JPH10185942A - Collision judging method for vehicle and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To comprehensively judge a collision by threshold judgement of resultant velocity change obtained from resultant acceleration of shock causing side surface deformation and side movement and moving velocity change obtained from moving acceleration of the side movement component. SOLUTION: With an acceleration sensor 2 on the side unit 1s of a vehicle, resultant acceleration signal of shock causing side surface deformation and side movement is detected, which is supplied to short section integrator 5 and 7, intermediate section integrator 6 and 8 and a log section integrator 9, and a resultant velocity change is calculated. With an acceleration sensor 22 of a middle unit 1c of the vehicle, moving acceleration due to the component causing the side movement of the vehicle is detected, which is supplied to a short section integrator 25, middle term integrator 26 and a long section integrator 27, and a resultant velocity change for a specific time scale are calculated. Comparators 10 to 14 judge the synthetic velocity change of section integrators 5 to 9 with each threshold and comparators 28 to 30 judge the moving velocity change of section integrators 25 to 27 in term integrators 5 to 9 with each threshold. By integrating the results of each threshold judgement, judgement of collision becomes possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle collision judging method and a collision judging method for properly operating an occupant side protection system at the time of a side collision of a vehicle and at the time of a frontal or rearward collision involving lateral movement of the vehicle. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, safety in the event of a vehicle collision has been given particular importance, and occupant protection systems such as airbags for protecting occupants in the event of a collision have been studied to expand the occupant protection area in order to cope with various collision situations. Have been. Conventional airbags
The system includes front airbags that protect the occupant from hitting the head, face, chest, etc. on the front part of the vehicle interior such as steering or dashboard or the windshield due to inertia in the event of a frontal collision, the driver's seat and the passenger's seat. However, it cannot protect the occupant in the event of a vehicle side collision. For this reason,
Lateral airbags, which prevent occupants from being harmed by the side portions of the passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle side collision, have come to be regarded as important protection areas for the occupants.

[0003] Like the conventional front airbag, the side airbag inflates the bag before the occupant hits the inside of the passenger compartment, and still has the effect of damping the bag. Since the space inside the passenger compartment is smaller than the space inside the vehicle, the bag is buried in the seat on the side of the vehicle or inside the door inner panel,
It has been developed under the concept of protecting a part that is susceptible to occupant injury with a bag having a relatively smaller capacity than a front airbag. In addition, the type of collision that requires a side airbag is
When a heavy object such as a vehicle other than the host vehicle collides with the vehicle side near the occupant at high speed, the occupant may be injured by the intrusion of a strong door inner panel etc. before moving to the door inner side due to inertia. When the vehicle travels due to the inertia of the occupant when the speed is relatively slow, when the vehicle collides with the side of the vehicle away from the passenger compartment, or when a structure with relatively low rigidity of the collision object collides, It is roughly divided into the event of hitting the vehicle interior and causing injury.

A device for operating the side airbag is also required to make a collision determination time shorter than the collision determination time of the front airbag. Particularly, in a high-speed side collision involving a severe intrusion, the time required for the airbag to deploy is reduced. Considering the effect of protecting the occupant, a collision determination in a short time of about several ms may be required. For this reason, for example, an attempt has been made to determine a side collision at a high speed by installing a compression switch or a pressure sensor, which mechanically closes a contact point, in a door and detecting compression and deformation of the door.

[0005]

The above-mentioned conventional attempt to install a compression switch or a pressure sensor in a door for mechanically closing contacts is effective for a side collision involving intrusion due to severe door deformation. For example, when an elongated object such as a utility pole collides with the B pillar of a vehicle, or when a collision occurs on the side of the front or rear of the vehicle, effective compression judgment cannot be made based on the compression or deformation of the door. There were many. In addition, the side airbag should be deployed by the impact of a light object such as a bicycle hitting the door or the kicking of the door, etc., which would deform the door but not affect the vehicle occupants. Despite not wanting to do so, there was a problem that it was easy to make a collision determination.

[0006] For this reason, in the same manner as in the method of judging a frontal collision in a vehicle side collision, a mechanical contact type acceleration sensor detecting method having a damping characteristic that does not respond to high frequency vibration or an acceleration sensor that outputs an analog acceleration signal is used. A method has been proposed in which a collision determination is made by discriminating a calculation result of a speed change amount or the like as a threshold value. However, when an acceleration sensor is installed in the center of the vehicle compartment as in a method for determining a collision in front of a vehicle, it is difficult to determine in a short time a collision that may cause an intrusion involving strong deformation of a door or the like. Was. In addition, if the acceleration sensor is installed not in the center of the vehicle compartment but in the side of the vehicle such as the center of the B-pillar, which has a fast response, a dynamic acceleration signal can be obtained within the time to be determined, but the side of the vehicle on which the acceleration sensor is installed The acceleration signal when kicking off the door or closing the door by hitting the door is also detected as a dynamic acceleration signal,
Since there is no difference in the amount of change in speed in a short section, it is difficult to make settings for identification in various types of collisions that require deployment of a side airbag.

[0007] As with the compression switch and the pressure sensor, a method of installing an acceleration sensor in a door has been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-2049 entitled "An occupant restraint device and occupant restraint method in the event of a side collision of an objective vehicle"
Dynamic acceleration of 120G when struck by an outer door panel collapsed by a side impact from an accelerometer installed in a recessed pocket in the lowermost quadrant of the lower side of the inner panel of the door, worthy of near the occupant seating of the front door An apparatus is disclosed in which a signal is used as a trigger to determine a collision based on an integral value of acceleration for a predetermined time. However, this collision determination device is effective for a strong collision with a door,
It is not effective for electric pole collision with the B pillar, collision with the front or rear side, or offset collision or diagonal collision that involves lateral movement of the vehicle in front collision. On the other hand, there is a problem that it is not easy to maintain the judgment performance with respect to various types of collisions that require airbag deployment.

