JP2011006068A - Vehicle occupant crash protection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a vehicle occupant crash protection device properly determining the deployment of a head protection airbag during an overturning at a moderate angular velocity.SOLUTION: In the vehicle occupant crash protection device, an overturning limit curve is set on a two-dimensional map using a roll angle θv and a roll angular velocity ω of the vehicle as parameters, and a region where the roll angle θv and the roll angular velocity ω are large is set as a vehicle overturning region, and determines that the vehicle may overturn when the history of the roll angular velocity ω and the roll angle θv detected by a roll angular velocity sensor 1 exceeds the overturning limit curve and enters the vehicle overturning region, thereby operating the occupant crash protection device. The vehicle occupant crash protection device includes a deployment inhibition determination section 4, which determines the presence/absence of the probability that the occupant head approaches a side inner wall of the vehicle during the operation of the protection device, and inhibits the deployment of the head protection airbag, such as a curtain airbag, when the approach thereof is determined.

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant protection device for a vehicle suitable for use in a rollover determination device for a vehicle that performs rollover determination of a vehicle and activates an occupant protection airbag, and more particularly, the occupant according to the rollover situation of the vehicle. The present invention relates to a vehicle occupant protection device capable of controlling the operation of a protective airbag.

  Normally, it is well known that the vehicle rollover determination in the vehicle occupant protection device is performed when the sum of the rotational energy and potential energy of the vehicle exceeds the rollover limit energy, and this relationship is related to the roll angular velocity ω of the vehicle. A rollover limit curve is set on a two-dimensional map using the roll angle θv as a parameter, a region where the roll angle θv and the roll angular velocity ω are large is set as a vehicle rollover region, and the roll angular velocity ω and the roll angle θv detected by the angular velocity sensor are set. It is determined that there is a possibility that the vehicle rolls over when the history exceeds the rollover limit curve and enters the vehicle rollover region.

On the other hand, the rollover judging device prevents the occupant from directly colliding with the side window and the pillar portion when the rollover occurs, and also prevents the occupant's protective device such as a curtain airbag from being used to prevent the vehicle from being released outside the vehicle. Need to work.
Furthermore, the curtain airbag deployment requires space for the occupant and the side window, and deployment in the close state may push the occupant out of the window. Deployment of curtain airbags in such a situation is dangerous (harmful), and deployment prohibition processing is desirable. Therefore, there is a protection device that prohibits the deployment of the curtain airbag when the occupant approaches the door glass and the curtain airbag interferes with the occupant's head when the vehicle rolls over slowly at a small roll angular velocity.
For example, when the absolute value | ω | of the roll angular velocity ω is small, there is a device that determines the non-deployment of the curtain airbag (see, for example, Patent Document 1), and the distance between the occupant's head and the inner side surface of the vehicle body is the threshold value Dmin. There is an apparatus for determining whether the curtain airbag is not deployed when the ratio is less than (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-260806 (FIG. 8) JP 2001-260802 A (FIG. 4)

However, in the vehicle occupant protection device in which the deployment of the curtain airbag is deactivated by the absolute value of the roll angular velocity ω, the vehicle centroid is positioned on the vertical line of the tire that is the roll center. When the vehicle rolls over at a small roll angular velocity ω to near the roll angle [critical roll angle θvc (generally about 50 °)], the curtain airbag can be undeployed. When tripping (stumbling) occurs due to unevenness, the roll angular velocity ω suddenly increases at that time, causing the problem that the curtain airbag is operated in the situation where the occupant's head is close to the side window. there were.
Furthermore, in the occupant protection device that measures and determines the distance between the occupant head and the inner surface of the vehicle body side, it is necessary to newly provide an infrared sensor, a TV camera, etc. There was a problem that an error due to goods etc. was generated.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a vehicle occupant protection device that enables prohibition of curtain airbag deployment when the occupant head is close to a door glass. The purpose is that.

  The vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention is a vehicle occupant protection device that deploys an airbag including a roll angular velocity sensor and a rollover determination means, and further includes a lateral acceleration sensor and a vehicle roll angle θv. , An operation / non-operation determination means for estimating the position of the protection target based on the history of either the roll angular velocity ω or the lateral acceleration Gy and determining the operation / non-operation of the protection device, The non-operation determining means determines that the airbag deployment is prohibited when the absolute value | θv | of the roll angle integral amount when the roll angular velocity ω of the vehicle is equal to or less than a threshold value ωH is equal to or greater than the threshold value θvs. .

  A vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention is a vehicle occupant protection device that deploys an airbag including a roll angular velocity sensor and a rollover determination means, and further includes a lateral acceleration sensor, a vehicle roll An operation / non-operation determining means for estimating the position of the protection target based on the history of any of the angle θv, the roll angular velocity ω, or the lateral acceleration Gy, and determining the operation / non-operation of the protection device, The movement / non-movement determination means is configured to prohibit the deployment of the airbag when the absolute value | Gy | of the lateral acceleration Gy of the vehicle is equal to or less than a threshold value Gys1.

  In the vehicle occupant protection device according to the present invention, since the operation / non-operation determination means for determining the operation / non-operation of the protection device is provided, there is no possibility of a serious obstacle to the occupant and the possibility of release from the vehicle. It is possible to appropriately determine the deployment of the head protection airbag, etc., during a gradual rollover, so that the head protection airbag is deployed indoors from the passenger's head and the protection device functions sufficiently The effect which avoids not doing is produced.

1 is a block diagram showing a vehicle occupant protection device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the state in which the vehicle in Embodiment 1 of this invention is rollover critical roll angle (theta) vc. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the roll angular velocity of the vehicle in Embodiment 1 of this invention, and the behavior of a passenger | crew's head. It is a figure which shows the process in which a vehicle rolls over in "embankment" in Embodiment 1 of this invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a partial circuit example of a vehicle occupant protection device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the time change of the roll angular velocity (omega) of the vehicle, and roll angle (theta) v in the "embankment" in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the effect of the high frequency pass filter process part about roll angular velocity (omega) of the vehicle in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the passenger | crew protection device of the vehicle by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the time change of the roll angular velocity (omega) of the vehicle, and roll angle (theta) v in the "embankment" in Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the passenger | crew protection device of the vehicle by Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the passenger | crew protection device of the vehicle by Embodiment 4 of this invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is a block diagram showing an occupant protection device for a vehicle according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a vehicle occupant protection device integrates a roll angular velocity sensor 1 that detects a rotational angular velocity acting around a longitudinal axis of the vehicle as a roll angular velocity ω, and a roll angular velocity ω from the roll angular velocity sensor 1 to integrate the vehicle. A roll angle calculation unit 2 for obtaining a roll angle θv, and a ω-θ map determination unit 3 as rollover determination means for determining a rollover of a vehicle using a ω-θ map based on the roll angular velocity ω and the roll angle θv of the vehicle. And a deployment prohibition determination unit 4 as an operation / non-operation determination unit for determining operation / non-operation of deployment of a curtain airbag or the like based on the roll angular velocity ω from the roll angular velocity sensor 1, and a ω-θ map determination unit 3 AND circuit 5 that takes the logical product of the output of the head and the deployment prohibition determination unit 4, and the deployment signal of the head protection airbag such as a curtain airbag based on the output of the AND circuit 5. And a head protection air bag deployment unit 6 that generates a command.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the vehicle has a rollover critical roll angle θvc.
In FIG. 2, the center of gravity GC of the vehicle 7 is located on the vertical line of the tire 8 serving as the center of the roll when the rollover critical roll angle θvc. When the roll angle θv of the vehicle 7 exceeds the rollover critical roll angle θvc, the vehicle 7 rolls over even at an angular velocity of zero due to the gravity of the vehicle 7.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the roll angular velocity of the vehicle and the behavior of the passenger's head.
In FIG. 3, when it is determined that the roll angular velocity ω and the roll angle θv of the vehicle 7 exceed the rollover limit curve and become the vehicle rollover region, the rollover is reached. When it is determined that the head 9 is already in proximity to the side window 10 due to the influence of gravity (A), the airbag (not shown) is prohibited from being deployed, and the passenger is harmed by the airbag or out of the window. Avoid extruding.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the vehicle can be rolled over, it is determined that a state (B) in which a safe deployment space for the airbag can be secured between the occupant head 9 and the side window 10 is permitted.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a process in which the vehicle rolls over at “embankment”.
In FIG. 4, “embankment” is one type of rollover of the vehicle 7, and is a rollover caused by a sudden steering operation after the vehicle 7 deviates from the traveling path 11 and enters the inclined surface 12.
When the angle of the inclined surface 12 is smaller than the rollover critical roll angle θvc (FIG. 2), the vehicle 7 does not roll over just by entering the inclined surface 12 (state B), and in the case of an appropriate steering operation, The vehicle 7 can return from the inclined surface 12 without causing a rollover (state C). On the other hand, the rollover of the vehicle 7 is caused by an abrupt steering operation together with the road surface condition and the vehicle speed (state A).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a case where the deployment prohibition determination unit 4-1 is used as an example of a specific circuit configuration of the deployment prohibition determination unit 4 in FIG.
In FIG. 5, the deployment prohibition determination unit 4-1 includes a high-pass filter processing unit 13 and a comparison unit 14, and performs high-frequency pass filter processing on the roll angular velocity ω of the vehicle detected by the roll angular velocity sensor 1. When the absolute value | ω <HPF> | of the output signal-processed by the unit 13 is an area equal to or less than the threshold value ωt, a deployment inhibition signal is output to the head protection airbag deployment unit 6 via the AND circuit 5. Here, <HPF> means a high-frequency pass filter, ω represents an angular velocity before HPF processing, and ω <HPF> represents an angular velocity after HPF processing.

