JP2010065379A - Illegal change monitoring system for emergency key with electronic key - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an illegal change monitoring system for an emergency key with an electronic key capable of increasing the crime prevention properties against the acts of dishonesty (illegal use or theft) that may occur due to illegal change of the emergency key with the electronic key even if the emergency key is illegally changed. <P>SOLUTION: An immobilizer collation section 37 of a mobile device 2 confirms the validity of the emergency key 30 by the establishment of the collation of an immobilizer with a transponder 29 assembled in the emergency key 30 stored in the mobile device 2. A communication treatment section 38 performs a smart communication on the basis of the result of the confirmation of the validity when the mobile device 2 performs the smart communication with a vehicle 1. The key validity notification section 39 of the vehicle 1 warns the user by notifying an instrument panel or others of the presence of illegal change when receiving the notification of the presence of illegal change from the mobile device 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an unauthorized replacement monitoring system for an emergency key equipped with an electronic key for monitoring an unauthorized exchange of an emergency key provided for an emergency in an electronic key.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an electronic key system using an electronic key (hereinafter referred to as a portable device) that wirelessly transmits a unique key code of itself to the vehicle is widely used in the vehicle. One type of this electronic key system is a key operation free system that automatically transmits a key code of a portable device regardless of the user's will. This key operation free system wirelessly transmits a key code reply request from the vehicle, and when the vehicle receives the key code returned by the portable device in response to this request, the vehicle uses this key code to perform key verification (so-called smart verification). If the smart verification at this time is established, for example, door locking / unlocking and engine starting are permitted or executed.

In this type of electronic key system, the key code is transmitted using the battery built in the portable device as a power source. For example, when the portable device runs out of battery, the key code can be transmitted from the portable device. Therefore, the door lock / unlock operation and the engine start operation cannot be performed. Therefore, in general, a portable device body of a portable device often stores a mechanical key as an emergency key so that at least the door lock of the vehicle can be locked and unlocked when the battery runs out. Therefore, when the portable device runs out of batteries, the mechanical key is removed from the portable device body, and the mechanical key is inserted into the key cylinder of the door handle knob on the outside of the vehicle and turned to operate and lock and unlock the door. . Note that this type of system is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 and the like.
JP 2004-190323 A

  By the way, in a portable machine equipped with this type of mechanical key as an emergency key, for example, a mechanical key inserted into the portable machine body by another person who plans to illegally enter the vehicle is replaced with another mechanical key (imitation). It is also assumed that it is illegally exchanged. At this time, in order for the user to notice that the mechanical key has been tampered with, the replacement cannot be noticed until the mechanical key is actually used. Therefore, while the key is exchanged, a third party who has stolen a regular mechanical key can freely enter the car, for example, an on-vehicle device (car navigation system) can be operated without permission, There was concern that valuable items could be stolen.

  The object of the present invention is to improve the crime prevention property against illegal acts (illegal use, theft, etc.) that can occur due to the illegal exchange even if the emergency key provided with the electronic key is illegally exchanged. An object of the present invention is to provide an emergency key unauthorized exchange monitoring system equipped with an electronic key.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, an emergency key capable of key verification in a format different from that of the electronic key is provided on an electronic key that can be key verified by sending a key code to a communication partner wirelessly. In the emergency key unauthorized exchange monitoring system for monitoring unauthorized exchange of the emergency key, provided in the electronic key, provided in the electronic key, and monitoring means for monitoring the presence or absence of unauthorized exchange of the emergency key A notification means for wirelessly transmitting the monitoring result of the monitoring means to the communication partner, and when there is an unauthorized exchange based on the monitoring result provided from the electronic key provided in the communication partner, The gist of the present invention is to provide notification execution means for performing notification to the effect on the communication partner side.

  According to this configuration, the monitoring unit monitors whether the emergency key attached to the electronic key has been tampered with, and the monitoring result is notified from the electronic key to the notification partner. At this time, when a monitoring result indicating that there has been an unauthorized exchange is notified to the communication partner, a notification of unauthorized exchange is executed on the communication partner side by the notification execution means. For this reason, when an emergency key is illegally exchanged, it is possible to notify the user that there has been an illegal exchange and take measures against it, so that the communication partner by the thief who has stolen the regular emergency key It is possible to secure crime prevention (security) against illegal use or theft of the device. In addition, since a group of components such as a display body and a notification body that perform this notification action is often provided in advance in the communication partner, if this type of notification is executed on the communication partner side, a notification component There is no need for major system changes such as installing new groups.

  In the present invention, the monitoring means obtains a unique identification code possessed by the emergency key from a tag incorporated in the emergency key, and checks whether or not the unauthorized exchange has been performed by electronic collation for checking whether or not the identification code can be collated. The gist of this is to determine.

According to this configuration, it is possible to determine the presence / absence of unauthorized exchange of emergency keys in a highly authentic form called electronic verification.
In the present invention, when the electronic key performs key verification by wireless communication with the communication partner, the notification means includes the monitoring result in the verification communication of the key verification, and sends it to the communication partner. The gist is to notify the communication partner of the monitoring result.

