System comprising a lock unit for a cabin and at least one portable user terminal
By introducing portable user terminals and automated lock units into the cabinet lock system, the problem of difficulty in managing and tracking existing systems in the store environment is solved, achieving more efficient item sales and lower management costs.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202380059821.X
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2022-08-15
- Filing Date
- 2023-08-14
- Publication Date
- 2025-03-28
AI Technical Summary
The existing cabinet lock system is difficult to effectively manage and track the lock usage status in a store environment, resulting in potential customers being unable to easily purchase items locked in the cabinet, and the store owner faces high costs and waste of time when keys are lost or stolen.
A system including a lock unit and a portable user terminal is designed, which includes a plug unit, an operating unit, an actuation unit and a communication unit. The release command is sent through the portable user terminal. The lock unit automatically or manually converts the position of the plug unit to open or lock the cabinet, and tracks the status and usage data of the release command through the control unit.
The system improves the saleability of items in a store environment, reduces the risk of key loss and theft, reduces the management costs of the store owner, and provides tracking and analyzing the lock usage patterns.
Smart Images
Figure CN119731710A_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] manual
[0002] The present invention relates to a system comprising a lock unit for a cabinet and at least one portable user terminal, an assembly comprising such a system and a cabinet, a method for operating such a system and a computer readable medium having stored thereon a code for executing such a method.
[0003] Recently, in retail stores, more and more items have been placed in lockable cabinets, which usually include transparent panels, which can protect the items from theft on the one hand and can be displayed to potential customers in an attractive manner on the other hand. Due to the fact that anti-theft devices directly applied to such items can be removed from retail stores with the items more easily, so that theft is hindered but not prevented, locking items in special cabinets is considered to be an improvement in anti-theft protection. In particular, organized retail crime has become a big problem, and it has been observed that thieves have begun to steal items equipped with anti-theft devices from stores in order to destroy the devices later outside the corresponding stores. Typical items that are protected from theft by placing items in lockable cabinets include alcoholic beverages and valuable electronic devices, both of which are relatively easy but profitable to steal from stores due to their size and retail price.
[0004] Cabinets commonly used for such purposes may include drawers and lockers, and generally include any physically lockable container in which items may be contained in a store. However, it has been found that such cabinets tend to "hide" the items from potential customers, even if the items are visible through the transparent panels, because it may be cumbersome to find a store employee with a key to the corresponding cabinet lock, so that customers may be hesitant or unwilling to purchase items locked in such cabinets. In particular, not every employee of a given store may carry their own key and / or have the authority to open the corresponding cabinet, so that even if a potential customer finds a store employee, this does not necessarily mean that he or she can actually open the relevant cabinet at this given time.
[0005] Furthermore, from the store owner's perspective, in the event that the key to a cabinet containing valuables is lost or stolen, all physical locks in the store that can be opened by said key must be replaced as a precautionary measure. This not only incurs unacceptable costs to the store owner, but can also take a significant amount of time to obtain the appropriate locks and keys and reinstall them.
[0006] The lock and key systems currently used for such purposes usually comprise a lock unit having a core section into which a key is inserted to open the lock unit. In case the key fits the lock, the entire core together with the key can be removed from the lock housing. As long as the core is within the housing, it prevents the opening of the cabinet, such as the relative movement between two door panels or the opening of a drawer. Once the core is removed from the housing, relative movement between the doors or the sliding of the drawers and the opening of the cabinet become possible. Conventionally, it is not possible to monitor in an automated manner whether such a lock is locked at a given time, who has opened and closed the lock in the past, or the amount of time the lock has been opened within a given time frame, etc.
[0007] Therefore, there is a need for an improved locking system for cabinets of the type described above that not only provides for secure storage of items in a store environment, but also provides improved functionality and facilitates better handling of items by store employees, as well as allowing tracking of usage patterns of the system.
[0008] For this purpose, the present invention proposes a system comprising a lock unit for a cabinet and at least one portable user terminal, the at least one user terminal comprising an interface unit for receiving user input comments, a communication unit for sending a release command to the lock unit at least wirelessly, and a control unit operably coupled to the interface unit, the communication unit and the storage unit, wherein the storage unit is adapted to store a unique identifier of the user terminal, and wherein the control unit is adapted to create a release command based on the input command in such a way that the release command includes the unique identifier. On the other hand, the lock unit includes a plug unit, which is suitable for being transferred between a release position and a locked position, wherein in the release position, opening of the cabinet is enabled, and in the locked position, opening of the cabinet is prohibited; an operating unit, which is suitable for manual operation of a user, and the manual operation is suitable for transferring the plug unit from its release position to its locked position; an actuation unit, which is suitable for automatically transferring the plug unit from its locked position to its release position; a communication unit, which is used to wirelessly receive a release command from a user terminal; and a control unit, which is operably coupled to the communication unit and the actuation unit, and is suitable for verifying the received release command and controlling the actuation unit to transfer the plug unit to its release position after the received release command has been verified, wherein the control unit of the lock unit is also suitable for storing status and / or usage data about the received release command, and / or sending status and / or usage data about the received release command to an external server by means of the communication unit of the lock unit.
[0009] Thus, in the system according to the invention, not only is a portable user terminal for triggering the transfer of the plug unit to its release position provided, such as a smartphone with a dedicated software application running thereon or a dedicated portable unit with corresponding communication capabilities, but also the control unit of the lock unit stores or provides status and / or usage data about the received release commands in such a way that the release commands can be further processed at any given time. It should be mentioned at this point that the transfer of the plug unit triggered by the release command and performed by the actuation unit may further necessitate a manual operation by the user, so that, for example, the actuation unit may release the blocking member, which then allows the plug unit to be manually moved to its release position, which is blocked when the release command is not received.
[0010] By relying on known communication protocols (such as, for example, NFC or Bluetooth), suitable user terminals can be easily provided, or existing user terminals (such as smartphones) can be easily adapted for the purpose of being used as portable user terminals in the system according to the invention. In particular, multiple portable user terminals can be assigned to a single lock unit, so that in the above example, multiple store employees can open a given lock in a retail store at any given time without having to search for a physical key first. In addition, by using a portable user terminal to unlock the corresponding lock unit, it is also possible to prevent the key in such a lock from being lost or damaged. At the same time, with the help of an operating unit, any user can manually transfer the plug unit from its release position to its locked position, so that the relevant personnel can protect the items in the cabinet in any case even if there is no portable user terminal at hand.
[0011] Another aspect of the tracking of status and / or usage data related to received release commands by the control unit of the locking unit is that the permissions of certain portable user terminals and corresponding users associated with said portable user terminals can be easily changed, making the system according to the present invention much more flexible than previously used known locking systems.
[0012] In certain embodiments, the operating unit of the lock unit may be adapted for a pressing or turning operation by a user, such that the plug unit may be transferred from its release position to its locking position in a simple and intuitive manner.
[0013] As mentioned above, the control unit of the lock unit may also be adapted to receive configuration commands by means of the communication unit of the lock unit. In this way, the rights to open a certain cabinet may be adjusted in real time, e.g. any store employee may be granted on any working day only the rights to open the cabinet of the store department to which he or she is assigned on that given day.
[0014] Furthermore, the control unit of the lock unit may also be adapted to issue an alarm after the plug unit has been in its release position for a predetermined amount of time, for example five minutes. By providing such an additional functionality, a situation may be avoided in which the lock unit is placed in its release position and the corresponding user subsequently forgets to operate the operating unit in order to relock the plug unit. Such an alarm may be issued by an optical or acoustic signaling unit provided at the lock unit, for example a loudspeaker that plays a sound or one or more LEDs that emit an optical signal. Alternatively or additionally, a corresponding notification may be sent to at least one portable user terminal so that, for example, in case a mobile phone is used for this purpose, the corresponding user may be notified by means of a push notification or a similar alarm feature.
[0015] In another embodiment of the system according to the invention, the actuation unit is also capable of transferring the plug unit from its released position into its locked position. Thus, the transfer of the plug unit from its released position into its locked position can be performed not only by means of the operating unit, but also by means of providing a locking command to the control unit of the locking unit, which control unit will then control the actuation unit to transfer the plug unit into its locked position. Here, the corresponding locking command can be processed in a similar manner to the above-described release command, so that they can be requested on the same portable user terminal, comprise the same unique identifier, and must be verified by the control unit of the locking unit before the actuation unit is controlled to transfer the plug unit into its locked position.
[0016] In such an embodiment, the control unit may also be adapted to automatically control the actuation unit to transfer the plug unit to its locked position after the plug unit has been in its released position for a predetermined amount of time. Thus, in such an embodiment, the lock unit will be automatically transferred to the locked configuration after a predetermined amount of time has passed since the lock unit was transferred to its released configuration. In this case, it may be beneficial if the control unit of the lock unit is provided with information about whether the corresponding cabinet is currently in a configuration in which its locking is possible at all, for example if two sliding doors are in a relative position relative to each other in which their relative movement can be blocked by the lock unit, or if a drawer is closed and can therefore be locked by a corresponding operation.
[0017] In any case, the transfer of the plug unit between its release position and its locking position may correspond to a linear or rotational movement, depending on the type and layout of the cabinet to be equipped with the locking unit. For example, in the case of a pair of sliding doors, if the relative movement between the two should be prevented by the locking unit, a linear movement of the plug unit would be desirable, while for locking drawers a rotational movement of the plug unit would be advantageous.
[0018] According to another aspect, the invention relates to an assembly comprising the system just described and a cabinet in which a locking unit is installed, wherein the cabinet comprises a door which is movable between an open and a closed position and can be locked in its closed position by means of the locking unit. In this context, the term "door" may also relate, for example, to a drawer as described above or a pair of sliding doors, so that any movable part of the cabinet, by means of which access to the interior space of the cabinet in which objects can be accommodated can be regarded as a door in the sense of the invention.
[0019] In such an assembly, the lock unit may also be equipped with a tamper sensor unit adapted to sound an alarm when detecting that the lock unit has been forcibly removed from the cabinet. Such an alarm may also be sounded directly at the lock unit, for example by means of a loudspeaker or an optical alarm device, or such an alarm may be transmitted to a portable user terminal, so that the corresponding user is notified in real time of the tampering of the lock unit and can take appropriate countermeasures.
[0020] Furthermore, the assembly according to the invention may also comprise a sensor unit for determining whether a door of the cabinet is in a closed position, which may be particularly advantageous in the above-described embodiment in which automatic control of the actuation unit is performed to transfer the plug unit to its locked position after the plug unit has been in its released position for a predetermined amount of time.
[0021] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for operating the system described above is provided, comprising the following steps: receiving a user input command at an interface unit of a user terminal, creating a release command at a control unit of the user terminal, sending the release command by a communication unit of the user terminal, receiving the release command at a communication unit of a lock unit, verifying the release command at the control unit of the lock unit, once the release command is verified, controlling the actuation unit to transfer the plug unit to its release position, and storing, by the control unit of the lock unit, status and / or usage data about the received release command, and / or sending the status and / or usage data to an external server.
[0022] In this context, in order to improve the security of the method and system, the creation of the lock command may include an encryption step, and the verification of the release command may include a decryption step. For this purpose, known decryption / encryption techniques may be performed by the portable user terminal and the lock unit, respectively, and the release command provided thereby will also include a unique identifier of the portable user terminal for further accounting and data analysis capabilities.
[0023] Furthermore, the method according to the invention may comprise a step of configuring the verification step based on a configuration command received by the control unit of the lock unit via the communication unit of the lock unit. For this purpose, the verification step may be configured using a dedicated configuration terminal, an external server or any portable user terminal to which super user rights have been granted for the respective user, e.g. granting a new user the right to unlock the lock unit.
[0024] The state and / or usage data already mentioned above may in particular include information about the user terminal that sent the release command and / or the amount of time the plug unit has been in its release position. Thus, it is possible to assess which user has visited the relevant cabinet and when, which allows advanced data analysis of usage patterns of a shop owner or any other entity that is provided with corresponding access to the relevant collected data set.
[0025] Finally, the invention relates to a computer-readable medium having stored thereon a code which, when executed by a control unit of a user terminal and / or a control unit of a lock unit of the system according to the invention, performs the above method.
[0026] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments of the present invention when understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which particularly show:
[0027] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a system according to the present invention;
[0028] Figure 2 is a flow chart representing a method according to the present invention;
[0029] Figure 3 is a first embodiment of a locking unit of a system according to the invention in a first state;
[0030] Figure 4 The second state is shown Figure 3 The lock unit in
[0031] Figure 5 is a second embodiment of a locking unit of a system according to the invention in a first state; and
[0032] Figure 6 The second state is shown Figure 5 The lock unit in.
[0033] exist Figure 1 In the drawing, a schematic block diagram of a system according to the present invention is shown and generally indicated by reference numeral 10.
