Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Vehicle subsystem or accessory control
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-18
2001-10-09
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Vehicle subsystem or accessory control
C701S046000, C701S047000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06301536
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting a vehicle rollover and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus which reliably detects the onset of a vehicle rollover and which activates one or more vehicle safety devices in response to such a detection.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Safety devices such as and without limitation inflatable restraint assemblies, seat belts, and rollover bars are used within vehicles to reduce the likelihood of injury to occupants of the vehicle in the event of a vehicle rollover or collision. It is desirable to determine when a vehicle rollover is imminent or relatively certain to occur so that these safety devices can be selectively activated or engaged prior to or substantially contemporaneous with the occurrence of a rollover in order to protect the occupants of the vehicle; and to substantially prevent and/or reduce the likelihood of an unnecessary activation since many of these devices must be replaced after they have activated, resulting in a significant expense and an annoyance to a vehicle owner.
For example and without limitation, inflatable restraint assemblies, commonly referred to as “air bags” or “curtains”, are typically deployed within a vehicle and selectively and inflatably expand into the passenger compartment of the vehicle when the vehicle is struck by or collides with another vehicle or object, and/or “rolls over”. These expandable assemblies provide some protection of the vehicle's occupants from injury by protecting the occupants from impacting or “crashing into” the dashboard, windshield, and/or various other portions of the vehicle, and/or from being launched from the vehicle. In order for a vehicle's air bags to provide this desired protection, the air bags must be activated or inflated by way of a pyrotechnic charge or device prior to and/or substantially contemporaneous with the vehicle rolling over.
Vehicle safety belt pretensioning devices or “pretensioners” tighten, lock, and/or remove slack within the vehicle's seat belts during a collision or rollover. These devices must be activated substantially before the vehicle rolls over in order to allow the seat belts to properly restrain the occupants of the vehicle, and to protect the occupants from striking or impacting objects or structures within the vehicle such as the windshield, windows, roofline, or steering wheel, and/or from being launched from the vehicle.
Efforts have been made to detect when a vehicle rollover situation is imminent or relatively certain to occur, and to activate the appropriate safety devices (e.g. the air bags and/or seat belt pretensioners) upon such a detection. Some prior efforts include measuring and/or monitoring the vehicle's acceleration in various directions and/or the angle of the vehicle with respect to the road surface. One drawback associated with these types of prior systems is that they do not adequately ensure that the inflatable devices become energized only when they are actually needed. As such, many of these prior devices activate unnecessarily (e.g., when a rollover is not imminent or relatively certain to occur), and therefore must be replaced or “reset” which, as previously explained, results in an unnecessary and a relatively significant expense to the owner of the vehicle. Furthermore, many of these devices do not account for the fact that vehicles are generally more likely to roll over with a lesser rate of angular variation if the vehicle is already disposed at a certain angle from the road surface. Hence, these devices often do not activate in time to provide the desired protection of the vehicle occupants.
Applicant's invention addresses these drawbacks and provides a method and an apparatus for detecting a vehicle rollover which employs multiple sensors to gather data relating to the acceleration and/or rate of angular change of the vehicle in multiple directions; which analyzes the data to determine whether a vehicle rollover situation is imminent or relatively certain to occur; and which selectively and reliably activates one or more vehicle safety devices in response to the detection of a rollover situation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a first object of the invention to provide a method and an apparatus for detecting a vehicle rollover which overcomes at least some of the previously delineated drawbacks of the prior systems, devices, and/or methods.
It is a second object of the invention to provide a method and an apparatus for detecting a vehicle rollover which utilizes multiple sensors to determine whether a vehicle rollover is imminent or relatively certain to occur.
It is a third object of the invention to provide a method and an apparatus which reliably determines when a vehicle rollover is imminent or relatively certain to occur and which selectively activates one or more vehicle safety devices in response to such a determination.
It is a fourth object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for detecting a vehicle rollover which substantially prevents the unnecessary or “false” activation of the vehicle's safety devices.
According to one aspect of the present invention an apparatus for detecting the onset of a vehicle rollover is provided. The apparatus includes at least one sensor which measures lateral and vertical acceleration values and an angular rate of the vehicle, and which generates a data signal based upon the measured lateral and vertical acceleration values and the angular rate. A controller is communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor and receives the data signal, and detects the onset of the vehicle rollover by use of the data signal.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for detecting if a vehicle rollover is imminent is provided. The vehicle is of the type having a safety device, and is disposed upon a first surface at an angle which changes at a certain rate. The vehicle further has a lateral and a vertical acceleration. The method includes the steps of: providing at least one sensor assembly for measuring the value of the lateral and the vertical acceleration; measuring the certain rate; estimating the angle; comparing the measured angular rate to a first threshold value; calculating a second threshold value based upon the measured value of the lateral acceleration and the estimated angle; comparing the certain rate to the second threshold value; calculating an offset value; comparing the offset value to a third threshold value; comparing the measured value of the vertical acceleration to a fourth threshold value; and activating the safety device if the first, the second, the third and the fourth threshold values have been exceeded.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and by reference to the following drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5602734 (1997-02-01), Kithil
patent: 5610575 (1997-03-01), Gioutsos
patent: 5825284 (1998-10-01), Dunwoody et al.
patent: 5890084 (1999-03-01), Halasz et al.
patent: 6002975 (1999-12-01), Schiffmann et al.
patent: 6038495 (2000-03-01), Schiffmann
patent: 6055472 (2000-04-01), Breunig et al.
Boran Canice Patrick
Malbouef Thomas
Vaessen Radboud
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Marc-Coleman Marthe
Visteon Global Technologies Inc.
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