Patent ID: 7514917

Claim:
A magnetic crash sensor, comprising: a. at least one coil in magnetic communication with at least a portion of a vehicle, wherein said portion of said vehicle 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, said first time-varying signal comprises at least one pulse, 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 last 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 signal, said first signal comprises a time-varying voltage applied by said signal source, 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, said magnetic condition is responsive to said magnetic communication of said at least one coil with said portion of said vehicle, said at least one circuit generates a second signal responsive to a voltage across said at least one sense resistor, and said at least one circuit is adapted to charge said at least one coil through said at least one sense resistor with said pulse when said pulse is activated, and said at least one circuit is adapted to discharge said at least one coil through a second resistor after said at least one pulse is deactivated.