The present invention integrates and determines the amount of change in speed of a specific place that occurs in a vehicle at the time of a collision, so that the vehicle is not only subjected to a lateral collision but also to a forward or rearward movement that involves lateral movement. An object of the present invention is to provide a collision determination ability for a collision.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a vehicle collision judging device according to the present invention comprises an acceleration sensor for detecting a combined acceleration caused by an impact that causes at least one of side deformation and lateral movement of the vehicle. Means for calculating a combined speed change amount by integrating the combined acceleration up to a current value over a predetermined section; and a movement acceleration caused by a component of the impact that causes the vehicle to move laterally. An acceleration sensor for detecting the moving speed, a moving speed change amount calculating means for calculating the moving speed change amount by integrating the moving acceleration to a current value over a predetermined section, and calculating the combined speed change amount and the moving speed change amount respectively. And a judgment means for judging a threshold value on the basis of a predetermined threshold value, and making a collision judgment by summing up the results of the threshold value judgments.

The synthetic speed change amount calculating means calculates each synthetic speed change amount by section integrating the synthetic acceleration over three sections, namely, a short section, a middle section and a long section. The change amount calculating means calculates each moving speed change amount by section integrating the moving acceleration over three sections of a short section, a middle section and a long section, and the determining means calculates the short section combined speed change amount. Or, the intermediate section combined speed change amount exceeds a threshold value, and the moving acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold value, or the short section combined speed change amount or the middle section combined speed change amount exceeds the threshold value, and The long section movement speed change amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value, or the long section synthetic speed change amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value, and the short section movement speed change amount or the middle section movement speed change amount is a predetermined value. When the threshold is exceeded, the collision judgment is It is characterized in.

Alternatively, the combined speed change amount calculating means calculates each combined speed change amount by integrating the combined acceleration in three sections of a short section, a middle section and a long section. The speed change calculating means calculates each moving speed change by section integrating the moving acceleration over three sections of a short section, a middle section, and a long section.
Either the short section synthetic speed change amount or the middle section synthetic speed change amount exceeds a threshold value, and the moving acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold value, or the short section synthetic speed change amount exceeds the threshold value, and When the section synthetic speed change amount or the long section synthetic speed change amount exceeds the threshold, and the short section moving speed change amount, the middle section moving speed change amount, or the long section moving speed change amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value. In addition, a collision is determined.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment in which the vehicle collision judging device of the present invention comprises one vehicle side unit and a vehicle central unit. FIG. 2 is a vehicle collision judging device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram showing an acceleration component detected at the time of a side collision at a position opposite to the side receiving the side collision of the vehicle, at the center portion and at a position opposite to the side receiving the side collision,
FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram showing a comparison of acceleration between a side collision and a strong door closing or an abuse event in a side portion and a center portion of a vehicle.

The vehicle collision judging device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is capable of detecting an acceleration which causes at least one of a side deformation amount and a movement amount of a vehicle receiving a side collision, for example, a position below a B pillar or a side sill (also known as a side sill). A side member) or a vehicle side unit 1s disposed on both sides of the vehicle, such as outside the cross member, and a position at which acceleration due to only the movement amount of the vehicle can be detected regardless of which side receives the side collision, for example, in a center tunnel. And a central vehicle unit 1c. The vehicle central unit 1c separately detects acceleration not only in the horizontal direction (Y axis) of the vehicle but also in the vertical direction (X axis) of the vehicle, and performs collision determination of a vehicle forward collision.

The acceleration detected at the side of the vehicle, such as below the B pillar, outside the side sill, or outside the cross member, is the combined acceleration obtained by combining the amount of side deformation and the amount of movement of the vehicle on the side receiving the side collision. It is known from the collision test results that the acceleration is detected, and the specific gravity of the component due to the lateral deformation is high in the early stage of the collision, and becomes the component due to the moving amount of the vehicle after the deformation of the vehicle stops. . Specifically, for example, when viewed with a velocity (acceleration integrated value) waveform shown in FIG. 3, a region indicated by a satin pattern sandwiched between a dotted line and a time axis is a movement amount of the vehicle, The shaded area sandwiched between the solid line and the dotted line indicates the amount of side deformation of the vehicle. In addition, on the side opposite to the side that receives the side collision, since the component due to only the moving amount of the vehicle is detected with the opposite polarity, similarly to the acceleration that can be detected by the vehicle center unit 21, the axial direction of the acceleration sensor receives the side collision. In this case, the waveform shown with the polarity reversed is the waveform shown by the one-dot chain line.

When the accelerations observed in a side collision and a strong door closing or an abuse event are compared, the difference between the two is typically represented by waveforms shown by dotted lines and solid lines in FIGS. 4A and 4B, respectively. appear. As described with reference to FIG.
In the case of a side impact at a collision angle of 90 ° at 0 km / h,
At the side surface of the vehicle such as a side sill, a combined acceleration obtained by combining the amount of side deformation and the amount of movement is observed, and at the center of the vehicle such as a center tunnel, acceleration due to the amount of movement of the vehicle is observed. On the other hand, in the case of a strong door closing or an abuse event, etc., since the vehicle does not move, it is observed as a short-time large vibration waveform on the side surface of the vehicle such as a side sill, and the center of the vehicle such as a center tunnel is not observed. In the part, the vibration is observed as an attenuated vibration waveform.