According to this configuration, since the monitoring result of unauthorized exchange is included in the verification communication of key verification (for example, smart verification), it is not necessary to provide new wireless communication for monitoring result notification.
The gist of the present invention is that the notification means notifies the communication partner of the monitoring result when the electronic key is placed in a dedicated place for the electronic key in the communication partner.

  According to this configuration, when the electronic key is placed in a dedicated place for the electronic key, the monitoring result is sent from the electronic key to the communication partner, so the wireless communication of the monitoring result is performed only for monitoring result notification. Wireless communication. Accordingly, since the notification of the monitoring result does not have to depend on other communication, it is not necessary to change the communication format used conventionally. For this reason, since each communication becomes individual communication according to a role, wireless communication does not need to be complicated.

  According to the present invention, even if an emergency key provided with an electronic key is illegally exchanged, it is possible to improve crime prevention against illegal acts (illegal use, theft, etc.) that can occur by this illegal exchange. .

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of an emergency key unauthorized exchange monitoring system equipped with an electronic key embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 1 uses an electronic key (hereinafter referred to as a portable device) 2 as a vehicle key to perform key collation, and, for example, door lock locking / unlocking, engine starting, etc. The electronic key system 3 that permits or executes is mounted. The electronic key system 3 is equipped with a key operation free system 4 capable of transmitting an ID code without requiring an individual key operation when the portable device 2 transmits an ID code (key code). Has been. The portable device 2 can perform narrow-area wireless communication with the vehicle 1, and transmits a key code unique to the portable device 2 to the vehicle 1 by wireless communication to perform key verification on the vehicle 1. This is the key to be used. The vehicle 1 corresponds to a communication partner, and the portable device 2 corresponds to an electronic key.

  The key operation free system 4 includes a smart entry system as a function that does not require a key operation at the time of door lock / unlock operation. In this smart entry system, the vehicle 1 is provided with a verification ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 5 that performs key verification (ID verification) with the portable device 2. The verification ECU 5 includes an in-vehicle LF transmitter 6 that transmits a signal in the LF (Low frequency) band (about 130 KHz) outside the vehicle, an in-vehicle LF transmitter 7 that transmits a signal in the same LF band in the vehicle, and an RF (Radio Frequency). ) Is connected to an RF receiver 8 capable of receiving a band (about 312 MHz) signal. In addition, a door ECU 9 that controls door locking / unlocking / unlocking is connected to the verification ECU 5 via an in-vehicle LAN (Local Area Network) 10. A door lock motor 11 is connected to the door ECU 9 as a drive source for locking and unlocking the door lock.

  On the other hand, the portable device 2 is provided with a communication control unit 12 that performs overall control of various operations of the portable device 2. The communication control unit 12 has various devices such as a CPU 13 and a memory 14, and an ID code is registered in the memory 14 as a unique key code of the portable device 2. The communication control unit 12 is connected to an LF antenna 15 capable of receiving an LF band radio signal and an RF antenna 16 capable of transmitting an RF band (about 312 MHz) radio signal. The communication control unit 12 sequentially monitors which type of radio signal is received by the LF antenna 15 and manages the operation of signal transmission from the RF antenna 16.

  When the vehicle 1 is parked, the verification ECU 5 intermittently transmits a request signal Srq for the LF band from the LF transmitter 6 outside the vehicle, and forms a communication area outside the vehicle for the request signal Srq around the vehicle (about several meters). Attempts to establish narrow area wireless communication (hereinafter referred to as smart communication). When the portable device 2 enters the outside communication area and receives the request signal Srq, the portable device 2 responds to the request signal Srq with the ID signal Sid carrying the ID code registered in its own memory 14 being set to low RF. Reply with a band signal. When the smart communication (external communication) is established by receiving the ID signal Sid with the RF receiver 8, the verification ECU 5 compares the ID code registered in its own memory 17 with the ID code of the portable device 2. , So-called smart verification (external verification). When the verification ECU 5 confirms that this external verification is established, the door ECU 9 permits or executes the door lock locking / unlocking operation.

  Further, the key operation free system 4 has a one-push engine start function as a function capable of performing the start / stop operation of the engine 18 by a simple switch operation without requiring an actual vehicle key operation at the time of engine start / stop operation. There is a system. In this one-push engine start system, an engine switch 19 is provided in the vehicle as an operation system of the one-push engine start system. The engine switch 19 is of a push momentary type, for example, and is assigned, for example, a power supply transition function in addition to the engine start / stop function.

  In this case, an engine ECU 20 that performs overall control of the engine 18 and a power supply ECU 21 that controls various on-vehicle electrical components are connected to the vehicle 1. The ECUs 20 and 21 are connected to another ECU such as a verification ECU via the in-vehicle LAN 10. Further, the power supply ECU 21 is connected to an ACC (Accessory) relay 22 connected to the in-vehicle accessory, a first IG (Ignition) relay 23 connected to various electric components of the traveling system, and a second IG relay 24 connected to the engine ECU 20 and the starter relay. Yes.

