JP2000001157A - Occupant restraint protective system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the occupant restraint protective system permitting adequate protection of the occupants by removing the extra loosening of the seat belt. SOLUTION: This occupant restraint protective system winds up the seat belt to the winding up limit after the seat belt is fastened (YES in step S31) and draws out the seat belt for the predetermined time (steps S32 to 35), which provides the occupant with predetermined looseness. Independently of whether or not the seal belt is drawn out by the occupants or not (YES and NO in a step S37), the system winds up the seat belt to the winding up limit again, and draws it out for the predetermined time (steps S44 to 47), which provides the occupant with predetermined looseness, which provides the occupants with predetermined looseness.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle occupant restraint system mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and more particularly to a vehicle using an electric retractor for winding and pulling out a seat belt for protecting the occupant. The present invention relates to an occupant restraint device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle occupant restraint protection device provided with an electric retractor for winding and pulling out a seat belt has been known. This electric retractor detects that the seat belt is not fastened, and the seat belt is wound. The seat belt was wound up until the completion of the take-up.

For this reason, when the tongue of the seatbelt is released from the buckle, and the seatbelt is put on the buckle immediately after the seatbelt is released, the seatbelt of the electric retractor is wound up. Since it is necessary to pull out the seatbelt against the force, it is difficult for the elderly or the like to wear the seatbelt for a non-forced occupant with reduced athletic ability.

In order to cope with this, the applicant of the present application has disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 10-49999 a case in which the seat belt wearing detecting section detects that the seat belt has been put into the seat belt wearing state from the non-seat belt wearing state. When the belt pull-out detecting unit detects the pull-out of the seat belt, the seat belt is wound up to the winding limit with the seat belt wind-up force of the predetermined size, and then the seat belt pull-out force of the predetermined size for the predetermined time. A vehicle occupant restraint protection device has been disclosed in which a seat belt is pulled out to give a predetermined slack to the seat belt.

[0005]

However, in the conventional vehicle occupant restraint protection device, when the seat belt is wound up to the winding limit, the occupant intentionally stops the seat belt at a position away from the occupant's body. In the state
When it is determined that the winding limit has been reached, the seat belt may be set in an abnormally slack state.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle occupant restraint protection device capable of appropriately protecting an occupant by removing excess slack of a seat belt. Aim.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an occupant restraint system for a vehicle, comprising: an electric retractor for retracting and retracting a seat belt; and a driving unit for driving the electric retractor. An occupant restraint protection device for a vehicle, comprising: a seat belt withdrawal detecting means for detecting that the seat belt is pulled out; and a detecting means for detecting whether the seat belt is worn or not. The seat belt withdrawal detecting means detects the seat belt withdrawal when it is detected that the seat belt has shifted from the non-wearing state to the wearing state, or when the detecting means has detected that the seat belt is in the wearing state. Then, when the rewinding becomes possible, the electric retracting is performed by the driving means. To retract the seat belt to a winding limit, pull out the seat belt for a first predetermined time, and after a lapse of a second predetermined time, drive the electric retractor by the driving means to limit the winding of the seat belt. And a control unit that controls the seat belt to be wound and pulled out at least once after the lapse of the second predetermined time.

According to the configuration of the present invention, when the detecting means detects that the seat belt has shifted from the non-wearing state to the wearing state, or when the detecting means detects that the seat belt is in the wearing state, the seat belt is When the withdrawal of the seatbelt is detected by the withdrawal detection means, and the winding of the seatbelt becomes possible thereafter, the electric retractor is driven by the driving means to wind up the seatbelt to the winding limit and to pull out the seatbelt for the first predetermined time. , Second
After a lapse of a predetermined time, the electric retractor is driven by the driving means to wind up the seat belt to the winding limit.
The seat belt is pulled out for a predetermined time, and the seat belt is controlled so as to be wound up and pulled out at least once after a second predetermined time has elapsed. Therefore, excess slack in the seat belt is removed, and the occupant is appropriately slackened. Even if the seat belt is pulled out due to the movement of the occupant during the second predetermined time after being given, the excess slack of the seat belt is removed at least once thereafter, so that the occupant is given an appropriate slack. Therefore, the occupant can be properly protected by removing excess slack in the seat belt.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electric retractor 100 provided in a vehicle occupant restraint protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The electric retractor 100 has a frame 1. A reel shaft 3 that winds up the seat belt is rotatably mounted on the frame 1, and locks the seat belt when the vehicle is subjected to a predetermined deceleration or when the seat belt is pulled out at a predetermined acceleration. A known seat belt lock mechanism 2 is fixed.

