COLLISION SENSOR

• US 3,571,539 A
• Filed: 08/20/1968
• Issued: 03/23/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/1968
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Incorporated (Zeppelin - Stiftung der Stadt Friedrichshafen)
• Original Assignee: George W. Goetz, Herman Kaiser
• Inventors: Kaiser, Herman, Goetz, George W.
• Application Number:
  US04/753,946
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• US Class Current: 200/61.53
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/01006 Mounting of electrical components in vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/0132 responsive to vehicle motion parameters , e.g. to vehicle longitudinal or transversal deceleration or speed value

Abstract

An improved sensor assembly for actuating a vehicle safety apparatus upon the occurrence of a collision includes a mass which is movable through a distance to a position for actuating the safety apparatus. The mass moves through the aforementioned distance when the vehicle is involved in a collision which could result in injury to an occupant of the vehicle due to impact with a structural part of the vehicle. The mass will not move through the aforementioned distance as a result of the vehicle encountering normal road conditions or during vehicle braking.

Claims

1. Apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle from a forceful impact with a structural part thereof as a result of a collision, said apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed condition and an expanded condition, said confinement when in said expanded condition being operable to restrain movement of the occupant relative to the vehicle during a collision, structure for providing a supply of fluid for expanding said confinement, and means for activating said structure to effect the flow of fluid to said confinement and including a mass supported for movement relative to the vehicle during a collision in a manner analogous to and immediately preceding movement of the occupant relative to the vehicle during the collision and which mass effects activation of said structure upon a predetermined amount of movement of said mass so that said confinement is expanded to restrain the occupant'"'"''"'"'s movement.

2. Apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle as defined in claim 1 further including first means actuable to effect the flow of fluid from said structure to said confinement, said mass forming a part of a vehicle deceleration sensing means which includes means supporting said mass for movement in said analogous manner, and second means activated by said mass in response to said predetermined amount of movement thereof for activating said first means.

3. Apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle as defined in claim 2 wherein said first means comprises electrically activated means for effecting said flow and said second means comprises electrical contact means which closes upon movement of said mass through said predetermined distance to direct electrical energy to said electrically activated means.

4. Apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle as defined in claim 3 wherein said means for activating said structure further includes spring means for applying a restraining force to said mass urging said mAss against movement relative to the vehicle, said spring means being operable to enable said mass to move relative to the vehicle under the influence of forces resulting from collision conditions in said analogous manner.

5. Apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for activating said structure includes biasing means applying a force 2 to 16 times the weight of said mass to said mass and said predetermined amount of movement is 0.1 to 1 inch.

6. Apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle as defined in claim 1 wherein said predetermined amount of movement is not greater than the distance through which said mass travels in 200 milliseconds.

7. Apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for activating said structure further includes an energy-absorbing stop against which said mass is located when in an initial position, and includes biasing means urging said mass against said stop.

8. Apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle from forceful impact with a structural part thereof as a result of a collision, said apparatus comprising a confinement having a collapsed condition and an expanded condition in which said confinement is adapted to restrain movement of the occupant of the vehicle relative to the vehicle during a collision, means for effecting expansion of said confinement, and sensor means for activating said means for effecting expansion of the confinement in response to the occurence of a collision, said sensor means including means mounting said sensor means on the fire wall of the vehicle to at least partially isolate said sensor means from the frame of the vehicle so as to retard transmission of road vibrations from the frame of the vehicle to said sensor means, a mass, means supporting said mass for movement relative to the fire wall of the vehicle from a first position to a second position, means for effecting activation of said means for effecting expansion of said confinement upon movement of said mass to said second position, and means for resisting movement of said mass to the second position under the influence of vibrations transmitted to said mass from the fire wall.

