Method for locking / unlocking the doors of a motor vehicle

Abstract

A method implemented by a motor vehicle door locking / unlocking processor comprises the steps of: detecting (201) an event that may necessitate locking / unlocking the doors; displaying (205) an actionable button on a touchscreen in the motor vehicle's cockpit; detecting (207) that the actionable button is pressed; and activating (211) the corresponding locking / unlocking function. A motor vehicle door locking / unlocking system and a motor vehicle comprising the system are also described. Figure to be published with the abbreviation: Fig 2

Description

Title of the invention: Method for locking / unlocking the doors of a motor vehicle technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for locking / unlocking the doors of a motor vehicle, a computer program product, a system for locking / unlocking the doors of a motor vehicle and a motor vehicle comprising such a system. State of the art

[0002] The door locking / unlocking function is generic and is now present in all vehicles.

[0003] It allows the user, using a physical button, to lock or unlock their vehicle.

[0004] When the vehicle is locked: • From outside the vehicle, no one can open the doors. The driver and passengers inside the vehicle are safe. • From inside the vehicle, the driver and front passenger can still open the doors to exit the vehicle, and this fully unlocks the vehicle. For rear passengers, this will depend on whether or not the child safety locks are activated.

[0005] Furthermore, this function may have an automatic mode which automatically locks the doors when the vehicle is in motion.

[0006] One drawback of current embodiments of this function is that the physical button becomes indistinguishable from a set of other physical buttons in the cockpit. However, this function is often used in stressful situations or when rapid execution is required.

[0007] Among such situations, one can cite the case where, with the vehicle locked, a person outside in the rain tries to get in to take shelter. Another example of such a situation is when the vehicle is surrounded by unknown people whom the driver wishes to prevent from entering the vehicle.

[0008] However, in these situations, the button is often too small and difficult to find, which can cause a feeling of insecurity or frustration.

[0009] There is therefore a real need for a method and a system for locking / unlocking the doors of a motor vehicle which resolves all or part of the aforementioned disadvantages. Description of the invention

[0010] To overcome one or more of the aforementioned drawbacks, according to a first embodiment, a method implemented by a motor vehicle door locking / unlocking processor comprises the steps of: • detection of an event that may require locking / unlocking the doors; • display on a touch screen in the cockpit of the motor vehicle of an actionable button; • detection of a press on the actionable button; • activation of the corresponding lock / unlock function.

[0011] Thus, the user has access to a highly visible button to operate the vehicle doors, even if he is in a stressful or emergency situation.

[0012] Specific features or embodiments, usable alone or in combination, are: • the actionable button has a surface area greater than 25% of the surface area of ​​the touch screen; • the process further includes a preliminary step of manually adjusting the surface of the actuable button; • the detection of an event includes the detection of a person hitting the vehicle; • Detecting a person includes detecting the noise caused by the vehicle striking the object; and / or • Event detection depends on the initial lock / unlock state of the doors.

[0013] In a second embodiment, a computer program product includes program code instructions for implementing the above process when the program product is executed on a computer.

[0014] In a third embodiment, a locking / unlocking system for the doors of a motor vehicle comprises: • at least one suitable sensor to detect an event that may require locking / unlocking the doors; connected to • a touchscreen human-machine interface adapted to display an actionable button and detect when it is pressed; connected to • a suitable actuator to engage the corresponding locking / unlocking function.

[0015] In a fourth embodiment, a motor vehicle includes a system according to the third embodiment. Brief description of the figures

[0016] The invention will be better understood upon reading the following description, given solely by way of example, and with reference to the figures in the appendix in which: • [Fig. 1] represents a front view of a vehicle dashboard including a door locking / unlocking system according to one embodiment; and • [Fig.2] represents a flowchart of a locking process / unlocking the doors according to a specific embodiment. Methods of implementation

[0017] The embodiments presented below refer to a motor vehicle, a car. However, those skilled in the art understand that they are also applicable to other types of vehicles, such as vans, trucks, etc.

[0018] The terms "front", "rear", "top", "bottom", "transverse" are understood in relation to the vehicle.

[0019] With reference to [Fig. 1], a motor vehicle 101 includes a door locking / unlocking system comprising a touchscreen 103. This touchscreen 103 is, for example, a touchscreen located in the center of the dashboard so as to be accessible to the driver and the front passenger and which integrates the human-machine interfaces of a number of functions, such as comfort functions (heating, air conditioning, etc.), entertainment functions (sound system management, interface with mobile phones, etc.) and navigation. In particular, the touchscreen 103 may display an actuable button 104, that is to say, a graphic representing an area of ​​the screen such that, when the user touches the area of ​​the button, an action is triggered.

[0020] The system also includes actuators 105 at the doors for locking or unlocking the door locks.

[0021] The system further includes one or more sensors 107 adapted to detect an event that may require the locking / unlocking of the doors.

[0022] By event likely to require locking / unlocking the doors, we mean an event which is perceived by the driver or front passenger as requiring such action.

[0023] Such a situation might involve a person wishing to enter the vehicle on the passenger side and, to do so, knocking on the window of the corresponding door. The sensor 107 for detecting this situation includes, for example, a microphone to capture the sound of the knocking, or a vibration sensor that detects the vibration of the window when it is struck. The sensor 107 also includes an external camera to detect when a person is near the door.

