Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties, with individual driving authorization

• US 6,252,978 B1
• Filed: 04/05/1995
• Issued: 06/26/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Helmut Grantz
• Original Assignee: Daimler Chrysler Company LLC (Stellantis NV)
• Inventors: Grantz, Helmut
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Jay
• Application Number:
  US08/417,613
• Time in Patent Office: 2,274 Days
• Field of Search: 382/104, 382/117, 382/100, 382/118, 382/218, 382/305, 180/271, 180/272, 180/287, 364/424.01, 701/1, 701/2
• US Class Current: 382/118
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/252 Fingerprint recognition
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/255 Eye recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00563 using personal physical data of the operator, e.g. finger prints, retinal images, voicepatterns

Abstract

A device for protecting a vehicle against use by third parties provides an object detection system which detects the facial area of the driver and compares it, in an image analysis, with stored facial-area image information. For this purpose an image recording camera is positioned in the vehicle so that it automatically takes an image of the facial area when the driver is in position in the driver'"'"'s seat. When the image recorded by the camera accords with the stored image information, a driving authorization signal is generated which actuates a plurality of vehicle systems to enter a state in which the vehicle can be started.

Claims

1. Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties comprising:

at least one vehicle component whose operation is necessary to drive said vehicle, which vehicle component can be adjusted by means of a driving authorization signal, from a disabled state in which the starting of the vehicle is disabled, into an enabling state in which the starting of the vehicle is enabled; and

a memory containing desired image information comprising facial area image information for persons authorized to operate the motor vehicle;

an image comparison system for detecting facial features of the driver by means of an image recording camera, comparing the acquired image information with the stored desired image information, for generating a driving authorization signal only when correspondence is detected;

wherein

the sensed part of the body is a facial area of the driver;

the image comparison system is an object detection system comprising an image recording camera having an output thereof connected to an image processing unit for an object-detecting comparison of image information;

the image recording camera is positioned in the vehicle directed at a facial area of the driver when the latter is in position in the driver'"'"'s seat;

detection of facial areas of a driver is carried out at time intervals when the vehicle is being driven;

the object-detecting image processing unit compares the successively input items of actual image information with one another; and

the object detection system interrupts generation of the driving authorization signal when there is complete correspondence between said successively input items of actual image information.

4. Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties according to claim 1 further comprising:

a seat position unit for positioning the driver'"'"'s seat in a driver-specific way; and

a control unit which detects driver identity based on testing access authorization, and controls said seat position unit to set a user specific position of the driver'"'"'s seat which has been previously stored;

wherein

a process of detecting facial areas of drivers is carried out after each setting of a driver specific position of a driver'"'"'s seat.

2. Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties comprising:

at least one vehicle component whose operation is necessary to drive said vehicle, which vehicle component can be adjusted by means of a driving authorization signal, from a disabled state in which the starting of the vehicle is disabled, into an enabling state in which the starting of the vehicle is enabled;

a memory containing desired image information comprising facial area image information for persons authorized to operate the motor vehicle;

an image comparison system for detecting facial features of the driver by means of an image recording camera, comparing the acquired image information with the stored desired image information, for generating a driving authorization signal only when correspondence is detected;

wherein

the sensed part of the body is a facial area of the driver;

the image comparison system is an object detection system comprising an image recording camera having an output thereof connected to an image processing unit for an object-detecting comparison of image information;

the image recording camera is positioned in the vehicle directed at a facial area of the driver when the latter is in position in the driver'"'"'s seat; and

desired image information is stored in coded form in a user-end key unit.

3. Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties according to claim 2 wherein the image recording camera is a CCD camera which also senses thermal radiation from the facial area, and passes it on as image information.

5. Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties according to claim 2 wherein the image recording camera and the object-detecting image processing unit form integrated components of a module having a signal path between the camera and image processing unit which is protected against tampering.

6. Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties according to claim 2 wherein an algorithm for decoding the desired image information is stored in coded form in the key unit, and can be activated only by vehicle-end request within a bidirectional exchange of authorization code data between the key unit and the vehicle.

7. Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties according to claim 6 further comprising:

means are provided in the vehicle and the key unit for testing the presence of an acceptable key unit/vehicle combination by testing vehicle-specific code information stored at the key end;

wherein

an exchange of data between the vehicle and the key unit which goes beyond the testing of an acceptable key unit/vehicle combination is disabled as long as no acceptable key unit/vehicle combination is detected.

8. Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties according to claim 2 wherein the object detection system transmits the driving authorization signal in code-protected form to a plurality of pieces of vehicle equipment which are necessary to drive the vehicle, and which are each equipped with a decoder unit.

9. Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties according to claim 2 wherein a plurality of items of facial-area image information, which are part of images recorded with a different posture of the head and/or different lighting, of each person authorized to use the vehicle are stored as desired image information.

10. Device for protecting a motor vehicle against use by third parties comprising:

at least one vehicle component whose operation is necessary to drive said vehicle, which vehicle component can be adjusted by means of a driving authorization signal, from a disabled state in which the starting of the vehicle is disabled, into an enabling state in which the starting of the vehicle is enabled;

a memory containing desired image information comprising facial area image information for persons authorized to operate the motor vehicle;

an image comparison system for detecting facial features of the driver by means of an image recording camera, comparing the acquired image information with the stored desired image information, for generating a driving authorization signal only when correspondence is detected;

wherein

the sensed part of the body is a facial area of the driver;

the image comparison system is an object detection system comprising an image recording camera having an output thereof connected to an image processing unit for an object-detecting comparison of image information;

the image recording camera is positioned in the vehicle directed at a facial area of the driver when the latter is in position in the driver'"'"'s seat; and

at least one component continues to be kept, in each case for a prescribed plurality of subsequent vehicle starts, in its enabling state after each occasion when correspondence is detected during a process of detection of the facial area of the driver.