JP2010036750A - Collision protection system for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a collision protection system for a vehicle capable of simplifying wiring and reducing the number of terminals of an ECU. <P>SOLUTION: This collision protection system for the vehicle includes: an occupant protection system having a sensor 2 for protection of an occupant to detect collision of the vehicle, an occupant protection device 5 to protect the occupant and an occupant protection ECU to deploy the occupant protection device 5 based on a detection result of the sensor 2 for protection of the pedestrian; and a pedestrian protection system having a sensor 3 for protection of a pedestrian to detect collision against the pedestrian, a pedestrian protection device 6 to protect the pedestrian and a pedestrian protection ECU to deploy the pedestrian protection device 6 based on a detection result of the sensor 3 for protection of the pedestrian. The occupant protection ECU and the pedestrian protection ECU are integrated to one integration ECU 4, and the sensor 2 for protection of the occupant, the sensor 3 for protection of the pedestrian and the integration ECU 4 are bus-connected to each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle collision protection system that detects a vehicle collision and protects passengers and pedestrians.

  The occupant protection system detects a vehicle collision and deploys an occupant protection device such as an air bag based on the detection result. The collision is detected by an occupant protection sensor (for example, an acceleration sensor) mounted on the vehicle. The occupant protection sensor has a point-to-point connection (one-to-one connection) with the occupant protection ECU. The occupant protection ECU determines deployment / non-deployment of the airbag based on the detection result of the occupant protection sensor.

  The pedestrian protection system detects a pedestrian collision and deploys a pedestrian protection device (for example, an active hood or a cowl airbag) based on the detection result. The detection of the pedestrian is performed by a pedestrian protection sensor (for example, an acceleration sensor or a pressure sensor) mounted on the vehicle. The pedestrian protection sensor is point-to-point connected to the pedestrian protection ECU. The pedestrian protection ECU determines deployment / non-deployment of the pedestrian protection device based on the detection result of the pedestrian protection sensor. The pedestrian protection system is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-261309 (Patent Document 1).

The vehicle collision protection system includes an occupant protection system and a pedestrian protection system. Therefore, conventionally, a vehicle equipped with a vehicle collision protection system has been equipped with two ECUs and a sensor that is point-to-point connected to each ECU.
JP 2007-261309 A

  However, in the above configuration, arrangement and wiring in the vehicle become complicated, and it is difficult to simplify wiring and save space. Therefore, it is conceivable to integrate the occupant protection ECU and the pedestrian protection ECU into one ECU.

  However, even when an integrated ECU is used, the number of wires connected to the ECU does not change because each sensor has a point-to-point connection. The integrated ECU requires a terminal connected to the occupant protection sensor and a terminal connected to the pedestrian protection sensor. That is, simply integrating the ECU cannot simplify the wiring and reduce the number of terminals of the ECU.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle collision protection system capable of simplifying wiring and reducing the number of terminals of an ECU.

The vehicle collision protection system according to the present invention includes an occupant protection sensor that detects a vehicle collision, an occupant protection device that protects the occupant, and an occupant that deploys the occupant protection device based on the detection result of the occupant protection sensor. An occupant protection system having a protection ECU;
Pedestrian protection sensor for detecting a collision with a pedestrian, a pedestrian protection device for protecting the pedestrian, and a pedestrian protection ECU that deploys the pedestrian protection device based on the detection result of the pedestrian protection sensor A pedestrian protection system comprising:
In a vehicle collision protection system comprising:
The occupant protection ECU and the pedestrian protection ECU are integrated into one integrated ECU,
The occupant protection sensor, the pedestrian protection sensor, and the integrated ECU are connected by a bus.

  According to the present invention, the ECU is integrated into one, and the connection is a bus (BUS) connection. Space can be saved by arranging the integrated ECU. The connection with the sensor is a bus connection. For this reason, it is one of the occupant protection sensor or the pedestrian protection sensor that is connected to the integrated ECU. The other sensor is connected to one sensor connected to the integrated ECU. The integrated ECU is connected to both the occupant protection sensor and the pedestrian protection sensor as well as the number of terminals after integration. As a result, the number of wires extending to the ECU is reduced, and the wiring can be simplified. Along with this, it is possible to improve work efficiency of wiring work, save space, and reduce costs by reducing the number of ECU terminals.

