Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reissue Patent
2000-02-24
2001-12-11
Rice, Kenneth R. (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S730100
Reissue Patent
active
RE037466
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a control system which detects the position of a vehicle seat and uses this information to control the operation of vehicle occupant restraint devices, such as an airbag, depending upon the position of the seat relative to a selected vehicle component, such as a vehicle occupant restraint device.
Injuries in motor vehicle accidents have been substantially reduced through the use of vehicle occupant restraint devices. When a motor vehicle is subjected to a sudden deceleration of a predetermined value, vehicle occupant restraint devices are activated to cushion the occupants, and restrain their movement with respect to the vehicle structure. The term “vehicle occupant” is understood to include the driver of a vehicle as well as passengers. The term “vehicle occupant restraint device” is understood to include: (a) airbags stored, for example, in the steering wheel or instrument panel of a vehicle; (b) seat belts and related devices such as pretensioners; (c) side curtains; and (d) other devices which retrain a vehicle occupant from impacting with the vehicle structure in the event of a crash.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,314 teaches a system for sensing the presence, position and profile of occupants in a passenger seat of a vehicle, as well as for sensing the presence of a rear-facing child seat therein, for use in enabling or disabling a related airbag activator. The sensor employs sensor-fusion, a process of combining information provided by two or more sensors, each of which “sees” the world in a unique sense. The occupancy sensor samples two detectable properties, a first being a thermal signature and associated motion, and a second is acoustically measured distance and the associated motion. Infrared sensor inputs and an ultrasonic sensor input are combined in a microprocessor circuit by means of a sensor fusion algorithm to produce an output signal to the airbag controller. The output signal results from preselected confidence weighing for feature parameters generated by the two sensors and upon a fusion process which ultimately makes a decision. The sensor fusion matrix processes the sensor outputs in a decision making operation which includes weighing inputs to guarantee reliability. All sensor outputs, along with calibration data, initial conditions and historical reference data are considered in the process of making a decision of whether or not to deploy the passenger side airbag in a crash.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,505 teaches a rotary device for front seats of a motor vehicle which enables both a driver seat and a front passenger seat to be rotatably capable of taking an ordinary forwardly facing position and a rearwardly facing position. The device includes a first detection switch provided in the driver seat for electrically detecting the position of the driver seat, a second detection switch provided in the passenger seat for electrically detecting the position of the passenger seat, a first rotation control provided in the driver seat for preventing or permitting the operation of a rotation release lever of the driver seat, and a second rotation control provided in the passenger seat for preventing or permitting the operation of the other rotation release lever of the passenger seat. A control system electrically controls the first and the second rotation controls by receiving signals from the first and second detection switches so as to prevent a condition such that the driver seat is in the forwardly facing position but the passenger seat is in the rearwardly facing position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,226 teaches an automatic angle adjusting apparatus for optimally adjusting vehicle equipment to a driver such as a fender mirror, an inner mirror, blowing ports of an air conditioner, a speaker and a meter. Amounts of adjustment of vehicle seat parts are detected by amounts of adjustment detectors and the optimum angles of the vehicle equipments, the height of the driver or an eye position of the driver are calculated based on the detection signals to automatically adjust the vehicle equipment to the optimum angular position. When the height or the eye position of the driver is calculated, the optimum angles are further calculated based on the calculated height or eye position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,329 teaches an image analyzer for analyzing the position of a vehicle driver in a three dimensional coordinate system. The analyzer comprises a light emitting element for emitting an infrared light on the driver's face portion and an image detector arranged to receive reflected infrared light to generate an optical image of the driver's face portion. A microcomputer includes a memory for storing an electronic image corresponding to the optical image and processes the stored image to determine the position of a facial feature of the driver, such as an eye, in a three dimensional coordinate system.
Position indicating data is utilized for controlling the angular position of a rearview mirror, the angular position of a steering wheel, the angular and height positions of a head rest, the direction of air directed from an air conditioner, and the position of data to be displayed on a display means.
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patent: 5413378 (1995-05-01), Steffens, Jr. et al.
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Allen Gary S.
Husby Harald Snorre
Murray Michael P.
Nakhla Said Shafik
Roble Craig Robert
Breed Automotive Technology Inc.
Rice Kenneth R.
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