JPH11139246A - Vehicle impact waveform detecting method and occupant crash protection device using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce cost by integrally mounting an acceleration sensor in a longitudinal direction of a vehicle and an acceleration sensor in a lateral direction on a part excluding a side edge of the vehicle. SOLUTION: An air bag or the like is expanded in the accident on the basis of the signals from both of an acceleration sensor 30 in a laterial, direction and an acceleration sensor 49 in a longitudinal direction, to protect passengers. That is, the logical product (corresponding to the function of the third and fourth AND gates 59, 61), of a first expansion judging means 32 for judging the callision from a laterial direction on the basis of the acceleration signal generated in the lateral direction of the vehicle, and a second expansion judging means 48 for judging the collision from a longitudinal direction on the basis of the acceleration signal-generated in the longitudinal diarection of the vehicle, is calculated. Then a right side air bag expansion driving circuit 62 and a left side air bag expansion driving circuit 63 are driven on the basis of the output signals of the third and fourth AND gates 59, 61. The acceleration sensors 30, 49 are stored in one unit case, and located on a central part of the vehicle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for detecting a collision waveform of a vehicle which occurs at the time of, for example, a collision of a vehicle and an occupant protection device using the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle collision waveform detection method of this type and an occupant protection device using the same are shown in FIG. 7, for example. The booster circuit 3
The input voltage from the battery 1 supplied via the ignition switch 2 is boosted and the backup capacitor 5 is charged via the resistor 4. When the microcomputer 11 determines that a serious collision has occurred based on the acceleration signal supplied from the longitudinal acceleration sensor 10, the microcomputer 11 turns on the switch circuit 7 to cause the squib 8 to pass through the discharge diode 6. Mechanical acceleration switch 9 (turned on at this time, but usually turned off)
Are discharged in series, the explosive (not shown) is ignited by the squib 8, and the airbag is deployed.

The microcomputer 11 has a failure diagnosis function. As one of the diagnosis functions, for example, when the capacity of the backup capacitor 5 is diagnosed, the transistor 13 is turned on for a predetermined time and the backup capacitor 5 is charged. The electric charge is discharged via the resistor 12, and the microcomputer 11 reads the amount of change in the terminal voltage of the backup capacitor 5 at that time, and diagnoses whether or not the capacitance of the backup capacitor 5 is within a specified value. When an abnormality is determined (out of the range of the specified value), an occupant is notified using an alarm device such as a lamp (not shown). In addition, the microcomputer 11
Has a collision determination function and makes a collision determination based on an acceleration signal from the longitudinal acceleration sensor 10.

However, the occupant protection device as described above has been developed to protect the occupant in the event of a collision from the front of the vehicle, and has recently been used to protect the occupant also in the event of a collision from the side of the vehicle. Development is underway to try. In that case, the occupant protection device from the front and the occupant protection device from the side may be provided as separate units, respectively. This will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0005] That is, in FIG. 8, reference numeral 14 denotes a forward occupant protection device, a so-called front-impact airbag unit.
This protects the occupant against a collision from the front of the vehicle. Since the configuration is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 7, the detailed description is omitted. Reference numeral 18 denotes a driver side airbag unit which protects an occupant against a collision from the side of the vehicle. The power supply of the driver side airbag unit 18 is a harness or the like indicated by reference numeral 16. The power supply line is connected to the backup capacitor 5 of the front occupant protection device 14 via the terminal A to supply power. Further, reference numeral 20 denotes a passenger side airbag unit, which has the same configuration as the driver side airbag unit 18. However, the left-right acceleration sensor of the passenger side airbag unit 20 is a passenger side airbag unit. While the acceleration from the seat to the driver's seat direction is detected, the lateral acceleration sensor 10 'of the driver's side airbag unit 18 detects the acceleration from the driver's seat direction to the passenger's seat direction, that is, the detection direction. Are different by 180 degrees.

That is, the driver's side airbag unit 18 is mounted on or near the door of the driver's seat of the vehicle, and the lateral acceleration sensor 10 'therein is
It is the same as the front-rear direction acceleration sensor 10, and is attached to the vehicle so as to be able to detect acceleration in the left-right direction of the vehicle, particularly in the direction of the driver's door.