An acceleration signal on the lateral axis (Y axis) of the vehicle detected by the acceleration sensor 2 of the vehicle side unit 1s shown in FIG. 1, that is, a composite acceleration signal resulting from an impact that causes side deformation and lateral movement of the vehicle. Thus, discrete-valued acceleration data Gsy (k) is obtained through the low-pass filter 3 for removing aliasing distortion and the AD converter 4. As the acceleration sensor 2 and an acceleration sensor 22 to be described later, for example, a sensor in which a stress-strain gauge utilizing piezoresistance change is incorporated on a semiconductor substrate is used. However, the present invention is not limited to a semiconductor acceleration sensor that detects a change in piezoresistance, and may use a capacitance-type semiconductor acceleration sensor or an acceleration sensor that uses a piezoelectric element. One sensor can detect two-axis and three-axis acceleration. Those can also be used. In the case of the present embodiment,
The low-pass filter 3 for eliminating the effects of aliasing and a low-pass filter 23 described later are set to remove high-frequency components exceeding about 100 Hz to about 500 Hz.

The discrete value acceleration data Gsy (k) is supplied to the following short section integrators 5 and 7, middle section integrators 6 and 8, and long section integrator 9 to calculate the speed change amount on a predetermined time scale. To be served. The value calculated by the short interval integrators 5 and 7 is a relatively short fixed time interval, for example, 2 ms to 4 m
This is a result obtained by sequentially adding the synthetic acceleration data Gsy (k) to the current value in a section of about s, and is sent to the comparators 10 and 12. The values calculated by the middle section integrators 6 and 8 are obtained by sequentially adding the synthetic acceleration data Gsy (k) to the current value in a relatively intermediate fixed time section, for example, a section from 4 ms to 12 ms. Are sent to the containers 11 and 13. The value calculated by the long section integrator 9 is obtained by sequentially adding the synthetic acceleration data Gsy (k) to the current value in a relatively long fixed time section, for example, a section of about 12 ms to 30 ms. Sent.

Each of the comparators 10 to 14 has a corresponding one of the interval integrators 5 to 9.
Is for threshold value discrimination of a combined speed change amount obtained by section integration of the combined acceleration data, and each threshold value is set according to a discrimination purpose. That is, the comparator 1
The threshold values ss1 and sm1 of 0 and 11 are set to values corresponding to a steep combined speed change amount that can determine a high-speed side collision or the like that involves a severe intrusion due to deformation of a vehicle side structure. It has a section scale of both the and the middle section. The outputs of the comparators 10 and 11 are sent to the OR gate 15 at the next stage. Threshold values ss2 and sm2 of comparators 12 and 13
For the side collision mode in which the occupant moves by the inertia of the occupant and hits the side cabin, the combined speed change amount of the vehicle side deformation or the combined speed change amount of the vehicle movement that occurs to some extent is determined, for example, When the collision speed is relatively slow, when obliquely impacting, or when colliding with a structure with relatively low impact object rigidity, a collision is judged at a collision level that requires deployment of the occupant side protection system. Is set to
It has both short and medium time scales. Comparator 1
The outputs of 2 and 13 are sent to the OR gate 16 at the next stage. The long interval integrator 9 includes an event in which a single large acceleration occurs such as an abuse such as strong door closing or kicking or a light object collision, and a collision event in which a speed change occurs over a relatively long time. Is set longer so that these events can be distinguished from each other. Therefore, a threshold value sl is set in the comparator 14 so that these events can be distinguished. The output of the comparator 14 is sent to the vehicle central unit 1c via the communication means 51 together with the outputs of the OR gates 15 and 16,
These signals are referred to as type a, type b, and type c signals, respectively, and are handled as different determination information.

The communication means 51 can be constituted by mounting a pair of dedicated ICs connected by, for example, a dedicated communication protocol for high-speed transmission in the vehicle side unit 1s and the vehicle central unit 1c. In addition to this, for example, a configuration in which communication is performed based on a unique communication protocol by an interface circuit and a microprocessor can also be adopted. In addition, the communication unit 51 indicates a signal indicating that the operation is normally performed, or a fault location determined by the fault diagnosis, in addition to the type a, type b, and type c signals that are the collision determination information signals. It is also possible to transmit a signal or the like in a timely manner.

The acceleration sensor 22 of the vehicle central unit 1c
The acceleration signal on the lateral axis (Y-axis) of the vehicle, which is detected by the above, is a low-pass filter 23 Is converted into discrete value acceleration data Gcy (k) via the AD converter 24.
The moving acceleration data Gcy (k) is supplied to the following short section integrator 25, middle section integrator 26, and long section integrator 27, and is used for calculating a moving speed change amount on a predetermined time scale, respectively. It is also supplied to the direct comparator 31. The threshold value of the comparator 31 is set to, for example, an acceleration value css corresponding to 3G to 5G. The output of the comparator 31 is supplied to the next-stage waveform shaper 38, and is output as a continuous waveform for a fixed time. The delay time of the waveform shaper 38 is, for example, 1
An appropriate time is about 0 ms to 30 ms, and all other waveform shapers described later are set to the same delay time.

