Patent Description:
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for controlling a vehicular active seatbelt, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for actively controlling an active seatbelt positioned in a vehicle seat in response to state information that is collected or detected during vehicle driving.

In general, a seatbelt is an example of a safety device for elastically restraining a passenger body to prevent serious injury when sudden shock due to collision or crash during driving is applied. A vehicular seatbelt is operatively connected to a seatbelt indicator that notifies a driver about a wearing state because of importance of wearing the seatbelt. The seatbelt indicator is configured in such a way that a vehicular electronic control unit (ECU) receives a signal of a contact sensor installed in the form of a buckle of a seatbelt and lights a belt display included in a cluster using the signal or continuously sounds an alarm using a buzzer instead of the belt display and, thus, notifies the driver about a wearing state of the seatbelt.

In addition, an active seatbelt (ASB) is configured in such a way that a driving motor installed in the seatbelt pre-pulls or instantly pulls the seatbelt to definitely fix a passenger to a seat when forward collision is predicted or an emergency such as a sharp turn occurs and, thus, is proposed as a smart safety system for minimizing passenger injury due to shock. However, a conventional active seatbelt control apparatus has a limit in that an active seatbelt is not normally operated when danger of a rollover accident occurs, e.g., when emergency braking is not performed by a forward collision avoidance assist system (FCA) or a vehicle descends along the embankment or climbs up a hill. In addition, when the FCA malfunctions and crash/collision occurs in a non-braking state, the conventional active seatbelt control apparatus has difficulty in actively controlling a seatbelt.

Moreover, <CIT> discloses an automobile rollover prediction and restraint device deployment system, comprising a plurality of automobile data sensors to generate a plurality of data signals, and a controller to receive the data signals and configured to deploy resettable and non-resettable restraint devices, wherein the controller is configured to activate at least one resettable restraint device when one or more of the data signals exceed a first threshold, indicating that the vehicle is in a position or undergoing movement that indicates a potential for vehicle rollover, and to de-activate the at least one resettable restraint device when one or more of the data signals fall below the first threshold.

Further methods and systems for controlling restraining devices in vehicles are known from <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT>.

An objective of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for recognizing a rollover accident and an emergency situation during driving on a rough road and transmitting a signal for control of a pre-safe seat belt (PSB) by an airbag control unit (ACU), thereby enhancing performance for protecting a passenger via advance restraint control.

Another objective of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for determining a situation in which a vehicle is in danger of a rollover accident and controlling a pre-safe seat belt (PSB) to restrain (fasten) an electric seatbelt in advance before an airbag is deployed.

Another objective of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and method for controlling a pre-safe seat belt (PSB) using an airbag control unit (ACU) for collecting driving state information of a vehicle for safety of a passenger to simplify specifications of a controller for control of the PSB, thereby enhancing productivity.

Additional advantages, objectives, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention.

To achieve these objectives and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention a method of controlling an active seatbelt is provided according to claim <NUM> and an apparatus for controlling an active seatbelt is provided according to claim <NUM>. Further advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present disclosure are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

The examples of methods of controlling an active seatbelt according to <FIG> and <FIG> do dot form part of the invention as such, but are considered as useful for understanding the invention. In the drawings:.

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In addition, the suffixes "module" and "unit" of elements herein are used for convenience of description and thus can be used interchangeably and do not have any distinguishable meanings or functions.

In description of exemplary embodiments, it will be understood that, when an element is referred to as being "on" or "under" another element, the element can be directly on another element or intervening elements may be present. In addition, when an element is referred to as being "on" or "under" another element, this may include the meaning of an upward direction or a downward direction based on one component.

<FIG> is a diagram for explanation of a first example of an apparatus for controlling an active seatbelt. <FIG> is a diagram for explanation of a second example of an apparatus for controlling an active seatbelt. In detail, referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the apparatuses for controlling an active seatbelt may have different structures depending on a connection form between an airbag control apparatus and an active seatbelt apparatus through a vehicular network.

