JPH0335014Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an electronic locking/unlocking device for a vehicle.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, when locking or unlocking a door or trunk provided in a vehicle such as an automobile, a key is inserted into a keyhole provided in the door, trunk, or the vicinity thereof, and the key is turned. It was common for locks to be locked and unlocked by rotating a key cylinder. However, there was a problem in that the doors, trunk, etc. could not be locked or unlocked if the driver forgot to carry the key with him or her, so various keyless entry systems have been proposed. For example, the proposal published in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 58-145961 is one of them.

This type of electronic locking/unlocking device for vehicles is installed inside the vehicle by inserting a magnetic card storing coded information for unlocking the vehicle door into a card insertion part provided in the vehicle door. A magnetic recording/reading device reads the coded information, and when the information matches the coded information registered in advance, it is output to the drive device to unlock the door.

By the way, in the case of the conventional electronic vehicle lock/unlock device configured as described above, the card that stores coded information for unlocking the vehicle door is of the magnetic card type, so the driver cannot use the magnetic card. There was a problem in that it was cumbersome because the driver's license and driver's license had to be carried and managed separately. Therefore, it has been considered to integrate a paper sheet such as a driver's license into a magnetic card, but this poses another problem in that the driver's license must be specially processed.

[Purpose] Therefore, the present invention is intended to improve the problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to make it possible to unlock the lock simply by using the driver's license without requiring any special processing on the driver's license. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic locking/unlocking device for a vehicle that is possible and also preferable in terms of the appearance quality of the outside handle area.

[Configuration] In the present invention to achieve the above purpose,
There is a card insertion part that opens in the form of a slit along the outside handle of the door and into which a driver's license can be inserted, and when the driver's license is inserted into the card insertion part, the license shown on the driver's license can be inserted. optical reading means for reading and outputting the identification number;
The detection signal output from the optical reading means is compared with a stored license number in order to identify whether the driver's license inserted into the insertion section is a driver's license of a specific individual. , a comparison and determination means that outputs an output when the detection signal matches the license number, and a drive means that at least unlocks the lock mechanism of the vehicle based on the output from the comparison and determination means.

[Operation] In the above configuration, when a driver's license is inserted into the card insertion section, the optical reading means reads the driver's license number and outputs it to the comparison and determination means. When the detection signal is output from the optical reading means, the comparison determination means compares the signal with a driver's license number of a specific individual stored in advance, and determines that the detection signal and the license number match. When the vehicle is locked, it is output to the drive means to at least unlock the lock mechanism of the vehicle. Further, since the card insertion portion has a slit-like opening along the outside handle, there is no risk of deteriorating the appearance quality. Moreover, you will have the advantage of not having to violate the obligation of not carrying your driver's license.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 to 5, the same reference numerals indicate the same parts.

1 and 2 illustrate an electronic locking/unlocking device for a vehicle according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference number 1 is a door, and the door 1 is composed of a sash 3, a window glass 5, an outer panel 7, and an inner panel 9. An outside handle 11 is provided on the outer panel 7 near the window glass 5, and a card insertion portion 13 is opened in the form of a slit just below the outside handle 11 as shown in the figure. An optical reading device 15 faces the card insertion section 13 . The optical reading device 15 includes a lens, a semiconductor image sensor, a signal processing circuit that performs predetermined signal processing on a detection signal from the sensor, and outputs the resultant signal. FIG. 2 shows the relationship among the optical reading device 15, comparison/judgment device 17, and locking/unlocking actuator 19 described above.

The comparison/judgment device 17 includes a comparison/judgment circuit 21 and a memory circuit 23. The comparison/judgment circuit 21 is composed of an electronic circuit control device such as a CPU, and performs arithmetic and logical operations and comparison operations. The input information to the comparison/judgment circuit 21 is input to the card insertion section 1.
The optical reading device 15 reads and outputs the display contents of the card 25 inserted into the card 3. When the comparison/judgment circuit 21 receives the detection signal from the optical reading device 15, it reads out the driver's license number data stored in the memory circuit 23 and compares it with the detection signal. A drive command signal is output to the lock/unlock actuator 19. The locking/unlocking actuator 19 is connected to the locking mechanism 27,
When a drive command signal is output from the comparison/judgment circuit 21, the lock mechanism 27 is operated to the unlocking side. For example, the driver's license number of the vehicle owner is stored in the memory circuit 23 as data.

The operation of the above configuration will be explained below.

When a driver or the like inserts his or her driver's license, shown as a card 25, into the card insertion section 13 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. It is output to the comparison/judgment circuit 21. Immediately upon receiving the detection signal from the optical reader 15, the comparison/judgment circuit 21 reads out the driver's license number data stored in the memory circuit 23 and compares it with the detection signal. As a result of the comparison, when it is recognized that the detection signal and the license number match, the comparison/judgment circuit 21 outputs a drive command signal to the locking/unlocking actuator 19 to operate the locking mechanism 27 toward the unlocking side. However, for example, if a third person other than the driver
Even if a person inserts his or her driver's license or another card into the card insertion section 13, the comparison judgment circuit 21
compares the detection signal output from the optical reading device 15 with the data stored in the memory circuit 23 and determines that the two do not match, so the comparison/judgment circuit 21 drives the locking/unlocking actuator 19. No command signal is output.
Therefore, it is not only possible to unlock the vehicle with just a driver's license, but it is also useful in preventing vehicle theft.

3 and 4 illustrate an electronic locking/unlocking device for a vehicle according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, in addition to the unlocking operation provided by the function of the first embodiment, a locking operation can also be performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the rod portion 31 of the lock knob 29 is provided with a protrusion 33, and when the protrusion 33 descends during locking, it contacts the microswitch 35 to close the contact. The point that the sensor was set up as a sensor,
As shown in FIG. 4, a logic circuit 37 connected to the sensor is provided. The logic circuit 37 includes an AND element 39, an AND element 41, and an inverter element 43, as shown in FIG.

In the above configuration, when the driver inserts his/her driver's license into the card insertion section 13, the optical reader 15 outputs an output to the comparison/judgment circuit 21, and the comparison/judgment circuit 21 sends an "H" level signal to the logic circuit 37. Output. If the lock mechanism 27 is in the unlocked state, the contact of the micro switch 35 is open as shown in FIG. An "H" level signal is outputted to one input terminal via the inverter element 43, respectively. In such a state, the comparison judgment circuit 21 outputs “H”.
When the level signal is output, the AND element 41 performs a logical product of the "H" level signal and the "H" level signal outputted from the inverter element 43 and outputs the "H" level signal. The locking side of the lock mechanism 27 is driven to the locking side.

If the lock mechanism 27 mentioned above is in the locked state, the contact of the micro switch 35 is closed, so
When the comparison judgment circuit 21 outputs an "H" level signal, the AND element 39 outputs an "H" level signal, the unlocking side of the actuator 19 is driven, and the locking mechanism 27 operates "to the unlocking side". becomes.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a means for detecting the locked/unlocked state of the vehicle, such as the micro switch 35, and a logic circuit 37 are added to the first embodiment, so that the effects of the first embodiment are obtained. In addition, when the driver leaves the vehicle, the driver can lock the vehicle by simply inserting his or her driver's license into the card insertion portion 13.

FIG. 5 illustrates a vehicle electronic locking/unlocking device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that in this embodiment, for example, when the optical reading device 15 reads the driver's license number from the forward direction, it reads the driver's license number from the locking side of the actuator 19, and from the reverse direction. In addition to the driver's license number data, data for determining locking/unlocking is stored in the memory circuit 23 so that a drive command signal is sometimes output from the comparison determination circuit 21 to the unlocking side of the actuator 19. It is in.

By configuring as above, for example, the fifth
When the driver's license is inserted from the direction of arrow A shown in the figure, that is, the forward direction, the locking mechanism 27 operates to the locking side, while when the driver's license is inserted from the direction of arrow B, that is, the opposite direction, the locking mechanism 27 is unlocked. Since the lock operates in both directions, the lock can be locked and unlocked simply by changing the direction in which the driver's license is inserted.

The content explained above relates to the embodiment according to the present invention, and does not mean that the present invention is limited to the above-mentioned content only. For example, if a card insertion part is provided in the ignition key part inside the vehicle, An actuator for operating the steering lock may be driven by inserting a driver's license into the insertion portion. It is also possible to activate an actuator (for example, a relay) that locks energization to the starter that starts the engine. Furthermore, in the above cases, the code for the permission type (large car, regular car, etc.) written on the driver's license is read to determine whether or not the license permits driving of the vehicle. The present invention also includes a device in which the locking/unlocking state can be freely set by activating/deactivating the actuator.

[Effects] As explained above, according to the present invention, the lock mechanism of the vehicle is at least unlocked when the license number entered on the driver's license matches the stored license number. Therefore, it is possible to provide an electronic locking/unlocking device for a vehicle that does not require any special processing on the driver's license and can be locked and unlocked simply by using the driver's license. In addition, it is possible to prevent the driver's license from being carried, and since the card insertion portion is opened in the form of a slit, the appearance of the outside handle area is not spoiled, which is very desirable in terms of appearance quality.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a door according to a first embodiment of the present invention as seen from the outside of the vehicle, and FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of an electronic locking/unlocking device for a vehicle according to the first and third embodiments of the present invention. , FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of the locking mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram of the electronic locking/unlocking device for a vehicle according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. This figure is a perspective view of a door according to a third embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the outside of the vehicle. 13... Card insertion section, 15... Optical reading device (means), 17... Comparison and determination device (means), 1
9... Locking/unlocking actuator (driving means), 21... Comparison/judgment circuit, 23... Memory circuit, 25... Card, 27... Lock mechanism, 35
...Micro switch, 37...Logic circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] There is a card insertion part that opens in the form of a slit along the outside handle of the door and into which a driver's license can be inserted, and when the driver's license is inserted into the card insertion part, the license shown on the driver's license can be inserted. an optical reading means for reading and outputting a driver's license number, and a detection signal output from the optical reading means for identifying whether or not the driver's license inserted into the insertion portion is a driver's license of a specific individual. Comparison/judgment means that compares the stored license number with the license number and outputs when the detection signal matches the license number; and at least unlocks the lock mechanism of the vehicle based on the output from the comparison/judgment means. An electronic locking/unlocking device for a vehicle, comprising a driving means.