JP2001247009A - Occupant protective device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To further improve protective performance of an occupant P when a multiple collision occurs in an occupant protective device A for restraining the occupant P on a driver's seat 2 by operating a pretensioner 9 of a seat belt device when a collision is generated in at least a vehicle 1. SOLUTION: Generation of an actual collision in the vehicle 1 is detected based on a signal from an acceleration sensor 19 and the pretensioner 9 is operated (SA13 to SA17). Subsequently, when the vehicle 1 is stopped and set time T1 elapses after acceleration becomes zero and the occupant P is normally seated, the operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped (SA18 to SA24). Also when generation of a rear impact in the vehicle 1 is predicted based on a signal from a rear radar sensor 24, the pretensioner 9 is operated, and subsequently when set time T2 elapses, the operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an occupant protection device for protecting an occupant when an impact is applied to a vehicle.
In particular, it belongs to the technical field of control of the pretensioner in a device provided with a seatbelt device with a pretensioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a vehicle occupant protection device of this type, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-132113, it has been predicted that a collision will occur in a vehicle and a seatbelt device is provided in advance. There is known an apparatus in which a pretensioner is operated so as to wind up a webbing.

In the conventional example, a sensor for detecting an obstacle around the vehicle is provided, and a pretensioner capable of adjusting a winding force of the webbing by an electric motor is provided. Depending on the possibility of collision with, for example, by winding the webbing with a relatively weak force when the possibility of collision is not very high,
On the other hand, when the possibility of collision is high, the webbing is wound up with a relatively strong force so that the occupant is restrained against the seat before the collision occurs.

[0004]

However, in general, in the occupant protection device as in the above-mentioned conventional example, the operation of the pretensioner is stopped and the webbing can be pulled out freely after a lapse of a predetermined time after the occurrence of a collision. Has become. This is, for example, like a rear-end collision on a congested road,
This is because the possibility of a so-called multiple collision in which a collision or rollover of the vehicle occurs after the first collision is not considered, and as a result, the occupant is not restrained against the seat in the multiple collision.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object thereof is to operate a pretensioner at least when a collision occurs in a vehicle to restrain an occupant to a seat. In the occupant protection device,
It is another object of the present invention to improve the control performance of the pretensioner to further enhance the occupant protection performance in the event of a multiple collision.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle, comprising:
The operation of the pretensioner is continued without stopping while there is a possibility of multiple collisions.

More specifically, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a collision detecting means for detecting that a collision has occurred in a vehicle, and at least when the collision detecting means detects the occurrence of a collision, the webbing of the seat belt device is provided. For a vehicle occupant protection device including a collision detection control unit that operates a pretensioner so as to wind up, there is a possibility that multiple collisions may occur after the collision detection unit detects the collision. The collision detection control unit is configured to continue the operation of the pretensioner while the collision detection unit determines that there is a possibility that multiple collisions may occur.

With the above arrangement, when a collision occurs in the vehicle and the collision is detected by the collision detection means, the pretensioner of the seat belt device is operated by the collision detection control means, and the webbing is wound up. Thus, the occupant of the vehicle is restrained by the seat. The operation of the pretensioner is continued by the collision detection control unit until the determination unit determines that there is no possibility of occurrence of multiple collisions. Thus, even when a collision with the ball or a rollover of the vehicle occurs after the first collision, the occupant is continuously restrained by the seat, and the protection performance can be further improved.

In the second aspect of the present invention, the determining means determines that there is a possibility of multiple collisions until the vehicle stops. Thus, it is possible to reliably determine that the possibility of multiple collisions has been eliminated at low cost without providing a dedicated sensor or the like for the determination.

