Crew protection devices

Abstract

To deploy an irreversible restraining body at an appropriate timing after a collision.SOLUTION: An occupant protection apparatus comprises: a collision prediction section 110 for predicting a collision of an own vehicle; a collision detection section 120 for detecting the collision of the own vehicle; an irreversible restraining section 130 capable of irreversibly restraining an occupant; and a control section 140 for controlling actuation of the irreversible restraining section 130 on the basis of a signal from the collision prediction section 110 or the collision detection section 120. The collision detection section 120 comprises: a first collision detection section 121 for detecting the collision in a pre-crush zone; and a second collision detection section 122 for detecting the collision in a crushable zone. When it is possible to acquire a prediction signal from the collision prediction section 110, the control section 140 actuates the irreversible restraining section 130 on the basis of a detection signal from the first collision detection section 121. When it is impossible to acquire the prediction signal from the collision prediction section 110, the control section 140 actuates the irreversible restraining section 130 on the basis of a detection signal from the second collision detection section 122 while referring to the prediction signal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an occupant protection device.

Background Art

[0002] Currently, in the event of a vehicle collision, occupant protection devices typified by seat belts and airbags that restrain and protect occupants are installed in vehicles, and their functions are also evolving day by day.

[0003] Generally, during a frontal collision of a vehicle, yawing behavior in which the vehicle swings greatly left and right and a strong deceleration when colliding with a hard object occur. At that time, the occupants in the vehicle cabin may be swung left and right, leading to a secondary collision in which they strongly collide with the interior. In order to reduce this type of collision, airbags and the like tend to be enlarged assuming various occupant behaviors.

[0004] On the other hand, in the current collision impact detection system, as the airbag becomes larger, it is becoming difficult to prepare for the collision of the occupant in the fully deployed state of the airbag. Therefore, there is a need for a sensing system that can wait for the occupant in the fully deployed state of the airbag regardless of the body type or seating posture of the occupant.

[0005] As this type of occupant protection device, a front monitoring radar, a side monitoring radar 11, an accelerometer for frontal collision, and an accelerometer for side collision that are connected to a control unit 30 to detect or predict a collision, a motor-driven retractor and an active pad that can reversibly restrain an occupant, an airbag and a side airbag that can irreversibly restrain an occupant are provided, and an operation timing determination unit of the control unit determines the reliability of the collision prediction by the radar, and based on the determined reliability, changes the operation priority of the motor-driven retractor and the active pad to control the operation. A technique is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

[0006] Furthermore, in situations where an obstacle exists at the edge of the radar device's detection range, causing a decrease in detection accuracy, the control parameters used when calculating the braking force correction amount are changed. This delays the control timing of the braking force control and increases the slope of the increase in the braking force correction amount when the detection accuracy of the radar device 10 decreases, thereby compensating for the performance degradation of the system due to the decrease in detection accuracy (see, for example, Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-145179 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 4144538 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0008] However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 discloses the timing of operation of a reversible restraint means from the time a collision with a vehicle is predicted until the actual collision occurs, and does not change the timing of operation of an irreversible restraint means that is deployed after the collision.

[0009] Furthermore, the technology described in Patent Document 2 evaluates the detection accuracy of both the laser radar and the camera, and uses the detection value of the sensor with higher detection accuracy to perform vehicle control according to the risk (control of operating reaction force and braking / driving force). However, it does not change the operating timing of the irreversible restraint means using the detection value of the sensor with higher detection accuracy.

[0010] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an occupant protection device that deploys an irreversible restraint at an appropriate timing after a collision. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] Embodiment 1; One or more embodiments of the present invention include: a collision prediction unit that predicts a collision of the vehicle; a collision detection unit that detects a collision of the vehicle; an irreversible restraint unit that can irreversibly restrain occupants; and a control unit that controls the operation of the irreversible restraint unit based on signals from the collision prediction unit or the collision detection unit, wherein the collision detection unit consists of a first collision detection unit that detects a collision in a pre-crash zone and a second collision detection unit that detects a collision in a crumple zone, and the control unit, when it is possible to obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit, activates the irreversible restraint unit based on the detection signal from the first collision detection unit, and the prediction signal from the collision prediction unit of In cases where acquisition is impossible, the proposed occupant protection device is characterized by activating the irreversible restraint unit based on the detection signal from the second collision detection unit.

