Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft

Jan Urbahn

Richard Baur

Willibald Watzka

Andrea Link

Marcus Weidner

Alfons Woehrl

Klaus Achatz

Lothar Weichenberger

Helmut Rauh

Andreas Kuhn

Christian Maurer

Mario Nagelstrasser

Michael Niess

Richard Bauer

Driver-related electrical adjusting components in motor vehicles are regulated. An operator signal is generated based on a user actuating operator elements, to affect a desired movement of a vehicle component. The operator signal is processed in a control unit. An effect of the operator signal on movement of the vehicle component is regulated as a function of vehicle operating state signals so as to prevent the vehicle component from moving into a safety-critical position.

Systems and methods for regulating electrical adjusting mechanisms in motor vehicles

A method is provided for triggering a vehicle occupant restraint device, in which a sensor signal generated by a crash sensor is fed to a triggering device and to a clearing device supplying a clearing signal. The sensor signal is integrated in the clearing device and subjected to an examination algorithm. The output signal of at least one additional crash sensor is fed to the clearing device. Then, the two output signals are linked to one another and are subsequently integrated during an observation period. A clearing signal is generated when the integral exceeds a threshold value.

Method for triggering a vehicle occupant restraint device

A system for triggering passive occupant safety measures in a motor vehicle is described. The system includes a control unit, a plurality of acceleration sensors for detecting the acceleration caused by an impact of the motor vehicle as well as feed lines assigned to the acceleration sensors, by which feed lines the output signals of the acceleration sensors are transmitted to the control unit which analyzes the signals to determine the type and/or severity of the impact, and triggers appropriate safety measures. The sensors are mounted on a vehicle part of a low structural stiffness on the outer vehicle circumferences, and all surrounding vehicle parts of high stiffness are designed to prevent contact with the sensors after an impact of the motor vehicle of a low or medium severity within a minimum reaction time period.

Device for triggering passive passenger safety measures

A motor vehicle control device is provided with first and second partial devices. The first partial device houses sensors and/or associated functions of the control unit that are identical for all vehicle models in a series. The second partial device houses the sensors and/or functions of the control unit that are additionally required for an individual vehicle.

Motor vehicle control device

Occupant protection systems in a motor vehicle are activated in the event of a crash that puts the occupants of the vehicle at risk. A processor-based trigger system evaluates signals of crash sensors and actuates the occupant protection systems. Signatures that are produced by impacts on the vehicle body by means of a crash sensor system are detected and preprocessed directly on site of the crash sensor mounting areas. The crash sensor system includes a plurality of similar multifunctional peripheral crash sensors located in various areas of the vehicle body. The preprocessed signatures or variables derived therefrom are evaluated by means of a crash algorithm associated with the trigger system, in terms of kind, intensity, direction and time of the crash signatures and/or occupant risk signatures. Crash-relevant occupant protection systems are triggered at respective times determined in terms of the achievable protective effect of the occupant protection system when occupant risk threshold values are exceeded.

Method, device and crash sensor for activating occupant protection systems in a motor vehicle

A vehicle includes an airbag system, a sensor unit, which includes a first sensor module, which permits the sensing of actual driving conditions, and an electronic system, which fires the airbag system in the event of a crash and which is designed to evaluate the sensor signals that are provided by the sensor unit. The electronic system carries out a comparison of sensed actual driving conditions with predetermined critical driving conditions, which indicate a crash. The sensor unit includes a second sensor module, which senses in advance the environmental conditions of the vehicle, which after a certain period of time may lead to critical actual driving conditions. Critical actual driving conditions, whose imminent occurrence has been indicated in advance by the second sensor module, are rated by the electronic system as crash-free driving conditions.

Airbag firing electronic system for vehicles

A restraint system for a vehicle having sensors for detecting a collision of the vehicle is described. The system has a control unit which analyzes the signals and, in the event of a recognized collision of the motor vehicle, transmits a first signal to a safety belt restraint, which then activates a belt tensioner using a predefined first restraint force, and subsequently transmits a second signal to a front airbag system, which then triggers an airbag. The system has a malfunction monitoring unit for one of the restraint devices such that the control unit transmits a third signal to a replacement restraint device in the event that a malfunction of the front airbag system is recognized by the malfunction monitoring unit.

Restraint system for a motor vehicle

The invention relates to a method for activating a safety device, using a first impact sensor for generating a displacement signal which reproduces the movement of the vehicle in a direction of displacement, and a second impact sensor, arranged at a distance from the first impact sensor, for generating a displacement signal which reproduces the movement of the vehicle in the same direction of displacement. A processing device is provided, by which means the two displacement signals or signals derived therefrom can be correlated at the right time, and by which means the safety device is activated according to the predetermined correlations of the two signals.

Method of activating a safety device

A method for activating safety devices comprising a first longitudinal impact sensor, a second lateral impact sensor and a processing device which activates the safety devices, wherein when the motion signals and/or signals derived therefrom exceed defined threshold values, the threshold values that are critical for the activation of the safety devices are increased in the event of an immediately preceding abnormal motion of the vehicle in the longitudinal direction.

Method of activating safety devices utility

The invention relates to a method for determining the key crash phases for triggering a passive safety device in a vehicle. According to the invention method, an acceleration signal (ax) representing an acceleration (ax(t)) in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is determined, and two window integrals are simultaneously set up at the beginning of the crash-related deceleration of the vehicle, by which means the deceleration signal (ax) is added or integrated over a pre-determined time window. The first time window is smaller/equal to the minimum triggering time for triggering the safety device, and the second time window is significantly larger than the first window. The period during which the window integrals have the same value and during which said value is higher than a threshold value is defined as the first crash plane.

Method of determining the crash phases relevant to the triggering of a passive safety device in a vehicle

In a method of triggering a vehicle occupant restraining device, at least one sensor signal generated by a crash sensor is supplied to an analyzing device, which determines the crash severity, and a time for the triggering of the restraining device based on the crash severity. When a first low crash severity occurs, a timer is started and the restraining device is triggered by the analyzing unit only when a higher crash severity is reached during the running time of the timer.

Method of triggering a vehicle occupant restraining device

In a method for recognizing the severity of a vehicle collision, wherein the output signal of one or more acceleration sensors is processed and fed to a neural network that controls a release unit for an occupant protection device, and further wherein several occupant protection devices can be selected by the release unit in accordance with the severity and course of the vehicle collision, the future time progression of the output signal of the acceleration sensor is predicted with the help of the neural network based on the acceleration sensor signal values during at least one defined point in time.

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Ramsey, NJ, United States of America

Jan Urbahn