Referring to <FIG>, the apparatus for controlling an active seatbelt may include a vehicle information providing unit 12A, an airbag control unit (ACU) 14A, a pre-active seatbelt (PSB) 16A, and a seatbelt motor <NUM>. Here, the vehicle information providing unit 12A may collect and transmit driving information used to determine a situation for restraint control of the PSB 16A, such as vehicle speed, a vehicle behavior, a buckle state, and a collision warning system. The ACU 14A may determine and control an operating state of the PSB 16A. The PSB 16A may include a driving driver for directly driving the seatbelt motor <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an ACU 14B may be connected to a vehicle information providing unit 12B and a PSB 16B via CAN communication that is a vehicular network. <FIG> illustrates the case in which the vehicle information providing unit 12A is connected to the PSB 16A through the ACU 14A and, on the other hand, <FIG> illustrates the case in which the vehicle information providing unit 12A is connected directly to the PSB 16A. The PSB 16B and the seatbelt motor <NUM> may be connected to each other through a wire but not network communication.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the apparatus for controlling an active seatbelt may include the seatbelt motor <NUM> for controlling restraint and release of a seatbelt, the PSBs 16A and 16B including a seatbelt driving controller <NUM> for outputting a motor control signal for control of the seatbelt motor, and the ACUs 14A and 14B for providing the determination result for determining the motor control signal. Here, the seatbelt driving controller <NUM> may be an electric circuitry that executes instructions of software which thereby performs various functions described hereinafter. The ACUs 14A and 14B may determine a safety state based on driving information collected during vehicle driving and, then, determine the determination result in response to whether an airbag is deployed.

<FIG> is a diagram for explanation of a third example of an apparatus for controlling an active seatbelt.

As shown in the drawing, the apparatus for controlling an active seatbelt may include a vehicle information providing unit <NUM> including a plurality of sensors or detectors for colleting driving information of a vehicle.

The plurality of sensors or detectors included in the vehicle information providing unit <NUM> may be changed in some embodiments. For example, the plurality of sensors or detectors may include a forward collision warning system (FCW) <NUM>, a side collision warning system (SCW) <NUM>, a rear collision warning system (RCW) <NUM>, and so on. In some embodiments, the forward collision warning system (FCW) for warning a driver about danger when danger of forward collision with a leading vehicle may also be provided through smart cruise control (SCC) for driving a vehicle while mainlining a predetermined distance from a leading vehicle. The side collision warning system (SCW) for warning a driver about danger when danger of side collision with a neighboring vehicle positioned at a lateral side may also be provided through a lane keeping assist system (LKAS) for control of vehicle steering as well as for warning a driver about danger using vibration, sound, or the like upon determining that the vehicle departs from a road or a lane. The rear collision warning system (RCW) for warning a driver about danger when rear collision with a neighboring vehicle positioned at a rear side may also be provided through a blind spot warning system (BSW) that detects a vehicle or an object when the vehicle or the object approaches a left/right blind spot during vehicle driving and notifies the driver of the information. Information on the possibility of vehicle collision or crash may be pre-collected through a plurality of warning devices installed in a vehicle and the information may be provided to an airbag control unit (ACU) <NUM> that is connected to the warning devices using a CAN communication method as a vehicular network.

The vehicle information providing unit <NUM> may include a central gateway (CGW) <NUM> that is connected to a head unit for transmitting information on whether a seatbelt is fastened. In addition, the vehicle information providing unit <NUM> may further include a steering angle sensor (SAS) <NUM> for detecting the manipulation speed and angle of a steering wheel to perform steering control, vehicle dynamic control (VDC), ABS control, and so on, and an electronic stability control device (ESC) <NUM> for analyzing a state of the steering wheel to adjust a traveling direction of a vehicle when a target direction of the vehicle is different from an actual direction.

The ACU <NUM> may include a processor <NUM> having a non-transitory memory storing software instructions which, when executed by the processor <NUM>, provide the functionalities of: a condition determination module <NUM> for determining a rollover state of a vehicle, an airbag controller <NUM> for detecting vehicle crash to deploy an airbag, and a seatbelt control determination module <NUM> for determining a safety state based on driving information and for determining a determination result in response to the information on the rollover state and whether the airbag is deployed, which are transmitted from the condition determination module <NUM> and the airbag controller <NUM>. The airbag controller <NUM> of the processor <NUM> may collect information on crash from a front/side impact sensor (FIS/SIS) <NUM> that detects acceleration or pressure and transmits the detected information to the ACU in an initial crash stage.

The seatbelt control determination module <NUM> of the processor <NUM> may permit a motor control signal for restraint control of a seatbelt to be output from a seatbelt driving controller <NUM> in response to a safety state in which an airbag is not deployed and may not permit the seatbelt driving controller <NUM> to perform restraint control in a state in which an airbag is deployed.

In some embodiments, the ACU <NUM> may further include a collision sensor <NUM> for detecting vehicle collision, a rollover detection sensor <NUM> for detecting vehicle rollover, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) <NUM> for measuring acceleration and rotary motion of a vehicle.

Driving information transmitted from the vehicle information providing unit <NUM> may include wheel speed, a steering angle, lateral acceleration, a yaw rate, rollover angular velocity, and a rollover angle.

The ACU <NUM> may determine a first condition about whether vehicle speed in a traveling direction is greater than predetermined threshold speed, a second condition about whether vehicle lateral speed is greater than a predetermined first lateral speed threshold value, and a third condition for determination of a vehicle rollover situation and determine a safety state in response to a determination result. For example, the rollover situation may be determined in response to rollover angular velocity and a rollover angle and the third condition may be greater than a threshold value that is lower than a condition in which an airbag disposed at a lateral side in the vehicle is deployed.

In some embodiments, the driving information may be transmitted from a yaw rate sensor, an inertial measurement sensor, and a rollover detection sensor. In addition, the driving information may include a value transmitted from a vehicle speed and rollover detection sensor. For example, the rollover detection sensor may output Y-direction acceleration (Low Y), Z-direction acceleration (Low Z), and rollover angular velocity (Roll rate).

The ACU <NUM> may calculate the rollover angle from the rollover angular velocity. For example, the condition determination module <NUM> may receive the rollover angular velocity and calculate the rollover angle and, then, transmit the rollover angle to the seatbelt control determination module <NUM>.

The ACU <NUM> may determine whether all of the Y-direction acceleration (Low Y), the Z-direction acceleration (Low Z), the rollover angular velocity (Roll rate), and a rollover angle are greater than respective predetermined threshold values. For example, the seatbelt control determination module <NUM> may determine whether driving information from the vehicle information providing unit <NUM> or the condition determination module <NUM> is greater than a corresponding threshold value to determine a current state of a vehicle. Upon determining that a driver and a passenger in a vehicle are in danger, a seatbelt may be further restrained to enhance safety of the driver or the passenger.

The ACU <NUM> may feed an operation state of a seatbelt motor, corresponding to the motor control signal, back to the airbag controller <NUM> and display information on a vehicle instrument panel (e.g., a display) in response to the motor control signal. In particular, the driving information may include advance information on crash danger and the determination result of the seatbelt control determination module <NUM> may be output before a vehicle detects crash.

The motor control signal output from the seatbelt driving controller <NUM> may have a pulse width or current level for restraining a seatbelt and a seatbelt driving motor <NUM> may restrain a seatbelt in response to the pulse width or the current level.

