JP6286186B2 - Electronic key system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic key system.

  Conventionally, in a state where wireless communication between a control object such as a vehicle and a house and an electronic key possessed by a user is established, control of locking and unlocking of a door and opening of a sliding door, etc., triggered by a switch operation by the user Electronic key systems that allow control of objects are known.

  In this electronic key system, for example, when a slide door (open / close target) is opened, it is conceivable that the user's hand is blocked by luggage or the like. In this case, it is difficult to operate the switch for opening the slide door.

  In this regard, for example, in the electronic key system described in Patent Document 1, the slide door is opened when it is detected that the user holding the electronic key has stopped. For this reason, a slide door can be opened without operating a switch around the vehicle.

JP 2006-328932 A

  In the electronic key system described in Patent Document 1, when the user stops (stops) around the vehicle without the intention of opening the slide door, the slide door opens. As described above, there is a possibility that the opening of the slide door does not conform to the user's intention.

  In view of this, a configuration has been studied in which the sliding door is allowed to be opened on condition that a specific operation (for example, backward, stop, and forward operations are sequentially performed) after the user has stopped around the vehicle. However, even in this configuration, the electronic key stops around the vehicle even if the user does not intend to operate by talking with other people around the vehicle or leaving the electronic key unattended. There is a case. In this case, the slide door may be opened without the user's intention by the subsequent operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an electronic key system that enables control of a control target more in line with the user's intention.

Hereinafter, means for achieving the above-described object and its operation and effects will be described.
In order to solve the above problem, an electronic key that wirelessly transmits a response signal when receiving a request signal, a control device that transmits the request signal and permits control of a control target when receiving the response signal, and the electronic A user action detecting unit that detects an action of a user who possesses the key, and the control device uses the user action detecting unit to specify a specific value after the user has been stationary for a minimum time or more and a maximum time or less. When the operation is performed, the control target is controlled.

  According to this configuration, the control device executes control of the control target when a specific operation is performed after the user has been stationary for the upper limit time or less and the upper limit time or less through the detection result of the user motion detection unit. Therefore, for example, when the user talks with another person around the control object without intention of the control object, or the electronic key is left unattended, the user stays in the vicinity of the control object over the upper limit time. The control target is not executed. For this reason, it is possible to control the control target more in line with the user's intention.

In the electronic key system, it is preferable that the upper limit time is set based on a time when the user is expected to be stationary with the intention of controlling the control target.
According to this configuration, the upper limit time is set based on the time when the user is expected to be stationary with the intention of controlling the control target. For this reason, when the user has an electronic key in the vicinity of the controlled object without the intention of the controlled object, the stationary time exceeds the upper limit time, and thus the controlled object is not executed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, control of the control object according to a user's intention can be enabled more in an electronic key system.

The block diagram of the electronic key system in 1st Embodiment. The top view of the vehicle in a 1st embodiment. The top view of the vehicle in a 1st embodiment. (A) in 1st Embodiment is the graph which showed the detection result of the RSSI detection part, (b) is the elements on larger scale of (a). The sequence chart which showed the process sequence of the electronic key control part in 1st Embodiment, and a vehicle-mounted control part.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of an electronic key system will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle has an electronic key that enables remote control of the vehicle through automatic two-way wireless communication between an electronic key 10 possessed by a user and an in-vehicle device 20 mounted on the vehicle. The system is installed. Hereinafter, the configuration of the electronic key 10 and the in-vehicle device 20 will be described.

<Electronic key 10>
As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic key 10 includes an electronic key control unit 11, an LF reception unit 12, a UHF transmission unit 13, a lock switch 17, and an unlock switch 16.

  The electronic key control unit 11 is configured by a computer unit and includes a nonvolatile memory 11a. An ID code (identification code) unique to the electronic key 10 is stored in the memory 11a.

  When the LF receiving unit 12 receives a request signal Sreq or a door opening completion signal Sfi, which is a radio signal in the LF (Low Frequency) band wirelessly transmitted from the in-vehicle device 20, the electronic key control unit 11 demodulates the received signal. Output to.

  When the electronic key control unit 11 recognizes the request signal Sreq from the LF receiving unit 12, the electronic key control unit 11 generates a response signal Sres including an ID code stored in the memory 11a, and outputs the generated response signal Sres to the UHF transmission unit 13. To do. The UHF transmitter 13 modulates the response signal Sres from the electronic key controller 11 into a UHF (Ultra High Frequency) band, and wirelessly transmits the modulated response signal Sres.

