JP2007031962A - Unlocking device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an unlocking device for a vehicle capable of unlocking not only a driver side door but also a door on the side of a party carrying an electronic key when operating a request switch. <P>SOLUTION: When operating the request switch 109 arranged in a driver's seat door 40, an antenna 102a of the driver's seat door 40 is started, and " an ID request signal " is transmitted to a predetermined range 44. The electronic key carried by a driver transmits an ID signal to the vehicle side when receiving this " ID request signal ". The vehicle side collates a received ID signal with registered ID, and when the IDs coincide, whether or not the electronic key exists in respective ranges 45, 49, 50 and 46 is searched by starting antennas 103a, 104a, 105a and 106a in this order. When detecting the electronic key, a lock mechanism of the door corresponding to the range of detecting the driver's seat door 43 and the electronic key is unlocked. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle unlocking device that performs wireless communication with a portable electronic key to unlock a lock mechanism provided on a door, and an unlocking method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an unlocking device that unlocks a door locking mechanism by operating a request switch provided on a vehicle door is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). When the request switch is pressed, the antenna is activated and a request signal is transmitted to the electronic key carried by the user. The electronic key that has received the request signal transmits an ID signal to the vehicle side. The vehicle side collates the stored ID with the ID transmitted from the electronic key, and if they match, the door lock mechanism is activated. Unlock.

  By the way, in the unlocking device as described above, there is known a selective unlocking function that prevents the user from unlocking the door that is not intended by a single switch operation, and is operated by the first switch operation. The doors are unlocked, and all doors are unlocked by performing a second operation.

JP 2001-349110 A

  However, if there is a companion other than the driver, even if the companion is carrying an electronic key, only the door operated by the switch, that is, the door on the driver's side is unlocked in one switch operation. Not locked. And, in order to unlock the door on the companion side so that the companion can get on, it is necessary to perform the switch operation again.

  The present invention is applied to a vehicle unlocking device that performs wireless communication with a portable electronic key to unlock a lock function provided on a door. Then, when an operation unit provided on at least one of the plurality of doors is operated to instruct to unlock the lock mechanism, the detection means performs wireless communication in each of the predetermined detection ranges set for each door. The portable electronic key is detected. When the portable electronic key is detected by the detection means, the lock mechanism control means unlocks the door lock mechanism corresponding to the predetermined detection range in which the portable electronic key is detected.

  According to the present invention, when the operation unit is operated to instruct to unlock the lock mechanism, the door lock mechanism corresponding to the predetermined detection range in which the portable electronic key is detected is unlocked. When the operation unit is operated, not only the door on the driver side carrying the portable electronic key but also the door on the accompanying side carrying the portable electronic key are unlocked.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle unlocking device. The vehicle unlocking device according to the embodiment includes an in-vehicle device 1 installed in, for example, an instrument panel of a vehicle, and an electronic key 2 that can be carried by an occupant.

  The electronic key 2 includes an antenna 21, an electronic key controller 22, a battery 23, and the like. The electronic key controller 22 includes peripheral components such as a CPU 22 a and a nonvolatile memory 22 b, and performs wireless communication with the in-vehicle device 1 via the antenna 21. The electronic key 2 transmits signal radio waves in the RF band. The memory 22b stores an ID number for identifying a person who is permitted to operate the vehicle. The battery 23 supplies power to the electronic key controller 22, and a replaceable battery is used.

  Although only one electronic key 2 is shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of electronic keys 2 are prepared so that a plurality of persons who are permitted to operate the vehicle can carry each vehicle. . The plurality of electronic keys 2 prepared for one vehicle, that is, one in-vehicle device 1 have the same specifications, configurations, and functions other than the ID number stored in the memory 22b.

