Method for activating at least one occupant protection device arranged in a vehicle, and vehicle
By integrating vehicle weight into the activation logic of occupant protection systems, the method ensures consistent and effective activation across different vehicle derivatives and load conditions, enhancing safety through precise timing and intensity adjustments.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- MERCEDES BENZ GROUP AG
- Filing Date
- 2025-08-28
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-15
AI Technical Summary
Existing occupant protection systems in vehicles fail to adequately adjust activation based on varying vehicle weights, leading to inconsistent performance across different vehicle derivatives and load conditions.
Incorporating current vehicle weight as a parameter in the activation logic of occupant protection devices, using sensor fusion to determine an accurate weight and adjusting activation times, levels, and sequences based on this weight, along with other parameters like collision severity.
Enhances the effectiveness of occupant protection by ensuring appropriate activation times and levels based on actual vehicle weight, improving safety across diverse vehicle types and load conditions.
Smart Images
Figure EP2025074478_15052026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] Mercedes-Benz Group AG
[0002] Method for activating at least one occupant protection device arranged in a vehicle and vehicle
[0003] The invention relates to a method for activating at least one occupant protection device arranged in a vehicle and to a vehicle.
[0004] As described in DE 102012 024847 A1, a method for activating an occupant protection device installed in a vehicle is known from the prior art. In this method, the vehicle's surroundings are detected, and a potential collision time is determined based on object data and vehicle data detected in the surroundings. The occupant protection device is activated depending on the determined impending collision time. Upon detection of a collision, the actual collision time is determined. If a deviation is detected between the determined potential collision time and the detected actual collision time, a stage of activation of the occupant protection device and / or activation of a further occupant protection device occurs, depending on the detected actual collision time.
[0005] Furthermore, DE 102020 208 222 Al discloses a method for activating at least one occupant protection device arranged in a vehicle, wherein when the vehicle is started, the current vehicle weight is determined, a decision is made as to whether the activation of the at least one occupant protection device is necessary depending on the determined vehicle weight, and the activation of the at least one occupant protection device is carried out depending on the determined vehicle weight.
[0006] The invention is based on the objective of providing a method for activating at least one occupant protection device arranged in a vehicle that is improved compared to the prior art, and a vehicle that is improved compared to the prior art.
[0007] The problem is solved according to the invention by a method for activating at least one occupant protection device arranged in a vehicle with the features of claim 1 and a vehicle with the features of claim 7.
[0008] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.
[0009] In a method according to the invention for activating at least one occupant protection device arranged in a vehicle, the current vehicle weight is determined, in particular when or immediately after the vehicle is started.
[0010] In one embodiment of the invention, a decision as to whether the activation of the at least one occupant protection device is required is made depending on the determined vehicle weight, in particular in an occupant protection device control unit of the at least one occupant protection device, but in particular not only depending on the determined vehicle weight, but also depending on one or more other parameters, i.e. the determined vehicle weight is in particular another parameter that is taken into account.
[0011] In an alternative or additional embodiment of the invention, the activation of the at least one occupant protection device is carried out depending on the determined vehicle weight, particularly in the occupant protection device control unit of the at least one occupant protection device, but especially not only depending on the determined vehicle weight, but also depending on one or more other parameters, i.e., the determined vehicle weight is in particular a further parameter that is taken into account. However, the activation is only carried out if it is necessary, whereby this decision is made, for example, as mentioned above, depending on the determined vehicle weight or, for example, also independently of the determined vehicle weight.Activation of at least one occupant protection device is particularly necessary when a collision of the vehicle with an obstacle or an imminent, and in particular an unavoidable, collision of the vehicle with an obstacle is detected, especially if at least a predetermined collision severity limit is exceeded by this collision or imminent collision.
[0012] The aforementioned starting of the vehicle, during or immediately after which the current vehicle weight is determined, is also referred to as starting the vehicle, switching on the ignition, or activating the vehicle, in particular as activating the vehicle's electrical power supply, especially its control units. This can be accomplished, for example, by turning an ignition key in the vehicle's ignition lock, by pressing a start button, or by detecting the presence of a driver or an identification device authorizing a driver to operate the vehicle, such as an electronic ignition key.
