Occupant protection control system and method of controlling the occupant protection control system

• US 6,345,219 B1
• Filed: 11/22/1999
• Issued: 02/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Klemens, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Dalena
• Application Number:
  US09/444,960
• Time in Patent Office: 806 Days
• Field of Search: 701/215, 701/29, 701/36, 701/33, 701/47, 340/471, 340/472, 180/282, 280/728.1, 280/734, 280/735
• US Class Current: 701/45
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01075 between the airbag control unit and pyrotechnic fuses or equivalent actuators
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01122 Prevention of malfunction
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01 Electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, e.g. airbags, safety belt tighteners, in case of vehicle accidents or impending vehicle accidents electrical circuits for transmission of signals between steering wheel and the vehicle itself B60R16/027; for electrically actuating belt retractor locking means B60R22/343

Abstract

An occupant protection control system has two occupant protection control devices, in particular a front airbag control device and a side airbag control device. One occupant protection control device contains in addition to a non-volatile memory a further memory, in which the sensor data of the other occupant protection control system, emitted by the other occupant protection control device and monitored for the sensing of a possible accident, are continuously recorded. When an accident is sensed, the data are re-stored from the further memory into the non-volatile memory, in which the accident-relevant data sensed by the other occupant protection control device are also permanently stored.

Claims

1. An occupant protection control system, comprising:

at least two occupant protection control devices for controlling at least two occupant protection devices disposed in a vehicle, one of said at least two occupant protection control devices having a control unit, a non-volatile memory for permanent storage of accident-related signals in an event of an accident, and a volatile memory, said volatile memory storing data sensed and supplied by the other of said at least two occupant control devices, in the event of the accident, said control unit initiates and controls a re-storage of the data stored in said volatile memory into said non-volatile memory.

2. The occupant protection control system according to claim 1, wherein said volatile memory is a circulating memory.

3. A method of controlling an occupant protection control system having at least two occupant protection control devices, which comprises:

storing accident-relevant data of a first control device in a non-volatile memory of the first control device in an event of an accident;

storing continuously data of a second control device in a volatile memory of the first control device; and

re-storing the data of the second control device stored in the volatile memory into the non-volatile memory when the accident is sensed as further accident-relevant data.