JP2010228524A - Side collision determining device and occupant protection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a side collision determining device and an occupant protection device for properly deploying a side airbag, by further accurately discriminating a side collision with an oblique pole and forced closure, by using a detecting value of an acceleration sensor. <P>SOLUTION: This side collision determining device includes an LPF 102 for removing a signal of a predetermined frequency component from a detecting signal of a door acceleration detecting part 101, an integral arithmetic operation part 103 for integrating a signal of removing the predetermined frequency component in the LPF 102, a side collision determining part 104 for determining the side collision based on this determining result and an acceleration value detected by the door acceleration detecting part 101 by determining the speed direction in a specific time of a door based on an integral value integrated by the integral arithmetic operation part 103, and a control part 202 for controlling so as to deploy an occupant protection part 203 by receiving a signal from the side collision determining part 104 when determined as the side collision by the side collision determining part 104. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a side collision determination apparatus and an occupant protection apparatus for performing side airbag deployment control in a side collision (hereinafter referred to as a side collision) using an acceleration sensor disposed on a door.

  In recent years, ESC (Electronic Stability Control), ABS (Antilock Brake System), seat belts, airbags, etc. are used to determine the movement of the vehicle using sensors such as acceleration sensors and angular velocity sensors, and the results are fed back. Systems for operating in-vehicle devices have become widespread. As a result, it is possible to improve the maneuverability and safety of the automobile using an inexpensive sensor.

  With regard to the development of the side airbag, for example, various devices have been commercialized in order to comply with US laws and regulations when side impacting on a pole such as a utility pole from an oblique direction. Among these, for example, in an occupant protection device using a pressure sensor, if a side collision occurs, the space formed between the outer panel and the inner panel of the door becomes narrower and the pressure increases. A side collision is judged and a side airbag is deployed to protect the occupant.

  Further, the acceleration of the door part is detected by using an acceleration sensor provided integrally with the door part of the vehicle and the side pillar part, and a side collision from the outside occurs in the door part of the vehicle using this acceleration value. There is also a device that deploys a side airbag by determining this. However, with this device, there is a possibility that the side air bag may be activated by misjudging a side collision when the ball hits the door or when the door is strongly closed, for example. The only way to prevent this is to increase the acceleration threshold for air bag deployment.

Then, using the acceleration detection value from the acceleration sensor arranged on the side of the vehicle, it is possible to judge the operation of the side impact airbag at an appropriate timing, and for side impact caused by the impact of opening and closing the door, etc. An operation determination device that significantly reduces the possibility of malfunction of an airbag is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  In addition, in order to improve the determination accuracy of the collision occurrence point of the vehicle and reduce the erroneous deployment of the occupant protection device, the acceleration sensor mounted on the wheel portion of the vehicle and the acceleration sensor mounted on the vehicle compartment portion of the vehicle A driving device for an occupant protection device that determines a collision using the detected value is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 2).

  Further, in order to quickly and accurately discriminate a side collision to the vehicle, based on a speed change amount using an acceleration signal and an energy amount calculated by extracting only a predetermined high-frequency component from the acceleration signal by BPF. A side collision discriminating apparatus that judges side collision is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 3).

  Furthermore, in order to prevent erroneous discrimination between the above-described side collision and door close / close, the detection value of the acceleration sensor disposed on the door is integrated within a predetermined time, and the change in the speed direction is calculated and detected. There is a collision determination device that activates a side airbag when the acceleration value is equal to or greater than a certain value and the calculated polarity in the speed direction (the positive direction toward the vehicle body and the negative direction away from the vehicle body) matches the side collision direction ( For example, see Patent Document 4).

JP 11-192920 A JP 2008-247242 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-24795 Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-260834

  However, when the acceleration sensor is arranged on the door as described above to determine the deployment of the side airbag, the vibration component of the door panel when the door is closed becomes a relatively high frequency. The component affects the detection value of the acceleration sensor, and there is a problem that the side collision cannot be accurately determined using the detection value from the acceleration sensor.

Then, using the above-mentioned conventional acceleration sensor, the polarity in the speed direction (positive direction toward the vehicle body and negative direction away from the vehicle body) is calculated as an acceleration integral value. Since the acceleration sensor is disposed on the door, the rigidity of the door panel is generally low. In the acceleration sensor, the vibration of the door panel resonates with the vibration of the door itself when the door is closed. There is a problem that the polarity in the velocity direction is not stable because the value is detected.
In this case, there is a problem that even if the detection value from the acceleration sensor is used, it is not possible to obtain an accurate amount of change in the door speed, and it is not possible to accurately discriminate between a side collision to a utility pole or the like and a strong closing of the door. .