[0012] Embodiment 2; One or more embodiments of the present invention, wherein the collision prediction unit includes an imaging device, a LiDAR, a millimeter-wave radar, and an ultrasonic sensor, and the control unit is Based on weather information and time-of-day information obtained from an external external environmental information acquisition device, If it is determined that the collision prediction accuracy is insufficient, the prediction signal from the collision prediction unit will be... of This invention proposes a crew protection device characterized by its ability to determine that acquisition is impossible.

[0013] Embodiment 3; One or more embodiments of the present invention propose an occupant protection device characterized in that the first collision detection unit consists of a sensor provided on the front bumper, and the control unit determines the presence or absence of a collision, the collision speed, and the collision direction from the sensor. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, by deploying an irreversible restraint at an appropriate timing after a collision, it is possible to reduce the physical burden on the occupants caused by the collision. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing the configuration of an occupant protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a diagram showing the relationship between the elapsed time with the collision time as zero and the G applied to the vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] This is a diagram showing a pre-crash zone and a crushable zone in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] This is a flowchart of the processing of an occupant protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] <Embodiment> The occupant protection device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

[0017] <Configuration of Occupant Protection Device 1> As shown in FIG. 1, the occupant protection device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a collision prediction unit 110, a collision detection unit 120, an irreversible restraint unit 130, and a control unit 140.

[0018] The collision prediction unit 110 predicts a collision of the host vehicle. The collision prediction unit 110 is, for example, a sensor used in ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems), and includes an imaging device, LIDAR (Light Detection And Rating), a millimeter-wave radar, and an ultrasonic sensor. Here, the imaging device is, for example, a stereo camera, which can acquire distance information to a vehicle, an obstacle, or a ground object in front of the host vehicle, and has an advantage of being able to accurately identify the type of an object. On the other hand, the stereo camera is easily affected by disturbances such as weather, and particularly, in the morning and evening hours when direct sunlight enters, or in severe weather such as thick fog, heavy rain, or snow, it has a feature that it cannot exhibit sufficient functions. LiDAR is an effective sensor in medium-range areas, acquiring distance information to vehicles, obstacles, or objects in front of the vehicle, as well as information to understand their three-dimensional shapes. On the other hand, LIDAR also has the characteristic of not being able to function properly in severe weather conditions such as dense fog, heavy rain, or snow. Millimeter-wave radar is an effective sensor for long-range areas and can acquire distance information to vehicles, obstacles, or objects in front of the vehicle, as well as relative speed with the vehicle ahead. Furthermore, while millimeter-wave radar is less affected by dark environments such as nighttime or tunnels, and by weather conditions such as rain, snow, and fog, it also has the characteristic of not being able to detect non-metallic materials. Ultrasonic sensors are effective in short-range areas and are less affected by weather conditions such as rain, snow, and fog. However, they also have the characteristic of not being able to detect sound-absorbing materials such as foam. The information from the collision prediction unit 110 is output to the control unit 140, which will be described later.

[0019] The collision detection unit 120 detects a collision involving the vehicle itself. The collision detection unit 120 includes a first collision detection unit 121 that detects collisions in the pre-crash zone and a second collision detection unit 122 that detects collisions in the crumple zone. The collision detection unit 120 is, for example, an acceleration sensor, and the first collision detection unit 121 is, for example, a sensor located in the center of the front bumper in the vehicle width direction or at both ends in the vehicle width direction. Furthermore, the second collision detection unit 122 is an acceleration sensor that is mounted, for example, on the side of the radiator near the front of the vehicle, and detects the longitudinal acceleration occurring at this mounting location. The information from the collision detection unit 120 is output to the control unit 140, which will be described later.

[0020] The irreversible restraint unit 130 irreversibly restrains the occupant and, for example, mainly consists of an airbag 131 and an inflator 132. Here, the airbag 131 is a device that uses an inflated bag to absorb the vehicle's kinetic energy or mitigate impact. Furthermore, the inflator 132 supplies high-pressure gas to the airbag 131. An ignition device instantly ignites the gas generating agent, which then generates high-pressure nitrogen gas to inflate the airbag. The inflator 132 is operated by an operating signal from the control unit 140, which will be described later.