The value calculated by the long section integrator 27 is obtained by sequentially adding the moving acceleration data Gcy (k) to the current value in a relatively long fixed time section, for example, a section from 12 ms to 30 ms. , Comparator 30. The threshold value of the comparator 30 is defined as an abuse such as strong closing or kicking of the door and a collision event in which a single large acceleration occurs such as a light object collision, and a collision event in which a speed change occurs over a relatively long section. Is set to a value cl enough to distinguish. This threshold value cl is, as shown in FIG. 2A, a vehicle side surface unit 1s on a plane having two axes of a long section integral value of the moving acceleration and a middle section integral value of the synthetic acceleration.
The hatched area together with the threshold values sm1 and sm2 of the comparators 11 and 13 are important as values defining the collision determination area. The output of the comparator 30 is the waveform shaper 3 of the next stage.
6 and output as a continuous waveform for the predetermined time. The value calculated by the middle section integrator 26 is, for example, 4 m
moving acceleration data Gcy in a section of about 12 ms from s
(K) is sequentially added up to the current value.
9. The value calculated by the short section integrator 25 is obtained by sequentially adding the moving acceleration data Gcy (k) to the current value in a section of about 2 ms to 4 ms, for example.
The signal is supplied to the comparator 28. As the threshold values cs, cm of the comparators 28, 29, for example, an event of colliding with a side portion in front of or behind the passenger compartment, an event of colliding with a high vehicle such as a truck, or a lateral movement of a vehicle even in a frontal collision. A value that can quickly determine an event in which vehicle deformation is relatively unlikely to occur near the side sill, such as an event such as a high-speed offset collision or a high-speed oblique collision accompanied by the following. Therefore, the threshold values cs, cm serve as a reference for determining a collision event in which the vehicle movement amount significantly occurs in both the short section and the middle section. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B, on a plane having two axes of the intermediate section integral value of the moving acceleration and the long section integral value of the synthetic acceleration, the threshold value cm of the comparator 29 is equal to the vehicle side unit 1s Together with the threshold value sl of the comparator 14 in the above, the value is a value that defines the hatched area as the collision determination area. The outputs of the comparators 28 and 29 are supplied to the waveform shaper 34 via the subsequent OR gate 32, and are output as a constant continuous waveform.

FIG. 2A shows a side collision at 90 degrees with respect to the traveling direction of the vehicle, at 50 kph / h.
Actual measured values for m / h, 20 km / h and 15 km / h are drawn by curves, and the fact that a strong door closing or an abuse event is outside the collision determination area is indicated by a dotted line. is there. In FIG. 2B, measured values of a high-speed diagonal forward collision and the above-mentioned 90 ° side collision at a speed of 15 km / h are drawn by curves, and a strong door closing, an abuse event, etc. are outside the collision determination area. Is surrounded by a dotted line and shown in FIG.

The output of the waveform shaper 38 is sent from the vehicle side unit 1s via the communication means 51 to the vehicle center unit 1c.
Are sent to the AND gate 41 in pairs with the a-type signal of the judgment information sent to the AND gate 41. The a-type signal is also received by the vehicle central unit 1c, and then sent to the AND gate 41 as a continuous waveform for a predetermined time by the waveform shaper 37. The output of the AND gate 41 is sent to the subsequent OR gate 42 to be a final collision determination signal. For this reason, for example, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the vehicle side unit 1s determines a high-speed side collision or the like that involves a severe intrusion due to deformation of the vehicle side structure, the vehicle is not moved within a certain time period. When the central unit 1c detects an acceleration of about 3G to 5G, a collision is determined. 5 and 6
The waveforms of the calculated values shown in (1) and (2) reflect the difference in the level of the front stiffness of the vehicle colliding with each other. However, when both the collision determination on the vehicle central unit 1c side and the collision determination on the vehicle side unit 1s are compatible, This is common in that a final collision determination is made. On the side unit 1s side of the vehicle, a short determination is obtained by a short interval integration for a side collision with a vehicle having relatively high front rigidity, and a middle interval integration is performed for a side collision with a vehicle having relatively low front rigidity. The faster judgment is obtained. In addition, events that do not require the deployment of the side airbags include strong door closing and abuse events indicated by solid lines, low-speed side impacts on rigid objects such as electric poles indicated by dashed lines, or dotted lines. 15km / h
/ H indicates a side impact at a collision angle of 90 °, etc.
Although the collision is determined on the side, the vehicle side unit 1
On the s side, since no collision determination is made, no final collision determination is made. Furthermore, the vehicle central unit 1c is made to detect acceleration of about 3G to 5G because, for example, the acceleration sensor 2 of the vehicle side unit 1s is used.
In the case where a failure occurs such that the acceleration is dynamically output in the vehicle, the a-type signal is erroneously transmitted from the communication means 51 or the vehicle central unit 1c
To avoid the inconvenience of receiving the a-type signal by mistake and to ensure the safety of the vehicle collision determination device 1 This is for the purpose of responding to a high-speed determination of several ms required in the case of a collision or the like. In particular, the latter purpose is important, and a high-speed determination of about several ms is possible in the vehicle side unit 1s.
This is because a delay of about several milliseconds occurs inevitably until c detects the start of the movement of the vehicle, and therefore a collision determination must be made before a sufficient speed change occurs.

As another method different from the present embodiment, for example, it is also possible to determine the speed change amount corresponding to the acceleration value of about 3G to 5G or more by a short section integration of about 2 ms. However, in consideration of the delay time from the collision start time due to the structural difference between the vehicle and the appropriate time for the collision judgment and the difference in vehicle structure, or the magnitude of the speed change at the beginning of vehicle movement, etc. It is good to decide.

