Abstract:
A control device is provided for activating and deactivating a child safety lock function of rear doors of a motor vehicle. The control device includes a safety lock device connected to rear inside door handles of the rear doors. The control device also includes a central control unit for controlling the safety lock device between a first operating position that defines a normal operating mode, in which the safety lock device allows the rear doors to be opened using both the rear inside door handles and the rear outside door handles, and a second operating position that defines a safety lock mode, in which the safety lock device does not allow the rear doors to be opened using the rear inside door handles. A selector device is included for manually selecting between the normal operating mode and the safety lock mode. A temporary consent button is included for manually activating a temporary consent function, which temporarily deactivates the safety lock mode, thereby temporarily reactivating the normal operating mode.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to and all the benefits of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/653,460, filed on Feb. 16, 2005 and entitled “Control Method And Device For Activating And Deactivating The Child Safety Lock Function Of Vehicle Doors.” 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a control method and device for activating and deactivating a child safety lock function of motor vehicle doors. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     As is known in the art, rear doors of motor vehicles are frequently equipped with safety lock devices to prevent the doors from being opened accidentally by operating the inside door handles when the motor vehicle is moving. Known safety lock devices may be mechanical or electrical and, in the latest embodiments, can be activated and/or deactivated manually by means of a control button usually located on the dashboard. When the button is pressed, the safety lock device is activated to lock the rear doors, which, since the inside handles are deactivated, can then only be opened using the outside handles. To open the doors from inside the vehicle, the control button must be pressed again to deactivate the safety lock device. 
     Given the above operating principle, use of and, consequently, the degree of safety of children transported in motor vehicles equipped with known safety lock devices therefore depend entirely on the driver or one of the passengers, who, when necessary, must always activate and/or deactivate the safety lock device manually using the control button. The effectiveness of this type of safety lock device therefore depends on the attentiveness of the driver/passenger of the motor vehicle, who may possibly neglect to activate/reactivate it, e.g. in the event the safety lock device has been deactivated to allow a passenger to open one of the rear doors. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a control method and device for activating and deactivating a child safety lock function of motor vehicle doors to improve the degree of safety afforded by such devices. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect of the invention, a control device is provided for activating and deactivating a child safety lock function of rear doors of a motor vehicle. The control device includes a safety lock device connected to rear inside door handles of the rear doors. The control device also includes a central control unit for controlling the safety lock device between a first operating position that defines a normal operating mode, in which the safety lock device allows the rear doors to be opened using both the rear inside door handles and the rear outside door handles, and a second operating position that defines a safety lock mode, in which the safety lock device does not allow the rear doors to be opened using the rear inside door handles. A selector device is included for manually selecting between the normal operating mode and the safety lock mode. A temporary consent button is included for manually activating a temporary consent function, which temporarily deactivates the safety lock mode, thereby temporarily reactivating the normal operating mode. 
     According to another aspect of the invention there is provided, a method of activating and deactivating a child safety lock function of rear doors of a motor vehicle utilizes a safety lock device controllable between a first operating position, establishing a normal operating mode, in which the rear doors can be opened using rear inside door handles and rear outside door handles, and a second operating position, establishing a safety lock mode, in which the rear doors cannot be opened using the rear inside door handles. The method of activating and deactivating the child safety lock function includes the steps of: controlling the safety lock device between the normal operating mode and the safety lock mode; and temporarily deactivating the safety lock mode, thereby temporarily reactivating the normal operating mode. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  shows a motor vehicle featuring a child safety lock function control device in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 2  shows steps in the method according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the preferred embodiment of the invention includes a motor vehicle, generally shown at  1 . The motor vehicle  1  includes a pair of front doors  10  having front inside door handles  30  and front outside door handles  40  for opening the front doors  10  from inside and outside the motor vehicle  1  respectively. The motor vehicle  1  also includes a pair of rear doors  20  having rear inside door handles  50  and rear outside door handles  60  for opening the rear doors  20  from inside and outside the motor vehicle  1  respectively. 
