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. 07, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 14, 2000
Guenter Fendt, Schrobenhausen, DE;
Richard Baur, Pfaffenhofen, DE;
Michael Bischoff, Adelschlag, DE;
Stephan Schwehr, Nuernberg, DE;
Peter Steiner, Schrobenhausen, DE;
Helmut Steurer, Junkershofen, DE;
DaimlerChrysler AG, Stuttgart, DE;
Abstract
The safety of occupants in a vehicle is increased by avoiding an unnecessary deployment of a safety device, such as an air bag in the vehicle. For this purpose the trigger signal for deploying the safety device is generated either in response to a vehicle motion signal exceeding a high threshold level or in response to the vehicle motion signal exceeding a low threshold level as determined by a precrash signal (S,) followed by a crash signal (S,) preferably within a limited time duration (T,). For this purpose the signals (S,) and (S,) are logically linked and the resulting signal at the output of an AND-gate or at the output of a timing circuit determines whether the vehicle motion signal is compared with the high threshold level or with the low threshold level for generating the trigger or deployment signal (DS). Only when this double condition occurs, is the trigger threshold lowered for deploying the safety device. An optical sensor is preferably used as the crash signal generator.