  When the driver's boarding is confirmed by the courtesy switch 25, for example, the verification ECU 5 sends a request signal Srq from the in-vehicle LF transmitter 7 instead of from the in-vehicle LF transmitter 6 so far. An in-vehicle communication area is formed throughout the vehicle. When the RF signal is received by the RF receiver 8 and the smart communication (in-vehicle communication) is established, the verification ECU 5 receives the ID signal Sid returned from the in-vehicle communication area. ID collation, so-called smart collation (in-vehicle collation) is performed by checking the ID code of No. 2. When the verification ECU 5 confirms that the in-vehicle verification is established, the verification ECU 5 permits the engine start operation and the power supply transition operation by the engine switch 19.

  In addition, the vehicle 1 is equipped with an immobilizer system 26 that performs key verification with the portable device 2 through a communication network different from smart communication as a kind of electronic key system 3. The immobilizer system 26 uses short-range wireless communication (hereinafter referred to as immobilizer communication). In this example, for example, RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) is used. In this immobilizer system 26, an immobilizer ECU 27 that performs overall control of the immobilizer system 26 is provided in the vehicle 1. The immobilizer ECU 27 is connected to the verification ECU 5 via the in-vehicle LAN 10. A coil type immobilizer antenna 28 is connected to the immobilizer ECU 27 as an antenna on the vehicle side of the immobilizer system 26. The immobilizer antenna 28 is mounted, for example, around the engine switch 19, and can transmit and receive signals in the LF band in this example.

  On the other hand, the portable device 2 includes a transponder 29 as an ID registration destination on the portable device 2 side in the immobilizer system 26. When the transponder 29 receives the drive radio wave Skd transmitted from the immobilizer antenna 28, the transponder 29 starts driving by the drive radio wave Skd, and sends the immobilizer signal Str with the transponder code (identification code), which is its own unique code, to the vehicle 1. Send to. When the immobilizer ECU 27 receives the immobilizer signal Str by the immobilizer antenna 28, the immobilizer ECU 27 performs immobilizer verification based on the immobilizer signal Str, and permits the engine start if the verification is established. Note that short-range wireless communication refers to wireless communication having a narrower communication area than smart communication, and is actually wireless communication that needs to be close enough to hold the transponder 29 over the immobilizer antenna 28. Note that the transponder 29 constitutes a monitoring unit and a tag.

  The engine ECU 20 starts the engine 18 when at least one of in-vehicle verification and immobilizer verification is established when the engine switch 19 is pushed by the driver to start the engine 18. This is because the portable device 2 is battery-driven, and if the battery runs out, the portable device 2 cannot execute smart communication. Therefore, even if the portable device 2 runs out of battery, it is based on wireless communication. This is because the engine 18 can be started under the conditions for establishing ID verification.

  Further, the vehicle 1 is pulled out of the key body 31 of the portable device 2 from a regular mechanical key (hereinafter referred to as an emergency key 30 (see FIGS. 2 and 3)) provided in the portable device 2 for emergency use. An emergency key validity notification system 32 is provided to notify the user in the vehicle 1 when this situation occurs. By the way, the reason why the emergency key 30 is provided in the portable device 2 in this way is that the portable device 2 is battery-driven, so if the portable device 2 runs out of battery, the ID signal Sid cannot be transmitted. This is because key collation cannot be performed by wireless communication, and at this time, it is necessary to perform door lock locking / unlocking and engine start / stop operations by operating mechanical keys.

  In this emergency key validity notification system 32, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a key insertion hole 33 for accommodating the emergency key 30 is formed at a position near the edge of the key body 31. The emergency key 30 is provided with a knob portion 34 that serves as a grip portion when the key is held, and a key plate 35 that extends from the knob portion 34 and has a key groove. The emergency key 30 is housed in the key body 31 with the knob 34 exposed to the outside of the key body 31 while the key plate 35 is inserted into the key insertion hole 33.

  In the vicinity of the hole entrance of the key insertion hole 33, a key insertion detection unit 36 for detecting whether or not the emergency key 30 is inserted into the key body 31 (storage presence or absence) is provided. The key insertion detection unit 36 includes, for example, a contact type switch (limit switch), and monitors whether the emergency key 30 is inserted into the key body 31 by checking whether the knob unit 34 is in contact. When the key insertion detection unit 36 is turned on and detects the insertion of the emergency key 30, for example, it outputs an on signal to the communication control unit 12, while the key insertion detection unit 36 turns off and detects the insertion of the emergency key 30. When it disappears, for example, an off signal is output to the communication control unit 12.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the communication control unit 12 is provided with an immobilizer verification unit 37 that determines whether or not the emergency key 30 inserted into the key body 31 is a regular key by immobilizer verification. Yes. For this reason, the transponder 29 of this example is incorporated in the knob portion 34 of the emergency key 30. In addition, since immobilizer verification passes an LF band signal to and from the transponder 29, the LF antenna 15 of this example is a transmission / reception antenna that can exchange an LF band signal. In addition, the immobilizer collation part 37 comprises a monitoring means.