Next, the central axis 3a of the reel shaft 3 is connected to the central axis of the reel shaft pulley 5,
The reel shaft pulley 5 is connected to a DC motor pulley 6 via a power transmission belt 7.

A predetermined number of external teeth are formed on the outer circumference of the pulley 5 for the reel shaft and the pulley 6 for the DC motor, respectively, and a predetermined number of internal teeth are also formed on the inner circumference of the power transmission belt 7. The external teeth of the shaft pulley 5 and the DC motor pulley 6 and the internal teeth of the power transmission belt 7 mesh with each other without excess or deficiency.

The central axis of the DC motor pulley 6 is connected to the DC motor 10. Accordingly, the rotation of the DC motor 10 is controlled via the DC motor pulley 6 by the reel shaft 3.
Is transmitted to

The DC motor 10 is fixed to the frame 1 at at least two points.
1 is connected to an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 14. The DC motor drive unit 11 controls the rotation of the DC motor 10 based on a control signal from the MPU 14.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the DC motor drive unit 11. Terminals P1 and P2 in FIG. 2 are input terminals for a PWM (pulse width modulation) signal output from the MPU 14, and a PWM signal of, for example, 20 kHz is input to the terminals P1 and P2. The terminals P3 and P4 are output terminals for current detection, the terminals P5 and P6 are output terminals for voltage detection, and the terminals P1 to P6 are connected to the MPU 14, respectively. The voltage V in FIG.
b is supplied to the DC motor 10, and the plurality of transistors, FETs, and the like in FIG. 2 are for driving the rotation of the DC motor 10 to rotate forward or reverse according to the PWM signal from the MPU 14.

A circuit C1 in FIG. 2 is a current detection circuit for detecting a current i flowing to the DC motor 10 from a current flowing to the resistor r1, and an interface circuit (hereinafter, referred to as an interface circuit) for removing a current fluctuation due to the influence of the PWM signal. 1) and IF2. MPU14 is IF1
And a voltage signal from IF2, and detects a current i flowing through the DC motor 10 based on the voltage signal.

A circuit C2 is a voltage measuring circuit for measuring a voltage between terminals applied to the DC motor 10. IF3 and I3 are used to remove fluctuations in terminal voltage due to the influence of the PWM signal.
F4 is provided. The MPU 14 receives voltage signals from IF3 and IF4, respectively, and measures a terminal voltage applied to the DC motor 10 based on the voltage signals.

Each of IF1 to IF4 has a low-pass filter configuration including, for example, a resistor r2, a resistor r3 having a smaller resistance value than the resistor r2, and a capacitor c3, and has a cutoff frequency set to, for example, 20 Hz. As a result, the current detection circuit C 1 and the voltage measurement circuit C 2
4 is reduced to -60 dB, and hardly affects the current that is to be detected by the current detection circuit C1 or the voltage between terminals that is to be measured by the voltage measurement circuit C2.

Returning to FIG. 1, the MPU 14 is provided with a timer 15 for measuring time, detecting whether the tongue of the seat belt is attached to the buckle, and detecting whether or not the tongue of the seat belt is detached from the buckle. It is connected to the buckle connection presence / absence detection unit 16 for detection. The buckle connection presence / absence detection unit 16 detects whether or not the tongue of the seat belt is attached to the buckle, and outputs a control signal corresponding to the detection to the MPU 14.

The MPU 14 determines whether or not the seat belt has been pulled out based on the voltage between the terminals of the DC motor 10, and determines whether or not the winding of the seat belt has been completed based on the current i flowing through the DC motor 10. .

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a seat inside the vehicle. This seat is the driver's seat (the right seat in the forward direction of the vehicle)
However, it may be a passenger seat (left seat in the forward direction of the vehicle) or a rear seat.

A seat 104 is attached to the vehicle, and a buckle 106 for attaching a tongue 105 of a seat belt is fixed to one end of the seat. One end of the seat belt is fixed to the vehicle body via a tool at the other end of the seat. By attaching the tongue 105 to the buckle 106, the seat belt restrains and protects the occupant by the shoulder portion 102 and the wrap portion 103. The seat belt is wound up by the electric retractor 100 via the tongue 105 and the through portion 101.

The seat belt retracting force of the electric retractor 100 is controlled by the DC motor 10 by the MPU 14.
The control is performed by controlling the driving force. Here, when the seat belt winding force of the electric retractor 100 is large,
The seat belt slack generated in the shoulder portion 102 and the lap portion 103 can be removed, and the electric retractor 1
In the case where the seat belt take-up force of 00 is small, the slack of the seat belt generated in the shoulder portion 102 can be removed.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts for explaining the details of the seat belt fastening control executed by the MPU 14.
This seat belt wearing control is a part of the main control executed by the MPU 14.

