JP2011202392A - Portable unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable unit improvable in versatility.SOLUTION: In this portable unit, signals output from first to third operating switches SW1-SW3 when the respective operating switches are operated, are incorporated into a portable unit control device 14 through first to third input terminals 14a-14c. The portable unit control device 14 carries out processing for transmitting various command signals from a transmitting device 11 based on the output signals of the respective operating switches. In the portable unit control device 14, operating switch information indicating whether the first to third operating switches SW1-SW3 are respectively invalid or valid is stored in an EEPROM 14d. The portable unit control device 14 monitors the input of a signal to an input terminal corresponding to the valid operating switch without monitoring the input of a signal to an input terminal corresponding to the invalid operating switch based on the operating switch information.

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable device for remotely operating a communication target.

  As one of wireless communication systems mounted on a vehicle, a system that can remotely control an in-vehicle device using a portable device is well known. In this wireless communication system, when a user operates an operation button provided on a portable device, various command signals are transmitted from the portable device to the vehicle. In the vehicle, when the command signal transmitted from the portable device is received, the vehicle-mounted device is driven based on the command content. According to such a wireless communication system, since the user can drive the in-vehicle device only by operating the portable device, convenience for vehicle operation is greatly improved.

  On the other hand, in such a wireless communication system, in general, the type and number of in-vehicle devices that can be remotely operated by a portable device differ depending on the vehicle type. For this reason, the portable device is provided with the types and number of operation buttons corresponding to the vehicle type. Conventionally, as such portable devices, for example, portable devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are known, respectively.

  Here, the portable device described in Patent Literature 1 is provided with two operation buttons, a lock button for locking the vehicle door and an unlock button for unlocking the vehicle door. In this portable device, when the lock button is operated, a lock command signal is transmitted to the vehicle, and when the unlock button is operated, an unlock command signal is transmitted to the vehicle. Incidentally, when receiving these command signals, the vehicle locks or unlocks the door lock mechanism provided in the vehicle door.

  On the other hand, in the portable device described in Patent Document 2, in addition to the lock button and the unlock button, three operation buttons, a PBD button for opening and closing a power back door (PBD) of the vehicle, are provided. In this portable device, when the PBD button is operated, a PBD opening / closing command signal is transmitted to the vehicle. Incidentally, when the vehicle receives this PBD opening / closing command signal, it drives the PBD motor to open / close the power back door.

JP 2005-264462 A JP 2007-285093 A

  By the way, in such a portable device, generally, a plurality of operation switches that are turned on in accordance with the operation of each operation button, and a process of transmitting the various command signals based on the output signals of the respective operation switches are executed. And a control device (ECU). Here, the control device is provided with the same number of input terminals as the operation switches in order to capture the output signals of the operation switches. Therefore, since a portable device having two operation buttons such as the portable device described in Patent Document 1 is normally provided with two operation switches, a control device having two input terminals is required. On the other hand, since a portable device having three operation buttons such as the portable device described in Patent Document 2 is usually provided with three operation switches, a control device having three input terminals is required. That is, in the portable device, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of types of control devices having different numbers of input terminals. For this reason, there is a concern that management of the product number of the control device becomes complicated or its cost increases.

  Such a problem is not limited to a portable device for remotely operating an in-vehicle device, but is communicated by wireless communication such as a portable device for remotely operating a lock device for locking / unlocking a front door of a house. This is a problem common to portable devices for remotely controlling an object.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a situation, The objective is to provide the portable device which can improve versatility.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 takes in the signals output from the respective operation switches when the plurality of operation switches are respectively operated through the plurality of input terminals, and In a portable device that has a control device for performing a process of wirelessly transmitting a command signal from a transmission unit based on an output signal of each operation switch input to an input terminal, and remotely controls a communication target using the command signal, The control device includes storage means for storing operation switch information indicating whether each of the plurality of operation switches is invalid or valid, and the control device supports invalid operation switches based on the operation switch information. The gist is to monitor the input of a signal to the input terminal corresponding to an effective operation switch without monitoring the input of the signal to the input terminal.