  When the key insertion detection unit 36 detects the key insertion of the emergency key 30 into the key body 31, the immobilizer verification unit 37 performs immobilizer verification and obtains the transponder code registered in its own memory 14 from the transponder 29. The validity of the emergency key 30 is confirmed by comparing the transponder code. The immobilizer collation unit 37 holds the collation result of the immobilizer collation in its own memory 14, and recognizes the validity of the emergency key 30 by setting a legitimacy confirmed flag in the memory 14 if, for example, immobilizer collation is established. The immobilizer collation unit 37 executes this immobilizer collation every time the key insertion detection unit 36 detects key insertion.

  Further, the communication control unit 12 is provided with a communication processing unit 38 that notifies the vehicle 1 of the confirmation result of the validity of the emergency key 30 wirelessly. When the portable device 2 communicates with the vehicle 1 outside the vehicle, the communication processing unit 38 includes the validity confirmation result in the ID signal Sid and transmits it. For example, if the validity confirmation flag is set in the memory 14 at the time of external verification, the first ID signal Sid1 is transmitted as the ID signal Sid that can be notified of the validity confirmation. On the other hand, if the validity confirmation flag is not set in the memory 14 during the communication outside the vehicle, the second ID signal Sid2 is transmitted as the ID signal Sid whose validity has not been confirmed. The communication processing unit 38 corresponds to a notification unit, and the ID signals Sid1, Sid2 correspond to monitoring results.

  Furthermore, whether or not the regular emergency key 30 is inserted into the portable device 2 is determined in the verification ECU 5 based on the ID signal Sid (first ID signal Sid1, second ID signal Sid2) received from the portable device 2 during communication outside the vehicle. Is provided on the vehicle 1 side. In addition, the vehicle 1 is provided with a device ECU 40 that controls various vehicle devices such as an instrument panel, a vehicle light, a horn, and a buzzer. The device ECU 40 is connected to another ECU via the in-vehicle LAN 10 and can operate based on a command sent from the verification ECU 5, for example. The key validity notification unit 39 corresponds to a notification execution unit.

  When the key validity notification unit 39 receives the first ID signal Sid1 during the communication outside the vehicle, the key validity notification unit 39 recognizes that the regular emergency key 30 is stored in the portable device 2 and does not perform a special notification operation. On the other hand, when receiving the second ID signal Sid2 during communication outside the vehicle, the key validity notifying unit 39 recognizes that the normal emergency key 30 is not stored in the portable device 2, and issues an operation start request via the in-vehicle LAN 10, for example. It outputs to ECU40. When the device ECU 40 receives the operation start request from the verification ECU 5, the device ECU 40 notifies the user to that effect using, for example, an in-vehicle instrument panel, a vehicle light, a horn, a buzzer, a display of a car navigation system, or the like.

Next, the operation of the emergency key validity notification system 32 of this example will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the regular emergency key 30 is stored in the key body 31. When the key insertion detection unit 36 detects that the emergency key 30 has been inserted into the key body 31, the immobilizer verification unit 37 starts immobilizer verification at this key detection timing. Here, since the regular emergency key 30 is assumed as the insertion key, immobilizer verification is established, and the above-described correctness check is performed in the memory 14 in order to retain recognition that the emergency key 30 is a regular key. The state where the completed flag is set is taken.

  When the user who has the portable device 2 approaches the vehicle 1 to get into the vehicle 1 and the portable device 2 enters the outside communication area, the portable device 2 receives the request signal Srq transmitted from the vehicle 1, and The machine 2 returns the ID signal Sid to the vehicle 1 in response to the request signal Srq. At this time, since the validity confirmation flag is set in the memory 14, the communication processing unit 38 transmits the first ID signal Sid1 from the RF antenna 16 as an RF band signal so as to notify the vehicle 1 to that effect. The first ID signal Sid1 includes an ID code 41 as a key code used at the time of smart verification, and a validity confirmed bit 42 as a data string for conveying to the vehicle 1 that the validity of the emergency key 30 has been confirmed. It is included.

  When the verification ECU 5 receives the first ID signal Sid1 by the RF receiver 8, the verification ECU 5 first performs external verification using the ID code 41 included in the first ID signal Sid1. When the verification ECU 5 recognizes that the verification outside the vehicle is established, the verification ECU 5 permits the door lock / unlock. For this reason, for example, when the user touches the outside door handle while the door lock is locked, the door lock is unlocked. When the user presses the lock button of the outside door handle when the door lock is unlocked, the door lock is released. Is locked. On the other hand, when the verification ECU 5 recognizes that the verification outside the vehicle is not established, the verification signal received at this time is discarded, and the next new reception signal is awaited.

