Vehicle safety device actuating circuit with monitoring current regulator
US5155376A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 14, 1990 |
| Grant date | Oct 13, 1992 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 14, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01R31/007
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
In a vehicle safety device control apparatus having an energy reservoir, a current regulator for regulating the current supplied from the energy reservoir to a firing element of the safety device, and a controller for controlling the current regulator so as to supply energy for actuating the firing element in response to a vehicle collision, the current regulator is also controlled so as to supply a check current with a level insufficient to actuate the firing element to the fired element so as to produce a detection signal indicative of the condition of the firing element. The condition of the detection signal is checked by a first discriminator and the conditions of the channel and the firing element are determined. In the case where the capacity of the energy reservoir is not sufficient, the output voltage of the energy reservoir falls sharply when the check current is drawn therefrom. A second discriminator is provided to discriminate whether or not the capacity of the energy reservoir is sufficient.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.