The output of the waveform shaper 36 is transmitted from the vehicle side unit 1s via the communication means 51 to the vehicle central unit 1c.
Are supplied to the AND gate 40 in pairs with the b-type signal of the judgment information sent to the AND gate. After being received by the vehicle central unit 1c, the b-type signal is also supplied to the AND gate 40 after being converted into a continuous waveform for a predetermined time by the waveform shaper 35. The output of the AND gate 40 is output to the subsequent OR gate 42
Is the final collision determination signal. For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the vehicle side unit 1s determines the vehicle side deformation or the speed change amount of the vehicle movement that occurs to some extent, and the vehicle central unit 1c within a certain time period uses the vehicle central unit 1c for a long section. When the speed change amount is detected, the collision is determined. Although the calculated value waveforms shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 reflect the difference between the high-speed side oblique collision and the medium-speed 90 ° side collision, both of the collision determination on the vehicle central unit 1c side and the vehicle side The point that the final collision determination is made when the collision determination on the unit 1s side is compatible is the same. Here, also in the configuration of the collision determination, a quick determination according to the collision mode can be obtained based on the two integral values of the short section integration and the middle section integration on the vehicle side unit 1s side. Examples of events that do not require the deployment of the side airbag include a strong door closing or an abuse event, or a low-speed side collision with a rigid object such as a utility pole or a side collision with a collision angle of 90 ° at 15 km / h / h, Although the solid line, the chain line, and the dotted line respectively illustrate the case, in the case of a strong door closing, an abuse event, or the like, even if a collision is determined on the vehicle side unit 1s side, the vehicle central unit 1c side determines the vehicle. Because it does not reach, the final collision decision is not made,
Low-speed side impact on a rigid object such as a telephone pole or speed 1
In the case of a side collision at a collision angle of 90 ° at 5 km / h, although the collision is determined on the vehicle central unit 1c side,
The collision determination is not made on the side of the vehicle side unit 1s, so that the final collision determination is not made.

The output of the waveform shaper 34 is transmitted from the vehicle side unit 1s via the communication means 51 to the vehicle central unit 1c.
Is supplied to the AND gate 39 in pairs with the c-type signal of the determination information sent to the AND gate 39. After being received by the vehicle central unit 1c, the c-type signal is also supplied to the AND gate 39 after being converted into a continuous waveform for a predetermined time by the waveform shaper 33. The output of the AND gate 39 is output to the subsequent OR gate 42
Is the final collision determination signal. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, when the vehicle side surface unit 1s determines the vehicle side deformation or the amount of change in the vehicle's long section speed, the vehicle central unit 1c within a certain time period.
When the speed change amount in the short section or the middle section of the vehicle movement exceeds the threshold value, the collision is determined. The calculated value waveforms shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 reflect the difference between the high-speed collision on the side portion behind the passenger compartment and the high-speed diagonal front collision, but both of them are on the vehicle central unit 1c side. The point that the final collision determination is made when the collision determination of the vehicle side unit 1s and the collision determination of the vehicle side unit 1s are compatible is the same. Also in this configuration, a quick determination according to the collision mode can be obtained based on the two integral values of the short section and the middle section on the vehicle central unit 1c side. In the case of a strong door closing or an abuse event, etc., the collision criterion is not satisfied on both the vehicle central unit 1c side and the vehicle side unit 1s side, so that a final collision determination is not made. Low-speed side impact on a rigid object or 15 km / h
h, in the event of a side impact at a collision angle of 90 °,
Although a collision determination is made on the vehicle side unit 1s side, a collision determination is not made on the vehicle central unit 1c side, so that a final collision determination is not made. The collision determination dealt with here is effective for a collision when colliding with a part distant from a rigid object such as a pillar or a side sill forming a vehicle occupant compartment, and even when a relatively small amount of vehicle deformation does not occur, the vehicle moves. The airbag can be deployed quickly when the volume occurs significantly.

The determination information a type, b
The seed and c-type signals are, for example, c by the vehicle side unit 1s.
When a state of transmitting the b-type signal during transmission of the seed signal is set, the transmission is switched to the b-type signal, and when a state of transmitting the a-type signal during transmission of the b-type signal is set, a It is possible to set the priority in the order of a type, b type, and c type, such as switching to the seed signal for transmission, and it is also possible to transmit various information simultaneously by integrating various determination conditions. . However, other priorities can be set, and the vehicle central unit 1c receives the set priorities in mind. In addition, vehicle side unit 1s
Each of the integration sections determined by the vehicle central unit 1c is, for example, an integration section of the short section integrators 5, 7, and 25, respectively.
It is set to an appropriate interval or the same interval from about ms to 4 ms, or the same is set for the integration interval of the middle interval integrators 6, 8, 26 and the integration interval of the long interval integrators 9, 27. can do. In the present embodiment,
The case where one section is set for each of the short section, the middle section, and the long section is taken as an example. For example, two integration sections of 6 ms and 8 ms are provided in the middle section integration, and each section integration is performed. Each value may be determined as a threshold value.

In the above description, the vehicle side unit 1
s is taken out and illustrated only on one of the left and right sides, but FIG. 11 shows left and right vehicle side units 1 corresponding to the left and right occupant side protection systems.
A vehicle collision determination apparatus 101 is shown, which is constructed by connecting a and 1b to a vehicle central unit 1c via communication means 51a and 51b, respectively. In the vehicle collision determination device 101, the comparators 28a to 31a for the vehicle side unit 1a and the comparators 28b to 31b for the vehicle side unit 1b are disposed in the vehicle central unit 1c. The devices 33 to 38 and the logic gates 39 to 42 are also provided with a pair of suffixes a and b corresponding to the vehicle side units 1a and 1b. The threshold value cssa of the comparator 31a and the threshold value cssb of the comparator 31b are acceleration values of opposite polarities.
Similarly, the other comparators 28a to 30a and 28b to
The polarity of the threshold of 30b is also opposite to that of the threshold.

