Side impact passenger protection system for vehicle and crash determination device of same
First Claim
1. A side crash determining device provided in a side impact passenger protection system installed in a vehicle to operate the side impact passenger protection system, comprising:
- first acceleration sensors mounted in the vicinities of high-rigidity parts of the sides of the vehicle for detecting as an acceleration a crash between either of the vehicle sides and an obstruction;
a second acceleration sensor mounted in a central part of a body of the vehicle for detecting as an acceleration a crash between either of the vehicle sides and an obstruction;
an integrating device for integrating and outputting as first and second integral outputs respectively detected accelerations of one of the first acceleration sensors and the second acceleration sensor;
a phase determining device for when the first and second integral outputs have been outputted from the integrating device according to integration of said detected accelerations in predetermined integration periods determining whether the first integral output is leading in phase or lagging in phase with respect to the second integral output; and
a crash determining device for when the phase determining device determines the first integral output to be leading in phase determining on the basis of at least one of the first and second integral outputs that the vehicle is in a high-speed crash between a low-rigidity part of one of the vehicle sides and an obstruction such that it is necessary for the passenger protection system to be operated and when the phase determining device determines the first integral output to be lagging in phase determining on the basis of at least one of the first and second integral outputs that the vehicle is in a low-speed crash between one of the high-rigidity parts and an obstruction such that it is necessary for operation of the passenger protection system to be prohibited.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A crash determination device employed in a vehicle side impact passenger protection system uses logic circuits or microcomputers to correctly determine whether an impact is a crash with an obstruction such as another vehicle by making use of a phase difference between detected accelerations of a side acceleration sensor and a central acceleration sensor. By making use of the phase difference between detected accelerations of side and center acceleration sensors, a high-speed crash can be correctly distinguished from a low-speed impact and an erroneous determination resulting in the passenger protection system being operated in a side impact situation not necessitating operation of the passenger protection system can be avoided.
41 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A side crash determining device provided in a side impact passenger protection system installed in a vehicle to operate the side impact passenger protection system, comprising:
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first acceleration sensors mounted in the vicinities of high-rigidity parts of the sides of the vehicle for detecting as an acceleration a crash between either of the vehicle sides and an obstruction; a second acceleration sensor mounted in a central part of a body of the vehicle for detecting as an acceleration a crash between either of the vehicle sides and an obstruction; an integrating device for integrating and outputting as first and second integral outputs respectively detected accelerations of one of the first acceleration sensors and the second acceleration sensor; a phase determining device for when the first and second integral outputs have been outputted from the integrating device according to integration of said detected accelerations in predetermined integration periods determining whether the first integral output is leading in phase or lagging in phase with respect to the second integral output; and a crash determining device for when the phase determining device determines the first integral output to be leading in phase determining on the basis of at least one of the first and second integral outputs that the vehicle is in a high-speed crash between a low-rigidity part of one of the vehicle sides and an obstruction such that it is necessary for the passenger protection system to be operated and when the phase determining device determines the first integral output to be lagging in phase determining on the basis of at least one of the first and second integral outputs that the vehicle is in a low-speed crash between one of the high-rigidity parts and an obstruction such that it is necessary for operation of the passenger protection system to be prohibited. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 19)
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6. A side impact passenger protection system for a vehicle, comprising:
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side impact passenger protection mechanisms installed in the left and right sides of a vehicle; a starting device for starting these side impact passenger protection mechanisms; first acceleration sensors respectively mounted in the vicinities of high-rigidity parts of left and right sides of the vehicle for at the time of a crash between either of the vehicle sides and an obstruction detecting this crash as an acceleration; a second acceleration sensor mounted in a central part of a body of the vehicle for at the time of a crash between either of the vehicle sides and an obstruction detecting this crash as an acceleration; an integrating device for integrating and outputting as first and second integral outputs respectively detected accelerations of one of the first acceleration sensors and the second acceleration sensor; a phase determining device for when the first and second integral outputs have been outputted from the integrating device according to integration of said detected accelerations in predetermined integration periods determining whether the first integral output is leading in phase or lagging in phase with respect to the second integral output; and a crash determining device for when the determining device determines the first integral output to be leading in phase determining on the basis of at least one of the first and second integral outputs that the vehicle is in a high-speed crash between a low-rigidity part of one of the vehicle sides and an obstruction and sending a starting output to the starting device, and for when the determining device determines the first integral output to be lagging the second integral output in phase determining on the basis of at least one of the first and second integral outputs that the vehicle is in a low-speed crash between one of the high-rigidity parts of the sides and an obstruction and sending a starting prohibiting signal to the starting device. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 20)
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11. A side crash determining device provided in a side impact passenger protection system installed in a vehicle to operate the side impact passenger protection system, comprising:
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first acceleration sensors mounted in the vicinities of high-rigidity parts of the sides of the vehicle for detecting as an acceleration a crash between either of the vehicle sides and an obstruction; a second acceleration sensor mounted in a central part of a body of the vehicle for detecting as an acceleration a crash between either of the vehicle sides and an obstruction; an integrating device for integrating and outputting as first and second integral outputs respectively detected accelerations of one of the first acceleration sensors and the second acceleration sensor; a comparing device for comparing said first integral output with a first threshold value and said second integral output with a second threshold value which is equal to or lower than said first threshold value; and a crash determining device for when said first integral output has reached said first threshold value earlier than said second integral output reaches said second threshold value determining that the vehicle is in a high-speed crash between a low-rigidity part of one of the vehicle sides and an obstruction such that it is necessary for the passenger protection system to be operated. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 21)
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15. A side impact passenger protection system for a vehicle, comprising:
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side impact passenger protection mechanisms installed in the left and right sides of a vehicle; a starting device for starting these side impact passenger protection mechanisms; first acceleration sensors respectively mounted in the vicinities of high-rigidity parts of left and right sides of the vehicle for at the time of a crash between either of the vehicle sides and an obstruction detecting this crash as an acceleration; a second acceleration sensor mounted in a central part of a body of the vehicle for at the time of a crash between either of the vehicle sides and an obstruction detecting this crash as an acceleration; an integrating device for integrating and outputting as first and second integral outputs respectively detected accelerations of one of the first acceleration sensors and the second acceleration sensor; a comparing device for comparing said first integral output with a first threshold value and said second integral output with a second threshold value which is equal to or lower than said first threshold value; a crash determining device for when said first integral output has reached said first threshold value earlier than said second integral output reaches said second threshold value determining that the vehicle is in a high-speed crash between a low-rigidity part of one of the vehicle sides and an obstruction such that it is necessary for the passenger protection system to be operated and sending a starting output to the starting device. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 22)
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Specification