  The unlock switch 16 and the lock switch 17 are provided on the surface of the electronic key 10 so as to be pressed. When the unlock switch 16 and the lock switch 17 are pressed, an operation signal indicating that is output to the electronic key control unit 11.

  When the electronic key control unit 11 recognizes that the unlock switch 16 has been operated through the input of an operation signal, the electronic key control unit 11 generates an unlock request signal Sul including an ID code stored in the memory 11a, and the unlock request signal Sul is wirelessly transmitted through the UHF transmitter 13. In addition, when the lock switch 17 is operated, the electronic key control unit 11 wirelessly transmits the locking request signal Slo including the ID code stored in the memory 11 a through the UHF transmission unit 13.

  The LF receiver 12 includes an RSSI detector 12a. The electronic key control unit 11 recognizes a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the request signal Sreq through the RSSI detection unit 12a. This RSSI increases as the distance between the electronic key 10 and the in-vehicle device 20 decreases.

  When the electronic key control unit 11 first receives the request signal Sreq through the LF reception unit 12, the electronic key control unit 11 starts monitoring RSSI through the RSSI detection unit 12a. Further, when the electronic key control unit 11 receives the door opening completion signal Sfi through the LF reception unit 12, the electronic key control unit 11 ends the RSSI monitoring through the RSSI detection unit 12a.

  As shown in the graph of FIG. 4A, when the RSSI increases at a certain rate or more, the electronic key control unit 11 moves (advances) in the direction in which the user holding the electronic key 10 approaches the vehicle. When the RSSI is decreasing at a certain rate or more, it is determined that the user holding the electronic key 10 is moving (reversing) away from the vehicle. This fixed ratio is set based on a change in RSSI that occurs as the user holding the electronic key 10 moves forward or backward. In addition, when the RSSI is constant, the electronic key control unit 11 determines that the user holding the electronic key 10 is stopped, that is, is stationary.

  When the electronic key control unit 11 determines that the RSSI of the request signal Sreq is constant over a predetermined time and then becomes constant after decreasing at a certain rate or more and then increases at a certain rate or more, the slide door 34a. A door opening request signal Sop for requesting opening of the door is generated, and the door opening request signal Sop is wirelessly transmitted through the UHF transmission unit 13. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the RSSI change mode is detected when the user who holds the electronic key 10 operates in the order of stationary, reverse, stationary and forward, which is a preset combination. The In the present embodiment, each operation after the first stationary, that is, backward, stationary and forward are specific operations.

  As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 4 (b), the first stationary condition is that the RSSI is constant over the lower limit time Tmin and the upper limit time Tmax. The upper limit time Tmax is set based on the time when the user is expected to be stationary with the intention of opening the sliding door. For example, when talking with another person around the vehicle or leaving the electronic key, the RSSI is constant over a time exceeding the upper limit time Tmax. In this case, the electronic key control unit 11 does not wirelessly transmit the door opening request signal Sop. Also, the lower limit time Tmin is set to a time during which the user can determine that the user has intentionally stopped. That is, even when the time during which the RSSI is constant is less than the lower limit time Tmin, the electronic key control unit 11 does not wirelessly transmit the door opening request signal Sop.

<In-vehicle device 20>
As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle device 20 includes an in-vehicle control unit 21, an LF transmission unit 23, and a UHF reception unit 22. In addition, a door switch 32, a door control device 33, a slide door device 34, and a hazard lamp 36 are electrically connected to the in-vehicle control unit 21.

  The in-vehicle control unit 21 is configured by a computer unit and includes a nonvolatile memory 21a. The memory 21a stores the ID code of the electronic key 10 registered in the vehicle.

  The in-vehicle control unit 21 generates a request signal Sreq at every predetermined period and outputs the signal to the LF transmission unit 23. The LF transmitter 23 modulates the request signal Sreq from the in-vehicle controller 21 into the LF band, and wirelessly transmits the modulated request signal Sreq.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the door switch 32 is provided on the outside door handle of the vehicle door. When the door switch 32 is pushed, an operation signal to that effect is output to the in-vehicle control unit 21. The request signal Sreq is transmitted in a semicircular communication area 50 formed on the side of the vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, when receiving the response signal Sres, the unlock request signal Sul, the lock request signal Slo, or the door open request signal Sop wirelessly transmitted from the electronic key 10, the UHF receiver 22 demodulates the received signal. Then, the data is output to the in-vehicle control unit 21.

  When receiving the response signal Sres, the unlock request signal Sul, the lock request signal Slo or the door open request signal Sop from the UHF receiver 22, the in-vehicle controller 21 stores the ID code included in the signal and the memory 21a. The ID code is checked.

  The vehicle-mounted control unit 21 unlocks the vehicle door through the door control device 33 when the ID verification related to the unlock request signal Sul is established. Moreover, the vehicle-mounted control part 21 locks a vehicle door through the door control apparatus 33, if ID collation which concerns on the locking request signal Slo is materialized.

  The in-vehicle control unit 21 switches the lock / unlock state of the vehicle door through the door control device 33 when determining that the door switch 32 has been pushed in a state where the ID verification (external vehicle verification) related to the response signal Sres is established.

  Moreover, the vehicle-mounted control part 21 will open the sliding door 34a via the sliding door apparatus 34, after unlocking a vehicle door, if ID collation concerning the door opening request signal Sop is materialized. When the opening of the slide door 34 a is completed, the in-vehicle control unit 21 wirelessly transmits a door opening completion signal Sfi indicating that the opening of the sliding door 34 a is completed through the LF transmission unit 23.

  When the vehicle-mounted control unit 21 determines that the vehicle exterior verification has been established for a certain period of time by establishing vehicle exterior verification multiple times, the user holding the electronic key 10 is stopped in the communication area 50. The answer back is executed by blinking the hazard lamp 36 a plurality of times.

<Sequence chart>
Next, processing of the electronic key control unit 11 and the in-vehicle control unit 21 when the user gets on the vehicle will be described with reference to the sequence chart of FIG.

  The vehicle-mounted control unit 21 periodically transmits a request signal Sreq to the communication area 50 (S101). The electronic key control unit 11 transmits a response signal Sres every time it receives the request signal Sreq (S102). The in-vehicle control unit 21 performs ID verification (external verification) on the received response signal Sres. When it is determined that the vehicle verification is established (S103), the vehicle-mounted control unit 21 performs answer-back by blinking the hazard lamp 36 a plurality of times (S104).

  When receiving the request signal Sreq, the electronic key control unit 11 starts monitoring RSSI through the RSSI detection unit 12a (S105). Then, the electronic key control unit 11 becomes constant after the RSSI of the request signal Sreq becomes constant over a predetermined time (more than the lower limit time Tmin and less than or equal to the upper limit time Tmax). Thereafter, when it is determined that the increase has occurred at a certain rate (S106), a door opening request signal Sop is wirelessly transmitted (S107).

  The vehicle-mounted control part 21 will open the slide door 34a via the slide door apparatus 34, after unlocking a vehicle door, if ID collation concerning the received door open request signal Sop is materialized (S108). When the opening of the slide door 34a is completed, the in-vehicle control unit 21 wirelessly transmits a door opening completion signal Sfi (S109).

  When receiving the door opening completion signal Sfi, the electronic key control unit 11 ends the RSSI monitoring of the request signal Sreq through the RSSI detection unit 12a (S110). Thus, the processes of the electronic key control unit 11 and the in-vehicle control unit 21 are completed.

  On the other hand, when the electronic key control unit 11 cannot receive the door opening completion signal Sfi after transmitting the door opening request signal Sop (S107), the electronic key control unit 11 returns to the process of step S106. Thereby, the user can try to open the slide door 34a again based on the operations of stationary, backward, stationary and forward movement.

Finally, a method of getting on the user's vehicle will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the user who holds the electronic key 10 enters the communication area 50 with a baggage in both hands, for example. Then, the hazard lamp 36 blinks a plurality of times. The user sees blinking of the hazard lamp 36 and stops once in the communication area 50. As described above, this stillness needs to be performed over the lower limit time Tmin and the upper limit time Tmax. Then, after the user descends back, the user stops on the spot and then moves forward. Thereby, the slide door 34a opens after the vehicle door is automatically unlocked. Therefore, the user can get on without carrying out the switch operation to the electronic key 10 or the like even with the baggage in both hands.

