Trigger device for vehicle safety apparatus

A trigger device for a vehicle safety apparatus, comprising:

• an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration of a vehicle and generating an electric acceleration signal representative thereof;
• integration means for integrating the acceleration signal during each given integration period and generating an integration value representative of a result of the integrating;
• determination means for determining whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present on a basis of the integration value generated by the integration means;
• and
• trigger means for triggering the vehicle safety apparatus when the determination means determines a collision of the vehicle to be present;
• the determination means comprising:
• differentiation means for detecting a differential value of the acceleration signal which occurs at a given moment in the integration period,
• addition means for adding the differential value detected by the differentiation means and the integration value generated by the integration means, and for generating an addition value representative of a result of the adding, and
• sub-determination means for determining whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present on a basis of the addition value generated by the addition means, the sub-determination means comprising:
• means for detecting first and second sub-differential values of the acceleration signal which occur at first and second different moments in the integration period respectively,
• means for adding the first sub-differential value and the integration value and generating a first sub-addition value representative of a result of the adding,
• means for adding the second sub-differential value and the integration value and generating a second sub-addition value representative of a result of the adding, and
• means for determining whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present on a basis of the first and second sub-addition values.

A trigger device for a vehicle safety apparatus, comprising:

• an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration of a vehicle and generating an electric acceleration signal representative thereof;
• integration means for integrating the acceleration signal during each given integration period and generating an integration value representative of a result of the integrating;
• determination means for determining whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present on a basis of the integration value generated by the integration means;
• and
• trigger means for triggering the vehicle safety apparatus when the determination means determines a collision of the vehicle to be present;
• the determination means comprising:
• differentiation means for detecting a differential value of the acceleration signal which occurs at a given moment in the integration period,
• addition means for adding the differential value detected by the differentiation means and the integration value generated by the integration means, and for generating an addition value representative of a result of the adding, and
• sub-determination means for determining whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present on a basis of the addition value generated by the addition means,
• the differentiation means comprising:
• means for dividing a portion of the integration period into halves,
• means for detecting first and second values of the acceleration signal which occur in the halves of the portion of the integration period respectively,
• means for executing a subtraction between the first and second values of the acceleration signal, and
• means for generating the differential value of the acceleration signal on a basis of a result of the subtraction.

A trigger device for a vehicle safety apparatus, comprising:

• an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration of a vehicle and generating an electric acceleration signal representative thereof;
• integration means for integrating the acceleration signal during each given integration period and generating an integration value representative of a result of the integrating;
• determination means for determining whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present on a basis of the integration value generated by the integration means;
• and
• trigger means for triggering the vehicle safety apparatus when the determination means determines a collision of the vehicle to be present;
• the determination means comprising:
• differentiation means for detecting a differential value of the acceleration signal which occurs at a given moment in the integration period,
• addition means for adding the differential value detected by the differentiation means and the integration value generated by the integration means, and for generating an addition value representative of a result of the adding, and
• sub-determination means for determining whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present on a basis of the addition value generated by the addition means, the sub-determination means comprising:
• means for detecting first, second, and third sub-differential values of the acceleration signal which occur at first, second, and third different moments in the integration period respectively,
• means for adding the first sub-differential value and the integration value and generating a first sub-addition value representative of a result of the adding,
• means for adding the second sub-differential value and the integration value and generating a second sub-addition value representative of a result of the adding,
• means for adding the third sub-differential value and the integration value and generating a third sub-addition value representative of a result of the adding, and
• means for determining whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present on a basis of the first, second, and third sub-addition values.

A trigger device for a vehicle safety apparatus, comprising:

• an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration of a vehicle and generating an electric acceleration signal representative thereof;
• integration means for integrating the acceleration signal during each given integration period and generating an integration value representative of a result of the integrating;
• first differentiation means for detecting a first differential value of the acceleration signal which occurs at a first moment in the integration period;
• second differentiation means for detecting a second differential value of the acceleration signal which occurs at a second moment in the integration period, the second moment being different from the first moment;
• first addition means for adding the integration value generated by the integration means and the first differential value detected by the first differentiation means, and for generating a first addition value representative of a result of the adding;
• second addition means for adding the integration value generated by the integration means and the second differential value detected by the second differentiation means, and for generating a second addition value representative of a result of the adding;
• first determination means for comparing the first addition value generated by the first addition means with a first reference value to determine whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present;
• second determination means for comparing the second addition value generated by the second addition means with a second reference value to determine whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present;
• and
• trigger means for triggering the vehicle safety apparatus when at least one of the first determination means and the second determination means determines a collision of the vehicle to be present.

