CN113818758A

CN113818758A - Passive electronic lock, control method of passive electronic lock, and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN113818758A
Application number: CN202010548071.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周若谷
Original assignee: Hangzhou Qiwei Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Hangzhou Qiwei Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2020-06-16
Filing date: 2020-06-16
Publication date: 2021-12-21

Abstract

An embodiment of the present specification provides a passive electronic lock, a control method of the passive electronic lock, and a storage medium, where the passive electronic lock includes: the locking and unlocking mechanism is used for locking or unlocking; the state prompting unit is used for prompting the state of the locking and unlocking mechanism; an energy storage unit; the energy acquisition unit is used for charging the energy storage unit based on an energy signal when receiving the energy signal provided by the radio frequency key; the control unit is used for verifying the identity of the radio frequency key when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a first threshold value under the condition that the locking and unlocking mechanism is in a locking state, controlling the locking and unlocking mechanism to execute unlocking when the radio frequency key passes the identity verification, and controlling the locking and unlocking mechanism to execute unlocking, and after the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a second threshold value, controlling the state prompt unit to output an unlocking state prompt to reserve the electric quantity required by locking. The embodiment of the specification can improve the user experience.

Description

Passive electronic lock, control method of passive electronic lock, and storage medium

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to passive electronic locks, and in particular, to a passive electronic lock, a control method of the passive electronic lock, and a storage medium.

Background

The electronic lock is taken as an intelligent household product which is started in recent years, and has the characteristics of convenience in use, high safety, powerful functions and the like. Currently, most household electronic locks (electronic door locks for short) are active (usually powered by batteries). However, due to problems of volume and power consumption, such electronic locks are generally suitable for door locks.

When the electronic lock is applied to occasions except door locks, the electronic lock is usually small in size, and a battery is difficult to embed; even with a built-in battery, the battery may be drained quickly due to the high energy consumption of the lock when it is operating. Meanwhile, when a user unlocks the electronic lock by using a radio frequency transmitting device (the radio frequency transmitting device may be regarded as a key of the electronic lock (hereinafter referred to as "radio frequency key")), the user needs to communicate with the electronic lock by using bluetooth or Near Field Communication (NFC), and the like, and the radio frequency transmitting device is generally not suitable for a scene commonly used by a large number of users, such as a shared bicycle lock.

Currently, a class of passive electronic locks that use radio frequency energy harvesting to provide energy has emerged. The passive electronic lock can convert wireless radio frequency energy provided by the outside, such as radio frequency energy emitted by NFC or a wireless charger, into electric energy for self use, so as to realize functions of identity verification, motor driving and the like required by unlocking. The radio frequency key generally has a wireless data transmission function and can transmit data and energy to the passive electronic lock at the same time. Therefore, the passive electronic lock can work without a battery, thereby solving the problem of the active electronic lock.

However, in implementing the present application, the inventors of the present application found that: for the passive electronic lock, after unlocking, the passive electronic lock cannot reset the unlocking structure due to no energy, so that the radio frequency key is required to be used again when locking. Therefore, a user needs to use the radio frequency key when unlocking and also needs to use the radio frequency key when locking, and the use is relatively troublesome.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of an embodiment of the present specification is to provide a passive electronic lock, a control method of the passive electronic lock, and a storage medium, so as to improve user experience.

To achieve the above object, in one aspect, the present specification provides a passive electronic lock, including:

the locking and unlocking mechanism is used for locking or unlocking;

the state prompting unit is used for prompting the state of the locking and unlocking mechanism;

an energy storage unit;

the energy acquisition unit is used for charging the energy storage unit based on an energy signal when receiving the energy signal provided by the radio frequency key;

the control unit is used for verifying the identity of the radio frequency key when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a first threshold value under the condition that the locking and unlocking mechanism is in a locking state, controlling the locking and unlocking mechanism to execute unlocking when the radio frequency key passes the identity verification, and controlling the locking and unlocking mechanism to execute unlocking, and after the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a second threshold value, controlling the state prompt unit to output an unlocking state prompt to reserve the electric quantity required by locking.

In the passive electronic lock according to an embodiment of the present specification, the passive electronic lock further includes:

and the position detection unit is arranged in the lock body and used for detecting the position of the lock beam and providing a detection result for the control unit.

In the passive electronic lock according to an embodiment of the present specification, the control unit is further configured to:

after the state prompting unit outputs an unlocking state prompt, if the lock beam is not changed from a pushing-in position to a pulling-out position in a timing period, controlling the locking and unlocking mechanism to lock; and the timing period starts to time when the state prompting unit outputs the unlocking state prompt.

and after the state prompting unit outputs the unlocking state prompt, the passive electronic lock is controlled to enter a dormant state.

and when the passive electronic lock is in a dormant state, if the lock beam is changed from the pull-out position to the push-in position, the locking and unlocking mechanism is controlled to lock.

and when the radio frequency key does not pass the identity authentication, the locking state of the locking and unlocking mechanism is maintained, and the residual electric quantity of the energy storage unit is actively exhausted.

and after the locking and unlocking mechanism is controlled to lock, the residual electric quantity of the energy storage unit is actively exhausted.

