JPH1018657A - Key system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically charge an electric source device of a lighting device equipped in a key system by means of a simple structure and automatically finish the charging without useless electricity. SOLUTION: Electric power is wirelessly transmitted from a feeding device 5 of a lock unit 3 to a charging device 16 of a key unit 2 to charge an electric source device 15, in a condition that the key unit 2 is inserted in the lock unit 3. The luminous condition of an emitting element 12 for lighting varies on the basis of the completion-information means 17 according to the completion of charging. Hence, in this lock unit 3, when the completion of charging is detected by the detection output of a light-receiving element 32, electric power output through the feeding device 5 is suspended. Accordingly, the electric source device is automatically charged and the charging is automatically stopped at an appropriate condition. Hence, an exclusive device informing of the completion of charging is not required in the key unit 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key system for an automobile or the like in which a lock unit is locked and unlocked by a key unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, a key system provided in an automobile or the like includes, for example, a key unit carried by a user,
It is formed by a lock unit provided on a door or a handle of an automobile. In a general key system, a lock unit is formed of a cylinder lock, and a key portion of the key unit is inserted into a keyhole of the key unit, and the key portion rotates the cylinder portion to perform locking and unlocking.

However, it is difficult to insert the key portion of the key unit into the key hole of the lock unit in a dark place. For example, in an automobile, the key unit may damage the exterior of the door. In order to solve this, there is a key system in which a lighting unit is integrally provided with the key unit so that a keyhole of the lock unit can be illuminated.

[0004]

In the above-described key system, the key unit of the key unit can be easily inserted into the key hole of the lock unit even in a dark place because the keyhole of the lock unit can be illuminated by the illumination device of the key unit. be able to.

However, in such a key system, it is necessary to provide a power supply for turning on the lighting device in the key unit. For this reason, there is a product in which a button battery is exchangeably loaded in the grip portion of the key unit. However, in this case, the replacement operation of the button battery is complicated, and the lighting device may not be turned on when necessary.

To solve this problem, there is a key system in which the power supply of the key unit is of a charging type, and the power supply is charged by the lock unit. In this key system, the key unit and the lock unit are provided with contacts that are connected with the key part inserted into the keyhole, and power is supplied from the lock unit to the key unit via these contacts. However, in this case, if the contacts are soiled or the like, contact failure occurs and charging is not performed satisfactorily. If a metal or the like contacts the contacts of the key unit, the power of the power supply device is discharged.

[0007]

A key system having a separate lock unit and a key unit, wherein a key portion of the key unit is inserted into a keyhole of the lock unit to perform unlocking and locking. The key unit is a light emitting element, a power supply for supplying power to the light emitting element, a manual switch for turning on and off the power supply, a charging device for charging the power supply wirelessly input power from the lock unit, Completion detection means for detecting the completion of charging of the power supply device, and completion notification means for changing the lighting state of the light emitting element when the completion of charging is detected, wherein the lock unit has the key portion in the keyhole. A power supply device that wirelessly outputs power to the key unit in at least one of an inserted state and a state where the key unit is rotated to a predetermined position after being inserted, A light-receiving element for receiving a light beam emitted by the light-emitting element; charge detection means for detecting completion of charging of the power supply device from a detection output of the light-receiving element; and wireless output of power by the power supply apparatus when completion of charging is detected. And power supply control means for terminating the process. Therefore, when the manual switch of the key unit is turned on, power is supplied from the power supply device to the light emitting element, so that the lock unit and the like can be illuminated by turning on the light emitting element. When the power supply device of the lock unit wirelessly outputs power to the charging device of the key unit, the charging device charges the power supply device with the wirelessly input power. In this state, the light emitted from the light emitting element of the key unit is received by the light receiving element of the lock unit, and when the charging is completed, the completion notifying means of the key unit changes the lighting state of the light emitting element. Detects the completion of charging from the detection output of the light receiving element. When the completion of charging is detected in this way, the power supply control means terminates the wireless output of power by the power supply device, so that power is not supplied unnecessarily to the charged key unit.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the key system 1 of the present embodiment has a separate key unit 2 and a lock unit 3, and the lock unit 3 is unlocked and locked by the key unit 2. I do. The key unit 2 is provided as an ignition key of a vehicle, and is formed in a shape in which a metal key portion protrudes from a resin grip portion (not shown). The lock unit 3 is provided as an ignition switch of an automobile, and has a cylinder lock for turning on and off an engine and an electric system of the automobile at a plurality of rotation positions (not shown).

