Patent attributes
A vehicle seat belt tension prediction restraint actuator control system and method comprises an accelerometer having an output that generates a signal responsive to vertical acceleration of the vehicle, a seat weight force responsive sensor having an output that generates a signal responsive to the force exerted by a mass resting on the seat, and a processor means operatively coupled to the accelerometer and the force responsive sensor for calculating seat belt tension controlling the actuation of a restraint actuator responsive thereto. The processor is provided with a plurality of inputs operatively coupled to the accelerometer output and seat weight sensor output. Suitable programming is provided to instruct In one embodiment, the processor to calculates the average mass resting on the vehicle seat and predictthe s a force that should be exerted on the seat for corresponding to a measured level of vertical acceleration assuming zero belt tension. The processor then compares the controls the actuation of the restraint actuator responsive to a comparison of an actual force measured by the seat weight force responsive sensor with the predicted force to determine seat belt tension thereby obviating the necessity of complex hardware in physical contact with the seat belt system . In another embodiment, the processor controls the actuation of the restraint actuator responsive to a ratio of a measure of seat weight divided by a measure of vertical acceleration and by the average mass.
