Patent ID: 7191043

Claim:
A protection system against lateral collision for a vehicle including a driver seat and a passenger protecting device for protecting a passenger against a lateral collision, the protection system comprising: a sensing section for sensing a magnitude of an electric signal representing a physical quantity correlated to a lateral force exerted on the vehicle when the vehicle has a lateral collision, wherein the sensing section includes a first sensing section provided forward of a rear end of the driver seat and a second sensing section provided rearward of the rear end of the driver seat; a determining section for determining that the vehicle has the lateral collision if the sensed magnitude of the electric signal exceeds a predetermined threshold, wherein the determining section is constructed to perform a calculation by substituting outputs from the first and second sensing sections for the variables of a predetermined function that are outputs as non-binary signals from the first and second sensing sections, and wherein the determining section is further constructed to use a function value that is a result of the calculation as a basis for determining whether the vehicle has the lateral collision; and a controlling section for commanding actuation of the passenger protecting device if the determining section determines that the vehicle has a lateral collision, wherein the determining section determines whether the function value exceeds a predetermined threshold; wherein the determining section uses the result of the determination as a basis for determining whether the vehicle has a lateral collision, wherein the determining section determines whether a difference between outputs from the first and second sensing sections exceeds a predetermined threshold, and wherein the determining section uses a result of the determination as a basis for determining whether the vehicle has a lateral collision.