JP6019694B2 - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle control device that determines the behavior of a vehicle.

  Conventionally, a vehicle is equipped with a sensor for detecting an abnormality of the vehicle (for example, a collision or rollover with another object) and a protection device for protecting an occupant in such an abnormality. For example, in Patent Document 1, a side collision sensor is provided on the left and right sides of a vehicle, and when a side collision that requires deployment of a side airbag is detected by the side collision sensor, a side collision air is detected. The bag is unfolded. The side collision sensor detects lateral acceleration in the left-right direction and longitudinal acceleration in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

JP 2011-235833 A

  By the way, the vehicle acts on the vehicle body when a side collision occurs with a relatively high object such as a standing tree or a building wall, and when a vehicle collides with a relatively low object such as an automobile or a guardrail. Because the impact position is different, it behaves differently. In particular, when the vehicle receives an impact from the side of the vehicle body, the distance to the occupant is shorter than the impact from the front and back, so it is desirable to accurately distinguish between these collisions and activate an appropriate occupant protection device. .

  In addition, for example, when a vehicle rides on a road shoulder, a curbstone, or when a vehicle is suddenly operated, there is a possibility that the vehicle rolls over. In this case, since it is predicted that the vehicle behaves differently from that at the time of the collision, it is desirable to accurately determine the rollover of the vehicle and operate an appropriate occupant protection device according to the behavior of the vehicle. In Patent Document 1 described above, such a behavior of the vehicle cannot be determined.

One of the purposes of the present case is to provide a vehicle control device that has been created in view of the above-described problems and that can appropriately determine the behavior of the vehicle.
The present invention is not limited to this purpose, and is a function and effect derived from each configuration shown in the embodiments for carrying out the invention described later, and other effects of the present invention are to obtain a function and effect that cannot be obtained by conventional techniques. Can be positioned.

(1) A vehicle control device disclosed herein is detected by an acceleration sensor mounted on a vehicle and detecting lateral acceleration of the vehicle, an angular velocity sensor mounted on the vehicle and detecting a roll rate of the vehicle, and the acceleration sensor. Determining means for determining the behavior of the vehicle based on the lateral acceleration that has been detected and the roll rate detected by the angular velocity sensor, wherein the vehicle has received an impact on the lower side of the vehicle body. A first behavior that is in a state, a second behavior in which the vehicle is subjected to an impact from an upper part to a lower part on the side of the vehicle body, and a third state in which the vehicle rolls over without receiving an impact on the side of the vehicle body. And the determination means determines that the vehicle is in the first behavior if the lateral acceleration is greater than or equal to a predetermined first threshold and the roll rate is greater than or equal to a predetermined second threshold. Said lateral acceleration Is but the first threshold value or more than it and the roll rate is determined the vehicle is less than the second threshold value is the second behavior, the lateral acceleration is less than the first threshold and the roll rate If the vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined third threshold value, the vehicle is determined to be in the third behavior .

( 2 ) The determination means has a two-dimensional map storing a relationship between a lateral acceleration of the vehicle and a roll rate of the vehicle, and determines the behavior of the vehicle using the two-dimensional map. preferable.
( 3 ) Further, a plurality of occupant protection devices mounted on the vehicle, and a control unit that selects and operates an appropriate occupant protection device from the plurality of occupant protection devices according to the behavior determined by the determination unit; Are preferably provided. The occupant protection device mentioned here includes, for example, airbag devices such as side airbags and curtain airbags, seat belt pretensioners, steering wheel steering angle control devices, automatic brake control devices, and the like.
( 4 ) One acceleration sensor is mounted on each of the left and right sides of the vehicle, and the determination unit uses the larger value of the two lateral accelerations detected from the left and right acceleration sensors. It is preferable to determine the behavior.
(5) It is preferable that the third threshold value is set to a value smaller than the second threshold value when at least the lateral acceleration is zero.

