Garage appliance control system, and building

• US 20100207724A1
• Filed: 12/28/2009
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Morii, Tatsuya
• Application Number:
  US12/654,642
• Publication Number:
  US 20100207724A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.710
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/00 Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles locks for vehicles E05B77/00-E05B85/00

Abstract

A garage appliance control system includes: at least one appliance installed in a garage that is provided as a portion of a building or a garage that is provided adjacent to the building; a first light emission portion which is provided in a vehicle that is parked in the garage, and which emits visible light; a first light reception portion that is provided in the garage, and that receives visible light emitted from the first light emission portion; and a control portion that controls the appliance based on light reception by the first light reception portion.

Claims

1. A garage appliance control system comprising:

at least one appliance installed in a garage that is provided as a portion of a building or a garage that is provided adjacent to the building;

a first light emission portion which is provided in a vehicle that is parked in the garage, and which emits visible light;

a first light reception portion that is provided in the garage, and that receives visible light emitted from the first light emission portion; and

a control portion that controls the appliance based on light reception by the first light reception portion.

2. The garage appliance control system according to claim 1, further comprising a manipulation portion that is provided in the vehicle,

wherein:

a plurality of appliances are installed;

a plurality of different light emission patterns for light emission from the first light emission portion are set, and the light emission patterns are associated in correspondence with contents of control of the appliances;

the manipulation portion is manipulated so that light is emitted in a light emission pattern selected from the plurality of different light emission patterns; and

the control portion distinguishes which one of the light emission patterns has been received, and executes a content of control of the appliance that is associated in correspondence with the distinguished light emission pattern.

3. The garage appliance control system according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the light emission patterns is a pattern in which the visible light is blinked while being emitted.

4. The garage appliance control system according to claim 2, wherein the light emission pattern includes a plurality of blinking patterns using the visible light.

5. The garage appliance control system according to claim 1, wherein the visible light emitted from the first light emission portion is continuously emitted light whose emission is continued for a predetermined time.

6. The garage appliance control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a vehicle-mounted communication portion provided in the vehicle; and

a garage-side communication portion that is provided in the garage, and that acquires vehicle identification information by performing wireless communication with a vehicle-mounted communication portion of the vehicle, wherein;

the appliance is a security appliance related to the garage; and

when the vehicle enters the garage, the control portion disables a security function of the security appliance on a condition that the vehicle identification information acquired via the garage-side communication portion is authenticated.

7. The garage appliance control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a battery that is mounted in the vehicle, and that is capable of being charged with electricity supplied from an external device; and

an electric motor that is mounted in the vehicle, and that is driven by electric power stored in the battery provided as a drive source,

wherein

the appliance is an electrically charging appliance for the vehicle.

8. The garage appliance control system according to claim 7, further comprising a charging need determination portion that determines whether or not electrical charging of the vehicle is needed, based on amount of light reception obtained when visible light emitted from the first light emission portion is received by the first light reception portion.

9. The garage appliance control system according to claim 8, wherein the charging need determination portion determines whether or not electrical charging of the vehicle is needed, based on the amount of visible light which is emitted when the battery is neither being charged nor being discharged, and which is received by the first light reception portion.

10. The garage appliance control system according to claim 1, wherein:

the first light emission portion is at least one of a headlight and a taillight of the vehicle that faces the first light reception portion; and

a light source of each of the headlight and the taillight is an Light Emitting Diode.

11. The garage appliance control system according to claim 1, wherein the appliance is at least one of a shutter device for crime prevention, a door electrical lock of the building, and an illumination device that illuminates inside the garage.

12. The garage appliance control system according to claim 1, wherein:

the appliance includes a shutter device for crime prevention, and a door electrical lock of the building;

when the vehicle exits, the control portion performs a control of causing the shutter device to open an entrance/exist opening of the garage, and of engaging the door electrical lock; and

after the vehicle has entered, the control portion performs a control of causing the shutter device to close the entrance/exist opening of the garage, and of disengaging the door electrical lock.

13. The garage appliance control system according to claim 12, wherein:

the appliance further includes an illumination device that illuminates inside the garage; and

when the vehicle enters, the control portion performs a control of causing the shutter device to open the entrance/exist opening of the garage, and of causing the illumination device to illuminate inside the garage.

14. The garage appliance control system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second light emission portion that is provided in the garage, and that emits visible light; and

a second light reception portion which is provided in the vehicle that is parked in the garage, and which receives visible light emitted from the second light emission portion,

wherein the control portion controls the appliance based on light reception by the first light reception portion, and controls the vehicle based on light reception by the second light reception portion.

15. The garage appliance control system according to claim 14, wherein:

control of the appliance based on light reception by the first light reception portion is a control of the shutter device for crime prevention;

control of the vehicle based on light reception by the second light reception portion is an engine starting control of the vehicle, and

the control portion performs a control of opening a portion of the shutter device along with starting of the engine of the vehicle.

16. A building equipped with the garage appliance control system according to claim 1, wherein

the garage is an attached garage that is provided as a portion of the building.