Patent ID: 8180585

Claim:
A magnetic crash sensor, comprising: a. at least one coil in magnetic communication with at least a portion of a vehicle, wherein said at least said portion of said vehicle in magnetic communication with said at least one coil is susceptible to deformation responsive to a crash; b. a signal source operatively associated with said at least one coil, wherein said signal source provides for generating a first time-varying signal, and said first time-varying signal is operatively coupled to said at least one coil so as to cause said at least one coil to generate a magnetic field; and c. at least one circuit, wherein said at least one circuit comprises at least one sense resistor in series with said at least one coil, said current through said at least one coil and through said at least one sense resistor is responsive to said first time-varying signal, said first time-varying signal comprises a time-varying voltage, said current through said at least one coil and through said at least one sense resistor is also responsive to a magnetic condition of said at least one coil, and said magnetic condition is responsive to said magnetic communication of said at least one coil with said portion of said vehicle, and said at least one circuit generates a second signal responsive to a voltage across said at least one sense resistor.