First, it is determined whether or not the buckle connection presence / absence detection unit 16 detects that the tongue of the seat belt is attached to the buckle (step S31). Is
On the other hand, when the determination is repeated, when the buckle connection presence / absence detection unit 16 detects the buckle connection, the MPU 14 outputs a PWM signal so that the current i flows through the DC motor 10 in order to rotate the DC motor 10 to the winding side of the seat belt. Output (Step S32). Thereby, the seat belt is wound up, and the slack of the seat belt generated in the shoulder portion 102 and the lap portion 103 can be removed. Note that the seat belt take-up force at this time is determined in step S described later.
44 is the same as the take-up force of the seat belt.

Next, it is determined from the current i flowing through the DC motor 10 whether the winding of the seat belt has reached the limit (step S33). Returns to step S32 in order to continue the winding of the seat belt, and if the winding of the seat belt has reached the limit, the seat belt is fitted to the occupant, and a predetermined slack is given. In order to rotate the DC motor 10 to the side where the seat belt is pulled out, the MPU 14 outputs a PWM signal so that the current i flows through the DC motor 10 (step S3).
4). Thereby, the seat belt is pulled out. still,
The pullout force of the seat belt at this time is the same as the pullout force of the seat belt in step S46 described later.

Next, at step S3, the
After outputting the PWM signal at 4, a predetermined time t ₁ , for example, 1
or not s elapsed whether the cause is determined (step S35), if the predetermined time has not t ₁ has elapsed, since the predetermined looseness is not given, the process returns to step S34, and the predetermined time t ₁ has elapsed In this case, a counter that counts how many times the process of removing excess slack in the seatbelt (the process of winding the seatbelt in step S44 to be described later and the process of pulling out the seatbelt in step S46 to be described later) has been performed. The value N is a predetermined value N ₁ , for example, 2
Determine less or not than times (step S36), if the count value N is a predetermined value N ₁ is smaller than the timer 1
It is determined whether or not the preset set time t _s has passed by 5 (step S37). The set time t _s is a time during which the occupant is preventing the seat belt from being wound up for setting to the regular slack amount, and is set in step S50 described later. May be set, or a random length of time may be set for each set.

[0029] In the step S36, if the count value N is higher than the predetermined value N ₁ or above step S37, if not passed a set time t _s is the seat belt by the occupant by the voltage across the terminals of the DC motor 10 Is determined (step S38). With this, the seat belt is pulled out by the movement of the occupant in the seat belt wearing state, for example, the vehicle is temporarily stopped, the occupant leans forward, and it is determined whether or not the seat belt is pulled out which occurs when checking the left and right of the road. Can be determined.

If the seat belt has not been pulled out, the process proceeds to step S48 described later. If the seat belt has been pulled out, the DC motor 10
It is determined whether or not the occupant has pulled out the seat belt based on the inter-terminal voltage (step S39). When the occupant does not stop pulling out the seat belt, the determination is repeated. On the other hand, when the occupant stops pulling out the seat belt, the DC motor 10 is rotated to the seat belt winding side. Motor 10
The PWM signal is output from the MPU 14 so that the current i flows through (step S40). Thereby, the seat belt is wound up, and the slack of the seat belt generated in the shoulder portion 102 can be removed. The MPU 14 controls the seat belt take-up force at this time to be smaller than the seat belt take-up force in step S32. This corresponds to the seat belt withdrawal that occurs when the occupant leans forward and checks the left and right sides of the road, for example, when the seat belt is wound up in step S40. This is because if the seat belt is wound up with the same strong take-up force, the occupant will feel uncomfortable.

Thereafter, it is determined from the current i flowing through the DC motor 10 whether or not the seat belt can still be wound (step S41). If the seat belt can still be wound, If the count value N is cleared (N ← 0) (step S43), on the other hand, if the seat belt cannot be wound up, that is, if the occupant has not yet returned from the slouched state, the timer 15 sets a step S41. It is determined whether or not a predetermined time t ₂ , for example, 5 s has elapsed from the determination (step S42). If the predetermined time t ₂ has not elapsed, the process returns to step S40, while if the predetermined time t _{2 has} elapsed. , The process proceeds to step S43.

Next, in order to rotate the DC motor 10 to the seat belt winding side in order to remove the slack of the seat belt of the shoulder portion 102 and the lap portion 103 caused by leaning forward or the like, an electric current i is supplied to the DC motor 10. Output a PWM signal from the MPU 14 (step S
44). Thereby, the seat belt is wound up.