  The in-vehicle device 1 includes a key control unit 10, a locking / unlocking controller 11, and a door lock actuator 12. The key control unit 10 includes a reception unit 101 and an antenna 101a that receive signal waves in the RF band from the electronic key 2, a driver door transmission unit 102 and an antenna 102a, a passenger seat door transmission unit 103 and an antenna 103a, and a right rear seat door. A transmission unit 104 and an antenna 104a, a left rear seat door transmission unit 105 and an antenna 105a, a trunk lid transmission unit 106, and an antenna 106a are provided.

  The request switches 109 to 111 are for locking / unlocking the lock mechanism of each door and trunk without using a mechanical key. When these switches are turned on, an “ID request signal” in the LF band is Transmitted from the transmission units 102, 103, 106. That is, when the request switch 109 is turned on, a signal is transmitted from the driver's seat door transmission unit 102, when the request switch 110 is turned on, a signal is transmitted from the passenger seat door transmission unit 103, and when the request switch 111 is turned on, the signal is transmitted from the trunk lid transmission unit 106. A signal is transmitted.

  The receiving unit 101 and the antenna 101a are installed, for example, in the rear par shell of the vehicle, receive and demodulate an “ID signal” in the RF band from the electronic key 2 carried by the occupant, and transfer it to the control unit 107. The driver's seat door transmission unit 102 and the antenna 102a are installed, for example, around the door outside handle 41 (see FIG. 3A) of the driver's seat door 40, and as shown in FIG. An “ID request signal” is transmitted to the periphery. The propagation range of radio waves in the LF band is limited to a predetermined area 44 around the driver's seat door 40 by adjusting the output and directivity of the antenna 102a. When the driver carrying the electronic key 2 turns on the request switch 109 provided around the door outside handle 41, the “ID request signal” transmitted from the antenna 102a is received by the electronic key 2 of the driver. The

  The passenger seat door transmission unit 103 and the antenna 103a are installed, for example, around the door outside handle 42 (see FIG. 3B) of the passenger seat door 43, and as shown in FIG. An “ID request signal” is transmitted to the periphery. The propagation range of radio waves in the LF band is limited to a predetermined area 45 around the passenger seat door transmission unit 103 by adjusting the output and directivity of the antenna 103a. When the passenger carrying the electronic key 2 turns on the request switch 110 provided around the door outside handle 42, the “ID request signal” transmitted from the antenna 103a is received by the electronic key 2 of the passenger.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the trunk lid transmitting unit 106 and the antenna 106a are installed around the rear end of the trunk lid, and the output range and directivity of the antenna 106a are adjusted to reduce the propagation range of the LF band radio wave. The area is limited to a predetermined area 46 around the rear end. When the passenger carrying the electronic key 2 turns on the request switch 111 provided at the rear end of the trunk lid, the “ID request signal” transmitted from the antenna 106 a is received by the electronic key 2 of the passenger.

  The right rear seat door transmission unit 104 and the antenna 104a related to the right rear seat door 47 and the left rear seat door transmission unit 105 and the antenna 105a related to the left rear seat door 48 are the same as those of the driver seat door 40 and the passenger seat door 43 described above. It is the composition. The antenna 104 a transmits an “ID request signal” to a predetermined area 49 around the right rear seat door 47, and the antenna 105 a transmits an “ID request signal” to a predetermined area 50 around the left rear seat door 48.

  The control unit 107 that controls the entire key control unit 10 controls the reception unit 101, the transmission units 102 to 106, and the locking / unlocking controller 11, and the ID signal transferred from the reception unit 101 and the registered ID registered in advance. Perform collation. The memory 108 is a non-volatile memory and stores ID numbers of all electronic keys 2 prepared for the vehicle on which the unlocking device is mounted. The lock / unlock controller 11 controls the door lock actuator 12 to lock and unlock the driver's seat door 40, the passenger seat door 43, the left and right rear seat doors 48 and 47, and the trunk lid.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the unlock processing operation executed by the control unit 107 of the key control unit 10. In step S1, it is determined whether any of the request switches 109 to 111 is turned on. If any of the request switches is turned on, the process proceeds to step S2. In step S2, the antenna corresponding to the turned on request switch is activated.

