Apparatus for tripping a system for the protection of occupants of a vehicle
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1. An apparatus for restraining a vehicle occupant during a crash of the vehicle comprising:
- first crash sensor means securable to the vehicle and having a sensitivity axis parallel with a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle for providing a signal having a value functionally related to crash energy directed parallel to the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and substantially impervious to crash energy directed parallel to a side-to-side axis of the vehicle;
second crash sensor means securable to the vehicle and having a sensitivity axis parallel with the side-to-side axis of the vehicle for providing a signal having a value functionally related to crash energy directed parallel to the side-to-side axis of the vehicle and substantially impervious to crash energy directed parallel to the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle, said first crash sensor means and said second crash sensor means having their sensitivity axes oriented along mutually orthogonal axes;
control means electrically connected to said first crash sensor means and to said second crash sensor means for determining a direction of a crash condition in response to the Signals from said first crash sensor means and said second crash sensor means; and
a plurality of actuatable occupant restraint devices, each electrically connected to said control means, said control means controlling which of said plurality of actuatable occupant restraint devices is or are actuated in response to the determined crash direction.
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Abstract
An apparatus for tripping a system for the protection of occupants of a vehicle has a first sensor (10) for sensing the acceleration of the vehicle in its direction of forward motion and a second sensor (12) for sensing the acceleration of the vehicle in a direction transverse to its direction of forward motion. The two sensors are under the control of control devices (14,16) which trigger the occupant protection system in dependence upon the signals from the first and second sensors (10,12).
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1. An apparatus for restraining a vehicle occupant during a crash of the vehicle comprising:
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first crash sensor means securable to the vehicle and having a sensitivity axis parallel with a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle for providing a signal having a value functionally related to crash energy directed parallel to the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and substantially impervious to crash energy directed parallel to a side-to-side axis of the vehicle; second crash sensor means securable to the vehicle and having a sensitivity axis parallel with the side-to-side axis of the vehicle for providing a signal having a value functionally related to crash energy directed parallel to the side-to-side axis of the vehicle and substantially impervious to crash energy directed parallel to the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle, said first crash sensor means and said second crash sensor means having their sensitivity axes oriented along mutually orthogonal axes; control means electrically connected to said first crash sensor means and to said second crash sensor means for determining a direction of a crash condition in response to the Signals from said first crash sensor means and said second crash sensor means; and a plurality of actuatable occupant restraint devices, each electrically connected to said control means, said control means controlling which of said plurality of actuatable occupant restraint devices is or are actuated in response to the determined crash direction.
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Specification