Air bag system having a control system for determining the exact inflating time of an air bag

An air bag system comprising:

• an air bag driving apparatus including an air bag and means for inflating said air bag upon receipt of an air bag driving signal;
• and
• an air bag control system comprising,
• a first acceleration sensor which detects an acceleration of the body of an automobile in a longitudinal direction and outputs a first acceleration signal,
• an acceleration level computing means, coupled to said first acceleration sensor, for computing a degree of acceleration and a longitudinal post-collision speed by using said first acceleration signal,
• a rate of change computing means, coupled to said first acceleration sensor, for computing the rate of change of said first acceleration signal and detecting a predetermined characteristic of said rate of change, and outputting first resultant data, wherein said predetermined characteristic detected by said rate of change computing means comprises the number of peaks of a rate of change waveform defined by said rate of change of said first acceleration signal exceeding a predetermined value,
• a first judging means, coupled to said acceleration level computing means and said rate of change computing means, for judging an occurrence of a collision of said automobile by using said degree of acceleration, said longitudinal post-collision speed and said first resultant data, and outputting a first judgment result,
• a second judging means, coupled to said acceleration level computing means, for computing the period of time during Which said degree of acceleration exceeds a predetermined value for a first predetermined period of time and judging an occurrence of a collision of said automobile by using said degree of acceleration, said longitudinal post-collision speed, said rate of change and said period of time, and outputting a second judgment result, and
• an air bag driving signal outputting means, coupled to said first and said second judging means, for determining an occurrence of a collision of said automobile based on said first and said second judgment results and outputting said air bag driving signal to said air bag driving apparatus,

An air bag system comprising:

• an air bag driving apparatus including an air bag and means for inflating said air bag upon receipt of an air bag driving signal;
• and
• an air bag control system comprising:
• a first acceleration sensor which detects an acceleration of the body of an automobile in a longitudinal direction and outputs a first acceleration signal,
• an acceleration level computing means, coupled to said first acceleration sensor, for computing a degree of acceleration and a longitudinal post-collision speed by using said first acceleration signal,
• a rate of change computing means, coupled to said first acceleration sensor, for computing the rate of change of said first acceleration signal and detecting a predetermined characteristic of said rate of change, and outputting first resultant data, wherein said predetermined characteristic detected by said rate of change computing means comprises a value representing the area of the peaks of a rate of change waveform defined by said rate of change of said first acceleration signal exceeding a predetermined value for a first predetermined period of time,
• a first judging means, coupled to said acceleration level computing means and said rate of change computing means, for judging an occurrence of a collision of said automobile by using said degree of acceleration, said longitudinal post-collision speed and said first resultant data, and outputting a first judgment result,
• a second judging means, coupled to said acceleration level computing means, for computing the period of time during which said degree of acceleration exceeds a predetermined value and judging an occurrence of a collision of said automobile by using said degree of acceleration, said longitudinal post-collision speed, said rate of change and said period of time, and outputting a second judgment result, and
• an air bag driving signal outputting means, coupled to said first and said second judging means, for determining an occurrence of a collision of said automobile based on said first and said second judgment results and outputting said air bag driving signal to said air bag driving apparatus.

An air bag system comprising:

• an air bag driving apparatus including an air bag and means for inflating said air bag upon receipt of an air bag driving signal;
• and
• an air bag control system comprising,
• a first acceleration sensor which detects an acceleration of the body of an automobile in a longitudinal direction and outputs a first acceleration signal,
• an acceleration level computing means, coupled to said first acceleration sensor, for computing a degree of acceleration and a longitudinal post-collision speed by using said first acceleration signal,
• a rate of change computing means, couples to said first acceleration sensor, for computing the rate of change of said first acceleration signal and detecting a predetermined characteristic of said rate of change, and outputting first resultant data,
• a first judging means, coupled to said acceleration level computing means and said rate of change computing means, for judging an occurrence of a collision of said automobile by using said degree of acceleration, said longitudinal post-collision speed and said first resultant data, and outputting a first judgment result,
• a second judging means coupled to said acceleration level computing means, for computing the period of time during which said degree of acceleration exceeds a predetermined value for a first predetermined period of time and judging an occurrence of a collision of said automobile by using said degree of acceleration, said longitudinal post-collision speed, said rate of change and said period of time, and outputting a second judgment result,
• an air bag driving signal outputting means, coupled to said first and said second judging means, for determining an occurrence of a collision of said automobile based on said first and said second judgment results and outputting said air bag driving signal to said air bag driving apparatus, and
• a weighing means for weighing said first judgment result and said second judgment result with respective predetermined weighing factors, and said air bag driving signal outputting means determines that a collision has occurred when the sum of said weighted first judgment result and weighted second judgment result exceeds a predetermined value.

An air bag system comprising:

• an air bag driving apparatus including an air bag and means for inflating said air bag upon receipt of an air bag driving signal;
• and
• an air bag control system comprising:
• a first acceleration sensor which detects an acceleration of the body of an automobile in a longitudinal direction and outputs a first acceleration signal,
• an acceleration level computing means, coupled to said first acceleration sensor, for computing a degree of acceleration and a longitudinal post-collision speed by using said first acceleration signal,
• a rate of change computing means, coupled to said first acceleration sensor, for computing the rate of change of said first acceleration signal and detecting a predetermined characteristic of said rate of change, and outputting first resultant data,
• a first judging means, coupled to said acceleration level computing means and said rate of change computing means, for judging an occurrence of a collision of said automobile by using said degree of acceleration, said longitudinal post-collision speed and said first resultant data, and outputting a first judgment result,
• a second judging means, coupled to said acceleration level computing means, for computing the period of time during which said degree of acceleration exceeds a predetermined value for a first predetermined period of time and judging an occurrence of a collision of said automobile by using said degree of acceleration, said longitudinal post-collision speed, said rate of change and said period of time, and outputting a second judgment result,
• a second acceleration sensor which detects an acceleration in the transverse direction of said body of said automobile and outputs a second acceleration signal,
• a transverse post-collision speed computing means, coupled to said second acceleration sensor, for computing a transverse post-collision speed by using said second acceleration signal and deriving a factor from said transverse post-collision speed,
• a third judging means, coupled to said transverse post-collision speed computing means and said acceleration level computing means, for judging the occurrence of a collision of said automobile by using said degree of acceleration, said longitudinal post-collision speed, said range of change and said factor of said transverse post-collision speed, said third judging means outputting a third judgment result, and
• an bag driving signal outputting means, coupled to said first, said second and said third judging means, for determining an occurrence of a collision of said automobile based on said first, said second and said third judgment results and outputting said air bag driving signal to said air bag driving apparatus.