Method and apparatus for determining a vehicle pitch-over condition
First Claim
1. An apparatus for determining a pitch-over condition of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
- a first accelerometer for sensing acceleration in a Z-axis direction substantially perpendicular to both a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and a side-to-side axis of the vehicle and for providing a first acceleration signal indicative thereof;
a second accelerometer for sensing acceleration in an X-axis direction substantially parallel to said front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and for providing a second acceleration signal indicative thereof; and
a controller for determining a Z-axis velocity value from the first acceleration signal and determining a pitch-over condition of the vehicle in response to both the determined Z-axis velocity value and the second acceleration signal, wherein said controller determines an X-axis acceleration value from said second acceleration signal as a function of displacement in said Z-axis direction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for determining a pitch-over condition of a vehicle comprises a first accelerometer for sensing acceleration in a Z-axis direction substantially perpendicular to both a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and a side-to-side axis of the vehicle and for providing a first acceleration signal indicative thereof. A second accelerometer for senses acceleration in an X-axis direction substantially parallel to said front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and provides a second acceleration signal indicative thereof. A controller determines a Z-axis velocity value from the first acceleration signal and a pitch-over condition of the vehicle in response to both the determined Z-axis velocity value and the second acceleration signal.
36 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus for determining a pitch-over condition of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
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a first accelerometer for sensing acceleration in a Z-axis direction substantially perpendicular to both a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and a side-to-side axis of the vehicle and for providing a first acceleration signal indicative thereof; a second accelerometer for sensing acceleration in an X-axis direction substantially parallel to said front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and for providing a second acceleration signal indicative thereof; and a controller for determining a Z-axis velocity value from the first acceleration signal and determining a pitch-over condition of the vehicle in response to both the determined Z-axis velocity value and the second acceleration signal, wherein said controller determines an X-axis acceleration value from said second acceleration signal as a function of displacement in said Z-axis direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus for controlling actuation of an actuatable occupant restraint device of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
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an actuatable occupant restraint device; a first accelerometer for sensing acceleration in a Z-axis direction substantially perpendicular to both a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and a side-to-side axis of the vehicle and for providing a first acceleration signal indicative thereof; a second accelerometer for sensing acceleration in an X-axis direction substantially parallel to said front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and for providing a second acceleration signal indicative thereof; and a controller for determining a Z-axis velocity value from the first acceleration signal and providing an actuation signal for actuating the actuatable occupant restraint device of the vehicle in response to both the determined Z-axis velocity value and the second acceleration signal, wherein said controller determines an X-axis acceleration value from said second acceleration signal as a function of displacement in said Z-axis direction. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for controlling actuation of an actuatable occupant restraint device of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:
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a first accelerometer for sensing acceleration in a Z-axis direction substantially perpendicular to both a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and a side-to-side axis of the vehicle and for providing a first acceleration signal indicative thereof; a second accelerometer for sensing acceleration in an X-axis direction substantially parallel to said front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and for providing a second acceleration signal indicative thereof; and a controller for determining Z-axis velocity and Z-axis displacement from the first acceleration signal, determining X-axis acceleration from the second acceleration signal, and providing an actuation signal for actuating the actuatable occupant restraint device of the vehicle in response to both the determined Z-axis velocity as a function of the determined Z-axis displacement and the determined X-axis acceleration as a function of the determined Z-axis displacement.
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19. A method for determining a pitch-over condition of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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sensing acceleration using an accelerometer in a Z-axis direction substantially perpendicular to both a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and a side-to-side axis of the vehicle and providing a first acceleration signal indicative thereof; sensing acceleration using an accelerometer in an X-axis direction substantially parallel to said front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and providing a second acceleration signal indicative thereof; determining a Z-axis velocity value from the first acceleration signal; determining an X-axis acceleration value from said second acceleration signal, said step of determining an X-axis acceleration value comprising determining acceleration in said X-axis direction as a function of displacement in said Z-axis direction; and determining a pitch-over condition of the vehicle in response to both the determined Z-axis velocity value and the second acceleration signal. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification