MOTOR VEHICLE HAVING A CENTRALIZED DOOR LOCKING SYSTEM

• US 20130311046A1
• Filed: 05/15/2012
• Published: 11/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: HEBERER, Andreas, SCHUESSLER, Peter Eduard, LANGE, Richard J., KONCHAN, Jeffrey L., ARABIA, Frank J. Jr., RUEHR, Matthias, PROEFKE, David T., HOORN, Jeffrey James
• Granted Patent: US 8,924,087 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/45
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 77/02 for accident situations
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 77/48 by electrical means
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/82 using batteries other than the vehicle main battery
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00174 Electronically operated locks; Circuits therefor; Nonmechanical keys therefor, e.g. passive or active electrical keys or other data carriers without mechanical keys mechanical locks with electric permutation E05B49/00; arrangements for sensing or reading record carriers G06K7/00; electronic switching H03K17/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/5889 For automotive vehicles

Abstract

A motor vehicle has a plurality of doors, each secured by a lock, peripheral control units, each connected to one of said locks, for sending a command signal to an actuator of the lock, a central control unit for sending command signals to the actuators of the locks, and an accident detector. If the accident detector has detected an accident, at least one of the actuators is switchable from a central operating mode in which it executes command signals of the central control unit and its associated peripheral control unit into a peripheral operating mode in which it executes only command signals from its peripheral control unit.

Claims

1. A motor vehicle, comprising:

a plurality of doors;

a plurality of locks that are configured to secure the plurality of doors;

a plurality of actuators for the plurality of locks;

a plurality of peripheral control units that are each connected to one lock of the plurality of locks, the plurality of peripheral control units configured to send a command signal to one of the plurality of actuators;

a central control unit that is configured to send command signals to the plurality of actuators;

an accident detector that is configured to detect an accident, and if the accident is detected by the accident detector, at least one of the plurality actuators is switchable from a central operating mode in which the command signals of the central control unit are executed and an associated peripheral control unit is placed into a peripheral operating mode in which only the command signals from the associated peripheral control unit is executed.

2. The motor vehicle of claim 1, wherein at least one of the peripheral control units is located on a signal path between the central control unit and a first actuator of the plurality actuators and is configured not to forward a signal received from the central control unit to the first actuator while in the peripheral operating mode.

3. The motor vehicle of claim 2, wherein the at least one of the peripheral control units comprises a switch for interrupting the signal path that is controlled by an output signal of the accident detector.

4. The motor vehicle of claim 1, wherein each peripheral control unit of the plurality of control units is connected to an accumulator that is adapted to configured power to the peripheral control unit and an associated actuator.

5. The motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of peripheral control units is configured to verify an operability of the central control unit and to switch into the peripheral operating mode only if a failure of the central control unit is detected in case of detection of the accident by the accident detector.

6. The motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of peripheral control units is located within at least one door of the plurality of doors.

7. The motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an external handling device at an outer side of one of the plurality of doors is mechanically coupled to a switch of at least one of the plurality of peripheral control units of said one of the plurality of doors.

8. The motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an internal handling device at an inner side of an at least one door of the plurality of doors is mechanically coupled to a switch of the peripheral control unit of said at least one door.

9. The motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an auxiliary handling device is accessible at an inner side of at least one door of the plurality of doors that is mechanically coupled to at least one lock of the plurality of locks.

10. The motor vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising at least one personal security system activated by the accident detector.

11. The motor vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of accident detectors, each of which is connected to one of the peripheral control units.