Reference numeral 11 'denotes a microcomputer having a collision judgment function equivalent to that of the microcomputer 11,
When it is determined that a serious collision has occurred based on the acceleration signal from the lateral acceleration sensor 10 'generated in the lateral direction of the driver's seat of the vehicle, the switch circuit 7' is turned on. 8 'is a squib equivalent to the squib 8, 9'
Is a mechanical acceleration switch equivalent to the mechanical acceleration switch 9, and 17 is a constant voltage circuit, which receives an output voltage from the booster circuit 3 (or the backup capacitor 5) supplied through a power supply line 16 and operates. A constant voltage is supplied to each circuit constituting the side airbag unit 18 for the seat.

The passenger side airbag unit 20 in FIG. 8 connected in parallel with the driver side airbag unit 18 connected to the output terminal A of the front passenger protection device 14 is a front passenger. The output terminal A ′ (equivalent to the output terminal A) of the protection device 14 is connected via a power supply line 19.

That is, since the forward occupant protection device 14 performs the same operation as that shown in FIG. 7, detailed description thereof will be omitted, but the driver side airbag unit 18 will be omitted.
Receives the boosted voltage from the booster circuit 3 of the forward occupant protection device 14 via the output terminal A of the power supply line 16, and the driver side airbag unit 18 reduces the acceleration due to the collision from the vehicle driver's door. When the left and right acceleration sensor 10 'detects the signal and the microcomputer 11' determines that a serious accident has occurred based on the detection signal, the microcomputer 11 'controls the switch circuit 7' to ON to control the forward occupant protection device 14.
Power supply line 1
The electric power supplied via 6 is supplied in series to the squib 8 'and the acceleration switch 9' to ignite the explosive and deploy the airbag.

The passenger side airbag unit 20 is formed substantially identically to the driver side airbag unit 18, and the front side occupant protection device 14 is formed similarly to the driver side airbag unit 18. Booster circuit 3
From the power supply line 19 via the output terminal A ', and the acceleration caused by the collision from the direction of the passenger side door of the vehicle is detected by a left-right acceleration sensor (reference numeral 10' in FIG. 8).
And the microcomputer (same as the reference numeral 11 'in FIG. 8) based on the detected signal.
Determines that a serious accident has occurred, the control circuit turns on a switch circuit (same as the reference numeral 7 'in FIG. 8) to squib the electric power charged in the backup capacitor 5 of the forward occupant protection device 14 (reference numeral in FIG. 8). 8 ′) and an acceleration switch (same as 9 ′ in FIG. 8) in series, and ignite the explosive to deploy the airbag.

[0011]

However, the acceleration sensors of the passenger side airbag unit 20 and the driver side airbag unit 18 in the occupant protection device shown in FIG. 8 are provided at the bases of the respective center pillars. The acceleration sensor of the forward occupant protection device 14 is mounted in a case provided at an intermediate position between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat in the center of the vehicle. Is configured to be electrically connected by a harness, so that there is a problem that the cost is increased.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. The side airbag unit for the passenger seat and the side airbag unit for the driver's seat are housed in a case of the forward occupant protection device, and are integrally formed. The purpose is to reduce costs by reducing the cost.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle collision waveform detecting method, wherein a vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor and a vehicle lateral acceleration sensor are provided at a portion other than a periphery of the vehicle. As a collision signal from a direction, in addition to the acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor, an acceleration signal from the vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor is detected.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor and a vehicle lateral acceleration sensor disposed at a portion other than an edge of a vehicle, and the vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor and a vehicle lateral acceleration sensor. A signal processing means for detecting a collision in the lateral direction of the vehicle based on the acceleration signal from the vehicle, and outputting an ignition signal; and an ignition device for receiving the ignition signal from the signal processing means and operating the occupant protection device body. It is characterized by having.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the signal processing means includes: a first determining means for determining a side collision based on an acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor; And a second determining means for distinguishing the acceleration signal from the acceleration signal generated by the side collision and the acceleration signal generated by the traveling.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the signal processing means determines the side collision based on the acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor and the vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor. The second determination means for distinguishing the acceleration signal of the above into an acceleration signal caused by the side collision and an acceleration signal generated by the travel, and a logical AND of outputs of the first and second determination means to determine the collision. And means for determining collision to be performed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect, the first determining means determines the magnitude of the acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor, and the acceleration level determining means determines the magnitude of the acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor. Speed level determining means for integrating the acceleration signal and determining the magnitude of the integrated value.