[0021] The control unit 140 controls the entire occupant protection device 1 using a control program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) or the like (not shown). In this embodiment, the control unit 140 analyzes the accuracy of the collision prediction determination based, for example, on information from the collision prediction unit 110 and information from the external external environment information acquisition device 200. Specifically, the control unit 140, for example, takes into account weather information and time-of-day information acquired from an external external environment information acquisition device 200, and combines the sensors best suited to the current external environment, taking into account the characteristics of the imaging device, LIDAR, millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic sensor, etc. that constitute the collision prediction unit 110. It then analyzes the collision prediction accuracy for the current external environment based on the judgment accuracy for the same external environment that it has acquired in advance and the judgment accuracy for the same external environment based on past data. Then, if the control unit 140 can obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, that is, if sufficient judgment accuracy can be expected, it activates the irreversible constraint unit 130 based on the detection signal from the first collision detection unit 121. If it is not possible to obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, that is, if sufficient judgment accuracy cannot be expected, it activates the irreversible constraint unit 130 based on the detection signal from the second collision detection unit 122, while referring to the prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110. Furthermore, the control unit 140 determines, for example, the presence or absence of a collision, the collision speed, and the collision direction from the sensor in the center of the front bumper in the vehicle width direction or from the sensors at both ends in the vehicle width direction of the first collision detection unit 121, and controls which airbag 131 to deploy and how. Specifically, as shown in Figure 2, the control unit 140, when it can acquire a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, that is, when sufficient judgment accuracy can be expected, determines the possibility and risk of collision before the collision ("primary judgment" (preliminary judgment) in Figure 2). If it determines that there is a possibility and risk of collision, it activates the irreversible restraint unit 130 at the time of collision in the pre-crash zone (secondary judgment (1) in Figures 2 and 3). On the other hand, as shown in Figure 2, if it is impossible to obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, that is, if sufficient judgment accuracy cannot be expected, the control unit 140 activates the irreversible constraint unit 130 when a collision occurs in the crushable zone (secondary judgment (2) in Figures 2 and 3).

[0022] <Processing of occupant protection device 1> The processing of the occupant protection device 1 according to this embodiment will be explained using Figure 4.

[0023] The control unit 140, taking into account the characteristics of the imaging device, LIDAR, millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic sensor, etc. that constitute the collision prediction unit 110, combines the sensors best suited to the current external environment based on weather information, time of day information, etc. acquired from the external external environment information acquisition device 200, and analyzes the collision prediction accuracy in the current external environment based on the judgment accuracy in the same external environment that it has acquired in advance and the judgment accuracy in the same external environment based on past data, and determines whether it is possible to acquire a collision prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, that is, whether sufficient judgment accuracy can be expected (step S110).

[0024] Then, if the control unit 140 determines that sufficient judgment accuracy can be expected from the collision prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110 ("YES" in step S110), it determines whether or not it has acquired the first detection signal from the first collision detection unit 121 of the collision detection unit 120 (step S120). At this time, if the control unit 140 determines that it has not been able to obtain the first detection signal from the first collision detection unit 121 of the collision detection unit 120 ("NO" in step S120), it returns to the original state and switches to standby mode.

[0025] On the other hand, if the control unit 140 determines that it has been able to obtain a first detection signal from the first collision detection unit 121 of the collision detection unit 120 ("YES" in step S120), it sends an activation signal to the inflator 132, which acts as the irreversible restraint unit 130 (step S130), inflates and deploys the airbag 131 (step S140), and terminates the process.

[0026] Furthermore, if the control unit 140 determines in step S110 that sufficient judgment accuracy cannot be expected from the collision prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110 ("NO" in step S110), it determines whether or not it has acquired a second detection signal from the second collision detection unit 122 of the collision detection unit 120 (step S150). At this point, if the control unit 140 determines that it has not been able to obtain the second detection signal from the second collision detection unit 122 of the collision detection unit 120 ("NO" in step S150), it returns to the original state and switches to standby mode.

[0027] On the other hand, if the control unit 140 determines that it has been able to obtain a second detection signal from the second collision detection unit 122 of the collision detection unit 120 ("YES" in step S150), it refers to the prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110 and sends an activation signal to the inflator 132, which acts as the irreversible restraint unit 130 (step S130), inflating and deploying the airbag 131 (step S140), and then terminates the process.