In the passive electronic lock according to an embodiment of the present specification, the energy storage unit includes:

an energy input and output end;

the capacitor is electrically connected with the energy input and output end;

the controllable switch is connected between the capacitor and the energy input and output end in series, is controlled by the control unit and is used for controlling the charging and discharging of the capacitor;

wherein the energy storage unit having an electrical quantity above a first threshold comprises: the electric quantity of the capacitor is higher than a first threshold value; the energy storage unit having an electric quantity higher than a second threshold value comprises: the capacitance has an electric quantity above a second threshold value.

an energy input and output end;

the first capacitor is electrically connected with the energy input and output end;

the first controllable switch is connected between the first capacitor and the energy input and output end in series, is controlled by the control unit and is used for controlling the charging and discharging of the first capacitor;

the second capacitor is electrically connected with the energy input end and the energy output end;

the second controllable switch is connected between the second capacitor and the energy input and output end in series, is controlled by the control unit and is used for controlling the charging and discharging of the second capacitor;

wherein the energy storage unit having an electrical quantity above a first threshold comprises: the sum of the electric quantity of the first capacitor and the second capacitor is higher than a first threshold, and the first threshold at least meets the electric quantity required by one-time unlocking and one-time locking; the energy storage unit having an electric quantity higher than a second threshold value comprises: the electric quantity of one of the first capacitor and the second capacitor is higher than a second threshold value.

In the passive electronic lock according to an embodiment of the present specification, the lock/unlock mechanism includes:

the cavity bracket is arranged in the lock body;

the lock tongue is movably arranged on the cavity support;

the elastic element is used for maintaining the bolt to be abutted against the lock beam;

a motor;

the limiting baffle is fixedly connected with an output shaft of the motor; when the lock beam is positioned at the pushing position, when the limit baffle is positioned at the blocking position overlapped with the lock tongue, the lock tongue is fixed, and when the limit baffle is positioned at the release position staggered with the lock tongue, the lock tongue is released from being fixed.

the cavity bracket is arranged in the lock body;

a motor;

the lock bolt is movably arranged on the cavity support and is in threaded connection with the output shaft of the motor, and the lock bolt can axially move under the driving of the output shaft so as to realize the locking or the separation of the lock bolt and the lock beam.

the cavity bracket is arranged in the lock body;

the lock tongue is movably arranged on the cavity support;

a motor;

the cam is fixed on an output shaft of the motor, when the far end of the cam is abutted to the lock tongue, the lock tongue is separated from the lock beam, and when the near end of the cam is abutted to the lock tongue, the lock tongue is locked with the lock beam;

and the elastic element is used for maintaining the bolt to be abutted against the cam.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present specification further provides a control method of a passive electronic lock, including:

when the energy acquisition unit receives an energy signal provided by a radio frequency key, the energy acquisition unit charges the energy storage unit based on the energy signal;

when the locking and unlocking mechanism is in a locking state, the identity of the radio frequency key is verified when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a first threshold value;

when the radio frequency key passes the identity authentication, controlling the locking and unlocking mechanism to execute unlocking;

after the locking and unlocking mechanism is controlled to execute unlocking, when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a second threshold value, the control state prompting unit outputs unlocking state prompting to reserve the electric quantity required by locking.

In the control method of an embodiment of the present specification, the control method further includes:

if the lock beam is not changed from the pushing-in position to the pulling-out position in the timing period, controlling the locking and unlocking mechanism to lock; and the timing period starts to time when the state prompting unit outputs the unlocking state prompt.

and after the locking and unlocking mechanism is controlled to lock, the residual electric quantity of the energy storage unit is actively exhausted. In the control method of an embodiment of the present specification, the energy storage unit includes:

an energy input and output end;

the capacitor is electrically connected with the energy input and output end;

In the control method of an embodiment of the present specification, the energy storage unit includes:

an energy input and output end;

In another aspect, the present specification further provides a computer storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, where the computer program is executed by a processor to perform the control method.

As can be seen from the above embodiments of the present specification, after unlocking, the control unit does not directly control the state prompting unit to output the unlocking state prompt, but determines whether the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than the second threshold value, and controls the state prompting unit to output the unlocking state prompt only when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than the second threshold value. In view of when the passive electronic lock is unlocked, a user generally stops the radio frequency key to output the energy signal after sensing the prompt of the unlocking state, so that the electric quantity is reserved for the subsequent locking in the energy storage unit. Therefore, the embodiment of the specification generally does not need to use a radio frequency key when locking, thereby facilitating the use of a user and improving the user experience.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present specification or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments described in the specification, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without inventive labor. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a passive electronic lock in some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the components of a passive electronic lock in some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the use of a passive electronic lock in some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the structure of a passive electronic lock according to further embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a passive electronic lock in some embodiments of the present description;

fig. 6a is a schematic view of the passive electronic lock shown in fig. 5, when the limit baffle overlaps the latch bolt, the latch bolt is blocked from moving;

fig. 6b is a schematic diagram of the movement of the passing bolt when the limit stop is staggered with the bolt in the passive electronic lock shown in fig. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a passive electronic lock according to further embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a passive electronic lock according to further embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 is a schematic view of a strike of a passive electronic lock in an extracted position in some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the components of an energy storage unit in some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an energy storage unit according to further embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a flow chart of a method of controlling a passive electronic lock in some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a computer storage medium in some embodiments of the present description.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical solutions in the present specification better understood, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present specification will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present specification, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present specification, but not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person skilled in the art without making creative efforts based on the embodiments in the present specification shall fall within the protection scope of the present specification. For example, forming the second feature over the first feature may include embodiments in which the first and second features are formed in direct contact, embodiments in which the first and second features are formed in indirect contact (i.e., additional features may be included between the first and second features), and so forth.