  Here, the occupant protection sensor is preferably connected to the integrated ECU rather than the pedestrian protection sensor. In other words, the bus connection is preferably integrated ECU-occupant protection sensor-pedestrian protection sensor. A pedestrian protection sensor is often mounted on the front side of a vehicle due to the nature of sensing. And a pedestrian protection sensor is easy to receive an impact more directly with respect to a collision. The pedestrian protection sensor is more easily damaged than the occupant protection sensor.

  By setting the connection order as described above, even if the pedestrian protection sensor is damaged and the connection is hindered, the occupant protection sensor connected to the integrated ECU is not easily affected. That is, even if a connection failure occurs in the pedestrian protection sensor, a line between the occupant protection sensor and the integrated ECU is secured. By connecting a sensor that is relatively difficult to break to the integrated ECU side, the risk of both stopping is suppressed.

  Furthermore, when the pedestrian protection sensor includes a main sensor and a redundant safing sensor, the main sensor is preferably connected to the integrated ECU side rather than the safing sensor. The main sensor is often different from the safing sensor in the type or accuracy of the sensor. The main sensor is a main sensor that detects a pedestrian collision and has high accuracy with respect to a pedestrian collision. The safing sensor is a sensor provided from the viewpoint of preventing erroneous deployment of the occupant protection device. Therefore, in the pedestrian protection system, it is preferable to secure a line between the main sensor and the integrated ECU. By adopting the above connection order, even if a failure occurs in the safing sensor, the connection between the main sensor and the integrated ECU is ensured.

  According to the vehicle collision protection system of the present invention, wiring can be simplified and the number of ECU terminals can be reduced.

  Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to embodiments.

<First embodiment>
A vehicle collision protection system 1 according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle collision protection system 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a connector portion of the sensor. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing flow of the integrated ECU 4.

  First, the main configuration of the vehicle bumper on the front side of the vehicle will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle bumper is mainly composed of a bumper cover A, a bumper reinforcement B, a side member C, and an absorber D.

  The bumper cover A is a resin (for example, polypropylene) cover member that extends in the vehicle width direction (left-right direction) at the front end of the vehicle and is attached to the vehicle body so as to cover the bumper reinforcement B and the chamber member 7.

  The bumper reinforcement B is a metallic structural member that is disposed in the bumper cover A and extends in the vehicle width direction, and is a hollow member having a Japanese character-shaped cross section in which a beam is provided in the center of the interior.

  The side member C is a pair of metal members that are positioned in the vicinity of both the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle and extend in the vehicle front-rear direction, and the bumper reinforcement B described above is attached to the front end thereof. The absorber D is located in front of the bumper reinforcement B and extends in the vehicle width direction.

  The vehicle collision protection system 1 includes two front sensors 2 (corresponding to "occupant protection sensors" in the present invention), two pedestrian protection sensors 3, an integrated ECU 4, and an airbag 5 (in the present invention). Equivalent to an “occupant protection device”) and a pedestrian protection device 6. The front sensor 2, the integrated ECU 4, and the airbag 5 constitute an occupant protection system, and the pedestrian protection sensor 3, the integrated ECU 4, and the pedestrian protection device 6 constitute a pedestrian protection system.

  The front sensor 2 is an acceleration sensor (G sensor), and is installed on both side members C on the front side of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, the front sensor 2 is an acceleration sensor having a connector having 4 pins (4 terminals). The front sensor 2 is connected to wiring extending from the connector 2 pins to the integrated ECU 4, and the other 2 pins extending to the pedestrian protection sensor 3. That is, the front sensor 2 is connected to the integrated ECU 4 and the pedestrian protection sensor 3. When a collision is detected by the Freon sensor 2, the detection result is converted into a digital signal in the sensor and transmitted to the integrated ECU 4. The performance of the front sensor 2 in the present embodiment is such that the output range is about 100 to 200 G and the resolution is about 1 to 2 G / LSB.

  The pedestrian protection sensor 3 is a 4-pin acceleration sensor, and is installed on both sides of the bumper reinforcement B, respectively. As described above, the pedestrian protection sensor 3 is connected to the wiring in which the two pins of the connector are connected to the connector of the front sensor 2. When a collision is detected by the pedestrian protection sensor 3, the detection result is converted into a digital signal in the sensor and transmitted to the integrated ECU 4 via the front sensor 2. The performance of the pedestrian protection sensor 3 in this embodiment is such that the output range is about 50G and the resolution is about 0.2 to 0.5 G / LSB. The pedestrian protection sensor 3 has a smaller output range and higher sensitivity than the front sensor 2.