  FIG. 6 is a graph 600 showing a temporal change in speed, which is an acceleration integrated value when the door is strongly closed in the side collision determination device using the polarity in the speed direction of the conventional door. The horizontal axis represents time (ms) and the vertical axis represents speed (m / s).

  As shown in this figure, the acceleration sensor detects not only the vibration component when the door is closed, but also the vibration component of the door panel, so the speed change calculated by the integral calculation of the acceleration value greatly fluctuates in the vertical direction. As a result, there is a problem in that it is impossible to accurately discriminate between a side collision to the pole and a strong door closing using the polarity in the speed direction, and the airbag cannot be deployed at an appropriate timing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and by using the detection value of the acceleration sensor, it is possible to discriminate between a side collision with a more accurate oblique pole or the like and a door forcibly closing, and appropriately perform the side air. It is an object of the present invention to provide a side collision determination device and an occupant protection device that can perform a back deployment.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a side collision determination device according to the present invention is a side collision determination device that determines a side collision based on a detection value of an acceleration detection unit disposed on a door, and the acceleration described above. A signal removing unit for removing a signal having a predetermined frequency component from the detection signal of the detecting unit; an integrating unit for integrating the signal from which the predetermined frequency component has been removed by the signal removing unit; and an integral value integrated by the integrating unit. A side collision is determined based on the speed direction determination means for determining the speed direction of the door at a certain time based on the result, the determination result in the speed direction determination means, and the acceleration value detected by the acceleration detection means. And a side collision determination means.

  With this configuration, acceleration due to door panel vibration detected by the acceleration detecting means can be removed in the signal removing means, and the speed direction determining means calculates an acceleration integral value in the integrating means using the signal after the removal. Can detect the polarity of the speed direction of the door more accurately. Therefore, the side collision determination means uses the acceleration detection value in the acceleration detection means and the polarity in the speed direction of the door in the speed direction determination means to further detect the side collision of the door and the pole or the like. It can be determined accurately.

  Further, the side collision determination means of the side collision determination device according to the present invention is such that the acceleration detection value of the acceleration detection means is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and the speed direction at a certain time detected by the speed direction determination means is A side collision is determined when the direction is from the outside of the vehicle toward the inside of the vehicle.

  With this configuration, the side collision determination means can determine whether a mere ball or the like hits the door by using an acceleration threshold value or a side collision to a pole or the like, and determines the polarity of the speed change. It is possible to discriminate between hard closing and a side collision with a pole or the like.

  Further, the signal removal means of the side collision determination device according to the present invention is an LPF (Low Pass Filter) that allows a signal having a predetermined frequency or less to pass.

  With this configuration, the signal removal means can remove the signal component in the frequency band of the acceleration component due to door panel vibration using the LPF, integrate the signal after removal in the integration means, and in the speed direction determination means in the speed direction Therefore, it is possible to more accurately determine whether the door is strongly closed or a side collision with a pole or the like.

  The side collision determination device according to the present invention further includes door state detection means for detecting an open / closed state of the door portion of the vehicle, and the side collision determination means further includes a door portion of the vehicle in the door state detection means. When a closed state is detected, a side collision is determined.

  With this configuration, the collision determination unit can check the door open / closed state from the door state detection unit and perform the side collision determination only when the door is in the closed state. It becomes.

  An occupant protection device according to the present invention is an occupant protection device that operates a side collision occupant protection device based on a detection value of an acceleration detection unit disposed on a door, and the detection of the acceleration detection unit. A signal removing means for removing a signal having a predetermined frequency component from the signal; an integrating means for integrating the signal from which the predetermined frequency component has been removed by the signal removing means; and a door based on the integrated value integrated by the integrating means. Speed direction determination means for determining a speed direction in a certain time, side collision determination means for determining a side collision based on the determination result of the speed direction determination means and the acceleration value detected by the acceleration detection means And a control unit that controls to receive a signal from the side collision determination unit and to deploy the occupant protection device when the side collision determination unit determines a side collision.