Also, for ease of description, some embodiments of the present description may use spatially relative terms such as "above …," "below …," "top," "below," etc., to describe the relationship of one element or component to another (or other) element or component as illustrated in the various figures of the embodiments. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements or components described as "below" or "beneath" other elements or components would then be oriented "above" or "over" the other elements or components.

The passive electronic lock of the embodiments of the present specification refers to an electronic lock that does not require a battery or an external power source (e.g., an external commercial power source). Referring to fig. 1, in some embodiments of the present description, a passive electronic lock may include a lock body 100, a shackle 200, and a locking and unlocking mechanism 300. The lock beam 200 is disposed on the lock body 100 and can move relative to the lock body 100, and a hole slot 201 is opened at a free end of the lock beam 200. The locking and unlocking mechanism 300 is provided in the lock body 100 for performing locking (i.e., locking) or unlocking (i.e., releasing).

In some embodiments of the present description, as shown in fig. 2, the passive electronic lock may further include a state prompting unit, an energy storage unit, an energy collecting unit, a radio frequency communication unit, a control unit, and the like. The state prompting unit can be used for prompting the state of the locking and unlocking mechanism. The energy acquisition unit can be used for charging the energy storage unit based on an energy signal provided by the radio frequency key when the energy signal is received. The control unit can be used for verifying the identity of the radio frequency key when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a first threshold value under the condition that the locking and unlocking mechanism is in a locking state, controlling the locking and unlocking mechanism to execute unlocking when the radio frequency key passes the identity verification, and controlling the state prompting unit to output an unlocking state prompt when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a second threshold value after the locking and unlocking mechanism executes unlocking so as to reserve the electric quantity required by locking.

In the passive electronic lock according to the embodiment of the present specification, after unlocking, the control unit does not directly control the state prompting unit to output the unlocking state prompt, but determines whether the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a second threshold value, and controls the state prompting unit to output the unlocking state prompt when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than the second threshold value. In view of when the passive electronic lock is unlocked, a user generally stops the radio frequency key to output the energy signal after sensing the prompt of the unlocking state, so that the electric quantity is reserved for the subsequent locking in the energy storage unit. Therefore, the passive electronic lock in the embodiment of the specification generally does not need to use a radio frequency key when locking, so that the passive electronic lock is convenient for a user to use, and the user experience is improved.

Generally, a locking and unlocking mechanism of a passive electronic lock has two states: locking and unlocking. In the locked state, protected objects (e.g., small personal locker locks, travel box locks, shared bicycle locks, etc.) are difficult to open. In the unlocked state, the protected object is free to open. In some cases, the state of the locking and unlocking mechanism may not be readily perceptible to the user. For example, some passive electronic locks do not automatically spring outward after being unlocked, and require an external force to be pulled out (e.g., manually pulled out). In this case, if the user cannot perceive the state of the unlocking mechanism, it is impossible to determine when the shackle can be pulled outward. Therefore, in order to enable a user to timely sense the state of the locking and unlocking mechanism, the passive electronic lock can be provided with a state prompting unit.

In some embodiments of the present description, the status prompting unit may output a lock status prompt in the form of a sound and/or voice, i.e. the status prompting unit may be an audible alarm unit (or a device component with similar functionality). For example, when the state prompting unit receives the unlocking state prompting signal from the control unit, a 'click' prompting sound can be emitted to prompt the user that the unlocking is performed. For another example, when the state prompting unit receives the unlocking state prompting signal from the control unit, a prompting voice of "xxx unlocked" may be sent out. For another example, when the state prompting unit receives the unlocking state prompting signal from the control unit, a 'click' prompting sound can be emitted, and a 'xxx unlocked' prompting voice can be emitted, and the like. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the prompt output by the status prompting unit may also be a light prompt (e.g., a color light prompt, a flashing light prompt, etc.), a graphic prompt, a vibration prompt, a combination thereof, or the like. Correspondingly, the state prompting unit can be an optical alarm unit, a display unit, a vibration component and the like. The present specification is not limited to this, and may specifically select the above-described examples as needed.

In some embodiments of the present description, the radio frequency key may be a dedicated or general purpose active electronic device. For example, in an exemplary embodiment, the radio frequency key may be a remote control dedicated to the passive electronic lock. In yet another exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 3, the rf key may be a portable electronic device and the passive electronic lock may be a passive electronic padlock. The portable electronic device may be, for example, a smart phone, a digital assistant, a smart wearable device (e.g., a smart bracelet, a smart watch, smart glasses, a smart helmet, etc.), and the like.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the energy collecting unit is capable of converting the received energy signal into an electrical signal (e.g., a voltage signal) suitable for the energy storage unit to store, and charging the energy storage unit with the electrical signal under the control of the control unit. In one embodiment of the present description, typical energy signals are electromagnetic waves; correspondingly, the energy collecting unit can comprise an energy receiving antenna, a rectifying circuit, a voltage stabilizing circuit and the like. The energy receiving antenna can convert the energy signal into an electric signal, and the electric signal can be used for charging the energy storage unit and directly supplying power to the radio frequency communication module, the control unit and the like after being processed by the rectifying circuit and the voltage stabilizing circuit. It should be understood that in other embodiments of the present description, the energy harvesting unit may also be configured to harvest any one or more energies or signals, such as NFC signals, wireless charging signals, WiFi signals, even optical energy, kinetic energy, etc., as desired.

In some embodiments of the present description, the energy storage unit may include a capacitor or a capacitor bank (e.g., a series-parallel combination of multiple capacitors).

For example, in the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 10, the energy storage unit may include: a capacitor, an energy input and output end and a controllable switch. The capacitor can be electrically connected with the energy input and output end. The controllable switch can be connected between the capacitor and the energy input and output end in series; the controllable switch is controlled by the control unit and used for controlling the charging and discharging of the capacitor. When the electric quantity of the capacitor is charged to the first threshold value (namely, the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than the first threshold value), the control unit can verify the identity of the radio frequency key and can control the unlocking mechanism to unlock when the radio frequency key passes the identity verification. Due to unlocking consumption in the charging process, the electric quantity accumulated by the capacitor can be greatly reduced (a little of the remaining electric quantity is used for maintaining continuous operation of the circuit, and state loss of the passive electronic lock caused by exhaustion is avoided), then the energy storage is higher than the first threshold value again, and the control unit can control the state prompt unit to output an unlocking state prompt until the second threshold value (namely the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than the second threshold value). It can be seen that in the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 10, the capacitor is charged for both locking and unlocking. And the first threshold is only enough for the unlocking mechanism to perform locking once, and the second threshold is only enough for the unlocking mechanism to perform unlocking once. For example, the amount of power required to perform one-time unlocking is E₁The first threshold value is Thd₁Then Thd should be satisfied₁≥E₁(ii) a For example, the amount of power required to perform a lock is E₂The second threshold value is Thd₂Then Thd should be satisfied₂≥E₂。

For another example, in the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 11, the energy storage unit may include a first capacitor, a second capacitor, a first controllable switch, a second controllable switch, and an energy input/output terminal. The first capacitor can be electrically connected with the energy input and output end to store electric quantity required by unlocking. The first controllable switch may be connected in series between the first capacitor and the energy input/output terminal, and controlled by the control unit, so as to control charging and discharging of the first capacitor. The second capacitor can be electrically connected with the energy input and output end to store electric quantity required by locking. The second controllable switch may be connected in series between the second capacitor and the energy input/output terminal, and controlled by the control unit, so as to control charging and discharging of the second capacitor.

In an exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 11, the charge of the energy storage unit may be higher than the first threshold by: the sum of the electric quantities of the first capacitor and the second capacitor is higher than a first threshold, and the first threshold at least meets the electric quantity required by performing unlocking once and performing locking once (for example, the electric quantity required by performing unlocking once is E₁The electric quantity required for performing locking once is E₂The first threshold value is Thd₁Then Thd should be satisfied₁≥E₁+E₂). The energy storage unit may have an electric quantity higher than the second threshold value: the second capacitor has an electric quantity higher than a second threshold (e.g., the electric quantity required for performing locking once is E₂The second threshold value is Thd₂Then Thd should be satisfied₂≥E₂). It can be seen that in the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 11, the first capacitor is used to charge the unlocking and the second capacitor is used to charge the locking. Of course, if the other way around, that is, the first capacitor is used to store energy for locking and the second capacitor is used to store energy for unlocking, the electric quantity of the energy storage unit higher than the second threshold may also be: the first capacitance has an electric quantity above a second threshold value.

Because the required power is generally great when the motor rotates, the capacitor discharges relatively fast, and if a single capacitor is used for locking and unlocking energy storage, a relatively complex circuit is generally needed to control the capacitor to discharge in real time so as to avoid the situation that the capacitor cannot be locked due to insufficient electric quantity in the follow-up process caused by excessive electricity consumption during unlocking. In the above embodiment, however, two capacitors are used: one is responsible for storing energy for unlocking, and the other is responsible for storing energy for locking; therefore, energy storage for locking and unlocking is achieved, a complex circuit is not needed to detect the discharging condition of a single capacitor (namely, only the single capacitor is used for storing energy for locking and unlocking), and therefore the reliability of the passive electronic lock is improved at low cost. It should be understood that the capacitor is merely used as an example of the energy storage unit, and in other embodiments, the energy storage unit may also be other suitable energy storage elements.

With continued reference to the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 11, the energy input and output terminals may be used to provide electrical energy from the energy harvesting unit to the first capacitor and the second capacitor via the first controllable switch and the second controllable switch, respectively, i.e. the first capacitor and the second capacitor may be charged simultaneously. When the sum of the electric quantities of the first capacitor and the second capacitor is higher than a first threshold (the first threshold at least meets the electric quantity required for executing one-time unlocking and one-time locking), the control unit can control the locking and unlocking mechanism to execute unlocking, and during unlocking, the energy input and output end can provide the electric energy from the first capacitor to the main control unit, the locking and unlocking mechanism and other components; when locking, the energy input/output end can provide the electric energy from the second capacitor to the main control unit, the locking/unlocking mechanism and other components.