According to a sixth aspect, in the fourth aspect, the second determining means integrates an acceleration signal from the vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor and determines a magnitude of the integrated value by a speed level determining means. It is characterized by becoming.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the signal processing means includes: a first determining unit for determining a side collision based on an acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor; A second determination unit that distinguishes between the acceleration signal generated by the side collision and the acceleration signal generated by the traveling, and outputs a prohibition signal when it is determined that the acceleration signal is the acceleration signal generated by the traveling; And a collision judging unit for prohibiting the output of the first judging unit upon receiving a prohibition signal from the unit.

According to an eighth aspect, in the second aspect, the frequency component of the acceleration signal supplied to the signal processing means is 0 to 0.
It is characterized by being set to 100 Hz.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG.
The difference from the conventional occupant protection device shown in FIG. 8 is that a lateral acceleration sensor 3 for detecting an acceleration generated in a lateral direction of the vehicle is provided.
Based on acceleration signals from both the zero and the longitudinal acceleration sensor 49 that detects acceleration occurring in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, an airbag or the like is deployed in the event of a collision from the lateral side of the vehicle to protect occupants, These acceleration sensors 30, 49 are housed in one unit case,
And the center of the vehicle (excluding the periphery of the vehicle, and the best position is the middle position between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat)
Is located. In the following, a description will be given of a system for deploying an airbag and the like to protect an occupant even in the event of a collision in the vehicle front-rear direction and in the left-right direction. Therefore, detailed description is omitted.

That is, the first deployment judging means 32 judges the collision from the lateral direction based on the acceleration signal generated in the lateral direction of the vehicle, and the collision from the longitudinal direction based on the acceleration signal generated in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. AND with the second expansion determining means 48 (third and fourth AND gate 59,
61, and drives the right side airbag deployment drive circuit 62 and the left side airbag deployment drive circuit 63 based on the output signals of the third and fourth AND gates 59 and 61, respectively. is there.

Next, the first development judging means 32 outputs the first
Analog / digital converter 33, first digital high-pass filter 34, first digital low-pass filter 35, first trigger / reset circuit 36, first threshold generation circuit 3
7, a first comparison circuit 38, a second threshold value generation circuit 39, a first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 40, a second comparison circuit 41, a third
It comprises a threshold generation circuit 42, a third comparison circuit 43, a fourth threshold generation circuit 44, a fourth comparison circuit 45, a first AND gate 46 and a second AND gate 47.

The first analog / digital converter 33, the first digital high-pass filter 34, the first digital low-pass filter 35,
First trigger / reset circuit 36, first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 40, third threshold value generation circuit 42, third comparison circuit 4
The third, fourth threshold value generating circuit 44, fourth comparing circuit 45, and second AND gate 47 form a right side airbag deployment determining means.

A first analog / digital converter 33, a first digital high-pass filter 34, a first digital low-pass filter 35,
A first trigger / reset circuit 36, a first threshold value generating circuit 37, a first comparing circuit 38, a second threshold value generating circuit 39,
The first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 40, the second comparison circuit 41, and the first AND gate 46 constitute a left side airbag deployment judging means, and the right and left side airbag deployment judging means comprises the left-right acceleration. A sensor 30, a first analog / digital converter 33, a first digital high-pass filter 34, a first digital low-pass filter 35,
The first trigger / reset circuit 36 and the first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 40 are shared.

The second expansion determining means 48 includes a second analog / digital converter 50, a second digital high-pass filter 51, a second digital low-pass filter 52, a second trigger / reset circuit 53, and a fifth threshold generation. Circuit 54,
It comprises a second acceleration / speed conversion circuit 55, a fifth comparison circuit 56, and an inverter 58. Note that the longitudinal acceleration sensor 49 here corresponds to the longitudinal acceleration sensor 10 shown in FIG. 8 in the conventional example. The microcomputer 11 in FIG. 1 has the same functions as those of the conventional example having the same reference numerals, and determines a vehicle forward collision.

