JPH0438247A - Keyless entry system for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the storage operation of a registered code as well as to reduce the cost of production in dispensing with superfluous parts for register operation by constituting the storage of the registered code to a memory circuit so as to be performed by utilizing the existing automotive switch. CONSTITUTION:A door locking mechanism 1 utilizes a d.c. motor 1a as an actuator for both unlocking and locking applications, while it uses two relays 4, 5 for a drive circuit 3 for feeding the motor 1a with a current out of a car- mounted battery 2. A receiver 6 for selectively operating these relays 4, 5 is connected so as to be given power from the battery 2, thereby receiving a radio signal being transmitted out of a portable transmitter 7 through an antenna 6a. In the above system, the receiver 6 is selected to a registered code when another existing automotive switch 9 is turned on or off at the specified mode in use of an ignition switch 8. With the registered code, a discriminating code being contained in a receiving signal is stored in a memory circuit 6b as the registered code.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention is a method for unlocking or locking a car lock mechanism installed in a door, trunk, etc. using an airborne signal from a portable transmitter. This article relates to a keyless entry system for automobiles.

(Prior Art) A keyless entry system for unlocking and locking a door, for example, basically uses a portable transmitter for transmitting an airborne signal, such as a radio wave signal, containing a unique identification code. , and a receiving device that receives the radio signal and unlocks and locks the door lock mechanism. In this case, the receiving device is installed on the vehicle side so that it can drive the actuator for the door lock mechanism, and each time it receives a new radio wave signal from the portable transmitter, it reads the identification code contained in the received signal. The door lock mechanism is configured to compare the registration code stored in advance in the storage circuit, and when the two match, to alternately unlock and lock the door lock mechanism.

In this case, it is necessary to match the registration code stored in the storage circuit on the receiving device side with the identification code set on the portable transmitter side.
In order to have a lockable configuration or to deal with the loss of the transmitter, the registration code on the receiving device side needs to be configured so that it can be added or changed. Conventionally, in order to easily meet such demands, the storage circuit is configured with an EEFROM, and the receiver is provided with a registration mode changeover switch, and when this changeover switch is in the ON state, the radio wave signal from the transmitter is not transmitted. EEPRO uses the identification code included in the radio signal when it is received as the registration mode.
Efforts are being made to provide M with a storage function.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) This type of keyless entry system generally has
It is set as optional equipment and is often retrofitted to cars. In this case, since the receiving device is usually installed in a dead space of the automobile, such as under the seat, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to operate the registration mode changeover switch. However,
When installing a registration mode changeover switch on a dash board, etc., an extra wire harness is required to route the changeover switch, which, together with the need for the registration mode changeover switch, increases costs. There is a problem that can lead to this.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to easily store a registration code necessary for unlocking or locking an automobile door lock mechanism, and also to change the registration code. To provide a keyless entry system for an automobile, which eliminates the need for extra parts, thereby reducing costs.

[Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems)] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a portable transmitter that transmits an airborne signal including a unique identification code, and a portable transmitter that transmits an airborne signal containing a unique identification code, and In a keyless entry system for an automobile, the system includes a receiving device that unlocks or locks a locking mechanism for an automobile when an identification code matches a registration code stored in advance in a storage circuit, wherein the receiving device is used when an ignition key is used. When another existing automobile switch is turned on or off in a predetermined mode in the state, the system switches to the registration mode, and when the air propagation signal is received in this registration mode, the identification code included in the received signal is stored in the storage circuit. This is configured to be stored as a registration code.

(Function) When another existing automobile switch is turned on or off in a predetermined mode while using the ignition key, the receiving device is switched to the registration mode. When an air propagation signal is transmitted from the transmitter in this state, the receiving device that receives the air propagation signal stores the identification code included in the received signal in the storage circuit as a registration code. The circuit stores a registration code that matches the identification code set on the portable transmitter side. in this case,
Switching to the registration mode as described above is performed using an existing automobile switch, so there is no need to memorize the registration code, and there is no need for extra wire harnesses and switches. It will be possible to control costs.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, a door lock mechanism 1 provided on the driver's side door of an automobile uses a DC motor 1a as an actuator for unlocking and locking.
The device is configured to perform an unlocking operation when a current in the direction of the arrow A is supplied to the device, and perform a locking operation when a current in the direction opposite to the arrow A is supplied to the device. In-vehicle battery 2 to motor 1a
The drive circuit 3 for supplying current from the motor 1a uses two relays 4.5, and when the first relay 4 is operated, a current flows in the direction of arrow A to the motor 1a, and the second
The relay 5 is connected so as to cause a current to flow in the opposite direction of arrow A to the motor 1a when the relay 5 is operated.

The receiving device 6 for selectively operating the relays 4 and 5 is connected to receive power from the vehicle battery 2, and receives the radio signal Sv transmitted from the portable transmitter 7 through the antenna 6a. It is configured to receive. The ignition switch 8, which is an existing automobile switch operated by an ignition key (not shown), is
It is interposed between the positive terminal of the battery 2 and the receiving device 6, and is configured to generate an on-signal Sa and provide it to the receiving device 6 in the on state. A courtesy switch 9, which is an existing automobile switch that is turned on when the driver's side door is opened, is interposed between the ground terminal and the receiving device 6, and generates and receives an on signal sb in its on state. The device 6 is configured to provide the same.

The portable transmitter 7 is configured in a shape that can be easily carried by a car driver, and transmits a radio wave signal containing a unique identification code UC each time a transmission switch 7a provided on its surface is turned on. Sv transmission operation is performed.

Now, the receiving device 6 is configured to include a microcomputer, and in particular includes an EEPROM 6b which is a storage circuit for storing the registration code RC. The unlocking and locking operations shown in the figure are executed.