In the third aspect of the present invention, the determining means determines that there is a possibility of a multiple collision until the acceleration of the vehicle becomes zero. Thus, the fact that the acceleration of the vehicle has become zero can be detected using, for example, a sensor for detecting a collision, so that the possibility of multiple collisions can be determined at low cost as in the second aspect of the present invention. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the collision detection control means stops the operation of the pretensioner after a lapse of a predetermined time after the determination means determines that there is no possibility of a multiple collision. I do. With this configuration, the occupant is restrained by the seat for a predetermined time even after the determination unit determines that there is no possibility of the multiple collision, so that the protection performance of the occupant can be further improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the collision detecting means detects that a rear collision has occurred in the vehicle. Here, the occurrence of a rear collision in the vehicle means that a collision has occurred between the vehicle and an obstacle behind the vehicle. In general, in the case of a rear collision, there is a high possibility that a ball collision will occur. In such a case, the functions and effects of the first to third aspects of the invention are particularly effective.

In the invention according to claim 6, the collision detection control means stops the operation of the pretensioner when a predetermined stop condition is satisfied after the collision detection means detects the occurrence of the collision. . Further, collision prediction means for predicting that a collision will occur in the vehicle, and when the occurrence of collision is predicted by the collision prediction means, the pretensioner is operated to wind up the webbing of the seat belt device, and thereafter, When a stop condition different from the stop condition is satisfied, a collision prediction control means for stopping the operation of the pretensioner is provided.

In this configuration, first, when the collision predicting means predicts that a collision will occur in the vehicle, the pretensioner control means activates the pretensioner of the seat belt device to wind up the webbing. The upper body of the vehicle occupant is attracted to the seat back. That is, the occupant can be held in advance in the seat before the collision actually occurs, thereby improving the occupant protection performance.

On the other hand, even if the collision is predicted by the collision prediction means, a collision may not actually occur (false prediction). In such a case, it is necessary to stop the operation of the pretensioner as soon as possible. preferable. Therefore, in the present invention, when the pretensioner is operated by the collision prediction control means at the time of collision prediction, the operation of the pretensioner is stopped based on a stop condition different from that at the time of collision detection. It is possible to improve both the safety of the occupant after the collision and reduce the sense of incongruity in the case of false prediction.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 2 shows an example of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle occupant protection device A according to the present invention. This vehicle 1 is a three-box passenger car having two rows of front and rear seats in a passenger compartment, and includes a front driver's seat 2 and a front passenger seat 2, each of which is a separate type including a seat cushion 3, a seat back 4, and a headrest 5. Are arranged side by side on the left and right, and a bench-type three-seat (not shown) is arranged behind them. As shown by broken lines in FIG. 1, an occupant seating sensor 6 including a pressure sensor for outputting a signal corresponding to the weight of the occupant P is provided inside each of the seat cushions 3 of the driver seat 2 and the passenger seat 2. Has been established.

Each of the driver's seat 2 and the passenger's seat 2 is provided with a three-point seat belt device as a basic occupant protection device. As shown in FIG. 1, the seat belt device includes a belt-like webbing 8 for holding the upper body and the waist of an occupant P, and the webbing 8.
And an anchor 10 for changing the direction of the webbing 8 pulled out from the pretensioner 9. The pretensioner 9 is disposed on the vehicle body floor below the center pillar 11 and is covered with trim, while the anchor 10 is attached above the center pillar 11.

That is, the webbing 8 pulled out from the pretensioner 9 extends upward along the center pillar 11 and then bends by the anchor 10 to extend downward. It is connected rotatably. A tongue plate 12 is slidably mounted in the middle of the webbing 5 on the distal end side of the anchor 10, and the tongue plate 12 is disposed on the side of the seat cushion 3 of the passenger seat 2. The buckle 13 is inserted and engaged. The buckle 13 is provided with a seat belt switch 14 (seat belt SW) that outputs an ON signal when the tongue plate 12 is normally engaged.

Then, as shown in FIG.
Is seated in a correct posture and the seat belt device is used, the waist 8 of the occupant P is held by the seat cushion 3 by the webbing 8 on the tip side of the tongue plate 12 and the anchor is The upper body of the occupant P is held by the seat back 4 by the webbing 8 stretched to 10.

