JPH09209624A - Key device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a key device capable of improving portability, securing strength during key operation and having a car thievery preventing function. SOLUTION: This key device has a transponder chip 4 embedded in a plate- like card case 2 made of a synthetic resin. A card key 1 is constituted by attaching a key plate 3 for starting an engine placed in a card case 2. When an inserting portion 3b of the key plate 3 is inserted into a key inserting hole 6a of a steering lock 6, the engine is able to start only when predetermined information from the chip 4 is detected through antenna installed at the side of steering lock 6. When the key plate 3 is not being used, the key plate 3 is fitted in a plate-like card case 2. When the key plate 3 is being used, a holding portion 2b is formed, which projects out an inserting portion 3b of the key plate 3 from a card case 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key device having a function of preventing an illegitimate start of a predetermined device including a power source such as an engine or a motor mounted on a vehicle or a ship.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For conventional vehicles of this kind,
For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-6815 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-151
There is one such as that described in Japanese Patent No. 41.

[0003]

However, in the former case, it is easy to hold and store the key plate by holding the key plate in the card-shaped holder, but the key plate is stolen due to unauthorized unlocking. There is a risk of meeting. Also,
In the latter case, the head of the key plate is provided with an information generating means such as a key coil, and since it is necessary to secure the strength at the time of key operation on this head, it becomes thick and therefore portable. There is a problem of lacking.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a key device which has a function for preventing unauthorized start, can secure the strength at the time of key operation, and can improve portability.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is such that the information generating portion is embedded in a plate-shaped card case made of synthetic resin, and a predetermined device is installed in the card case. A key plate for starting is mounted to form a card key, and the insertion portion of the key plate is inserted into the key insertion hole of the lock, and the information detection unit provided on the lock side causes the information generation unit to Is a key device that enables the predetermined device to be started only when predetermined information is detected, and the key plate is fitted to the card case when the key plate is not in use. The key device has a holding portion that is housed in the card case and can hold the insertion portion of the key plate by protruding from the card case when the key plate is used. .

According to this structure, when the key plate is not used, the key plate is fitted into the holding portion and the key plate is housed in the card case.

On the other hand, when using the key plate,
The orientation of the key plate is changed, and the insertion portion of the key plate is held by the holding portion so as to project from the edge portion of the card case. From this state, the insertion portion is inserted into the key insertion hole of the lock. Then, the predetermined information from the information generation unit provided in the card case is detected by the information detection unit provided on the lock side, so that the key plate can be rotated to start the predetermined device. it can. This prevents the vehicle from being stolen due to unauthorized unlocking. In this case, since the insertion part of the key plate attached to the card case is inserted into the key insertion hole,
Since the distance between the information detector and the information generator is always kept constant, stable communication performance can be secured.

By thus embedding the information generating portion in a card case which is separate from the key plate, the force when the key plate is rotated on the card case does not act, so that the information on the card case itself is stored. It can be thinned to almost the same thickness as the generation part, and when the key plate is held in this card case, this key plate will fit within the thickness of the card case, so it can be made thinner than conventional ones, and it can be carried. The property is improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the first aspect, the holding portion is formed with a first fitting portion into which the head portion of the key plate is fitted, A second fitting portion, into which the insertion portion of the key plate is fitted when the key plate is not used, is formed continuously with the first fitting portion, and when the key plate is used, the second fitting portion is formed. A third fitting portion to which the base side of the insertion portion is fitted is formed continuously with the first fitting portion and on the opposite side to the second fitting portion up to the edge portion of the card case. .

According to this structure, first, when the key plate is not used, the head of the key plate is the first fitting part of the card case, and the insertion part of the key plate is the second fitting part of the card case. Fit and hold. As a result, the key plate is stored in the card case.

On the other hand, when using the key plate,
The orientation of the key plate is changed, the base side of the insertion portion of the key plate is fitted into the third fitting portion of the card case, and the other portion of the insertion portion is projected from the edge portion of the card case.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the information generating section is embedded near the first fitting section and near the peripheral edge of the card case. It is characterized by that.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure according to the third aspect, one side edge of the head portion of the key plate that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the key plate is formed so as to project from the other side edge. , The first fitting portion is formed in a state in which one side edge of the first fitting portion projects according to the shape of the head portion, and the information generating portion is located near the other side edge of the first fitting portion. It is characterized by being buried.

