JP2964796B2 - Control device for occupant restraint system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for an occupant restraint system for restraining and protecting an occupant in a collision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A control device for controlling the operation of an occupant restraint device such as an air bag or a seat belt is known (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-148348). In this type of control device, a signal component generated due to destruction of a vehicle body structural member or a shock absorbing member is extracted from a deceleration signal at the time of a collision, and a collision intensity or a collision energy is estimated based on the signal component. If they exceed the set value, the occupant restraint system is activated.

[0003] However, in the above-mentioned conventional occupant restraint control device, the vehicle body structural member or the shock absorbing member that is destroyed at the time of a collision differs depending on various types of collisions. In order to operate properly, there is a problem that many experiments have to be performed and fine adjustments are made based on those data.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a control device capable of accurately operating an occupant restraint system in any collision with a simple adjustment.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems The invention of claim 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 (a), which is a claim correspondence diagram. The invention of claim 1 shows the distance between a structure in a vehicle compartment and an occupant. Distance detecting means 100 for detecting, relative speed detecting means 101 for detecting the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant, distance detecting means 10
Based on the distance detected at 0 and the relative speed detected by the relative speed detecting means 101, the relative speed for calculating the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant at the time when the occupant comes into contact with the structure in the passenger compartment after the collision of the vehicle. Speed estimating means 102; and operation determining means 103 for determining the operation of the occupant restraint device when the relative speed estimated by the relative speed estimating means 102 exceeds a preset value. To achieve. The invention of claim 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 (b) which is a claim correspondence diagram. The invention of claim 2 comprises a deceleration detecting means 200 for detecting the deceleration of the vehicle, Distance calculating means for calculating the distance between the vehicle interior structure and the occupant based on the deceleration detected by the means 200
1, a relative speed calculating means 202 for calculating the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant based on the deceleration detected by the deceleration detecting means 200, and a distance calculated by the distance calculating means 201 and the relative speed calculating means 202. Based on the calculated relative speed, a relative speed estimating means 203 for estimating the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant at the time when the occupant comes into contact with a structure in the passenger compartment after the collision of the vehicle, When the estimated relative speed exceeds a preset value, an operation determining means 204 for determining the operation of the occupant restraint device;
Thereby, the above object is achieved.

[0006]

According to the occupant restraint control apparatus of the present invention, the occupant contacts the structure in the vehicle compartment after the collision of the vehicle based on the distance between the structure and the occupant in the vehicle interior and the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant. Then, the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant at the time when the occupant restraining device is operated is estimated. In the control device for the occupant restraint device according to claim 2, the distance between the structure and the occupant in the vehicle compartment and the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant are calculated based on the deceleration of the vehicle. Estimate the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant at the time when the occupant comes into contact with the structure in the passenger compartment after the collision of the vehicle, and determine the operation of the occupant restraint device if the estimated relative speed is greater than a preset value. .

[0007]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to an air bag for protecting a driver's seat occupant as an occupant restraining device. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the driver's seat portion of the vehicle. An airbag module 3 that expands and deploys in the event of a vehicle collision to protect the driver's occupant 2 is stored in a center pad 1a of the steering wheel 1. Further, on the instrument pad 4, a distance measuring device 5 for measuring the distance to the head or chest of the driver's seat occupant 2 by ultrasonic waves is provided. The distance between the distance measuring device 5 and the steering wheel 1 is known, and based on the distance between the distance measuring device 5 and the driver's seat occupant 2 measured by the distance measuring device 5, the distance between the distance measuring device 5 and the steering wheel 1 is determined. Is subtracted to determine the distance between the steering wheel 1 and the driver's seat occupant 2. That is, if the vehicle suddenly decelerates at the time of the collision, the driver's seat occupant 2 first has a high possibility of colliding with the steering wheel 1 which is a structure in the vehicle interior, so the distance between the steering wheel 1 and the driver's occupant 2 is measured. . Further, a relative speed measuring device 6 for measuring the relative speed between the vehicle and the driver's seat occupant 2 by an ultrasonic Doppler is provided adjacent to the distance measuring device 5 shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, an air bag for protecting a driver in a driver seat will be described as an example of an occupant restraining device. However, a seat belt for protecting a driver in a driver seat, an air bag or a seat belt for protecting a passenger in a passenger seat will be described. The present invention can be applied to such a case. In the case of an airbag or a seatbelt that protects the passenger on the front passenger seat, the distance from the instrument panel or the windshield glass to which the passenger on the passenger seat is likely to collide at the time of the collision may be measured by the distance measuring device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment. In the figure, a control circuit 7 is composed of a microcomputer and its peripheral parts, and controls the operation of the airbag module 3 via a drive circuit 8 by executing a control program described later. The control circuit 7 is connected to the distance measuring device 5 and the relative speed measuring device 6 described above.
Information on the distance between the vehicle and the driver's seat occupant 2 and information on the relative speed between the vehicle and the driver's seat occupant 2 are input. The airbag module 3 includes a deployment device (hereinafter, referred to as an inflator) for inflating and deploying the airbag, an electric ignition device (hereinafter, referred to as a squib) for activating the inflator, and the like. The drive circuit 8 supplies power to the squib from a battery or an auxiliary power supply (not shown), activates the inflator, and inflates and deploys the airbag.