[0024] Another situation may involve a large number of people surrounding the vehicle. The sensor 107 for detecting this situation then includes the vehicle's environment detection cameras, which are also used for driver assistance systems.

[0025] A third situation could involve detecting that the vehicle has been stationary for some time, with the driver inside and the doors unlocked. The vehicle could then offer to lock the doors.

[0026] A fourth situation may involve an attempt by rear passengers to open the doors while they are locked by the child safety lock. In this case, sensor 107 includes the detection of the door handle manipulation.

[0027] These few examples of situations are not limiting and other use cases can be developed.

[0028] From these examples, it becomes clear that a situation can trigger the process depending on the locked / unlocked state of the doors. For example, in the first situation, if the doors are unlocked, the person outside does not need to knock to enter the vehicle. Conversely, this implies taking into account the second situation.

[0029] The system components are connected to each other and to a controller 109 which coordinates and controls the system.

[0030] The controller 109 can, for example, be integrated into the vehicle control system 101 as an advanced driver-assistance system, commonly called ADAS (for "Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems"), which makes all driving decisions based on the environment and the programmed destination. The motor vehicle is then described as an autonomous vehicle. But it can also be a centralized vehicle management system that may or may not include driver assistance features.

[0031] Data transfer between the different elements is preferably carried out by a CAN (for "Controller Area Network") or LIN (for "Local Interconnect Network") type data bus.

[0032] The operation of the locking / unlocking system is as follows, [Fig.2].

[0033] At step 201, an event likely to require the locking / unlocking of the doors is detected by sensor 107, for example, one of the events listed above.

[0034] The controller 109 then decides, in step 203, to offer the user a locking / unlocking of the doors.

[0035] To do this, it orders the touch screen 103 to display, step 205, the actionable button 104.

[0036] The touch screen enters, step 207, the mode for detecting a press on button 104.

[0037] If the user does not press button 104, then, after a delay predetermined, the actionable button 104 disappears, step 209, and the touch screen displays other information, for example, a function selection menu.

[0038] If the user presses button 104, then controller 109 sends, step 211, a lock / unlock command for the doors to actuator 105.

[0039] Figure 1 illustrates a system according to certain embodiments. The breakdown presented is for pedagogical purposes to highlight the different functions. However, it is understood that each block can be implemented using different means or combinations thereof, such as hardware components, software, one or more computers, and / or electronic circuits. Each component may include at least one computer or a control unit. At least one memory may be included in each component. The memory may include computer program instructions or software code.

[0040] The calculators can be implemented by any type of data processing device, such as a central processing unit, a signal processing unit, a specific application integrated circuit, a programmable gate network, etc. The calculators can be implemented in the form of a single controller, or a plurality of controllers or calculators.

[0041] The different modules are connected to each other by data links adapted to the environment. These can be wired or wireless.

[0042] For the software, the implementation may comprise modules or units distributed in the form of procedures, functions, etc. The memories may be any type of storage circuit. They may be part of the processor circuit, or separate from it and connected via electrical data links. These may be non-volatile memories, hard drives, RAM, flash memory, etc.

[0043] The software product can be downloaded from a communication network and / or stored on a computer-readable medium. It can be directly executable by a processor or be in the form of a high-level language requiring one or more intermediate operations to be executable.

[0044] Thus, the program instructions stored in memory and processed by the computers can be any type of program code, for example, a compiled or interpreted program written in a suitable programming language.

[0045] The computer program instructions stored in memory are such that, when executed by the computer, the latter carries out one or more of the steps of the processes described above.

[0046] The invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and the preceding description. This description is to be considered illustrative and given by way of example and not as limiting the invention to this single description. Numerous embodiments are possible.

[0047] In a first embodiment, the size of the actionable button 104 is chosen so that it is clearly visible to the user. For this reason, its surface area is preferably greater than 25% of the touchscreen area. In other words, the actionable button covers at least a quarter of the touchscreen area.

[0048] In a second variant, this surface and the positioning of the actionable button are set by the user in a preliminary step, for example at the beginning of the use of the vehicle.

Claims

Demands

1. A method implemented by a motor vehicle door locking / unlocking processor comprising the steps of: • detecting (201) an event likely to require locking / unlocking the doors; • displaying (205) on a touch screen in the motor vehicle cockpit an actionable button; • detecting (207) a press on the actionable button; • engaging (211) the corresponding locking / unlocking function.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the actuable button has a surface area greater than 25% of the surface area of ​​the touch screen.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a preliminary step of manually adjusting the surface of the actuable button.

4. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the detection of an event includes the detection of a person hitting the vehicle.

5. Method according to claim 4, wherein the detection of a person includes the detection of the noise caused by the impact of the vehicle.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the detection of the event depends on the initial locking / unlocking state of the doors.

7. Computer program product characterized in that it includes program code instructions for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 when the program product is executed on a computer.

8. A motor vehicle door locking / unlocking system comprising: • at least one sensor (107) adapted to detect an event likely to necessitate locking / unlocking the doors; connected to

9. • a touchscreen (103) human-machine interface adapted to display an actuable button (104) and detect when it is pressed; connected to • an actuator (105) adapted to engage the corresponding locking / unlocking function. Motor vehicle comprising a system according to claim 8.

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