In some embodiments, the ACU <NUM> may receive information from an external forward collision sensor, a side collision sensor, and the like in the case of current forward/side collision and perform a crash algorithm for deploying an airbag using an internal crash sensor. The ACU <NUM> may determine whether a seatbelt is restrained based on the driving information received from the inertial measurement unit (IMU) <NUM> including a yaw rate sensor and an Ax and Ay acceleration sensor, for checking a behavior degree such as vehicle rotation, and the rollover detection sensor <NUM> including a roll rate sensor and an Ax and Ay acceleration sensor, for detecting a rollover accident of a vehicle. In addition, the ACU <NUM> may include the condition determination module <NUM> and the seatbelt control determination module <NUM>, for determining a condition about a restraint function of a seatbelt using the driving information of the vehicle and the information transmitted from the IMU <NUM> and the collision sensor <NUM>. The seatbelt driving controller <NUM> may output the motor control signal according to the information determined by the seatbelt control determination module <NUM> that receives information on airbag deployment from the airbag controller <NUM> and determines seatbelt restraining.

In some embodiments, the seatbelt control determination module <NUM> may perform an algorithm for determining control of a plurality of seatbelts or include a plurality of determination logics or circuits. For example, the condition determination module <NUM> may estimate a dynamic condition for estimating a condition such as vehicle rollover and a traverse behavior using information output from the IMU <NUM>, information output from the rollover detection sensor <NUM>, a steering angle, vehicle speed, and brake pressure information. The seatbelt control determination module <NUM> may include a first condition determination module for determining control of a dynamic condition of a restraint operation of a seatbelt using information output from the condition determination module <NUM> and information on whether a seatbelt is fastened, and a second condition determination module for determining whether a seatbelt is restrained using free crash determination information of a vehicle, information on whether a seatbelt is fastened, and basic crash algorithm information of the airbag controller <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram for explanation of a first example of a method of controlling an active seatbelt.

As shown in the drawing, the method of controlling the active seatbelt may be started (<NUM>) by checking whether a seatbelt is fastened (<NUM>). Control of an active seatbelt may be performed for every seatbelt in a vehicle. When the seatbelt is not fastened, control of the active seatbelt may not be performed (<NUM>). Then, whether average vehicle speed is equal to or greater than threshold speed may be checked based on information on wheel speed <NUM> (<NUM>). When the vehicle speed is lower than the threshold speed, control of the active seatbelt may not be performed.

In some embodiments, to control the active seatbelt, lateral acceleration or a yaw rate may be calculated using information on a steering angle <NUM> and the wheel speed <NUM> (<NUM>). In some embodiments, lateral acceleration <NUM> and yaw rate <NUM> may be received to perform calculation corresponding to a lateral-direction situation (<NUM>). Then, the value calculated in response to the lateral-direction situation and a threshold value may be compared (<NUM>). Rollover acceleration <NUM> and rollover angular velocity <NUM> may be received and, then, calculation corresponding to a situation of a rollover accident may be performed (<NUM>). Then, the rollover situation may be determined based on the calculated value (<NUM>) and whether an airbag is deployed may be checked (<NUM>). When all of the third conditions are satisfied through the aforementioned procedure, the active seatbelt may be operated (<NUM>).

In some embodiments, in the operating method of the active seatbelt, whether a seatbelt is fastened may be determined, a restraint operation of an active seatbelt may not be performed when the seatbelt is not fastened, and a time point when the restraint operation of the active seatbelt is to be performed may be determined through an airbag controller when the seatbelt is fastened. As shown in the drawing, the situation for the restraint operation of the active seatbelt may be determined using the wheel speed <NUM>, the steering angle <NUM>, the lateral acceleration <NUM>, the yaw rate <NUM>, collision acceleration (not shown), the rollover acceleration <NUM>, and the rollover angular velocity <NUM>. When a lateral-direction situation reference value, which is calculated using factor values used to calculate lateral acceleration and a yaw rate using the wheel speed <NUM> and the steering angle <NUM> and information of the lateral acceleration <NUM> and the yaw rate <NUM>, is greater than a situation reference threshold value (<NUM>), the restraint operation of the active seatbelt may be performed. The restraint operation of the active seatbelt may be performed only when average vehicle speed is greater than predetermined threshold speed based on the wheel speed <NUM> (<NUM>).

