Airbag device for a vehicle
First Claim
1. An airbag device for a vehicle, comprising:
- an airbag configured to advance into a passenger compartment when being inflated, said airbag having a side moving toward an occupant when being inflated;
a filling device configured to inflate said airbag with gas;
a control device operatively connected to said filling device, said control device controlling said filling device via a control signal;
at least one sensor element disposed on said side of said airbag moving toward the occupant when being inflated, said at least one sensor element being responsive to local pressure changes, said at least one sensor element passing sensed pressure changes as a sensor signal to said control device;
said at least one sensor element being formed of sensor strips crossing over one another, said sensor strips being resistor elements and being configured to detect pressure changes;
said resistor elements forming a matrix grid with rows and columns of spaced apart contact regions of said resistor elements;
a respective one of said contact regions of corresponding two of said resistor elements having a respective electrical resistance dependent on one of a force loading and a pressure loading of said respective one of said contact regions;
an electrically conductive element in electrical contact with one of said resistor elements at one of said contact regions, said electrically conductive element applying a voltage to said one of said resistor elements at said one of said contact regions, said electrically conductive element having a lower resistance than said one of said resistor elements; and
said filling device being controlled such that a quantity of gas supplied by said filling device can be controlled in response to a sensor signal supplied by said resistor elements detecting an advancing movement of said airbag.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An airbag device for a vehicle includes an airbag and a sensor element located on the side of the airbag which moves towards the vehicle occupant. The sensor element is formed of sensor strips which transmit sensed pressure changes in the form of a sensor signal to a control device. The amount of gas supplied by a filling device can be controlled in response to the sensor signal. The sensor element has resistor elements forming a matrix-type grid of spaced apart contact regions of the resistor elements. An electric resistance in a contact region of two resistor elements is dependent on the force or pressure load of the contact region. A voltage can be applied to least one of the resistor elements at least in one of the contact regions via an electrically conductive element which is in electrical contact with a resistor element at the contact region.
-
Citations
37 Claims
-
1. An airbag device for a vehicle, comprising:
-
an airbag configured to advance into a passenger compartment when being inflated, said airbag having a side moving toward an occupant when being inflated;
a filling device configured to inflate said airbag with gas;
a control device operatively connected to said filling device, said control device controlling said filling device via a control signal;
at least one sensor element disposed on said side of said airbag moving toward the occupant when being inflated, said at least one sensor element being responsive to local pressure changes, said at least one sensor element passing sensed pressure changes as a sensor signal to said control device;
said at least one sensor element being formed of sensor strips crossing over one another, said sensor strips being resistor elements and being configured to detect pressure changes;
said resistor elements forming a matrix grid with rows and columns of spaced apart contact regions of said resistor elements;
a respective one of said contact regions of corresponding two of said resistor elements having a respective electrical resistance dependent on one of a force loading and a pressure loading of said respective one of said contact regions;
an electrically conductive element in electrical contact with one of said resistor elements at one of said contact regions, said electrically conductive element applying a voltage to said one of said resistor elements at said one of said contact regions, said electrically conductive element having a lower resistance than said one of said resistor elements; and
said filling device being controlled such that a quantity of gas supplied by said filling device can be controlled in response to a sensor signal supplied by said resistor elements detecting an advancing movement of said airbag. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
-
Specification