Appeal No. 2003-1153
Application No. 09/349,214
INVENTION
Appellants' invention involves an improved method and
apparatus using multiple point crash sensing and multiple sensor
occupant position sensing for classifying a crash event and
determining which restraint should be deployed. Appellants'
Specification, page 1, line 24 to page 2, line 1.
Appellants disclose a central controller which collects
crash data from multiple distributed crash sensors, either in the
form of raw data or pre-characterized indications of severity,
and combines severity characterization data from each of the
multiple sensors to construct a characterization table or matrix
for the entire system. Specification, page 2, lines 2-5. Each
possible crash event classification is represented by a
characterization value mask, and the various masks are
sequentially applied to the system characterization table until a
match is found, with a match identifying the appropriate crash
event classification. The classification decision, in turn, is
used to determine which, if any, of the restraint devices should
be deployed based upon the crash severity. Similarly, the
controller collects data from various occupant position sensors
to construct a characterization table or matrix for the occupant
position detection system. Each possible occupant position
2
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