The RSSI detection unit 12a is an example of a user operation detection unit, the in-vehicle device 20 is an example of a control device, and the slide door device 34 is an example of a control target.
As described above, according to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  (1) The in-vehicle control unit 21 performs a specific operation (for example, the order of backward, stationary, and forward) after the user is stationary for the upper limit time Tmax and the lower limit time Tmin through the detection result of the RSSI detection unit 12a. ), The slide door 34a is opened. Thus, for example, when the user talks with another person around the vehicle without leaving the slide door 34a or leaves the electronic key, the user stays around the vehicle over the upper limit time Tmax. As a result, the slide door 34a is not opened. For this reason, it is possible to open the slide door 34a more in line with the user's intention.

  (2) The upper limit time Tmax is set based on the time when the user is expected to be stationary with the intention of opening the slide door 34a. For this reason, when the user does not intend to open the slide door 34a and the electronic key 10 is present around the vehicle, the stationary time exceeds the upper limit time Tmax, so the slide door 34a is not opened.

(Second Embodiment)
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the electronic key system will be described. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the user's action is determined based on the acceleration generated in the electronic key. Hereinafter, a description will be given focusing on differences from the first embodiment.

  As indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1, an acceleration sensor 18 is connected to the electronic key control unit 11. The acceleration sensor 18 detects the acceleration generated in the electronic key 10 as the user walks as a signal (voltage value) corresponding to the acceleration, and outputs the detection result to the electronic key control unit 11.

  The electronic key control unit 11 activates the acceleration sensor 18 when the user having the electronic key 10 enters the communication area 50 and receives the request signal Sreq through the LF reception unit 12, and passes through the LF reception unit 12. When the door open completion signal Sfi is received, the acceleration sensor 18 is stopped.

  When the user is stationary and stationary, the acceleration detected through the acceleration sensor 18 is within a certain range. Further, the acceleration detected through the acceleration sensor 18 when the user is moving forward or backward exceeds a certain range.

  Based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor 18, the electronic key control unit 11 indicates that the user has stopped for a predetermined time, the user has moved forward or backward, and then the user has moved still and then moved forward or backward again. When it is determined, the door opening request signal Sop is wirelessly transmitted through the UHF transmission unit 13. In this embodiment, the RSSI detector 12a can be omitted. The acceleration sensor 18 is an example of a user motion detection unit.

As described above, according to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be achieved.
(3) The vehicle-mounted control unit 21 determines the user's action based on the presence or absence of acceleration according to the user's walking detected through the acceleration sensor 18. For example, when the user is moving forward or backward, the acceleration corresponding to the acceleration is detected through the acceleration sensor 18, and when the user is stationary, the acceleration detected through the acceleration sensor 18 is close to zero. For this reason, the vehicle-mounted control part 21 can judge a user's operation | movement through the detection result of the acceleration sensor 18. FIG.

In addition, the said embodiment can be implemented with the following forms which changed this suitably.
In each of the above embodiments, the slide door 34a can be opened by the user having the electronic key 10 operating in the order of backward, stationary, and forward. However, the order of the combination of reverse, stationary and forward is not limited to this, and may be, for example, the order of forward, stationary and backward, or may be further followed by stationary, etc. after backward, stationary and forward.

Furthermore, the operation method related to the specific operation is not limited to this, and may be, for example, an electronic key swing operation, an electronic key hitting operation, an electronic key switch operation, or the like.
In each of the above embodiments, the answer back is performed through the blinking of the hazard lamp 36. However, the answer back method is not limited to the blinking of the hazard lamp 36, and other display methods may be used. Moreover, you may perform an answerback through the audio | voice from a vehicle. Further, the answer back may be performed by both blinking of the hazard lamp 36 and sound.

  Further, answer back may be performed on the electronic key 10 side. In this case, the user may answer back through display on the electronic key 10, sound from the speaker, and vibration of the vibrator. Display, sound, and vibration may be combined as appropriate.

  Further, answer back may be performed by both the electronic key 10 and the in-vehicle device 20. Thereby, a user can be notified more reliably. Further, the answer back may be omitted.