  That is, the deployment prohibition determination unit 4-1 filters the vehicle roll angular velocity ω detected by the roll angular velocity sensor 1, and the absolute value | ω <HPF> of the filtered output. | And a comparator 14 that compares the threshold value ωt, and when the absolute value | ω <HPF> | is equal to or less than the threshold value ωt, it is determined to prohibit the deployment of the head protection airbag, and the AND circuit 5 Then, a deployment prohibition signal is output to the head protection airbag deployment unit 6.

In other words, in addition to outputting the output signal from the ω-θ map determination unit 3, the input signal to the AND circuit 5 is set to the roll angular velocity ω of the vehicle so as to output a deployment signal under the airbag deployment permission condition. When the absolute value | ω <HPF> | of the output signal-processed by the high-frequency pass filter processing unit 13 is in a region equal to or smaller than the threshold value ωt of the comparator 14, a development prohibition signal is output.
As a result, even when the vehicle rolls over at a gradual roll angular velocity ω, it is possible to avoid deployment due to the roll angular velocity ω that increases immediately before the vehicle falls over.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating temporal changes in the roll angular velocity ω and the roll angle θv of the vehicle at “Embankment” in FIG. 4.
A rollover mode called “embankment” occurs when the vehicle 7 traveling on the flat road 11 deviates from the inclined surface 12 as shown in FIG. 4. The process is as follows: (i) when the vehicle 7 enters the inclined surface 12, the vehicle 7 is inclined (roll angular velocity ω is generated), (ii) traveling on the inclined surface 12 (roll angular velocity ω is small), (iii) steering Because of rollover by operation (roll angular velocity ω is generated), two peaks appear in the roll angular velocity ω (solid line in FIG. 6).

  The deployment time of the airbag of the curtain airbag for occupant protection during rollover is the time limit when the distance between the occupant head 9 and the side window 10 reaches the safe deployment distance. However, in "Embankment", (i) When the vehicle 7 enters the inclined surface 12, the occupant head 9 approaches the airbag deployment limit by approaching the side window 10 due to vehicle inclination (arrow in FIG. 6). . The rollover determination by the ω-θ map determination unit 3 is performed by (iii) a change in angular velocity due to a steering operation. At this point, the occupant head 9 (FIG. 3) approaches the side window 10 to a position where a safe deployment space for the airbag cannot be secured.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an effect of the high-frequency pass filter processing unit 13 that performs the processing on the roll angular velocity ω of the vehicle, which is used in the deployment prohibition determination unit 4-1 in FIG. 5.
In FIG. 7, the roll angular velocity ω (solid line A in the figure) of the vehicle and the roll angular velocity ω <HPF> (broken line A ′ in the figure) after passing through the high-frequency pass filter processing unit 13 are shown. When the second peak value of the roll angular velocity ω is lowered by the processing in the high-frequency pass filter processing unit 13 and the absolute value | ω <HPF> | is an area equal to or smaller than the threshold ωt, the development prohibition determination condition is satisfied. , Output a deployment prohibition signal. Therefore, even when it is determined that the vehicle rolls over, it is determined that the position of the occupant head 9 is close to the side window 10 and the deployment of the protection device is prohibited.