  According to this configuration, by changing the content of the operation switch information stored in the storage means, the control device can variably set the number of input terminals for monitoring signal input. The number of operation switches can be changed while using. For this reason, the versatility of a portable device can be improved.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the portable device according to the first aspect, the portable device includes receiving means for receiving a radio signal transmitted from an external device different from the portable device, and the control device includes the control device, The gist is to change the operation switch information based on a radio signal transmitted from an external device.

According to this configuration, the contents of the operation switch information can be changed simply by transmitting a radio signal from the external device, so that the contents can be easily changed.
The gist of the invention described in claim 3 is that in the portable device described in claim 1 or 2, the operation switch information stored in the storage means is information that can be changed only once. .

  In such a portable device, if the contents of the operation switch information are changed due to some abnormality, for example, there is a possibility that the operation switch that is set to be valid is set to be invalid. In this case, since the control device does not monitor the input of the signal to the input terminal corresponding to the invalid operation switch, even if the user operates the invalid operation switch, The signal is not transmitted. For this reason, there is a possibility that inconveniences such as being unable to remotely operate the communication target may occur. In this respect, according to the above configuration, since the contents of the operation switch information are once changed, the contents cannot be changed, so that such inconvenience can be solved. For this reason, the reliability of the portable device can be ensured accurately.

  According to the portable device according to the present invention, versatility can be improved.

The block diagram which shows the system configuration | structure of the radio | wireless communications system of the vehicle using the portable device about one Embodiment of the portable device concerning this invention. (A), (b) is a figure which each shows typically the content of the operation switch information memorize | stored in the EEPROM about the portable device of the embodiment. The block diagram for demonstrating the method to memorize | store operation switch information in the EEPROM about the portable device of the embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a portable device according to the present invention is applied to a portable device used in a wireless communication system of a vehicle will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a vehicle radio communication system. First, the configuration and operation of the radio communication system will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, in this wireless communication system, various types of communication control by wireless communication are executed between a portable device 10 possessed by a user and an in-vehicle device 20 mounted on the vehicle.
Here, the portable device 10 is provided with a transmission device 11 as a transmission means for wirelessly transmitting various command signals to the in-vehicle device 20, and reception for receiving a wireless signal transmitted from an external device (not shown). A receiving device 12 is provided as means. In addition, the portable device 10 has three operations including an LED 13 for notifying that when various command signals are transmitted, a lock button B1, an unlock button B2, and a power back door (PBD) button B3. First to third operation switches SW <b> 1 to SW <b> 3 that are turned on in accordance with a button pressing operation are provided. The output signals of the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3 are taken into the portable device control device (ECU) 14 via the first to third input terminals 14a to 14c, respectively. The portable device control device 14 includes a microcomputer having an EEPROM (Electric EPROM) 14d and the like, and receives various command signals from the transmission device 11 based on output signals of the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3. It is a part which performs the process which transmits. In addition, the portable device control device 14 is a portion that performs lighting control of the LED 13 or processes a radio signal received through the receiving device 12.

  On the other hand, the in-vehicle device 20 is provided with a receiving device 21 for receiving various command signals transmitted from the portable device 10. And the process of the various command signals received via this receiver 21 is performed by the vehicle control apparatus 22 comprised centering on the microcomputer. Moreover, this vehicle control apparatus 22 is also a part which controls the controlled objects 23, such as the door lock mechanism mentioned above, a PBD motor, etc., for example.

  In the wireless communication system configured as described above, if the user presses the operation buttons B1 to B3 of the portable device 10, the portable device 10 and the in-vehicle device 20 are operated in the following manner. Command signals are exchanged. That is, in this system, when any one of the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3 is turned on in accordance with the pressing operation of each operation button B1 to B3, a signal indicating that is sent to the first to third input terminals. It inputs into the portable device control apparatus 14 via 14a-14c. At this time, the portable device control device 14 executes the processes shown in the following (a1) to (a3).

  (A1) When a signal indicating that the first operation switch SW1 is turned on is input to the first input terminal 14a. In this case, the lock command signal is generated and transmitted to the transmission device 11, thereby transmitting the lock command signal to the in-vehicle device 20.

  (A2) A signal indicating that the second operation switch SW2 is turned on is input to the second input terminal 14b. In this case, an unlock command signal is generated and transmitted to the transmission device 11, thereby transmitting the unlock command signal to the in-vehicle device 20.

  (A3) When a signal indicating that the third operation switch SW3 is turned on is input to the third input terminal 14c. In this case, a PBD opening / closing command signal is generated and transmitted to the transmission device 11, thereby transmitting the PBD opening / closing command signal to the in-vehicle device 20.

The portable device control device 14 notifies the user that the command signal has been transmitted by turning on the LED 13 when transmitting these various command signals.
When the various command signals are transmitted in this way, the receiving device 21 receives them and transmits the received command signals to the vehicle control device 22. Based on the content of the received command signal, the vehicle control device 22 locks / unlocks the vehicle door by the door lock mechanism that is the control target 23 or drives the PBD motor to drive the power back door of the vehicle. Open and close.

  By the way, in such a wireless communication system, since the number and type of operation buttons provided on the portable device differ depending on the vehicle type, the number of operation switches also differs for each portable device. Specifically, the portable device having only the lock button B1 and the unlock button B2 is provided with only the first and second operation switches SW1 and SW2, whereas the three operation buttons B1 to B1 are provided. All the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3 are provided in the portable device having all B3. For this reason, a portable device control device having two input terminals is required for the former portable device, whereas a portable device having three input terminals is provided for the latter portable device. A machine control device is required. For this reason, there is a concern that the management of the product number of the portable device control device becomes complicated or the cost thereof increases.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, first, the EEPROM 14d described above is information indicating whether the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3 provided in the portable device 10 are invalid or valid, respectively. To remember. Moreover, the portable device control device 14 does not monitor the input of the signal to the input terminal corresponding to the invalid operation switch based on the operation switch information, and does not monitor the signal to the input terminal corresponding to the valid operation switch. Monitor input. Thereby, if the contents of the operation switch information are changed, the number of input terminals monitored by the portable device control device 14 can be variably set.

Next, the contents of the operation switch information stored in the EEPROM 14d will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B and as described above, the operation switch information stored in the EEPROM 14d is invalid for the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3. Or whether it is valid. The operation switch information is, for example, 1-bit information, and indicates that it is invalid with a logical “0” bit and that it is valid with a logical “1” bit.

  Here, the operation switch information includes, for example, the contents of the specification A shown in FIG. 2A, that is, the first and second operation switches SW1 and SW2 are valid, and the third operation switch SW3 is invalid. It is assumed that the content indicates that. At this time, the portable device control device 14 monitors input of signals to the input terminals corresponding to the first and second operation switches SW1 and SW2, that is, the first and second input terminals 14a and 14b. Therefore, if the portable device control device 14 storing the operation switch information of the specification A is mounted on the portable device 10 together with the first and second operation switches SW1 and SW2, the lock button B1 and the unlock button B2 are provided. The portable device 10 can be realized. Incidentally, since the portable device control device 14 does not monitor the input of the signal to the input terminal corresponding to the third operation switch SW3, that is, the third input terminal 14c, for example, noise or the like is applied to the third input terminal 14c. Even if it is input, the input noise is not mistaken for the output signal of the third operation switch SW3. For this reason, it is possible to prevent malfunctions of the portable device control device 14 due to noise, specifically, malfunctions such as transmitting the PBD opening / closing command signal or turning on the LED 13.

  On the other hand, it is assumed that the operation switch information is, for example, the content of the specification B shown in FIG. 2B, that is, the content indicating that all of the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3 are valid. At this time, the portable device control device 14 monitors input of signals to the input terminals corresponding to the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3, that is, the first to third input terminals 14a to 14c. Therefore, if the portable device control device 14 storing the operation switch information of the specification B is mounted on the portable device 10 together with the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3, all the three operation buttons B1 to B3 are provided. The portable device 10 provided can be realized.

  According to such a configuration, by appropriately changing the content of the operation switch information, the portable device control device 14 can change the number of input terminals for monitoring signal input. Thus, for example, the number of operation switches can be set to one, or the number of operation switches can be set to two. For this reason, the versatility of a portable device can be improved.

  By the way, in such a portable device 10, if the contents of the operation switch information may be changed due to some abnormality, for example, the operation switch that is set to be effective may be set to be invalid. . Specifically, in the operation switch information of the specification B exemplified in FIG. 2B, the state of the first operation switch SW1 may be changed from valid to invalid. In this case, since the portable device control device 14 does not monitor the input of the signal to the first input terminal 14a, the lock signal is transmitted from the portable device 10 even if the user operates the first operation switch SW1. Disappear. For this reason, there exists a possibility that inconveniences, such as being unable to lock a vehicle door, will arise.

  In this respect, in the present embodiment, since the operation switch information is stored in the EEPROM 14d, only the operation switch information can be read in the normal time. Therefore, a situation in which the content of the operation switch information is changed due to some abnormality can be avoided, so that the above-described inconvenience can be solved, and as a result, the reliability of the portable device 10 can be ensured accurately. It becomes like this.

  Next, a method for storing operation switch information in the EEPROM 14d will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the portable device 10A includes the first and second operation switches SW1 and SW2, and the portable device 10B includes all the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3. It is to be prepared. Further, operation switch information indicating that all of the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3 are invalid is stored as initial information in the EEPROM 14d of each of the portable devices 10A and 10B.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, after the assembly of the portable devices 10A and 10B is completed in the manufacturing process, wireless communication including operation switch information from an external device 30 different from the portable devices 10A and 10B. Send a signal. At this time, a radio signal including the operation switch information of the specification A illustrated in FIG. 2A is transmitted to the portable device 10A provided with the first and second operation switches SW1 and SW2. On the other hand, a wireless signal including the operation switch information of the specification B illustrated in FIG. 2B is transmitted to the portable device 10B provided with the first to third operation switches SW1 to SW3. Thereby, in each of the portable devices 10A and 10B, when the wireless signal transmitted from the external device 30 is received via the receiving device 12, the wireless signal is transmitted to the portable device control device 14. Then, the portable device control device 14 rewrites the contents of the operation switch information stored in the EEPROM 14d based on the operation switch information included in the wireless signal.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to change the contents of the operation switch information stored in the EEPROM 14d simply by transmitting a radio signal from the external device 30, so that the contents can be easily changed. Become.

As described above, according to the portable device according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Based on the operation switch information, the portable device control device 14 does not monitor the input of the signal to the input terminal corresponding to the invalid operation switch, and does not monitor the signal to the input terminal corresponding to the valid operation switch. The input was monitored. Accordingly, if the content of the operation switch information is changed, the number of input terminals for monitoring the signal input by the portable device control device 14 can be variably set. The number can be set to one, or the number of operation switches can be set to two. For this reason, the versatility of a portable device can be improved. Further, since the portable device control device 14 does not monitor the input of a signal to the input terminal corresponding to the invalid operation switch, it is possible to prevent malfunction of the portable device control device 14 due to noise. It becomes like this.

  (2) The operation switch information is stored in the EEPROM 14d. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the content of the operation switch information is changed due to some abnormality, so that it is possible to eliminate inconveniences such as being unable to remotely operate the communication target by the portable device 10, As a result, the reliability of the portable device 10 can be ensured accurately.

  (3) The operation switch information stored in the EEPROM 14d is changed by transmitting a radio signal from the external device 30 to the portable device 10. As a result, the contents of the operation switch information can be easily changed.

In addition, the said embodiment can also be implemented with the following forms which changed this suitably.
In the above embodiment, the EEPROM 14d is used as the storage means for storing the operation switch information. However, for example, a flash memory or an OTPROM (One Time Programmable ROM) may be used. Incidentally, if an OTPROM capable of writing data only once is used, the operation switch information cannot be changed after the operation switch information is once changed from the initial information. For this reason, inconveniences such as being unable to remotely control the communication target by the above-described portable device 10 can be preferably solved, and as a result, the reliability of the portable device 10 can be ensured accurately.

  In the above embodiment, the operation switch information is changed by transmitting a radio signal from the external device 30 to the portable device 10. For example, a terminal for directly connecting the external device to the portable device 10 is provided. Thus, the operation switch information may be changed by operating an external device connected to this terminal.

  -In above-mentioned embodiment, although the three input terminals 14a-14c were provided in the portable device control apparatus 14, for example, two input terminals may be provided or four or more input terminals may be provided. If the number of input terminals of the portable device control device 14 is increased, it is possible to deal with a portable device having a large number of operation switches, that is, a portable device having a large number of operation buttons, thereby further improving the versatility of the portable device. Will be able to.

  In the above-described embodiment, the portable device according to the present invention is applied to a portable device including three operation buttons including the lock button B1, the unlock button B2, and the PBD button B3. For example, a power slide door (PSD) opening / closing button It can also be applied to a portable device having a panic button.

In the above embodiment, the portable device according to the present invention is applied to a portable device for remotely operating the in-vehicle device 20, but instead of this, for example, a lock device that locks / unlocks the entrance door of a house is used. It is also possible to apply to a portable device for remote operation. In short, any portable device that remotely controls a communication target by wirelessly transmitting a command signal may be used.
(Appendix)
Next, a technical idea that can be grasped from the above embodiment and its modifications will be additionally described.

  (A) The portable device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the storage means is an EEPROM. If the EEPROM is used as the storage means as in the same configuration, it is possible to read only the operation switch information in the normal state, thus avoiding a situation where the content of the operation switch information is changed due to some abnormality. Will be able to. For this reason, even if the user operates the operation switch, the inconvenience such as being unable to remotely control the communication target can be solved, so that the reliability of the portable device can be ensured accurately. Become.

  (B) The portable device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and appendix i, wherein the communication target is an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle. In such a portable device, when the communication target is an in-vehicle device, the number of operation switches is often different depending on the vehicle type. Therefore, it is significant that such a portable device adopts the configuration of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3 and appendix i.

  B1 ... Lock button, B2 ... Unlock button, B3 ... PBD button, SW1-SW3 ... First to third operation switches 10, 10A, 10B ... Portable device, 11 ... Transmission device, 12 ... Reception device, 13 ... LED, 14 ... portable device control device, 14a to 14c ... first to third input terminals, 14d ... EEPROM, 20 ... in-vehicle device, 21 ... receiving device, 22 ... vehicle control device, 23 ... controlled object, 30 ... external machine.

Claims (3)

When a plurality of operation switches are operated, the signals output from the operation switches are separately captured through the plurality of input terminals, and transmitted based on the output signals of the operation switches input to the input terminals. In a portable device having a control device that executes processing for wirelessly transmitting a command signal from the means, and remotely operating a communication target by the command signal
The control device includes storage means for storing operation switch information indicating whether each of the plurality of operation switches is invalid or valid, and the control device supports invalid operation switches based on the operation switch information. A portable device characterized by monitoring a signal input to an input terminal corresponding to an effective operation switch without monitoring a signal input to the input terminal. The portable device according to claim 1,
Receiving means for receiving a radio signal transmitted from an external device different from the portable device is provided, and the control device changes the operation switch information based on the radio signal transmitted from the external device. A portable device characterized by that. The portable device according to claim 1, wherein the operation switch information stored in the storage unit is information that can be changed only once.

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