[0034] The system 10 comprises a portable user terminal 20, such as a smartphone running a software application capable of performing certain steps of the method according to the present application, or a dedicated portable user terminal specially designed to form part of the system 10. It should be noted that the system 10 may comprise any number of user terminals 20, which may all be of the same type, or of at least two different types. In particular, if smartphones are used for this purpose, the present system 10 becomes highly flexible and user-friendly by providing suitable software applications that can run on different types of smartphones.
[0035] The user terminal 20 comprises an interface unit 22 by means of which a user can enter commands, wherein in the case of a smartphone a touch screen will typically form the interface unit 22, while in the case of a dedicated portable user terminal any known kind of software or hardware buttons or similar units may be provided to allow a user of the device to enter input commands.
[0036] Furthermore, the user terminal 20 comprises a communication unit 24 and a control unit 26 capable of accessing a storage unit 28. Therein, the control unit 26 may be formed by any kind of suitable microprocessor or similar electronic unit, and it is operatively coupled to the interface unit 22 for receiving user input commands and the communication unit 24 for communicating with external devices (such as the lock unit 30 and the external server 50 described below). In particular, the control unit 26 in the user terminal 20 of the system 10 according to the present invention is adapted to create a release command of the lock unit 30 based on an input command input by the user via the interface unit 22 and a unique identifier of the terminal 20 stored in the storage unit 28.
[0037] For this purpose, different known algorithms may be employed to create such a release command including the unique identifier of the terminal 20, including encoding it for security reasons, so that the release command thus generated can then be sent by the terminal 20 by means of its communication unit 24. For this purpose, any kind of known or proprietary communication protocol may be used, including NFC and Bluetooth for short-range communication.
[0038] The lock unit 30 mentioned briefly above is accordingly provided for locking the cabinet and for this purpose comprises a plug unit 32 which is adapted to be transferable between a release position (in which the cabinet equipped with the lock unit 30 can be opened) and a lock position (in which the cabinet is prohibited from being opened). Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the plug unit 32 is adapted to be transferable between its release position and its locking position by a linear movement indicated by the corresponding arrows, but there are also embodiments of the invention in which a similar transfer of the plug unit 32 is performed by a rotational movement. Figure 5 and Figure 6One such embodiment is discussed further.
[0039] The lock unit 30 further includes an operating unit 34 adapted to be manually operated by a user in order to transfer the plug unit 32 from its release position to its lock position. Thus, even if a given user does not possess the aforementioned terminal 20, the plug unit 32 can always be transferred to its lock position. Figure 1 In the embodiment shown, the operating unit 34 can be adapted for push operation, for example, and can in fact be formed integrally with the plug unit 32, so that the relevant user can directly act on the plug unit 32 to physically move it into its locking position. However, in an alternative embodiment, the operating unit 34 can also include electrical and / or electronic means, so that upon operation of the operating unit 34, the plug unit 32 will be transferred to its locking position by means of an actuator device.
[0040] For similar purposes, the lock unit 30 includes an actuation unit 36 for automatically transferring the plug unit 32 from its locked position to its released position so as to open the corresponding cabinet. The actuation unit may be, for example, an electrical linear actuator. In another embodiment, the actuation unit 36 may also be embodied by, for example, a preloaded mechanical spring and a controllable retaining element, so that when the retaining element is appropriately controlled, it is out of contact with the plug unit 32, and then the mechanical spring pushes the plug unit 32 into its released position.
[0041] In order to receive a release command issued by a user terminal 20, the lock unit 30 comprises in a similar manner a communication unit 38 and a control unit 40 equipped with a storage unit 42. The control unit 40 is operatively coupled to both the communication unit 38 and the actuation unit 36 and is adapted to verify any release command received by the communication unit 38. For this purpose, the control unit 40 may use different algorithms, such as decryption methods, and the verification of the release command may comprise checking whether a particular user terminal 20 currently has the authority to release the lock unit 30. Suitable configuration items may be stored in the storage unit 42 and may, for example, comprise a list of unique identifiers of user terminals 20 that have the authority to transfer the lock unit 30 to its released state.
[0042] Furthermore, the control unit 40 is adapted to store the state and / or usage data in the received release command in the storage unit 42, in order to further read it out and / or send it to the external server 50 by means of its communication unit 38. The external server 50 is similarly equipped with a communication unit 52 and can be adapted to track all the state and / or usage data of a plurality of lock units 30. The data collected in such a way can be stored for a given time span and any type of data analysis can be performed on it, for example in order to evaluate the usage pattern of the user terminal 20. Furthermore, the external server 50 can also be adapted to send configuration commands to the lock unit via the two communication units 52 and 38, in order to modify the configuration items stored in the storage unit 42 of the above-mentioned lock unit 30.
[0043] It should also be noted that the lock unit 30 is also equipped with a tamper sensor unit 44a, which is suitable for sounding an alarm when detecting that the lock unit 30 is forcibly removed from the cabinet; and another sensor unit 44b, which is suitable for checking whether the corresponding door of the relevant cabinet is currently in its closed position. It should also be noted that the system 10 comprising at least the user terminal 20 and the lock unit 30 together with the cabinet to which the lock unit 30 is mounted forms an assembly according to the present invention. Therein, the cabinet comprises at least one door, which is movable between an open position and a closed position and can be locked in its closed position by means of the lock unit 30. In such an assembly, the sensor unit 44b for determining whether the cabinet door is in its closed position can, for example, detect the proximity of a detection element arranged at a certain position on the housing of the cabinet in the closed position of the corresponding door.
[0044] Reference now Figure 2 Flow chart showing a method according to the present invention, which can be Figure 1 The system 10 shown is executed. At step S1, the method includes receiving a user input command at the interface unit 22 of the user terminal 20, wherein, for example, the user can select a lock unit 30 to be released from a list of lock units 30 on a touch screen of a smartphone serving as the user terminal 20.
[0045] Then, at step S2, the control unit 26 of the user terminal 20 creates a release command based on the user input, for example using a suitable encryption algorithm, in such a way that the release command includes the unique identifier of the user terminal 20 stored in its storage unit 28. At step S3, the release command thus created is sent by the communication unit 24 of the user terminal 20 to the lock unit 30.
[0046] At step S4, the release command is received at the communication unit 38 of the lock unit 30 and forwarded to the control unit 40 of the lock unit 30, which verifies the release command at step S5 based on the configuration items stored in its storage unit 42, for example as to whether the user terminal 20 currently has the authority to release the lock unit 30. For this purpose, a suitable decryption algorithm may be used and the unique identifier of the user terminal 20 may be extracted from the sent and received release commands.
[0047] In the event that the release command is actually verified in step S5, the method proceeds to step S6, in which the actuating unit 36 is controlled to transfer the plug unit 32 to its release position, and subsequently or simultaneously, in step S7, status and / or usage data regarding the received release command are stored and / or sent to the external server 50 by the control unit 40 of the lock unit 30.
[0048] On the other hand, if the verification of the release command fails in step S5, for example because the user terminal 20 that issued the release command does not currently have the authority to release the lock unit 30, the method proceeds to step S8, in which the received release command can be simply discarded, or a warning about an unauthorized attempt to release the lock unit 30 can be issued, for example, to the external server 50, which can also track such unsuccessful attempts to release the lock unit 30.
[0049] Respectively Figure 3 and Figure 4 as well as Figure 5 and Figure 6 In Figure 1 Two possible embodiments of the lock unit 30 of the corresponding housing 30a of the system 10 are shown in a locked configuration and a released configuration, respectively. The main difference between the two embodiments is that Figure 3 and Figure 4 A first embodiment of the present invention comprises a plug unit 32 adapted to be linearly movable between its respective locking position and release position, while Figure 5 and Figure 6 The second embodiment of the present invention comprises a plug unit 32 which is adapted for a rotational movement between two positions. Therefore, the corresponding components of the two lock units 30 which do not directly contribute to the movement of the respective plug unit 32, such as their communication unit 38 and control unit 40, can be constructed similarly and can be referred to above in Figure 1 The components are integrated on a corresponding circuit board 46, which may also include additional components such as the sensor units 44a and 44b described above, and it should also be noted that in Figure 3 and Figure 4In the drawing, a battery unit 46 can be seen, which supplies at least the actuation unit 36 , the control unit 40 and the communication unit 38 with power.
[0050] In both exemplary embodiments, the respective plug unit 32 is Figure 3 and Figure 5 Its locking position is transferred to Figure 4 and Figure 6 Its release position shown in the figure is driven by the actuating unit 36, while the operating unit 34 for manually transferring the plug unit 32 from its release position to its locking position is formed so that the user can directly press or rotate the plug unit 32 by means of a pushing surface provided on the plug unit 32 in the first embodiment or a knob connected to the plug unit 32 in the second embodiment.
[0051] It should also be pointed out at this point that Figure 3 and Figure 4 In FIG. 1 , two sliding doors 60 and 62 of the cabinet are shown, which are Figure 3 cannot slide relative to each other in a configuration where Figure 3 In the configuration of Figure 4 In the case of a plug unit 32 in its release position, one door can slide relative to the other. Figure 5 and Figure 6 The second embodiment of the plug unit is particularly suitable for locking and releasing a drawer in a corresponding cabinet.
Claims
1. A system comprising a lock unit for a cabinet and at least one portable user terminal, The at least one user terminal comprises: - an interface unit, which is used to receive input commands from users; - a communication unit for sending a release command to the locking unit at least wirelessly; as well as - a control unit operatively coupled to the interface unit, the communication unit and a storage unit, wherein the storage unit is adapted to store a unique identifier of the user terminal; wherein the control unit is adapted to create the release command based on the input command in such a way that the release command comprises the unique identifier: The lock unit comprises: - a plug unit adapted to be transferable between a release position and a locking position, wherein, in the release position, opening of the cabinet is enabled, and in the lock position, opening of the cabinet is prohibited, an operating unit adapted for manual operation by the user, the manual operation being adapted to transfer the plug unit from its release position to its locking position; - an actuation unit adapted to automatically transfer the plug unit from its locking position to its release position; - a communication unit, which is used to wirelessly receive the release command from the user terminal; and a control unit operatively coupled to the communication unit and to the actuation unit and adapted to verify a received release command and to control the actuation unit to transfer the plug unit to its release position after having verified the received release command; Therein, the control unit of the locking unit is further adapted to store status and / or usage data regarding received release commands and / or to send status and / or usage data to an external server by means of the communication unit of the locking unit.
2. The system according to claim 1, in, The operation unit is suitable for a pressing or rotating operation by the user.
3. The system according to claim 1, in, The control unit of the lock unit is further adapted to receive configuration commands by means of the communication unit of the lock unit.
4. The system according to claim 1, in, The control unit of the lock unit is further adapted to sound an alarm after the plug unit has been in its release position for a predetermined amount of time.
5. The system according to claim 1, in, The actuation unit can also transfer the plug unit from its release position into its locking position.
6. The system according to claim 5, in, The control unit of the lock unit is further adapted to automatically control the actuation unit to transfer the plug unit to its locked position after the plug unit has been in its released position for a predetermined amount of time.
7. The system according to claim 1, in, The transfer of the plug unit between its release position and locking position corresponds to a linear or rotational movement.
8. An assembly comprising a system according to claim 1 and a cabinet, the locking unit being mounted in the cabinet, wherein the cabinet comprises a door which is movable between an open position and a closed position and which can be locked in its closed position by means of the locking unit.
9. The assembly according to claim 8, in, The lock unit is further equipped with a tamper sensor unit adapted to sound an alarm upon detecting forced removal of the lock unit from the cabinet.
10. The assembly according to claim 8, Also included is a sensor unit for determining whether the door of the cabinet is in its closed position.
11. A method for operating a system according to claim 1, The following steps are involved: - receiving a user input command at the interface unit of the user terminal; - creating a release command at the control unit of the user terminal; -sending the release command by the communication unit of the user terminal; - receiving the release command at the communication unit of the lock unit; - verifying the release command at the control unit of the locking unit; - after verification of the release command, controlling the actuation unit to transfer the plug unit to its release position; - storing, by the control unit of the lock unit, status and / or usage data regarding received release commands and / or sending status and / or usage data to an external server.
12. The method according to claim 11, in, Creating the release command comprises an encryption step, and verifying the release command comprises a decryption step.
13. The method according to claim 11, The lock unit further comprises the following steps performed by the control unit of the lock unit: - configuring said verification step based on configuration commands received by means of said communication unit of said locking unit.
14. The method according to claim 11, in, The status and / or usage data include information about the user terminal sending the release command and / or the amount of time the plug unit has been in its release position.
15. A computer readable medium having stored thereon codes, which, when executed by the control unit of the user terminal and / or the control unit of the lock unit in the system according to claim 1, perform the method according to claim 11.