Controller for occupant restraint system

• US 6,804,595 B1
• Filed: 09/01/2000
• Issued: 10/12/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Siemens VDO Automotive Corporation (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens VDO Automotive Corporation (Siemens AG)
• Inventors: Garcia, Emmanuel, Quail, Alanna Marie
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): To, Tuan C
• Application Number:
  US09/654,417
• Time in Patent Office: 1,502 Days
• Field of Search: 340/903, 340/870.37, 340/428, 340/562, 340/436, 340/438, 701/45, 701/46, 280/735, 280/734, 280/730, 280/729, 280/728.1, 280/730.1, 280/802, 180/237, 180/271, 180/273, 180/282, 180/268, 180/270, 180/272
• 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 21/01512 Passenger detection systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01516 using force or pressure sensing means
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0153 using field detection presence sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01544 detecting seat belt parameters, e.g. length, tension or height-adjustment
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01556 Child-seat detection systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/01558 monitoring crash strength
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/34 Belt retractors, e.g. reels anchoring devices , e.g. guide loops , with means to tension the belt in an emergency B60R22/195
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/46 Reels with means to tension the belt in an emergency by forced winding upelectrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements B60R21/01 ; tensioners using reels only guiding the belt during normal use, e.g. splitted reels B60R22/195

Abstract

A vehicle occupant restraint system includes an airbag system and a seat belt harness with pretensioner and retractor mechanisms. Multiple sensors are mounted within the vehicle to measure and monitor various occupant and vehicle characteristics, which are entered into a central processing unit (CPU). These sensors include an occupant presence sensor for determining whether there is an occupant present within the airbag deployment area, a child seat sensor for determining whether a child seat is properly installed in the airbag deployment area, and a seat belt usage sensor for determining whether a seat belt is in an engaged position. The occupant presence, child seat, and seat belt usage sensors generate system modifier signals that can disable the airbag system or seat belt mechanisms if certain predetermined conditions are not satisfied. Other sensors include an occupant weight sensor, an occupant proximity sensor for determining occupant position relative to the airbag deployment area, a crash severity sensor, and a pre-crash sensor for providing vehicle speed and orientation characteristics prior to the collision. All of these sensors provide input signals that are received by the CPU. The CPU processes these multiple input signals with a hizzy logic control system to generate multiple output signals for controlling the airbag and seat belt mechanisms. The multiple output signals can include a multi-stage airbag inflation signal, a variable venting signal, a seat belt pretensioner signal, and a seat belt retractor signal.

Claims

1. An occupant restraint system comprising:

at least one modifier sensor that generates a modifier signal representative of either a positive condition to enable an occupant restraint system having at least an airbag assembly and a seat belt assembly or a negative condition to disable the occupant restraint system, said modifier signal disabling at least one of an airbag control or a seat belt control as soon as at least one negative condition is identified and not disabling said airbag control or said seat belt control if all predetermined conditions are positive conditions;

an occupant sensor assembly that generates an occupant signal representing multiple occupant characteristics;

a collision sensor assembly that generates a collision signal representing vehicle collision characteristics; and

a processing unit for receiving input comprised of said modifier, occupant, and collision signals and for generating at least one output signal based on said input that optimizes deployment of said occupant restraint system.

2. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said at least one modifier sensor includes an occupant presence sensor for determining whether an occupant is present within a predetermined area within the vehicle and wherein said modifier signal is generated as a positive modifier signal when the occupant is in said predetermined area and generates a negative modifier signal when the occupant is not in said predetermined area.

3. A system as set forth in claim 2 wherein transmission of said negative modifier signal to said processing unit disables said occupant restraint system.

4. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said at least one modifier sensor includes a child seat sensor for determining whether a child seat is properly positioned within a predetermined area and wherein said modifier signal is generated as a positive modifier signal when said child seat is properly positioned within said predetermined area and is generated as a negative modifier signal when said child seat is improperly positioned within said predetermined area.

5. A system as set forth in claim 4 wherein transmission of said negative modifier signal to said processing unit disables said occupant restraint system.

6. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said at least one modifier sensor includes a seat belt usage sensor for determining whether a set belt harness is being utilized by the occupant and wherein said modifier signal is generated as a positive modifier signal when said seat belt harness is in an engaged position and is generated as negative modifier signal when said seat belt harness is in a disengaged position.

7. A system as set forth in claim 6 wherein said at least one output signal includes a retractor control signal for controlling deployment of a seat belt retractor to reduce forward momentum of the occupant when said processing unit receives a positive modifier signal and for disabling said seat belt retractor when said processing unit receives a negative modifier signal.

8. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said at least one modifier sensor is comprised of an occupant presence sensor for determining whether an occupant is present within a predetermined area within the vehicle, a child seat sensor for determining whether a child seat is properly positioned within said predetermined area, and a seat belt usage sensor for determining whether a seat belt harness is being utilized by the occupant and wherein said occupant presence sensor generates an occupant signal that is positive when the occupant is in said predetermined area and negative when the occupant is not in said predetermined area, said child seat sensor generates a child seat signal that is positive when said child seat is properly positioned within said predetermined area and negative when said child seat is improperly positioned within said predetermined area, and said seat belt usage sensor generates a seat belt signal that is positive when said seat belt harness is in an engaged position and negative when said seat belt harness is in a disengaged position, said modifier signal being comprised of said occupant presence, child seat, and seat belt signals.

9. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said occupant sensor assembly includes a weight sensor for generating a weight signal representing occupant weight and an occupant proximity sensor for generating an occupant proximity signal representing occupant position relative to a deployment area for said occupant restraint system, said occupant signal being comprised of said weight and proximity signals.

10. A system as set forth in claim 9 wherein said collision sensor assembly includes a severity sensor for generating a severity signal representing collision characteristics occurring at the time of or just after collision and a pre-collision sensor for generating a pre-collision signal representing vehicle characteristics occurring just before collision, said collision signal being comprised of said severity and pre-collision signals.

11. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said occupant restraint system includes an airbag assembly with an airbag controller for inflating and deflating an airbag and a seat belt assembly having a seat belt pretensioner mechanism and a seat belt retractor mechanism.

12. A system as set forth in claim 11 wherein said input to said processing unit is comprised of a plurality of input signals including said modifier signal comprised of an occupant presence signal, a child seat signal, and a seat belt usage signal, said occupant signal comprised of an occupant weight signal and an occupant proximity signal, and said collision signal comprised of a collision severity signal and a pre-collision signal.

13. A system as set forth in claim 12 wherein said at least one output signal is comprised of a plurality of output signals including a multi-stage inflation control signal for controlling the profile of said airbag, a variable venting control signal for controlling deflation speed of said airbag, and a retractor control signal for controlling the retraction force of said seat belt retractor mechanism.

14. A system as set forth in claim 13 including a fuzzy logic control system for optimizing said plurality of output signals based on said plurality of input signals.

15. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said at least one modifier sensor includes a child seat sensor for identifying all possible installation positions of a child seat including forward and rearward facing positions.

16. A system as set forth in claim 10 wherein said pre-collision signal is generated based on at least vehicle speed and braking characteristics occurring prior to a collision event.

17. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said processing unit includes a network capable of learning various vehicle characteristics unique to vehicle type and size and adapting said output signal to account for different vehicle types.

18. A system as set forth in claim 17 wherein said network is capable of learning passenger compartment size.

19. An occupant restraint system comprising:

an airbag assembly with an airbag controller for inflating and deflating an airbag;

a seat belt assembly having a seat belt pretensioner mechanism and a seat belt retractor mechanism;

a plurality of modifier sensors including a occupant presence sensor for generating an occupant presence signal indicating whether an occupant is present in a predetermined area, a child seat sensor for generating a child seat position signal indicating whether a child seat is properly installed within said predetermined area, and a seat belt usage sensor for generating a seat belt signal indicating whether a seat belt is in an engaged or disengaged position;

a plurality of occupant sensors including an occupant weight sensor for generating an occupant weight signal and an occupant position sensor for generating an occupant position signal indicating the position of the occupant relative to an occupant restraint system deployment area;

a plurality of collision sensors including a severity sensor for generating a severity signal indicating collision characteristics occurring at the time of or just after collision and a pre-collision sensor for generating a pre-collision signal indicating vehicle characteristics occurring just before collision; and

a processing unit for receiving multiple input signals comprised of said occupant presence, child seat, seat belt, occupant weight, occupant position, severity, and pre-collision signals and for generating multiple output signals including a multi-stage inflation control signal for controlling the profile of said airbag, a variable venting control signal for controlling deflation speed of said airbag, and a retractor control signal for controlling the retraction force of said seat belt retractor mechanism.

20. A system as set forth in claim 19 wherein said processing unit includes a fuzzy logic control system for optimizing said multiple output signals based on said multiple input signals.

21. A system as set forth in claim 20 wherein said occupant presence signal is either a positive occupant presence signal indicating the occupant is present in said predetermined area or a negative occupant presence signal indicating the occupant is not present in said predetermined area;

said child seat signal is either a positive child seat signal indicating said child seat is properly installed within said predetermined area or a negative child seat signal indicating said child seat is improperly installed within said predetermined area; and

said seat belt signal is either a positive seat belt signal indicating said seat belt is engaged or a negative seat belt signal indicating said seat belt is disengaged wherein said negative occupant presence and negative child seat signals disables said airbag controller to prevent inflation of said airbag and said negative seat belt signal disables said seat belt pretensioner and retractor mechanisms.

