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:
Jul. 01, 2003
Filed:
Nov. 20, 2001
Jens Otterbach, Wenden, DE;
Hartmut Schumacher, Freiberg, DE;
Peter Taufer, Renningen, DE;
Achim Henne, Sachsenheim, DE;
Harald Tschentscher, Grossbottwar, DE;
Michael Ulmer, Moessingen, DE;
Andreas Rupp, Reutlingen, DE;
Robert Bosch, GmbH, Stuttgart, DE;
Abstract
A device and a method are proposed for controlling firing circuits for an element of restraint, individual transistors of the output stages being controlled by bit combinations, and impermissible bit combinations lead to an error message to a processor. In addition, a firing current is measured, in order to estimate a firing energy from it, so that efficient energy management can be carried out. Furthermore, determination of the firing current makes it possible to update a crash protocol as to whether the firing circuit was activated or not. When a voltage of the energy reserve is exceeded, it is further proposed to switch over to pulse operation for operating the output stages. Thereby a greater resistance to short-circuits and a higher efficiency are achieved.