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US 7,352,080 B2Granted
Device and method for supplying the triggering device of an occupant restraint system with power
AssigneeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft
InventorHelge Grasshoff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to a device that comprises a plurality of energy stores and a driver circuit. Said driver circuit is supplied by at least two of the energy stores via a selecting circuit in such a manner that the driver circuit is always supplied by the energy store that has the highest voltage as compared to the remaining energy stores.
Claims9
A device for supplying power to a firing unit of a vehicle-occupant restraint system, comprising:
- a plurality of switches formed as MOS transistors having gate terminals;
- a plurality of energy storage devices;
- a control device;
- a driver circuit for the vehicle-occupant restraint system, the driver circuit coupled to the gate terminals of the MOS transistors;
- a selector circuit supplying the driver circuit with a voltage from one of the energy storage devices that is higher than a voltage of any other one of the energy storage devices;
- and
- a charge pump connected between the selector circuit and the driver circuit.
4 more elements
A method for supplying power to a firing unit of a vehicle-occupant restraint system, comprising:
- using switches to feed energy to the firing unit from a first storage device, the switches being MOS transistors having gate terminals;
- providing a driver circuit for actuating the MOS transistors and coupling the driver circuit to the gate terminals of the MOS transistors;
- using a selector circuit to supply the driver circuit with a voltage from one of the energy storage devices that is higher than a voltage of any other one of the energy storage devices.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.