The invention described in claim 5 is characterized in that, in addition to the configuration described in claims 1 to 4, the predetermined device is a power source such as an engine or a motor.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the card case is provided with the information generating section and the lock side is provided with the information detecting section, and the key plate is attached to the card case. Since it is configured to start the device, it is possible to prevent the illegal start of the predetermined device due to the unauthorized unlocking, and because the distance between the information detection unit and the information generation unit is always kept constant, stable communication performance is achieved. Can be secured.

By embedding the information generating portion in the card case instead of the key plate to which a load is applied when the key is operated, the key plate itself can secure its strength even if it is thin, and the card case itself has such a high strength. Since there is no need to secure it, it is not necessary to make the card case so thick even if the information generating part is embedded, so it is possible to make it thinner while holding the key plate in the card case, improving portability Can be made.

According to the invention described in claim 2, according to claim 1
In addition to the effect described in, the head of the key plate is fitted to the first fitting portion of the holding portion of the card case when the key plate is not used or when it is used. The shape of the holding portion can be simplified.

According to the invention described in claim 3, according to claim 2,
In addition to the effect described in (1), the information detection unit and the information generation unit can be made close to each other and can always be kept at a constant distance, so that stable communication performance can be secured.

According to the invention of claim 4, claim 3
In addition to the effect described in (1), since the information generating portion is formed by the central portion of the card case, the peripheral portion of the card case can be formed thinner without increasing the size of the card case itself, which further improves portability.

According to the invention of claim 5, claim 1
In addition to the effects described in 4 to 4, it is possible to prevent the power source, which is a predetermined device, from being illegally started, and thus it is possible to prevent the device equipped with the power source from being illegally used or stolen.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the structure will be described. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a card key, and this card key 1 is constructed by detachably mounting a metal key plate 3 on a card case 2 made of synthetic resin. .

The key plate 3 which is detachably attached to the card case 2 is inserted into a "lock" described later.
It has a so-called keyed insert 3b and an enlarged head 3a operable after the "lock" has been inserted.
One side edge side extending from a to the root side of the insertion portion 3b is formed in a substantially straight line shape, and the other side edge side of the head portion 3a opposite to the one side edge is formed to project.

The card case 2 has a rectangular thin plate shape. When the key plate 3 is not used, the key plate 3 is fitted into the card case 2 and is housed in the card case 2 in a flat plate shape. When using, the holding portion 2b that can hold the insertion portion 3b of the key plate 3 by projecting from the card case 2 is formed.

Further, in the holding portion 2b of the card case 2, the concave portion 2c as the "first fitting portion" into which the head portion 3a of the key plate 3 is fitted is projected on one side corresponding to the shape of the head portion 3a. And an opening 2d as a "second fitting portion" which is formed so as to be fitted with the insertion portion 3b of the key plate 3
Is continuously formed so that the concave portion 2c and one side edge side are continuous in a substantially straight line. Furthermore, this card case 2
Also, the groove 2e as a "third fitting portion" is continuous with the concave portion 2c so that one side edge side is substantially linearly continuous, and the groove portion 2e as the "third fitting portion" is extended to the left end edge portion 2a on the side opposite to the opening portion 2d. When the key plate 3 is formed to be shallower, as shown in FIG. 5, the root side of the insertion portion 3b of the key plate 3 is held in the groove portion 2e, and the other portion of the insertion portion 3b is separated from the card case 2. It can be projected and held.

The card case 2 includes an "information generating section".
The transponder chip 4 as a part of the peripheral edge of the card case 2 in FIG. 1A is near the left side edge 2a and near the recess 2c, more specifically, one side edge of the recess 2c described above. It is buried near the. The transponder chip 4 has an ID code built therein in order to generate predetermined information.

On the other hand, reference numeral 6 in FIG. 5 is a steering lock as a "lock", and this steering lock 6 has:
An antenna 7 is provided as an “information detector” that detects predetermined information from the transponder chip 4.
By detecting predetermined information with the antenna 7, an engine drive permission signal is output to the engine as a predetermined device.

The card device 1 and the steering lock 6 constitute a key device 9.

Next, the operation will be described.

First, when the key plate 3 is not used, as shown in FIG. 1, the head portion 3a of the key plate 3 is placed in the recess 2c of the card case 2 and the insertion portion 3b of the key plate 3 is used.
Is fitted and held in the opening 2d of the card case 2. As a result, the key plate 3 is housed in the card case 2.