After unlocking, locking again may be performed for a relatively long time, and in order to ensure that the energy storage unit can store electric energy for a long time, the energy storage unit may have a low leakage current; meanwhile, in order to support a high output current, the energy storage unit may have a low internal resistance.

Moreover, the controllable switch can have higher isolation impedance when being turned off, so that the capacity of the capacitor for storing electric energy for a long time is further improved; meanwhile, in order to take charging efficiency into account, the controllable switch can have lower internal impedance when being closed. Considering these factors together, the controllable switch may preferably be a Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET) or the like.

Referring to fig. 10 or 11, the passive electronic lock may further include a voltage sampling circuit. The voltage sampling circuit can collect the voltages at two ends of the capacitor from the energy input and output end and convert the voltages into digital signals to be supplied to the control unit, so that the control unit can correspondingly acquire the electric quantity of the capacitor. In order to save energy, the voltage sampling circuit can be an ultra-low power consumption circuit. For example, in an exemplary embodiment, the voltage sampling circuit may include an analog-to-digital converter or the like.

In the embodiments of the present description, the radio frequency communication module may be used to implement wireless communication (e.g., energy signal transmission, identity verification, etc.) between the passive electronic lock and the radio frequency key. In some embodiments of the present description, the radio frequency communication module may support one or more wireless communication modes, such as NFC communication, communication based on a wireless charging architecture, bluetooth communication, and/or optical communication, among others. In the embodiments of the present description, generally, the communication mode supported by the radio frequency communication module should have lower power consumption.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the control Unit may generally include a single chip, a Micro Control Unit (MCU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or the like. The control unit can be configured with a security authentication module for realizing security authentication (i.e. identity verification) of the radio frequency key, thereby being beneficial to ensuring the security of the passive electronic lock and the protected object thereof.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the energy storage unit may be in a depleted state of energy (i.e., the amount of stored energy in the energy storage unit is empty or substantially empty) with the strike in a push-in position (e.g., as shown in fig. 1). In a communicable range, when the radio frequency key is turned on, the energy acquisition unit can receive the energy signal transmitted by the radio frequency key and convert the energy signal into an electric signal. At this time, the control unit may control the energy collecting unit to charge the energy storage unit using the energy signal. For example, in an exemplary embodiment as shown in fig. 11, the control unit may close the first controllable switch and the second controllable switch, such that the electrical signal output by the energy harvesting unit may charge the first capacitor and the second capacitor.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the charge of the energy storage unit is not higher than the set first threshold, the control unit may continue to periodically detect whether the charge of the energy storage unit is higher than the set first threshold. If the radio frequency key stops transmitting the energy signal before the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is not higher than the set first threshold, the control unit can continue to maintain the locking state of the locking and unlocking mechanism and actively exhaust the electric quantity of the energy storage unit (i.e. the electric quantity consumption of the energy storage unit can be actively accelerated so as to exhaust the electric quantity of the energy storage unit as soon as possible). In this way, the passive electronic lock can be reset to the initial state, so that the passive electronic lock can start to operate in a known state when unlocked next time. Otherwise, when the remaining electric quantity in the energy storage unit is naturally discharged to a certain degree, the state may be in an unknown state (or a state that cannot be predicted), so that the subsequent use of the passive electronic lock is easily affected, and a potential safety problem may be caused.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, actively accelerating the power consumption of the energy storage unit may be implemented by software and/or hardware. For example, in an exemplary embodiment, the control unit may cause the passive electronic lock not to be in a sleep state, or the control unit may execute some idle operation instructions (e.g., cycle timing, etc.) to speed up the power consumption of the energy storage unit. In another exemplary embodiment, a discharge resistor with a smaller resistance value can be arranged for the energy storage unit; when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit needs to be actively exhausted, the control unit can enable the energy storage unit to discharge the discharge resistor through the controllable switch, and therefore the electric quantity consumption of the energy storage unit can be accelerated. In other embodiments, the amount of electricity in the energy storage unit is also actively depleted in other ways, which is not limited in this specification and can be selected according to needs. Please note that, in some other embodiments of the present disclosure, all the contents related to the active depletion of the electric quantity of the energy storage unit may refer to the description of this portion, and will not be described again in the following.

In some embodiments of the present description, when the power of the energy storage unit is higher than a set first threshold, the control unit may perform authentication on the rf key to determine whether the rf key has an unlocking right. For example, the control unit may communicate with the rf key through the rf communication module to perform authentication. If the radio frequency key passes the identity authentication, the radio frequency key is indicated to have the unlocking authority, and at the moment, the control unit can control the locking and unlocking mechanism to execute the unlocking action, so that the locking and unlocking mechanism is converted into the unlocking state from the locking state.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 10, after the unlocking mechanism performs the unlocking action, the control unit may further periodically determine whether the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a set second threshold, and control the state prompting unit to output the unlocking state prompt only when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than the second threshold, so as to reserve the electric quantity for the subsequent re-locking.