According to the vehicle control device of the disclosure, the vehicle is in a state (first behavior) in which the vehicle receives an impact on the lower part of the vehicle body side by using the lateral acceleration and the roll rate of the vehicle, or the upper part of the vehicle body side. It is possible to determine whether it is in a state where it has received an impact from the bottom to the bottom (second behavior), or is in a state where it rolls over without receiving an impact on the side of the vehicle body (third behavior) . Appropriate control can be performed.
In addition, by comparing the lateral acceleration and the first threshold, and further comparing the roll rate and the second threshold, whether the vehicle exhibits the first behavior or the second behavior , the first behavior It is possible to appropriately determine whether the rollover is a behavior other than the second behavior (third behavior) . Thereby, the behavior of the vehicle can be determined with a simple configuration, and appropriate control according to the behavior of the vehicle can be performed.

It is a lineblock diagram of vehicles provided with a vehicle control device concerning one embodiment. It is the rear view seen from the vehicles back for explaining each behavior of vehicles, (a) is a normal state, (b) is the 1st behavior, (c) is the 2nd behavior, (d) is the 3rd behavior. Respectively. It is a graph which illustrates the time-dependent change of the lateral acceleration and roll rate which generate | occur | produce in a vehicle in each behavior. It is a determination map used for behavior determination of the vehicle control device according to an embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the behavior determination using the determination map of FIG. It is a determination map used for the behavior determination of the vehicle control apparatus which concerns on other embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the behavior determination using the determination map of FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below is merely an example, and there is no intention to exclude various modifications and technical applications that are not explicitly described in the following embodiment.
[1. Device configuration]
A vehicle control apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following description, the traveling direction of the vehicle is defined as the front, the left and right directions are determined based on the front, and the horizontal direction is defined as the horizontal direction. Further, the description will be made assuming that the direction of gravity is downward and vice versa. Further, a description will be given assuming that the side toward the center of the vehicle body is the inside and the opposite is the outside.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (a), a vehicle 1 to which the vehicle control device is applied is equipped with two acceleration sensors 11, 12 and an angular velocity sensor 13. The acceleration sensors 11 and 12 are attached one by one to the left and right sides of the vehicle (for example, below the center pillar), and detect the lateral acceleration (lateral acceleration) A of the vehicle 1. Here, the acceleration sensors 11 and 12 detect the direction from right to left as viewed from the rear of the vehicle as a positive value and the direction from left to right as a negative value. Hereinafter, the lateral acceleration information detected by the acceleration sensor 11 provided on the right side of the vehicle is referred to as lateral acceleration A ₁ , the lateral acceleration information detected by the acceleration sensor 12 provided on the left side of the vehicle is referred to as lateral acceleration A ₂ , Unless otherwise distinguished, it is simply referred to as lateral acceleration A. Both lateral acceleration information A ₁ and A ₂ detected by the acceleration sensors 11 and 12 are transmitted to a vehicle ECU 20 described later as needed.

  The angular velocity sensor 13 detects a rotational angular velocity (that is, a roll rate) R around an axis extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 1. Here, the angular velocity sensor 13 detects clockwise as a positive value and counterclockwise as a negative value when viewed from the rear of the vehicle. The roll rate R detected by the angular velocity sensor 13 is transmitted to the vehicle ECU 20 as needed.

  The vehicle 1 is equipped with a side airbag 31 and a curtain airbag 32. These airbags 31 and 32 are inflated instantaneously when receiving a deployment command from a control unit 22 of a vehicle ECU 20 described later. The side airbag 31 is built in, for example, a vehicle body side such as a front pillar or a center pillar, a seat side, and the like. The side airbag 31 is inflated forward from the side of the seat and deployed on the side of the occupant. The curtain airbag 32 is built in, for example, from the front pillar to the side portion of the roof lining, and is deployed on substantially the entire front window 2 and rear window 3. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the side airbag 31 and the curtain airbag 32 are deployed.