  In addition, when the key validity notifying unit 39 recognizes that the verification outside the vehicle is established by the first ID signal Sid1, the portable device 2 that communicated at this time based on the bit data following the ID code 41 in the same first ID signal Sid1. It is confirmed whether or not the regular emergency key 30 is inserted. Here, since it is assumed that the regular emergency key 30 is stored in the portable device 2, the key validity notification unit 39 acquires the validity confirmed bit 42. Therefore, the key validity notifying unit 39 recognizes that the regular emergency key 30 is inserted into the portable device 2 by obtaining the validity confirmed bit 42. For this reason, the key validity notifying unit 39 does not issue an operation start request to the device ECU 40 and does not execute a warning operation using an instrument panel, a vehicle light, or the like.

  By the way, for example, when the user temporarily places the portable device 2 on a table or the like, when a person is looking aside, a third party may receive the regular emergency key 30 from the portable device 2 to another In some cases, theft may be attempted by illegally exchanging keys. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the key theft person inserts the illegal key Kdm into the key body 31 instead of the regular emergency key 30, and notices for a while that the regular emergency key 30 has been replaced. For example, it is conceivable to attempt a theft act of taking the vehicle 1 with the stolen regular emergency key 30 while the user does not approach the vehicle 1 for a while, for example, at midnight when the user returns home and parks the vehicle 1. The unauthorized key Kdm includes, for example, a key having another transponder, a mere mechanical key having no transponder, a counterfeit key, and the like.

  When the improper key Kdm is inserted into the key body 31 and the key insertion detection unit 36 detects this key insertion, the immobilizer verification unit 37 starts immobilizer verification at the key detection timing. Here, since the insertion key is assumed to be an illegal key Kdm, the immobilizer collation unit 37 cannot receive a normal transponder code at the time of this collation, or cannot receive the transponder code itself, and immobilizer collation is not established. Therefore, the memory 14 is in a state in which the above-described validity confirmation flag is not set.

  When the user who has the portable device 2 approaches the vehicle 1 to get into the vehicle 1, the portable device 2 starts to collate with the vehicle 1 at the timing when the portable device 2 enters the outside communication area. Here, since it is assumed that the illegal key Kdm is inserted in the portable device 2, the memory 14 does not have the validity confirmation flag. Therefore, the communication processing unit 38 transmits the second ID signal Sid2 from the RF antenna 16 as an RF band signal as a notification that the regular emergency key 30 is not stored in the key body 31. The second ID signal Sid2 includes the ID code 41 described above, and includes a non-validity bit 43 as a data string that informs the vehicle 1 that the validity of the emergency key 30 is unconfirmed.

  When the verification ECU 5 receives the second ID signal Sid2 by the RF receiver 8, the verification ECU 5 first performs external verification using the ID code 41 included in the second ID signal Sid2. When the verification ECU 5 recognizes that the verification outside the vehicle is established, the verification ECU 5 permits the door lock / unlock. Therefore, as described above, the door lock unlocking operation by touching the outside door handle knob (the touch sensor of the knob detects the touch operation) and the door by pressing the lock button of the outside door handle knob. Locking and locking operations are permitted. On the other hand, when the verification ECU 5 recognizes that the verification outside the vehicle is not established, the verification signal received at this time is discarded, and the next new reception signal is awaited.

  In addition, when the key validity notifying unit 39 recognizes that the verification outside the vehicle is established by the second ID signal Sid2, the portable device 2 that communicated at this time based on the bit data following the ID code 41 in the same second ID signal Sid2. It is confirmed whether or not the regular emergency key 30 is inserted. Here, since it is assumed that the unauthorized key Kdm is inserted in the portable device 2, the key validity notifying unit 39 acquires the validity unconfirmed bit 43. Therefore, the key validity notifying unit 39 recognizes that the regular emergency key 30 is not inserted into the portable device 2 by obtaining the unverified bit 43. For this reason, the key validity notification unit 39 issues an operation start request to the device ECU 40 to execute the warning operation using the device group described above. As a result, the unauthorized exchange of the emergency key 30 is notified to the user, and various measures are executed so that the vehicle 1 is not stolen with the stolen key, so that the possibility of the vehicle 1 being stolen can be kept low. It becomes.

  In this example, the legitimacy of the emergency key 30 inserted into the portable device 2 is confirmed by immobilizer verification with the transponder 29 built in the emergency key 30, and the portable device 2 is smart with the vehicle 1. When communication is performed, the validity confirmation result is sent to the vehicle 1, and the validity of the emergency key 30 is notified to the user by an instrument panel or the like of the vehicle 1. For this reason, even if the emergency key 30 is illegally exchanged without the user's knowledge, the unauthorized exchange of the emergency key 30 is known at a stage before the emergency key 30 of the portable device 2 is actually used. Is possible. Therefore, since it is possible to take measures against vehicle theft at an early stage in the case of illegal key exchange, the effect of suppressing the possibility of the vehicle 1 being stolen becomes high.