Since the key system 1 of the present embodiment is provided as a so-called immobilizer system, the key unit 2 is provided with a transponder 4 in a grip portion, and the lock unit 3 is also used as a power supply device. It has an immobilizer control unit 5 that functions. The immobilizer control unit 5 includes a power supply control circuit 6 and an RF (Radio-F
requency) circuit 7, a coil antenna 8,
These are connected in order. An engine ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 9 for controlling the operation of the vehicle engine is connected to the power supply control circuit 6 of the immobilizer control unit 5, and the vehicle battery (not shown) is connected to the engine ECU 9 via the engine ECU 9. It is connected to the power control circuit 6.

The power supply control circuit 6 of the immobilizer control section 5 and the transponder 4 of the key unit 2 have the same password set in advance. When the key portion of the key unit 2 is inserted into the keyhole of the lock unit 3, the power control circuit 6 detects this and supplies power to the RF circuit 7. The RF circuit 7 oscillates the supplied power to a high frequency and outputs the oscillated power to the coil antenna 8.
Wirelessly outputs electric power to the transponder 4 of FIG. When power is wirelessly input from the lock unit 3 by magnetic coupling, the transponder 4 operates by the power and operates the coil antenna 8 of the lock unit 3.
And wirelessly outputs a personal identification code by magnetic coupling. The security code input to the coil antenna 8 is stored in the RF circuit 7.
Is transmitted to the power supply control circuit 6, and the power supply control circuit 6 permits the operation of the engine ECU 9 when collating the password.

In the key system 1 of the present embodiment, an illuminating device 11 is also provided on the grip portion of the key unit 2, and the illuminating device 11 has an LED (Light) as a light emitting element.
Emitting Diode) 12. The LED 12 is connected to a secondary battery 15 as a power supply via a low resistance 13 and a manual switch 14.
5, a charging circuit 16 as a charging device and a lighting control circuit 17 as a completion notification unit are connected. The charging circuit 16 charges the secondary battery 15 with power wirelessly input from the lock unit 3, and controls the lighting control circuit 1
7, when the charging of the secondary battery 15 is completed, the LED
The lighting state of No. 12 is changed.

For this reason, the charging circuit 16 has a coil antenna 18, which is connected to the secondary battery 1 via a rectifier circuit 19 and a constant voltage circuit 20.
5 is connected. The coil antenna 18 is supplied with electric power from the coil antenna 8 of the lock unit 3 by magnetic coupling. The electric power is rectified by the rectifying circuit 19 and then is made constant by the constant voltage circuit 20 so that the secondary battery 15 is charged.

The lighting control circuit 17 is provided with the secondary battery 1
5, a voltage detection circuit 21 and a switching circuit 2
The switching circuit 22 is connected to the LED 12 via an oscillation circuit 23, a high resistance 24, and a diode 25. The oscillation circuit 23 oscillates the electric power of the secondary battery 15 at a predetermined cycle to
In this case, the LED 12 blinks at a constant cycle because the current is supplied to D12. The voltage detection circuit 21 detects the voltage of the secondary battery 15 being charged as completion detection means,
When this reaches a predetermined voltage, the switching circuit 2
2 turns off the connection between the secondary battery 15 and the oscillation circuit 23.

The lock unit 3 includes a charge control device 3
The charging control device 31 is connected to the immobilizer control unit 5. The charge control device 31
Has a photodiode 32, which is a light receiving element, and a charge detection circuit 33 which also serves as charge detection means and power supply control means.
It is connected to the. The LED 12 and the photodiode 32 are provided on the units 2 and 3 such that the key portion of the key unit 2 is inserted into the keyhole of the lock unit 3 and is turned to a predetermined position so as to face each other. The photodiode 32 is connected to the LE
The light emitted from D12 is received and photoelectrically converted.

The charge detection circuit 33 detects the completion of charging of the secondary battery 15 from the output signal of the photodiode 32, and terminates the wireless output of the power by the immobilizer control unit 5 upon detecting this. More specifically, the key unit 2 blinks the LED 12 at a fixed cycle until the charging of the secondary battery 15 is completed. When a predetermined time has elapsed, charging completion is detected. According to this detection, the charge detection circuit 33 outputs an end signal to the power supply control circuit 6 of the immobilizer control unit 5, so that the power supply control circuit 6 ends the power supply to the RF circuit 7 in response to the input of the end signal. I do.

That is, in the general immobilizer system, the wireless output of the power is terminated in response to the completion of the collation of the personal identification code. However, in the key system 1 of the present embodiment, the secondary battery 15 of the key unit 2 is used. Since the immobilizer control unit 5 functions as a power supply device to be charged, the power supply control circuit 6 is set so as to continue wireless output of power even after completion of code collation.

In such a configuration, in the key system 1 of the present embodiment, the lock unit 3 can be unlocked and locked by the key unit 2, and the immobilizer system is also provided, so that the lock unit 3 is unlocked by an illegal duplicate key. Can also be prevented.