Generally, after unlocking, a user needs to perform locking again at intervals, so as to achieve the purpose of unlocking. In some cases, the time interval between unlocking and locking again may be short (e.g., may be only a few minutes, or even a few seconds). For example, in one exemplary embodiment, the object protected by the passive electronic lock is a suitcase. After unlocking, the user opens the suitcase to take out the water cup, and after taking out the water cup, the purpose of unlocking is achieved by the user, and locking can be carried out again. In other cases, the time between unlocking and locking again may be long (e.g., tens of minutes, or even hours may be possible). For example, in an exemplary embodiment, the object protected by the passive electronic lock is an outdoor communication base station equipment room door; after unlocking, a user needs to perform long-time operations such as maintenance, replacement or capacity expansion on equipment placed in an indoor door of outdoor communication base station equipment; after the operation is finished, the user can unlock the lock, and the lock can be locked again.

Therefore, although the same passive electronic lock consumes the same amount of power for the unlocking mechanism to perform the unlocking action as the locking mechanism. However, in consideration of different application scenarios, the time interval between unlocking and locking again is different, and in the time interval, even if the passive electronic lock is in the dormant stateThe state also consumes power (including the energy storage unit losing power due to natural discharge). Therefore, in consideration of the discharge loss, the second threshold should be set to be larger than the amount of power E required to perform locking once₂. For example, in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 10, the amount of power required to perform a lock is E₂The second threshold value is Thd₂Then Thd should be satisfied in consideration of discharge loss₂≥E₂And + aT, where a is an electric quantity consumed by the passive electronic lock in the sleep state in unit time, and T is an upper limit of an interval time for locking again after unlocking (which may be specifically determined according to an actual application scenario and power consumption of the passive electronic lock in the sleep state). In the exemplary embodiment of fig. 11, the amount of power required to perform one unlock is E₁The electric quantity required for performing locking once is E₂The first threshold value is Thd₁Then Thd should be satisfied in consideration of discharge loss₁≥E₁+E₂+aT。

In some embodiments of the present description, when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than the set second threshold, the control unit may control the state prompting unit to output an unlocking state prompt to prompt a user that the passive electronic lock is in an unlocking state. At this point, the user may remove the rf key or turn off the rf key to terminate transmission of the energy signal by the rf key to the passive electronic lock.

In some embodiments of the present description, after the control state prompting unit outputs the unlocking state prompt, the control unit may control the passive electronic lock to enter a sleep state (or called a sleep mode) to reduce power consumption of the passive electronic lock as much as possible, so as to be beneficial to reserving electric quantity for subsequent locking again.

In some embodiments of the present description, some passive electronic locks do not automatically spring outward after unlocking, i.e., the strike beam does not automatically transition from a pushed-in position (such as shown in fig. 1) to a pulled-out position (such as shown in fig. 9). Thus, after unlocking, the user is required to pull the strike outward from the lock body to transition the strike from the push-in position (as shown in fig. 1, for example) to the pull-out position (as shown in fig. 9, for example). In this case, as shown in fig. 4, the passive electronic lock may further include a position detection unit, which may be disposed in the lock body and corresponds to a position of an end of the shackle (e.g., as shown by the position detection unit 400 in fig. 5, 7, or 8) to detect the position of the shackle and provide the detection result to the control unit. After the state prompting unit outputs the unlocking state prompt, the control unit can judge whether the lock beam is changed from the pushing position to the pulling position within the set timing period according to the detection result. In some exemplary embodiment aspects, the position detection unit may be implemented using a travel switch (e.g., a micro switch, a proximity switch), a hall sensor, or the like.

In some embodiments of the present description, if the strike beam is not changed from the push-in position to the pull-out position within a set timing cycle, the control unit may control the unlocking mechanism to perform locking to improve the security of an object protected by the passive electronic lock. The timing cycle may start timing when the state prompt unit outputs the unlock state prompt. After performing the locking, the control unit may also actively drain the energy remaining in the energy storage unit. Of course, if the strike is changed from the push-in position to the pull-out position within the set timing cycle, the control unit may no longer determine and stop timing. Thereafter, the control unit may maintain the passive electronic lock in a dormant state until the position detection unit detects that the lock beam is converted from the pulled-out position to the pushed-in position and is awakened.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, some passive electronic locks require user interaction before locking to complete the locking. For example, the strike does not automatically transition from the pulled-out position (as shown in FIG. 9) to the pushed-in position (as shown in FIG. 1) prior to latching. Thus, when locking is required, the user needs to push the strike, which is currently in the pulled-out position (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9), into the lock body to convert the strike into the pushed-in position (e.g., as shown in FIG. 1); when the position detection unit detects that the lock beam is converted from the pull-out position to the push-in position, the detection result can be provided for the control unit, so that the control unit is awakened, then the control unit can control the locking and unlocking mechanism to execute locking action, locking is completed, and the locking and unlocking mechanism is converted into a locking state. After the locking and unlocking mechanism is controlled to lock, the control unit can also actively exhaust the residual electric quantity of the energy storage unit.

It can be understood by those skilled in the art that, when the locking and unlocking mechanism is in the unlocking state, if the energy of the energy storage unit is exhausted (for example, after the unlocking, the energy of the energy storage unit is exhausted due to too long time interval), the energy storage unit may also be charged by using the radio frequency key, so as to reset the locking and unlocking mechanism to the locking state.