Next, the configuration of the first development judging means 32 will be described in detail. The lateral acceleration sensor 30 is fixed to a chassis at an intermediate position between the vehicle driver's seat and the passenger seat, and detects acceleration from the vehicle lateral direction, that is, acceleration applied from the driver's seat side and acceleration applied from the passenger's seat side. The lateral acceleration signal is supplied to a first trigger / reset circuit 36 via a first analog / digital converter 33, a first digital high-pass filter 34, and a first digital low-pass filter 35. First trigger / reset circuit 36
Outputs a trigger signal when the absolute value of the acceleration signal supplied from the first digital low-pass filter 35 exceeds a predetermined value while changing from a small value to a large value, and outputs a trigger signal while changing from a large value to a small value. A reset signal is output when the value is exceeded.

The first threshold value generating circuit 37 outputs a positive threshold value when a trigger signal is supplied from the first trigger / reset circuit 36, and when a reset signal is supplied, the threshold value is output. Stop outputting values. First comparison circuit 38
Outputs a high-level signal when the acceleration signal supplied from the first digital low-pass filter 35 becomes larger than the threshold value supplied from the first threshold value generation circuit 37.

The second threshold value generating circuit 39 outputs a positive threshold value when a trigger signal is supplied from the first trigger / reset circuit 36, and outputs a threshold value when a reset signal is supplied. Stop output of The first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 40 converts the acceleration signal supplied from the first digital low-pass filter 35 into a speed signal by adding (integrating in the analog processing) the acceleration signal.
The first comparison circuit 38 calculates the first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 4 based on the threshold value supplied from the second threshold value generation circuit 39.
When the speed signal supplied from 0 increases, a high level signal is output.

The third threshold value generating circuit 42 outputs a negative threshold value when the trigger signal is supplied from the first trigger / reset circuit 36, and outputs the threshold value when the reset signal is supplied. Stop output of The third comparison circuit 43
When the acceleration signal supplied from the first digital low-pass filter 35 becomes smaller than the threshold value supplied from the third threshold value generation circuit 42, a high level signal is output.

The fourth threshold value generating circuit 44 outputs a negative threshold value when the trigger signal is supplied from the first trigger / reset circuit 36, and outputs the threshold value when the reset signal is supplied. Stop output of The fourth comparison circuit 45
When the speed signal supplied from the first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 40 becomes larger than the threshold value supplied from the fourth threshold value generation circuit 44, a high level signal is output.

When the first AND gate 46 receives the supply of the high level signal from both the first and second comparison circuits 38 and 41, the first AND gate 46 determines that there is a possibility that a collision has occurred from the left side of the vehicle. 1 Output a collision determination signal. Further, when the second AND gate 47 receives the supply of the high level signal from both the third and fourth comparison circuits 43 and 45, the second AND gate 47 determines that the collision from the right side of the vehicle may have occurred and outputs the second high level. It outputs a collision judgment signal.

Next, the configuration of the second expansion determining means 48 will be described in detail. The longitudinal acceleration sensor 49, together with the lateral acceleration sensor 30, is fixedly arranged on the chassis between the vehicle driver's seat and the passenger seat, detects acceleration from the vehicle longitudinal direction, and outputs the longitudinal acceleration signal to the second. A second digital high-pass filter 51 via an analog / digital converter 50 and a second digital high-pass filter 51 via a second digital low-pass filter 52.
It is supplied to the trigger / reset circuit 53. Second trigger /
The reset circuit 53 outputs a trigger signal when the absolute value of the acceleration signal supplied from the second digital low-pass filter 52 exceeds a predetermined value while changing from a small value to a large value similarly to the first trigger / reset circuit 36. The reset signal is output when a predetermined value is exceeded while changing from a large value to a small value.

The fifth threshold value generating circuit 54 outputs a positive threshold value when a trigger signal is supplied from the second trigger / reset circuit 53, and outputs a threshold value when a reset signal is supplied. Stop output of When a trigger signal is supplied from the second trigger / reset circuit 53 similarly to the first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 40, the second digital low-pass filter 52
Is converted into a speed signal by adding (integrating in the analog processing) the acceleration signal supplied from. When a reset signal is supplied, the acceleration / speed conversion is stopped and reset.