  The vehicle 1 is equipped with a seat belt pretensioner, a steering wheel steering angle control device, and an automatic brake control device, all of which are not shown. When the pretensioner receives a command from the control unit 22, the pretensioner secures and protects the occupant on the seat by retracting the webbing of the seat belt. In addition, the steering angle control device automatically controls the steering angle of the steering wheel based on a command from the control unit 22 to enhance the stability of the vehicle 1. The automatic brake control device automatically controls the brake device based on a command from the control unit 22 and applies a braking force to the vehicle 1. Hereinafter, the side airbag 31, the curtain airbag 32, the seat belt pretensioner, the steering angle control device of the steering wheel, and the automatic brake control device are collectively referred to as an occupant protection device 30.

  The vehicle 1 is equipped with a vehicle ECU (Electric Control Unit) 20 that controls such an occupant protection device 30. The acceleration sensors 11 and 12 and the angular velocity sensor 13 are connected to the input side of the vehicle ECU 20, and the occupant protection device 30 is connected to the output side of the vehicle ECU 20. The vehicle ECU 20 is a computer that includes a memory (ROM, RAM), a CPU, and the like. In addition to the above, the vehicle 1 is equipped with various control devices such as an engine ECU for controlling the engine and an air conditioning ECU for controlling air conditioning. The vehicle ECU 20 communicates information with these control devices. Connected as possible.

[2. Control configuration]
Here, the vehicle ECU 20 determines the behavior of the vehicle 1, selects an appropriate one from the plurality of occupant protection devices 30 according to the determined behavior, and performs operation control. The vehicle ECU 20 includes a functional element as the determination unit 21 and a functional element as the control unit 22 in order to perform the above determination and control.
The determination unit (determination means) 21 determines the behavior of the vehicle 1 based on the lateral acceleration A detected by the acceleration sensors 11 and 12 and the roll rate R detected by the angular velocity sensor 13. Here, the larger value of the lateral accelerations A ₁ and A ₂ detected by the acceleration sensors 11 and 12 is used as the lateral acceleration A. The behavior of the vehicle 1 determined here includes the following three.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the first behavior is an operation that the vehicle 1 shows when a side collision (side collision) occurs with the vehicle 1 having a relatively low height such as another vehicle or a guard rail. FIG. 2B shows a case where the automobile 40 has collided from the right side of the vehicle 1. In this case, the vehicle 1 receives an impact from the right side with respect to the lower part on the side of the vehicle body that is below the center of gravity. As a result, the vehicle 1 generates a lateral acceleration A from the right to the left, and moves to the side where the upper body of the vehicle 1 collides (the right side in the figure). A rotating roll rate R is generated. That is, the first behavior refers to a case where a relatively large lateral acceleration A and a relatively large roll rate R are generated in the vehicle 1.

The second behavior is an operation shown when the vehicle 1 collides with a relatively high object such as a standing tree, a pole, or a building wall as shown in FIG. 2C shows a case where the vehicle 1 collides with the utility pole 50 from the right side. In this case, the vehicle 1 receives an impact from the right side from the upper part to the lower part on the side of the vehicle body above the position of the center of gravity. As a result, a lateral acceleration A from the right to the left is generated in the vehicle 1. However, in a collision with a relatively high object, an impact is also applied to the upper part of the side surface of the vehicle body, so that the roll rate R hardly occurs. That is, the second behavior refers to a case where a relatively large lateral acceleration A and a relatively small roll rate R are generated in the vehicle 1.
In the first behavior and the second behavior, the magnitude of the lateral acceleration A is proportional to the magnitude of the impact on the side of the vehicle body, and the magnitude of the roll rate R is from the magnitude of the impact and the center of gravity of the vehicle 1 to the collision position. Proportional to distance.