A trigger device for a vehicle safety apparatus, comprising:

• an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration of a vehicle and generating an electric acceleration signal representative thereof;
• a microcomputer for processing the acceleration signal and determining whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present on the basis of a result of the processing;
• and
• trigger means for triggering the vehicle safety apparatus when the microcomputer determines a collision of the vehicle to be present;
• wherein the microcomputer comprises integration means for integrating the acceleration signal during each given integration period and generating an integration value representative of a result of the integrating, first differentiation means for detecting a first differential value of the acceleration signal which occurs at a first moment in the integration period, second differentiation means for detecting a second differential value of the acceleration signal which occurs at a second moment in the integration period, the second moment being different from the first moment, first addition means for adding the integration value generated by the integration means and the first differential value detected by the first differentiation means, and for generating a first addition value representative of a result of the adding, second addition means for adding the integration value generated by the integration means and the second differential value detected by the second differentiation means, and for generating a second addition value representative of a result of the adding, first determination means for comparing the first addition value generated by the first addition means with a first reference value to determine whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present, and second determination means for comparing the second addition value generated by the second addition means with a second reference value to determine whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present.

A trigger device for a vehicle safety apparatus, comprising:

• an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration of a vehicle and generating an electric acceleration signal representative thereof;
• integration means for integrating the acceleration signal and generating an integration value representative of a result of the integrating;
• first differentiation means for detecting a first value of a differential of the acceleration signal which occurs at a first moment;
• second differentiation means for detecting a second value of a differential of the acceleration signal which occurs at a second moment, the second moment preceding the first moment;
• determination means for determining whether or not a collision of the vehicle is present on the basis of the integration value generated by the integrating means, the first differential value detected by the first differentiation means, and the second differential value detected by the second differentiation means;
• and
• trigger means for triggering the vehicle safety apparatus when the determination means determines a collision of the vehicle to be present.

A trigger device for a vehicle safety apparatus, comprising:

• an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration of a vehicle and generating an electric acceleration signal representative thereof;
• integration means for integrating the acceleration signal during each given integration period and generating an integration value representative of a result of the integrating;
• determination means for performing a determination regarding a collision of the vehicle on a basis of the integration value generated by the integration means;
• and
• trigger means for triggering the vehicle safety apparatus in response to a result of the determination by the determining means;
• the determination means comprising:
• means for dividing the integration period into divided portions;
• differentiation means for detecting a respective differential value of the acceleration signal for each of the divided portions of the integration period,
• addition means for adding the respective differential values detected by the differentiation means and the integration value generated by the integration means, and for generating an addition value representative of a result of the adding, and
• sub-determination means for determining a condition of the collision of the vehicle on a basis of the addition value generated by the addition means.

A trigger device for a vehicle safety apparatus comprising:

• an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration of a vehicle and generating an electric acceleration signal representative thereof;
• integration means for integrating the acceleration signal during each given integration period and generating an integration value representative of a result of the integrating;
• determination means for performing a determination regarding a collision of the vehicle on a basis of the integration value generated by the integration means;
• and
• trigger means for triggering the vehicle safety apparatus in response to a result of the determination by the determining means;
• the determination means comprising:
• differentiation means for detecting a differential value of the acceleration signal which occurs at a given moment in the integration period, the differentiation means comprising:
• means for dividing a portion of the integration period into halves;
• means for detecting first and second values of the acceleration signal which occur in the halves of the portion of the integration period respectively;
• means for executing a subtraction between the first and second values of the acceleration signal;
• and
• means for generating the differential value of the acceleration signal on a basis of a result of the subtraction,
• addition means for adding the differential values detected by the differentiation means and the integration value generated by the integration means, and for generating an addition value representative of a result of the adding, and
• sub-determination means for determining a condition of the collision of the vehicle on a basis of the addition value generated by the addition means.