Next, the relationship between the vehicle and the driver's seat occupant 2 will be described by taking as an example a case where the vehicle collides with the fixed object from the front. FIG. 4A shows the deceleration G (t) of the vehicle after the collision and the deceleration g (t) of the driver's seat occupant 2 at the time t0, and FIG. 4B shows the speed of the vehicle after the collision at the time t0. V
(T) and the speed v (t) of the driver's seat occupant 2, and FIG. 5 shows the distance L (t) from the tip of the vehicle to the steering wheel 1 after the collision at time t0 and the driver occupant 2 from the tip of the vehicle. 1 (t). In these figures, the direction on the vertical axis corresponds to the traveling direction of the vehicle. Time t
0 when the vehicle collides head-on with a fixed object, FIG.
(A) As shown in FIG.
, A rapid deceleration G (t) occurs, and the vehicle speed V (t) suddenly decreases from the speed V0 immediately before the collision and stops as shown in FIG. The speed V (t) of the vehicle at this time
Is represented by the following equation. V (t) = V0−∫G (t) dt (1)

On the other hand, the driver's seat occupant 2 is in an unrestrained state immediately after the collision, does not generate the deceleration g (t), and moves forward of the vehicle at the speed V0 almost immediately before the collision. That is, the deceleration g (t) and the speed v (t) of the driver's seat occupant 2 are g (t) = 0 v (t) = V0 (2) Here, the speed V (t) of the vehicle and the steering wheel 1 immediately after the collision and the speed v (t) of the driver's seat occupant 2
Is the relative speed q (t) of the two described above, and is expressed by the following equation. q (t) = v (t) −V (t) = V0− (V0−∫G (t) dt) = ∫G (t) dt (3)

As shown in FIG. 5, when the distance from the tip of the vehicle immediately before the collision to the steering wheel 1 is S1, the distance L (t) between the two after the collision is expressed by the following equation. L (t) = S1-∫V (t) dt = S1-∫ (V0-∫G (t) dt) dt = S1-V0 × t + ∫∫G (t) dt2 (4) On the other hand, collision Assuming that the distance from the front end of the vehicle immediately before to the driver's seat occupant 2 is S2, the distance l (t) between the two after the collision is expressed by the following equation. l (t) = S2-∫v (t) dt = S2-V0 × t (5) Here, the distance l (t) from the tip of the vehicle after the collision to the driver's seat occupant 2 and the vehicle l Steering wheel 1 from the tip
Is the distance r (t) between the steering wheel 1 and the driver's seat occupant 2 and is expressed by the following equation. r (t) = 1 (t) -L (t) = S2-V0 * t- {S1-V0 * t + {G (t) dt2} = S2-S1- {G (t) dt2 ... (6)

At time t1 when the distance r (t) between the steering wheel 1 and the driver's seat occupant 2 becomes 0, the driver's seat occupant 2 collides with the steering wheel 1, and this time t1
Thereafter, as shown in FIG.
(T) occurs, and as shown in FIG.
The speed v (t) decreases rapidly. Here, the larger the collision, the greater the relative speed q (t) between the vehicle and the driver's seat occupant 2 at the time t1, and the driver's seat occupant 2 collides with the steering wheel 1 more violently. Therefore, if the relative speed q (t) between the vehicle and the driver's seat occupant 2 at the time t1 is estimated and the necessity of the operation of the airbag module 3 is determined based on the estimated relative speed Q (t), the occupant is determined. It can be protected reliably.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control program executed by the control circuit 7. The operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to this flowchart. The control circuit 7 executes this control program at a predetermined cycle. First, step S
In step 1, the distance r (t) between the steering wheel 1 and the driver's seat occupant 2 measured by the distance measuring device 5 is read, and in step S2, the vehicle and the driver's occupant 2 measured by the relative speed measuring device 6 The relative speed q (t) is read. In step S3, the relative speed change amount Δq
(T), that is, the relative speed q (t) read this time
And the difference Δq (t) from the relative speed q (t−1) read when the control program was executed last time is calculated by the following equation. Δq (t) = q (t) −q (t−1) (7) Further, in step S4, the distance change Δr (t), that is, the currently read distance r (t), Relative speed r read when the control program was executed
The difference Δr (t) from (t−1) is calculated by the following equation. Δr (t) = r (t) −r (t−1) (8)

