Compartment sensing system

• US 6,480,103 B1
• Filed: 01/18/2000
• Issued: 11/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Donnelly Corporation (Magna International Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Donnelly Corporation (Magna International Incorporated)
• Inventors: Uhlmann, Eugenie V., Taylor, David W., Teowee, Gimtong, McCarthy, Kevin C., Schofield, Kenneth, Lynam, Niall R., Bingle, Robert L., Bos, Brent J., Hoekstra, Eric J., Koops, Roger
• Primary Examiner(s): POPE, DARYL C
• Application Number:
  US09/484,754
• Time in Patent Office: 1,029 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573.4, 340/573.1, 340/573, 340/632, 340/633, 340/634, 340/425.5, 340/426, 73/232, 73/233, 98/15
• US Class Current: 340/425.5
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/30 for compartments other than passenger or driving compartments, e.g. luggage or engine compartments
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 17/10 Illuminating devices on or for locks or keys; Transparent or translucent lock parts; Indicator lights
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 79/20 using flexible connections, e.g. Bowden cables
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/64 Monitoring or sensing, e.g. by using switches or sensors
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 83/26 Emergency opening means for persons trapped in the luggage compartment
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 85/12 Inner door handles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/57 Operators with knobs or handles
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 292/82 Knobs
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/8946 Emergency unlocking or release arrangements

Abstract

A system for sensing ambient conditions in a compartment, such as the trunk of an automobile, generates a control signal in response to the sensed conditions. This control signal actuates indicators to notify operators of the vehicle that there is a person trapped in the trunk. The control signal is also used to actuate a lamp inside the trunk to provide light for the trapped person. A trunk release is also actuated, by a control module, to free the trapped person. The trunk release of the automobile can be prevented from being actuated if the automobile is moving, which prevents the trunk lid from unexpectedly opening while the vehicle is in motion.

Claims

1. An apparatus for controlling the status of a compartment of a vehicle comprising:

a first sensor, disposed in the compartment, for generating a signal indicative of at least one of a person and an animal in the compartment, said first sensor responsive to sensing of at least one of motion and temperature;

a controller, coupled to the sensor, for receiving said signal and generating a control signal in accordance with said signal; and

a mechanism, adapted to have both open and closed positions, coupled to the controller, disposed in the compartment for receiving the control signal from the controller and entering an open position from a closed position when actuated by the control signal.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the controller receives a motion signal, generated by the vehicle, indicative of vehicle motion.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the vehicle generates the motion signal in accordance with an output of a vehicle motion sensor and the control signal will not actuate the mechanism while the motion signal indicates that the vehicle is in a non-stationary state.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 further comprising:

an output indicator, coupled to the controller, for receiving the control signal and outputting an indication in accordance with said signal.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein the output indicator is selected from the group consisting of at least one of a horn, siren and pager.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said signal is generated by the first sensor sensing a predetermined quantity of stimuli within a predetermined period of time.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 further comprising:

a sensor indicator, mounted on the first sensor, for providing an indication signal indicative of the location of the first sensor.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 further comprising:

a seat, having front and rear surfaces, positioned so that the rear surface of the seat forms a surface of the compartment;

a seat position sensor, mounted on the seat and coupled to the controller, for generating a seat position signal indicative of vehicle seat position;

wherein the seat position sensor transmits the seat position signal to the controller, which uses the seat position signal as a component of the control signal.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the first sensor comprises a pyroelectric sensor.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein the pyroelectric sensor requires less than 600 microamps of power during operation.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 further comprising:

a temperature sensor, coupled to the controller, for sensing compartment ambient temperature;

wherein the control generates the control signal based on a lower quantity of stimuli when the compartment ambient temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the first sensor further comprises:

an photoelectric sensor for sensing ambient light energy and generating a light signal indicative of the sensed light;

wherein the first sensor utilizes the light signal as a component of the alert signal.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the compartment is a trunk of an automobile.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first sensor further comprises:

a lens having one or more lenslets, each lenslet having a focal length between 5 mm and 10 mm.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a handle having an attachment for interconnection with said mechanism and operable to cooperate with said mechanism to cause the mechanism to enter the open position upon activation of said handle.

16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 15, further comprising an illumination source operable to illuminate said handle, wherein upon the controller receiving said signal, said illumination source is activated to illuminate said handle.

17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein said handle is a light color and is positioned on a dark background to provide a contrast in which said hanlde is highly visible when said illumination source is activated.

18. The apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein said illumination source comprises at least one light emitting diode.

19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein said handle at least partially provides a mechanical advantage which requires less than or equal to about 20 Newtons applied thereto in order to cause the mechanism to enter the open position.

20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein said handle comprises a phosphorescent material, such that said material of said handle provides illumination of said handle.

21. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein said illumination source is within said handle and provides illumination of said handle from therewithin.

22. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first sensor comprises a motion sensor.

23. The apparatus as claimed in claim 22 wherein said motion sensor comprises a pyrodetector.

24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first sensor comprises a temperature sensor.

