Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Patent
1998-03-12
2000-10-31
Johnson, Brian L.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
280735, B60R 2122, B60R 2132
Patent
active
06139050&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a safety device for a motorcyclist, whether the driver or the passenger of a motorbike, and also for the motorbike itself.
In order to improve safety in cars, it is now known to make use of an "air bag" device. In the event of an impact, this is detected by a control unit which triggers automatic inflation of a bag by firing a pyrotechnic capsule that releases a supply of compressed air. Inflation takes place in a time of about 9 thousandths of a second thereby making it possible to avoid injury from the impact.
A device of that kind cannot be envisaged for a motorcyclist, whether a driver or a passenger, given the structure of the vehicle. In a car, in the event of an impact, passengers wearing safety belts remain inside the bodywork, whereas on a motorbike riders are ejected. They strike the ground after being thrown through the air to a greater or lesser extent. Contact with the ground can sometimes be fatal, given the speed, and always gives rise to injury.
An object of the present invention is to mitigate that drawback and to avoid fatal contact.
Proposals have already been made in U.S. Pat. No. 4 984 821 to provide a motorcyclist with a suit that is inflatable, in full or in part. In the event of an accident, if the motorcyclist is ejected, a cord actuates a contactor which triggers firing of a pyrotechnic capsule, thereby releasing air under pressure which inflates the suit. Nevertheless, that very simple system is of limited scope concerning safety, and in particular, the motorcyclist must remember to put the device into operation by means of a switch.
According to the present invention, a motorcyclist's safety device comprising an inflatable suit that comes between the motorcyclist and the ground with inflation of the suit being triggered by a pyrotechnic capsule, is characterized in that the following are provided: sending a signal issued by the control unit to the firing device.
Thus, from the moment a rider (driver and/or passenger) is ejected from a motorcycle, the suit inflates. The driver and the passenger are connected to the motorbike by a safety connection. In the event of a fall, if the driver is ejected, then the passenger generally is also ejected, and under such circumstances the chambers of the suits inflate. If only the passenger is ejected, then only the passenger's suit inflates. The inflation command thus comes from detecting a contactor integrated in the safety connection. When the connection is separated into two portions under action from a determined force, namely a motorbike portion and a suit portion, the contactor detects this separation and sends information to the control unit indicating that the connection or hook has separated. In turn, and as a function of conditions that are defined below, the control unit issues a command to the suit by means of a radio or other signal, ordering a first pyrotechnic capsule to explode, optionally followed, after a length of time that varies as a function of speed, by a second command for ordering a second pyrotechnic capsule to explode. In another embodiment, it is the rupture itself of the connection, under the action of a calibrated force, that triggers firing. In both cases, it is rupture of the connection that gives rise to firing and to inflation.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear from the following description of a particular embodiment given purely by way of non-limiting example, and with reference to the figures, in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the control unit on the motorbike, and of its peripheral elements;
FIGS. 2a to 2c show the connection between the motorbike and the suit in three operating configurations;
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the suit;
FIG. 4 is an electronic block diagram showing operation of the control unit; and
FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the connection.
The electronic control unit 1' including a microprocessor 1T and a processing stage 1a is secured to the structure of the motorcycle, e.g. beneath the saddle. The control unit is
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Bultel Alain
Clement Frederic
Johnson Brian L.
Sliteris Joselynn
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