  That is, the antenna 102a is activated when the request switch 109 is turned on (see FIG. 2), the antenna 103a is activated when the request switch 110 is turned on, and the antenna when the request switch 111 is turned on. 106a is started. Hereinafter, a case where the request switch 109 of the driver's seat door 40 is turned on will be described as an example. In step S2, the antenna 102a of the driver's seat door transmission unit 102 is activated to transmit an “ID request signal”.

  In step S <b> 3, it is determined whether or not the receiving unit 101 has received an ID signal from the electronic key 2. Here, since the driver who turned on the request switch 109 is in the area 44 (the transmission range of the antenna 102a) shown in FIG. 2, if the driver is carrying the electronic key 2, the electronic key 2 is The “ID request signal” from the antenna 102a is received and an ID signal is transmitted. And if the receiving part 101 of the key control unit 10 receives the ID signal from the electronic key 2, it will determine with YES in step S3, and will progress to step S4.

  On the other hand, if the driver does not carry the electronic key 2, the ID signal is not received, so it is determined as NO in step S3, and the series of unlock processing operations is terminated. That is, when the person who turned on the request switch does not carry the electronic key 2, the vehicle door and trunk are not unlocked.

  If YES is determined in step S3 and the process proceeds to step S4, the received ID signal is compared with the registered ID stored in the memory 108 to determine whether the IDs match. If it is determined in step S4 that the IDs match, the process proceeds to step S5. If it is determined that the IDs do not match, the series of unlock processing operations ends. That is, when the ID of the electronic key 2 is not registered in the key control unit 10, the vehicle door and trunk are not unlocked.

  Step S5 is a process of performing a search operation of the electronic key 2 for the antennas 103a to 106a other than the antenna 102a corresponding to the request switch 109 that has been turned on. FIG. 5 shows a specific processing procedure. Here, description will be made assuming that the antennas 103a to 106a are activated in order and searched.

  First, in step S <b> 100, the antenna 103 a is activated, and an “ID request signal” is transmitted to the predetermined area 45. In step S101, it is determined whether the receiving unit 101 has received an ID signal from the electronic key 2. Here, let us consider a case where there is a companion carrying the electronic key 2 in addition to the driver. When the accompanying person is in the area 45 around the passenger door 43, the accompanying electronic key 2 detects the “ID request signal” transmitted from the antenna 103a, and the electronic key 2 receives the ID signal. Sent. As a result, YES is determined in step S101, and the process proceeds to step S102. If the accompanying person is not in the area 45, or if the accompanying person is present but does not carry the electronic key 2, the determination in step S101 is NO and the process proceeds to step S104.

  When the process proceeds from step S101 to step S102, the received ID signal is compared with the registered ID stored in the memory 108 to determine whether or not the IDs match. If it is determined in step S102 that the IDs match, the process proceeds to step S103, and if it is determined that the IDs do not match, the process proceeds to step S104. In step S103, the passenger's seat door 43 where the accompanying person carrying the electronic key 2 is detected is stored as a door to be unlocked.

  In step S104, it is determined whether or not the search processing has been completed for all of the antennas 103a to 106 provided from the passenger seat door 43 to the trunk lid other than the driver seat door 40 in which the request switch 109 is turned on. If it is determined that the process is completed, the process returns to step S100 to perform a series of search processes using the next antenna. On the other hand, when the search process is completed for all of the antennas 103a to 106, the search process in FIG. 5 is terminated and the process proceeds to step S6 in FIG.

  Returning to FIG. 4, in step S6, the lock mechanism is activated for all of the driver's seat door 40 in which the request switch 109 is turned on and the doors and trunks stored as doors to be unlocked in step S103 of FIG. Unlock. For example, when the driver turns on the request switch 109 of the driver's seat door 40 and the accompanying person carrying the electronic key 2 with the correct ID is standing near the passenger's seat door 43 Then, the locking mechanism of the driver seat door 40 and the passenger seat door 43 is unlocked.