  With this configuration, acceleration due to door panel vibration detected by the acceleration detecting means can be removed in the signal removing means, and the speed direction determining means calculates an acceleration integral value in the integrating means using the signal after the removal. Can detect the polarity of the speed direction of the door more accurately. Therefore, the side collision determination means uses the acceleration detection value in the acceleration detection means and the polarity in the speed direction of the door in the speed direction determination means to further detect the side collision of the door and the pole or the like. It can be determined accurately.

  The side collision determination apparatus according to the present invention can be realized as a side collision determination method using processing means as steps, or can be realized as a program that causes a computer to execute the steps, or the program can be realized as a DVD, CD-ROM, Needless to say, it can be distributed via a transmission medium such as a recording medium or a communication network.

  In the side collision determination device according to the present invention, it is possible to more accurately discriminate between the door strong closure and the side collision to the utility pole or the like, so that the malfunction of the side airbag can be prevented.

Schematic diagram showing the speed direction generated in the door part when the door of the vehicle body is strongly closed, and the speed direction generated in the door part when side collision with a pole or the like Functional block diagram of an occupant protection device according to an embodiment Logic circuit for determining side airbag deployment in occupant protection device according to embodiment Flowchart showing the operation procedure until the airbag deployment of the side collision determination device and the occupant protection device according to the embodiment A graph comparing the result of the conventional acceleration integral value with the result of the acceleration integral value in the side collision determination device according to the embodiment The graph which shows the time change of the speed which is the acceleration integral value in the conventional side collision judgment device

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a side collision determination device and an occupant protection device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a speed direction 11 generated in the door portion when the door of the vehicle body 10 is strongly closed, and a speed direction 12 generated in the door portion when the vehicle collides with a pole or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the speed direction 11 (polarity is a negative direction toward the outside of the vehicle body) generated at the door portion when the door is strongly closed is reversed with respect to the speed direction 12 generated at the side collision from the outside to the door portion. (The polarity is the positive direction toward the car body).

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of occupant protection device 200 according to the present embodiment.
The occupant protection device 200 includes a side collision determination device 100, a door state detection unit 201, a control unit 202, and an occupant protection unit 203.

The door state detection unit 201 is, for example, a door switch that detects the open / closed state of the door.
The control unit 202 is an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that controls the operation of the side airbag that is the occupant protection unit 203 based on the result of the side collision determination of the side collision determination device 100.
Next, functions of each processing unit of the side collision determination device 100 will be described.

The side collision determination device 100 includes a door acceleration detection unit 101, an LPF (low-pass filter) 102, an integration calculation unit 103, and a side collision determination unit 104.
The door acceleration detector 101 is an acceleration sensor, for example, that is provided integrally with the door portion of the vehicle and detects the acceleration generated in the door portion of the vehicle and its direction. The door acceleration detection unit 101 detects an acceleration value in the lateral direction of the vehicle body using, for example, a capacitance method. The door acceleration detection unit 101 is provided integrally with the door portion of the vehicle, thereby making it possible to reliably determine that a side collision from the outside has occurred on the door portion of the vehicle.

  The LPF 102 is a circuit that attenuates and blocks a high frequency signal based on door panel vibration with respect to the sensor value acquired from the door acceleration detection unit 101 and passes only a low frequency as a signal.

  The integral calculation unit 103 calculates the door speed change amount by performing integral calculation within a certain time on the acceleration value of the output signal from the door acceleration detection unit 101 acquired via the LPF 102. Based on the calculation result of the integral calculation unit 103, the door speed change amount has a positive or negative polarity. Therefore, it is possible to discriminate a side collision with a pole or the like and a strong door closing by the polarity of the speed change. It becomes.

  The side collision determination unit 104 detects the open / closed state of the door from the door state detection unit 201 via the bus 105 using a protocol such as CAN, and the acceleration detected by the door acceleration detection unit 101 is a predetermined threshold (for example, 20 to 100G) or more, and using the calculation result obtained from the integral calculation unit 103, the direction of the speed is the closing direction of the door part, that is, the speed generated by the side collision from the outside to the door part. In the case of the direction, it is determined that a side collision has occurred to the door portion from the outside. The side collision determination unit 104 can determine a case where a simple ball or the like hits a door and a side collision to a pole or the like by determining an acceleration threshold value.

  On the other hand, even if the acceleration detected by the door acceleration detection unit 101 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the side collision determination unit 104 determines that the door speed direction is the door opening direction from the calculation result obtained from the integration calculation unit 103, that is, When the direction of the speed generated by the side collision from the outside to the door portion is the reverse direction, it is determined that the side collision from the outside has not occurred to the door portion.