As shown in fig. 5, in some embodiments of the present description, the locking and unlocking mechanism 300 may include: cavity support 301, spring bolt 302, motor 303, limit baffle 304a and elastic element 305 a. Wherein, the cavity bracket 301 is arranged in the lock body; the locking tongue 302 is movably arranged on the cavity bracket 301. A resilient element 305a may be used to maintain the locking tongue 302 against the strike 200. The limit baffle 304a may be fixedly connected to the output shaft of the motor 303. When the limit stop 304a is rotated to a blocking position (for example, shown in fig. 6 a) overlapping with the latch tongue 302, the latch tongue 302 is fixed, based on the driving of the motor 303, in a state where the lock beam 200 is located at the push-in position; that is, the latch tongue 302 will not move axially relative to the strike 200 due to the blocking of the limit stop 304a, thereby achieving locking. When the limit stop 304a is rotated to a release position (for example, shown in fig. 6 b) offset from the latch tongue 302, the latch tongue 302 is released; that is, since the limit stop 304a no longer blocks the latch tongue 302, when an external force is applied to the latch tongue 302 through the strike 200, the latch tongue 302 may move axially relative to the strike 200, so that the latch tongue 302 may move into or out of the lock groove 201. That is, when the limit stop 304a no longer blocks the movement of the latch tongue 302, although the latch tongue 302 is still inserted into the lock slot 201 of the lock beam 200 due to the elastic element 305a, due to the angle fit relationship between the latch tongue 302 and the lock slot 201, when the lock beam 200 is pulled out, the lock beam 200 will press the latch tongue 302 to move to the right and compress the elastic element 305a until the latch tongue 302 can move out of the lock slot 201 (i.e. disengage from the lock beam 200), and the elastic element 305a drives the latch tongue 302 to move to the left and reset. Of course, since the limit stop 304a no longer blocks the movement of the latch tongue 302, when the strike 200 is in the pulled-out position and the strike 200 is pushed inward, the strike 200 will press the latch tongue 302 again to move axially rightward and compress the elastic element 305a until the latch tongue 302 can start to be inserted into the lock groove 201, and during the process of inserting the latch tongue 302 into the lock groove 201, the elastic element 305a is retracted to drive the latch tongue 302 to move leftward and reset.

It can be seen that in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the mechanical structure of the motor-driven latch is very simple, and since the motor does not drive the latch to compress the spring, the load of the motor is very low, and the driving current is very small, so that the passive electronic lock is more suitable.

As shown in fig. 7, in some embodiments of the present description, the locking and unlocking mechanism 300 may include: the lock comprises a cavity support 301 arranged in the lock body 100, a lock tongue 302 movably arranged on the cavity support 301, and a motor 303. The motor 303 is controlled by a control unit, i.e. the control unit may control the rotation of the motor 303 by means of a motor driver. The latch bolt 302 may be threadedly coupled to an output shaft of the motor 303. In this way, when the output shaft of the motor 303 rotates, the latch tongue 302 can move axially relative to the output shaft under the driving of the output shaft. For example, when the output shaft rotates forward, the locking tongue 302 may move in a direction away from the motor 303 along the axial direction of the output shaft, so that the locking tongue 302 may disengage from the hole 201 at the end of the lock beam 200, thereby unlocking the lock. When the output shaft rotates reversely, the locking tongue 302 can move in the direction close to the motor 303 along the axial direction of the output shaft, so that the locking tongue 302 can be locked with the hole insert 201 (shown in fig. 7, for example) at the end of the lock beam 200, thereby realizing locking. In addition, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the locking and unlocking mechanism 300 may further include a limit stopper 306, which may be disposed at an output shaft end of the motor 303, for preventing the locking tongue 302 from being disengaged from the output shaft end of the motor 303.

As shown in fig. 8, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the locking and unlocking mechanism 300 may include a cavity holder 301 disposed in the lock body 100, a latch 302 movably disposed on the cavity holder 301, a motor 303, a cam 304b, and an elastic member 400. The motor 303 is controlled by a control unit, i.e. the control unit may control the rotation of the motor 303 by means of a motor driver. A cam 304b may be fixed on the output shaft of the motor 303, and when the distal end of the cam 304b abuts against the latch tongue 302, the latch tongue 302 may be disengaged from the hole 201 at the end of the lock beam 200 (for example, as shown in fig. 8), so as to unlock the lock. When the proximal end of the cam 304b abuts against the latch tongue 302, the latch tongue 302 can be locked with the hole 201 at the end of the lock beam 200, thereby realizing locking. The elastic element 305b can be used to maintain the latch tongue 302 against the cam 304 b. The contradictory references in this specification mean: the latch tongue 302 and the cam 304b contact each other and press against each other (have a tendency to press against each other). In some exemplary embodiments, the elastic element 305b may be, for example, a coil spring, a torsion bar spring, a gas spring, a rubber spring, or the like.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the unlocking mechanisms shown in fig. 5, 7 and 8 are merely illustrative, and that any suitable unlocking mechanism may be employed in the passive electronic lock without departing from the spirit and principles of the present application, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto and may be specifically selected as desired.