The pretensioner 9 has a well-known structure (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 9-26186) in which the retracting force of the webbing 8 can be changed by combining an electric motor with a conventional retractor that winds the webbing 9 by a spring force. Although not shown in detail, a reel for winding the webbing 8 is rotatably driven by an electric motor via an inertial clutch. And, while the inertial clutch is in the disengaged state,
The reel takes up the webbing 8 with a weak force by a spring force, and when the inertia clutch is engaged with the rotation of the electric motor, the rotational driving force of the electric motor is transmitted to the reel, and the winding force of the webbing 8 is increased. Is to be adjusted. Since the spring force applied to the webbing 8 is extremely weak, the slack of the webbing 8 can be absorbed without giving the occupant P an unpleasant feeling of restraint.

The vehicle 1 is provided with an airbag device for protecting the occupant P in cooperation with the seat belt device mainly when the vehicle 1 collides with an obstacle ahead (front collision). Specifically, the airbag modules 18 are stored in the steering wheel 16 and the instrument panel 17 in front of the passenger seat 2, respectively.
An acceleration sensor 19 for detecting the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle 1 in the front-rear direction is disposed at each of the left and right ends thereof, and an electronic control unit (Electronic Control Unit) that receives output signals from the acceleration sensors 19, 19 is provided.
t: hereinafter referred to as ECU) 20 outputs a control signal to the airbag modules 18.

When the structure of the airbag module 18 on the passenger seat side is schematically shown in FIG. 1, an ignition section and an explosive are provided on the inner side of a casing having an opening on one side (the right side in FIG. 1). Is built into the cylindrical inflator 21,
In addition, folded airbags 22 are accommodated in the opening side, respectively. Then, when an output signal from the acceleration sensor 19 is input to the ECU 20 at the time of a front collision of the vehicle 1 or the like, it is determined whether or not each airbag 22 needs to be deployed according to a predetermined determination calculation program based on the signal value. A control signal is output from the ECU 20 to energize the inflators 21 and 21 corresponding to the airbags 22 determined to need to be deployed. When the explosive of the inflator 21 thus energized burns at a high speed and a large amount of gas is supplied to the airbag 22, the airbag 22 is rapidly inflated and pushes the lid portion 17a of the instrument panel 17 open to open the vehicle. Deploy toward the room.

Further, radar sensors 23, 23 for detecting an obstacle in front of the vehicle 1 are embedded and disposed, for example, on the left and right sides of a front bumper, respectively. A radar sensor 24 (only the left side of the vehicle body is shown) for detecting an obstacle behind is disposed on the rear surface of the vehicle 1. Then, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the output signals from the radar sensors 23 and 24 are input to the ECU 20, and the occupant seating sensor 6, the seat belt SW 14, the acceleration sensor 1
9 and an output signal from a vehicle speed sensor 25 for detecting the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 are also input to the ECU 20.

On the other hand, the ECU 20 outputs a control signal to the pretensioner 9 of the seat belt device in addition to outputting a control signal to each of the airbag modules 18 of the driver seat 2 and the passenger seat 2 as described above. The winding force of the webbing 8 is adjusted by controlling the operation of the pretensioner 9. Specifically, for example, when a front collision or the like of the vehicle 1 is detected based on an output signal from the acceleration sensor 19, a control signal is output to the pretensioner 9 before outputting a control signal to the airbag module 18. Then, the occupant P is firmly restrained to the driver's seat 2 or the passenger's seat 2 by winding the webbing 8.

When another vehicle or the like is rapidly approaching the vehicle 1 from behind, the rear radar sensor 2
Based on the output signal from the fourth vehicle, it is predicted whether the another vehicle will collide. When it is predicted that a rear-end collision will occur, that is, when it is predicted that a rear-end collision will occur in the vehicle 1, the pretensioner 9 is actuated, and before the rear-end collision actually occurs, the upper body of the occupant P is moved into the driver's seat 2 in advance. Alternatively, it is attracted to and held by the seat back 4 of the passenger seat 2.

