Airbag deployment control apparatus and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An airbag deployment control apparatus comprising:
- an airbag mounted to a vehicle;
a pre-impact sensor mounted to the vehicle configured to detect an imminent impact of a detected object positioned exterior of the vehicle and generate a first safing signal;
an impact sensor mounted to the vehicle, the impact sensor configured to measure deceleration of the vehicle and to generate a second safing signal independent of the first safing signal; and
a control unit in communication with the pre-impact sensor, the impact sensor and the airbag, the control unit having a safing requirement requiring receipt of the first safing signal generated by the pre-impact sensor and the second safing signal generated by the impact sensor in order for the airbag to be deployed.
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Abstract
An airbag deployment control apparatus and method utilizes an output of a pre-collision sensor mounted on the vehicle as a first airbag safing signal, and an output of a vehicle mounted impact sensor, when the impact sensor output exceeds a predetermined level corresponding to an actual vehicle collision, as a second airbag safing signal. A control, after determining the occurrence of the two consecutive safing signals, checks airbag arming and deployment criteria for deployment of the airbag. The pre-impact sensor can be a camera, radar, or Lidar sensor mounted on the vehicle.
10 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An airbag deployment control apparatus comprising:
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an airbag mounted to a vehicle; a pre-impact sensor mounted to the vehicle configured to detect an imminent impact of a detected object positioned exterior of the vehicle and generate a first safing signal; an impact sensor mounted to the vehicle, the impact sensor configured to measure deceleration of the vehicle and to generate a second safing signal independent of the first safing signal; and a control unit in communication with the pre-impact sensor, the impact sensor and the airbag, the control unit having a safing requirement requiring receipt of the first safing signal generated by the pre-impact sensor and the second safing signal generated by the impact sensor in order for the airbag to be deployed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for deploying an airbag, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating a vehicle pre-impact input signal by a pre-impact sensor to a control unit; generating a vehicle impact signal by an impact sensor to the control unit following generation of the pre-impact input signal; determining if the vehicle impact signal is greater in value than a predetermined vehicle deceleration threshold value; using the pre-impact input signal as a first safing signal; and using a first in time of the vehicle impact signal greater in value than the predetermined vehicle deceleration threshold value as a second safing signal required to deploy the airbag. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification