VEHICLE OPENING-AND-CLOSING MEMBER LOCKING-AND-UNLOCKING APPARATUS

• US 20170032596A1
• Filed: 04/18/2016
• Published: 02/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: TABATA, Takehiro
• Granted Patent: US 9,892,575 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/246 characterised by the challenge triggering
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00769 with data transmission performed by wireless means
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00793 by Hertzian waves
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2209/65 using means for sensing the user's hand
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00309 operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00714 with passive electrical components, e.g. resistor, capacitor, inductor
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00896 specially adapted for particular uses
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/3241 particular used in keyless entry systems
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop

Abstract

A vehicle opening-and-closing member locking-and-unlocking apparatus includes: an antenna including a series resonance circuit having a resonance capacitor and an antenna coil connected in series and an impedance regulating resistance connected in parallel to the antenna coil, the resonance capacitor side being connected in parallel to a first connecting line, the antenna coil side being connected to a second connecting line, and the antenna transmitting authentication information for locking and unlocking a vehicle opening-and-closing member to a portable device by resonance with an antenna drive signal output from an ECU via the first and second connecting lines; a human detection IC detecting contact to a human detecting area on the vehicle opening-and-closing member by the user; and a rectifier circuit configured to AC/DC convert the antenna drive signal and supply the converted signal to the human detection IC.

Claims

1. A vehicle opening-and-closing member locking-and-unlocking apparatus comprising:

an antenna including a series resonance circuit having a resonance capacitor and an antenna coil connected in series and an impedance regulating resistance connected in parallel to the antenna coil, the resonance capacitor side being connected in parallel to a first connecting line, the antenna coil side being connected to a second connecting line, and the antenna transmitting authentication information for locking and unlocking a vehicle opening-and-closing member to a portable device carried by a user of the vehicle by resonance with an antenna drive signal output from an ECU via the first connecting line and the second connecting line;

a human detection IC configured to detect contact to a human detecting area on the vehicle opening-and-closing member by the user by operating with the antenna drive signal as power source when the antenna is driven and thus a direct current power source voltage is not supplied from the ECU via the first connecting line; and

a rectifier circuit configured to AC/DC convert the antenna drive signal and supply the converted signal to the human detection IC.

2. The vehicle opening-and-closing member locking-and-unlocking apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the impedance regulating resistance is divided into a first voltage dividing resistance and a second voltage dividing resistance, and the divided voltage obtained by dividing the antenna resonance voltage with the first voltage dividing resistance and the second voltage dividing resistance is output to a power source terminal of the human detection IC via a voltage dividing rectifier diode, and

an anode of the voltage dividing rectifier diode is connected between the first voltage dividing resistance and the second voltage dividing resistance of the impedance regulating resistance, and a cathode of the voltage dividing rectifier diode is connected to the power source terminal of the human detection IC.

3. The vehicle opening-and-closing member locking-and-unlocking apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the impedance regulating resistance is divided into a first voltage dividing resistance and a second voltage dividing resistance, and the divided voltage obtained by dividing the antenna resonance voltage with the first voltage dividing resistance and the second voltage dividing resistance is output to an antenna drive detection terminal of the human detection IC, and

the human detection IC detects a driving state of the antenna on the basis of a value of the divided voltage.

4. The vehicle opening-and-closing member locking-and-unlocking apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the resonance capacitor of the antenna is divided into a first resonance capacitor and a second resonance capacitor,

one end of the first resonance capacitor is connected to the first connecting line, the other end of the first resonance capacitor is connected to one end of the second resonance capacitor, the other end of the second resonance capacitor is connected to one end of the antenna coil, and the other end of the antenna coil is connected to the second connecting line, and

the impedance regulating resistance is connected in parallel to the second resonance capacitor and the antenna coil connected in series to each other.

5. The vehicle opening-and-closing member locking-and-unlocking apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the resonance capacitor of the antenna is divided into the first resonance capacitor and the second resonance capacitor,

one end of the first resonance capacitor is connected to the first connecting line, the other end of the first resonance capacitor is connected to one end of the antenna coil, the other end of the antenna coil is connected to one end of the second resonance capacitor, and the other end of the second resonance capacitor is connected to the second connecting line, and

the impedance regulating resistance is connected in parallel to the second resonance capacitor and the antenna coil connected in series to each other.

6. The vehicle opening-and-closing member locking-and-unlocking apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein a resistance value R of the impedance regulating resistance is determined to satisfy the following relationship:

Z₁=jω

L+(R×

1/jω

C)/(R+1/jω

C) I_IC=Z₁/(Z₁+Z_IC)×

I_AC W_IC=I_IC×

V_AC

where Z_IC is an impedance value of the human detection IC including the rectifier circuit, C is a capacitance value of the resonance capacitor, L is an inductance value of the antenna coil, ω

is a frequency of the antenna drive signal, V_AC is a voltage value of the antenna drive signal, and I_AC is a current value of the antenna drive signal so that a power value W_IC required by the human detection IC is supplied to the human detection IC.

7. The vehicle opening-and-closing member locking-and-unlocking apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the rectifier circuit includes:

a rectifier diode having an anode connected to the first connecting line and a cathode connected to the power source terminal of the human detection IC via a protective resistance, and

a smoothing capacitor connected at one end to the power source terminal of the human detection IC and at the other end to a GND terminal of the human detection IC.