Next, it is determined from the current i flowing through the DC motor 10 whether the winding of the seat belt has reached the limit (step S45). If the winding of the seat belt has not reached the limit, Returning to step S44 to continue winding the seatbelt, if the winding of the seatbelt has reached the limit,
Since the seatbelt is fitted to the occupant, the MPU 14 outputs a PWM signal so that the current i flows through the DC motor 10 in order to rotate the DC motor 10 to the side where the seatbelt is pulled out to give a predetermined slack (step S4).
6). Thereby, the seat belt is pulled out.

Next, the timer 15 is used to execute step S4.
A predetermined time t ₁ after outputting the PWM signal at 6, for example, 1
or not s elapsed whether the cause is determined (step S47), if the predetermined time has not t ₁ has elapsed, since the predetermined looseness is not given, the process returns to step S46, and the predetermined time t ₁ has elapsed In this case, the buckle connection presence / absence detection unit 16 detects that the tongue of the seat belt is attached to the buckle.
Is determined (step S48).
If it is detected by the buckle connection detection unit 16, the process returns to step S <b> 36, while if it is not detected by the buckle connection detection unit 16, that is, if the seat belt is not worn, the seat belt is stored. The seat belt storage control for controlling the DC motor 10 is performed as described above (step S49), and the process returns to step S31. Since the seat belt storage control is publicly known, its description is omitted.

If it is determined in step S37 that the set time t _s has elapsed, the next set time t _s is set (step S50), the count value N is incremented by 1 (step S39), and the flow proceeds to step S44. move on.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
After the seat belt is worn (YES in step S31), the seat belt is wound up to the winding limit, and the seat belt is pulled out for a predetermined time (steps S32 to S35) to give the occupant a predetermined slack, and the occupant releases the seat belt. Regardless of whether or not there is a drawer (step S37)
YES and NO), the seat belt is again wound up to the winding limit, and the seat belt is pulled out for a predetermined time (steps S44 to S47), so that the occupant is given a predetermined slack, so that the excess slack of the seat belt is removed. By doing so, the occupant can be appropriately protected.

[0037]

As described above in detail, according to the vehicle occupant restraint protection device of the first aspect, when the detection means detects that the seat belt has shifted from the non-wearing state to the wearing state, or when the detection is detected. When the seat belt withdrawal is detected by the seat belt withdrawal detecting means when the seat belt is detected as being fastened by the means, and thereafter, when the seat belt can be wound up, the electric retractor is driven by the driving means to drive the seat belt. The seat belt is pulled out to a winding limit, a seat belt is pulled out for a first predetermined time, and after a lapse of a second predetermined time, an electric retractor is driven by driving means to wind the seat belt to a winding limit, and the seat belt is wound for a first predetermined time. So that the seat belt is wound up and pulled out at least once after the second predetermined time has elapsed. Since it is, to remove excess slack in the seat belt, after the appropriate slack is given to the occupant, the second
Even if the seat belt is pulled out due to the movement of the occupant during the predetermined time, the excess slack of the seat belt is removed at least once thereafter, and the occupant is given an appropriate slack. By removing the excess slack, the occupant can be properly protected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electric retractor 100 provided in a vehicle occupant restraint protection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a DC motor driving unit 11;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a seat inside a vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating details of seat belt fastening control executed by the MPU 14.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating details of seat belt fastening control executed by the MPU 14.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 frame 2 seat belt lock mechanism 3 reel shaft 5 reel shaft pulley 6 DC motor pulley 7 power transmission belt 10 DC motor (drive unit) 11 DC motor drive unit (seat belt pull-out detection unit) 14 MPU (control unit) 16 Buckle connection presence / absence detection part (seat belt wearing detection means) 100 Electric retractor

Claims (1)

[Claims] An electric retractor for winding and pulling out the seat belt; a driving means for driving the electric retractor; a seat belt withdrawal detecting means for detecting that the seat belt has been pulled out; A vehicle occupant restraint protection device comprising: a detection unit configured to detect wearing and non-wearing; when the detection unit detects that the seat belt has transitioned from the non-wearing state to the wearing state, or by the detecting unit. When the seatbelt is detected to be in a worn state, the seatbelt withdrawal detecting means detects the withdrawal of the seatbelt, and thereafter, when the winding of the seatbelt becomes possible, the drive means drives the electric retractor. The seat belt is wound up to the winding limit for a first predetermined time. After the second predetermined time has elapsed, the electric retractor is driven by the driving means to wind up the seat belt to the winding limit, and the seat belt is pulled out for the first predetermined time, and the second predetermined time has elapsed. An occupant restraint protection device for a vehicle, comprising: a control unit that controls to wind and retract a seat belt at least once.