  Further, a warning operation in which the emergency key 30 is not a regular one is executed on the vehicle 1 side, such as on the instrument panel, vehicle light, horn, buzzer, or car navigation system display of the vehicle 1. For this reason, since this kind of warning device only needs to be provided in the vehicle 1 in advance, no major change is required in terms of hardware. In addition, when the user gets into the vehicle 1 and enters the driving action, for example, an operation of gazing at a device such as an instrument panel is always taken. Therefore, if this type of warning is performed on the vehicle 1 side, the regular emergency key 30 It is also possible to convey a warning that is not attached to the portable device 2 to the user more reliably.

  The validity confirmation flag is held in the memory 14 until the emergency key 30 inserted into the key body 31 is removed from the key body 31. When the emergency key 30 is removed from the key body 31, the key is inserted. It is cleared from the memory 14 at the key extraction detection timing of the detection unit 36. In this way, even when the emergency key 30 is simply extracted from the portable device 2, the second ID signal Sid2 is transmitted, so that the emergency key 30 is arbitrarily extracted from the portable device 2 without the user's knowledge. It can be notified by the vehicle 1.

According to the configuration of the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) When the emergency key 30 provided in the portable device 2 is illegally exchanged, when the portable device 2 performs smart communication with the vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 is notified to that effect, and a warning of unauthorized exchange is given to the vehicle. 1 is executed. For this reason, since it becomes possible to notify the user that the emergency key 30 has been illegally exchanged and take measures against it, for example, the situation in which the vehicle 1 is illegally used, stolen, or the like can be minimized. it can. Further, if this type of warning is performed on the vehicle 1 side, the vehicle 1 is provided with various devices capable of executing the warning in advance, so that it is not necessary to prepare a new device for warning. Does not require major changes in terms. In addition, when the user gets into the vehicle 1, the user always takes an action of gazing at the in-vehicle device such as the instrument panel. Therefore, if this type of warning is performed on the vehicle 1 side, the warning is more reliably transmitted to the user. You can also.

  (2) The validity of the regular emergency key 30 inserted into the key body 31 is confirmed by immobilizer verification to check whether the transponder 29 incorporated in the emergency key 30 is correct. For this reason, the legitimacy confirmation of the regular emergency key 30 inserted into the key body 31 can be determined in a highly authentic form called immobilizer verification.

  (3) Since the validity confirmation result of the emergency key 30 is executed in conjunction with the smart communication of the portable device 2, it is not necessary to provide new wireless communication for notifying the vehicle 1 of the validity confirmation result.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the second embodiment, the notification format of the validity confirmation result of the emergency key 30 is simply changed to a format other than the format using smart communication as in the first embodiment. Therefore, in this example, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof is omitted, and only different parts are described in detail.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the center cluster 50 beside the driver's seat in the vehicle is provided with a key storage space 51 as a dedicated storage space for the portable device 2 in the vehicle. The key storage 51 is formed by recessing a predetermined amount from the outer surface of the center cluster 50, and for example, the opening has an approximately triangular shape and is offset at a position closer to the driver's seat. When the driver opens the vehicle door and gets into the vehicle, the driver places the portable device 2 that he / she can reach in a position that can be seen by eye, after placing the portable device 2 that he / she has placed in the key storage area 51. The actual operation starts. The key place 51 corresponds to the place.

  A key storage LF transmitter 52 capable of transmitting an LF band signal is embedded around the key storage 51 below the key storage 51. The key storage LF transmitter 52 can transmit an LF signal only to a very small area around the key storage 51, and the signal transmission operation is managed by the verification ECU 5. When the verification ECU 5 checks the validity of the emergency key 30 stored in the portable device 2, the verification ECU 5 sends a request for sending the validity check result from the portable device 2, that is, a confirmation to send the first ID signal Sid 1 or the second ID signal Sid 2. A result notification request signal Sof is transmitted from the key storage LF transmitter 52.

  Now, when the driver gets into the vehicle 1, he / she carries the portable device 2 and enters the outside communication area. At this time, when the portable device 2 receives the request signal Srq transmitted from the vehicle 1, the portable device 2 returns an ID signal Sid and the outside-vehicle verification is started. Note that the ID signal Sid transmitted from the portable device 2 at this time does not include the key validity confirmation notification described in the first embodiment, but mainly includes the ID code 41 that is the key code of the portable device 2. It has become. When the ID code of the portable device 2 matches that of the vehicle 1 and the vehicle outside verification is established, the door lock is unlocked or executed.

  Subsequently, when the user holding the portable device 2 opens the unlocked vehicle door and gets into the vehicle, the request signal Srq is transmitted from the vehicle LF transmitter 7 at the timing of the door opening operation, and the vehicle communication is executed. Be started. When the portable device 2 enters the in-vehicle communication area, the in-vehicle collation is executed between the vehicle 1 and the portable device 2, and the ID code of the portable device 2 matches that of the vehicle 1 and the in-vehicle collation is established. Engine start operation and power supply transition operation by switch operation of the switch 19 are permitted.