22. A system as set forth in claim 19 wherein said child seat sensor identifies whether said child seat is forward or rearward facing and said child seat position signal is generated based on a combination of forward or rearward identification of said child seat and proper installation of said child seat within said predetermined area.

23. A system as set forth in claim 19 wherein said pre-collision signal is generated based on at least vehicle speed and braking characteristics occurring prior to a collision event.

24. A system as set forth in claim 19 wherein said processing unit is installable within multiple vehicle types having different passenger compartment sizes and includes a network capable of identifying specific passenger compartment sizes upon installation.

25. A method for controlling an occupant restraint system including at least a seat belt assembly and an airbag assembly comprising the steps of:

(a) (1) generating at least one modifier signal that represents either a positive condition to enable the occupant restraint system or a negative condition to disable the occupant restraint system; and

(2) disabling at least one of an airbag control or a seat belt control in response to the modifier signal identifying at least one negative condition and not disabling the airbag control or the if the modifier signal identifies all possible conditions as positive conditions;

(b) after step (a)(2), generating an occupant signal representing multiple occupant characteristics;

(c) generating a collision signal representing vehicle collision characteristics; and

(d) transmitting the modifier, occupant, and collision signals as multiple input signals to a processing unit; and

(e) generating at least one output signal based on the input signals to optimize deployment of the occupant restraint system.

26. A method as set forth in claim 25 wherein the at least one modifier signal comprises a plurality of modifier signals and step (a) includes generating a first modifier signal having either a positive occupant presence signal indicating that an occupant is present in a predetermined area or a negative occupant presence signal indicating that the occupant is not in the predetermined area;

generating a second modifier signal having either a positive child seat signal indicating that a child seat is properly installed within the predetermined area or a negative child seat signal indicating that the child seat is not present or is improperly installed within the predetermined area; and

generating a third modifier signal having either a positive seat belt usage signal indicating that a seat belt is in an engaged position or a negative seat belt usage signal indicating that the seat belt is in a disengaged position; and

wherein step (e) includes the step of modifying the output signal to disable the occupant restraint system when either the negative occupant presence signal;

the negative child seat signal, or the negative seat belt usage signal is generated.

27. A method as set forth in claim 26 wherein step (e) includes the step of continuing to process the output signal when either the positive occupant presence signal, the positive child seat signal, or the positive seat belt usage signal is generated.

28. A method as set forth in claim 26 wherein step (e) includes utilizing the output signal to control inflation and deflation of an airbag and to control operation of a seat belt assembly having a seat belt pretensioner mechanism and a seat belt retractor mechanism.

29. A method as set forth in claim 26 wherein step (e) includes generating a plurality of output signals including generating a multi-stage inflation control signal for controlling the profile of the airbag, generating a variable venting control signal for controlling deflation speed of the airbag, and generating a reactor control signal for controlling the retraction force of the seat belt retractor mechanism.

30. A method as set forth in claim 29 including programming the processing unit with a fuzzy logic analysis process to generate the plurality of output signals based on the plurality of input signals before step (e).

31. A method as set forth in claim 30 wherein step (b) includes generating an occupant weight signal and an occupant proximity signal indicating position of the occupant relative to the airbag.

32. A method as set forth in claim 31 wherein step (c) includes generating a severity signal indicating vehicle characteristics at or after collision and generating a pre-collision signal indicating vehicle characteristics before collision.

33. A method as set forth in claim 25 including utilizing a fuzzy logic analysis process to generate the output signal based on the plurality of input signals before step (e) wherein the fuzzy logic analysis process includes the steps of creating membership functions by assigning each non-modifier signal to one of a plurality of predetermined values within a designated range for each function;

designating rules to be applied to the input signals and membership functions;

evaluating the rules and input signals to form an optimal control decision; and

translating the optimal control decision into the output signal.

34. A method as set forth in claim 25 including the step of learning vehicle characteristics unique to vehicle type and size by using a neural network.

35. A method as set forth in claim 25 including the step of generating a child seat position signal as a modifier signal during step (a) to identify installation position of a child seat as being either forward facing or rearward facing with forward facing corresponding to a positive condition and rearward facing corresponding to a negative condition.

36. A method as set forth in claim 26 wherein step (a) is performed prior to step (b).

37. A method as set forth in claim 32 wherein step (c) further includes generating the pre-collision signal based on at least vehicle speed and braking characteristics prior to a collision event.

38. A method as set forth in claim 25 further including the steps of installing a common processing unit in multiple vehicle types having different passenger compartment sizes and identifying a specific passenger compartment size after installation prior to step (a).

39. A method as set forth in claim 38 further including the steps of modifying the output signal based on the specific passenger compartment size.

40. A method as set forth in claim 25 including utilizing a fuzzy logic analysis process to generate the at least one output signal based on the plurality of input signals.