Method and apparatus for controlling an actuatable occupant protection device using an ultrasonic sensor
First Claim
1. A system for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said system comprising:
- a crash sensor operative to sense a vehicle crash event and provide a crash signal having a characteristic indicative of the sensed vehicle crash event;
an acoustic safing sensor operative to sense acoustic waves propagating through a structure of a vehicle during the vehicle crash event and provide a safing signal having a characteristic indicative of the vehicle crash event;
an actuatable occupant protection device for, when actuated, helping to protect the vehicle occupant during the vehicle crash event; and
a controller which controls actuation of said occupant protection device in response to both said crash signal and said safing signal separately indicating an occurrence of a deployment crash event.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system (10) for helping to protect a vehicle occupant includes a crash sensor (32) operative to sense a vehicle crash event and provide a crash signal having a characteristic indicative of the sensed crash event. An acoustic safing sensor (34) is operative to sense acoustic waves of the vehicle during a vehicle crash event and provide a safing signal having a characteristic indicative of the sensed acoustic waves. The system (10) also includes an occupant protection device (18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28) for, when actuated, helping to protect the vehicle occupant during a vehicle crash event. A controller (30) controls actuation of the occupant protection device (18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28) in response to the crash signal and the safing signal.
64 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A system for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said system comprising:
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a crash sensor operative to sense a vehicle crash event and provide a crash signal having a characteristic indicative of the sensed vehicle crash event; an acoustic safing sensor operative to sense acoustic waves propagating through a structure of a vehicle during the vehicle crash event and provide a safing signal having a characteristic indicative of the vehicle crash event; an actuatable occupant protection device for, when actuated, helping to protect the vehicle occupant during the vehicle crash event; and a controller which controls actuation of said occupant protection device in response to both said crash signal and said safing signal separately indicating an occurrence of a deployment crash event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said system comprising:
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a plurality of crash event sensors, each of said plurality of crash event sensors being operative to sense a different vehicle condition of a vehicle and to provide a corresponding sensor signal having a characteristic indicative of the vehicle condition sensed thereby; an acoustic safing sensor operative to sense acoustic waves propagating through a vehicle structure during a vehicle crash event and to provide a safing signal having a characteristic indicative of the vehicle crash event; an occupant protection device for, when actuated, helping to protect the vehicle occupant during the vehicle crash event; and a controller connected with each of said plurality of crash event sensors, said acoustic safing sensor, and said occupant protection device, said controller determining an occurrence of the vehicle crash event and controlling actuation of said occupant protection device in response to the sensor signal from any one of said plurality of crash event sensors and the safing signal from said acoustic safing sensor separately indicating an occurrence of a deployment crash event. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said system comprising:
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a sensor module for mounting in a vehicle, said sensor module including; an accelerometer operative to sense vehicle acceleration and provide an acceleration signal having a characteristic indicative of the sensed vehicle acceleration; and an acoustic sensor operative to detect acoustic waves propagating through a vehicle structure during a vehicle crash event and to provide a safing signal having a characteristic indicative of the vehicle crash event;
said system further comprising;an occupant protection device for, when actuated, helping to protect the vehicle occupant during the vehicle crash event; and a controller which controls actuation of said occupant protection device in response to both said acceleration signal and said safing signal separately indicating an occurrence of a deployment crash event. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A method for controlling actuation of an actuatable occupant protection device of a vehicle, said method comprising the steps of:
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sensing a vehicle crash condition; providing a crash event signal having a characteristic indicative of the sensed vehicle crash condition; sensing acoustic waves that travel through a vehicle structure during an occurrence of the vehicle crash condition; providing a safing signal in response to the sensed acoustic waves during the vehicle crash condition; determining an occurrence of a vehicle crash event in response to both the crash event signal and the safing signal separately indicating the occurrence of the vehicle crash condition; and controlling actuation of an occupant protection device in response to said determination. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said system comprising:
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means for sensing a vehicle crash condition and providing a crash event signal having a characteristic indicative thereof; means for sensing acoustic waves that travel through a vehicle structure in response to an occurrence of the vehicle crash condition and providing a safing signal having a characteristic indicative of a vehicle crash event; and control means for determining an occurrence of the vehicle crash event in response to both the crash event signal and the safing signal separately indicating an occurrence of a deployment crash event and controlling actuation of an occupant protection device in response to the determination.
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Specification