Air bag deployment system and method for monitoring same
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An air bag deployment system, comprising:
- an inflator; and
an inflator sensor directly connected to the inflator for acoustically monitoring a surface of the inflator to determine if a squib within the inflator is activated.
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Abstract
An air bag deployment system (20) includes a microcontroller (21), an inflator (23), and an inflator sensor (24). The inflator sensor (24) is adjacent to the inflator (23) and monitors the firing of the inflator (23). The inflator sensor (24) monitors the firing of a squib (36) of the inflator (23). The inflator sensor (24) transmits an inflator firing signal to the microcontroller (21) when the squib (36) of the inflator (23) is activated. In the absence of the inflator firing signal, a backup firing signal is generated by the microcontroller (21) and is transmitted to a backup squib (37).
41 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An air bag deployment system, comprising:
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an inflator; and
an inflator sensor directly connected to the inflator for acoustically monitoring a surface of the inflator to determine if a squib within the inflator is activated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for monitoring an air bag system, comprising:
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transmitting a firing signal to an inflator of the air bag system;
monitoring a surface of the inflator to determine if a pyrotechnic material within the inflator has ignited; and
using an inflator sensor of the air bag system to monitor the inflator and detect ignition, wherein the inflator sensor is directly connected to the inflator. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
activating a squib of the inflator when the firing signal is received by the inflator; and
transmitting a backup firing signal to the inflator in the absence of the firing signal from the inflator sensor.
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8. An air bag deployment system, comprising:
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an inflator; and
an inflator sensor directly connected to the inflator for thermally monitoring a surface of the inflator to determine if a pyrotechnic material within the inflator has ignited. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. An air bag deployment system, comprising:
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an inflator; and
an inflator sensor adjacent to the inflator for sensing light produced by firing of a squib within the inflator. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
a control circuit coupled to the inflator sensor; and
a laser coupled to the control circuit and adjacent to the inflator.
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12. The air bag deployment system of claim 10, wherein the inflator sensor is a photo diode.
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13. The air bag deployment system of claim 10,
wherein the light has a frequency and the inflator has a wall and comprises an optical window in the wall of the inflator, wherein the optical window is transparent at the frequency of the light produced by the firing of the squib and the inflator sensor receives the light through the optical window. -
14. The air bag deployment system of claim 10, wherein the inflator sensor is a light sensor for sensing light produced by igniting of a pyrotechnic material within the inflator.
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15. The air bag deployment system of claim 10, wherein the inflator sensor is spaced apart from the inflator.
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16. A method for sensing activation of an inflator, comprising:
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activating a squib of an inflator; and
optically monitoring a chamber within the inflator to determine if a pyrotechnic material within the inflator has ignited. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
transmitting a firing signal to the inflator to activate the squib;
transmitting an inflator firing signal in response to sensing the light to indicate ignition of the pyrotechnic material; and
transmitting a backup firing signal to activate a backup squib to ignite the pyrotechnic material in the absence of the inflator firing signal.
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19. The method of claim 16, further including activating a backup squib if activating of the squib fails.
Specification