Vehicle occupant protection apparatus and method having multiple stage control
First Claim
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1. A vehicle occupant protection apparatus comprising:
- protection means having first and second stages actuatable for protecting a vehicle occupant;
first stage actuator means for actuating said first stage of said protection means;
second stage actuator means for actuating said second stage of said protection means; and
enable means, responsive to actuation of said first stage of said protection means, for enabling actuation of said second stage of said protection means.
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Abstract
A vehicle occupant protection apparatus (10) includes an occupant protection device (20), such as an air bag module, that is actuatable for protecting a vehicle occupant (14). The protection device (20) has first and second stages (44 and 46). A first driver (38) actuates the first stage (44) of the protection device (20) and a second driver (42) actuates the second stage (46) of the protection device. An enable arrangement (64) is responsive to actuation of the first stage (44) of the protection device (20) to enable the actuation of the second stage (46) of the protection device (20).
22 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A vehicle occupant protection apparatus comprising:
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protection means having first and second stages actuatable for protecting a vehicle occupant;
first stage actuator means for actuating said first stage of said protection means;
second stage actuator means for actuating said second stage of said protection means; and
enable means, responsive to actuation of said first stage of said protection means, for enabling actuation of said second stage of said protection means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A vehicle occupant protection apparatus comprising:
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protection means having first and second stages actuatable for protecting a vehicle occupant;
first stage actuator means for actuating said first stage of said protection means;
second stage actuator means for actuating said second stage of said protection means;
sensor means for sensing actuation of said first stage of said protection means; and
enable means for permitting actuation of said second stage of said protection means in response to sensed actuation of said first stage of said protection means. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A vehicle occupant protection apparatus comprising:
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protection means having first and second stages actuatable for protecting an occupant;
first stage initiator means initiatable for actuating said first stage of said protection means, said first stage initiator means being initiated in response to a flow of initiating electrical energy;
second stage initiator means initiatable for actuating said second stage of said restraint means;
first actuation means for determining whether to initiate said first stage initiator means and for providing an electrical potential for the initiating electrical energy;
safing means, operative in response to a condition indicative of a need to protect the occupant with said protection means, for permitting the flow of the initiating electrical energy from the potential to said first stage actuator means; and
second actuation means, responsive to the flow of the electrical energy initiating said first stage actuator means and responsive to the operation of said safing means, for determining whether to initiate said second stage initiator means.
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16. A method of controlling a vehicle occupant protection apparatus that has a protection means with first and second stages actuatable for protecting a vehicle occupant, said method comprising:
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actuating the first stage of the protection means; and
enabling actuation of the second stage of the protection means in responsive to the actuation of the first stage of the protection means. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification