Firing control device for triggering a passenger restraint system of a vehicle

Abstract

A firing control device (G) for triggering a passenger restraint system of a vehicle by electrically firing one or more firing pellets (Z1, Z2), having a processor (P) which, during operation, criteria for the necessity of triggering derives from the output signals of one or more crash sensors (S1, S2), having at least one measuring unit (R/DR, DZ1, DZ2) which, during a crash, measures at least the firing current (I1, I2) flowing through the respective firing pellets (Z1, Z2) and/or values (for example voltages) which depend on said firing current (I1, I2), having a PROM memory (M), and having a measuring unit (R/DR) which (R/DR) contains a measuring resistor (R) which is inserted into the firing circuit (I1, I2) of the firing pellet (Z1, Z2) so as not to be usually directly accessible from the outside via external terminals (A0 to A5) of the housing (G) of the firing control device in order to determine data relating to the variation of the firing current (I1, I2) flowing across the resistor (R) during triggering. In the event of a crash, data, from which it can later be detected whether and how the passenger restraint system triggered during the crash, is written into the PROM memory (M), the data in fact being at least some of the data which relates to the criteria derived by the processor (P) during the crash, and the measuring unit (R/DR, DZ1, DZ2), the processor (P), the measuring unit (R/DR, DZ1 and/or DZ2) and the PROM memory (M), but no firing pellet (Z1, Z2) and also no explosive charge of the passenger restraint system, being mounted in the housing (G) which survives a crash intact and cannot be opened without leaving behind detectable damage.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.