  FIG. 3 shows a logic circuit that determines the deployment of the side airbag in the occupant protection device according to the present embodiment. This logic circuit is provided in the side collision determination device 100 described above.

  This logic circuit includes an AND gate 301. The AND gate 301 has a determination result using an acceleration threshold value and a speed direction that is an acceleration integral value using a signal after the panel vibration component is removed by the LPF 102. And the result of the determination using the polarity of.

  In the occupant protection device, a sensor signal whose acceleration is higher than a predetermined threshold is measured, and when the speed direction is determined to be a side collision direction by polarity determination, a process of deploying a side collision airbag is performed. .

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure until the airbag deployment of the side collision determination device 100 and the occupant protection device 200 according to the present embodiment.

  First, the side collision determination unit 104 determines the open / closed state of the door unit from the door state detection unit 201 via the bus 105 (step S401). Specifically, the side collision determination unit 104 determines that the door is in a closed state when the detection signal is a door switch off, and opens when the detection signal is a door switch on. It is determined that it is in a state.

  If it is determined that the door portion is in the closed state (YES in step S401), the side collision determination unit 104 determines whether or not an acceleration value is detected from the door acceleration detection unit 101 disposed on the door. (Step S402). Note that the side collision determination unit 104 repeats the processing from step S401 onward when it is determined that the door portion is in the open state (NO in step S401) or when acceleration is not detected (NO in step S402).

  Next, when the acceleration is detected by the door acceleration detection unit 101 (YES in step 402), the side collision determination unit 104 is not affected by the door panel vibration by the LPF 102 with the output signal from the door acceleration detection unit 101. The output signal from the LPF 102 is calculated as a speed change amount that is an acceleration integral value for a fixed time in the integral calculation unit 103 (step S404).

  The side collision determination unit 104 determines that the speed direction polarity generated in the door unit obtained by the integration by the integration calculation unit 103 is the closing direction of the door unit, that is, a side collision occurs from the outside to the door unit. In step S405, it is determined whether or not the speed is reversed with respect to the polarity of the speed that normally occurs. When the side collision determination unit 104 determines that the polarity in the speed direction is reversed (YES in step S405), the side collision determination unit 104 determines that a side collision from the outside has occurred in the door unit. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the direction of the speed generated in the door portion is the side collision direction from the outside to the door portion, that is, the closing direction of the door portion.

  On the other hand, if the side collision determination unit 104 determines that the polarity in the speed direction is not the closing direction (NO in step S405), it indicates that the door unit is strongly closed, and therefore the processing from step S401 onward is performed. repeat. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, the polarity of the speed generated in the door, which is the value integrated in the integration calculation unit 103, is reversed with respect to the positive polarity of the speed normally generated in the door closing direction. Negative polarity.

  Next, the side collision determination unit 104 determines whether or not the acceleration value acquired from the door acceleration detection unit 101 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (for example, 50G) (step S406). Here, the occurrence of an acceleration greater than or equal to a predetermined value indicates that a side collision has occurred in the door portion from the outside.

  When the detected acceleration value is determined to be equal to or greater than the predetermined value (YES in step S406), the side collision determination unit 104 determines that there is a side collision (step S407), and the side collision with respect to the control unit 202 occurs. A signal based on the determination result indicating the occurrence is transmitted, and the side airbag that is the occupant protection unit 203 is deployed (step S408). On the other hand, when it is determined that the detected acceleration value is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value (NO in step S406), the side collision determination unit 104 repeats the processes in and after step S401.

  In the description of this figure, the procedure of detecting the door open / close state shown in step S401, determining the door speed change polarity shown in step S405, and determining the acceleration threshold value shown in step S406 may be reversed or simultaneous. .

  FIG. 5 shows the result of the conventional acceleration integral value and the result of the acceleration integral value after the output signal from the door acceleration detecting unit 101 when the door is closed by the side collision determination device 100 according to the present embodiment via the LPF 102. FIG. The horizontal axis represents time (ms), and the vertical axis represents speed (m / s).

  A curve 501 indicates a change in speed when the acceleration integral value is calculated after the detection signal from the door acceleration detection unit 101 when the door is closed is passed through the LPF 102 in the side collision determination device 100 according to the present embodiment. Indicates a change in speed when the conventional LPF 102 is not used.

