Deactivation of second stage of air bag inflator

An apparatus for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said apparatus comprising:

• an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device;
• a primary inflation fluid source and a secondary inflation fluid source actuatable independently of each other;
• a first initiator being actuatable to actuate said primary inflation fluid source to inflate said inflatable device without actuating said secondary inflation fluid source;
• a sensor for sensing the position of the vehicle occupant subsequent to actuation of said primary inflation fluid source and for providing an output signal indicative of the sensed position;
• a second initiator being actuatable to actuate said secondary inflation fluid source in response to said output signal;
• and
• a controller for monitoring the output signal and for actuating said second initiator to actuate the second inflation fluid source subsequent to the inflatable device restraining forward movement of the occupant.

An apparatus for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said apparatus comprising:

• an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device;
• a primary inflation fluid source and a secondary inflation fluid source actuatable independently of each other;
• means for actuating said primary inflation fluid source to inflate said inflatable device to help protect the vehicle occupant without actuating said secondary inflation fluid source;
• means for sensing the position of the vehicle occupant subsequent to actuation of said primary inflation fluid source and for providing an output signal;
• and
• means for actuating said secondary inflation fluid source in response to said output signal,
• wherein said means for actuating said secondary inflation fluid source in response to said output signal comprises a controller that periodically checks the position of the vehicle occupant by using said output signal and that determines on the basis of said periodic checking of said output signal whether to actuate said secondary inflation fluid source.

An apparatus for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said apparatus comprising:

• an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device;
• a primary inflation fluid source and a secondary inflation fluid source actuatable independently of each other;
• means for actuating said primary inflation fluid source to inflate said inflatable device in a first direction toward the vehicle occupant to help protect the vehicle occupant without actuating said secondary inflation fluid source;
• means for sensing the position of the vehicle occupant subsequent to actuation of said primary inflation fluid source and for providing an output signal;
• and
• means for actuating said secondary inflation fluid source in response to said output signal indicating movement of the vehicle occupant in said first direction.

An apparatus for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said apparatus comprising:

• an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device;
• a primary inflation fluid source and a secondary inflation fluid source actuatable independently of each other;
• means for actuating said primary inflation fluid source to inflate said inflatable device to help protect the vehicle occupant without actuating said secondary inflation fluid source;
• means for sensing the position of the vehicle occupant subsequent to actuation of said primary inflation fluid source and for providing an output signal;
• and
• means for actuating said secondary inflation fluid source in response to said output signal,
• wherein said means for sensing the position of the vehicle occupant comprises at least one sensor for sensing the position of the torso of the vehicle occupant relative to the seatback of the vehicle occupant's seat.

An apparatus for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said apparatus comprising:

• an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device;
• a primary inflation fluid source and a secondary inflation fluid source actuatable independently of each other;
• a first initiator being actuatable to actuate said primary inflation fluid source to inflate said inflatable device without actuating said secondary inflation fluid source;
• a sensor for sensing the position of the vehicle occupant subsequent to actuation of said primary inflation fluid source and for providing an output signal indicative of the sensed position;
• and
• a second initiator being actuatable to actuate said secondary inflation fluid source in response to said output signal,
• wherein said sensor comprises at least one sensor for sensing the position of the torso of the vehicle occupant relative to the seatback of the vehicle occupant's seat.

An apparatus for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said apparatus comprising:

• an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device;
• a primary inflation fluid source and a secondary inflation fluid source actuatable independently of each other;
• a first device for actuating said primary inflation fluid source to inflate said inflatable device to help protect the vehicle occupant without actuating said secondary inflation fluid source;
• a sensor mechanism for sensing the position of the vehicle occupant subsequent to actuation of said primary inflation fluid source and for providing an output signal, said sensor mechanism being operable to sense occupant position independent of pressure within said inflatable vehicle occupant protection device;
• and
• a second device for actuating said secondary inflation fluid source in response to said output signal.

An apparatus for helping to protect a vehicle occupant, said apparatus comprising:

• an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device;
• a plurality of inflation fluid sources, each of said plurality of inflation fluid sources being actuatable independently for providing inflation fluid for inflating said vehicle occupant protection device;
• a crash sensor for sensing a vehicle crash condition and for providing a crash condition signal indicative of the sensed crash condition;
• an occupant position sensor for sensing vehicle occupant position and for providing an occupant position signal indicative of the sensed occupant position;
• and
• a controller that is responsive to both the crash condition signal and the occupant position signal for actuating a desired number of said plurality of inflation fluid sources for controlling inflation of said vehicle occupant protection device,
• said occupant position sensor continuing to provide an occupant position signal subsequent to inflation of said vehicle occupant protection device,
• said controller being responsive to the occupant position signal subsequent to inflation of said vehicle occupant protection device for actuating any remaining unactuated inflation fluid sources of said plurality of inflation fluid sources.