Crush velocity sensing vehicle crash sensor

摘要

Crash sensor arrangement for determining whether a crash involving a vehicle requires deployment of an occupant restraint device including an elongate sensor arranged in the crush zone to provide a variable impedance as a function of a change in velocity of the crush zone and a processor for measuring the impedance of the sensor or a part thereof at a plurality of times to determine changes in the impedance. The processor provides a crash signal for consideration in the deployment of the occupant restraint device based on the determined changes in impedance. The sensor can have a U-shaped portion extending along both sides of the vehicle and across a front of the vehicle. The sensor may have a coaxial cable and an electromagnetic wave generator which generates electromagnetic waves and feeds the waves into the cable.