That is, when receiving the radio signal Sv, it is determined whether the identification code UC included in the radio signal Sv matches the registration code RC stored in the EEPROM 6b. When the two codes UC and RC do not match, the process returns to the initial step, but when they match, the lock flag F
is set (F-1 or not), and if the lock flag F is set (when the lock mechanism 1 is in the locked state as will be understood from below), the first After operating the relay 4 for a certain period of time, a lock flag F is set, and then the process returns to the initial step. As a result, motor 1a
Current in the direction of arrow A will flow for a certain period of time,
As a result, the locking mechanism 1 is unlocked.

Further, if the lock flag F is not set when the identification code UC and the registration code RC match (that is, the lock mechanism 1 is in the unlocked state), the second relay 5 is operated for a certain period of time. Afterwards, the lock flag F is lowered and the process returns to the initial step. As a result, motor 1a
A current flows in the opposite direction of the arrow for a certain period of time, and the locking mechanism 1 is thereby locked.

Further, the receiving device 6 is configured to execute a registration mode configured by an interrupt program as shown in FIG.

That is, in steps 81 to S7 in FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not the input of the on signal Sa is stopped within 10 seconds after the input of the on signal Sa, in other words, whether the ignition switch 8 is turned off within 10 seconds after being turned on once. It performs an operation to determine whether or not an on/off operation has been performed. Incidentally, in step S6, an on flag QF is set to prevent the above steps 81 to S7 from being re-executed.

When the ignition switch 8 is turned on and off in a predetermined mode as described above (“YE
sJ), step S8 is executed to lower the on flag QF so that steps 81 to S7 can be executed again.

Next, the number of inputs of the ON signal sb within a certain time Tl is counted, and the counting result ΔN is, for example, "6".
It is determined whether or not the above has been reached (routine S9. Step SIO, 5ll). If the above counting result ΔN is less than "6", the process returns to step S1, but if it is more than "6", in other words, the curtain switch 9 has been turned on and off by opening and closing the driver's side door six or more times. If you are
It is determined whether or not the radio signal Sv has been received within a certain period of time T2 (step S12, 813). At this time, if the radio signal Sv is not received, the program returns to the main program, but if the radio signal Sv is received, the identification code UC included in the received radio signal is stored in the EEPROM6.
b as the registration code RC, step A14),
After this, the door locking mechanism 1 is unlocked or locked, and the routine A15) returns to the main program.

In short, in the receiving device 6, the ignition switch 8 is turned on once and then turned off within 10 seconds, followed by the on-off operation of the courtesy switch 9 by opening and closing the driver's side door six or more times. In this case, the mode is switched to a registration mode that allows storage of the registration code RC in the EEFROM 6b for a predetermined time T2, and the radio signal Sv is transmitted from the transmitter 7 while the mode is switched to the registration mode. Sometimes, the identification code UC included in the radio signal Sv is stored in the EEPROM6b.
It is stored as a registration code RC. Further, at this time, the unlocking operation of the door lock mechanism 1 is performed simultaneously with the locking operation, thereby informing that the registration code RC has been stored.

Therefore, according to the configuration of this embodiment described above, switching to the registration mode for storing the registration code RC in the EEPROM 6b is performed using the existing ignition switch 8 and courtesy switch 9, which is different from the conventional configuration. Thus, there is no possibility that the storage operation of the registration code RC will be difficult or that extra wire harnesses and switches will be required, resulting in high costs. Furthermore, when the registration code RC has been memorized, a notification to that effect is given by the operation of the door lock mechanism 1, so there is no need to provide an extra notification device, and from this point of view as well, costs can be reduced. . Of course, since switching to the registration mode is possible only by using the ignition key, there is no risk of degrading security.

In the above embodiment, only one type of radio wave signal Sv is transmitted from the portable transmitter 7, but the transmitter 7 is provided with a transmission switch for unlocking and a transmission switch for locking. In response to each ON operation of the switch, a radio signal including an unlocking identification code and a radio signal including a locking identification code are respectively transmitted, and the receiving device 7 side transmits a radio signal to each of the above radio signals. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the corresponding unlocking operation and locking operation are selectively executed. In addition, the ignition switch 8 was used as the existing automobile switch, but instead of this, the ACC
A switch may also be used.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and various modifications may be made without departing from the gist thereof, for example, infrared rays or ultrasonic waves may be used as the air propagation signal from the transmitter. It is possible to do so.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, as is clear from the above description, an identification code included in an air propagation signal transmitted from a portable transmitter to a receiving device on the car body side and a memory possessed by the receiving device In an automobile keyless entry system that unlocks or locks an automobile locking mechanism when a registration code stored in advance in a circuit matches, the registration code is stored in the memory circuit using an existing automobile switch. Since the configuration is configured to perform the registration using the above, it is possible to easily store the registration code, and there is no need for extra parts for the registration operation, resulting in an excellent effect of reducing costs. It is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an electric circuit diagram, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts showing control details of the receiving device. In the figure, 1 is a door lock mechanism, 3 is a drive circuit, 6 is a receiver, 6b is an EEPROM, 7 is a portable transmitter, 8 is an ignition switch (switch for existing cars), and 9 is a courtesy switch (switch for existing cars). ) is shown.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A portable transmitter that transmits an air propagation signal containing a unique identification code, and a portable transmitter installed on the car body side to receive the air propagation signal, and the identification code in the received signal is stored in advance in a storage circuit. and a receiving device that unlocks or locks the automobile lock mechanism when the ignition key matches the registration code, and the receiving device is configured such that when the ignition key is used, other existing automobile switches are set to a predetermined mode. It is configured to switch to a registration mode when turned on and off in the registration mode, and to store an identification code included in the received signal in the storage circuit as a registration code when the air propagation signal is received in this registration mode. A keyless entry system for automobiles that features: