# US 11,998,067 B2 · Airbag safety device

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- Number: US 11,998,067 B2
- Document ID: US11998067B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/050,464
- Filed: 2019-04-23
- Published: 2021-08-05
- Granted: 2024-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2018-04-26
- Assignees: Service A La Personne Technologie Active Sarl
- Applicants: Service A La Personne Technologie Active Sarl
- Inventors: Thierry Jeandupeux
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11998067B2

## CPC

- A41D 13/018: inflatable automatically
- A41D 13/0506: {Hip}
- A61B 5/01: Measuring temperature of body parts {; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue} (clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20)
- A61B 5/1117: {Fall detection}
- A61B 5/1122: {of movement trajectories}
- A61B 5/6823: {Trunk, e.g., chest, back, abdomen, hip}
- G08B 21/0446: {worn on the body to detect changes of posture, e.g. a fall, inclination, acceleration, gait}
- H04W 4/30: Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes
- A61B 5/103: Measuring devices for testing the shape, pattern, {colour,} size or movement of the body or parts thereof, for diagnostic purposes (measuring instruments specially adapted for dentistry A61C19/04)
- A41D: OUTERWEAR; PROTECTIVE GARMENTS; ACCESSORIES
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G08B: SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

A safety device adapted to be worn by a wearer (6) for preventing the injuries in particular to the hips by airbag inflation, comprises: a portable inflatable bag (1); a source (2) of releasable gas coupled to the bag (1); a belt buckle (3, 4) in which a plurality of sensors are arranged, one of which measures the ambient temperature and the other thermal sensor (5) measures the body temperature of a wearer (6) to enable triggering of the airbag in case of a fall only when the device is worn by a wearer.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A safety device adapted to be worn by a wearer (6) for preventing injuries to the hips, the pelvis, the buttocks and the coccyx of the wearer (6) by airbag inflation, said device comprising:
a portable inflatable bag (1);
at least one source (2) of releasable gas coupled to the inflatable bag (1);
a belt buckle (3, 4) in which a plurality of sensors are arranged, for determining the angular movement and the acceleration of the wearer (6) of the safety device during a fall of the wearer;
a microcontroller adapted to analyze data received by different functional blocks in order to define a time to trigger the gas source; and
means for causing the source (2) of releasable gas to release the gas into the bag (1) according to a determination by the microcontroller that the wearer is falling;
characterized in that:
two of the sensors arranged in the belt buckle are a first thermal sensor measuring the ambient temperature and a second thermal sensor (5) measuring the body temperature of the wearer (6), the first and second thermal sensors being arranged for a deployment of the airbag in case of a fall only when the device is worn by the wearer, by measuring a temperature difference, as measured using the two thermal sensors, thus ensuring the presence of the wearer of the device and in that the device further comprises a wireless communication module, for transmitting information relating to: a state of the device corresponding to the presence or absence of the wearer; and to the deployment or non-deployment of the airbag to a person other than the wearer of said device, said means for causing the source of releasable gas to release the gas into the bag comprising an opening in said buckle, arranged to pass an electric wire (12) disposed to transmit an electrical pulse given by the microcontroller for said deployment of the airbag in case of a fall.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, wherein the buckle (3, 4) includes at least one magnet (7, 11) for locking the buckle.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, including a piston contact for activating the device, once the belt is closed.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, including a rechargeable energy source through the buckle (3), in particular by a USB cable (9).

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, including a six-axis inertial module for detecting the movements of the wearer (6), the inertial module including in particular an accelerometer coupled to a gyroscope.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, wherein the buckle is formed of two assemblable portions, a first portion (3) in the form of a rectangular housing containing electronics and a second portion (4), these two portions together including a cylindrical connection body (15) including a bayonet fastening device (16).

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The device according to claim 6, wherein the outer sides of said portions (3, 4) Include openings (19, 20) to be attached to the ends of the bag (1) forming a belt.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, including visual and/or sound means arranged to indicate the operating state of said device.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, including a buckle comprising:
a first cylindrically shaped portion including a helical groove extending from one end of the first buckle portion, the groove being curved with a notch at the second end thereof, and
a second portion including a protrusion arranged to slide in said groove and be engaged into said notch,
each portion of the buckle including a magnet arranged to hold together the first and second buckle portions, the two said buckle portions being disengageable from each other by the angular displacement of a first buckle portion relative to the other buckle portion then by the sliding of the protrusion in the groove until the extraction thereof.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, wherein the microcontroller stores an algorithm which distinguishes between sudden movements which correspond to falls and other movements which do not correspond to falls, in order to define the time to trigger the gas source only in case of a fall.