  The integrated ECU 4 determines the deployment / non-deployment of the airbag 5 based on the detection result of the front sensor 2 and controls the deployment of the airbag 5. Further, the integrated ECU 4 determines whether the pedestrian protection device 6 (for example, an active hood or a cowl airbag) is deployed based on the detection result of the pedestrian protection sensor 3, and controls the deployment of the pedestrian protection device 6. To do. That is, the integrated ECU 4 has a function of integrating the airbag ECU and the pedestrian protection ECU.

  The integrated ECU 4 has four terminals (sensor terminals) for the sensors. Two sensor terminals are set as one set, and each set is connected to a wiring extending to the front sensor 2. The sensor terminal of the integrated ECU 4 is directly connected only to the front sensor 2. The integrated ECU 4 is connected to the pedestrian protection sensor 3 via the front sensor 2. In this way, each sensor and the integrated ECU 4 are connected by bus (BUS) in the order of the integrated ECU 4 -front sensor 2 -pedestrian protection sensor 3.

  The integrated ECU 4 knows the connection order, and can identify whether the signal is the first or second signal from the side closer to itself. The integrated ECU 4 can identify which sensor the signal is from, for example, a communication code. The integrated ECU 4 compares the signal from the front sensor 2 with a threshold value set for occupant protection, and determines whether the airbag 5 is to be deployed. Further, the integrated ECU 4 compares the signal from the pedestrian protection sensor 3 with a threshold value set for pedestrian protection, and determines whether the pedestrian protection device 6 is deployed / not deployed. The threshold for pedestrians is set to be smaller than the threshold for airbags, and values that exceed the output range are not compared.

  The integrated ECU 4 is connected to the airbag 5 and the pedestrian protection device 6. The integrated ECU 4 deploys the airbag 5 and the pedestrian protection device 6 when it is determined to be deployed. The deployment of the airbag 5 may be determined by an AND circuit of the two front sensors 2.

  As a summary, the processing flow of the integrated ECU 4 will be described with reference to FIG. When the integrated ECU 4 receives a signal from the sensor (S201), the integrated ECU 4 identifies the order of the sensor connected to the received signal from itself. When the received signal is the first (S202: Yes), the integrated ECU 4 determines whether or not to deploy the airbag 5 based on the received signal (S203). When the integrated ECU 4 determines to deploy (S204: Yes), the integrated ECU 4 issues a deployment command to the airbag 5.

  When the received signal is the second (S202: No), the integrated ECU 4 determines whether or not to deploy the pedestrian protection device 6 based on the received signal (S206). And integrated ECU4 issues a deployment command with respect to the pedestrian protection apparatus 6, when it determines with expansion | deployment (S207: Yes). In this way, the integrated ECU 4 executes the above process every time a signal is received from the sensor.

  As mentioned above, according to this embodiment, since there is one ECU, space saving is possible. And according to this embodiment, the number of sensor terminals of integrated ECU4 is reduced rather than what each sensor 2 and 3 and integrated ECU4 are each point-to-point connected. In the case of point-to-point connection, eight sensor terminals (four sets) are required for four sensors. In this embodiment, since it is a bus connection, four sensor terminals (two sets) are sufficient for four sensors. There are only two wires (two sets) from the sensor extending to the integrated ECU 4. As described above, a complicated wiring configuration can be avoided, and wiring can be simplified.

  Further, since the front sensor 2 is connected to the integrated ECU 4 side with respect to the pedestrian protection sensor 3, even if the pedestrian protection sensor 3 is damaged and the connection is hindered, the front sensor 2 and the integrated ECU 4 are connected. Wiring with is secured. Note that the type of each sensor is not limited to an acceleration sensor.

  Further, the number of sensors in each system is not limited to the above. For example, an acceleration sensor other than the front sensor 2 may be connected by a bus. Further, for example, a chamber member may be disposed near the absorber D, and a pressure sensor may be disposed there as a pedestrian protection sensor. The pressure sensor may be point-to-point connection or bus connection to the integrated ECU 4.

