Integrated occupant protection system
First Claim
1. In a vehicle having seats, an occupant protection system for protecting one or more occupants comprising:
- a deployable occupant protection device arranged on at least one of the seats, deployment determining means for generating a signal indicative of whether deployment of said occupant protection device is desired, and an electrical bus extending into the seat and electrically coupling said occupant protection device and said deployment determining means, the signal from said deployment determining means being sent over said bus to said occupant protection device to enable deployment of said occupant protection device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Occupant protection system for protecting one or more occupants of a vehicle including a deployable occupant protection device arranged on at least one of the seats, a deployment determining unit which generates a signal indicative of whether deployment of the occupant protection device is desired, and an electrical bus extending into the seat and electrically coupling the occupant protection device and the deployment determining unit. The signal from the deployment determining unit is sent over the bus to the occupant protection device to enable deployment thereof. The occupant protection device may include an airbag module having an airbag and be arranged at a rear of the seat to be deployable rearward for protecting an occupant situated behind the seat. The deployment determining unit preferably includes a crash sensor coupled to the bus for sensing a crash event and providing a signal indicative thereof.
272 Citations
36 Claims
-
1. In a vehicle having seats, an occupant protection system for protecting one or more occupants comprising:
-
a deployable occupant protection device arranged on at least one of the seats, deployment determining means for generating a signal indicative of whether deployment of said occupant protection device is desired, and an electrical bus extending into the seat and electrically coupling said occupant protection device and said deployment determining means, the signal from said deployment determining means being sent over said bus to said occupant protection device to enable deployment of said occupant protection device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. In a vehicle having seats, an occupant protection system for protecting one or more occupants comprising:
-
a deployable occupant protection device arranged in connection with at least one of the seats;
a crash sensor for generating a signal indicative of whether deployment of said occupant protection device is desired; and
an electrical bus located at least partially within the seat and electrically coupling said occupant protection device and said crash sensor, the signal from said crash sensor being sent over said bus to said occupant protection device to enable deployment of said occupant protection device. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A method for controlling deployment of an occupant protection system for protecting one or more occupants in a vehicle comprising the steps of:
-
arranging a deployable occupant protection device on at least one of the seats;
generating a signal indicative of whether deployment of the occupant protection device is desired by means of a crash sensor;
electrically coupling the occupant protection device and the crash sensor by means of an electrical bus extending at least partially into the seat, and directing the signal from the crash sensor over the bus to the occupant protection device to enable deployment of the occupant protection device. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
arranging the occupant protection device in a housing; and
arranging the crash sensor separate and at a location apart from the housing of the occupant protection device.
-
-
31. The method of claim 28, wherein said bus includes a single pair of wires.
-
32. The method of claim 28, further comprising the step of arranging the occupant protection device in a module housing including at least one airbag and an inflator for inflating the at least one airbag.
-
33. The method of claim 32, further comprising the step of arranging a control unit within or proximate the housing and coupling the control unit to the inflator and via the bus to the crash sensor, the control unit initiating inflation of the at least one airbag by the inflator upon receiving a coded signal from the crash sensor.
-
34. The method of claim 33, further comprising the step of providing a power supply in the housing for enabling initiation of the inflator.
-
35. The method of claim 33, further comprising the steps of:
-
detecting the position of the occupant to be protected by the occupant protection device; and
initiating inflation of the at least one airbag by the inflator in consideration of the detected position of the occupant.
-
-
36. The method of claim 28, further comprising the steps of:
-
arranging the occupant protection device in a module housing; and
providing a power supply in the housing for supplying power to initiate deployment of the occupant protection device.
-
Specification