[0013] Alternatively or in addition to determining the current vehicle weight at or immediately after starting the vehicle, the current vehicle weight can also be determined at at least one other time, for example during ferry operation of the vehicle and / or immediately before the activation of the at least one occupant protection device.
[0014] A vehicle according to the invention has at least one occupant protection device, wherein the vehicle, in particular at least one control unit of the vehicle, is designed and configured to carry out the method. The control unit can, for example, be the occupant protection device control unit of the at least one occupant protection device or another control unit of the vehicle.
[0015] In the described solution, the determined current vehicle weight is used in particular for a switching logic of the at least one occupant protection device, in particular for a switching logic of the activation of the at least one occupant protection device, in particular in the occupant protection device control unit of the at least one occupant protection device, in particular to adapt this switching logic to the respective determined current vehicle weight.
[0016] The described solution is particularly advantageous due to the wide range of vehicle weights that can occur between different vehicle derivatives of a single vehicle platform. For example, two-seater and multi-seater vehicles, as well as coupes, convertibles, sedans, station wagons, SUVs, or other vehicle derivatives, can result from the same vehicle platform, all of which can have significantly different vehicle weights. Furthermore, the actual vehicle weight can also change, especially due to varying loads of passengers and luggage.
[0017] However, so far there is no adjustment of the activation of the at least one occupant protection device to these different vehicle weights, and it is very challenging to define the activation of the at least one occupant protection device, for example ignition times of the at least one occupant protection device or several occupant protection devices, across vehicle derivatives, especially with regard to vehicle decelerations, which may vary greatly due to the different vehicle weights.
[0018] Using the solution described here, the current vehicle weight can be included as a parameter in an ignition logic, i.e., in particular in a switching logic for activating at least one occupant protection device, and thus improve occupant protection.
[0019] In one embodiment, a time and / or activation level of the at least one occupant protection device and / or a number and / or sequence of activation stages and / or a time and / or activation level of the respective activation stage are specified depending on the determined vehicle weight, but in particular not only depending on the determined vehicle weight, but also depending on one or more other parameters, i.e., the determined vehicle weight is in particular another parameter that is taken into account. For example, at least one airbag or several airbags and / or at least one seat belt tensioner or several seat belt tensioners and / or at least one other occupant restraint system or several other occupant restraint systems are activated as occupant protection devices.The vehicle advantageously has this occupant protection device or several occupant protection devices.
[0020] The current vehicle weight is determined, in particular, by means of at least one sensor unit on the vehicle. Advantageously, the vehicle has at least one such sensor unit for determining the current vehicle weight.
[0021] For example, the current vehicle weight is determined by means of a chassis sensor unit and / or a sensor unit of the vehicle's vehicle dynamics control system. The vehicle dynamics control system is also referred to, for example, as an electronic stability program (ESP). The vehicle advantageously has this chassis sensor unit and / or this vehicle dynamics control sensor unit. The chassis sensor unit includes, for example, a chassis control unit. The vehicle dynamics control sensor unit includes, in particular, a vehicle dynamics control unit. The respective control unit records or determines, in particular, the current vehicle weight or a specific vehicle weight value for the current vehicle weight.
[0022] In one embodiment, the current vehicle weight is determined by sensor fusion of several of the vehicle's sensor units, for example, sensor fusion of the chassis sensor unit and the vehicle dynamics control sensor unit. Through sensor fusion, the current vehicle weight is determined, for example, as an average of the vehicle weight values obtained from the multiple sensor units.
[0023] Alternatively or additionally, sensor fusion allows, for example, depending on at least one parameter, only one or more of the sensor units to be considered for determining the current vehicle weight, while the other one or more sensor units are not considered. The at least one parameter is, for example, a parameter describing the current driving state and / or vehicle state.For example, in a given driving condition and / or vehicle condition, one or more sensor units of the vehicle enable a more accurate determination of the current vehicle weight than another sensor unit or several other sensor units of the vehicle, so that advantageously only the sensor unit or sensor units of the vehicle that enables the more accurate determination of the current vehicle weight are taken into account.