<Second embodiment>
A vehicle collision protection system 10 according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the vehicle collision protection system 10. In the second embodiment, a chamber member 7 and a pressure sensor 8 are added to the first embodiment. Accordingly, components having the same configuration as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the second embodiment, the connection state of the bus connection is changed.

  The vehicle collision protection system 10 includes two front sensors 2, two pedestrian protection sensors 3, an integrated ECU 4, an airbag 5, a pedestrian protection device 6, a chamber member 7, and a pressure sensor 8. It has.

  The chamber member 7 is a substantially box-shaped synthetic resin member that extends in the vehicle width direction and is attached to the front surface of the bumper reinforcement B within the bumper cover A, and has a substantially sealed shape surrounded by a wall having a thickness of several millimeters. The chamber space is formed.

  The pressure sensor 8 is attached to the chamber member 7. The pressure sensor 8 detects a pressure change in the chamber space. When the chamber member 7 is deformed by the collision and the pressure in the chamber space changes, the pressure sensor 8 detects it. Since the pressure sensor 8 can detect a pedestrian's collision more directly, it is disposed as a main sensor of the pedestrian protection system. That is, in the pedestrian protection system, the pressure sensor 8 is a main sensor and the pedestrian protection sensor 3 is a safing sensor. The integrated ECU 4 determines deployment / non-deployment of the pedestrian protection device based on AND of both sensors.

  The pressure sensor 8 has a 4-pin connector, and the 2-pin is connected to a wiring connected to the connector of the front sensor 2. The other two pins of the pressure sensor 8 are connected to wiring connected to the connector of the pedestrian protection sensor 3. As in the first embodiment, the front sensor 2 and the integrated ECU are connected by wiring.

  That is, in the second embodiment, the connection order is integrated ECU 4-front sensor 2-pressure sensor 8-pedestrian protection sensor 3 bus connection. Here, since there is one pressure sensor 8, the bus connection of one (left side) wiring line is the integrated ECU4-front sensor 2-pedestrian protection sensor 3 as in the first embodiment. Yes. The integrated ECU 4 recognizes the connection order and the left and right wiring lines, and identifies which sensor the signal is from.

  Thereby, the collision protection system 10 for vehicles exhibits the same effect as 1st embodiment. Furthermore, the pressure sensor 8 (main sensor) is connected to the integrated ECU 4 rather than the pedestrian protection sensor 3 (safing sensor). Therefore, even if a failure occurs in the pedestrian protection sensor 3, the connection between the pressure sensor 8 as the main sensor and the integrated ECU 4 is ensured. Note that the pressure sensor 8 may be connected to the integrated ECU 4 in a point-to-point manner, and other connections may be the same as in the first embodiment. Even in this case, it is possible to simplify the wiring and reduce the number of sensor terminals as compared to the point-to-point connection between the sensor and the integrated ECU 4.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle collision protection system 1. FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the connector part of a sensor. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of integrated ECU4. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle collision protection system 10. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1, 10: Vehicle collision protection system,
2: Front sensor 3: Pedestrian protection sensor 4: Integrated ECU 5: Air bag 6: Pedestrian protection device
7: chamber member, 8: pressure sensor,

Claims (3)

A passenger protection sensor that detects a vehicle collision, a passenger protection device that protects the passenger, and a passenger protection ECU that deploys the passenger protection device based on the detection result of the passenger protection sensor. System,
A pedestrian protection sensor for detecting a collision with a pedestrian, a pedestrian protection device for protecting the pedestrian, and a pedestrian deploying the pedestrian protection device based on the detection result of the pedestrian protection sensor A pedestrian protection system having a protection ECU;
In a vehicle collision protection system comprising:
The occupant protection ECU and the pedestrian protection ECU are integrated into one integrated ECU,
The vehicle collision protection system, wherein the occupant protection sensor, the pedestrian protection sensor, and the integrated ECU are bus-connected.   The vehicle collision protection system according to claim 1, wherein the occupant protection sensor is connected to the integrated ECU with respect to the pedestrian protection sensor. The pedestrian protection sensor has a main sensor and a safing sensor that is a redundant sensor for the main sensor,
The vehicle collision protection system according to claim 2, wherein the main sensor is connected to the integrated ECU with respect to the safing sensor.

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