     A control device, generally shown at  70 , is provided to activate and deactivate a child lock safety lock function of the rear doors  20 , wherein an electronic central control unit  75  controls a safety lock device  80  connected to the rear inside door handles  50  and provides for two operating modes. The first mode is a normal operating mode, in which the safety lock device  80  is set to a first operating position and the rear doors  20  can be opened using both the rear inside door handles  50  and the rear outside door handles  60 . And the second mode is a safety lock mode, in which the safety lock device  80  is set to a second operating position and the rear doors  20  can only be opened using the rear outside door handles  60 . In the safety lock mode, any attempt to open the rear doors  20  using the rear inside door handles  50  has no effect. The normal operating mode or the safety lock mode is selected by manually operating a selector device  90  connected to the central control unit  75 . 
     An important aspect of the present invention is the provision of a temporary consent function, which can be activated manually by means of a temporary consent button  95  to temporarily deactivate the safety lock mode, if this has been selected. The temporary consent function is ineffective in the normal operating mode. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the flow chart shows the operation of the control device  70 . As stated, the control device  70  only acts on the rear doors  20  of the motor vehicle  1 , which means the front doors  10  of the motor vehicle  1  can always be opened using the front inside door handles  30 , regardless of which mode is selected. The initial conditions of block  100  are the rear doors  20  of the motor vehicle  1  are closed, and the normal operating mode is effective. In the normal operating mode, the rear doors  20  can be opened using both the rear inside door handles  50  and the rear outside door handles  60 . Operation of any one of the rear inside or rear outside door handles  50 ,  60  opens the respective rear door  20 . 
     Block  100  is followed by block  105 , which determines whether the selector device  90  has been operated. If the selector device  90  has not been operated (NO output of block  105 ), block  105  goes back to block  100 . Specifically, if none of the rear inside or rear outside door handles  50 ,  60  are operated to open the rear doors  20 , and the selector device  90  is not set to safety lock mode (NO output of block  105 ), the initial conditions of block  100  are unchanged. 
     Conversely, if the selector device  90  has been operated (YES output of block  105 ), block  105  goes on to block  110 . Specifically, if the selector device  90  is set to the safety lock mode (YES output of block  105 ), the central control unit  75  activates the safety lock device  80  to lock the rear doors  20  and prevent them being opened from inside the motor vehicle  1 . By the end of this process (block  115 ), the rear doors  20  are firmly locked. 
     In the safety lock mode, the rear doors  20  of the motor vehicle  1  are locked from the inside and cannot be opened using the rear inside door handles  50  (YES output of block  120 ) in which case, the condition in block  115  is unchanged. If, however, instead of using the rear inside door handles  50  (NO output of block  120 ), the rear outside door handles  60  are used (YES output of block  125 ), the rear doors  20  open, and a condition is established (block  195 ) in which the safety lock mode is still operative, but the rear doors  20  are open. Conversely, if no rear outside door handle  60  is operated (NO output of block  125 ), the rear doors  20  remain closed and the safety lock mode is operative (block  115 ). 
     Block  115  is followed by block  130 , which determines whether the temporary consent button  95  has been pressed. If the temporary consent button  95  has not been pressed (NO output of block  130 ), block  130  goes on to block  135 . Block  135  determines whether the selector device  90  has been operated to switch from the safety lock mode back to the normal operating mode. If the selector device  90  has not been operated (NO output of block  135 ), block  135  is followed by block  115 , in which the rear doors  20  remain closed and the safety lock mode is operative (block  115 ). If the selector device  90  has been operated (YES output of block  135 ), block  135  is followed by block  145 , which reactivates the normal operating mode, so that the rear doors  20  can be opened using both the rear inside door handles  50  and the rear outside door handles  60 . 
