Patent Application
20080061930
Pursuant to the method of the present invention, inserting the correct key into a slot in the vehicle (preferably on the interior side of the vehicle door) authenticates to the vehicle ignition system that a valid driver has entered the vehicle and temporarily activates a mechanism that will allow the vehicle to start. The activation of the mechanism itself does not actually start the engine of the automobile but will enable another auxiliary means to subsequently actually start the engine of the automobile. The driver may immediately remove the key from the slot and put it into his pocket or bag while still in an upright position with comfortable access to the pant or shirt pocket or a bag. The driver then manually presses or rotates a start button (on the dashboard or panel) in order to turn on the ignition, whereby upon intending to exit the vehicle, the user turns the ignition off by pressing or rotating a stop button, and in which the start and stop button could be a single combined-operating button. The time interval for which the activation mechanism is valid, i.e., the maximum duration between inserting the key into the slot and being able to start the automobile engine by just pressing the start button is programmable through an interface in the automobile or a computer. The user would put the key in the slot in the automobile and navigate a menu on the dashboard to adjust the time period. In other cases the key may be attached to an adapter that connects to a computer that exposes program to the user to adjust this time interval and updates the key. Some drivers may choose small time windows such as 30 seconds. Others may choose larger time windows spanning several minutes. In some instances, the driver may want to drive from a first location A to a second location B, turn off the ignition and stay inside the vehicle and then start the ignition again and travel to a third location C. Hereby, it may be inconvenient to retrieve the key from the pocket or purse at location C just in order to start the vehicle again. In that event, it is simple to be able to implement the following: 1) If the driver's side door has not been opened since the vehicle entered the all-off state, i.e., shut-down of the ignition, the driver is permitted to start the vehicle by simply activating the start/stop button, which was used to turn off the vehicle; 2) If the driver's door has been opened (presumably the driver is getting out of the vehicle), the start/stop button is disabled inside the vehicle; or 3) Alternatively, for added safety, the user may have to authenticate the ignition system again by reinserting the key into the slot on the door or panel, if any door of the vehicle has been opened.
The automobile doors are automatically locked when the automobile is put into a gear that will allow motion. No means are provided to manually lock the automobile doors from outside without the key. Passengers inside the automobile may manually unlock the doors or manually lock the doors at all times from the interior of the automobile. However, as soon as a door is opened the mechanism to manually lock the door is disabled and then restored only when the door is shut. The overall purpose of this mechanism is to prevent the driver from getting out of the car and locking the automobile doors while the key is inside the automobile while providing the means to lock and unlock the automobile door to the driver and passengers while they are inside the automobile.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in forms and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the present invention not be limited to the exact forms and details described and illustrated, but to fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