25. The apparatus as claimed in claim 24 wherein said temperature sensor comprises a bolometer.

26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 23 wherein said compartment comprises a trunk compartment.

27. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first sensor further comprises a filter to block radiation in wavelengths outside of a predetermined range, the predetermined range being chosen in accordance with radiation emission characteristics of a human or animal body.

28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a level sensor, coupled to the controller, for detecting a towing condition, wherein when said level sensor detects the towing condition, said controller is disabled.

29. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensor comprises a lens coupled to the sensor, the lens forming an air pocket between the lens and the sensor to insulate the sensor from fluctuations in temperature.

30. An apparatus for controlling a light source in a compartment comprising:

a latch, mounted on the compartment, for generating a latch signal indicative of latch position;

a pyroelectric sensor, mounted on a surface of the compartment, said pyroelectric sensor responsive to sensing a temperature of an object in the compartment and generating a signal indicative of a movement of at least one of a person and an animal in the compartment;

a light source, mounted on a surface of the compartment, for emitting light energy when actuated; and

a controller, coupled to the latch, the sensor and the light source, for receiving said signal from the sensor and the latch signal from the latch,

wherein the controller generates a control signal as a function of said signal and the latch signal, and the control signal actuates the light source.

31. A method for controlling the status of a compartment latch of a vehicle comprising:

sensing at least one of motion and temperature;

generating a signal indicative of a movement of at least one of a person and an animal in the compartment;

transmitting said signal to a controller;

generating a control signal in accordance with said signal; and

actuating a latch in response to the control signal.

32. An apparatus for controlling the status of a compartment latch of a vehicle comprising:

means for sensing responsive to sensing of at least one of motion and temperature;

means for generating a signal indicative of a movement of at least one of a person and an animal in the compartment; and

means for controlling the status of the compartment latch in accordance with said signal.

33. A vehicle cargo compartment control system for controlling an actuatable latch disposed on a cargo compartment of a vehicle, comprising:

a sensor, disposed in the cargo compartment, capable of sensing responsive to sensing of at least one of motion and temperature and generating a sensor signal indicative of a movement of at least one of a person and an animal in the cargo compartment; and

a controller, coupled to the sensor and the actuatable latch of the cargo compartment, capable of receiving the sensor signal,

wherein the controller determines whether the sensor signal exceeds a predetermined threshold, and actuates the latch of the cargo compartment when the sensor signal exceeds the predetermined threshold.

34. The vehicle cargo compartment control system as claimed in claim 33, wherein the determination of whether the sensor signal exceeds the predetermined threshold is a function of a quantity of sensor signals exceeding a predetermined magnitude received by the controller in a particular time interval.

35. A latch release system for actuating a trunk latch of a vehicle and the vehicle having a passenger compartment and a trunk compartment, the latch release system comprising:

a sensor, mounted in the interior of the trunk compartment, said sensor responsive to sensing of at least one of motion and temperature and generating an output signal indicative of at least one of a person and an animal in the trunk compartment;

an indicator, mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, adapted to illuminate; and

a controller, mounted on the vehicle and coupled to the sensor and the indicator, that receives the output signal from the sensor, and compares the magnitude and quantity of the output signals received from the sensor to a predetermined magnitude and a predetermined time period to establish an alarm condition,

wherein the controller actuates the latch when an alarm condition has been established, and

wherein the controller illuminates the indicator when an alarm condition has been established.

36. A system for sensing an occupant in a vehicle compartment comprising:

a primary sensor, mounted in the compartment, for sensing responsive to sensing at least one of motion and temperature, the primary sensor adapted to generate an output signal indicative of at least one of a person or animal in the compartment; and

a controller, coupled to the primary sensor, for receiving the output signal from the primary sensor and generating a control signal based on the output signal,

wherein the control signal is transmitted to one or more destinations, the destinations depending on the status of the vehicle.

37. The system as claimed in claim 36 wherein the destinations are selected from the group consisting of a latch release mechanism and an indicator.

38. A system for sensing an occupant in a vehicle compartment comprising:

a primary sensor, mounted in the compartment, for sensing responsive to sensing at least one of motion and temperature, the primary sensor adapted to generate a primary output signal indicative of at least one of a person or animal in the compartment;

one or more secondary sensors coupled to the primary sensor for generating a secondary output signal in response to receiving the primary output signal; and

a controller, coupled to the secondary sensor, for receiving the secondary output signal from the secondary sensor and generating a control signal based on the secondary output signal,

wherein the control signal is transmitted to one or more destinations, the destinations depending on a state of the vehicle.

39. A compartment sensing system for sensing an occupant in a trunk compartment of an automobile comprising:

a sensor, disposed in the trunk compartment, for sensing responsive to sensing at least one of motion and temperature and generating a sensor signal indicative of at least one of a person or animal in the compartment;

a controller, coupled to the sensor, for receiving the sensor signal and generating a control signal in response to the sensor signal; and

an actuatable handle, for releasing a trunk lid, having an illumination device mounted within the handle, the illumination device coupled to the controller and upon receiving the control signal, illuminates.