  Thus, in the vehicle unlocking device of the present embodiment, when there is a companion carrying the electronic key in addition to the person who operated the request switch, only the door on which the request switch is operated as in the conventional case. Instead of unlocking it, unlock the door where the accompanying person is going to get on. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform the unlocking operation twice as in the prior art.

  In addition, as described above, if the ID of the electronic key 2 carried by the person who operates the request switch does not match the registration ID of the vehicle, do not perform a useless search operation without activating other antennas. Therefore, it is possible to prevent wasteful consumption of electric power. In the embodiment described above, request switches are omitted for the rear seat doors 47 and 48, but request switches may be provided for these doors.

  In the correspondence between the embodiment described above and the elements of the claims, the request switches 109 to 111 are the operation unit and the unlock instruction operation unit, the control unit 107 is the determination unit, and the control unit 107 and the unlocking controller 11. Each constitutes a locking mechanism control means. The above description is merely an example, and when interpreting the invention, there is no limitation or restriction on the correspondence between the items described in the above embodiment and the items described in the claims.

1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention, and is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a vehicle unlocking device. It is a figure which shows arrangement | positioning and a communication range of a transmission part and an antenna. It is a figure which shows the request switch provided in the door of the vehicle, (A) shows a driver's seat door, (b) shows a passenger seat door. It is a flowchart which shows unlocking operation | movement. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a search process.

Explanation of symbols

1: Vehicle-mounted device 2: Electronic key 10: Key control unit 11: Locking / unlocking controller 12: Door lock actuator 101: Receiver 40: Driver's seat door 43: Passenger seat door 47: Right rear seat door 50: Left rear seat door 102 : Driver's seat door transmission unit 103: Passenger seat door transmission unit 104: Right rear seat door transmission unit 105: Left rear seat door transmission unit 106: Trunk lid transmission unit 101 a to 106 a: Antenna 107: Control unit 108: Memory 109 to 111 : Request switch

Claims (4)

In the vehicle unlocking device that performs wireless communication with the portable electronic key and unlocks the locking function provided on the door,
An operation unit provided on at least one of the plurality of doors for instructing unlocking of the lock mechanism;
When the operation unit is operated, detection means for detecting the portable electronic key by wireless communication in each of predetermined detection ranges set for each door;
When the portable electronic key is detected by the detection means, there is provided a lock mechanism control means for unlocking a door lock mechanism corresponding to a predetermined detection range in which the portable electronic key is detected. Vehicle unlocking device. The vehicle unlocking device according to claim 1,
The detection means is (a) provided corresponding to each of the plurality of doors, and a plurality of transmission units for transmitting a first signal to the predetermined detection range of the corresponding door; (b) the first A receiving unit that receives a second signal transmitted from the portable electronic key that has received the signal; and (c) when the second signal is received by transmitting the first signal, A vehicle unlocking device comprising: a determination unit that determines that the portable electronic key is detected within a predetermined detection range in which a signal is transmitted. The vehicle unlocking device according to claim 2,
The second signal is an ID signal for recognizing that the portable electronic key is a vehicle-specific portable electronic key,
When the operation unit is operated, the detection unit detects the portable electronic key only in a predetermined detection range set on a door provided with the operation unit, and receives the ID signal received by the reception unit. The vehicle unlocking device is characterized in that detection is performed in a predetermined detection range set for another door only when the ID matches a pre-stored ID signal. When the unlock instruction operation part provided in at least one of the plurality of doors is operated, the vehicle performs wireless communication with the portable electronic key to unlock the lock mechanism provided in the door. An unlocking method for an unlocking device,
The portable electronic key is detected by wireless communication in each predetermined detection range set for each door, and the door locking mechanism corresponding to the predetermined detection range in which the portable electronic key is detected is unlocked. An unlocking method characterized by.

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