Sensor for automatic release of occupant protective devices in the event of an accident

Claim 1

A sensor, particularly for automatic release of occupant safety devices in power vehicles in the event of an accident, the sensor comprising a housing which forms a closed chamber having a center; a body located in said housing and formed as a seismic mass, said closed chamber of said housing being completely filled with a fluid, said body being formed as a pendulum of a predetermined length and suspended centrally of said inner chamber in a suspension point corresponding to said center of said inner chamber for swinging about said suspension point, said chamber having a wall on which a boundary layer of the fluid is formed, said chamber having in all swinging directions of said pendulum a radius which is greater than the length of said pendulum and the thickness of the boundary layer of the fluid formed on the wall of said chamber, so that during rotation of the sensor about said suspension point of said pendulum the fluid in said inner chamber remains quiet and stationary and does not apply dampening action to said pendulum, said pendulum and said fluid having specific weights which differ from one another, said pendulum and said fluid being selected so that a friction during movement of said pendulum relative to said fluid leads to an aperiodical damping of said pendulum.