Patent ID: 6557889
Filing Date: 2003-05-06
Classification: B60J,B60N,B60R,B62D,G01F,H01H

Abstract:
A vehicle having an occupant restraint device and a portion defined as a crush zone which is designed to crush upon a crash involving the vehicle, the vehicle including a crash sensor arrangement for determining whether the crash involving the vehicle requires deployment of the occupant restraint device, the arrangement comprising:an elongate sensor arranged in the crush zone, said sensor being structured and arranged to provide a variable impedance as a function of a change in velocity of the crush zone; and a processor for measuring the impedance of said sensor or a part thereof at a plurality of times to determine changes in the impedance of said sensor or said part thereof, said processor providing a crash signal for consideration in the deployment of the occupant restraint device based on the determined changes in impedance of said sensor or part thereof.