Motor vehicles – With means for promoting safety of vehicle – its occupant or... – By preventing unauthorized or unintended access or use
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-20
2001-01-09
Culbreth, Eric (Department: 3611)
Motor vehicles
With means for promoting safety of vehicle, its occupant or...
By preventing unauthorized or unintended access or use
C307S010200, C439S346000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170595
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic drive lock.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A conventional electronic drive lock is described in German publication “mot”, February 1995, pages 102-106. Such a conventional drive lock is based on an access device in the form of an ignition key, a handheld transmitter (or a chip card), a control unit containing the drive lock, and an engine management control unit for controlling a gasoline or diesel engine. Other functional elements present in the vehicle can also be connected to the drive lock control unit, for example the electric fuel pump or the starter. A prerequisite for providing a vehicle equipped with the drive lock as described is that a prescribed unlocking code should be delivered to the drive lock control unit. Because the vehicle cannot, for this reason, readily be started up by an unauthorized person, the conventional drive lock offers at least some protection against theft, i.e. the vehicle being driven away. Given the increasing professionalism of vehicle thieves, however, it is foreseeable that vehicles will be misappropriated by replacing the original, locked drive lock control unit with an unlocked but otherwise functionally identical replacement control unit.
Accordingly, it is the object of the invention to indicate a possibility for preventing the theft of vehicles by replacing a control unit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This object is achieved with a device according to the present invention. A replacement protector according to the present invention considerably increases the effort required to steal a vehicle by replacing a protected control unit. In the event of forcible severing of a connection, secured according to the present invention, between the electrical supply lead and control unit, the electrical supply lead must be properly equipped with a connector element. For a vehicle thief, the effort to remove such replacement protector is cost-intensive and most of all time-consuming. For a legitimate user, on the other hand, the replacement protector according to the invention involves no additional effort when removing a protected control unit. It is advantageous, according to the present invention to provide a supply lead and a control unit with respect to one another in such a way that even when connected, a slight relative movement is possible. This makes it possible to eliminate any contact problems between supply lead and control unit by gently jiggling the connection, with no need to unlock the control unit for the purpose.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4433589 (1984-02-01), Critzer
patent: 5254842 (1993-10-01), Posner et al.
patent: 5506563 (1996-04-01), Jonic
patent: 2224892 (1990-05-01), None
“Mot”, Feb. 1995, pp. 102-106.
Denz Helmut
Herden Werner
Culbreth Eric
Kenyon & Kenyon
Robert & Bosch GmbH
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