When the speed signal supplied from the second acceleration / speed conversion circuit 55 becomes larger than the threshold value supplied from the fifth threshold value generation circuit 54, the fifth comparison circuit 56 detects the possibility of collision. It also outputs a high level signal as it is highly likely that the vehicle is traveling on a rough road.

The inverter 58 is connected to the fifth comparison circuit 56
When the high level signal is supplied from the controller, the output is switched to the low level, and a prohibition signal for disabling the deployment of the airbag is output.

When the third AND gate 59 receives the high level signal from the second AND gate 47 and receives the supply of the high level signal from the inverter 58, the third AND gate 59 activates the right side airbag deployment drive circuit 62. Further, when the low level signal is supplied from the inverter 58, the right side airbag deployment drive circuit 62 is deactivated as rough road travel.

When the fourth AND gate 61 receives the high level signal from the first AND gate 46 and receives the high level signal from the inverter 58, the fourth AND gate 61 activates the left side airbag deployment drive circuit 63. Further, when the low level signal is supplied from the inverter 58, the left side airbag deployment drive circuit 62 is deactivated as rough road travel. The microcomputer 11 in FIG. 1 is a second analog / digital converter 5
0, a collision determination for protecting the occupant from a frontal collision or the like is performed based on the longitudinal acceleration signal from the longitudinal acceleration sensor 49 supplied through the second digital high-pass filter 51 and the second digital low-pass filter 52.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. The acceleration applied in each direction of the vehicle (when the vehicle collides from the left side of the vehicle) is detected by the left-right acceleration sensor 30 and the front-rear acceleration sensor 49 as indicated by X in FIG. The acceleration signal is supplied to the first analog / digital converter 33, the first digital high-pass filter 34, and the first digital low-pass filter 3.
5 in series, the first trigger / reset circuit 36, the first
The signal is supplied to the comparison circuit 38 and the first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 40 in parallel.

The first trigger / reset circuit 36 generates a first threshold when the absolute value of the acceleration signal extracted by the first digital low-pass filter 35 exceeds a predetermined value while increasing. Circuit 37, second
Threshold value generation circuit 39 and first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 4
0, and the first threshold value generating circuit 37
When a trigger signal is supplied from the trigger / reset circuit 36, a positive threshold value is output, and the first comparison circuit 38 outputs a positive threshold value from the positive threshold value supplied from the first threshold value generation circuit 37. When the acceleration signal supplied from one digital low-pass filter 35 increases, a high-level signal is output.

Further, the first acceleration /
The speed conversion circuit 40 includes the first digital low-pass filter 3
5 is converted into a speed signal. The speed signal is supplied to the second comparison circuit 41 so that the second threshold value generation circuit 39 to which the trigger signal is supplied is provided.
The second comparison circuit 41 outputs a high level signal when the value exceeds the negative threshold value. As a result, when a high-level signal is supplied from both the first and second comparison circuits 38 and 41 to the first AND gate 46, the high-level signal (first collision determination signal) is output to the fourth AND gate 46.
It is supplied to the AND gate 61.

On the other hand, the longitudinal acceleration signal detected by the longitudinal acceleration sensor 49 is applied to a second trigger by a second analog / digital converter 50, a second digital high-pass filter 51 and a second digital low-pass filter 52 in series. / Reset circuit 53, second acceleration / speed conversion circuit 55, and microcomputer 11.

The second trigger / reset circuit 53 generates a fifth threshold when the absolute value of the acceleration signal extracted by the second digital low-pass filter 52 exceeds a predetermined value while increasing. The fifth threshold value generation circuit 54 is supplied to the circuit 54 and the second acceleration / speed conversion circuit 55, and outputs a threshold value when a trigger signal is supplied from the second trigger / reset circuit 53.

At this time, when the vehicle is traveling on a rough road, the vehicle swings in the front-rear direction and the lateral direction.
External force acting in the front-rear direction is greater than that in the lateral collision. Therefore, the output of the second acceleration / velocity conversion circuit 55 is larger than that in the case of the side collision, so that, for example, FIG.
In the section T ₀ of the curve shown by the solid line Y, the fifth comparison circuit 5
6 becomes high level, and the output of the inverter 58 becomes low level.
Even when the high-level first collision determination signal is supplied to the AND gate 61, the prohibition signal (second collision determination signal) is supplied from the inverter 58, and the left side airbag deployment drive circuit 63 is not driven.

