Airbag control system 100 for a vehicle (1, Fig. 1) comprises an airbag control unit (ACU) 101 connected to crash sensors 40, seat occupation sensors 50, and seat configuration sensors 80; and also to multiple airbags 30 fitted to the vehicle. In use, ACU processes signals received from seat configuration sensors to determine the seat configuration of the vehicle (e.g. figures 4a-d); and processes signals received from seat occupancy sensors to determine which seats are occupied. ACU can also process the output of crash sensors to determine if a crash incident is occurring and to classify the crash incident. ACU can then send activation signals to all or some of the airbags, causing them to inflate. Determination of the appropriate airbags to activate can be achieved by looking up activation scenarios stored by or pre-programmed into the ACU. The seats may be provided with connection plugs (65, figures 5a-e) operable to fit into connections sockets (71a-74b) where the seat configurations sensors such as pressure sensors, push switches, reed switches, proximity switches or RFID sensors are fitted within the sockets. Also disclosed is a method of operating such a control system.
Vehicle airbag control
2023-06-14
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
Airbag control method, airbag assembly, airbag folding method and vehicle
European Patent Office | 2024
|