  In addition, a user who gets in the vehicle places the portable device 2 on the key storage 51 when driving the portable device 2 at a position where the user can reach the eyes. Here, when the collation ECU 5 detects the door opening operation and executes in-vehicle collation, the collation ECU 5 also causes the key storage LF transmitter 52 to start the transmission operation of the confirmation result notification request signal Sof. For this reason, when the user who has boarded the vehicle 1 places the portable device 2 on the key storage 51, the portable device 2 receives the confirmation result notification request signal Sof transmitted from the key storage LF transmitter 52. Take the state to receive. Therefore, the portable device 2 operates in accordance with the confirmation result notification request signal Sof, and proceeds to the operation for transmitting the ID signal Sid described above.

  Here, when the communication processing unit 38 sends the validity confirmation result to the vehicle 1 in response to the accepted confirmation result notification request signal Sof, the communication processing unit 38 confirms that the validity confirmed flag is set in the memory 14. Then, it recognizes that the regular emergency key 30 is inserted in the portable device 2 and transmits the first ID signal Sid1 from the RF antenna 16. For this reason, since the key validity notification unit 39 receives the first ID signal Sid1 from the portable device 2, the emergency key 30 inserted into the portable device 2 is recognized as a proper one and performs a warning operation. do not do. The transmission of the first ID signal Sid1 is executed, for example, several times, and returns to the original standby state after the signal transmission.

  On the other hand, when the communication processing unit 38 confirms that the validity confirmation flag is not set in the memory 14 when the validity confirmation result is sent to the vehicle 1 in response to the accepted confirmation result notification request signal Sof, Recognizing that the regular emergency key 30 is not inserted in the portable device 2, the second ID signal Sid <b> 2 is transmitted from the RF antenna 16. For this reason, since the key validity notification unit 39 receives the second ID signal Sid2 from the portable device 2, it recognizes that the unauthorized key Kdm is inserted in the portable device 2. Therefore, the key validity notifying unit 39 issues an operation start request to the device ECU 40, and executes the warning operation using the device group described above. Note that the transmission of the second ID signal Sid2 is also executed, for example, several times in the same manner as the first ID signal Sid1, and returns to the original standby state after the signal transmission.

  Now, in this example, while providing the key storage 51 in the center cluster 50, the key storage LF transmitter 52 is provided below the key storage 51. When the portable device 2 is placed on the key storage 51, the portable device 2 is activated by the confirmation result notification request signal Sof transmitted from the key storage LF transmitter 52, and the validity confirmation result is directed to the vehicle 1. And the vehicle 1 is notified of the validity confirmation result. Therefore, unlike the first embodiment, the validity confirmation result of the emergency key 30 can be notified to the vehicle 1 in an independent communication format that does not depend on smart communication. There is no need to make changes to parts and programs, and it can be said that this is highly effective.

According to the configuration of the present embodiment, in addition to the effects described in (1) and (2) of the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(4) When the portable device 2 is placed on the key storage 51 in the vehicle, the validity confirmation result of the emergency key 30 is notified to the vehicle 1, and wireless communication of the confirmation result is transmitted to the key storage 51 in the vehicle. The dedicated wireless communication is triggered by the fact that the portable device 2 is placed. Therefore, since the notification of the validity confirmation result of the emergency key 30 does not have to depend on other communication, it is possible to use conventional wireless communication such as smart communication in the form as it is. For this reason, since each radio | wireless communication becomes individual communication according to those roles, radio | wireless communication does not need to become complicated.

Note that the embodiment is not limited to the configuration described so far, and may be modified as follows.
In the first and second embodiments, the validity check of the emergency key 30 is not necessarily limited to a format using immobilizer verification. For example, a format in which only the presence / absence of insertion of the emergency key 30 into the key body 31 is checked. That is, when the emergency key 30 is not inserted into the key body 31, a notification (second ID signal Sid2) for executing a warning may be transmitted to the vehicle 1 to cause the vehicle 1 to execute the warning.

  -In 1st and 2nd embodiment, when validity of emergency key 30 is performed by electronic collation, this is not necessarily limited to immobilizer collation, For example, other collation formats, such as smart collation, may be adopted.

  In the first and second embodiments, the warning that the regular emergency key 30 has been exchanged is not necessarily limited to the vehicle 1 alone, and may be performed on the portable device 2 side. Examples of the notification format on the portable device 2 side include lighting or blinking of an LED, vibration of the key body 31, and display on a liquid crystal (display) provided in the key body 31.

  -In 1st and 2nd embodiment, the legitimacy confirmation button of emergency key 30 is provided in portable machine 2, and when this button is pushed, the legitimacy confirmation result is transmitted to vehicle 1, and the confirmation result is It may be notified on the vehicle 1 side.