On the other hand, when the key plate 3 is used, the direction of the key plate 3 is changed by 180 degrees, the groove side 2e of the card case 2 is fitted to the root side of the insertion portion 3b of the key plate 3, and the insertion portion 3b is inserted. The other part is projected from the left end edge 2a of the card case 2.

From this state, the insertion portion 3b is inserted into the key insertion hole 6a of the steering lock 6 as shown in FIG. Then, the transponder chip 4 provided in the card case 2 is detected by the antenna 7 provided in the steering lock 6, and an engine drive permission signal is output, and the key plate 3 is rotated to start the engine or the like. It can be carried out. In this case, card case 2
Since the insertion portion 3b of the key plate 3 attached to the key insertion hole 6a is inserted into the key insertion hole 6a, the distance between the antenna 7 and the transponder chip 4 can be made close to each other and the distance can be always kept constant. It is possible to secure stable communication performance.

By thus embedding the transponder chip 4 in the card case 2 which is separate from the key plate 3, when the key plate is rotated, as compared with the case where the transponder chip is joined to the metal key plate. Since it is not necessary to consider the bonding strength between the additional transponder chip 4 and the key plate 3, the card case 2 itself can be thinned to the same thickness as the transponder chip 4.
Further, when the key plate 3 is held in the card case 2, the key plate 3 is accommodated within the thickness of the card case 2, so that the key plate 3 can be made thinner than the conventional one and the portability is improved.

Further, since the transponder chip 4 is embedded in the vicinity of the opposite side of the concave portion 2c having one side protruding, the card case 2 itself can be made larger than that having the concave portion protruding on both sides, and the transponder chip 4 is thick. The peripheral portion of the card case can be made even thinner because it depends on the required central portion.

Further, the head 3a of the key plate 3 is fitted into the recess 2c of the holding portion 2b of the card case 2 when the key plate 3 is not used or when it is used. The shape of the holding portion 2b can be simplified.

Since the central portion of the entire card case 2 of the groove 2e is thin due to the formation of the recess 2c and the opening 2d, the groove 2e is provided to ensure the strength of the card case 2.
Although it is formed shallower than c, if a material that can ensure strength (for example, a material of the card case itself or a reinforcing core material is put in the portion) can be adopted, even a groove having the same depth as the recess 2c can be used. Good.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are views showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a front view of a state where a key plate is not used, and FIG. 1B is a left side view of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the card case with the key plate removed, showing the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, showing the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 1, showing the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a use state of the key plate according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a left side view of FIG. 5 showing the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 card key 2 card case 2a left edge 2b holding part 2c recess (first fitting part) 2d opening (second fitting part) 2e groove (third fitting part) 3 key plate 3a head part 3b insertion 4 Transponder chip (information generator) 6 Steering lock (lock) 6a Key insertion hole 7 Antenna (information detector) 9 Key device

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An information generating section is embedded in a synthetic resin plate-shaped card case, and a key plate for starting a predetermined device is attached to the card case to form a card key.
The insertion part of the key plate is inserted into the key insertion hole of the lock, and the predetermined device is started only when the predetermined information from the information generation part is detected by the information detection part provided on the lock side. In the key device, the key case is fitted into the card case when the key plate is not used, and is housed in the plate-shaped card case. A key device, wherein a holding portion is formed that can hold the insertion portion of the key plate by protruding from the card case. 2. The holding portion is formed with a first fitting portion into which the head portion of the key plate is fitted, and the insertion portion of the key plate is fitted into the holding portion when the key plate is not used. A second fitting portion that is continuous with the first fitting portion, and further, when the key plate is used, a third fitting portion to which the base side of the key plate insertion portion is fitted is the first fitting portion.
2. The card case is formed so as to be continuous with the fitting portion and opposite to the second fitting portion up to the edge portion of the card case.
The described key device. 3. The key device according to claim 2, wherein the information generating section is embedded near the first fitting section and near the peripheral edge of the card case. 4. One side edge of the head of the key plate, which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the key plate, is formed so as to project from the other side of the head, and the first fitting portion is formed on one side according to the shape of the head. 4. The key device according to claim 3, wherein the side edge is formed in a protruding state, and the information generating section is embedded in the vicinity of the other side edge of the first fitting section. 5. The key device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the predetermined device is a power source such as an engine or a motor.