[0024] The described solution makes it possible, in particular, to achieve the best possible ignition logic for at least one occupant protection device by using information about the current vehicle weight, especially within a predefined range of possible activation times, particularly switching times. For this purpose, the vehicle weight can, for example, be determined as described above when the vehicle is started and taken into account in a parameter set of the ignition logic.
[0025] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to a drawing.
[0026] This shows:
[0027] Fig. 1 schematically shows a vehicle with at least one occupant protection device.
[0028] Figure 1 shows an exemplary schematic representation of a vehicle 1 with at least one occupant protection device 2. The at least one occupant protection device 2 is, for example, an airbag or seat belt tensioner or another occupant restraint system.
[0029] In a method according to the invention for activating the occupant protection device 2, the current vehicle weight of the vehicle 1 is determined when the vehicle 1 is started.
[0030] It is intended that a decision as to whether the activation of the at least one occupant protection device 2 is required is made depending on the determined vehicle weight, and / or that the activation of the at least one occupant protection device 2 is carried out depending on the determined vehicle weight. The procedure is carried out, in particular, in a control unit 3 of the vehicle 1. The control unit 3 can, for example, be an occupant protection device control unit of the at least one occupant protection device 2 or another vehicle control unit of the vehicle 1.
[0031] In one embodiment, a time and / or activation strength and / or a number and / or sequence of activation stages and / or a time and / or activation strength of the respective activation stage are specified depending on the determined vehicle weight.
[0032] The current vehicle weight is determined, in particular, by means of at least one sensor unit 4, 5 of the vehicle 1. For example, the current vehicle weight is determined by means of a chassis sensor unit 4 and / or a sensor unit 5 of a vehicle dynamics control system of the vehicle 1.
[0033] In one embodiment, the current vehicle weight is determined by sensor fusion of several sensor units 4, 5 of the vehicle 1, for example, sensor fusion of the chassis sensor unit 4 and the sensor unit 5 of the vehicle dynamics control system. Through sensor fusion, the current vehicle weight is determined, for example, as an average of the vehicle weight values determined by the several sensor units 4, 5.
[0034] Reference symbol list
[0035] 1 vehicle
[0036] 2 occupant protection device
[0037] 3 Control unit
[0038] 4 Chassis sensor unit
[0039] 5 Sensor unit Vehicle dynamics control
Claims
Mercedes-Benz Group AG Patent claims 1. Method for activating at least one occupant protection device (2) arranged in a vehicle (1), wherein when the vehicle (1) is started, the current vehicle weight of the vehicle (1) is determined, wherein - a decision as to whether the activation of at least one occupant protection device (2) is required, depending on the determined vehicle weight, and / or - the activation of the at least one occupant protection device (2) is carried out depending on the determined vehicle weight, characterized in that a time and / or an activation strength of the activation and / or a number and / or sequence of activation stages and / or a time and / or an activation strength of the respective activation stage are specified depending on the determined vehicle weight.
2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one airbag and / or at least one seat belt tensioner is activated as an occupant protection device (2).
3. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the current vehicle weight is determined by means of at least one sensor unit (4, 5) of the vehicle (1).
4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the current vehicle weight is determined by means of a chassis sensor unit (4) and / or a sensor unit (5) of a vehicle dynamics control system of the vehicle (1).
5. Method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that a sensor fusion of several sensor units (4, 5) of the vehicle (1) is carried out to determine the current vehicle weight.
6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the current vehicle weight is determined by sensor fusion as an average of vehicle weight values determined by the several sensor units (4, 5).
7. Vehicle (1) comprising at least one occupant protection device (2), wherein the vehicle (1) is designed and equipped to carry out a method according to one of the preceding claims.
8. Vehicle (1) according to claim 7, characterized by at least one sensor unit (4, 5) for determining the current vehicle weight.