Vehicle safety system
First Claim
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1. A vehicle safety system for detecting and responding to a side impact of the vehicle, the system comprisingat least one sensor operable to detect one or more parameters relating to the rate of yaw of the vehicle, and to provide an output that is dependent upon the longitudinal position along the vehicle of the side impact;
- a processor operable to output an activation signal to activate passive safety devices of the vehicle safety system if it is determined from the one or more parameters that a side impact is occurring or has occurred;
the processor operable to determine whether an in-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred and to determine if an off-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred;
an in-zone activation signal is output if it is determined that an in-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred and it is determined that a parameter relating to the lateral acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a first threshold, and an off-zone activation signal is output if it is determined that an off-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred and it is determined that at least one of the detected rate of yaw and angular acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a respective yaw threshold and angular acceleration threshold; and
the processor operable to selectively activate the passive safety devices in different ways depending on whether the side impact is determined to have occurred in-zone or off-zone.
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Abstract
A vehicle safety system for detecting a side impact, the system comprising at least one sensor operable to detect one or more parameters relating to the rate of yaw of the vehicle, and to provide an output that is dependent upon the longitudinal position along the vehicle of the side impact.
8 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A vehicle safety system for detecting and responding to a side impact of the vehicle, the system comprising
at least one sensor operable to detect one or more parameters relating to the rate of yaw of the vehicle, and to provide an output that is dependent upon the longitudinal position along the vehicle of the side impact; -
a processor operable to output an activation signal to activate passive safety devices of the vehicle safety system if it is determined from the one or more parameters that a side impact is occurring or has occurred; the processor operable to determine whether an in-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred and to determine if an off-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred; an in-zone activation signal is output if it is determined that an in-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred and it is determined that a parameter relating to the lateral acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a first threshold, and an off-zone activation signal is output if it is determined that an off-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred and it is determined that at least one of the detected rate of yaw and angular acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a respective yaw threshold and angular acceleration threshold; and the processor operable to selectively activate the passive safety devices in different ways depending on whether the side impact is determined to have occurred in-zone or off-zone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17)
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12. A method for detecting a side impact to a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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detecting one or more parameters relating to the rate of yaw of the vehicle; providing an output, based at least on the one or more parameters, which is dependent upon the longitudinal position along the vehicle of the side impact; outputting an activation signal to activate a passive impact protection arrangement when it is determined from the at least one parameter that a side impact is occurring or has occurred; the step of outputting the activation signal further comprising the steps of determining whether an in-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred and determining whether an off-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred; outputting the activation signal as an in-zone activation signal if it is determined that an in in-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred and it is determined that a parameter relating to the lateral acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a first threshold, and outputting the activation signal as an off-zone activation signal if it is determined that an off-zone side impact is occurring or has occurred and it is determined that the detected rate of yaw or angular acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a second threshold; and causing the passive impact protection arrangement to react in different ways depending on whether the side impact is determined to be an in-zone side impact or an off-zone side impact. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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Specification