Patent ID: 6513830
Filing Date: 2003-02-04
Classification: B60N,B60R,G01S,G06K

Abstract:
In a vehicle having a passenger compartment, an interior roof, a windshield at a forward end of the passenger compartment, a seat for the passenger and a rear view mirror, an airbag system for inflation and deployment of an air bag in front of the passenger during a collision, said airbag system comprising:an air bag; an inflator connected to said air bag and structured and arranged to inflate said air bag with a gas; a passenger sensor system mounted at least partially adjacent to or on the interior roof of the vehicle, said sensor system being structured and arranged to continuously sense position of the passenger and generate electrical output indicative of the position of the passenger; and a microprocessor electrically connected to said sensor system and to said inflator, said microprocessor being structured and arranged to compare and perform an analysis of the electrical output from said sensor system and activate said inflator to inflate and deploy said air bag when said analysis indicates that the vehicle is involved in a collision and that deployment of said air bag would likely reduce a risk of serious injury to the passenger which would exist absent deployment of said air bag and likely would not present an increased risk of injury to the passenger resulting from deployment of said air bag.