Further, in this embodiment, as a feature of the present invention, as described above, the pretensioner 9 operated after the collision has occurred as described above is continuously stopped without stopping while multiple collisions may occur. In this way, in consideration of the possibility of a so-called multiple collision such as a collision of a vehicle in a congested road, for example,
The protection performance of the occupant P is further enhanced.

Hereinafter, a control procedure of the pretensioner 9 by the ECU 20 will be described in detail with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. This control procedure is executed at predetermined time intervals according to a control program stored electronically on the memory of the ECU 20.

First, step S after the start shown in FIG.
In A1, the output signal from the seat belt SW14 is input, and in subsequent Step SA2, it is determined whether or not the belt is worn. If the ON signal is not input from the seat belt SW 14 (NO), the control is terminated, while O
If the N signal is input YES (belt attached),
Proceeding to step SA3, the output signal from the occupant seating sensor 6 is input, and it is determined in step SA4 whether or not the occupant is seated. If the determination is NO, the control ends, while if the occupant is seated YES, the process proceeds to step SA5.

In step SA5, the rear collision prediction calculation of the vehicle 1 is performed based on the input signal from the rear radar sensor 24. This prediction operation is performed based on, for example, the history of the input signal from the radar sensor 24 from a predetermined time before to the present, and as the distance to the obstacle behind the vehicle 1 becomes shorter, The higher the relative speed at which the vehicle approaches the vehicle 1, the higher the collision prediction reliability. Subsequently, in step SA6, a rear collision prediction determination is made based on the calculation result as described above, and when it is predicted that a rear collision will occur in the vehicle 1 because the collision prediction reliability is higher than a predetermined value (YES), the flow proceeds to step SA7. On the other hand, if the reliability of collision prediction is not so high (NO), the flow proceeds to step SA8.

Then, in step SA7 where the vehicle 1 predicts the occurrence of a rear collision, the electric motor of the pretensioner 9 is operated with the strength K corresponding to the reliability of the collision prediction and the expected degree of collision. Causes the webbing 8 to be wound up. The calculation of the expected collision degree may be performed based on the output signal from the rear radar sensor 24. For example, the larger the relative speed at which the obstacle behind the vehicle 1 approaches the vehicle 1, the higher the expected collision degree. Becomes larger.

As described above, when it is predicted that a rear collision will occur in the vehicle 1 based on the output signal from the rear radar sensor 24, the webbing 8 is preliminarily applied by the pretensioner 9 before the rear collision actually occurs. By taking up the occupant P and securely holding the occupant P in the driver's seat 2 or the passenger's seat 2, the safety of the occupant P in the event of a rear collision can be enhanced.

On the other hand, in step SA6, the vehicle 1
In step SA8, which proceeded without predicting the rear collision,
As described above, it is determined whether or not the set time T2 has elapsed since the rear collision was predicted and the pretensioner 9 was operated. If the set time T2 has not elapsed, the process proceeds to Step SA9, and the operation intensity While the pretensioner 9 is operated with K, the YE after the set time T2 has elapsed
If S, the process proceeds to Step SA10, and the operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped. That is, once the rear collision is predicted, until the predetermined time T2 elapses thereafter,
The operation of the pretensioner 9 is continued. This set time T2 should be longer than the time from when the rear collision is predicted to when the rear collision actually occurs, and in the case of a false prediction, the operation of the pretensioner should be stopped as soon as possible. It is set experimentally so that it can be.

Step SA7, SA9 or SA10
Then, in step SA11, the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle 1 is obtained based on the output signal from the acceleration sensor 19, and in step SA12, a shocking acceleration of a predetermined magnitude or more acts on the vehicle 1. It is determined whether it has been done. If the determination is NO, the rear collision has not yet occurred in the vehicle 1, and therefore, the step SA5
On the other hand, if the determination is YES and a rear collision actually occurs in the vehicle 1, the process returns to step SA13 shown in FIG.
Proceed to.

In step SA13 shown in FIG. 4, for example, a map as shown in FIG. 5 is used in accordance with the acceleration of the vehicle 1 at the time of a rear collision (rear collision G) obtained based on the output signal from the acceleration sensor 19. The operation intensity k of the pretensioner 9 is read (operation intensity k calculation). According to this map, the operating strength k is set so as to increase in proportion to the rear collision G generated in the vehicle 1, which means that the greater the impact due to the rear collision, the more the occupant P is moved to the driver's seat 2 or This means that the vehicle is securely restrained in the passenger seat 2 to enhance safety.

Subsequently, at step SA14, the running speed of the vehicle 1 is detected based on a signal from the vehicle speed sensor 25. At the following step SA15, it is determined whether or not the running speed of the vehicle 1 has just become zero. . This determination result is Y
If ES, the process proceeds to the next step SA16, in which the operating strength k of the pretensioner 9 set in the step SA13 is increased by a preset increase correction value A3,
If the judgment result is NO, each step S
Proceeding to A17, a control signal corresponding to the operating strength k is output to the pretensioner 9 to control the winding force of the webbing 8 by the pretensioner 9.

That is, the operation intensity of the pretensioner 9 is kept constant while the running speed of the vehicle 1 becomes zero until the running speed of the vehicle 1 becomes zero after the rear collision actually occurs in the vehicle 1. If possible, the operating strength of the pretensioner 9 is increased and corrected.

Subsequently, at step SA18, the vehicle 1
Is determined to be zero (vehicle speed = 0?). If the determination is NO, the process returns to step SA14. If the determination is YES and the vehicle 1 is stopped, step S is performed.
Proceed to A19. In step SA19, the acceleration of the vehicle 1 is obtained based on the output signal from the acceleration sensor 19 (G detection), and it is determined in subsequent step SA20 whether the acceleration of the vehicle 1 is zero (G = 0?). If the determination is NO, the process returns to step SA14, while if the determination is YES and the acceleration of vehicle 1 is zero, the process proceeds to step SA21.

Then, in step SA21, it is determined whether or not the vehicle 1 has stopped and the state of zero acceleration has continued for the set time T1, and if this determination is NO, the process returns to step SA14. If the determination is YES, the process proceeds to Step SA22. This step S
At A22, an output signal from the occupant seating sensor 6 is input, and at the next step SA23, the occupant P
Alternatively, it is determined whether or not the passenger is seated in the passenger seat 2 in a correct posture (normal seating?). That is, the occupant seating sensor 6
Is greater than or equal to the predetermined value and the variation width is less than or equal to the set width, it is determined that the occupant P is seated in the correct posture (YES), the process proceeds to step SA24, and the operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped. Then, the control ends. on the other hand,
If it is determined that the occupant P is not seated in the correct posture (NO), the process returns to step SA14.

That is, if the vehicle 1 stops and its acceleration becomes zero, it is determined that there is no possibility of a multiple collision, and this state continues for the set time T1 and the occupant P
When the seat is normally seated, the operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped. Thus, even if the operation of the pretensioner 9, that is, the operation of the electric motor in the pretensioner 9, is stopped, the inertia clutch remains engaged, so that the webbing 8 is pulled out against the spring force and the inertia force of the motor. Only possible state. Then, for example, when the occupant P moves the upper body forward or intentionally pulls out the webbing 8 and the engagement of the inertial clutch is released, the webbing 8 is again taken up by the spring force. become.

Step SA5 of the flow shown in FIG.
SA6 constitutes a collision predicting means 20a for predicting that a collision will occur in the vehicle 1, and a step SA7
When the occurrence of a collision is predicted by the collision prediction means 20a according to SA9, the pretensioner 9 is operated to wind up the webbing 8 of the seat belt device, and thereafter, when the set time T2 has elapsed, the stop is performed. A collision prediction control means 20b that determines that the condition is satisfied and stops the operation of the pretensioner 9 is configured.

Steps SA11 and S11 of the flow
A12 constitutes a collision detecting means 20c for detecting that an actual collision has occurred in the vehicle 1, and corresponds to steps SA13, SA15 to SA17, SA in the flow shown in FIG.
24, a collision detection time control means 20d for operating the pretensioner 9 so as to wind up the webbing 8 of the seat belt device when at least the occurrence of a collision is detected by the collision detection means 20c.

Steps SA14, SA18-S
After A23 detects the occurrence of a collision by the collision detection unit 20c, a determination unit 20e that determines whether there is a possibility of a multiple collision occurring is configured. The determination unit e determines whether the vehicle 1 is stopped and When the acceleration of the vehicle 1 becomes zero, it is determined that there is no possibility of a multiple collision.

The collision detection control means 20d
When the set time T1 has elapsed since the determination unit 20e determined that there is no possibility of occurrence of multiple collision, it is determined that a stop condition different from the stop condition at the time of the prediction has been satisfied. The operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped.

The collision detection control means 20d may immediately stop the operation of the pretensioner 9 when the determination means 20e determines that there is no possibility of multiple collisions.

Therefore, according to the vehicle occupant protection device A according to the first embodiment, for example, another vehicle suddenly approaches the vehicle 1 from behind, and the occurrence of a rear collision is predicted by the collision prediction means 20a. The pre-tensioner 9 of the seat belt device is operated at a predetermined operating strength K by the collision prediction control means 20b, and the webbing 8 is wound up. 2 or the passenger seat 2.

Subsequently, when a rear collision actually occurs, the collision is detected by the collision detecting means 20c, and the pretensioner 9 is wound with the operating strength k under the control of the collision detecting control means 20d. The occupant P is firmly restrained against the driver's seat 2 or the passenger's seat 2, so that the occupant P is protected from impact. Then, after that, the operation of the pretensioner 9 is continued until the determination unit 20e determines that there is no possibility of occurrence of multiple collisions.
Even when a collision or rollover of the vehicle 1 occurs, the occupant P can be reliably protected. In particular, when a rear collision occurs in the vehicle 1 as described above, there is a high possibility that a collision will occur. Therefore, in such a case, it is necessary to continuously restrain the occupant P even after the first collision occurs. Extremely effective.

Further, in this embodiment, the determination means 20e determines that the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 becomes zero and the vehicle 1
When the acceleration becomes zero, it is determined that there is no possibility of multiple collision, so that the possibility of multiple collision can be determined with high accuracy at low cost, and furthermore, Since the operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped after a lapse of the set time T1 from the time when the determination means 20e determines that there is no possibility of the multiple collision, the protection performance of the occupant P is further enhanced. Can be.

On the other hand, even if the collision is predicted by the collision prediction means 20a as described above, the collision may not actually occur (false prediction).
The occupant P may feel uncomfortable with being restrained by the webbing 8, and may interfere with the driving operation for the driver. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the pretensioner 9 is operated at the time of collision prediction, the operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped after the set time T2 has elapsed.

In other words, in consideration of the occurrence of multiple collisions at the time of collision detection, the pretensioner 9 is operated for a relatively long time to restrain the occupant P, thereby sufficiently improving the protection of the occupant P. By stopping the operation of the pretensioner 9 in a relatively short time when a collision is predicted, the occupant P can feel less uncomfortable.

(Embodiment 2) FIGS. 6 and 7 show a flow of pretensioner control according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
Since the overall configuration of the vehicle occupant protection device A according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Omitted. The second embodiment is characterized by not only the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 but also the front and rear radar sensors 23 and 2.
The possibility of multiple collisions is determined in consideration of the signal from the control signal No. 4.

