deceleration value L on the basis of the calculated sum total deceleration value L1 and a current number of samples N;

calculating a sum total value S of squares of differences between the calculated averaged deceleration value L and respective detected deceleration values g; and

calculating a deceleration dispersion value as an integration value Bu2 of the calculated sum total values S with respect to time;

comparing the calculated deceleration dispersion value Bu2 with a predetermined threshold value THL2; and

if the calculated deceleration dispersion value Bu2 exceeds the threshold THL2, activating the passenger protecting apparatus.

10. The method of activating a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 9, wherein the predetermined threshold value THL2 is a linear function Increasing with increasing time.

11. A control system for activating a passenger protecting apparatus on the basis of vehicle deceleration values detected in case of collision, comprising:

means for detecting the vehicle deceleration values;

means for calculating a dispersion-based value of the detected vehicle deceleration values;

means for judging whether the dispersion-based value outputted by said calculating means exceeds a threshold value; and

means responsive to said judging means for activating the passenger protecting apparatus when the dispersion-based value is judged by said judging means to exceed the threshold value.

12. The control system for activating a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 11, wherein the dispersion-based calculation value of the detected vehicle deceleration is a dispersion value Bu of the vehicle deceleration values detected within a predetermined time after collision.

13. The control system for activating a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 11, wherein said means for calculating the dispersion-based calculation value of the detected vehicle deceleration comprises:

first means for determining differences between a plurality of deceleration values and an averaged deceleration value obtained within a predetermined time period, and

second means for determining a sum total of squares of the differences determined by said first means and for outputting a signal representative of said sum total as said dispersion-based value of the detected vehicle deceleration.

14. The control system for activating a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 11, wherein said means for calculating the dispersion-based calculation value of the detected vehicle deceleration comprises:

first means for determining differences between a plurality of deceleration values and an averaged deceleration value obtained within a predetermined time period,

second means for determining a sum total of squares of the differences determined by said first means, and

third means for integrating, with respect to time, the sum total obtained by said second means and for outputting a signal representative of the integrated sum total as said dispersion-based value of the detected vehicle deceleration.

15. The control system for activating a passenger protecting apparatus of claim 11, wherein the threshold value is a linear function with respect to time.