However, when the vehicle is not traveling on a rough road but in a side collision, the peak of the curve shown by the solid line Y in FIG. 5 becomes smaller than the threshold value (ie, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 6). , Second acceleration / speed conversion circuit 55
, The output of the fifth comparison circuit 56 becomes low level. As a result, the output of the inverter 58 becomes high level, the first AND gate 46 supplies a high-level first collision determination signal to the fourth AND gate 61, and the inverter 58 supplies a permission signal (second collision determination signal). Then, the left side airbag deployment drive circuit 63 is driven.

In this case, the polarity of the acceleration signal output from the left-right acceleration sensor 30 in this case is indicated by a broken line X 'in FIG. 180 degrees different as shown. That is, since the voltage is output in the opposite direction, the acceleration signal component from the first digital low-pass filter 35 is compared with the threshold value from the third threshold value generation circuit 42 by the third comparison circuit 43. At the same time, the speed signal from the first acceleration / speed conversion circuit 40 and the threshold value from the fourth threshold value generation circuit 44 are compared by the fourth comparison circuit 41, and the third and fourth comparison circuits 43 , 45, the second AND gate 47 outputs the third signal.
A high-level first collision determination signal is supplied to the AND gate 59. At this time, if a low level signal is supplied from the inverter 58 in the same manner as described above, the left side airbag deployment drive circuit 63 is not driven.

However, when the vehicle is not traveling on a rough road but is in a side collision, the output of the second acceleration / speed conversion circuit 55 is small. Then, the left side airbag deployment drive circuit 63 is driven.

Embodiment 2 The operation of the microcomputer when the first and second expansion determining means 32 and 48 are constituted by a microcomputer will be described. First, in step ST3 shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, steps ST1 and ST2 are steps for performing a conventional collision determination in the front-rear direction. That is, in step ST1,
A collision is determined based on the acceleration signal from the longitudinal acceleration sensor 49. If it is determined in step ST1 that the collision is a serious collision in step ST1, the airbag is deployed and the process proceeds to step ST3. Proceed to ST4.

After the steps ST1 and ST2 have been completed, in step ST1 of FIG. 3, the lateral acceleration signal supplied from the lateral acceleration sensor 30 is converted into a digital signal. In the next step ST2, step ST1
A low frequency signal close to a DC component due to an offset or the like is removed from the acceleration signal converted into a digital signal in step ST3, and a high frequency component is further removed therefrom in step ST3. In the next step ST4, an acceleration signal related to a side collision is removed. If the magnitude exceeds a predetermined value of the first trigger / reset circuit 36 while increasing, a reset signal is output if the magnitude exceeds a predetermined value while decreasing, and the procedure returns to step ST1.

In step ST5, the first and second threshold value generation circuits 37 and 39 output a positive threshold value, and the third and fourth threshold value generation circuits 42 and 44 output a negative threshold value. Output. In step ST6, the acceleration signal generated in step ST3 is converted into a speed signal by performing an addition operation (corresponding to integration in analog processing).

In step ST8, step ST3 is executed.
Is compared with the negative threshold value calculated in step ST5. As a result, step S
When the negative acceleration signal exceeds the negative threshold value at T8, the process proceeds to the next step ST10, and when the negative acceleration signal does not exceed the negative threshold value, the process returns to step ST1.

In step ST10, it is determined that a left side collision has been determined in step ST8, a first side collision determination signal is generated, and the process proceeds to the step of FIG.
At T9, a right side collision is determined to have been determined at step ST7, a second side collision determination signal is generated, and the process proceeds to the step of FIG.

Next, the rough road traveling determination in step ST4 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. In step ST1 of FIG. 4, the longitudinal acceleration signal supplied from the longitudinal acceleration sensor 49 is converted into a digital signal. In step ST2, a low-frequency signal close to a DC component is removed from the acceleration signal converted into a digital signal in step ST1, and
In step 3, the high frequency components are removed therefrom.
If the magnitude of the acceleration signal related to the side collision at T4 exceeds a predetermined value while increasing, the control goes to step ST5.
If the predetermined value is exceeded while decreasing, the process proceeds to step ST5 in FIG.

