METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AN ACTUATABLE RESTRAINING DEVICE IN RESPONSE TO DISCRETE CONTROL ZONES

摘要

An appts. for controlling an occupant restraint system, such and an air bag (102), includes position sensors (80,84,86) for sensing position of an occupant and a weight sensor (70) for sensing weight of the occupant. Both the position sensors (80,84,86) and the weight sensor (70) are connected to a controller (24) A seat position sensor (30), a sear back incline sensor (36), and a belt payout sensor (64) are also used to determine occupant weight and position. A vent valve (120) is connected to the reaction can (103) of the air-bag (102) and is controlled by the controller (24). The controller (24) established an occupant weight range from the weight sensors and an occupant position range from the position sensors. The controller (24) selects one of a plurality of discrete control zones dependant upon both the sensed occupant position range and the sensed occupant weight range. The controller (24) then provides a regulating signal to the vent (120) based on the selected one of the discrete control zones.