9. A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle from forceful impact with a structural part of the vehicle during a collision, said safety apparatus comprising a confinement operable from a collapsed condition to an expanded condition in which said confinement engages the chest of the occupant of the vehicle to restrain movement of the occupant under the influence of collision forces, first means for providing a supply of fluid for effecting expansion of said confinement, and sensor means for activating said first means in response to the vehicle encountering collision conditions in which the forces applied thereto are of sufficient magnitude and duration to effect substantial acceleration of the chest of the occupant relative to the vehicle, said sensor means being ineffective to effect operation of said confinement to said expanded condition under the influence of noncollision forces applied thereto which are of greater instantaneous magnitude and shorter duration than the collision forces, said sensor means including a housing adapted to be secured to a part of the vehicle which is subjected to deceleration during a collision, a mass supported by said housing for movement relative thereto through a predetermined distance from an initial position to an actuated position upon the occurence of a collision, second means for activating said first means in response to movement of said mass to the actuated position under the influence of collision forces to thereby effect expansion of said confinement, and spring means for urging said mass toward said initial position with a predetermined biasing force which is sufficient to retain said mass against movement through said predetermined distance to said actuated position undeR the influence of forces resulting from the vehicle encountering noncollision conditions and which forces are of greater instantaneous magnitude and of shorter duration than the collision forces, said spring means being operable to retard movement of said mass to said actuated position under the influence of the collision forces until immediately before the chest of the occupant begins to experience substantial acceleration relative to the vehicle under the influence of collision forces to thereby effect expansion of said confinement to the expanded condition immediately before the chest of the occupant moves through a substantial distance relative to the vehicle.

10. A safety apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during a collision, wherein the occupant will tend to move from an initial position to a collision position in which injury to the occupant will likely occur if said safety apparatus is not actuated, said safety apparatus comprising an expandable confinement having a collapsed condition and an expanded condition in which said confinement engages the chest of an occupant of the vehicle to restrain movement of the occupant during a collision, means or providing a supply of fluid to effect expansion of said confinement to the expanded condition, and sensor means for activating said fluid supply and effecting expansion of said confinement in response to the occurence of a collision, said sensor means being mounted on a portion of the vehicle which is subjected to deceleration during a collision which is substantially similar to the deceleration the occupant of the vehicle is subjected to during the same collision, said portion of the vehicle being at least partially isolated from the frame of the vehicle so as to retard transmission of road vibrations from the frame of the vehicle to said portion of the vehicle and said sensor means mounted thereon, said sensor means comprising a housing, a mass supported in said housing and movable relative thereto from an initial position to an actuated position in response to collision forces acting thereon, contact means cooperating with said mass when said mass is in said actuated position for activating said means for providing a supply of fluid and expanding of said confinement, and means for biasing said mass toward its initial position to prevent movement of said mass to said actuated position in response to noncollision forces encountered by the vehicle, said means for biasing said mass cooperating with said mass to enable said mass to approximate movement of the occupant under the influence of collision forces and enabling said mass to move in response to collision forces acting thereon to said actuated position before said occupant moves to said collision position.

11. Apparatus for use in actuating a safety device on a vehicle to protect an occupant of the vehicle during a collision, said apparatus comprising a housing adapted to be secured to a part of the vehicle which is subjected to deceleration during a collision, a mass supported in said housing and movable relative thereto through a predetermined distance from an initial position to an actuated position upon the occurence of a collision, said predetermined distance being approximately between 0.1 of an inch and 1 inch, means for actuating the safety device upon movement of said mass relative to said housing to said actuated position, and biasing means urging said mass to said initial position and retaining said mass against movement to said actuated position during deceleration of said housing due to vehicle braking and during vibration thereof resulting from road conditions, and an energy-absorbing stop against which said mass is biased by said biasing means and which absorbs energy upon engagement with said mass to minimize vibration of said mass due to road conditions for preventing a vibration induced actuation of the mass, said biasing means applying a force to said mass when said mass is in said initial position, said biasing forCe being 2 to 16 times the weight of said mass.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein said biasing means is a coil spring which has a length when said mass is in said initial position which is less than 25 percent of the free length of the spring to thereby provide a substantially constant spring biasing force as said mass moves.

13. Apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein said energy-absorbing stop has a coefficient of restitution which is less than 0.30 to thereby minimize the tendency of said mass to rebound from said energy-absorbing stop.

14. Apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein said means for actuating said safety device includes electrical contacts closed upon movement of said mass to said actuated position.