Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-09
2004-08-17
Morris, Lesley D. (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C701S045000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06776435
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling a vehicle actuatable occupant restraining device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Air bag restraining systems in vehicles for vehicle occupants are known in the art. An air bag restraining device may include a multistage inflator where the stages are actuated at different times in response to vehicle crash conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,182 to Foo et al., assigned to TRW Inc., discloses a method and apparatus for discriminating a vehicle crash condition using virtual sensing. U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,225 to Foo et al., assigned to TRW Inc., discloses a method and apparatus for controlling a multistage actuatable restraining system in a vehicle using crash severity index values. U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,539 to Foo et al., also assigned to TRW Inc., discloses a method and apparatus for controlling a multistage actuatable restraining device using crash severity indexing and crush zone sensors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for controlling a vehicle multistage actuatable occupant restraining system. A crash sensor senses crash acceleration and provides a crash acceleration signal indicative thereof. Crash velocity and crash displacement are determined in response to the crash acceleration signal. A first stage of the multistage actuatable occupant restraining system is actuated in response to the determined crash velocity as a function of crash displacement exceeding a low threshold. A crush zone accelerometer senses crash acceleration at a crush zone location. The crush zone acceleration as a function of the crash displacement is compared against a crush zone threshold. The value of the low threshold is switched to a different value when the crush zone acceleration exceeds the crush zone threshold.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5935182 (1999-08-01), Foo et al.
patent: 6036225 (2000-03-01), Foo et al.
patent: 6170864 (2001-01-01), Fujita et al.
patent: 6186539 (2001-02-01), Foo et al.
patent: 6371515 (2002-04-01), Fujishima et al.
patent: 6426567 (2002-07-01), Ugusa et al.
patent: 6430489 (2002-08-01), Dalum
patent: 6439007 (2002-08-01), Foo et al.
Pending U.S. Foo et al. patent application Ser. No. 09/829,115, filed Apr. 9, 2001 entitled Method and Apparatus for Controlling an Actuatable Restraining Device Using Switched Thresholds Based on Transverse Acceleration, Attorney Docket No. TRW(TE)5783.
Foo Chek-Peng
Sumner Paul Leo
Thanapathomsinchai Suthep
Tsai Meng-Fu
Wright Timothy Chester
Lum L.
Morris Lesley D.
Tarolli, Sundheim Covell & Tummino L.L.P.
TRW Inc.
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