     Conversely, if the temporary consent button  95  has been pressed (YES output of block  130 ), block  130  goes on to block  140 . Block  140  advantageously provides for temporarily reactivating the normal operating mode, so that the rear doors  20  can be opened using the rear inside door handles  50  as shown in block  150  following block  140 . Block  150  is followed by block  155 , which determines if a sensor  96  indicates whether the rear doors  20  have been opened using the rear inside door handles  50  or the rear outside door handles  60 . If the rear inside or outside door handles  50 ,  60  have been operated to open the rear doors  20  (YES output of block  155 ), block  155  goes on to block  160 , in which the rear doors  20  are open and the normal operating mode is temporarily operative. 
     Block  160  is followed by block  165 , which determines if the sensor  96  indicates whether at least one of the rear doors  20  has been closed. If one of the rear doors  20  has been closed (YES output of block  165 ), block  165  goes on to block  170 , which reactivates the safety lock mode. In this way, the user can temporarily deactivate the safety lock device  80  using the temporary consent button  95 , so that the rear doors  20  can be opened from the rear inside door handles  50 , but the safety lock device  80  is automatically activated when the rear doors  20  are closed. 
     Returning to block  155 , if the rear inside door handles  50  are not used (NO output of block  155 ), block  155  is followed by block  200 , which determines if a timer  97  within the central control unit  75  indicates whether a predetermined time, Tmax, has elapsed since entering block  140  by pressing the temporary consent button  95 . If the time elapsed is less than Tmax, block  200  is followed by block  205 , which determines if a detector  98  within the central control unit  75  indicates whether the temporary consent button  95  has been pressed again. If the temporary consent button  95  has been pressed again, block  205  is followed by block  110 , which activates the safety lock device  80 . Conversely, if the temporary consent button  95  has not been pressed again, block  205  is followed by block  150 . In other words, the first time the temporary consent button  95  is pressed deactivates the safety lock mode, which is reactivated when the temporary consent button  95  is pressed again. On determining that the time elapsed is greater than or equal to Tmax, block  200  is followed by block  170 , which reactivates the safety lock mode. 
     If block  165  determines the sensor  96  indicates that neither of the rear doors  20  have been closed (NO output of block  165 ), block  165  is followed by block  175  (similar to block  200 ), which determines if the timer  97  indicates whether the predetermined time, Tmax, has elapsed since entering block  140 . If the time elapsed is greater than or equal to Tmax, block  175  goes on to block  180 , which reactivates the safety lock device  80  and is followed by block  195 . In other words, when the predetermined time interval expires, the safety lock device  80  is reactivated even if one or all of the rear doors  20  are open. 
     If the time elapsed is less than Tmax, block  175  is followed by block  185  (similar to block  205 ), which determines if the detector  98  indicates whether the temporary consent button  95  has been pressed. If the temporary consent button  95  has been pressed, block  185  is followed by block  190 , which reactivates the safety lock mode and is followed by block  195 . Block  195  is followed by block  210 , which determines if the sensor  96  indicates whether the rear doors  20  have been closed. If the rear doors  20  have been closed (YES output of block  210 ), block  115  mode is established and the rear doors  20  are firmly locked. Conversely, if the rear doors  20  have not been closed (NO output of block  210 ), block  210 w goes back to block  195 . 
     On determining that the temporary consent button  95  has not been pressed, block  185  is followed by block  160 . In block  160  the rear doors  20  are open, and the normal operating mode is temporarily operative. 
     If the time elapsed is less than Tmax, block  175  is followed by block  185  (similar to block  205 ), which determines if the detector  98  indicates whether the temporary consent button  95  has been pressed. If the temporary consent button  95  has been pressed, block  185  is followed by block  190 , which reactivates the safety lock mode and is followed by block  195 . Block  195  is followed by block  210 , which determines if the sensor  96  indicates whether the rear doors  20  have been closed. If the rear doors  20  have been closed (YES output of block  210 ), block  115  mode is established and the rear doors  20  are firmly locked. Conversely, if the rear doors  20  have not been closed (NO output of block  210 ), block  210  goes back to block  195 .