That is, when the user inserts the key portion of the key unit 2 into the keyhole of the lock unit 3 to start the automobile, the power supply control circuit 6 which detects this inserts the RF circuit 7
, And the RF circuit 7 wirelessly outputs power from the coil antenna 8 by magnetism. Then, since power is wirelessly input to the transponder 4 of the key unit 2 by magnetism, the transponder 4 wirelessly outputs a preset password to the coil antenna 8 of the lock unit 3 by magnetic coupling. Since the security code wirelessly input to the coil antenna 8 is transmitted from the RF circuit 7 to the power control circuit 6, the power control circuit 6 permits the operation of the engine ECU 9 only when the security code can be verified.

Note that the key system 1 is unlocked and locked here by locking the key of the key unit 2 with the lock unit 3.
And turning the cylinder to a predetermined position. For example, in the case where the lock unit 3 is an ignition switch provided on a handle portion of an automobile as described above, the cylinder is located at a plurality of positions such as an off position, a power on position, a handle lock release position, a starter driving position, and the like. Even if the cylinder is turned to the power-on position without turning to the handle lock release position, this means that the lock unit 3 is unlocked.

Further, in the key system 1 of the present embodiment, since the illuminating device 11 is provided on the holding portion of the key unit 2, it is possible to illuminate the keyhole and the like of the lock unit 3 and to unlock at night. Can also be easily performed. In this case, when the user presses the manual switch 14 of the key unit 2, the rechargeable battery 15 and the LED 12 are electrically connected, and the LED 12 is turned on. In addition, this LED
Since the low resistance 13 is inserted between the power supply 12 and the secondary battery 15, the LED 12 emits light with high luminance suitable for illumination.

The power charged in the secondary battery 15 is consumed by the lighting of the LED 12, but since the secondary battery 15 is automatically charged during use of the automobile, the user can exchange or charge the battery. There is no need to work. More specifically, when the vehicle is started by inserting the key portion of key unit 2 into the keyhole of lock unit 3 as described above, key system 1 of the present embodiment retains the lock unit even after the completion of the code verification. The power control circuit 6 continuously outputs power to the key unit 2 wirelessly. In this key unit 2,
Since electric power is wirelessly input to the coil antenna 18 by magnetic coupling, the electric power is rectified by the rectifier circuit 19, is converted to a constant voltage by the constant voltage circuit 20, and is charged in the secondary battery 15.

During the charging, the oscillation circuit 23 oscillates the power of the secondary battery 15 at a predetermined cycle and blinks the LED 12 at a constant cycle. Therefore, the photodiode 32 of the lock unit 3 to which the light beam is inputted is photoelectrically converted. Outputs a detection signal having a constant period. The charge detection circuit 33 detects from this output signal that the secondary battery 15 is being charged, and the wireless output of the power by the immobilizer control unit 5 is continued during this detection. With such an operation, the lock unit 3 continuously outputs power to the key unit 2 by wireless, so that the power is charged in the secondary battery 15 of the key unit 2.

During the charging, the voltage detection circuit 21 of the key unit 2 monitors the voltage of the secondary battery 15, and when the voltage reaches a predetermined voltage, the completion of charging is detected and the switching circuit 22 detects the completion of the charging. Since the connection with the oscillation circuit 23 is turned off, when the rechargeable battery 15 is sufficiently charged, L
The blinking of the ED 12 ends. Then, the lock unit 3
Also, the signal output by the photodiode 32 is stopped, and the charge detection circuit 33 causes the secondary battery 1
The wireless output of the power by the immobilizer control unit 5 is terminated upon detecting the completion of charging of the battery 5.

In the key system 1 of the present embodiment, as described above, the secondary battery 15 of the lighting device 11 of the key unit 2 is used.
Is automatically charged, so that there is no need for the user to replace or charge the battery. Moreover, when the secondary battery 15 is sufficiently charged, the power supply by the lock unit 3 is automatically terminated, so that the power is not supplied to the charged key unit 2 needlessly.

Further, the completion of charging of the key unit 2 is indicated by LE.
The lock unit 3 is notified according to the lighting state of D12.
Need not be provided. Moreover, since the lock unit 3 wirelessly outputs power to the key unit 2 by the immobilizer control unit 5, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated device in the lock unit 3 for supplying the power. For this reason, the key system 1 of the present embodiment has a simple structure, a small number of parts, good productivity, small size and light weight. Further, since the power supply and the notification of the information are performed wirelessly in this manner, it is not necessary to provide a contact point in each of the units 2 and 3, and an operation failure due to a contact failure can be prevented.

