AUTOMATIC DOOR CHILD SAFETY LOCK RELEASE IN A CRASH EVENT

摘要

An automated child safety unlocking system for automobiles which disengages the child safety locks and unlocks the doors at appropriate times during events such as vehicle crashes. The vehicle ECU continually monitors the status of the vehicle to check if a crash event has occurred via various methods such as the status of airbag deployment, accelerometers placed in the car, and crumple points. In the event of a crash the vehicle ECU transmits one of at least two CSL command signals a child safety lock ECU. The command signals are each specific to an event severity and event type, and the child safety lock ECU then interprets the signal and acts according to the signal type. If the data interpreted indicates a crash, the child safety lock ECU unlocks the child safety locks, and if it does not determine a crash has not occurred, the locks remain engaged.

主权项

1. An automated child safety unlocking system comprising:
two or more crash sensors each configured to generate a crash signal upon detection of an event; a vehicle ECU configured to receive the crash signal from each of the two or more crash sensors, said vehicle ECU being configured to transmit one of at least two CSL command signals, said at least two CSL command signals are each specific to an event severity and event type, wherein the one of at least two CSL command signals generated by the vehicle ECU is transmitted with general signals over a general vehicle communication bus; and a child safety lock ECU configured to receive the general signals transmitted through the general vehicle communication bus, wherein the child safety lock ECU filters the one of at least two CSL command signals from the general vehicle communication bus, said child safety lock ECU engages or disengages a child safety lock actuator depending on the one of at least two CSL command signals received by the child safety lock ECU.