Vehicular door lock remote control apparatus

• US 20040070489A1
• Filed: 10/08/2003
• Published: 04/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ueda, Shinichi, Yoshimura, Kentaro, Sawada, Kenichi, Kamikura, Akira, Asakura, Suguru, Arie, Shinichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,034,657 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.61
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 85/01 Mechanical arrangements specially adapted for hands-free locking or unlocking handles with means for initiation of a hands-free locking or unlocking process E05B81/78

Abstract

When a door sensor is touched, a vehicle-mounted unit and a portable unit performs mutual communications for authentication, and the doors are unlocked. When the door sensor is touched without intending to unlock the doors, wasteful consumption of electric energy is avoided which would otherwise result from mutual communications for authentication triggered by a request signal. When the door sensor may possibly be operated not for the purpose of unlocking the doors, e.g., when a CPU detects the doors as being already unlocked from a signal outputted from a door lock knob switch, a request signal is inhibited from being transmitted from the vehicle-mounted unit to the portable unit.

Claims

1. A vehicular door lock remote control apparatus comprising:

a door sensor for detecting when a door handle on an outer side of a vehicle is touched and outputting a signal representing the detected touch;

vehicle-side transmitting means for transmitting a transmission request signal in response to the signal outputted from said door sensor;

a portable unit for transmitting identification information in response to the transmission request signal from said vehicle-side transmitting means;

vehicle-side receiving means for receiving the identification information transmitted from said portable unit;

control means for determining whether the identification information received by said vehicle-side receiving means matches identification information stored on the vehicle, and unlocking a door of the vehicle based on the determined result;

locked/unlocked state detecting means for detecting a locked/unlocked state of said door;

a timer for starting to measure a predetermined time when said locked/unlocked state detecting means detects when said door has changed from said unlocked state to said locked state; and

inhibiting means for inhibiting the transmission request signal from being transmitted from said vehicle-side transmitting means while said timer is measuring the predetermined time.

2. A vehicular door lock remote control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said inhibiting means comprises means for inhibiting the transmission request signal from being transmitted from said vehicle-side transmitting means when said locked/unlocked state detecting means detects the unlocked state of said door.

3. A vehicular door lock remote control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

open/closed state detecting means for detecting an open/closed state of said door;

said inhibiting means comprising means for inhibiting the transmission request signal from being transmitted from said vehicle-side transmitting means when said open/closed state detecting means detects the open state of said door.

4. A vehicular door lock remote control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a switch disposed on or near said door handle for outputting an operation signal when operated;

said vehicle-side transmitting means comprising means for transmitting said transmission request signal in response to the operation signal outputted from said switch;

said control means comprising means for locking said door if the identification information received by said vehicle-side receiving means matches the identification information stored on the vehicle when the operation signal is inputted from said switch.

5. A vehicular door lock remote control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said locked/unlocked state detecting means comprises a door lock knob switch.

6. A vehicular door lock remote control apparatus comprising:

a door sensor for detecting when a door handle on an outer side of a vehicle is touched and outputting a signal representing the detected touch;

vehicle-side transmitting means for transmitting a transmission request signal in response to the signal outputted from said door sensor;

a portable unit for transmitting identification information in response to the transmission request signal from said vehicle-side transmitting means;

vehicle-side receiving means for receiving the identification information transmitted from said portable unit;

control means for determining whether the identification information received by said vehicle-side receiving means matches identification information stored on the vehicle, and unlocking a door of the vehicle based on the determined result;

locked/unlocked state detecting means for detecting a locked/unlocked state of said door; and

inhibiting means for inhibiting the transmission request signal from being transmitted from said vehicle-side transmitting means when said locked/unlocked state detecting means detects the unlocked state of said door.

7. A vehicular door lock remote control apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising:

a switch disposed on or near said door handle for outputting an operation signal when operated;

said vehicle-side transmitting means comprising means for transmitting said transmission request signal in response to the operation signal outputted from said switch;

said control means comprising means for locking said door if the identification information received by said vehicle-side receiving means matches the identification information stored on the vehicle when the operation signal is inputted from said switch.

8. A vehicular door lock remote control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said locked/unlocked state detecting means comprises a door lock knob switch.

9. A vehicular door lock remote control apparatus comprising:

a door sensor for detecting when a door handle on an outer side of a vehicle is touched and outputting a signal representing the detected touch;

vehicle-side transmitting means for transmitting a transmission request signal in response to the signal outputted from said door sensor;

a portable unit for transmitting identification information in response to the transmission request signal from said vehicle-side transmitting means;

vehicle-side receiving means for receiving the identification information transmitted from said portable unit;

control means for determining whether the identification information received by said vehicle-side receiving means matches identification information stored on the vehicle, and unlocking a door of the vehicle based on the determined result;

open/closed state detecting means for detecting an open/closed state of said door; and

inhibiting means for inhibiting the transmission request signal from being transmitted from said vehicle-side transmitting means when said open/closed state detecting means detects the open state of said door.

10. A vehicular door lock remote control apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:

a switch disposed on or near said door handle for outputting an operation signal when operated;

said vehicle-side transmitting means comprising means for transmitting said transmission request signal in response to the operation signal outputted from said switch;

said control means comprising means for locking said door if the identification information received by said vehicle-side receiving means matches the identification information stored on the vehicle when the operation signal is inputted from said switch.