Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Vehicle subsystem or accessory control
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-25
2001-06-05
Louis-Jacques, Jacques H. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Vehicle subsystem or accessory control
C701S046000, C180S271000, C180S282000, C280S734000, C340S436000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06243633
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a start control for a passenger protection system which can achieve protection of the passenger at the time of a vehicle crash and, more particularly, a start control for a passenger protection system which can achieve improvement in the certainty of the crash detection.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the start controlling system for the passenger protection system which is represented by the so-called air bag system, there is the start controlling system disclosed in, for example, Patent Application Publication (KOKAI) Hei 8-310339, etc.
In such start controlling system for the passenger protection system, for example, the accelerator sensor, the CPU for executing the start program, the interface circuit, etc. are incorporated in a housing as one unit which is normally called an “ECU (Electronic Control Unit)”. Then, the ECU is placed at a suitable position of a vehicle via a fitting tool, i.e., a fitting bracket.
In the meanwhile, various states exist as the traveling state of the vehicle, and in some cases, so-called underfloor interference may be caused by the vibration state of the vehicle. In such case, there is a possibility that resonance of a fitting bracket for fitting the above ECU is caused. As a result, such vibration may be considered as an acceleration G which is detected by the accelerator sensor as exceeding a predetermined value and thus the passenger protection system is started.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a start controlling method for a passenger protection system, a start controlling system for the passenger protection system, and a recording medium for recording a start control program for the passenger protection system, which never execute start of the passenger protection system even when resonance of the fitting bracket of ECU due to the underfloor interference, etc. is caused, but execute the start of the passenger protection system without fail only when truly necessary.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a start controlling method for a passenger protection system, a start controlling system for the passenger protection system, and a recording medium for recording a start control program for the passenger protection system, which is able to strictly discriminate a crash from the resonance of the fitting bracket.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a start controlling method for a passenger protection system of controlling start of the passenger protection system which is so constructed that a protection system for protecting a passenger in a vehicle can be started in response to a start signal supplied from an external device, the method comprising the steps of:
detecting an acceleration of the vehicle, and then executing time integral of a succeedingly detected acceleration for a predetermined time if the acceleration in excess of a predetermined value is detected;
calculating a length of a line segment of the acceleration detected for the predetermined time with a passage of time;
calculating a rate of an increment of time integral to a calculated length of the line segment for the predetermined time; and
deciding generation of a resonance if a calculated rate is below a predetermined value.
Such a method has been made in view of the fact that a magnitude of the acceleration which is detected when resonance of the fitting bracket for fitting the start control system onto a body of the vehicle cannot be discriminated from that of the acceleration caused in the crash of the vehicle. However, the acceleration due to the resonance vibrates in a short time in both the positive direction and the negative direction and the speed integral value which is time integral of such acceleration never has extreme variations, as opposed to the case of the crash.
The length of a line segment of the acceleration generated when the resonance of the fitting bracket with the passage of time becomes longer than that of a line segment of the acceleration in the crash. In the present invention, from a viewpoint of ensuring the certainty of decision, the rate of the increment of the speed integral value to the length of the line segment of the acceleration for the passage of time is calculated, so that it is decided whether or not the resonance is the cause.
Accordingly, it is possible to strictly discriminate the crash from the resonance, and to achieve improvement in the reliability by applying the present invention to the existing start control method.
Especially, since the threshold value serving as a reference to decide whether or not the passenger protection system is started is changed to avoid the start of the passenger protection system if it is decided that the resonance is the cause, the start of the passenger protection system due to resonance can be avoided without fail.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a start controlling system for a passenger protection system for controlling start of the passenger protection system which is so constructed that a protection system for protecting a passenger in a vehicle can be started in response to a start signal supplied from an external device, the system comprising:
an acceleration deciding means for deciding whether or not an acceleration of the vehicle input from the external device exceeds a predetermined magnitude;
a speed integral value calculating means for calculating a speed integral value by executing time integral of a succeedingly detected acceleration for a predetermined time if it is decided by the acceleration deciding means that the acceleration in excess of the predetermined magnitude is detected:
a line segment length calculating means for calculating a length of a line segment of the acceleration detected for the predetermined time with a passage of time;
a rate deciding means for calculating a rate of an increment of time integral to a calculated length of the line segment for the predetermined time, to decide whether or not a calculated value is smaller than a predetermined value;
a threshold value calculating means for calculating a threshold value serving as a reference to decide whether or not the passenger protection system is started, based on the acceleration of the vehicle input from the external device;
a threshold value changing means for changing the threshold value being calculated by the threshold value calculating means not to start the passenger protection system if it is decided by the rate deciding means that the calculated value is smaller than the predetermined value; and
a start signal deciding/generating means for deciding whether or not the speed integral value calculated by the speed integral value calculating means exceeds the threshold value changed by the threshold value changing means if it is decided by the rate deciding means that the rate is smaller than the predetermined value, then deciding whether or not the speed integral value calculated by the speed integral value calculating means exceeds the threshold value calculated by the threshold value calculating means if it is decided by the rate deciding means that the rate is larger than the predetermined value, and then generating a start signal of the passenger protection system if it is decided in either case that the speed integral value exceeds the threshold value.
Such configuration is fitted particularly to execute the start control method set forth below, and respective means can be implemented by causing a CPU to execute predetermined software, for example.
Here, for example, preferably the threshold value changing means is constructed to set a new threshold value on the more negative side by subtracting the predetermined value from the threshold value if the threshold value defined by the predetermined relation according to the acceleration is set to have the negative value, otherwise preferably th
Heckel Jörg
Kanameda Yasumasa
Miyaguchi Koichi
Bosch Electronics Corporation
Louis-Jacques Jacques H.
Wenderoth Lind & Ponack, LLP.
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