JP2768075B2 - Side collision detection system for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle side collision detection device for detecting that an obstacle collides with a vehicle side surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional vehicle side collision detection apparatus, there has been one shown in FIGS.

[0005] A door body 9 is constituted by an outer panel 1 and an inner panel 2 of a vehicle side door shown in FIG. The window glass 3 is provided inside the door body 9.
There is provided an elevating device (not shown) such as a window regulator for opening / closing the device. A mold made of an elastic material such as rubber is provided at the upper end portions of the outer panel 1 and the inner panel 2 to prevent rain or the like from being mixed into the internal region of the door body 9 from a gap between the upper end portion of the outer panel 1 or the inner panel 2 and the window glass 3. 8 are provided.

A vibration sensor 4 is provided on the inner surface of the outer panel 1.
Are detected from the amount of vibration of the vibration sensor 4 as to whether or not the vehicle has collided with an obstacle.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of contact sensors are attached to the outer surface of the outer panel 1 of the side door of the vehicle, and a vehicle collision for directly detecting whether or not the outer panel 1 of the side door has collided with an obstacle. There was a detection device.

[0006]

However, the conventional vehicle impact detection device requires an extremely large number of vibration sensors or contact sensors in order to reliably detect even when an obstacle collides with only a part of the door. , Wiring becomes complicated due to the large number of sensors,
Therefore, the cost was high.

In the case of using a contact sensor,
A contact sensor is provided on the outer surface of the outer panel, and the contact sensor must be directly attached to the outer surface of the outer panel in order to directly detect whether a collision has occurred with an obstacle.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the cost and improve the appearance of a vehicle side collision detection device.

[0009]

According to the present invention, an outer panel of a side door for a vehicle, an inner panel of the side door, and an outer panel provided between the outer panel and the inner panel are provided. An acoustic wall provided in the enclosed area formed by the intermediate wall, an acoustic microphone for detecting a shock wave generated in the enclosed area, and an impulse detected by the acoustic microphone .
It is constituted by a collision judging means for judging whether or not the side of the vehicle has collided with an obstacle from the level of the shooting wave .

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a region sealed by the outer panel and the inter-wall is provided in the region of the door including the outer panel and the inner panel, and the sound is provided in the sealed region.
Install a microphone to control the level of shock waves
Detected by the acoustic microphone , outputs the detected value to the collision determination means, compares the detected value with a predetermined value of the collision determination means in advance, only when the detected value is equal to or more than the predetermined value,
It is determined that the side of the vehicle has collided with the obstacle, and that the side of the vehicle has collided with the obstacle is detected.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

The door body 9 comprises an outer panel 1 and an inner panel 2, and a window regulator (not shown) for opening and closing the window glass 3 is provided in an inner area of the door body 9. In order to prevent rain or the like from being mixed into the inner region of the door body 9 from the gap between the upper end portion of the outer panel 1 or the inner panel 2 and the window glass 3, an elastic body such as rubber is provided on the upper end portions of the outer panel 1 and the inner panel 2. Mold 8 is provided. A partition 7 is provided between the outer panel 1 and the inner panel 2, and a region sealed by the partition 7 and the outer panel 1 is formed.
, Two acoustic microphones 6 are installed.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the side of the vehicle collides with an obstacle having a planar shape, the outer panel 1 and, depending on the degree of the collision, the inner panel 2 are also deformed. Due to the deformation of the outer panel 1 due to the collision, the volume of the sealed area formed by the partition wall 7 and the outer panel 1 changes, and this volume change increases the average pressure in the sealed area or partially increases the pressure like a shock wave. An air layer forms and moves within the enclosed area. The increase in the average pressure or the fluctuation accompanying the partial movement of the high-pressure air layer is detected by the acoustic microphone 6 installed in the closed area.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, a configuration of a detection circuit and its operation at the time of collision with an obstacle detected by the acoustic microphone 6 will be described.

