FIRING CIRCUIT WITH THREE CRASH SENSORS

A firing circuit for deploying a pair of air bags comprises two circuit legs (12,14) connected in parallel across a voltage supply (16). Each circuit leg comprises in series a safing sensor (30,38), a squib (32,40), and a crash sensor (34,42) with each sensor being shunted by a like resistor (36,44)...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors WHITE, CRAIG W, MUSSER, KEVIN E
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Korean
Published 03.03.1995
Edition6
Subjects
AMMUNITION
BLASTING
EXPLOSIVE CHARGES, e.g. FOR BLASTING, FIREWORKS, AMMUNITION
HEATING
LIGHTING
MEASURING
MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES
MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
PERFORMING OPERATIONS
PHYSICS
TESTING
TRANSPORTING
VEHICLES IN GENERAL
VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISEPROVIDED FOR
WEAPONS
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Summary:A firing circuit for deploying a pair of air bags comprises two circuit legs (12,14) connected in parallel across a voltage supply (16). Each circuit leg comprises in series a safing sensor (30,38), a squib (32,40), and a crash sensor (34,42) with each sensor being shunted by a like resistor (36,44) having a nominal resistance substantially greater than the nominal resistance of the squibs. A first diode bridge (46) comprising a pair of oppositely-biased diodes (48) extends between a first pair of junctions (50,52) on the circuit legs located between the safing sensors and the squibs thereof. A second diode bridge (54) comprising a pair of oppositely- biased diodes (56) extends between a second pair of junctions (58,60) on the circuit legs located between the squibs and the crash sensors thereof. A third diode bridge (62) comprising oppositely-biased diodes (68) connected in series also extends between the latter pair of junctions (64,66) on the circuit legs. A third crash sensor (70) connects a junction (72) on the third diode bridge between the diodes thereof with both circuit legs, respectively, so as to be placed in parallel with the crash sensors thereof. The diode bridges provide multiple firing paths for both squibs (32,40) to ensure deployment of both air bags upon simultaneous closure of either safing sensor (30,38) and any crash sensor (34,42,70). Full circuit diagnosability is achieved through a comparison of the voltages achieved about the circuit and the effects thereon of incrementing the supply voltage and/or the operation of a plurality of current drains connected about the circuit.
Bibliography:Application Number: KR19900010834