Patent ID: 7061367
Filing Date: 2006-06-13
Classification: B60R,E05B,G07C,G07F,H04W,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A key management system for controlling access to vehicle keys, comprising: a key set that includes a vehicle key to a particular vehicle and a key tag associated with the vehicle key, the key tag having an electronically readable identifier stored thereon and an electrical contact portion; a key container that can be located on or near the vehicle, the key container having a key set storage area secured by an electronic lock, the key container operable to detect the key set when the key set is properly stored in the key set storage area; and an open architecture electronic access device carried by a user to access the key container, the access device having a memory that is updated with at least the identifier of the key tag when the key container is successfully accessed and the key set is removed from the key set storage area; wherein the access device is programmed to expire periodically, and wherein information stored in the memory of an expired access device is automatically uploaded to a database.