Motor vehicle having a preventive protection system

• US 7,873,473 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2005
• Issued: 01/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Inventors: Justen, Rainer, Fehring, Michael, Baumann, Karl-Heinz
• Primary Examiner(s): Hellner; Mark
• Application Number:
  US11/663,500
• Publication Number:
  US 20090299576A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,946 Days
• Field of Search: 701/301, 701/45, 304/436, 180/274
• US Class Current: 701/301
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0119 Plausibility check
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0134 responsive to imminent contact with an obstacle , e.g. using radar systems

Abstract

A motor vehicle preventive protection system comprises a plurality of safety devices which are actuated as a function of information from at least one vehicle surroundings detection device. The time remaining prior to a collision is determined when the information from the vehicle surroundings detection device represents an anticipated collision with a collision object. Associated activation times for at least two of the actuators assigned to the safety devices are stored and the time remaining prior to the collision is compared with the activation times. At least one safety device is activated if the time remaining prior to the collision is shorter than or equal to at least one of the activation times of the actuators.

Claims

1. A vehicle protection system which comprises a plurality of safety devices that are actuated as a function of information from at least one vehicle surroundings detection device;

wherein;

a time remaining prior to a collision is determined if information from the at least one vehicle surroundings detection device represents an anticipated collision with a collision object;

associated activation times for at least two actuators assigned to the respective safety devices are stored;

the time remaining prior to the collision is compared with said activation times; and

if the time remaining prior to the collision is shorter than or equal to at least one of the activation times of the actuators, only actuators whose activation time is shorter than or equal to the time remaining prior to the collision are activated simultaneously or successively, based on said stored activation times.

2. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 1, wherein, as the time remaining expires or is shortened, each actuator whose stored activation time is shorter than or equal to the remaining time is activated in sequence, according to the stored times.

3. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 1, wherein an actuator which has the longest of all the activation times which are shorter than or equal to the remaining time is determined as being the actuator which triggers first, and all the actuators are activated in accordance with a cascading rule which is referenced to the time of activation of the actuator that triggers first.

4. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 3, wherein activation of actuators is stored in a cascading rule, in a sequence with predetermined delay times following activation of the actuator that triggers first.

5. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the actuator which triggers first is activated when the time remaining is equal to its activation time.

6. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one actuator whose activation time is longer than the determined remaining time is triggered as soon as the information from the vehicle surroundings detection device represents an anticipated collision with a collision object.

7. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle surroundings detection device is configured to a minimum sensor range which is determined from a product of a predefined maximum relative velocity and a time value which corresponds to the necessary activation time of an actuator plus a necessary cycle time of the vehicle surroundings detection device, multiplied by a necessary number of sampling processes.

8. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a safety device is activated only if, in addition, the data from a driving situation data acquisition device represents a driver behavior/vehicle behavior which is predefined for a collision plausibility check.

9. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the data which represents a driver behavior/vehicle behavior for a collision plausibility check comprises at least one of an accelerator pedal position, an accelerator pedal movement, a brake pedal position and a brake pedal movement.

10. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the data which represents a driver behavior/vehicle behavior for a collision plausibility check comprises at least one of a steering wheel speed and a steering wheel acceleration in a predefined time, with respect to an actual velocity of the motor vehicle.

11. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the data which represents a driver behavior/vehicle behavior for a collision plausibility check comprises an operator control activity of an operator control element in a predefined time.

12. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the data which represents a driver behavior/vehicle behavior for a collision plausibility check comprises physiological data of the driver.

13. The vehicle protection system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information which represents an anticipated collision with a collision object comprises at least one of a relative position and an offset of the collision object in the lateral direction.

14. A motor vehicle having a protection system which comprises a plurality of safety devices that are actuated as a function of information from at least one vehicle surroundings detection device;

wherein;

a time remaining prior to a collision is determined if information from the at least one vehicle surroundings detection device represents an anticipated collision with a collision object;

associated activation times for at least two actuators assigned to the respective safety devices are stored;

the time remaining prior to the collision is compared with said activation times; and

if the time remaining prior to the collision is shorter than or equal to at least one of the activation times of the actuators, actuators whose activation time is shorter than or equal to the time remaining prior to the collision are activated simultaneously or successively, based on said stored activation times.

15. A vehicle protection system comprising:

a plurality of safety devices, each of which is actuatable to protect vehicle occupants or other persons or property in the event of a crash;

a plurality of actuators assigned respectively to each of said safety devices each of said actuators having an actuation time that is require to activate its assigned safety device to provide full protection;

a memory having said activation times of each of said actuators stored therein;

at least one sensor for detecting a distance to a potential collision object which enters a respective field of view of said at least one sensor;

a data evaluation and control device which determines a time remaining until a possible collision with said potential collision object;

wherein,

upon detection of a potential collision object, said data evaluation and control unit causes only those of said safety devices whose actuators have an activation time that is less than the determined time remaining until a possible collision, to be actuated, in a sequence that is determined according to their stored activation times.

16. The vehicle protection system according to claim 15, wherein:

a first safety device whose actuator has the longest activation time that is less than the time remaining until a possible collision is activated initially; and

remaining safety devices whose activation time is less than the time remaining to a possible collision are activated after activation of the first safety device, based on one of i) a periodic recalculation of the time remaining until a possible collision and ii) a count down by a timer of the time following the initial determination of the time remaining.

17. The vehicle protection system according to claim 16, wherein:

each of said remaining safety devices is activated when the time remaining until a possible collision becomes equal to the activation time of its assigned actuator, based on the activation time information stored in said memory.

18. The vehicle protection system according to claim 16, wherein each of said remaining safety devices is activated at a time interval following activation of the first safety device, based on differences between the activation times of said remaining safety devices, as stored in said memory.