[0028] <Effects and Actions> As described above, the occupant protection device 1 according to this embodiment includes a collision prediction unit 110 that predicts a collision with the vehicle and a collision detection unit 120 that detects a collision with the vehicle, and the collision detection unit 120 is configured to include a first collision detection unit 121 and a second collision detection unit 122. Here, the first collision detection unit 121 is, for example, an acceleration sensor disposed at the center or both ends in the vehicle width direction of the front bumper, and the second collision detection unit 122 is, for example, an acceleration sensor mounted on the right or left side member of the vehicle, near the front of the vehicle, which detects longitudinal acceleration occurring at this mounting location. In other words, the first collision detection unit 121 detects collisions in the so-called pre-crash zone, and the second collision detection unit 122 detects collisions in the crumple zone. Then, if the control unit 140 can obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, it activates the irreversible constraint unit 130 based on the detection signal from the first collision detection unit 121. If it is not possible to obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, it activates the irreversible constraint unit based on the detection signal from the second collision detection unit 122, while referring to the prediction signal. In other words, if the control unit 140 can obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, after obtaining the prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110 and until it receives a detection signal from the first collision detection unit 121, it performs a more accurate analysis of the collision direction, collision speed, etc., based on the prediction signal obtained moment by moment from the collision prediction unit 110. Therefore, it is possible to determine which irreversible restraint unit 130 should be activated, how to control the inflation and deployment of the airbag 131, and so on, allowing the airbag 131 to be deployed appropriately at the right time after a collision to protect the occupants. On the other hand, if it is impossible to obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, the control unit 140 will also refer to the prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110 and, based on the detection signal from the first collision detection unit 121, determine the presence or absence of a collision, the collision speed, and the collision direction from, for example, the sensor in the center of the front bumper in the vehicle width direction or the sensors at both ends in the vehicle width direction of the first collision detection unit 121, and control which airbag 131 to deploy and how. This ensures that the airbag 131 is deployed appropriately at the right time after a collision, protecting the occupants.

[0029] Furthermore, the collision prediction unit 110 in the occupant protection device 1 according to this embodiment includes an imaging device, a LiDAR, a millimeter-wave radar, and an ultrasonic sensor. The control unit 140 determines, based on the information from the collision prediction unit 110, that the collision prediction accuracy is insufficient, and if it determines that it is impossible to acquire a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, it determines that it is impossible to acquire a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110. In other words, the control unit 140, taking into account weather information, time of day information, etc., acquired from an external external environment information acquisition device 200, combines the sensors best suited to the current external environment, considering the characteristics of the imaging device, LIDAR, millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic sensor, etc. that constitute the collision prediction unit 110, and analyzes the collision prediction accuracy for the current external environment based on the judgment accuracy in the same external environment that it has acquired in advance and the judgment accuracy in the same external environment based on past data. Then, if the control unit 140 can acquire a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, that is, if sufficient judgment accuracy can be expected, it activates the irreversible constraint unit 130 based on the detection signal from the first collision detection unit 121. If it is not possible to acquire a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, that is, if sufficient judgment accuracy cannot be expected, it activates the irreversible constraint unit 130 based on the detection signal from the second collision detection unit 122. Therefore, by analyzing the accuracy of the prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, the airbag 131 can be deployed appropriately at the right time after the collision to protect the occupants.

[0030] Furthermore, the first collision detection unit 121 of the collision detection unit 120 in the occupant protection device 1 according to this embodiment consists of sensors provided, for example, in the center of the front bumper in the vehicle width direction or at both ends in the vehicle width direction, and the control unit 140 determines the presence or absence of a collision, the collision speed, and the collision direction from the sensor in the center of the vehicle width direction or the sensors at both ends in the vehicle width direction. In other words, the control unit 140 determines whether a collision has occurred, the collision speed, and the collision direction based on the sensor output from, for example, the acceleration sensor installed in the front bumper of the first collision detection unit 121. Therefore, it is possible to determine which irreversible restraint unit 130 should be activated, how to control the inflation and deployment of the airbag 131, and so on, allowing the airbag 131 to be deployed appropriately at the right time after a collision to protect the occupants.