<FIG> is a diagram for explanation of a time point of restraint control of an active seatbelt. In detail, <FIG> shows determination of a time point at which a restraint operation of an active seatbelt is performed in response to collected information during vehicle driving.

As shown in the drawings, (a) to (c) of <FIG> respectively show examples of setting threshold values of Y-direction acceleration (Low Y), Z-direction acceleration (Low Z), rollover angular velocity (Roll rate), and rollover angle (Roll Angle) when a rollover accident occurs. To set threshold values of the rollover angular velocity and the rollover angle for performing the restraint operation of the active seatbelt, a range of a threshold value for performing a restraint operation of a separate active seatbelt may be set and the restraint operation of the active seatbelt may be performed in advance prior to determination of whether a side airbag is deployed for rollover.

<FIG> is a diagram for explanation of a second example of the method of controlling an active seatbelt.

As shown in the drawing, the method of controlling the active seatbelt may perform a dynamic rollover algorithm of an airbag control unit (ACU) that determines whether a seatbelt is fastened (<NUM>), does not perform a restraint operation of an active seatbelt when the seatbelt is not fastened (<NUM>), and performs the restraint operation of the active seatbelt when the seatbelt is fastened and average vehicle speed is greater than predetermined threshold speed based on wheel speed (<NUM>).

The dynamic rollover algorithm of the airbag control unit (ACU) may determine a rollover situation when a value of Y-direction acceleration (Low Y), Z-direction acceleration (Low Z), rollover angular velocity (Roll rate), and rollover angle (Roll Angle) of a rollover sensor is greater than a threshold value tuned according to the characteristics of a vehicle (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>). To this end, the rollover angle may be calculated from the rollover angular velocity (<NUM>). Whether the Y-direction acceleration (Low Y) and the Z-direction acceleration (Low Z) are greater than respective predetermined threshold values (threshold value <NUM> and threshold value <NUM>) may be determined. When at least one of the Y-direction acceleration (Low Y) or the Z-direction acceleration (Low Z) is greater than a threshold value, whether the rollover angular velocity (Roll rate) and the rollover angle (Roll Angle) are greater than respective predetermined threshold values (threshold value <NUM> and threshold value <NUM>) may be determined. When a rollover accident is determined (<NUM>), if whether a side airbag for rollover is deployed is checked and the side airbag is not deployed (<NUM>), the ACU may lastly determine a rollover accident and generate a motor control signal for permitting a motor driver for a restraint operation of an active seatbelt to perform the restraint operation of the active seatbelt (<NUM>). The seatbelt motor may be driven in response to the motor control signal (<NUM>).

<FIG> is a diagram for explanation of a third example of the method of controlling an active seatbelt.

As shown in the drawing, the method of controlling an active seatbelt may include checking whether a seatbelt is fastened (<NUM>), collecting driving information from a sensor or driving assist/safety system installed in a vehicle (<NUM>), determining a safety state of the vehicle based on the driving information (<NUM>), checking whether an airbag is deployed (<NUM>), and outputting a motor control signal for a restraint control of a seatbelt in response to the safety state when the airbag is not deployed (<NUM>).

The driving information used in the method of controlling an active seatbelt may include wheel speed, a steering angle, lateral acceleration, a yaw rate, rollover angular velocity, and a rollover angle. The safety state of the vehicle determined in the method of controlling an active seatbelt may include a first condition about whether vehicle speed in a traveling direction is greater than predetermined threshold speed, a second condition about whether lateral speed of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined first lateral speed threshold value, and a third condition for determining a rollover situation of a vehicle. In some embodiments, the rollover situation may be determined in response to the rollover angular velocity and the rollover angle and the third condition may be greater than a threshold value that is lower than a condition in which an airbag disposed at a lateral side in the vehicle is deployed.

