Vehicle safe and authentication system

• US 10,190,358 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2015
• Issued: 01/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Makke, Omar, Chowanic, Andrea Bowes, Bajwa, Manpreet Singh
• Primary Examiner(s): Fan, Hongmin
• Application Number:
  US14/939,447
• Publication Number:
  US 20170138112A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,174 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8006 for monitoring and displaying scenes of vehicle interior, e.g. for monitoring passengers or cargo
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/30 Detection related to theft or to other events relevant to anti-theft systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/305 using a camera
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 2047/0067 Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 2047/0072 Operation
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 37/00 Permutation or combination locks handles with combination locks E05B13/103; keyhole guards with combination locks E05B17/145; electric permutation locks E05B49/00; Puzzle locks
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 39/04 with counting or registering devices time recording locks G07C1/32
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 65/0075 for safes, strongrooms, vaults, fire-resisting cabinets or the like safes, closures and fastenings therefor E05G
• CPC Class Codes: E05G 1/005 Portable strong boxes, e.g. which may be fixed to a wall or the like E05G1/08, E05G1/14 take precedence; devices to prevent theft or loss of bags, trunks, baskets, or the like A45C13/18; coin boxes for coin freed apparatus G07F9/06
• CPC Class Codes: E05G 1/10 with alarm, signal or indicator E05G1/14 takes precedence; burglar, theft or intruder alarm per se G08B13/00; fire or explosion alarm per se G08B17/00
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2900/50 for vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/16 Anti-theft; Abduction
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00309 operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00912 for safes, strong-rooms, vaults or the like

Abstract

A vehicle safe authentication system may include a vehicle safe, a vehicle camera, and a control unit programmed to receive an indication of unauthorized access at the vehicle safe and further programmed to activate the vehicle camera in response to the indication, wherein activation of the camera may include capturing at least one image.

Claims

1. A vehicle safe authentication system, comprising:

a vehicle safe;

a vehicle camera; and

a control unit programmed to receive an indication of unauthorized access, from a body controller and in response to a predefined number of attempts to access the safe being exceeded, at the vehicle safe and further programmed to activate the vehicle camera in response to the indication, wherein activation of the camera includes capturing at least one image.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the control unit includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit configured to identify a location of the safe.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the control unit is further programmed to transmit the image and the location of the safe to an external server in response to the indication of unauthorized access.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the control unit is further programmed to receive the indication of unauthorized access from a body controller in response to a user requesting a forgotten password.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the control unit is further programmed to receive the indication of unauthorized access from a body controller in response to the body controller receiving user input indicative of a special password.

6. A method, comprising:

receiving, from a body controller, an indication of an unauthorized access attempt of an in-vehicle safe;

instructing at least one vehicle component to activate in response to a user requesting a forgotten password, the vehicle component including at least one of a camera and microphone;

identifying a vehicle location;

receiving component data from the vehicle component; and

transmitting the component data and vehicle location to a remote server.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the indication of an unauthorized access is received in response to a predefined number of attempts to access the safe being exceeded.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the indication of an unauthorized access is received in response to receiving user input indicative of a special password.

9. A vehicle safe authentication system, comprising:

a vehicle safe;

a vehicle camera; and

a control unit programmed to receive an indication of unauthorized access, from a body controller and in response to the body controller receiving user input indicative of a special password, at the vehicle safe and further programmed to activate the vehicle camera in response to the indication, wherein activation of the camera includes capturing at least one image.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the control unit includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit configured to identify a location of the safe.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the control unit is further programmed to transmit the image and the location of the safe to an external server in response to the indication of unauthorized access.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the controller is further programmed to transmit an unlock command to the vehicle safe in response to the user input including a user password.