  As shown in FIG. 2D, the third behavior is an operation shown when the vehicle 1 rides on a road shoulder, a curbstone, or when a sudden steering operation is performed. FIG. 2D shows a case where the left wheel of the vehicle 1 rides on the curbstone 60. In this case, a roll rate R that rotates clockwise as viewed from the rear is generated in the vehicle 1, and the vehicle 1 may roll over (roll over). On the other hand, in this case, unlike the case of a side collision, the lateral acceleration A hardly occurs. That is, the third behavior refers to a case where a relatively small lateral acceleration A and a relatively large roll rate R are generated in the vehicle 1.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating changes in lateral acceleration A and roll rate R that occur in the vehicle 1 in each behavior. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the automobile 40 collides with the vehicle 1 from the right side, the lateral acceleration At ₁ and the roll rate Rt ₁ occur in the vehicle 1 at a certain time t ₁ , and the time Lateral acceleration At ₂ and roll rate Rt ₂ occur at time t ₂ later than t ₁ . As time further advances, at time t ₃ , lateral acceleration At ₃ and roll rate Rt ₃ are generated in vehicle 1. Thus, from the moment when the automobile 40 comes into contact with the right side surface of the vehicle 1, the lateral acceleration A and the roll rate R at each time are plotted with the time interval being minute, in the graph of the first behavior shown in FIG. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the case of the first behavior, the lateral acceleration A and the roll rate R are both increased. In the case of the second behavior, the lateral acceleration A increases, but the roll rate R does not increase so much. In the case of the third behavior, the roll rate R increases as opposed to the second behavior. The lateral acceleration A is a graph that does not become too large. The determination unit 21 determines the behavior of the vehicle 1 using the difference between the lateral acceleration A and the roll rate R generated in the vehicle 1 as described above.

  At this time, the determination unit 21 uses a determination map (two-dimensional map) as shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a determination map used when the vehicle 1 collides with the right side surface. The vehicle ECU 20 also stores a determination map (not shown) used when the vehicle 1 collides with the left side surface. The determination map used at the time of a collision with the left side surface is a point-symmetric map with the center point 0 of the determination map of FIG. 4 as the center of symmetry.

FIG. 4 is a determination map in which regions are divided according to the lateral acceleration A and the roll rate R generated in the vehicle 1, and is stored in the vehicle ECU 20 in advance. The lateral acceleration X ₁ and the roll rates X ₂ and X ₃ shown in FIG. 4 are threshold values for dividing the region. Region 1 is a range in which lateral acceleration A is greater than or equal to first threshold value X ₁ and roll rate R is greater than or equal to second threshold value X ₂ , and region 2 is roll in which lateral acceleration A is greater than or equal to first threshold value X ₁ rate R is in the range of less than the second threshold value X _2. The region 3, the lateral acceleration A is less than the first threshold value X ₁ and roll rate R is tert threshold X ₃ or more ranges.

Here, the third threshold value X ₃ is set so as to increase as the lateral acceleration A increases within the range from zero to the first threshold value X ₁ . Third threshold X ₃ is, when the lateral acceleration A is zero is set to a value smaller than the second threshold value X _2, lateral acceleration A is when the first threshold value X _1, value greater than the second threshold value X ₂ Is set so as to increase linearly.

  The determination unit 21 applies the lateral acceleration A detected by the acceleration sensors 11 and 12 and the roll rate R detected by the angular velocity sensor 13 to the determination map of FIG. 4. It is determined that the vehicle 1 is in the first behavior, and when the region 1 corresponds to the region 2, the vehicle 1 is determined to be the second behavior. Moreover, when it does not correspond to any area | region, it determines with the vehicle 1 being a normal state (state in which neither side collision nor rollover). The determination result in the determination unit 21 is transmitted to the control unit 22.

  The control unit (control means) 22 selects an appropriate one from a plurality of occupant protection devices 30 according to the behaviors determined by the determination unit 21, and operates the occupant protection devices 30 instantaneously. It is. For example, when the determination unit 21 determines that the vehicle 1 exhibits the first behavior, the control unit 22 sends a deployment command to the side airbag 31 and the curtain airbag 32 to deploy the airbag, thereby occupant. Protects the entire side of the machine to deal with side collisions. Further, a command is sent to the seat belt pretensioner to fix and protect the occupant on the seat, and the vehicle 1 is stopped by operating the automatic brake device.

