US 6869100

Patent Overview — US6869100B2

Title: Method and apparatus for controlling an airbag

Patent number / application: US6869100B2; application US10/234,067, filed 2002-09-03; published as US20030001368A1 (2003-01-02); granted 2005-03-22.

Assignee / inventors: Original assignee and current assignee listed as Automotive Technologies International Inc. Inventors: David S. Breed, Wilbur E. DuVall, Wendell C. Johnson.

Priority: Priority date listed as 1992-05-05. The record also shows a priority claim from US08/505,036 (1995-07-21), and later applications claiming priority to this one.

Legal status: Expired – Fee Related; adjusted expiration 2012-07-20.

Purpose and plain-language scope (based only on the supplied text): The patent concerns controlling an airbag. Its classifications place it in vehicle occupant protection—electrical circuits for triggering passive safety arrangements, including detecting the presence or position of passengers, passenger seats, or child seats, and related safety parameters such as airbag inflation speed or timing relative to occupant position or seat belt use. Classifications also cover seats with occupancy detection (sensor type, occupant identification/categorization, occupant position detection, sensor data transmission/processing, seat adjustment with logic circuits and memory, and reactions to crash situations), plus child seats and seat-belt adaptations. Prior-art keywords listed include "occupant," "airbag," "determining," "deployment," and "waves." Beyond this, the excerpt does not set out the claims, detailed description, or specific control method.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US6869100](/patent/US6869100)/en

What the excerpt does not establish: It does not reproduce the claims or specification, so the precise claimed scope, embodiments, and any sensor/control algorithms cannot be stated. It does not establish validity, enforceability, or claim interpretation. The legal status, priority date, and assignee listings are expressly noted as assumptions, not legal conclusions. Litigation and family information appear in the source but are outside this overview's permitted scope and are not analyzed here.