  In the curve 501, the speed change when the door is closed is stable without being greatly shaken. Therefore, it can be seen that it is possible to discriminate between a side collision to a pole or the like and a strong door closing by using the polarity of the speed change with higher accuracy.

  As described above, in the side collision determination device 100 and the occupant protection device 200 according to the present embodiment, the high-frequency door panel vibration component superimposed on the acceleration detection signal generated when the door is closed is represented by the LPF 102. Then, the integral calculation unit 103 calculates an acceleration integral value for a fixed time and uses the polarity of the speed, so that it is possible to discriminate between the strong door closing and the side collision. For this reason, in this invention, the malfunctioning of the side airbag by the acceleration component of door panel vibration can be prevented appropriately.

  The side collision determination device and the occupant protection device according to the present invention can be applied to, for example, a vehicle provided with a side airbag deployment function when a side collision occurs on a pole or the like from an oblique direction.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Car body 100 Side collision determination apparatus 101 Door acceleration detection part 102 LPF
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 103 Integration calculation part 104 Side collision determination part 105 Bus 200 Crew protection device 201 Door state detection part 202 Control part 203 Crew protection part 301 AND gate

Claims (9)

A side collision determination device for determining a side collision based on a detection value of an acceleration detection means disposed on a door,
Signal removing means for removing a signal of a predetermined frequency component from the detection signal of the acceleration detecting means;
Integrating means for integrating the signal from which the predetermined frequency component has been removed in the signal removing means;
Speed direction determination means for determining a speed direction of the door at a constant time based on the integrated value integrated in the integration means;
A side collision determination device comprising: a side collision determination unit that determines a side collision based on a determination result of the speed direction determination unit and an acceleration value detected by the acceleration detection unit. In the side collision determination unit, the acceleration detection value of the acceleration detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, and the speed direction detected by the speed direction determination unit is a direction from the outside of the vehicle toward the inside of the vehicle. The side collision determination device according to claim 1, wherein a side collision is determined. The side collision determination device according to claim 1, wherein the signal removing unit is an LPF (Low Pass Filter) that allows a signal having a predetermined frequency or less to pass therethrough. The side collision determination device further includes:
A door state detecting means for detecting an open / closed state of the door portion of the vehicle,
The side collision determination device according to claim 2, wherein the side collision determination unit further determines a side collision when the door state detection unit detects that the door portion of the vehicle is in a closed state. An occupant protection device that activates an occupant protection device for a side collision based on a detection value of an acceleration detection means disposed on a door,
Signal removing means for removing a signal of a predetermined frequency component from the detection signal of the acceleration detecting means;
Integrating means for integrating the signal from which the predetermined frequency component has been removed in the signal removing means;
Speed direction determination means for determining a speed direction of the door at a constant time based on the integrated value integrated in the integration means;
A side collision determination unit that determines a side collision based on the determination result of the speed direction determination unit and the acceleration value detected by the acceleration detection unit;
Control means for controlling to receive a signal from the side collision determination means and to deploy the occupant protection device when the side collision determination means determines a side collision. . In the side collision determination unit, the acceleration detection value of the acceleration detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, and the speed direction detected by the speed direction determination unit is a direction from the outside of the vehicle toward the inside of the vehicle. In the case of a side collision,
The said control means controls to receive the signal from the said side collision determination means, and to expand | deploy the said passenger | crew protection device, when the side collision determination means determines with a side collision. The occupant protection device described. The occupant protection device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the signal removing means is an LPF (Low Pass Filter) that allows a signal having a predetermined frequency or less to pass therethrough. The side collision determination device further includes:
A door state detecting means for detecting an open / closed state of the door portion of the vehicle,
The side collision determination means further determines a side collision when the door state detection means detects that the door portion of the vehicle is in a closed state,
The said control means controls to receive the signal from the said side collision determination means, and to expand | deploy the said passenger protective device, when the side collision determination means determines with a side collision. The occupant protection device described. A side collision determination method used in a side collision determination device for determining a side collision based on a detection value of an acceleration detection means disposed on a door,
A signal removing step of removing a signal of a predetermined frequency component from the detection signal of the acceleration detecting means;
An integration step of integrating the detection signal from which the predetermined frequency component has been removed in the signal removal step;
A speed direction determination step of determining a speed direction of the door at a constant time based on the integrated value integrated in the integration step;
A side collision determination method comprising: a side collision determination step of determining a side collision based on a determination result in the speed direction determination step and an acceleration value detected by the acceleration detection means.

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