In some embodiments, the driving information used in the method of controlling an active seatbelt may be transmitted from a yaw rate sensor, an inertial measurement sensor, and a rollover detection sensor. In addition, the driving information may include a value transmitted from a vehicle speed and rollover detection sensor. For example, the rollover detection sensor may output Y-direction acceleration (Low Y), Z-direction acceleration (Low Z), and rollover angular velocity (Roll rate). The method of controlling an active seatbelt may further include calculating the rollover angle from the rollover angular velocity.

The determining of the safety state of the vehicle (<NUM>) may include determining whether all of the Y-direction acceleration (Low Y), the Z-direction acceleration (Low Z), the rollover angular velocity (Roll rate), and a rollover angle are greater than respective predetermined threshold values.

Although not shown, the method of controlling an active seatbelt may further include feeding back an operating state of a seatbelt motor corresponding to the motor control signal to the airbag controller and displaying information on a vehicle instrument panel in response to the motor control signal.

The driving information used in the method of controlling an active seatbelt may include advance information on crash danger and restraint control of the seatbelt may be performed before the vehicle detects crash.

In the method of controlling an active seatbelt, the restraint control may not be performed when the airbag is deployed. Control of the active seatbelt may be independently performed from seatbelts installed in a vehicle and, when a seatbelt is not fastened, it may not be necessary to perform additional control or algorithms, to which the method of controlling the active seatbelt is applied, on the corresponding seatbelt.

To control the active seatbelt, the motor control signal may control the seatbelt motor in response to a pulse width or a current level. The seatbelt motor may additional restrain the seatbelt in response to the pulse width or the current level.

The method according to the aforementioned embodiment can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable recording medium. Examples of the computer readable recording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, etc..

The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. Also, functional programs, code, and code segments for accomplishing the present disclosure can be easily construed by programmers skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.

The apparatus according to the present disclosure may have the following effects.

According to the present disclosure, an airbag control unit (ACU) for collecting information on safety of a passenger among various driving assist devices or safety driving devices to be installed in a vehicle may control an active seatbelt to enhance the safety of the passenger and to simplify a configuration of a controller of a pre-active seatbelt (PSB), thereby reducing manufacturing costs of vehicles.

According to the present disclosure, the controller of the pre-active seatbelt (PSB) may be operatively connected to a seatbelt in such a way that the seatbelt is pre-fastened before information from the airbag control unit (ACU) is collected and an airbag is operated, thereby enhancing the safety of the passenger.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that that the effects that could be achieved with the present disclosure are not limited to what has been particularly described hereinabove and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the above detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Claim 1:
A method of controlling an active seatbelt, including a seatbelt motor (<NUM>) configured to control restraint and release of a seatbelt in response to a motor control signal, the method comprising:
checking (<NUM>) whether a seatbelt is fastened;
collecting driving information from a sensor or driving assist/safety system installed in a vehicle;
calculating (<NUM>) a rollover angle from a rollover angular velocity of the vehicle,
determining (<NUM>) whether a Y-direction acceleration (Low Y) is greater than a first threshold, determining (<NUM>) whether a Z-direction acceleration (Low Z) is greater than a second threshold, determining (<NUM>) whether the rollover angular velocity is greater than a third threshold and determining (<NUM>) whether the rollover angle is greater than a fourth threshold,
determining a safety state of the vehicle based on the driving information, the determining of the safety state of the vehicle comprises determining a rollover situation of the vehicle (<NUM>) when at least one of Y-direction acceleration (Low Y) and the Z-direction acceleration (Low Z) is greater than a respective one of first and second thresholds, the rollover angular velocity (Roll rate) is greater than the third threshold, and the rollover angle is greater than the fourth threshold;
checking (<NUM>) whether a side airbag disposed at a lateral side is deployed; and
outputting (<NUM>) a motor control signal for restraint control of the seatbelt, when a rollover situation of the vehicle is determined and it is determined that the side airbag is not deployed.