In step S5, the change amount Δq (t) of the relative speed and the change amount Δ
The ratio α to r (t) is calculated. α = Δq (t) / Δr (t) (9) In the following step S6, the distance r is calculated based on the calculated ratio α.
Time when (t) becomes 0, that is, driver's seat occupant 2 described above
The estimated value Q (t1) of the relative speed q (t) at the time t1 at which the vehicle contacts the steering wheel 1 is calculated by the following equation. Q (t1) = q (t) + α × r (t) (10) In step S7, whether the calculated estimated relative speed Q (t) at the time t1 exceeds a predetermined value set in advance or not. And if it exceeds the predetermined value, step S8
Go to, otherwise end the program execution.
If the estimated relative speed Q (t) at time t1 is larger than the predetermined value, the collision is large and the driver's seat occupant 2 is expected to collide with the steering wheel 1 severely. The airbag module 3 is operated by outputting a command signal.

Next, referring to FIG. 7, three collision modes A,
The operation of the embodiment in the case of B and C will be described. In the figure,
The vertical axis represents the distance r (t) between the driver's seat occupant 2 and the steering wheel 1, and the distance r (to) between the two before the collision is R0.
(= S2-S1). The horizontal axis represents the relative speed q (t) between the vehicle and the driver's seat occupant 2, and the relative speed q before the collision is given.
(To) is set to 0. First, in the collision in the case of A, after the collision, a relative speed q (t) is generated and increased between the vehicle and the driver's seat occupant 2, and the driver's seat occupant 2 and the steering wheel 1 are increased.
Distance r (t) decreases. That is, the vehicle travels in the direction of the arrow in the figure and reaches the point P (t) at a certain time t. Point P (t2)
Is a point at which the distance r (t) reaches a predetermined constant value. The distance r (t) and the measured relative speed q (t) at this point P (t) and the distance r (t-1) and the relative speed q measured at the immediately preceding point P (t-1)
Based on (t-1), the estimated relative speed Q (t1) at the time when the distance r becomes 0, that is, at the time t1 when the driver's seat occupant 2 contacts the steering wheel 1 is calculated.
In the collision in the case of A, the airbag module 3 is operated because the estimated relative speed Q (t1) exceeds the predetermined value.

In the collision in the case B, the increase in the relative speed q (t) is small in spite of the fact that the distance r (t) decreases rapidly, and at a certain time t when the distance r (t) reaches a constant value. Point P
The estimated relative speed Q (t1) calculated in (t) is equal to or less than the predetermined value, and the airbag module 3 is not operated. Further, in the case of the collision in the case of C, the distance r (t) is initially
The relative speed q (t) sharply increases when the decrease in the relative speed q is small, and thereafter, the relative speed q (t) decreases. Therefore, the estimated relative speed Q (t) calculated at the point P (t) at the time t.
1) is equal to or less than a predetermined value. Therefore, also in this case, the airbag module 3 is not operated.

As described above, based on the distance between the steering wheel 1 and the driver's seat occupant 2 detected by the distance measuring device 5 and the relative speed between the vehicle and the driver's seat occupant 2 detected by the relative speed measuring device 6. Then, the relative speed between the vehicle and the driver's seat occupant 2 at the time when the driver's seat occupant 2 comes into contact with the steering wheel 1 after the collision is calculated, and when the calculated relative speed exceeds a preset value, the airbag module 3 Since the operation is determined, the occupant restraint device can be operated accurately in any collision with a simple adjustment.

