Apparatus and method for detecting vehicle rollover having roll-rate switched threshold
First Claim
1. An apparatus for detecting a vehicle rollover event comprising:
- a rollover sensor for sensing vehicle roll and providing a roll signal indicative of vehicle roll about a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle;
an accelerometer for sensing vehicle acceleration in a direction offset from the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and providing an acceleration signal indicative thereof; and
controller for comparing the roll signal from the rollover sensor against a first rollover threshold when the acceleration signal is less than an acceleration threshold and for comparing the roll signal from the rollover sensor against a second rollover threshold when the acceleration signal is equal to or greater than the acceleration threshold and for indicating a vehicle rollover condition when the roll signal from the rollover sensor is greater than the threshold it is compared against.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle rollover event detector (10) includes an accelerometer (80) that senses vehicle acceleration in a direction offset from a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle (12) and provides an acceleration signal (101) indicative thereof. A rollover sensor (14) senses vehicle roll and provides a roll signal (32) indicative of vehicle roll about the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle. A controller (26) compares the roll signal (32) against a first rollover threshold (42) when the acceleration signal (101) is less than an acceleration threshold (113) and compares the roll signal (32) against a second rollover threshold (116) when the acceleration signal (101) is equal to or greater than the acceleration threshold (113) and for indicating a vehicle rollover condition when the roll signal is greater than the threshold (42, 116) it is compared against.
106 Citations
15 Claims
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1. An apparatus for detecting a vehicle rollover event comprising:
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a rollover sensor for sensing vehicle roll and providing a roll signal indicative of vehicle roll about a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle;
an accelerometer for sensing vehicle acceleration in a direction offset from the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and providing an acceleration signal indicative thereof; and
controller for comparing the roll signal from the rollover sensor against a first rollover threshold when the acceleration signal is less than an acceleration threshold and for comparing the roll signal from the rollover sensor against a second rollover threshold when the acceleration signal is equal to or greater than the acceleration threshold and for indicating a vehicle rollover condition when the roll signal from the rollover sensor is greater than the threshold it is compared against. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An occupant protection apparatus for detecting a vehicle rollover event and actuating an occupant protection device, said apparatus comprising:
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a rollover sensor for sensing vehicle roll and providing a roll-rate signal indicative of vehicle roll-rate about a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle;
means for determining roll-angle from said roll-rate signal and for providing a signal indicative of roll-angle;
an accelerometer for sensing vehicle acceleration in a direction transverse to the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and providing an acceleration signal indicative thereof; and
controller for comparing the acceleration signal against an acceleration threshold and for comparing the roll-rate signal from the rollover sensor against a first rollover threshold when the acceleration signal is less than an acceleration threshold and for comparing the signal from the rollover sensor against a second rollover threshold when the acceleration signal is equal to or greater than the acceleration threshold and for actuating the occupant protection device when the signal from the rollover sensor is greater than the threshold it is compared against. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for detecting a vehicle rollover event comprising the steps of:
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sensing vehicle roll about a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and providing a roll signal indicative of vehicle roll;
sensing vehicle acceleration in a direction offset from the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and providing an acceleration signal indicative thereof;
comparing the roll signal against a first rollover threshold when the acceleration signal is less than an acceleration threshold;
comparing the roll signal against a second rollover threshold when the acceleration signal is equal to or greater than the acceleration threshold; and
indicating a vehicle rollover condition when the roll signal is greater than the threshold it is compared against.
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15. A method for controlling an occupant protection apparatus in response to a vehicle rollover event, said method comprising the steps of:
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sensing vehicle roll and providing a roll-rate signal indicative of vehicle roll-rate about a front-to-rear axis of the vehicle;
determining roll-angle from said roll-rate signal and for providing a signal indicative of roll-angle;
sensing vehicle acceleration in a direction transverse to the front-to-rear axis of the vehicle and providing an acceleration signal indicative thereof;
comparing the acceleration signal against an acceleration threshold;
comparing the roll-rate signal against a first rollover threshold when the acceleration signal is less than the acceleration threshold;
comparing the roll-rate signal against a second rollover threshold when the acceleration signal is equal to or greater than the acceleration threshold; and
actuating the occupant protection device when the roll-rate signal is greater than the threshold it is compared against.
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Specification