  In the first and second embodiments, the electronic key system 3 is not necessarily limited to the key operation free system 4 and may be a wireless key system that requires button operation on the electronic key side for key code transmission.

  -In 1st and 2nd embodiment, the immobilizer collation part 37 is not limited to the start of collation necessarily being triggered by key insertion, For example, even if what collates regularly and monitors key validity Good.

  In the second embodiment, the transmission of the confirmation result notification request signal Sof from the key storage LF transmitter 52 is not necessarily limited to the door opening as a trigger. For example, a detection unit (a switch, a sensor, or the like) that can detect that the portable device 2 is placed on the key storage 51 is disposed on the key storage 51, and that the portable device 2 is placed on the key storage 51. The confirmation result notification request signal Sof may be transmitted when detected by the detection unit.

  In the second embodiment, the ID signals Sid1 and Sid2 that are response signals of the notification request signal Sof do not necessarily include an ID code, and may be a signal that notifies only a key presence / absence monitoring result.

  In the second embodiment, the communication format between the antenna of the key storage 51 and the portable device 2 is not necessarily limited to the LF band signal, and for example, an RF band signal may be used. Furthermore, the signal used in this communication is not necessarily limited to radio waves (electromagnetic waves), and for example, a method of sending signals by electromagnetic coupling (magnetic field) may be adopted.

  In the first and second embodiments, when the validity result of the emergency key 30 is wirelessly notified to the vehicle 1, the frequency used in the wireless communication is not necessarily limited to the RF band, and various frequencies can be used. It is.

  In the first and second embodiments, the emergency key validity notification system 32 is not necessarily limited to being employed in the vehicle 1 and can be employed in other devices and apparatuses.

Next, technical ideas that can be grasped from the above-described embodiment and other examples will be described below together with their effects.
(1) In Claim 3, when the electronic key receives a request for replying a key code transmitted continuously or intermittently from the communication partner, the verification communication responds to the request by the key. Wireless communication according to a key operation free system that returns codes. According to this configuration, since the notification of the monitoring result is included in the wireless communication of the key operation-free system, no special operation is required when notifying the communication result of the monitoring result.

  (2) In any one of claims 2 to 4 and the technical idea (1), it further comprises key insertion detecting means for detecting whether or not the emergency key is inserted into the key body, and the monitoring means includes The electronic verification is started when the insertion of the emergency key into the key body is detected by the key insertion detection means. According to this configuration, since the monitoring means can be activated only when the insertion of the emergency key into the key body is detected, it is possible to save the energy of the electronic key.

The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the electronic key system in 1st Embodiment. The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the portable device in which the emma key is in the extraction state. The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the portable device in which the emma key is in the insertion state. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system when a regular emma key is inserted into a portable device. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system when an unauthorized emma key is inserted into a portable device. The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the driver's seat vicinity of the vehicle in 2nd Embodiment. The perspective view which shows the driver's seat vicinity when the portable machine in which the regular emma key was inserted was mounted in the key storage. The perspective view which shows the driver's seat vicinity at the time of the portable machine in which the unauthorized emma key was inserted being mounted in the key storage.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle as communication partner, 2 ... Portable machine as electronic key, 29 ... Transponder constituting monitoring means and tag, 30 ... Emergency key, 37 ... Immobilizer collating part constituting monitoring means, 38 ... Notification means Notification processing unit, 39... Key validity notification unit as a notification execution unit, 51... Key storage as a storage location, Sid1, Sid2.

Claims (4)

An electronic key that can be used for key verification by sending a key code to a communication partner wirelessly is provided with an emergency key that can be used for key verification in a format different from the electronic key, and is equipped with an electronic key for monitoring unauthorized exchange of the emergency key In the emergency key unauthorized exchange monitoring system,
Monitoring means provided on the electronic key for monitoring the presence or absence of unauthorized exchange of the emergency key;
A notification means provided on the electronic key, for wirelessly transmitting a monitoring result of the monitoring means to the communication partner;
Provided with a notification execution means provided on the communication partner and performing a notification to that effect on the side of the communication partner when there is an unauthorized exchange based on the monitoring result received from the electronic key An emergency key unauthorized exchange monitoring system equipped with an electronic key.   The monitoring means obtains a unique identification code possessed by the emergency key from a tag incorporated in the emergency key, and determines the presence / absence of the unauthorized exchange by electronic collation for checking whether or not collation of the identification code is established. The unauthorized exchange monitoring system for emergency keys equipped with electronic keys according to claim 1.   When the electronic key performs key verification by wireless communication with the communication partner, the notification means includes the monitoring result in the verification communication of the key verification and sends the monitoring result to the communication partner. The unauthorized exchange monitoring system for emergency keys provided with an electronic key according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a communication partner is notified.   The notification means notifies the communication partner of the monitoring result when the electronic key is placed at a dedicated place for the electronic key in the communication partner. Unauthorized exchange monitoring system for emergency keys with electronic keys as described.

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