  Further, for example, when the determination unit 21 determines that the vehicle 1 exhibits the third behavior, the control unit 22 performs steering angle control of the steering wheel to prevent the vehicle 1 from overturning. If the rollover of the vehicle 1 cannot be prevented, a command is sent to the seat belt pretensioner to protect the occupant by fixing it to the seat, and a deployment command is sent to the curtain airbag 32 to deploy the airbag.

[3. flowchart]
Since the vehicle control device according to the present embodiment is configured as described above, the determination and control of the vehicle 1 are performed, for example, according to the flowchart shown in FIG. This flowchart operates at a predetermined control cycle. Each of the following steps is performed by each function (means) assigned to the hardware of the computer being operated by software (computer program).

As shown in FIG. 5, in step S < _b > 10, the lateral accelerations A ₁ and A ₂ and the roll rate R (each sensor value) are acquired by the acceleration sensors 11 and 12 and the angular velocity sensor 13. In step S20, whether the lateral acceleration A ₁ or the lateral acceleration A ₂ is the first threshold value X ₁ or not is determined. That at least one of the lateral accelerations A ₁ and A ₂ is equal to or greater than the first threshold value X ₁ means that some impact has been applied to the side surface of the vehicle 1, and in view of the determination map of FIG. Or it corresponds to the area 2. Therefore, in this case, in the following step S30, whether the roll rate R is the second threshold value X ₂ or more is determined. That is, in step S30, it is determined whether the vehicle 1 is in the first behavior or the second behavior.

In step S30, when the roll rate R is determined to be the second threshold value X ₂ or more, it will be appropriate to the area 1 in the determination map (step S40). That is, the vehicle 1 collides with a relatively low vehicle such as another vehicle or a guard rail, and exhibits a first behavior. In this case, in step S50, appropriate control for responding to the first behavior is selected and executed ("control 1" in the flowchart).

On the other hand, in step S30, when the roll rate R is determined to be less than the second threshold value X _2, so that corresponding to the region 2 in determination map (step S60). That is, the vehicle 1 collides with a relatively high object such as a utility pole or a building wall, and exhibits a second behavior. In this case, in step S70, appropriate control for responding to the second behavior is selected and executed ("control 2" in the flowchart).

If it is determined in step S20 that the lateral accelerations A ₁ and A ₂ are both less than the first threshold value X ₁ , this means that the vehicle 1 is not receiving an impact from the side, and in step S80. Whether or not the roll rate R is equal to or greater than the third threshold value X ₃ is determined. If the roll rate R is determined to be the third threshold X ₃ or more, it will be appropriate to the region 3 in the determination map (step S90). That is, the vehicle 1 rides on a curbstone or the like and exhibits a rollover behavior (third behavior). In this case, in step S100, appropriate control for responding to the third behavior is selected and executed ("control 3" in the flowchart).

In Step S50, Step S70, and Step S100, when the controls 1 to 3 are performed, the flowchart is ended. On the other hand, in step S80, when the roll rate R is determined to be less than the third threshold value X _3, the vehicle 1 will be showing the normal state, the flowchart is returned, the sensor in step S10 again The value is obtained.

[4. effect]
Therefore, according to the vehicle control apparatus according to the present embodiment, the vehicle 1 receives a shock from the side of the lower portion of the vehicle body by using the lateral acceleration A and the roll rate R of the vehicle 1 (first It is possible to determine whether the vehicle is in the state of one behavior) or a state in which an impact from the upper part to the lower part of the vehicle body is received from the side (second behavior), so that appropriate control according to the behavior of the vehicle 1 is performed. Can do. That is, according to the vehicle ECU 20, when the vehicle 1 collides with a relatively low height such as another vehicle or a guardrail, for example, when the vehicle 1 collides with a relatively high height such as a utility pole or a building wall. Since it can be determined that there is a collision, control suitable for the behavior of the vehicle 1 can be performed.