A vehicle collision judging device 201 shown in FIG.
In order to determine the speed change amount of the vehicle side deformation or the vehicle movement speed occurring to some extent in the vehicle side unit 1s, the threshold value judgment output of the short section integrator 7 and the middle section integrator 8 The threshold discrimination output of each output of the long interval integrator 9 is sent to the AND gate 19 via the OR gate 16, and the output of the AND gate 19 is used as a b-type signal via the communication means 51 for the vehicle central unit 1 c To be sent to. Therefore, each threshold value discrimination output of the short section integral value and the middle section integral value or the long section integral value of the synthetic acceleration is
It will be treated as logical product instead of logical sum. That is, in the present embodiment, three types of section determination scales are determined by logical AND, which means that in a side collision requiring deployment of the occupant side protection system, a short section and a middle section or a long section are used. This means that both speed changes in the section are captured to some extent. Therefore, it is possible to make a collision determination slightly different in determination performance from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 11, and according to this embodiment, it is possible to improve the determination time performance of a high-speed side-surface oblique collision in which high-speed determination is difficult. The a-type signal output from the OR gate 15 is shown in FIG.
Are used to make the same determination as in the collision determination device 1 shown in FIG. 1, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

In this case, the threshold values ss2 'and sm2' set in the comparators 12 and 13 can be set to values smaller than the values ss2 and sm2 used in the embodiment.
Accordingly, in response to the change from the logical sum determination to the logical product determination, as shown in FIG. 13, it can be seen that a collision determination can be made within a required time for a high-speed side-surface oblique collision. The two-axis plane shown in FIG. 13 has two axes of the intermediate section integrated value of the synthetic acceleration and the short section integrated value of the synthetic acceleration, and the collision determination area is illustrated with a satin pattern. For the collision system to be determined, the two-dimensional distribution is shown with the maximum value up to the required collision determination time.

The b-type signal supplied to the vehicle central unit 1c via the communication means 51 is waveform-shaped by the waveform shaper 44 and then supplied to the AND gate 46. Further, the three types of threshold value discrimination outputs of the short section integrator 25, the middle section integrator 26, and the long section integrator 27 in the vehicle central unit 1c are supplied to the waveform shaper 45 via the OR gate 43. After the waveform is shaped here, the AND gate 46
Supplied to The output of the AND gate 46 is supplied to the OR gate 42 together with the output of the AND gate 41, where it is used as a final collision determination signal, that is, a deployment trigger signal. Therefore, for example, in the case of a high-speed side oblique collision, as shown in FIG. 14, the collision is determined when the output of the long section integrator 27 in the vehicle central unit 1c exceeds the threshold value cl. Will be. In this case as well, regarding a strong door closing or an abuse event, etc., even if a collision determination is made on the vehicle side unit 1s side, since the vehicle central unit 1c side does not satisfy the collision criterion, a final collision determination is made. In the event of a low-speed side collision with a rigid object such as a telephone pole or a side collision with a collision angle of 90 ° at a speed of 15 km / h, a collision determination was made on the vehicle central unit 1c side. The vehicle side unit 1s
Since the integral value of the short section or the integral value of any of the middle section and the long section does not satisfy the collision criterion, no final collision judgment is made. The threshold cs of the comparator 28 for determining the output of the short interval integrator 25, the threshold cm of the comparator 29 for determining the output of the middle interval integrator 26, or the output of the long interval integrator 27 Comparator 30 for determining
As for the threshold value cl, a correction or the like can be made in consideration of various elements as in the above-described embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, for example, in the vehicle side unit, the logical sum of each threshold value discrimination output of the short-range integral value of the synthetic acceleration and the middle-range integral value is calculated, and the short-term integral of the moving acceleration is calculated in the vehicle central unit. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the logical sum of the threshold value discrimination outputs of the integral value and the intermediate section integral value is calculated, and the logical product of the logical sum outputs of both units determines collision. In this case, it is possible to improve the performance of determination time for a front-rear collision system such as a diagonal front collision and a side collision that hits a place distant from a side unit.
Conversely, for side-to-back collision systems such as oblique frontal collisions and side collisions colliding with places distant from side units, deployment of side airbags is unnecessary, and side collisions in which occupant compartment side deformation is remarkable. In the case where only the side airbag is deployed, it is possible to cope with this by setting the threshold value higher or by disconnecting a circuit component that advantageously determines a deployment unnecessary collision event. In addition, the side of the vehicle may collide with an object such as a utility pole due to wheel slip or the like during steering. In the case of a collision at a location, the collision is determined along the same determination process as in a side collision with a vehicle with high front rigidity shown in FIG. 5, and a collision at a location with low rigidity such as a door portion between pillars is performed. If so, the collision is determined along the same course of determination as in the case of a side collision with a vehicle having low front rigidity shown in FIG.

In each of the above embodiments, the configuration and operation of the collision judging device have been described based on a circuit constituted by hardware. However, the digital signal processing unit after the AD converter in FIGS. , Can be replaced by software digital signal processing by a microprocessor. Further, in each of the above embodiments, the determination results of the threshold values of the various speed change amounts calculated in the vehicle side unit 1s or 1a, 1b are transmitted to the communication unit 51.
Alternatively, transmission and logic processing are performed in the vehicle central unit 1c via 51a and 51b, but the main calculation / judgment unit of the vehicle side unit 1s or 1a or 1b is moved to the vehicle central unit 1c. It can also be integrated. In this case, the vehicle side unit 1s or 1a, 1
b can be a simple configuration having only the acceleration sensor 2 and a means for transmitting an acceleration signal to the vehicle central unit 1c. Furthermore, since the side surface opposite to the side receiving the collision with the vehicle center portion shows substantially the same acceleration component, the main calculation / determination unit of the vehicle center unit 1c is provided in both the vehicle side unit 1s or 1a, 1b. Are moved in the opposite direction to the paired part, so that the judgment can be made only by the two side units, or the calculation and judgment unit is provided in all three units, and the side unit on the side not subject to collision with the vehicle central unit Can be determined as a logical sum or a logical product to improve the determination reliability.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the vehicle side units 1s, 1a, and 1b are not limited to the lower side of the B pillar, the outer side of the side sill or the cross member, and the like. It may be arranged at an arbitrary position, at an arbitrary position of the A pillar or the C pillar, or may be arranged at a door, a floor side, a roof side, or the like. Further, a plurality of vehicle side units 1s, 1a, and 1b may be provided on each of the left and right sides of the vehicle.