Specifically, first, as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 6, in each of steps SB1 to SB12,
The same control as in each of the steps SA1 to SA12 (see FIG. 3) of the first embodiment is executed. Subsequently, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG. 7, and in each of steps SB13 to SB17, steps SA13 to SA17 of the first embodiment are performed.
After executing the same control as in each step of step SB1,
In step 8, it is determined whether the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is zero (vehicle speed = 0?). If this determination is NO, the process proceeds to step SB23, while if the determination is YES and the vehicle 1 is stopped, the process proceeds to step SB19. In this step SB19, the vehicle 1
It is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the stop of the control. If the determination is NO, the process returns to step SB14, while if the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step SB20. In this step SB20, the output signal from the occupant seating sensor 6 is input, and in the following step SB21,
It is determined whether the occupant P is sitting in the driver's seat 2 or the passenger's seat 2 in a correct posture (normal seating?). This judgment is YE
If S, the process proceeds to Step SB22, in which the operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped, and the control is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the occupant P is not seated in a correct posture, the process returns to Step SB14.

That is, if the predetermined time has elapsed since the vehicle 1 stopped and the occupant P is seated normally, the operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step SB18 that the vehicle 1 is not stopped (NO), the possibility of collision with an obstacle around the vehicle 1 is determined based on signals from the radar sensors 23 and 24. judge. That is, first, in step SB23, a front collision prediction calculation of the vehicle 1 is performed based on a signal from the front radar sensor 23. This prediction calculation is for calculating the possibility of a collision based on the distance to the obstacle ahead of the vehicle and the relative speed, similarly to the rear-end collision prediction calculation in the first embodiment. If it is too high, it is determined that a front collision occurs, and the process proceeds to step SB28. If the calculated possibility of collision is equal to or less than the determination level, the process proceeds to step SB25, and this time based on the signal from the rear radar sensor 24. The rear collision prediction calculation of the vehicle 1 is performed. If the calculated collision probability is higher than a predetermined determination level, it is determined that rear collision occurs and the process proceeds to step SB28, while if the collision probability is equal to or lower than the determination level. Proceeding to step SB27, the operation of the pretensioner 9 is stopped.
It returns to 14.

That is, until the vehicle 1 stops, the vehicle 1 directly receives signals from the radar sensors 23 and 24,
It is determined whether or not it collides with a surrounding obstacle. However,
This determination is to determine whether or not a multiple collision occurs once after the collision has occurred in the vehicle 1. Therefore, the determination level is, for example, the determination level of the normal rear collision prediction as described in the first embodiment. It is set to be lower than

In step SB28, in which the possibility of collision is determined to be higher than the determination level in step SB24 or step SB26, respectively, a failure determined based on output signals from the radar sensors 23 and 24 is performed. In accordance with the relative speed with respect to the object, for example, the operation intensity k of the pretensioner 9 is read from a map as shown in FIG. 8, and a control signal corresponding to the operation intensity k is output to the pretensioner 9. To control the winding force of the webbing 8 and then return to step SB14. According to the map shown in FIG. 8, the operating strength k of the pretensioner 9 is set so as to increase in proportion to the relative speed at which the vehicle 1 approaches the obstacle.

Step SB5 of the flow shown in FIG.
By SB6, the collision prediction means 20a
B7 to SB9 control the collision prediction control means 20b, and further perform steps SB11 and SB12 to control the collision detection means 2b.
0c are respectively configured.

Step S of the flow shown in FIG.
By means of B13 to SB17 and SB22 to SB28, the collision detection control means 20d also executes steps SB18 to SB2.
1, SB23 to SB27 constitute a determination means 20e. The determination means 20e determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the vehicle 1 was stopped, or even if the vehicle 1 was not stopped, the surroundings calculated based on the signals from the radar sensors 23 and 24. When the possibility of collision with an obstacle is low, it is determined that there is no possibility of multiple collision.

Therefore, according to the vehicle occupant protection device A of the second embodiment, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and also, the multiple collision based on the output signals from the radar sensors 23 and 24 can be performed. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the protection performance of the occupant P and reduce the sense of discomfort at a higher level with the improvement of the accuracy of the determination.