For convenience of description, the above devices are described as being divided into various units by function, and are described separately. Of course, the functions of the various elements may be implemented in the same one or more software and/or hardware implementations of the present description.

Corresponding to the passive electronic lock, the specification also provides a control method of the passive electronic lock. Referring to fig. 12, in some embodiments of the present description, a method of controlling a passive electronic lock may include:

and S121, when the energy acquisition unit receives an energy signal provided by the radio frequency key, enabling the energy acquisition unit to charge the energy storage unit based on the energy signal.

And S122, when the locking and unlocking mechanism is in a locking state, and when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a first threshold value, verifying the identity of the radio frequency key.

And S123, controlling the unlocking mechanism to unlock when the radio frequency key passes the identity authentication.

And S124, when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a second threshold value, controlling the state prompt unit to output an unlocking state prompt so as to reserve the electric quantity required by locking.

In some embodiments of the present description, the method of controlling a passive electronic lock may further include:

In correspondence with the above-described method for controlling a passive electronic lock, some embodiments of the present description further provide a computer storage medium (e.g., the memory in fig. 13) having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of:

when the energy acquisition unit receives an energy signal provided by the radio frequency key, the energy acquisition unit charges the energy storage unit based on the energy signal.

And when the locking and unlocking mechanism is in a locking state, and the electricity quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a first threshold value, the identity of the radio frequency key is verified.

And when the radio frequency key passes the identity authentication, controlling the unlocking mechanism to execute unlocking.

And when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a second threshold value, the control state prompting unit outputs an unlocking state prompt to reserve the electric quantity required by locking.

While the process flows described above include operations that occur in a particular order, it should be appreciated that the processes may include more or less operations that are performed sequentially or in parallel (e.g., using parallel processors or a multi-threaded environment).

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the specification. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

In a typical configuration, a computing device includes one or more processors (CPUs), input/output interfaces, network interfaces, and memory.

The memory may include forms of volatile memory in a computer readable medium, Random Access Memory (RAM) and/or non-volatile memory, such as Read Only Memory (ROM) or flash memory (flash RAM). Memory is an example of a computer-readable medium.

Computer-readable media, including both non-transitory and non-transitory, removable and non-removable media, may implement information storage by any method or technology. The information may be computer readable instructions, data structures, modules of a program, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase change memory (PRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), other types of Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information that can be accessed by a computing device. As defined herein, a computer readable medium does not include a transitory computer readable medium such as a modulated data signal and a carrier wave.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present description may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, embodiments of the present description may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, embodiments of the present description may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

Embodiments of the present description may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The described embodiments may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

The embodiments in the present specification are described in a progressive manner, and the same and similar parts among the embodiments are referred to each other, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from the other embodiments. In particular, as for the method embodiments, since they are substantially similar to the apparatus embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and reference may be made to the partial description of the apparatus embodiments for the relevant points. In the description of the specification, reference to the description of the term "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "an example", "a specific example", or "some examples", etc., means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the embodiments of the specification. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the various embodiments or examples and features of the various embodiments or examples described in this specification can be combined and combined by those skilled in the art without contradiction.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Various modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A passive electronic lock, comprising:

the locking and unlocking mechanism is used for locking or unlocking;

an energy storage unit;

2. The passive electronic lock of claim 1, further comprising:

3. The passive electronic lock of claim 1, wherein the control unit is further to:

4. The passive electronic lock of claim 1, wherein the control unit is further to:

5. The passive electronic lock of claim 4, wherein the control unit is further to:

6. The passive electronic lock of claim 1, wherein the control unit is further to:

7. A passive electronic lock according to claim 3 or 5, wherein the control unit is further adapted to:

8. The passive electronic lock of claim 1, wherein the energy storage unit comprises:

an energy input and output end;

the capacitor is electrically connected with the energy input and output end;

9. The passive electronic lock of claim 1, wherein the energy storage unit comprises:

an energy input and output end;

10. The passive electronic lock of claim 1, wherein the locking and unlocking mechanism comprises:

the cavity bracket is arranged in the lock body;

the lock tongue is movably arranged on the cavity support;

a motor;

11. The passive electronic lock of claim 1, wherein the locking and unlocking mechanism comprises:

the cavity bracket is arranged in the lock body;

a motor;

12. The passive electronic lock of claim 1, wherein the locking and unlocking mechanism comprises:

the cavity bracket is arranged in the lock body;

the lock tongue is movably arranged on the cavity support;

a motor;

13. A control method of a passive electronic lock is characterized by comprising the following steps:

when the locking and unlocking mechanism is in a locking state, when the electric quantity of the energy storage unit is higher than a first threshold value, the identity of the radio frequency key is verified;

14. The control method according to claim 13, characterized by further comprising:

15. The control method according to claim 13, characterized by further comprising:

16. The control method according to claim 15, characterized by further comprising:

17. The control method according to claim 13, characterized by further comprising:

18. The control method according to claim 14 or 16, characterized by further comprising:

19. The control method according to claim 13, wherein the energy storage unit includes:

an energy input and output end;

the capacitor is electrically connected with the energy input and output end;

20. The control method according to claim 13, wherein the energy storage unit includes:

an energy input and output end;

21. A computer storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program is executed by a processor to perform the control method according to any one of claims 13 to 20.