Further, a low resistance 13 is provided between the LED 12 and the manual switch 14, and a high resistance 24 is provided between the LED 12 and the oscillation circuit 23. When the LED 12 is turned on, the LED 12 emits light with high luminance. When the LED 12 blinks to notify that the secondary battery 15 is being charged, the light emission is controlled to have low luminance. For this reason, the power consumption of the secondary battery 15 during charging can be reduced and the charging time can be shortened, and the blinking of the LED 12 can be less distracting to the user during driving.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but allows various modifications. For example, in the present embodiment, the LED 12 is flashed while the secondary battery 15 is being charged to notify the lock unit 3 of the end of charging of the secondary battery 15, and the flashing is stopped when the charging is completed. This can be achieved by changing the lighting state so that the lock unit 3 can detect the end of charging.

For example, it is possible to turn off the LED 12 during charging, and to blink the LED 12 for a fixed time at the end of charging. In other words, the LED here
The lighting state of the LED 12 does not mean only the state in which the LED 12 is turned on, but also includes the state in which the LED 12 is turned off and the state in which the LED 12 is blinking. And the change in light emission luminance.

In this embodiment, the key system 1 is provided with an immobilizer system. However, such a key system 1 may be provided with a keyless entry system, and the keyless entry system may be provided without providing an immobilizer system. It is also possible to provide a system. In the keyless entry system, since the key unit 2 is provided with the oscillator and the lock unit 3 is provided with the receiver, for example, the secondary battery 15 can be used as the power source of the oscillator of the key unit 2.

Further, in the present embodiment, the key system 1
Is applied to an ignition switch of an automobile. However, such a key system 1 includes various devices for inserting the key portion of the key unit 2 into the keyhole of the lock unit 3 until a time sufficient for charging the secondary battery 15. Can be applied to

Further, in this embodiment, electric power is transmitted from the lock unit 3 to the key unit 2 in a state where the key portion of the key unit 2 inserted into the key hole of the lock unit 3 is rotated to a predetermined position where the automobile operates. Although the power supply is exemplified, it is also possible to execute the power supply when the key portion is inserted into the keyhole, or to execute the power supply at a plurality of rotation positions.

[0032]

According to the key system of the present invention, the key unit has a light emitting element, a power supply for supplying power to the light emitting element, a manual switch for turning on and off the power supply, and a wireless input from the lock unit. A lock unit having a charging device for charging the power supply device with electric power, completion detection means for detecting completion of charging of the power supply device, and completion notification means for changing a lighting state of the light emitting element when the completion of charging is detected. A power supply device that wirelessly outputs power to the key unit in at least one of a state in which the key portion is inserted into the keyhole and a state in which the key portion is rotated to a predetermined position after insertion, and a light beam emitted by the light emitting element. A light-receiving element for receiving light; charge detection means for detecting the completion of charging of the power supply device based on a detection output of the light-receiving element; With the power supply control means, the lock unit and the like can be illuminated by the light emitting element of the key unit, and the power supply of the key unit that consumes power by such illumination is wirelessly input from the lock unit. Since the battery is charged by the electric power, the user does not need to replace or charge the power supply device. This automatic charging operation is automatically terminated when the power supply device is sufficiently charged, so that the charging is completed. Unnecessary power is not supplied to the key unit, and the lock unit is notified of the completion of charging of the power supply device by the lighting state of the light emitting element for illumination. Therefore, there is no need to provide a dedicated device for this notification in the key unit. Since the power supply and information notification are performed wirelessly, there is no need to provide contacts for each unit, and malfunctions due to poor contact are prevented. Rukoto can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a key system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a part of a lighting device of the key unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Key system 2 Key unit 3 Lock unit 5 Power supply device 12 Light emitting element 14 Manual switch 15 Power supply device 16 Charging device 17 Completion notification means 21 Completion detection means 32 Light receiving element 33 Charge detection means, power supply control means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A key system having a separate lock unit and a key unit, wherein a key portion of the key unit is inserted into a keyhole of the lock unit to perform unlocking and locking. A light-emitting element, a power supply device for supplying power to the light-emitting element, a manual switch for turning on and off the power supply, a charging device for charging the power supply device with power wirelessly input from the lock unit, and a power supply device for the power supply device. Completion detection means for detecting the completion of charging, and completion notification means for changing the lighting state of the light emitting element when the completion of charging is detected, wherein the lock unit is in a state in which the key portion is inserted into the keyhole. And a power supply device for wirelessly outputting power to the key unit in at least one of a state in which the light emitting element is rotated to a predetermined position after being inserted, and the light emitting element. A light-receiving element for receiving a light beam to be emitted, charging detection means for detecting completion of charging of the power supply device from a detection output of the light-receiving element, and power supply for terminating wireless output of power by the power supply device when completion of charging is detected. A key system comprising control means.