In the above-described embodiment, the distance measurement device 5 and the relative speed measurement device 6 are provided on the instrument pad 4 to measure the distance and the relative speed. However, as shown in FIG. A distance measuring device 5A and a relative speed measuring device 6A are incorporated in the vehicle, and a seat position detecting device 12 for detecting a position of the driver seat 11 in conjunction with a sliding mechanism of the driver seat 11 is provided. It may be detected. in this case,
The distance between the driver's seat occupant 2 and the steering wheel 1 is the distance between the driver's seat occupant 2 and the driver's seat 11 measured by the distance measuring device 5A, and the distance between the driver's seat 11 and the steering detected by the seat position detecting device 12. It is calculated based on the distance from the wheel 1. According to this method, the measurement of the distance and the relative speed is not hindered by the occupant's arm or the like.

Instead of the distance measuring devices 5 and 5A and the relative speed measuring devices 6 and 6A, a deceleration sensor 13 is provided in a floor tunnel or the like in the vehicle interior as shown in FIG.
The deceleration G (t) of the vehicle may be detected, and the distance r (t) may be calculated by the above equation (6), and the relative speed q (t) may be calculated by the equation (3). In this case, (S2-S1) in the equation (6), that is, the initial distance R0 between the steering wheel 1 and the driver's seat occupant 2 may be obtained based on the distance detected by the seat position detection device 12 described above. However, a constant may be used as a default value.

In the configuration of the above embodiment, the distance measuring devices 5, 5A serve as distance detecting means, and the relative speed measuring devices 6, 6 serve as distance measuring devices.
A is a relative speed detecting means, and the control circuit 7 is a relative speed calculating means, an operation determining means, a distance calculating means, a relative speed calculating means,
The relative speed estimating means is configured.

[0022]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the distance between the occupant and the structure in the vehicle compartment and the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant are detected, and further based on the detected values. To estimate the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant at the time when the occupant comes into contact with the structure in the passenger compartment after the collision of the vehicle, and to determine the operation of the occupant restraint device when the estimated relative speed exceeds a preset value. As a result, the occupant restraint system can be properly operated for various collisions with a simple adjustment. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the distance between the vehicle interior structure and the occupant and the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant are calculated based on the deceleration of the vehicle detected by the deceleration detecting means,
Further, based on the calculated values, the relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant at the time when the occupant comes into contact with a structure in the passenger compartment after the collision of the vehicle is estimated, and when the estimated relative speed exceeds a preset value, the occupant is Since the operation of the restraint device is determined, the occupant restraint device can be accurately operated in various collisions with a simple adjustment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to claims.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a driver seat portion of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing deceleration and speed between a vehicle and an occupant after a collision.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a distance between a vehicle and an occupant after a collision.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation control program according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the operation of one embodiment for three collision modes.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another embodiment of a distance measuring device and a relative speed measuring device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another embodiment of a distance measuring device and a relative speed measuring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 steering wheel 1a center pad 2 driver's seat occupant 3 airbag module (occupant restraint device) 4 instrument pad 5, 5A distance measuring device 6, 6A relative speed measuring device 7 control circuit 8 drive circuit 11 driver's seat 12 seat position detection Apparatus 13 deceleration sensor 100 distance detecting means 101 relative speed detecting means 102 relative speed estimating means 103, 204 operation determining means 200 deceleration detecting means 201 distance calculating means 202 relative speed calculating means 203 relative speed estimating means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B60R 21/32 B60R 22/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A distance detecting means for detecting a distance between a structure in a vehicle compartment and an occupant; a relative speed detecting means for detecting a relative speed between a vehicle and the occupant; and the distance detected by the distance detecting means. A relative speed for estimating a relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant at a time when the occupant comes into contact with a structure in the vehicle compartment after the collision of the vehicle, based on the relative speed detected by the relative speed detection means and A speed estimating means; and an operation determining means for determining an operation of the occupant restraining device when the relative speed estimated by the relative speed estimating means exceeds a preset value. Control device. 2. A deceleration detecting means for detecting a deceleration of the vehicle, and a distance calculating means for calculating a distance between a structure in a vehicle compartment and an occupant based on the deceleration detected by the deceleration detecting means. A relative speed calculating unit that calculates a relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant based on the deceleration detected by the deceleration detecting unit; a distance calculated by the distance calculating unit and the relative speed calculating unit Relative speed estimating means for estimating a relative speed between the vehicle and the occupant at a time when the occupant comes into contact with a structure in the vehicle interior after the collision of the vehicle, based on the relative speed calculated in When the relative speed estimated by the relative speed estimating means exceeds a preset value, an operation determining means for determining an operation of the occupant restraining device is provided.