[0031] Furthermore, if the control unit 140 determines that it can acquire a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit 110, that is, that sufficient judgment accuracy can be expected, it becomes possible to perform a preliminary judgment (first judgment) at that point. In addition to analyzing the collision direction and collision speed, it is possible to perform detailed data processing such as determining the size of the occupants, the collision type, and the magnitude of the impact, thereby ensuring safer protection for the occupants.

[0032] Furthermore, conventional occupant protection systems have the problem of not being able to accurately distinguish between symmetrical and asymmetrical collisions. However, by using ADAS sensors for collision detection as in this embodiment, it is expected that information such as instantaneous collision velocity, collision overlap amount (Y direction, Z direction), collision angle, and identification of the object of collision can be obtained, thus further improvements in the accuracy of collision detection can be expected in the future. Furthermore, conventional occupant protection systems have had challenges in controlling the TTF (Time to Fire) time due to differences in collision speed. However, as mentioned above, if the accuracy of collision detection is improved, more sophisticated control of the TTF time can be expected.

[0033] <Example 1> In this embodiment, the deployment mode of the airbag 131 is not described in detail, but the control unit 140 may adjust the deployment speed of the airbag 131 based on information such as the collision speed obtained from the first collision detection unit 121. Alternatively, the inflator 132 may be configured in a multi-stage manner, and the control unit 140 may be configured to deploy the airbag 131 in stages. Furthermore, the control unit 140 may perform a secondary deployment after the airbag 131 has been brought into a certain deployed shape through primary deployment. The control unit 140 can perform control of the deployment of such airbags 131 to provide greater safety protection for the occupants.

[0034] <Modification 2> In this embodiment, the collision prediction unit 110 is equipped with an imaging device, LiDAR, millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic sensor, etc., and the control unit 140 combines the most suitable sensors for the current external environment, taking these features into consideration. However, for some of the sensors combined, particularly those with accuracy issues, the collision determination threshold may be lowered, and the control unit 140 may perform an overall collision determination. The above processing is particularly effective when the collision acceleration is small.

[0035] Furthermore, the occupant protection device 1 of the present invention can be realized by recording the processing of the control unit 140 on a recording medium that can be read by a computer system, and then having the control unit 140 read and execute the program recorded on this recording medium. The term "computer system" here includes hardware such as the operating system and peripheral devices.

[0036] Furthermore, "computer system" shall also include the homepage provisioning environment (or display environment) if the WWW (World Wide Web) system is being used. Furthermore, the above program may be transmitted from a computer system that stores the program in a memory device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by transmission waves within the transmission medium. Here, the "transmission medium" used to transmit a program refers to a medium that has the function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) like the Internet or a communication line (communication line) like a telephone line.

[0037] Furthermore, the above program may be intended to implement some of the functions described above. Furthermore, the aforementioned functions may be realized in combination with programs already recorded in the computer system, such as so-called differential files (differential programs).

[0038] While embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments and includes designs and the like that do not depart from the spirit of this invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0039] 1; Crew protection device 110; Collision prediction unit 120; Collision detection unit 121; First collision detection unit 122; Second collision detection unit 130;Irreversible restraint part 131; airbag 132; Inflator 200; External environment information acquisition device

Claims

1. A collision prediction unit that predicts collisions with the vehicle, A collision detection unit that detects collisions with the vehicle, An irreversible restraint unit capable of irreversibly restraining the occupant, A control unit that controls the operation of the irreversible constraint unit based on signals from the collision prediction unit or the collision detection unit, Includes, The collision detection unit comprises a first collision detection unit that detects collisions in the pre-crash zone and a second collision detection unit that detects collisions in the crumple zone. The occupant protection device is characterized in that the control unit activates the irreversible restraint unit based on the detection signal from the first collision detection unit when it is possible to obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit, and activates the irreversible restraint unit based on the detection signal from the second collision detection unit when it is not possible to obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit.

2. The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the collision prediction unit includes an imaging device, a LiDAR, a millimeter-wave radar, and an ultrasonic sensor, and the control unit determines that it is impossible to obtain a prediction signal from the collision prediction unit if it determines that the collision prediction accuracy is insufficient based on weather information and time-of-day information obtained from an external external environmental information acquisition device.

3. The occupant protection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the first collision detection unit consists of a sensor provided on the front bumper, and the control unit determines the presence or absence of a collision, the collision speed, and the collision direction from the sensor.

Images