Vehicle Door Lock Control for Safe Exit in Abnormal Stops

Solution Overview

Problem

In autonomously driven vehicles, when sensors malfunction, the vehicle enters an abnormal state, posing safety risks as users may exit without confirming surroundings, leading to potential accidents.

Innovation Solution

A control device with a door lock control mechanism that maintains doors locked during normal operation and abnormal states, unlocking only when it is safe for users to exit, determined by safety determination based on position and surrounding information.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the door is automatically unlocked when the vehicle stops in an abnormal state, then the user can quickly exit the vehicle, but the user may exit into hazardous situations without confirming safety

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of exitVSAvoidsafety risk

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by making different doors have different lock states based on their individual safety assessments. The door lock control unit determines safety for each door separately based on surrounding information, and unlocks only those doors that are safe to exit through, while keeping unsafe doors locked. This resolves the contradiction by providing easy exit through safe doors while preventing exit through hazardous doors.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary safety determination mechanism between the abnormal state detection and door unlocking. The door lock control unit acts as an intermediary that receives the abnormal state signal, assesses surrounding safety conditions, and then selectively unlocks doors based on this intermediate safety evaluation. This intermediary step ensures that automatic unlocking only occurs when safe, resolving the contradiction between quick exit and safety.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If the door remains locked when the vehicle stops in an abnormal state, then user safety is protected, but the user cannot exit the vehicle

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesafety protectionVSAvoidease of exit

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by making different doors have different lock states based on their individual safety assessments. The door lock control unit determines safety for each door separately based on surrounding information, and unlocks only those doors that are safe to exit through, while keeping unsafe doors locked. This resolves the contradiction by providing easy exit through safe doors while preventing exit through hazardous doors.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies dynamics by making the door lock state changeable based on real-time safety conditions. Instead of a fixed locked or unlocked state, the system dynamically adjusts the lock state of each door based on the assessed safety of exiting through that door. This dynamic adjustment allows the system to provide both safety protection and ease of exit depending on the specific conditions for each door.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Reliability

If the vehicle stops in an abnormal state, then autonomous driving control is compromised, but the user can exit the vehicle to address the issue

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveautonomous driving reliabilityVSAvoiduser accessibility

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an intermediary safety determination mechanism between the abnormal state detection and door unlocking. The door lock control unit acts as an intermediary that receives the abnormal state signal, assesses surrounding safety conditions, and then selectively unlocks doors based on this intermediate safety evaluation. This intermediary step ensures that automatic unlocking only occurs when safe, resolving the contradiction between quick exit and safety.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS11386724B2Control device, a control method, and a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a control program of a door lock of a vehicle

Publication Date: 2022.07.12 TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK

AI summary

The control device of a vehicle configured to: control a door lock mechanism locking a door of the vehicle; make the vehicle stop when the vehicle is in a specific abnormal state; and determine if it is safe for a user of the vehicle to get off the vehicle from each door of the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped when the vehicle is in the specific abnormal state, wherein the control device controls the door lock mechanism such that a door is maintained in a locked state while the vehicle is being driven and while the vehicle is stopped when the vehicle is not in the specific abnormal state, unlocks the door determined to be safe to get off by the door lock mechanism, and does not unlock the door determined to not be safe to get off when the vehicle is stopped when entering the specific abnormal state.