The early determination to determine the airbag deployment of the protective device at the timing when the position of the occupant head 9 approaches the side window 10 (thick arrow in the figure) There is a possibility of making a judgment.
For example, a high frequency pass filter of about 0.5 to 5 Hz, preferably about 1 to 2 Hz is effective for the high frequency pass filter processing unit 13.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a vehicle occupant protection device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 8, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
In FIG. 8, the deployment prohibition determination unit 4-2 is obtained as an output of the threshold integration unit 15 that performs integration calculation when the absolute value | ω | of the roll angular velocity ω of the vehicle is equal to or less than the threshold ωH, and the threshold integration unit 15. A comparator 16 that compares the absolute value of the roll angle of the vehicle with a threshold value θvs; and when the absolute value of the roll angle of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the threshold value θvs, the head protection airbag deployment unit 6 is connected via the AND circuit 5. A prohibition determination signal for prohibiting deployment of the head protection airbag is output. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing temporal changes in the roll angular velocity ω and the roll angle θv of the vehicle at “Embankment”.
Usually, the roll angle θv of the vehicle is calculated by integrating the roll angular velocity ω. In the deployment prohibition determination unit 4-2 in the present embodiment, the vehicle inclination amount at a gentle rollover with a small roll angular velocity ω is obtained by performing integration processing only when the absolute value | ω | of the roll angular velocity ω is equal to or less than the threshold value ωH. Is calculated by the threshold integration unit 15. When | ω | ≦ ωH, the effect that the occupant's head tilts due to gravity is greater than the tilt of the vehicle. Therefore, when the absolute value of the threshold integration amount at | ω | ≦ ωH exceeds the threshold θvs, It is determined that the position is close to the side window, and the protection device is prohibited from being deployed.

  In the calculation process for calculating the roll angle θv from the roll angular velocity ω of the vehicle, | ω | ≦ ωL is excluded from the integral calculation. This is to suppress errors due to the offset of the roll angular velocity ω, and the integral lower limit value need not be set. Note that the roll angular velocity ω, which is the output from the roll angular velocity sensor 1, includes an offset error and an error (noise) that occurs even during stable running (the roll angular velocity is small), and is generated by simply integrating these. A threshold is set during the integration process in order to avoid an angle abnormality, and the threshold corresponds to ωL.

  When the absolute value of the threshold integration amount exceeds the threshold θvs, the deployment prohibition determination unit 4-2 substantially prohibits the head protection airbag deployment unit 6 from deploying the head protection airbag. A development prohibition signal is output. However, in a situation where the angle of the inclined surface is large and long, the rollover of the vehicle does not stop at 90 ° where the vehicle rolls over, and the rollover may further accelerate, leading to a rollover that may cause the passenger to be released from the vehicle. Since the roll angular velocity in the rollover phenomenon that causes the passenger to be released from the vehicle is very large, the absolute value of the roll angular velocity | ω | It is desirable to cancel the development prohibition signal.

In addition, it may be determined that the roll prohibition signal is canceled when it is determined that the roll angle θv of the vehicle reaches one rotation or more.
Note that FIG. 9 shows a processing method in which an upper limit value ωH of the roll angular velocity ω for integration is provided. Normally, in the integration process (∫ωdt), since the roll angular velocity ω is integrated over the entire area, the behavior always changes (solid line on the upper side of the roll angle θv). On the other hand, when the roll angular velocity ω is in a predetermined range [ωL ≦ | ω | ≦ ωH], when integrating only the [hatched portion in the figure]
∫ωdt | ω | ≦ ωH] [more precisely, ωL ≦ | ω | ≦ ωH]
And changes only when the roll angular velocity ω is within a predetermined range (solid line below the roll angle θv in the graph). A development prohibition signal is output when the value of the roll angle θv at this time exceeds the threshold value θvs. Although the threshold θvs is exceeded even when the entire area is integrated, there is almost no risk of rollover at this point, or there is a possibility that a form requiring airbag deployment in the future may be prohibited because it is at an unpredictable timing. is there. A thick arrow in FIG. 9 represents the timing at which the ω-θ map determination unit 3 outputs the development signal.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a vehicle occupant protection device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. 10, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, in addition to the roll angular velocity sensor 1, the roll angle calculation unit 2, the ω-θ map determination unit 3, the AND circuit 5, and the head protection airbag deployment unit 6, the vehicle The lateral acceleration sensor 17 that detects the acceleration acting in the lateral direction as the lateral acceleration Gy, and when the absolute value processing output | Gy | of the lateral acceleration Gy of the vehicle is equal to or less than the threshold value Gys1, And a deployment prohibition determination unit 4-3 that outputs a prohibition determination signal for prohibiting deployment. The deployment prohibition determination unit 4-3 is an absolute unit that processes the absolute value of the lateral acceleration Gy detected by the lateral acceleration sensor 17. A value processing unit 18 and a comparison unit 19 that compares the output | Gy | processed by the absolute value processing unit 18 with a predetermined threshold value Gys1. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