Further, by comparing the lateral acceleration A with the first threshold value X ₁ and further comparing the roll rate R with the second threshold value X ₂ , the vehicle 1 shows the first behavior or the second behavior. Can be determined appropriately. Thereby, the behavior of the vehicle 1 can be determined with a simple configuration, and appropriate control according to the behavior of the vehicle 1 can be performed.

Further, since the rollover of the vehicle 1 that is a behavior other than a side collision can be determined using the lateral acceleration A and the roll rate R, appropriate control according to the behavior of the vehicle 1 can be performed.
Moreover, since the two-dimensional map which memorize | stored the relationship between the lateral acceleration A and the roll rate R is used for the behavior determination of the vehicle 1, it can determine with a simple structure.
Moreover, the passenger | crew 1 can be protected appropriately by selecting and operating the thing according to the behavior of the vehicle 1 from the some passenger | crew protection apparatus 30. FIG.

[5. Others]
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, instead of the determination map of FIG. 4 used in the above embodiment, for example, a determination map as shown in FIG. 6 may be used. In the determination map of FIG. 6, the third threshold value X ₃ is a constant value regardless of the magnitude of the lateral acceleration A, and is set to a value smaller than the second threshold value X ₂ . A control flow when this determination map is used is shown in FIG. The flowchart in FIG. 7 is obtained by adding four steps from step S80 to step S90 in the flowchart in FIG. 5, and thus detailed description of steps similar to those in FIG. 5 is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 7, if the lateral accelerations A ₁ and A ₂ acquired in step S10 are both less than the first threshold value X _1, whether or not the roll rate R is greater than or equal to the third threshold value X ₃ in step S80. Is determined. Here, when it is determined that the roll rate R is equal to or greater than the third threshold value X ₃ , the region corresponds to the region 3 in the determination map shown in FIG. However, the lateral acceleration A may increase thereafter and may correspond to the region 1 or the region 2. Therefore, here, there is provided a step of waiting for the determination until the predetermined time t ₀ elapses after the roll rate R is determined to be greater than or equal to the third threshold value X ₃ , and the predetermined time t ₀ has elapsed. If the values of the lateral acceleration A and the roll rate R are in the region 3, it is determined as the third behavior.

That is, in step S82, it is determined whether or not the flag F is F = 0. If the flag F is F = 0, the timer is started (step S84). The flag F is a variable for checking whether or not the timer count is started. F = 0 means that the timer count is not started, and F = 1 indicates that the timer count is started. Means that In the following step S86 the flag F is set to F = 1, in step S88, the timer count t is whether or not the predetermined time t ₀ or more is determined.

If the timer count t is less than the predetermined time t ₀ , the flow is returned, each sensor value is acquired again in step S10, and the determination in step S20 is performed. Also in this control cycle, if the lateral accelerations A ₁ and A ₂ are both less than the first threshold value X ₁ and the roll rate R is greater than or equal to the third threshold value X ₃ , the flag F is determined in step S82, and the step Proceeding to S88, the timer count t is determined.

Even if the timer count t becomes equal to or greater than the predetermined time t ₀ , if both the lateral accelerations A ₁ and A ₂ remain less than the first threshold value X ₁ , it corresponds to the determination map region 3 in FIG. Determined. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S20 that at least one of the lateral accelerations A ₁ and A ₂ is greater than or equal to the first threshold value X ₁ before the timer count t has passed the predetermined time t ₀ , FIG. Since it corresponds to the region 1 or 2 of the determination map, it is determined which region corresponds to the subsequent step S30. Therefore, even when a determination map as shown in FIG. 6 is used, the behavior of the vehicle 1 can be appropriately determined based on the lateral acceleration A and the roll rate R.
The determination map is not limited to those shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, and may be a determination method that does not use a map. Further, the magnitudes of the threshold values X ₁ , X ₂ , and X ₃ are not limited to those described above. As for these, the appropriate value according to the vehicle 1 should just be preset.

