Control arrangement and method for testing the operation of a control arrangement of this type for occupant protection means in a motor vehicle
First Claim
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1. A control configuration for an occupant protection device in a motor vehicle, the control configuration comprising:
- a sensor field having at least two acceleration sensors, said acceleration sensors having at least two sensor elements allowing acceleration sensing along three sensitivity axes;
said sensitivity axes of said sensor elements of said acceleration sensors spanning a plane, said plane, after integrating the control configuration in a motor vehicle, being substantially parallel to a plane defined by a longitudinal axis of the vehicle and a transverse axis of the vehicle;
at least one evaluation device including;
for a normal or crash mode;
a safing routine to test plausibility of all output signals of said sensors by creating a weighted sum from the output signals, anda crash routine to evaluate the output signals; and
for a test mode;
a test routine sending a test signal to at least two of said acceleration sensors to generate output signals to test operation of said sensors;
at least one test signal to be modified with a weighting device by a predefinable weighting factor causing at least one of said acceleration sensors to output a weighted output signal; and
during the test routine, the output signals of said acceleration sensors disposed in said sensor field to be processed according to the safing routine;
the weighted sum of the output signals producing a predefined value when said acceleration sensors are capable of operation; and
error-free operation of the control configuration being able to be determined when the weighted sum of the output signals actually supplied during the test routine approximately produces the predefined value.
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Abstract
The invention relates to the idea of not initially multiplying the output signal (a) of an acceleration sensor (19) with regard to a weighted sum (Σg) with a correction factor (kw) but to alter a test signal (t) by using a weighting means (16) in such a manner that an already weighted output signal (ag) can be generated so that during a test operation, the safing algorithm of an evaluating device can be directly fallen back upon, whereby this can be advantageously tested with regard to its ability to operate. The invention is particularly suited for occupant protection systems of a modern motor vehicle.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A control configuration for an occupant protection device in a motor vehicle, the control configuration comprising:
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a sensor field having at least two acceleration sensors, said acceleration sensors having at least two sensor elements allowing acceleration sensing along three sensitivity axes; said sensitivity axes of said sensor elements of said acceleration sensors spanning a plane, said plane, after integrating the control configuration in a motor vehicle, being substantially parallel to a plane defined by a longitudinal axis of the vehicle and a transverse axis of the vehicle; at least one evaluation device including; for a normal or crash mode; a safing routine to test plausibility of all output signals of said sensors by creating a weighted sum from the output signals, and a crash routine to evaluate the output signals; and for a test mode; a test routine sending a test signal to at least two of said acceleration sensors to generate output signals to test operation of said sensors; at least one test signal to be modified with a weighting device by a predefinable weighting factor causing at least one of said acceleration sensors to output a weighted output signal; and during the test routine, the output signals of said acceleration sensors disposed in said sensor field to be processed according to the safing routine; the weighted sum of the output signals producing a predefined value when said acceleration sensors are capable of operation; and error-free operation of the control configuration being able to be determined when the weighted sum of the output signals actually supplied during the test routine approximately produces the predefined value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for testing operation of a control configuration for an occupant protection device in a motor vehicle, which comprises the following steps:
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providing a sensor field including at least two acceleration sensors having at least two sensor elements allowing acceleration sensing along three sensitivity axes; spanning a plane with the sensitivity axes of the sensor elements of the acceleration sensors, the plane, after integrating the control configuration in a motor vehicle, being substantially parallel to a plane defined by a longitudinal axis of the vehicle and a transverse axis of the vehicle; providing at least one evaluation device; in a normal or crash mode; testing plausibility of all output signals of the sensors with a safing algorithm by creating a weighted sum from the output signals, and evaluating the output signals with a crash discrimination algorithm; and in a test mode; sending a test signal to at least two acceleration sensors to generate output signals to test operation of the sensors; subjecting at least one test signal to a weighting causing at least one acceleration sensor to output a weighted output signal; and in the test mode, processing the output signals of the acceleration sensors disposed in the sensor field according to the safing algorithm; producing a predefined value with the weighted sum of the output signals when the acceleration sensors are capable of operation; and possibly determining error-free operation of the control configuration, when the weighted sum of the output signals actually supplied in the test mode approximately produces the predefined value. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification