Vehicle Door Lock Control After Emergency Evacuation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

After emergency evacuation from a vehicle, the vehicle is left unattended at an accident site, making it vulnerable to theft.

Innovation Solution

A vehicle control system that includes a processor and a storage medium to execute commands for a key lock-out prevention process and a vehicle protection process. The key lock-out prevention process keeps the door unlocked if the key is inside the vehicle, while the vehicle protection process locks the door if no occupant is detected inside and the key is present after an automatic stop.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the key lock-out prevention process is executed to keep the door unlocked when the key is inside the vehicle, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability is worsened because the vehicle becomes vulnerable to theft after emergency evacuation

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of door accessVSAvoidvehicle security
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The lock mechanism dynamically changes its state based on detected conditions. The system transitions between unlocked and locked states depending on whether an occupant is detected inside the vehicle after automatic stop, allowing the door to be easily accessible when needed while securing the vehicle when abandoned

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses feedback from the occupant detection device to determine the appropriate lock state. When the detection device determines no occupant is present after automatic stop, the system receives this feedback and activates the locked state, preventing theft while maintaining ease of access when occupants are present

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If the vehicle protection process locks the door after automatic stop when no occupant is detected, then the vehicle security is improved, but the ease of operation is worsened because the key may be locked inside the vehicle

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevehicle securityVSAvoidease of door access
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary detection of occupant presence before executing the locking action. The occupant detection device checks whether anyone is inside the vehicle before the lock mechanism is activated, preventing the harmful effect of locking the key inside while still securing the vehicle when safe to do so

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS12280661B2Vehicle control system
Publication Date: 2025.04.22 SUBARU CORP
  • US12280661B2 patent drawing
  • US12280661B2 patent drawing
  • US12280661B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A vehicle control system includes at least one processor and a storage medium configured to store a program to be executed by the at least one processor. The program includes at least one command. The at least one command causes the at least one processor to execute a key lock-out prevention process of controlling a lock mechanism of a door of a vehicle into an unlocked state in a case where a key that operates the lock mechanism is positioned inside the vehicle, and a vehicle protection process of controlling the lock mechanism into a locked state without executing the key lock-out prevention process in a case where, after automatic stop of the vehicle, an occupant present inside the vehicle is not detected and the key is positioned inside the vehicle.