Vehicle safety system
First Claim
1. A safety system for a motor vehicle having at least a front wheel arrangement having one or more wheels and a rear wheel arrangement having one or more wheels, the system comprising:
- a control unit;
one or more vehicle inertial sensors to detect acceleration experienced by the vehicle, the one or more vehicle inertial sensors being connected to the control unit so the control unit receives output signals from the one or more vehicle inertial sensors; and
one or more vehicle safety systems which may be activated by the control unit,wherein the control unit is configured to process the output signals received from the one or more vehicle inertial sensors and to determine whether at least one of the wheels of the front and the rear wheel arrangements is not in contact with the surface over which the vehicle is driven;
wherein the one or more vehicle inertial sensors include a longitudinal acceleration sensor and a vertical acceleration sensor and the control unit makes a determination that one or more of the wheels of the front and the rear wheel arrangements is not in contact with the surface if a vertical acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined vertical acceleration threshold of the vehicle and a longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle is below a predetermined longitudinal acceleration threshold.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A safety system for a motor vehicle having at least a front wheel arrangement having one or more wheels and rear wheel arrangement having one or more wheels, the arrangement having: a control unit; and one or more vehicle inertial sensors to detect acceleration experienced by the vehicle, the inertial sensors being connected to the control unit so the control unit receives output signals from the inertial sensors; and one or more vehicle safety systems which may be activated by the control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to process the signals received from the inertial sensors and to determine whether at least one of the wheels of the front and rear wheel arrangements is not in contact with the surface over which the vehicle is driven.
16 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A safety system for a motor vehicle having at least a front wheel arrangement having one or more wheels and a rear wheel arrangement having one or more wheels, the system comprising:
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a control unit; one or more vehicle inertial sensors to detect acceleration experienced by the vehicle, the one or more vehicle inertial sensors being connected to the control unit so the control unit receives output signals from the one or more vehicle inertial sensors; and one or more vehicle safety systems which may be activated by the control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to process the output signals received from the one or more vehicle inertial sensors and to determine whether at least one of the wheels of the front and the rear wheel arrangements is not in contact with the surface over which the vehicle is driven; wherein the one or more vehicle inertial sensors include a longitudinal acceleration sensor and a vertical acceleration sensor and the control unit makes a determination that one or more of the wheels of the front and the rear wheel arrangements is not in contact with the surface if a vertical acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined vertical acceleration threshold of the vehicle and a longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle is below a predetermined longitudinal acceleration threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A safety system for a motor vehicle having at least a front wheel arrangement having one or more wheels and a rear wheel arrangement having one or more wheels, the system comprising:
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a control unit; one or more vehicle inertial sensors to detect acceleration experienced by the vehicle, the one or more vehicle inertial sensors being connected to the control unit so the control unit receives output signals from the one or more vehicle inertial sensors; and one or more vehicle safety systems which may be activated by the control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to process the output signals received from the one or more vehicle inertial sensors and to determine whether at least one of the wheels of the front and the rear wheel arrangements is not in contact with the surface over which the vehicle is driven; wherein the one or more vehicle inertial sensors include a pitch sensor and a longitudinal acceleration sensor for measuring the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle; wherein the control unit makes a determination that at least one of the wheels of the front and the rear wheel arrangements is not in contact with the surface if a pitch rate of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined pitch threshold and the pitch rate is substantially not correlated with the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification