Vehicle occupant protection system and method utilizing Z-axis central safing
First Claim
1. A vehicle occupant protection system comprising:
- an actuatable device for protecting a vehicle occupant;
means for deriving a first metric indicative of a vehicle crash condition;
means for deriving a second metric indicative of a vehicle vertical acceleration characteristic; and
means for actuating said device to protect the occupant in response to said first metric indicating a vehicle crash condition and said second metric exceeding a predetermined threshold.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle occupant protection system (10) includes an actuatable device (e.g., 20) for protecting a vehicle occupant (12). An accelerometer (e.g., 50) and a crash determination portion (66) of a controller (56) derive a first metric indicative of a vehicle crash condition. A Z-axis accelerometer (54) and a safing portion (50) of the controller (38) derive a second metric indicative of a vehicle vertical acceleration characteristic. The controller (66) actuates the device (e.g., 16) to protect the occupant (12) in response to the first metric indicating a vehicle crash condition and the second metric exceeding a predetermined threshold. Preferably, the system (10) includes a second device (e.g., 18) and another accelerometer (e.g., 58) and another crash determination portion (72) of the controller (56) to derive a third metric indicative of a vehicle crash condition. The controller (66) actuates the device (e.g., 18) to protect the occupant (12) in response to the third metric indicating a vehicle crash condition and the second metric exceeding a predetermined threshold. Thus, the second metric is utilized twice.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A vehicle occupant protection system comprising:
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an actuatable device for protecting a vehicle occupant;
means for deriving a first metric indicative of a vehicle crash condition;
means for deriving a second metric indicative of a vehicle vertical acceleration characteristic; and
means for actuating said device to protect the occupant in response to said first metric indicating a vehicle crash condition and said second metric exceeding a predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A vehicle occupant protection system comprising:
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protection means actuatable for protecting a vehicle occupant;
means for determining a first vehicle crash condition utilizing a first metric indicative of a vehicle longitudinal acceleration characteristic;
means for determining a second vehicle crash condition utilizing a second metric indicative of a vehicle lateral acceleration characteristic;
means for deriving a third metric indicative of a vehicle vertical acceleration characteristic; and
means for actuating said protection means in response to the determined occurrence of the first crash condition and said third metric exceeding a predetermined first threshold value, and for actuating said protection means in response to the determined occurrence of the second crash condition and said third metric exceeding a predetermined second threshold value. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of protecting a vehicle occupant, said method comprising:
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deriving a first metric indicative of a vehicle crash condition;
deriving a second metric indicative of a vehicle vertical acceleration characteristic; and
actuating an actuatable device to protect a vehicle occupant in response to the first metric indicating a vehicle crash condition and the second metric exceeding a predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification