Communications: electrical – Land vehicle alarms or indicators
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-22
2002-06-25
Crosland, Donnie L. (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Land vehicle alarms or indicators
C340S438000, C340S439000, C340S436000, C340S545100, C340S545300, C340S545700, C340S566000, C180S271000, C180S274000, C280S735000, C307S009100, C701S045000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06411202
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to vehicle safety apparatus, for example, vehicle door sensor apparatus and sensor apparatus for air bags.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Automatic doors are in widespread use in various applications, such as elevators, buses and trains. Considerations of personal safety require that doors not be closed when there is a danger that a person might be impacted thereby. While not compromising safety considerations, considerations of efficiency dictate that doors be closed as promptly and quickly as possible.
There exist various techniques and apparatus for sensing the absence of a person and his accouterments within a predefined zone and consequently operating an automatic door. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,029,176; 4,590,410; 4,779,240; 4,976,337; 5,001,557; 5,149,921; 5,276,391; 5,412,297; 5,420,430; RE 33,668 and RE 30,719 exemplify the state of the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,297 employs a tactile obstruction detector, while U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,590,410 and 5,276,391 employ optical detectors. U.S. Pat. No. 2,826,753, which relates to object detection in a confined environment and not to door opening or closing, and U.S. Pat. Nos. RE 30,719; 4,029,176 and 5,147,410 employ acoustic energy and are believed by applicant to be the closest prior art to the present invention. Other distance and direction measuring apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,467,072; 5,450,057; 5,373,482; 5,341,344; 5,339,075; 5,337,289 and 5,319,611.
Another problem in the field of vehicle safety relates to the use of air bags. Air bags are designed to expand or inflate and protect occupants of a vehicle from damage during collisions or sudden stopping. Unfortunately there have been instances in which the air bags have expanded in such a way so as to choke and asphyxiate the vehicle occupants. There is thus a need to be able to control expansion of the air bags in order to properly protect the vehicle occupants without causing asphyxiation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention seeks to provide a secure and efficient door operating system which maximizes door closing efficiency while minimizing the risk of injury to users. The present invention is particular useful for sliding and hatchback doors, such as those of commercial vehicles, vans and trucks.
The present invention also seeks to provide a safety system for controlling operation of vehicle air bags. The system transmits energy pulses, such as pulses of ultrasonic energy, towards a volume to be protected volume. Following a predetermined time delay, the system receives echoes of the energy reflected from the protected volume. The system thus senses and measures geometry of objects in the protected volume, generally in a volume in front of the dashboard and/or steering wheel. In accordance with the received echoes, the system of the present invention determines if a vehicle seat is first of all actually occupied. In this way, if the passenger seat is unoccupied, the passenger seat air bag will not be unnecessarily deployed. If the seat is occupied, the system senses the geometry of the occupant and uses the sensed geometry to determine an optimal mode of air bag expansion, particularly useful with a variable expansion air bag system. For example, the sensed geometry may signal and alert the system that a particularly short driver is occupying the driver's seat and thereby cause the air bag to inflate in such a way that the driver is protected from damage and is not asphyxiated by an overlarge bag. The objects in the protected volume may be stationary or moving. For example, the movements of an infant moving about in a car seat can be sensed and used to distinguish between a moving infant and a stationary car seat. The air bag may then be instructed to inflate in such a way so as not to harm the infant no matter what his or her movements may be.
There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a safety system for a vehicle, including at least one sensor viewing at least one region in an interior portion of a vehicle defining a protected volume at least partially in front of a vehicle air bag, and logic circuitry responsive to the at least one sensor for determining geometric data of objects in the protected volume.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the sensor transmits energy pulses into the protected volume and receiving echoes of energy reflected from the protected volume during a time window.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the logic circuitry is operative to ignore energy reflections from at least one object sensed by the at least one sensor during certain intervals of time within the time window.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the system includes a variable expansion air bag system operatively connected to and controlled by the logic circuitry, wherein the variable expansion air bag system inflates the air bag in accordance with information received from the logic circuitry.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the variable expansion air bag system includes an inflator which inflates the air bag with a fluid and a valve controlled by the logic circuitry, the valve controlling inlet of the fluid into the air bag.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for controlling operation of vehicle air bags, including using at least one sensor to sense at least one region in an interior portion of a vehicle defining a protected volume at least partially in front of a vehicle air bag, determining geometric data of objects in the protected volume in accordance with the echoes from the at least one sensor, and inflating the air bag in accordance with the geometric data.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the step of using at least one sensor to sense includes transmitting energy pulses into the protected volume and receiving echoes of energy reflected from the protected volume during a time window.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method includes ignoring energy reflections from at least one object sensed by the at least one sensor during certain intervals of time within the time window and varying inflation of the air bag in accordance with the ignored energy reflections.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method includes suppressing inflation of the air bag in accordance with the geometric data.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for warning of danger of closing a vehicle sliding door, the method including using at least one sensor to sense at least one region in the vicinity of a sliding door of a vehicle, outputting at least one region clear output signal from the at least one sensor to logic circuitry responsive to the at least one sensor, and using the logic circuitry to provide a warning of danger of closing the sliding door in the absence of a region clear output signal.
There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for warning of danger of closing a vehicle hatchback door, the method including using at least one sensor to sense at least one region in the vicinity of a hatchback door of a vehicle, outputting at least one region clear output signal from the at least one sensor to logic circuitry responsive to the at least one sensor, and using the logic circuitry to provide a warning of danger of closing the hatchback door in the absence of a region clear output signal.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method includes using the logic circuitry to signal permissibility of closing the door in the presence of a region clear output signal.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method includes ignoring any sensed objects in
Agam Uri
Ben-Bassat Eli
Gal Eli
Jashek Ronen
Crosland Donnie L.
Darby & Darby
Sensotech Ltd.
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