The present invention is not limited to the first embodiment or the second embodiment, but includes other various embodiments. That is, in the first embodiment, as shown in the flow of FIG. 4, when both the traveling speed and the acceleration of the vehicle 1 become zero, it is determined that there is no possibility of the multiple collision. Alternatively, the determination may be made based on only one of the traveling speed and the acceleration of the vehicle 1.

[0061]

As described above, according to the vehicle occupant protection system according to the first aspect of the present invention, the pretensioner is operated to wind up the webbing of the seat belt device at least when a collision occurs in the vehicle. If you want to
Thereafter, the operation of the pretensioner is continued while the determining means determines that there is a possibility of a multiple collision, so that the occupant is restrained by the seat even when a collision of the vehicle occurs. As a result, the protection performance can be sufficiently improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is determined that there is a possibility of a multiple collision until the vehicle stops, and in the third aspect of the present invention, the multiple collision is performed until the acceleration of the vehicle becomes zero. By determining that there is a possibility, reliable determination can be performed at low cost.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the operation of the pretensioner is stopped after a predetermined time has elapsed after the determination means has determined that there is no possibility of a multiple collision, thereby improving the occupant protection performance. It can be even higher.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the effects of the first to third aspects of the invention are particularly effective when a rear collision occurs in which multiple collisions are likely to occur.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the occurrence of a collision in the vehicle is predicted, and the webbing is wound up by the pretensioner in advance, so that the occupant is held in the seat before the collision actually occurs. As a result, the protection performance can be improved. Further, at this time, by stopping the operation of the pretensioner based on a stopping condition different from that at the time of detecting the collision, it is possible to improve the safety of the occupant after the occurrence of the collision and to reduce the sense of incongruity in the case of false prediction. Can be compatible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle occupant protection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle occupant protection device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a first half of a control procedure of a pretensioner;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a latter half of a control procedure of a pretensioner.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a map in which a pretensioner operating strength is set so as to correspond to a change in a rear collision G;

FIG. 6 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 3 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a map in which a pretensioner operation intensity is set so as to correspond to a change in relative speed with respect to an obstacle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A vehicle occupant protection device P occupant 1 vehicle 2 seat (driver's seat, passenger seat) 4 seat back 5 headrest 8 webbing (seat belt device) 9 pretensioner (seat belt device) 20 electronic control unit (ECU) 20a collision prediction means 20b collision prediction control means 20c collision detection means 20d collision detection control means 20e determination means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A collision detecting means for detecting that a collision has occurred in a vehicle, and when a collision is detected by at least the collision detecting means, a pretensioner is operated so as to wind up a webbing of a seat belt device. A vehicle occupant protection device comprising: a collision detection time control unit, wherein after the occurrence of a collision is detected by the collision detection unit,
Determining means for determining whether there is a possibility of occurrence of multiple collisions, wherein the collision detection control means is configured to control the pretensioner while the determination means determines that there is a possibility of occurrence of multiple collisions; A vehicle occupant protection device characterized by being configured to continue the operation of the vehicle. 2. The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the determining means determines that there is a possibility of a multiple collision until the vehicle stops. 3. The vehicle occupant protection according to claim 1, wherein the determination means determines that there is a possibility of a multiple collision until the acceleration of the vehicle becomes zero. apparatus. 4. The pretensioner according to claim 1, wherein the collision detection control means further comprises a pretensioner after a predetermined time has elapsed after the determination means has determined that there is no possibility of multiple collisions. An occupant protection device for a vehicle, wherein the operation of the vehicle is stopped. 5. The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the collision detection means detects that a rear collision has occurred in the vehicle. 6. The collision detection control means according to claim 1, wherein the collision detection control means activates the pretensioner when a predetermined stop condition is satisfied after the collision detection means detects the occurrence of a collision. A collision prediction unit that predicts that a collision will occur in the vehicle, and when the occurrence of a collision is predicted by the collision prediction unit,
A collision prediction control means for operating the pretensioner so as to wind up the webbing of the seat belt device, and thereafter stopping the operation of the pretensioner when a stop condition different from the stop condition is satisfied. An occupant protection system for a vehicle.