In step ST5, a threshold value of the positive speed signal is created, and in step ST6, the acceleration signal created in step ST3 is converted into a speed signal by performing an addition operation.

In step ST7, the magnitude of the speed signal calculated in step ST6 is compared with the positive threshold value calculated in step ST6. As a result, when it is determined that the magnitude of the speed signal is larger than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step ST9, and a prohibition signal for prohibiting the deployment of the side airbag such as the right airbag and the left airbag is generated. When the magnitude of the speed signal is smaller than the threshold value, a second collision determination signal for deploying the side airbag is created. As a result, when the first and second collision determination signals are generated in step ST3 of FIG. 2 and the inhibition signal is not generated in step ST4, the signal for deploying the side airbag is changed to the right or left side. It is supplied to the side airbag deployment drive circuits 62 and 63.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, the effect that the occupant can be surely protected against a collision accident from the side is exhibited.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a circuit block according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart explanatory diagram in a case where signal processing is performed on a circuit block configuration shown in FIG. 1 by a microcomputer.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a flowchart for performing a side collision determination in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a flowchart for determining rough road traveling in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a difference between right and left side collision determinations in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a difference between rough road running and side collision in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a circuit block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional occupant protection device for the front-rear direction.

FIG. 8 is a circuit block diagram for explaining a configuration of a conventional occupant protection device for front and rear and left and right directions.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30 left and right direction acceleration sensor 32,48 deployment judgment means 33,50 analog / digital converter 34,51 digital high pass filter 35,52 digital low pass filter 36,53 trigger / reset circuit 37,39,42,44,54 threshold Generation circuit 38, 41, 43, 45, 56 Comparison circuit 40, 55 Acceleration / speed conversion circuit 46, 47, 59, 61 AND gate 49 Front-rear direction acceleration sensor 62 Right side airbag deployment drive circuit 63 Left side airbag deployment drive circuit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor and a vehicle lateral acceleration sensor are provided at a portion other than an edge of a vehicle, and an acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor is provided as a collision signal from a lateral direction of the vehicle. In addition, a vehicle collision waveform detection method includes detecting an acceleration signal from the vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor. 2. A vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor and a vehicle lateral acceleration sensor arranged at a portion other than an edge of the vehicle,
A signal processing means for detecting a collision from a lateral direction of the vehicle based on acceleration signals from the vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor and the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor, and outputting an ignition signal; and outputting an ignition signal from the signal processing means. An occupant protection device comprising: an ignition device for receiving and operating the occupant protection device body. 3. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing unit determines a side collision based on an acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor, and converts the acceleration signal from the vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor into a side collision. 3. The occupant protection device according to claim 2, further comprising: a second determination unit that distinguishes between an accompanying acceleration signal and an acceleration signal generated as the vehicle travels. 4. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing unit determines a side collision based on an acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor, and converts the acceleration signal from the vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor into a side collision. A second determining means for distinguishing between an accompanying acceleration signal and an acceleration signal generated during traveling; and a collision determining means for determining a collision by taking a logical product of outputs of the first and second determining means. The occupant protection device according to claim 3, wherein the occupant protection device comprises: 5. An acceleration level determining means for determining a magnitude of an acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor, and an acceleration level determining means for integrating the acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor. 5. The occupant protection system according to claim 4, further comprising speed level judgment means for judging the magnitude of the integral value. 6. The speed level judging means for integrating the acceleration signal from the vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor and judging the magnitude of the integrated value. 4. The occupant protection device according to 4. 7. A first judging unit for judging a side collision based on an acceleration signal from the vehicle lateral acceleration sensor, and a signal processing unit for judging the acceleration signal from the vehicle longitudinal acceleration sensor to a side collision. A second judging unit that discriminates between an acceleration signal accompanying the traveling and an acceleration signal generated along with the traveling, and outputs a prohibition signal when it is determined that the acceleration signal is accompanied by the traveling; The occupant protection device according to claim 3, further comprising a collision determination unit that prohibits the output of the first determination unit. 8. The occupant protection device according to claim 2, wherein a frequency component of the acceleration signal supplied to the signal processing means is set to 0 to 100 Hz.