Sensor based occupant protection system
First Claim
1. A method for automatically optimizing settings for one or more safety systems on a vehicle for a particular occupant in a seat of the vehicle, said method comprising:
- determining, using a mass sensor, a mass of the occupant while seated in the seat;
determining, using a seat position sensor, a fore-aft position of the seat;
classifying, using a controller including a processor and memory, a combination of the mass of the occupant and the position of the seat, where the mass of the occupant is classified as small, medium or large, and the position of the seat is classified as fore, mid or aft, resulting in nine possible classification combinations;
determining, using the controller, which of a plurality of safety system settings the classification combination falls in, where the classification combination is assigned to one of three safety system settings, and the safety system settings include small mass-fore seat, large mass-aft seat, and all-other; and
setting the vehicle safety systems for that classification combination.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for optimizing various vehicle safety systems, such as airbags and seat belt load tensioning limiters, for a particular occupant of a vehicle seat, such as the vehicle driver or passenger, based on the weight of the occupant and the fore-aft position of the seat. The method senses the mass of the occupant and the position of the seat and classifies the combination of the mass and position. The method then determines the optimized setting of the safety systems for that combination classification, and automatically sets the safety systems to that setting. The method can also determine the optimized setting of the safety systems based on whether the occupant is wearing a seat belt.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for automatically optimizing settings for one or more safety systems on a vehicle for a particular occupant in a seat of the vehicle, said method comprising:
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determining, using a mass sensor, a mass of the occupant while seated in the seat; determining, using a seat position sensor, a fore-aft position of the seat; classifying, using a controller including a processor and memory, a combination of the mass of the occupant and the position of the seat, where the mass of the occupant is classified as small, medium or large, and the position of the seat is classified as fore, mid or aft, resulting in nine possible classification combinations; determining, using the controller, which of a plurality of safety system settings the classification combination falls in, where the classification combination is assigned to one of three safety system settings, and the safety system settings include small mass-fore seat, large mass-aft seat, and all-other; and setting the vehicle safety systems for that classification combination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for automatically optimizing settings for one or more safety systems on a vehicle for a particular occupant in a seat of the vehicle, said method comprising:
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determining, using a mass sensor, a mass of the occupant while seated in the seat; determining, using a seat position sensor, a fore-aft position of the seat; classifying, using a controller including a processor and memory, a combination of the mass of the occupant and the position of the seat, where the mass of the occupant is classified as small, medium or large, and the position of the seat is classified as fore, mid or aft, resulting in nine possible classification combinations; determining, using the controller, which of a plurality of safety system settings the classification combination falls in, where the classification combination is assigned to one of three safety system settings, and the safety system settings include small mass-fore seat, large mass-aft seat, and all-other; determining, using a seat belt engagement sensor, whether a seat belt for the seat has been buckled; and setting the vehicle safety systems for that classification combination and whether the seat belt is buckled. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. An optimization system for automatically optimizing settings for one or more safety systems on a vehicle for a particular occupant in a seat of the vehicle, said optimization system comprising:
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a mass sensor for determining a mass of the occupant while seated in the seat; a seat position sensor for determining a fore-aft position of the seat; a controller including a processor and memory, said controller including a first algorithm for classifying a combination of the mass of the occupant and the position of the seat, where the mass of the occupant is classified as small, medium or large, and the position of the seat is classified as fore, mid or aft, resulting in nine possible classification combinations; a second algorithm on the controller for determining which of a plurality of safety system settings the classification combination falls in, where the classification combination is assigned to one of three safety system settings, and the safety system settings include small mass-fore seat, large mass-aft seat, and all-other; and a communications path between the controller and the vehicle safety systems for setting the vehicle safety systems for that classification combination. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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Specification