[0035]

As described above, a composite acceleration caused by an impact that causes at least one of side deformation and lateral movement of a vehicle is detected, and the composite acceleration is integrated up to a current value over a predetermined section. Calculating a synthetic speed change amount, detecting a moving acceleration resulting from a component of the impact that causes the vehicle to move laterally, integrating the moving acceleration to a current value over a predetermined section, and calculating a moving speed change amount. Is calculated, and the composite speed change amount and the moving speed change amount are each determined as a threshold based on a predetermined threshold value, and a collision determination is made by integrating the respective threshold value determination results. Sometimes, the acceleration detected at the position of the side of the vehicle such as the lower side of the B pillar or the side sill or the cross member is a combined acceleration obtained by combining the side deformation and movement of the vehicle on the side receiving the side collision,
In the case of a side collision, the specific gravity of the component due to the lateral deformation is high in the early stage of the collision, and becomes the component due to the movement of the vehicle after the deformation of the vehicle has subsided. Because it is only the movement acceleration accompanying the movement,
By judging the amount of each speed change in the specific place that occurs in the vehicle at the time of the collision, it is possible to determine the collision in the case of a frontal collision or a rearward collision that involves lateral movement as well as a lateral collision that the vehicle receives over a wide area By selecting the time range of the interval integration, not only a high-speed side impact event involving severe intrusion due to deformation of the vehicle side structure, but also a collision event with a relatively slow collision speed or an oblique A collision event or a collision event with a structure having a relatively low impact object rigidity, a collision event with a side portion in front of or behind the passenger compartment, a collision event with a tall vehicle such as a truck, and a vehicle forward collision. Can quickly determine events such as high-speed offset collision or high-speed diagonal collision accompanied by lateral movement of the vehicle, where relatively little deformation of the vehicle near the side sill occurs. Unlike devices that evaluate the amount of speed change from the acceleration of only the side of the vehicle, it is possible to perform excellent collision judgment that combines high-speed judgment performance and discrimination performance. In addition, when making a determination, it is assumed that the determination system of the two positions satisfies the determination condition, so that high reliability and safety can be obtained without the system malfunctioning due to one erroneous determination. And so on.

Further, according to the present invention, the synthetic acceleration is integrated over three sections of a short section, a middle section, and a long section to calculate each synthetic speed change amount. And the moving speed change amount is calculated by integrating each of the three sections of the long section and the moving speed change amount of the short section or the middle section exceeds the threshold value. Or the short-section synthetic speed change amount or middle-section synthetic speed change amount exceeds the threshold value,
And the long section moving speed change amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value, or the long section synthetic speed change amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value, and the short section moving speed change amount or the middle section moving speed change amount is predetermined. When the threshold value is exceeded, the collision judgment is made, so not only the judgment of a high-speed side collision or the like that involves a severe intrusion due to deformation of the side structure of the vehicle, but also the collision speed is relatively slow Collision, oblique collision, collision with a structure with relatively low impact object rigidity, and collision with the front or rear side of the passenger compartment or a tall object such as a truck. Events such as events such as high-speed offset collisions and high-speed oblique collisions that involve lateral movement of the vehicle even in vehicle collisions and vehicle forward collisions, where vehicle deformation near the location where the acceleration sensor for detecting the composite acceleration is arranged does not occur relatively. Quickly determine Rukoto can, an effect such as can fast determination without addition of misjudgment in abuse strong door closing Ya kicking etc. and weight thereof collision.

Further, according to the present invention, the synthesized acceleration is integrated over three sections, namely, a short section, a middle section, and a long section, to calculate each synthesized speed change amount. And the moving speed change amount is calculated by integrating each of the three sections of the long section and the moving speed change amount of the short section or the middle section exceeds the threshold value. Or the short section synthetic speed change amount exceeds the threshold value, and the middle section synthetic speed change amount or the long section synthetic speed change amount exceeds the threshold value, and the short section moving speed change amount Or, when the middle section moving speed change amount or the long section moving speed change amount exceeds a predetermined threshold,
Since the collision determination is made, the threshold determination output of the three kinds of combined speed change amounts is logically determined, so that in the case of a side collision requiring deployment of the occupant side protection system, the short section and the middle section or the long section are determined. It is possible to detect that both speed change amounts occur to some extent, and it is possible to obtain excellent effects such as improvement in performance of determination time of a high-speed side-surface oblique collision in which high-speed determination is difficult.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment in which a vehicle collision determination device of the present invention is configured by a vehicle side unit on one side and a vehicle central unit.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a collision determination area by the vehicle collision determination device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram showing acceleration components detected at the time of a side collision at the side of the vehicle that receives a side collision, at the center, and at a position opposite to the side that receives the side collision.

FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram showing a comparison of acceleration between a side collision and a strong door closing, an abuse event, and the like at a side portion and a center portion of a vehicle.

5 is a signal waveform diagram of each part of the unit showing an example of collision determination by the vehicle collision determination device shown in FIG. 1 at the time of a side collision with a vehicle having a high front rigidity.

6 is a signal waveform diagram of each unit of the unit showing an example of collision determination by the vehicle collision determination device shown in FIG. 1 at the time of a side collision with a vehicle having low front rigidity.

FIG. 7 is a signal waveform diagram of each unit of the unit showing an example of collision determination by the vehicle collision determination device shown in FIG.

8 is a signal waveform diagram of each unit of the unit showing an example of collision determination by the vehicle collision determination device shown in FIG. 1 at the time of a middle-speed side collision.

9 is a signal waveform diagram of each part of the unit showing an example of collision determination by the vehicle collision determination device shown in FIG. 1 at the time of a high-speed diagonal forward collision.

10 is a signal waveform diagram of each unit showing an example of a collision determination by the vehicle collision determination device shown in FIG. 1 at the time of a high-speed collision with a side portion behind a passenger compartment.

FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment in which the vehicle collision determination device of the present invention is configured by vehicle side units on both sides and a vehicle central unit.

FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing another embodiment of the vehicle collision determination device of the present invention.

13 is a diagram showing a collision determination area by the vehicle collision determination device shown in FIG.

14 is a signal waveform diagram of each unit of the unit showing an example of a collision determination by the vehicle collision determination device shown in FIG. 12 at the time of a high-speed side oblique collision.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,101,201 Vehicle collision determination device 1s, 1a, 1b Vehicle side unit 1c Vehicle center unit 2,22 Acceleration sensor 3,23 Low pass filter 4,24 AD converter 5,7,25 Short section integrator 6,8 , 26 Medium interval integrator 9, 27 Long interval integrator 10-14, 28-31, 28a-31a, 28b-3
1b Comparator 15, 16, 32, 42, 32a, 32b, 42a, 4
2b OR gate 17, 18, 33-38, 33a-38a, 33b-3
8b Waveform shaper 19, 39-41, 46, 39a-41a, 39b-4
1b AND gate 44, 45 Waveform shaper

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A synthetic acceleration caused by an impact that causes at least one of lateral deformation and lateral movement of a vehicle is detected, and the synthetic acceleration is integrated up to a current value over a predetermined section to calculate a synthetic speed change amount. And detecting a moving acceleration resulting from a component of the impact that causes the vehicle to move laterally, calculating the moving speed change amount by integrating the moving acceleration to a current value over a predetermined section, and A method of determining a collision of a vehicle, comprising determining a threshold value of a change amount of a speed and a change amount of a moving speed based on a predetermined threshold value, and determining a collision based on the results of the determination of the threshold values. 2. A synthetic speed change amount is calculated by integrating each of the synthetic accelerations into three sections of a short section, a middle section, and a long section, and the moving acceleration is calculated in a short section, a middle section, and a long section. Each moving speed change amount is calculated by performing section integration over the three sections, and the short section combined speed change amount or the middle section combined speed change amount exceeds a threshold value and the moving acceleration is a predetermined value. The threshold value has been exceeded, the short section synthetic speed change amount or the middle section synthetic speed change amount has exceeded a threshold value, and the long section movement speed change amount has exceeded a predetermined threshold value, or the long section synthetic speed change. 2. A collision judgment is made when the amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value and when the change amount of the short section moving speed or the change amount of the middle section moving speed exceeds the predetermined threshold value. Vehicle collision determination method. 3. A synthetic speed change amount is calculated by integrating each of the synthetic accelerations into three sections of a short section, a middle section, and a long section, and the moving acceleration is calculated by a short section, a middle section, and a long section. Each moving speed change amount is calculated by performing section integration over the three sections, and the short section combined speed change amount or the middle section combined speed change amount exceeds a threshold value and the moving acceleration is a predetermined value. The threshold value has been exceeded, or the short section synthetic speed change amount exceeds the threshold value, and the middle section synthetic speed change amount or the long section synthetic speed change amount exceeds the threshold value, and the short section moving speed change amount or medium 2. The vehicle collision determination method according to claim 1, wherein a collision determination is made when the section travel speed change amount or the long section travel speed change amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value. 4. An acceleration sensor for detecting a combined acceleration caused by an impact causing at least one of a side deformation and a lateral movement of a vehicle, and a combined speed change by integrating the combined acceleration to a current value over a predetermined section. Combined speed change amount calculating means for calculating an amount, an acceleration sensor for detecting a moving acceleration caused by a component of the impact that causes the vehicle to move laterally, and integrating the moving acceleration to a current value over a predetermined section. Moving speed change amount calculating means for calculating the moving speed change amount, and determining the combined speed change amount and the moving speed change amount based on predetermined threshold values, respectively. A collision determination device for a vehicle, comprising: a determination unit that comprehensively determines a collision. 5. The synthetic speed change amount calculating means calculates each synthetic speed change amount by section integrating the synthetic acceleration over three sections of a short section, a middle section, and a long section. The change amount calculating means calculates each moving speed change amount by section integrating the moving acceleration over three sections of a short section, a middle section and a long section, and the determining means calculates the short section combined speed change amount. Or whether the intermediate section synthetic speed change amount exceeds a threshold value, and whether the moving acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold value,
Alternatively, the short section synthetic speed change amount or the middle section synthetic speed change amount exceeds a threshold value, and the long section moving speed change amount exceeds a predetermined threshold value, or the long section synthetic speed change amount exceeds a predetermined threshold. 5. The collision judging device for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein a collision judgment is made when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined value and a change amount in the short section moving speed or a change amount in the middle section exceeds a predetermined threshold value. . 6. The synthetic speed change amount calculating means calculates each synthetic speed change amount by integrating each of the synthetic accelerations in three sections of a short section, a middle section, and a long section. The change amount calculating means calculates each moving speed change amount by section integrating the moving acceleration over three sections of a short section, a middle section and a long section, and the determining means calculates the short section combined speed change amount. Or whether the intermediate section synthetic speed change amount exceeds a threshold value, and whether the moving acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold value,
Alternatively, the short section combined speed change amount exceeds the obtained value, and the middle section combined speed change amount or the long section combined speed change amount exceeds the threshold value, and the short section movement speed change amount or the middle section movement speed change amount or 5. The collision determination device for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein a collision determination is made when the amount of change in the long section traveling speed exceeds a predetermined threshold value.