Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-21
2001-01-09
Mai, Lanna (Department: 3619)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C180S271000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170866
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for a restraint device in a motor vehicle.
Modern control apparatuses for restraint devices in motor vehicles, by using suitable sensors, detect not only whether a collision forceful enough that the restraint device should be triggered is occurring, but also whether a child seat has been placed on the front passenger seat. If a child seat on the front passenger seat is detected, then the inflation of an air bag for front-impact protection installed in front of the front passenger seat, or of an air bag for side-impact protection installed to the side of the front passenger seat, is either averted or sharply reduced. If an air bag disposed in the vicinity of a child seat is inflated without restriction, the child sitting in the child seat can possibly be injured severely. Numerous devices for detecting a child seat disposed on a vehicle seat have therefore already been proposed.
From Published, European Patent Disclosure EP 0 708 002 A1, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,056 which is hereby incorporated by reference, a control apparatus with a child seat detecting device is known what has one transmitting and one receiving antenna, each disposed in the vehicle seat. If a child seat equipped with a transponder/resonator is placed on a thus-prepared vehicle seat, then its presence is detected. The detection occurs via a transmitting antenna in which an exciter field is output that is picked up by the transponder, modified in a characteristic way, and transmitted back to the vehicle seat. The measurement field picked up by the receiving antenna is examined for the presence of the signal characteristic for the presence of the transponder. If a child seat disposed on the vehicle seat is detected, an impact-detecting control device that trips restraint devices is influenced in such a way that a signal for tripping the restraint device is blocked.
If the child seat is provided with two transponders and if the vehicle seat has two transmitting antennas and two receiving antennas, then from the mere detection of a child seat, the orientation of the child seat can be ascertained. A forward-facing child seat disposed on the vehicle seat can thus be distinguished from a rear-facing child seat on the vehicle seat, whose backrest thus faces the dashboard. Tripping of the restraint device can be varied depending on the orientation of the child seat. For instance, if a forward-facing child seat is detected, tripping can be allowed, while for a rear-facing child seat tripping is prevented.
Tripping of the restraint device is influenced by the known control apparatus solely as a function of the detection of a forward-facing or rear-facing child seat, and hence on the basis of only a few parameters. Under certain preconditions, tripping will therefore be prevented even when tripping would do more good than harm to the child in the child seat.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,378, a control apparatus for a restraint device in a motor vehicle is known which has a weight sensor disposed in the vehicle seat. Various pickups (i.e. sensors) for vehicle seat settings, such as one pickup for the position of the vehicle seat and one pickup for the angle of inclination of the seat back, and ultrasonic sensors can also be used. Depending on the position of a passenger as detected by the sensors, the inflation of an air bag is done in metered fashion. For instance, if a passenger who is sitting far forward toward the dashboard is detected, the air bag is inflated only slightly, or in other words with a small volume of gas.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide in a control apparatus for a restraint device in a motor vehicle which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices of this general type, which provides differential assessment as to whether a restraint device can be allowed to be activated even though a child seat is disposed on the vehicle seat.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a control apparatus for a restraint device in a motor vehicle, including:
a detector for detecting a child seat disposed on a vehicle seat and outputting a status signal;
a pickup for determining a position of the vehicle seat; and
an evaluation device generating a control signal in dependence on the position of the vehicle seat and in dependence on the status signal furnished by the detector, the control signal to be logically linked with a triggering signal output by an impact-detecting control device for triggering a restraint device.
The control apparatus accordingly furnishes a control signal that is dependent on a status signal of the detector for detecting a child seat and at the same time on the position of the vehicle seat, as detected by a suitable pickup. If the position of the vehicle seat is included in the decision whether to trip the restraint device, then the restraint device can be tripped appropriately as needed. For instance, if the vehicle seat is latched in its farthest-forward position, that is, extremely close to the dashboard, then if a child seat is detected, tripping of the restraint device is prevented, regardless of the detected orientation of the child seat on the vehicle seat. If a vehicle seat is in its rearward position, that is, close to the back seats, then inflation of the restraint device may be harmless to the child even in a rear-facing child seat on the vehicle seat. For instance if the inflated air bag has only a small volume and even in the fully deployed state, naturally in the absence of a collision, does not touch the backrest of the rear-facing child seat. In this case, if there is an accident, the child seat can be prevented by the air bag from shooting toward the dashboard in response to the impact, and the child in the child seat can be protected against the consequences of striking the dashboard. The same is true for a forward-facing child seat.
With the control apparatus of the invention, a sensitively adapted tripping strategy with regard to the restraint device is assured, in a way that provides the best possible protection of the child in the child seat. If inflating the air bag is classified as harmless, then the child is protected by the air bag; if inflating the air bag is classified as dangerous to the child, then injury to the child that would be caused by inflating the air bag is averted. Moreover, this substantial improvement over known control apparatuses requires only little use of components; for instance, in electrically adjustable vehicle seats, there is already a pickup for the position of the vehicle seat. The signal of the pickup can accordingly be evaluated twice, once for the electrical seat adjustment and a second time for the proposed control apparatus for the restraint device.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a control apparatus for a restraint device in a motor vehicle, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5413378 (1995-05-01), Steffens, Jr. et al.
patent: 5454591 (1995-10-01), Mazur et al.
patent: 5460405 (1995-10-01), Faigle et al.
patent: 5610817 (1997-03-01), Mahon et al.
patent: 5618056 (1997-04-01), Schoos et al.
patent: 5785347 (1998-07-01), Adolph et al.
patent: 5803491 (1998-09-01), Barnes et al.
patent: 5941560 (1999-08-01), Wolfram
patent: 6007094 (1999-12-01), Hosado
patent: 0 738
Heitzer G{umlaut over (u)}nter
Lenninger Ralf-Johannes
Popp Peter
Greenberg Laurence A.
Ilan Ruth
Lerner Herbert L.
Mai Lanna
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
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