Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-30
2001-02-13
Mai, Lanna (Department: 3619)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S728200, C280S728300, C280S730100, C280S730200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186538
ABSTRACT:
The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 9-82899 filed on Apr. 1, 1997 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an air bag control system for passenger seats and, more particularly, to an air bag control system for passenger seats for controlling the deployment of an air bag in correspondence with the conditions of an occupant in the passenger seat.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known to equip vehicles with an air bag control system for passenger seats for protecting an occupant in the passenger seat at the time of an emergency. Such a control system is described in Japanese patent application laid-open No. Hei 8-268220, which as filed in the U.S. issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,123.
An air bag control system for passenger seats, as shown in FIG.
8
and described in detail in that U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,123, has an occupant detecting sensor
106
that is mounted on a ceiling
100
. The mount position of the occupant detecting sensor
106
is above a point between an instrument panel
102
and a seat back
104
. The detection area A of the occupant detecting sensor
106
extends over legs
110
A of an occupant
110
seated in a passenger seat
108
. An approach detecting sensor
112
is provided forward from the occupant detecting sensor
106
. The detection area B of the approach detecting sensor
112
extends above the instrumental panel
102
, that is, to a position that is a predetermined distance apart therefrom. If the distance detected by the approach detecting sensor
112
is at most a predetermined distance L, an air bag control circuit
114
determines that a child
116
is in a standing posture. If the detected distance is greater than the predetermined distance L, the air bag control circuit
114
determines that an adult
118
has stretched out his/her arm
118
A to the instrument panel
102
(that is, a protective arm position).
With regard to such an air bag control system for passenger seats, there is a need for more reliable determination on the sitting or standing conditions of the adult
118
and the child
116
in the vehicle in order to achieve optimal occupant protection.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an air bag control system for passenger seats that reliably determines the sitting/standing conditions of an occupant and therefore appropriately controls an air bag apparatus.
To achieve the objects of the invention, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an air bag control system for passenger seats that includes a seated-state detection sensor provided in a seat, a proximity sensor that detects an object near an air bag apparatus, and an impact sensor that detects a deceleration at the time of an impact. If there is no detection made by the proximity sensor for a predetermined length of time after the seated-state detection sensor detects the seating of an occupant, after elapse of that predetermined length of time a control base keeps the air bag apparatus in an operable state in which the air bag apparatus can be operated in response to detection of the deceleration by the impact sensor.
According to a second aspect of the invention, an air bag control system for passenger seats based on the first aspect may further include an auxiliary proximity sensor disposed at a forward position in an upper surface of an instrument panel, the forward position being near a windshield pane. The auxiliary proximity sensor has a detection area that extends rearwardly. In this mode, giving a highest priority to detection made by the auxiliary proximity sensor, the control device sets the air bag apparatus in an operation prevented state.
According to a third aspect of the invention, an air bag control system for passenger seats based on the first aspect may further include an auxiliary seated-state detection sensor provided in a forward portion of a seat cushion, and an inflator controllable in a plurality of steps between a high pressure and a low pressure. In this arrangement, the seated-state detection sensor is provided in a rearward portion of the seat cushion. If each of the seated-state detection sensor and the auxiliary seated-state detection sensor detects a seated state, the control device determines that an adult is seated on the seat cushion in a normal sitting posture, and operates the inflator at a relatively high pressure. If the seated-state detection sensor detects a seated-state and the auxiliary seated-state detection sensor does not detect a seated state, the control device determines that a child is seated on the seat cushion in a normal sitting posture, and operates the inflator at a relatively low pressure or prevents operation of the inflator.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, an air bag control system is provided for passenger seats including at least one of a shoulder posture detection sensor provided in an upper portion of a seat back for detecting a shoulder portion of an occupant, and a head posture detection sensor provided in a head rest for detecting a head portion of an occupant, and at least one of a hip-waist posture detection sensor provided in a lower portion of the seat back for detecting a hip-waist portion of an occupant, and a buttock sensor provided in a rear portion of a seat cushion for detecting a buttock portion of an occupant. A control device is provided for determining whether an occupant is seated and correspondingly controlling operation of the air bag, on the basis of a combination of a signal from at least one of the shoulder posture detection sensor and head posture detection sensor and a signal from at least one of the hip-waist posture detection sensor and the buttock sensor.
In the first aspect of the invention, the control device performs control based on a combination of signals from the seated-state detection sensor and the proximity sensor. That is, if there is no detection made by the proximity sensor for a predetermined length of time after the seated-state detection sensor detects the seating of an occupant, the control device keeps the air bag apparatus in the operable state in which the air bag apparatus can be operated in response to detection of the deceleration by the impact sensor, after elapse of the predetermined length of time. Therefore, it becomes possible to determine reliably the state of an occupant in a vehicle (i.e., standing or sitting) taking into consideration an adult arm protective state, a state in which a child seat is set facing rearward, and the like, and therefore appropriately control the air bag apparatus.
In the second aspect of the invention, the control device performs control based on a detection signal from the auxiliary proximity sensor, without being affected by the state detected by the seated-state detection sensor. That is, merely if a portion of an occupant or the like is present in the detection area of the auxiliary proximity sensor extending rearwardly, the control device sets the air bag apparatus in the operation prevented state. Therefore, it is possible to reliably determine a state of an occupant in a vehicle, such as a leaning posture of an adult, and the like, and therefore appropriately control the air bag apparatus.
In the third aspect of the invention, since the seated-state detection sensor detects an occupant and the auxiliary seated-state detection sensor detects a difference between or distinguishes the pressures applied to the seat cushion from thigh portions of different occupants, such as an adult, a child and the like, it is possible to distinguish clearly an adult from a child. The auxiliary seated-state detection sensor may be on/off switch that switches on based on a preset pressure. Thereby, the system construction can be simplified.
Furthermore, in the third aspect, a set detection pressure of the auxiliary seated-state detection sensor may be higher than a set detection pressure of th
Hamada Makoto
Inoue Yoshiaki
Izawa Minoru
Osanai Akihiro
Mai Lanna
Pillsbury Madison & Sutro LLP
Toan To
Toyota Jidosha & Kabushiki Kaisha
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