  In each of the above embodiments, the RSSI detection unit 12a is mounted on the electronic key 10, but may be mounted on the in-vehicle device 20. For example, the UHF receiver 22 is provided with an RSSI detector. The in-vehicle control unit 21 recognizes the RSSI of the response signal Sres through the RSSI detection unit, and determines the operation of the user holding the electronic key 10 based on the change in the RSSI. In this configuration, the vehicle-mounted control unit 21 opens the slide door 34a when it is determined that the user has performed the operations of stationary, reverse, stationary and forward in order based on the change in RSSI, regardless of reception of the door opening request signal Sop. . In this configuration, the electronic key 10 requiring higher portability can be configured more compactly by providing the in-vehicle device 20 with the RSSI detection unit.

  In the electronic key system in each of the above embodiments, the vehicle door can be locked and unlocked and the slide door can be opened. However, the control content is not limited to this, and the trunk opening or closing through the trunk opening and closing device of the vehicle is not limited to this. The door may be unlocked and opened through a residential door device.

  The door opening completion signal Sfi in the above embodiments may be omitted. In this case, the electronic key control unit 11 may stop monitoring the acceleration sensor 18 and the RSSI after transmitting the door opening request signal Sop.

In the above embodiments, the door switch 32 may be replaced with a touch sensor. Thereby, the user can unlock the vehicle door only by touching the outside door handle.
In the first embodiment, the electronic key control unit 11 determines the user's operation based on the detection result of the RSSI detection unit 12a. However, the electronic key control unit 11 includes the detection result of the RSSI detection unit 12a in the response signal Sres or wirelessly transmits it as a single information signal, and the in-vehicle control unit 21 is included in the received response signal Sres or information signal. You may judge a user's operation | movement based on the detection result of the RSSI detection part 12a. According to this configuration, the electronic key 10 requiring higher portability can be configured more easily.

  In the second embodiment, similarly to the above, the electronic key control unit 11 includes the detection result of the RSSI detection unit 12a and the detection result of the acceleration sensor 18 in the response signal Sres, or wirelessly transmits it as a single information signal. May be.

Next, the technical idea that can be grasped from the embodiment will be described together with the effects.
(A) The user operation detection unit is an electronic key system that is a reception signal strength detection unit that detects a reception signal strength of the response signal or the request signal.

  The closer the distance between the electronic key and the object to be opened and closed, the stronger the received signal strength of the response signal or request signal. For this reason, it is possible to determine whether the user is moving forward, backward, or stationary based on the detection result of the signal intensity detection unit. In this way, the user's movement direction (forward or backward) can be easily detected simply by detecting the received signal strength in the response signal or request signal exchanged with the existing electronic key system.

(B) The user operation detection unit is an electronic key system that is an acceleration detection unit that detects an acceleration applied to the electronic key in accordance with a walking of a user who possesses the electronic key.
According to this structure, a control apparatus judges a user's operation | movement based on the presence or absence of the acceleration according to the user's walk detected through an acceleration detection part. For example, when the user is moving forward or backward, the acceleration corresponding to the forward or backward movement is detected through the acceleration detector, and when the user is stationary, the acceleration detected through the acceleration detector is zero. Approximate.

(C) An electronic key system in which the control target is a slide door device, and the control of the control target is control related to opening of the slide door.
According to this configuration, even if the user's hands are covered with luggage, the user can get on smoothly.

  (D) The electronic key system in which the control device does not execute the control of the control target when the stationary time of the user detected through the user motion detection unit is less than a lower limit time or exceeds an upper limit time.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Electronic key, 11 ... Electronic key control part, 16 ... Unlock switch, 17 ... Lock switch, 18 ... Acceleration sensor, 20 ... In-vehicle apparatus, 21 ... In-vehicle control part, 32 ... Door switch, 33 ... Door control apparatus, 34 ... slide door device, 34a ... slide door, 36 ... hazard lamp.

Claims (2)

An electronic key that wirelessly transmits a response signal when receiving a request signal,
A control device that transmits the request signal and permits the control of the control target when the response signal is received;
A user operation detection unit that detects an operation of a user who possesses the electronic key,
The control device is configured to control the control target when there is a series of operations including midway stationary as a specific operation after the user is stationary for a minimum time or more and a maximum time or less through the user motion detection unit. Electronic key system that performs control. The electronic key system according to claim 1.
The upper limit time is an electronic key system in which the upper limit time is set based on a time during which the user is expected to be stationary with the intention of controlling the control target.