Rotatable fastener verification

Abstract

A system is disclosed for verification of the installation of a component such as a side curtain air bag into a vehicle passenger compartment where energy absorbing quarter-turn fasteners attached to the air bag are employed to affix hanger brackets to structural base plates in the vehicle. The system includes an image capturing camera, stored data in a machine readable form of an acceptable installation, a central processing unit to compare the captured images to the stored machine readable data and an output generator to create an output signal based on the results of the comparison.

1 . A verification system for the verification of the installation of a component having at least one hanger bracket to a base plate utilizing an energy absorbing, rotatable fastener,
 wherein said hanger bracket and said base plate have an aperture for insertion therethrough of a portion of said fastener,   said fastener includes an attachment portion for engaging said base plate in an energy absorbing relation and a head portion for securing said hanger bracket to said fastener, when   said fastener is rotatable to a locked, energy absorbing, position after insertion of a portion thereof through said apertures in said hanger bracket and base plate;   wherein said system comprises:   an image capturing camera to capture an image of the installation of the component in machine readable form;   a machine readable medium including data representative of at least one hanger bracket attached to a base plate with an energy absorbing rotatable fastener rotated to its locked, energy absorbing position;   a central processing unit for receiving data from said image capturing camera and said machine readable medium;   said central processing unit for comparing said captured images to said representative data to determine the condition of said installation and deliver an output signal in response to said comparison.   
     
     
         2 . A system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said captured image includes the presence of said hanger bracket and the presence of said fastener. 
     
     
         3 . A system as claimed in  claim 2  wherein said data in said machine readable medium includes the presence of said hanger bracket and said fastener and the comparison by said central processing unit includes recognition of the presence of said hanger bracket and fastener. 
     
     
         4 . A system as claimed in  claim 2  wherein said captured image includes the position of said fastener. 
     
     
         5 . A system as claimed in  claim 4  wherein said data in said machine readable medium includes the position of said fastener and the comparison by said central processing unit includes recognition of the position of said fastener. 
     
     
         6 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said output signal initiates a “pass” or “fail” output signal based on said comparison. 
     
     
         7 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 6  wherein said output signal initiates an action on a “fail” signal. 
     
     
         8 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the component includes a plurality of hanger brackets to be affixed to a base plate utilizing a plurality of energy absorbing rotatable fasteners, wherein
 said image capturing camera captures images of said plurality of hanger brackets and fasteners, and 
 said machine readable medium includes data representative of a predetermined number of hanger brackets and fasteners, and 
 said central processing unit compares said captured image to said stored data and delivers an output signal in response to the number of hanger brackets and fasteners present in the image captured and the number of hanger brackets and fasteners in said stored data. 
 
     
     
         9 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said hanger bracket includes a cruciform shaped receptacle having an intersecting long slot and short slot;
 said base plate includes a cruciform shaped hole having an intersecting long slot and short slot; 
 said rotatable quarter-turn fastener has an elongate body comprising:
 a forward head portion; 
 an attachment portion including an energy absorbing portion, and 
 a central connecting portion;
 said connection portion including a pair of oppositely directed energy absorbing bars, each defining a rearward abutment surface, and 
 wherein said attachment portion of said fastener is inserted through said long slots of said hanger bracket and said base plate and rotated ninety degrees) (90°) to place said energy absorbing portion in an energy absorbing position relative to said base plate. 
 
 
 
     
     
         10 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 9  wherein said image capturing camera captures images of said forward head portion of said fastener and said machine readable medium includes stored data representative of said connection portion of said fastener when in said energy absorbing position and said central processing unit compares said captured image to said stored data to determine the condition of said installation. 
     
     
         11 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 10  wherein said image capturing camera captures images of said hanger bracket and said machine readable medium includes stored data representative of said hanger bracket and said central processing unit compares said captured image of said hanger bracket to said stored data of said hanger bracket to determine whether said fastener is in said energy absorbing position. 
     
     
         12 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 11  wherein said installation includes a plurality of said hanger brackets and fasteners and said camera captures images of said plurality of hanger brackets and fasteners and said central processing unit compares said captured image to said stored data to determine the condition of said installation. 
     
     
         13 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 12  wherein said output signal initiates a “pass” or “fail” output signal based on said comparison. 
     
     
         14 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 13  wherein said output signal initiates an activity on a “fail” signal. 
     
     
         15 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said hanger bracket includes a reference indicia and
 wherein said fastener includes a reference indicia, 
 and wherein said machine readable medium includes data representative of a range of acceptable angular relationships between said indicia, 
 said image capturing camera of said system captures the angular relationship between said reference indicia of said hanger bracket and said reference indicia of said fastener, 
 and said central processing unit recognizes the relationship between said indicia and compares such relationship to said range of acceptable angular relationships and provides an output signal. 
 
     
     
         16 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 15  wherein said reference indicia on said hanger bracket comprises at least one elongate slot, and said reference indicia on said fastener includes at least one elongate projection and wherein said indicia of said hanger bracket and said fastener are generally parallel. 
     
     
         17 . A verification system as claimed in  claim 16  wherein the range of acceptable angular relationships between said indicia on said hanger bracket and on said fastener stored in said machine readable medium is an angular relationship of four to six degrees (4° to 6°) in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. 
     
     
         18 . A method of verification of the installation of a component having at least one hanger bracket to a base plate utilizing an energy absorbing, rotatable fastener,
 wherein said hanger bracket and said base plate have an aperture for insertion therethrough of a portion of said fastener,   said fastener includes an attachment portion for engaging said base plate in an energy absorbing relation and a head portion for securing said hanger bracket to said fastener, when   said fastener is rotated to an energy absorbing position after insertion of a portion thereof through said apertures in said hanger bracket and base plate; and   wherein said system comprises:   an image capturing camera to capture an image of the installation of the component;   a machine readable medium including data representative of at least one hanger bracket attached to a base plate with an energy absorbing rotatable fastener rotated to its energy absorbing position;   a central processing unit for receiving data from said image capturing camera and said machine readable medium;   said central processing unit capable of comparing said captured images to said representative data to determine the condition of said installation and deliver an output signal in response to said comparison;   said method comprising:
 capturing an image using said image capturing camera, 
 comparing said image to said data stored in said machine readable medium; 
 and providing an output signal. 
   
     
     
         19 . A method for verification as claimed in  claim 18  wherein said captured images and said data in said machine readable medium include separate images of said hanger bracket and said fastener. 
     
     
         20 . A method for verification as claimed in  claim 18  wherein said hanger bracket includes at least one reference indicia and said fastener includes at least one reference indicia, and
 wherein said data stored in said machine readable medium includes data representative of an acceptable angular relationship between said reference indicia and wherein said image capturing camera captures an image of the angular relationship between said indicia, and said central processing unit compares said image of said angular relationship between said indicia to the data stored in said machine readable medium and provides an output signal based on such comparison.