Vehicle occupant restraint control system using a crash severity model

• US 6,424,898 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2001
• Issued: 07/23/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited (BorgWarner Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc. (BorgWarner Incorporated)
• Inventors: Simpson, Russell L., Anishetty, Santosh, Little, David R., Caruso, Christopher Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Donnelly, Arthur D.
• Application Number:
  US09/888,065
• Publication Number:
  US 20020013649A1
• Time in Patent Office: 396 Days
• Field of Search: 701/45, 701/46, 180/273, 180/271, 280/728.1, 280/730.1, 280/734, 280/735, 280/736, 280/802, 307/10.1
• US Class Current: 701/45
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/013 including means for detecting collisions, impending collisions or roll-over
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0132 responsive to vehicle motion parameters , e.g. to vehicle longitudinal or transversal deceleration or speed value
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0136 responsive to actual contact with an obstacle , e.g. to vehicle deformation, bumper displacement or bumper velocity relative to the vehicle monitoring crash strength in combination with passenger seat detection B60R21/01558
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01516 using force or pressure sensing means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01558 monitoring crash strength

Abstract

A vehicle restraint control system provides sophisticated, adaptable control of occupant restraints through the use of a system level architecture to predict the nature of a crash event at the earliest possible time and an occupant injury model to tailor the restraint deployment in an adaptable way to characteristics of the protected vehicle occupant(s) and the nature of the crash event. The occupant injury model derives the potential for injury in a particular vehicle crash in real time as a function of occupant mass, vehicle interior stiffness and occupant impact velocity with respect to the vehicle interior. Peak vehicle crush zone velocity is used as a predictor of occupant impact velocity with the vehicle interior. Predicted occupant impact velocity is preferably adjusted in response to derived impact angle factor, which is derived from orthogonal lateral and longitudinal accelerometers in the vehicle occupant compartment. Vehicle longitudinal velocity may be integrated to predict occupant displacement, relative to the vehicle, as an additional factor used in the control system.

Claims

1. A method of controlling deployment of a vehicle occupant restraint in a vehicle occupant compartment comprising the steps:

determining a peak vehicle frontal crush zone velocity;

determining a vehicle occupant mass;

determining an interior vehicle stiffness;

determining a longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment;

deriving a crash severity datum from the peak vehicle frontal crush zone velocity, the vehicle occupant mass, the interior vehicle stiffness, and the longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment; and

determining a deployment of an occupant restraint at least in response to the crash severity datum.

2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of determining an impact angle factor, wherein the crash severity datum is further derived from the impact angle factor.

3. A method according to claim 2 further comprising the step of determining a lateral velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment, wherein the impact angle factor is derived from the lateral velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment and the longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein the lateral and longitudinal velocities of the vehicle occupant compartment are derived from orthogonally aligned accelerometers responsive to accelerations of the vehicle occupant compartment.

5. A method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of deriving a predicted occupant displacement datum, wherein the step of determining whether to deploy an occupant restraint is further responsive to the occupant displacement datum.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein the occupant displacement datum is derived from a time integration of the longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment.

7. A method according to claim 2 further comprising the step of deriving a predicted occupant displacement datum, wherein the step of determining whether to deploy an occupant restraint is further responsive to the occupant displacement datum.

8. A method according to claim 7 wherein the occupant displacement datum is derived from a time integration of the longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment.

9. A method of controlling deployment of a vehicle occupant restraint in a vehicle occupant compartment comprising the steps:

determining a peak vehicle frontal crush zone velocity;

sensing a pair of orthogonal accelerations of the vehicle occupant compartment;

determining an impact angle factor from the pair of orthogonal accelerations of the vehicle occupant compartment;

modifying the peak vehicle frontal crush zone velocity in response to the impact angle factor;

deriving a crash severity datum at least from the modified peak vehicle frontal crush zone velocity; and

determining a deployment of an occupant restraint at least in response to the crash severity datum.

10. A method of controlling deployment of a vehicle occupant restraint in a vehicle occupant compartment comprising the steps:

sensing a pair of orthogonal accelerations of the vehicle occupant compartment;

determining lateral and longitudinal velocities of the occupant compartment from the pair of sensed orthogonal accelerations;

deriving an impact angle factor from the sensed lateral and longitudinal velocities of the occupant compartment; and

determining a deployment of a vehicle occupant restraint based on the longitudinal velocity of the occupant compartment and the impact angle factor.

11. A vehicle restraint deployment control comprising, in combination:

means for determining a peak vehicle frontal crush zone velocity;

means for determining a vehicle occupant mass;

means for determining an interior vehicle stiffness;

means for determining a longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment;

means for deriving a crash severity datum from the peak vehicle frontal crush zone velocity, the vehicle occupant mass, the interior vehicle stiffness, and the longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment; and

means for determining a deployment of an occupant restraint at least in response to the crash severity datum.

12. The vehicle restraint deployment control of claim 11 further comprising means for determining an impact angle factor, wherein the means for determining a crash severity datum is further responsive to the impact angle factor.

13. The vehicle restraint deployment control of claim 12 further comprising means for determining a lateral velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment, wherein the impact angle factor is derived from the lateral velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment and the longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment.

14. The vehicle restraint deployment control of claim 13 wherein the means for determining a lateral velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment and the means for determining a longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment comprise a pair of orthogonally aligned accelerometers responsive to accelerations of the vehicle occupant compartment.

15. A vehicle restraint deployment control comprising, in combination:

a first accelerometer adapted for mounting in a frontal crush zone of a vehicle;

an occupant weight sensor; and

a control module adapted for inclusion in a vehicle occupant compartment, the control module comprising a pair of orthogonally aligned accelerometers responsive to accelerations in a horizontal plane and a control computer comprising;

means for determining, responsive to at least one of the pair of orthogonally aligned accelerometers, a longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment;

means for determining, responsive to the first accelerometer and the longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment, a peak crush zone velocity;

means for deriving a crash severity datum from the peak vehicle frontal crush zone velocity, the vehicle occupant mass, the interior vehicle stiffness, and the longitudinal velocity of the vehicle occupant compartment; and

means for determining a deployment of an occupant restraint at least in response to the crash severity datum.

16. The vehicle restraint deployment control of claim 15 further comprising means for determining, in response to the pair of orthogonally aligned accelerometers, an impact angle factor and further means for modifying the crash severity datum to compensate for non-longitudinal impact angles.

17. The vehicle restraint deployment control of claim 15 further comprising means for time integrating the longitudinal velocity to generate an occupant displacement datum and means responsive to the occupant displacement datum for selectively preventing deployment of the restraint.