7.15.2021

Technology patents on vehicle safety by Hyundai and Tesla

 

Safety is the most important factor while driving a car. Vehicle manufacturers are applying for patents to prepare for unexpected events such as car accidents and diseases. 

 

Defibrillation system for self-driving car of Hyundai Motor Company

First, Hyundai Motor Company applied for a patent regarding a defibrillation system for self-driving vehicles.

This patent is a system based on a cardiac arrest detector (Drawing. 10), a cardiac position detector (Drawing. 40), and an X-ray camera (Drawing. 41). It is a system that once a cardiac arrest is detected from the driver, it makes the patent to lie on the back by reorganizing the driver seat to allow defibrillation robot installed around the seat to cut passenger’s shirt and perform CPR or activate automatic cardiac shock.

It is designed to prevent unexpected deaths and secondary accidents while driving self-driving vehicles.


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KR patent [10-2019-0112551], Hyundai Motor Company

<Defibrillation system for self-driving car>

Hyundai Motor Company applied for two defibrillation-related patents before filing for a patent regarding the defibrillation system for self-driving vehicles. The first patent filed in 2017 has a defibrillator system connected to seat belt that measures the heart rate by leaking electrode material when an abnormality is detected in heart rate or a cardiac arrest occurs to an occupant. It also includes cardiac shock system that provides cardiac defibrillation. 


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KR patent [10-2017-0119694], Hyundai Motor Company

<Vehicle AED System and Method for Operating thereof>

The second patent, filed in 2018, is a patent for a technology that applies a heart shock through two current pads placed on the seat belt when the driver is judged to be in cardiac arrest at the stage of recognizing the driver's condition.

This patent was applied with the focus on the fact that the average number of repeat passengers in Korea is 1.4, and the majority of vehicles include only drivers. This emphasizes the fact that it is difficult to obtain assistance from other passengers in case of cardiac arrest due to an accident or other reasons.

The difference from the previous patent is that a camera, speaker, and microphone are used to determine the driver's condition. The heart rate sensor detects cardiac arrest, and if any abnormal condition of the driver is captured by in the video by the camera, a voice message requesting the driver's response will be sent from the speaker. If there is no vocal response heard back from the driver, the system will automatically determine that he is in cardiac arrest. This leads to two current pads (Drawing 330 and 340) being discharged to conduct defibrillation.


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KR patent [10-2018-0145595], Hyundai Motor Company

<In-vehicle automated external defibrillator and method for controlling the same>

 

Vehicle occupant classification system patent and seatbelt usage detection patent

Tesla has also issued a patent that can safely protect the vehicle’s occupant.

When taking safety measures to protect the passenger, it is important to accurately classify passengers. 

It is difficult to reliably detect vehicle occupants and distinguish between children and relatively small adults.

For more accurate classification of passengers, Tesla has equipped the vehicle seat with a passenger weight sensor (Drawing 222) and a passenger presence sensor (Fig. 224, 226). Taking into account the occupant's posture, position, etc., these sensors communicate organically and provide occupant classification to the airbag controller (Drawing 172). This will help reduce the risk of injury by adjusting where the airbags are activated in the event of a vehicle crash

 

 

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US patent [16/989546], Tesla, Inc.

<Vehicle occupant classification systems and methods>

Tesla has also applied for a patent that detects improper seat belt use. It is a patent applied with various sensor fusion technologies that can determine whether the passenger is safely seated in the seat, whether the seat belt is worn correctly or not, and whether the passenger is looking ahead.

After verifying that the occupant has properly fastened the belt, the sensor module (Drawing 402) causes the information to be received by the controller (Drawing 404) and stored in the memory (Drawing 406). It may warn you of improper use of seat belts or disallow vehicle's operation.


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US patent [16/209227], Tesla, Inc.

<Improper seatbelt usage detection>

When driving a vehicle, sometimes unexpected situations arise. Even w hen driving safely, accidents can occur. I hope that more technologies for safety will be applied for patent so that people can drive in a safer environment.

 





 

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