Vehicle and method of controlling the same, and seat belt apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11623608-B2
Application number	US-201916590154-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 1, 2019
Priority date	Dec 7, 2018
Publication date	Apr 11, 2023
Grant date	Apr 11, 2023

Abstract

A vehicle and a method of controlling the vehicle may include a seat belt apparatus to reduce the tension of the seat belt in the normal situation in which the collision does not occur by appropriately adjusting the tension of the seat belt based on the driving state of the vehicle, providing convenience to a passenger. In the collision situation, the safety of the passenger may be ensured by sufficiently increasing the tension of the seat belt. The vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes: a seat belt provided to adjust a tension; a driving assistance device configured to obtain vehicle driving information for assisting a driving of the vehicle; and a controller coupled to the driving assistance and configured to adjust the tension of the seat belt to correspond to a driving state of the vehicle based on the vehicle driving information obtained through the driving assistance device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a seat belt;
a driving assistance device configured to obtain vehicle driving information for assisting a driving of the vehicle; and
a controller coupled to the driving assistance device and configured to determine a collision risk level of the vehicle and a vehicle behavior risk level based on the vehicle driving information, and adjust a tension of the seat belt based on the collision risk level and the vehicle behavior risk level,
wherein the controller further determines the vehicle behavior risk level by use of a difference between a measured value and a modeled value for determining a behavior unstable level, an oversteer detection value, and an understeer detection value.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1 ,
wherein the controller is configured to classify the collision risk level and the vehicle behavior risk level into a plurality of risk levels, and to adjust the tension of the seat belt to cope with one of the plurality of risk levels corresponding to a current driving state of the vehicle.

3. The vehicle according to claim 2 ,
wherein the tension of the seat belt includes a first tension smaller than a predetermined reference tension and a second tension larger than the predetermined reference tension, and
wherein the second tension is to restrain the passenger's body to a seat of the vehicle.

4. The vehicle according to claim 3 ,
wherein a plurality of tensions greater than the first tension and smaller than the second tension are further provided between the first tension and the second tension.

5. The vehicle according to claim 1 ,
wherein the collision risk level includes a plurality of levels different from each other, and
wherein the vehicle behavior risk level includes a plurality of levels different from each other.

6. The vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein the controller is configured to:
determine a plurality of final risk levels from a combination of the plurality of collision risk levels and the plurality of vehicle behavior risk levels; and
adjust the tension of the seat belt based on a final risk level of a highest risk among the plurality of final risk levels.

7. The vehicle according to claim 6 , further including:
a motor configured to adjust the tension of the seat belt,
wherein the controller is configured to control the motor to implement the tension corresponding to each of the plurality of final risk levels.

8. The vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to:
preset a control amount of the motor configured for implementing the tension corresponding to each of the plurality of final risk levels; and
when the final risk level of the highest risk among the plurality of final risk levels is selected, control the motor with a control amount corresponding to the selected final risk level.

9. A method of controlling a vehicle, the method comprising:
obtaining, by a controller, vehicle driving information for assisting a driving of the vehicle;
determining a collision risk level of the vehicle and a vehicle behavior risk level based on the vehicle driving information; and
adjusting, by the controller, a tension of a seat belt based on the collision risk level and the vehicle behavior risk level,
wherein, the vehicle behavior risk level is further determined, by the controller, by use of a difference between a measured value and a modeled value for determining a behavior unstable level, an oversteer detection value, and an understeer detection value.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the adjusting of the tension of the seat belt includes:
classifying the collision risk level and the vehicle behavior risk level into a plurality of risk levels; and
adjusting the tension of the seat belt to cope with one of the plurality of risk levels corresponding to a current driving state of the vehicle.

11. The method according to claim 10 ,
wherein the tension of the seat belt includes a first tension having a minimum tension enough not to press a passenger and a second tension having a tension to restrain the passenger's body to a seat of the vehicle.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein a plurality of tensions greater than the first tension and smaller than the second tension are further provided between the first tension and the second tension.

13. The method according to claim 9 ,
wherein the collision risk level includes a plurality of levels different from each other, and
wherein the vehicle behavior risk level includes a plurality of levels different from each other.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the adjusting of the tension of the seat belt includes:
determining a plurality of final risk levels from a combination of the plurality of collision risk levels and the plurality of vehicle behavior risk levels; and
adjusting the tension of the seat belt based on a final risk level of a highest risk among the plurality of final risk levels.

15. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the adjusting of the tension of the seat belt includes:
implementing a tension corresponding to each of the plurality of final risk levels using a motor.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the adjusting of the tension of the seat belt includes:
presetting a control amount of the motor configured for implementing the tension corresponding to each of the plurality of final risk levels; and
when a final risk level of a highest risk among the plurality of final risk levels is selected, controlling the motor with a control amount corresponding to the selected final risk level.

17. The method according to claim 9 , further including:
obtaining the vehicle driving information using a driving assistance device.

18. A seat belt apparatus comprising:
a seat belt; and
a controller configured to adjust a tension of the seat belt based on a collision risk level and a vehicle behavior risk level of a vehicle based on vehicle driving information obtained through a driving assistance device that obtains the vehicle driving information for assisting a driving of the vehicle,
wherein the controller determines the vehicle behavior risk level by use of a difference between a measured value and a modeled value for determining a behavior unstable level, an oversteer detection value, and an understeer detection value.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Kim Hyunsu

Classifications

• B60R22/48

  Control systems, alarms, or interlock systems, for the correct application of the belt or harness · CPC title

• B60R22/195 Primary

  with means to tension the belt in an emergency, {e.g. means of the through-anchor or splitted reel type}(electrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements {B60R21/01}) · CPC title

• B60R2021/01272

  Belt tensioners · CPC title

• B60R2021/01327

  Angular velocity or angular acceleration · CPC title

• B60R22/46 Primary

  {Reels} with means to tension the belt in an emergency {by forced winding up}(electrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements B60R21/01 {; tensioners using reels only guiding the belt during normal use, e.g. splitted reels B60R22/195}) · CPC title