Patent ID: 7958962

Claim:
A device for detecting a collision of a vehicle with an obstacle, comprising: an ultrasonic transmitter and receiver unit situated in the vehicle so that a sound produced by a deformation of at least one body part of the vehicle is transmitted to the ultrasonic transmitter and receiver unit; and an evaluation unit operatively coupled to the ultrasonic receiver unit, wherein the ultrasonic transmitter and receiver unit transmits to the evaluation unit a signal related to the detected sound, wherein the evaluation unit evaluates the transmitted signal related to the detected sound to determine whether a collision of the vehicle with an obstacle has occurred, and wherein the evaluation unit receives an indicator of receiving elevated ultrasonic signals at the ultrasonic transmitter and receiver, and wherein the evaluation unit checks whether a test signal had previously been transmitted from the device for which no echo has been received at the ultrasonic transmitter and receiver, and if so, the evaluation unit determines a distance from the obstacle based on the received elevated ultrasonic signals, and if not, the evaluation unit determines whether additional elevated ultrasonic signals are received at the ultrasonic transmitter and receiver over a predetermined time period for a determination of the collision.