Patent ID: 7347297

Claim:
An apparatus for activating an occupant restraint device of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising: a first sensor for sensing deceleration of the vehicle and generating a first signal indicative of the sensed deceleration of the vehicle; a second sensor for sensing dynamic movement of the vehicle and generating a second signal indicative of the sensed dynamic movement of the vehicle, the dynamic movement of the vehicle including acceleration and the deceleration of the vehicle; a first determination unit determining whether or not to output a first activation signal depending on the first signal from said first sensor; a second determination unit determining, using a predetermined threshold, whether or not to output a second activation signal depending on the second signal from said second sensor, said predetermined threshold comprising a first threshold directed to the deceleration of the vehicle and a second threshold directed to the acceleration of the vehicle; an output circuit outputting a final activation signal upon receiving both the first activation signal from said first determination unit and the second activation signal from said second determination unit; and an activation unit activating the occupant restraint device of the vehicle upon receiving the final activation signal from said output circuit, wherein said second sensor is given a reference zero-point value, wherein an absolute value of the difference between the reference zero-point value and the first threshold is smaller than an absolute value of the difference between the reference zero-point value and the second threshold.