  In the example using the flow shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, once it is determined from the lateral acceleration A and the roll rate R that the behavior of the vehicle 1 is one of the regions 1 to 3, the behavior However, the flow may be terminated. However, the determination may be continued even after it is determined that the area corresponds to any region and the control is performed. For example, while it is determined that the behavior of the vehicle 1 corresponds to the region 3 and the steering angle control of the steering wheel or the automatic brake control is being performed, the behavior determination is continued, and if the behavior of the vehicle 1 changes to the region 1, the air The configuration may be such that bag deployment control is also added.

In the above embodiment, two acceleration sensors 11 and 12 to the vehicle 1 is mounted, the lateral acceleration information A ₁ detected by these sensors 11 and 12, due to the use of A _2, more precise control However, there may be only one acceleration sensor. In this case, an increase in cost can be suppressed by reducing the number of sensors.
The angular velocity sensor 13 only needs to be able to detect at least the rotational angular velocity around the vehicle longitudinal axis, and a so-called gyro sensor can also be applied.

Further, the control of the vehicle 1 for each behavior by the control unit 22 can be variously changed and is not limited to the above. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the determination part 21 determines three behaviors as a behavior of the vehicle 1, the structure which determines a 1st behavior and a 2nd behavior may be sufficient. That is, the third behavior indicating rollover is not determined by the determination unit 21 of the vehicle ECU 20, but according to another method (for example, the vehicle speed, the handle angle, the brake state, the travel path state, the detection value of the gyro sensor, etc. The determination may be made by the determination.
Moreover, this vehicle control apparatus is applicable to various vehicles, such as a motor vehicle and a truck.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 11, 12 Acceleration sensor 13 Angular velocity sensor 20 Vehicle ECU
21 determination unit (determination means)
22 Control unit (control means)
30 occupant protection device 31 side airbag 32 curtain airbag A, A ₁ , A ₂ lateral acceleration R roll rate X ₁ first threshold X ₂ second threshold X ₃ third threshold

Claims (5)

An acceleration sensor mounted on a vehicle for detecting lateral acceleration of the vehicle;
An angular velocity sensor mounted on the vehicle for detecting a roll rate of the vehicle;
Determination means for determining a behavior of the vehicle based on a lateral acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor and a roll rate detected by the angular velocity sensor;
The behavior includes a first behavior in which the vehicle is subjected to an impact on a lower portion on the side of the vehicle body, a second behavior in which the vehicle is subjected to an impact extending from an upper portion to a lower portion on the side of the vehicle body , Including a third behavior in which the vehicle rolls over without being impacted by the side of the vehicle body ,
The determination means determines that the vehicle is in the first behavior if the lateral acceleration is greater than or equal to a predetermined first threshold and the roll rate is greater than or equal to a predetermined second threshold, and the lateral acceleration is greater than the first threshold. If it is equal to or greater than one threshold and the roll rate is less than the second threshold, it is determined that the vehicle is in the second behavior, the lateral acceleration is less than the first threshold, and the roll rate is a predetermined first rate. A vehicle control device that determines that the vehicle is in the third behavior if it is equal to or greater than three thresholds . The determination unit includes a two-dimensional map that stores a relationship between a lateral acceleration of the vehicle and a roll rate of the vehicle, and determines the behavior of the vehicle using the two-dimensional map. Item 2. The vehicle control device according to Item 1 . A plurality of occupant protection devices mounted on the vehicle;
Characterized in that it comprises a control means for actuating and select the appropriate occupant protection device from said plurality of passenger protection devices in accordance with the determined behavior by the determination unit, the vehicle control according to claim 1 or 2, wherein apparatus. The acceleration sensors are mounted one by one on the left and right of the vehicle,
The said determination means determines the behavior of the said vehicle using the larger value of the two lateral accelerations detected from the said acceleration sensor on either side, The said any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned. The vehicle control device according to item.   The third threshold is set to a value smaller than the second threshold when at least the lateral acceleration is zero.
The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein

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