The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 13, 1996
Filed:
Jun. 22, 1995
Craig W White, Grosse Pointe, MI (US);
Automotive Systems Laboratory, Inc., Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Abstract
A vehicle impact detection system (10) for controlling the actuation of an occupant safety restraint device includes a dual, independent sensor arrangement (12) having a vibratory sensor (24) affixed to an outer surface (16) of the vehicle for continuously generating an output signal (14) representative of the condition of the outer surface, and a processor (22) for performing signal processing on the output signal (14) to predict the time at which a second crush sensor (26) will produce an output signal (18). The system (10) allows a single point outer surface sensor to reliably predict severe impacts within a few milliseconds of initial impact, and therefore is particularly suited for controlling the actuation of a safety restraint device in response to side impacts.