Control system for air bags in different vehicle locations

Abstract

A vehicle restraint system for a seated occupant including a lap belt system and an inflatable member mounted on the lap belt and restrained by the belt when inflated. The restraint system is applicable to multi-row seated vehicles in which a control system controls air bag deployment in rows located at first, second and other vehicle locations. Further, the system may include a device for detecting an impending collision of the vehicle and an object and deploy bags in anticipation of such collision.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A vehicle restraint system for restraining occupants during rapid deceleration of a vehicle having first and second vehicle portions in which rapid deceleration occurs in the first vehicle portion prior to rapid deceleration in the second vehicle portion and in which first and second occupants are positioned in the first and second portions, respectively, comprising: 
 a first inflatable member mounted to be deployed to protect the first occupant;    a second inflatable member mounted to be deployed to protect the second occupant;    a first and second inflator for inflating the first and second inflatable members; and    a crash detector firing system comprising a deceleration detection detector and electrical conduits for controlling the first and second inflators, so that the crash detector firing system can transmit separate signals to each inflator and inflate the first inflatable member before the second inflatable member.    
     
     
         2 . The vehicle restraint system of  claim 1 , wherein the crash detector firing system further comprises a collision detector that can detect an impending collision.  
     
     
         3 . The vehicle restraint system of  claim 2 , wherein the collision detector further comprises a computing device that calculates the time of rapid deceleration for the first and second vehicle portions.  
     
     
         4 . The vehicle restraint system of  claim 2 , wherein the collision detector comprises a radar signal generator and receiver.  
     
     
         5 . The vehicle restraint system of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is an airplane.  
     
     
         6 . The vehicle restraint system of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is a train.  
     
     
         7 . The vehicle restraint system of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is a bus.  
     
     
         8 . The vehicle restraint system of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is an automobile.  
     
     
         9 . A method of restraining occupants during rapid deceleration of a vehicle having first and second vehicle portions for which deceleration occurs in the first portion prior to deceleration in the second portion, comprising the steps of: 
 providing occupant seats in the first and second portions;    positioning inflatable members mounted to be deployed for protecting occupants in such occupant seats;    providing a crash detector firing system that performs the following steps: 
 creating and sending a first signal to a first inflator to inflate the inflatable member in the first portion at a first time;  
 creating and sending a second signal to a second inflator to inflate the inflatable member in the second portion at a second time after the first time;  
   wherein inflation of inflatable members in the first and second portions is timed to occur sufficiently in advance to protect the occupants.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the crash detector firing system triggers the first and second signals by use of a deceleration detection detector, and wherein the first and second signals are transmitted through electrical conduits to the first and second inflators.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the sending of the second signal is delayed by a predetermined time after the sending of the first signal to cause deployment of the inflatable member in the second portion to occur after deployment of the inflatable member in the first portion.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9  in which the crash detector firing system provides a signal for deploying inflatable members in each row of occupant seats in the first and second portions.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising the steps of: 
 detecting a collision of the vehicle with an object prior to the collision; and  
 determining the time of rapid deceleration for the first and second vehicle portions.  
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of detecting a collision comprises propagating a radar signal and receiving a reflected signal.  
     
     
         15 . The method of restraining occupants of  claim 13  having the further step of determining the delay between the deployment of the first and second inflatable members so deployment of the inflatable members is timed to protect the occupants in each portion.  
     
     
         16 . A method of providing protection to occupants in an elongated movable vehicle in which rapid deceleration occurs in the forward part of the vehicle before it occurs in the rearward part of the vehicle, comprising the steps of: 
 providing seats in forward and rearward parts of the vehicle;    installing inflatable members and inflators that inflate such members to serve the seats;    providing a crash detector that determines whether the vehicle will collide with an object prior to the collision;    generating a signal from the deceleration detector to the inflators to deploy the inflatable members during rapid deceleration; and    inflating the inflatable members to correspond to the time of rapid deceleration for forward and rearward parts of the vehicle.    
     
     
         17 . The method of restraining occupants of  claim 16  having the further step of determining a delay of deployment of the inflatable members for the forward and rearward parts of the vehicle so that inflation member deployment occurs in each part of the vehicle when deployment provides maximum protection for each of the occupants.  
     
     
         18 . The method of restraining occupants of  claim 16  in which the deceleration detector propagates a radar signal and receives a reflected signal.  
     
     
         19 . A method of providing protection to occupants in an elongated movable vehicle in which deceleration occurs in the forward part of the vehicle before it occurs in the rearward part of the vehicle, comprising: 
 providing seats in forward and rearward parts of the vehicle;    installing inflatable members to serve the seats and inflators for deploying such inflatable members;    providing a crash detector that determines whether the vehicle will collide with an object during the vehicle's movement;    generating signals from the crash detector when the crash detector determines a collision will occur; and    transmitting such signals to the inflators to deploy the inflatable members.    
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  in which the inflatable members in the forward part of the vehicle are deployed prior to deployment of inflatable members in the rearward part of the vehicle.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19  in which inflation is initiated prior to the collision of the vehicle and the object.