Patent ID: 6708095
Filing Date: 2004-03-16
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
A seatbelt pretensioner method for occupant position control prior to vehicle impact comprising, in response to detecting an object:generating a Collision Index (CI) value representing a likelihood of collision with said detected object; generating a Lateral Displacement (LD) value indicative of a distance to said detected object; determining a weight value (Wo) for a vehicle occupant; and when said CI and LD values satisfy respective threshold conditions, generating a pretensioner output (PTout) value as a function of said CI and Wo values, and activating a reversible seatbelt pretensioner associated with a seat of said vehicle occupant as a function of said PTout, and wherein generating a PTout value includes determining a response time constant of said seatbelt pretensioner and generating said PTout value as a function of said response time constant.