The pressure in the closed area detected by the acoustic microphone 6 is output to the amplifier 10 as a pressure signal 60,
Amplified by the amplifier 10 and then the bandpass filter 1
Multiplied by 1, it removes the signal components generated by the vibration of the vehicle during the running of the vehicle, the impact vibration by human intention, the vibration when the door is opened and closed, etc., and transmits only the signal component of the pressure fluctuation caused by the deformation of the door to the subsequent steps . The signal 110 obtained through the bandpass filter 11 is used by the level detector 12 to determine whether or not there is a pressure value equal to or greater than a predetermined value. If the pressure value exceeds a predetermined value, the monostable multivibrator 1
3, 14 a single pulse signal 130 of a predetermined length,
140 is generated. The AND gate 15 has a single pulse signal 1 from the two monostable multivibrators 13 and 14.
When both 30 and 140 are at the H (Hi) level, it is determined that the side of the vehicle has collided with the obstacle, and the collision determination signal 15
Outputs 0.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the waveform of the detection circuit shown in FIG.
Shown in The horizontal axis is the time axis.

The audio signal is input from the acoustic microphone 6 to the amplifier 10,
When the signal 100 output by the amplifier 10 has a waveform as shown in the figure, the bandpass filter 11 removes a signal component generated by vehicle body vibration during traveling of the vehicle, impact vibration intentionally by a person, and vibration during opening and closing of a door. Removing the filter results in a smooth waveform as shown in the figure. Next, the level detector 12 compares the output 110 from the bandpass filter 11 with a threshold value A of the level detector 12 in advance.
When the output 110 from the bandpass filter 11 is equal to or higher than the threshold value A, it is output to the level detection unit 12 as an H (Hi) level, and when the output 110 is smaller than the threshold value A, as an L (Low) level. The waveform of the level detector 12 is as shown in the figure. In the monostable multivibrators 13 and 14, when the signal 120 output from the level detector 12 is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the pulse signals 130 and 14 having a predetermined single pulse width B
0 is output to the AND gate circuit 15. The waveform is as shown in the figure. In the present embodiment, two acoustic microphones 6 are attached, and their attachment positions are different. However, although the pressures input to the respective acoustic microphones 6 are temporally shifted, substantially the same inputs can be obtained. Therefore, the single pulse signal 13 output from the monostable multivibrators 13 and 14
0 and 140 are single pulse signals 130, although a temporal shift occurs due to a difference in the mounting locations of the two acoustic microphones 6;
By setting 140 to a predetermined width B, the output signals 130 and 140 of the monostable multivibrators 13 and 14 can be set.
Occur at the same time when the H level of the signals 130 and 140 starts to overlap.
The collision determination signal 150 is obtained by the AND gate circuit 15 and is output with a waveform as shown in FIG.

As described above, when the collision determination signal 150 is output from the AND gate circuit 15, it is possible to detect that the side of the vehicle has collided with an obstacle.

When at least one of the acoustic microphones 6 installed in the enclosed area composed of the outer panel 1 and the partition wall 7 satisfies the required reliability, that is, when the collision between the side of the vehicle and an obstacle can be reliably detected, the acoustic One microphone 6 may be used. In that case, the amplifier 10, the bandpass filter 11,
Only one level detector 12 and one monostable multivibrator 13 or 14 are required, and the AND gate 15 can be omitted, so that a simple configuration can be achieved.

[0020]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a sealed area is provided by the outer panel and the inner wall in the area formed by the outer panel and the inner panel, and the sound is provided in the sealed area.
A microphone is installed, which always occurs when colliding with an obstacle
Since the level of the shock wave in the enclosed area to be detected is detected, the collision with the obstacle can be reliably detected with a small acoustic microphone , so that the wiring between the acoustic microphone and the power supply unit of the vehicle and the collision determination means is extremely reduced. This has the effect that the cost can be reduced. In addition, since the collision can be detected without attaching the acoustic microphone to the outer surface of the outer panel, the appearance is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing deformation of a door when a side surface of a vehicle collides with an obstacle.

FIG. 3 is a detection circuit according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an output waveform of a detection circuit.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional side collision detection device.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional side collision detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outer panel 2 Inner panel 3 Window glass 6 Acoustic microphone 7 Partition wall 9 Door main body 10 Amplifier 11 Band filter 12 Level detector 13, 14 Monostable multivibrator 15 AND gate circuit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An outer panel of a side door for a vehicle, an inner panel of the side door, a partition provided in a region formed by the outer panel and the inner panel, and providing a sealed region between the outer panel and the partition. An acoustic microphone that is installed in the created enclosed area and detects a shock wave generated in the enclosed area; and a collision that determines whether the side of the vehicle has collided with an obstacle based on the level of the shock wave detected by the acoustic microphone . A side collision detection device for a vehicle, comprising: a determination unit.