When the output | Gy | of the absolute value processing unit 18 of the lateral acceleration Gy of the vehicle is equal to or less than the threshold value Gys1 of the comparator 19, the deployment prohibition determination unit 4-3 performs the head protection airbag via the AND circuit 5. The prohibition determination signal for prohibiting the deployment of the head is output to the head protection airbag deployment unit 6.
In general, a rollover phenomenon of a vehicle occurs after a trip due to road surface unevenness or friction. At this time, the lateral acceleration Gy is larger than that during normal running. However, since the vehicle is not accompanied by a large lateral acceleration Gy during a gentle rollover (it may occur in the initial stage but is small when a rollover is determined), the rollover situation based on the lateral acceleration Gy is determined, and the airbag It is possible to determine whether to prohibit development.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an occupant protection device for a vehicle according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. 11, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 5 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.
In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, in addition to the roll angular velocity sensor 1, the roll angle calculation unit 2, the ω-θ map determination unit 3, the AND circuit 5, and the head protection airbag deployment unit 6, the vehicle A lateral acceleration sensor 17 that detects the laterally acting acceleration as a lateral acceleration Gy, a Gy correction calculation unit 20 for correcting the lateral acceleration Gy based on the output of the roll angle calculation unit 2, and a lateral A deployment prohibition determination unit 4-4 that determines whether to deploy the head protection airbag based on the output of the direction acceleration sensor 17 and the output of the Gy correction calculation unit 20, and the deployment prohibition determination unit 4-4 includes: The absolute value processing unit 21 that processes the lateral acceleration Gy detected by the lateral acceleration sensor 17 and the absolute value | Gy−ΔGy | of the output ΔGy of the Gy correction calculation unit 20, and the absolute value processing unit 21 processed the absolute value | Gy−ΔGy | Absolute value | Gy Delta] Gy | and a comparator 22 for comparing a predetermined threshold value Gys2. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG.

The deployment prohibition determination unit 4-4 calculates the effect of gravity on the lateral acceleration sensor 17 based on the roll angle θv, which is the output from the roll angle calculation unit 2 of the vehicle obtained by the Gy correction calculation unit 20, and ΔGy = sin θv. When the output | Gy−ΔGy | of the ΔGy correction and absolute value processing unit 21 is equal to or less than the threshold value Gys2 of the comparator 22, a prohibition determination signal for prohibiting the deployment of the head protection airbag is output via the AND circuit 5. Output to the protective airbag deployment section 6.
At the time of rollover requiring airbag deployment, a relatively large lateral acceleration Gy accompanies, so that the airbag deployment prohibition determination can be made using the absolute value of the lateral acceleration Gy. However, when the vehicle is traveling on an inclined surface or is gently rolling over, the lateral acceleration sensor 17 is affected by gravity.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, by using the lateral acceleration Gy−ΔGy corrected for the gravitational effect, it is possible to determine whether or not the situation is about to roll over, and to perform accurate airbag deployment prohibition determination.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Roll angular velocity sensor, 2 Roll angle calculating part, 3 omega-theta map determination part, 4,4-1,4-2,4-3,4-4 Unfolding prohibition determination part, 5 AND circuit, 6 Head protection air Bag unfolding unit, 13 High-frequency pass filter processing unit, 15 Threshold integration unit, 17 Lateral acceleration sensor, 18, 21 Absolute value processing unit, 19 Comparator, 20 Gy correction calculation unit.

Claims (3)

In a vehicle occupant protection device for deploying an airbag including a roll angular velocity sensor and a rollover determination means,
And a lateral acceleration sensor,
An operation / non-operation determining means for estimating the position of the protection target based on the history of any of the roll angle θv, the roll angular velocity ω, or the lateral acceleration Gy of the vehicle and determining the operation / non-operation of the protection device; Prepared,
The operation / non-operation determination means prohibits the airbag from being deployed when the absolute value | θv | of the roll angle integral amount when the roll angular velocity ω of the vehicle is equal to or less than a threshold value ωH is equal to or greater than a threshold value θvs. An occupant protection device for a vehicle. In a vehicle occupant protection device for deploying an airbag including a roll angular velocity sensor and a rollover determination means,
And a lateral acceleration sensor,
An operation / non-operation determining means for estimating the position of the protection target based on the history of any of the roll angle θv, the roll angular velocity ω, or the lateral acceleration Gy of the vehicle and determining the operation / non-operation of the protection device; Prepared,
The vehicle occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the operation / non-operation determination means determines that the airbag is prohibited from being deployed when an absolute value | Gy | of the lateral acceleration Gy of the vehicle is equal to or less than a threshold value Gys1.   3. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein when the absolute value | Gy | of the value obtained by correcting the gravitational effect due to vehicle tilt from the lateral acceleration Gy is equal to or less than a threshold value Gys2, the airbag is prohibited from being deployed. Occupant protection device.

Images