Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Trw Limited

Trw Vehicle Safety Systems Inc.

Trw Technar Inc.

James G McCuskey

Brian K Blackburn

Scott B Gentry

Joseph F Mazur

Koichi Sugiyama

Mark A Carlin

Naushad Hossain

An occupant restraint device (10) for a vehicle includes an air bag (16) mounted in the vehicle door (14) and an accelerometer (30) for measuring sideways acceleration of the door (14). A controller (20) monitors the accelerometer output (34, 36) and determines if the door (14) is in a door opening event or if the vehicle is in a sideways crash condition. The controller (20) actuates the air bag (16) if a vehicle crash condition is detected and disables actuation of the air bag (16) if the vehicle door (14) is determined to be opening.

Method and apparatus for controlling an air bag restraint system

An apparatus (30) for controlling an actuatable restraining device includes an accelerometer (60) for providing an electrical deceleration signal having a characteristic indicative of vehicle deceleration. An electronic controller (64) is connected to the accelerometer (60) and determines an average crash acceleration (AWIN) value in response to deceleration during a vehicle crash condition. The controller (64) determines a crash velocity value and a variably weighted velocity value (JMM2) equal to crash velocity times a variable weighting factor. The controller (64) provides an actuation signal to actuate the actuatable restraining device (i) when the average velocity value (AWIN) is greater than a first threshold value (WTHRESH) or (ii) when the variably weighted velocity value (JMM2) is greater than a second threshold value (JTHRESH) and the crash velocity is greater than a third threshold value (VTHRESH).

Method and apparatus for controlling an actuatable restraining device

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Lakewood, CA, United States of America

James G McCuskey