Patent ID: 6337653
Filing Date: 2002-01-08
Classification: B60R,G01S

Abstract:
A vehicle impact detection sensor system for an active occupant protection system, the vehicle impact detection system havinga radar transmitter and a radar receiver which are arranged on a sensor-carrying superstructure of the vehicle, the radar receiver receiving radar waves which are emitted by the radar transmitter and reflected at an impact-relevant reflexion surface permanently connected to the vehicle which moves relative to the sensor-carrying superstructure in the event of an impact, and a Doppler frequency evaluation unit responsive to the frequency of the transmitted radar waves and the frequency of the radar waves reflected from the impact-relevant reflexion surface to determine the associated Doppler frequency and detecting therefrom a relative movement of the impact-relevant reflexion surface with reference to the sensor-carrying superstructure and determining if an impact is occurring based on the relative movement of the impact-relevant reflexion surface with reference to the sensor-carrying superstructure.