FR3066214A1 - METHOD FOR MANAGING A MEANS FOR ENERGY STORING AN ELECTRONIC AUTONOMOUS LOCK - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for managing a means (18) for storing energy in an electrically autonomous lock (10). According to the invention, - said lock (10) comprising at least one short-range wireless communication module (14, 15) for receiving one or more unlocking data of said lock (10), after a given timing period, said lock (10) enters the standby mode or switches between different standby levels to save the energy of its energy storage means (18), the power supply of said or at least one of said communication modules short-range wireless being cut, and - said lock (10) comprises an accelerometer (19) for detecting one or more predetermined events, at least one control signal being generated in response to the detection of a predetermined event by said accelerometer (19), said at least one control signal being able to restore the power supply of each module (14, 15) of short-range wireless communication not powered by said means ( 18) for storing said lock (10) in a normal operating state.

Description

Method for managing an energy storage means of an electrically autonomous lock

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the invention

Your present invention relates to a method for managing the battery of an electrically autonomous lock, that is to say not rebated to an external electrical supply source such as an electrical distribution network.

It also relates to an electrically autonomous lock for the implementation of this management process.

The present invention finds particular appbcations in the control of the opening of an access to a building such as a dwelling or an industrial building.

Technological background

Mechatronic locks are known, that is to say locks provided with mechanical elements controlled by electronic devices, which are controlled by a dematerialized key, also called electronic key.

This electronic key, which is in the form of a code, generally encrypted to enhance its security, is typically transported by a mobile object such as a badge, a card or even a smartphone. The user therefore only has to bring this portable object closer to the lock to transmit the electronic key to this lock by a short-range wireless communication signal, such as an RFID signal (radio frequency identification). or near field (NFC), and thus control the locking / unlocking thereof.

When the transmission of such an electronic key is intended to be carried out by means of a smartphone, there is then a particularly simple solution for grouping into a single portable object, a plurality of distinct keys.

This avoids cluttering the user, for example, with a bunch of physical keys.

Furthermore, it is easy to modify each electronic key on such a smartphone and to remotely address such a key to the user.

However, the energy autonomy of this type of electrically autonomous lock, which is an essential factor, is linked to the capacity of its on-board battery and to the energy consumption of its various electronic components.

However, it can be seen that the short-range wireless communication module fitted to the lock for receiving the electronic key addressed by a portable object such as a smartphone, has significant electrical consumption.

This results in a limited autonomy of this type of state-of-the-art mechatronic lock.

Not only, changing the battery can then be long and tedious for the user, but the latter may possibly not be able to act on the state of the lock by means of his only electronic key.

There is therefore a pressing need for an electrically autonomous mechatronic lock, the original design of which meets the above-mentioned constraints.

Object of the invention

The present invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art by proposing a method of managing the power supply of the components of an electrically autonomous lock, simple in its design and in its operating mode, reliable and making it possible to increase in a manner significant autonomy of the electrical energy storage means of this lock.

The present invention also relates to an electrically autonomous lock such as a mechatronic lock, for the implementation of this management method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION To this end, the invention relates to a method for managing an electrical energy storage means in an electrically autonomous lock.

According to the invention, said lock comprising at least one short-range wireless communication module for receiving one or more data for unlocking said lock, after a given delay period, said lock enters the standby mode or switches between different standby levels to save the energy of its energy storage means, the power supply to said or at least one of said short-range wireless communication modules being then cut off, and - said lock includes an accelerometer for detecting one or more predetermined events, at least one control signal being generated in response to the detection of a predetermined event by said accelerometer, said at least one control signal being able to restore the electrical supply of each communication module without short-range wire not supplied by said energy storage means for making pass said lock into a normal operating state.

Of course, the accelerometer as well as the logic processing unit receiving the signals emitted by this accelerometer remain energy-abused during the standby mode phase of the lock so that the processing unit is able to determine an event, such as an attempt to open a door equipped with said lock, detected by the accelerometer.

The present invention makes it possible to make the lock more compact, the space requirement associated with the electrical energy storage means being greatly reduced.

With the present management method, it is advantageously possible to lock the lock for a few armies with a simple electric battery.

In different particular re-absorption modes of this management method, each having its particular advantages and susceptible of numerous possible technical combinations: - said lock has a so-called “deep” standby level in which the electrical supply of each wireless communication module at close range of said lock is cut.

In the so-called deep standby level, the electrical consumption of the lock drops drastically, the power delivered by the electrical energy storage means being thus significantly reduced, which lengthens its useful life.

It has been found, by way of example, that the implementation of this level of deep standby increases by a factor at least equal to three (3) the autonomy of the energy storage means. - said lock comprising at least two short-range wireless communication modules, after a first time delay, the power supply to at least one of said short-range wireless communication modules is cut.

Preferably, this first module is the module having the highest electrical consumption.

Advantageously, after a second predetermined time delay, the power supply of at least one second short-range wireless communication module is cut off.

This lock then enters a second level standby mode, which corresponds to the deep standby level when said lock comprises only two short-range wireless communication modules.

Advantageously, the user can thus configure the lock of the invention to define different standby levels thereof. However, it will preferably be sought to put the first level standby, the short-range wireless communication module having the highest electrical consumption to limit the electrical consumption when the lock is not used and thus preserve the stored energy. in the energy storage medium.

Alternatively, it is still possible to simultaneously cut off the power supply to all the short-range wireless communication modules fitted to the lock after a time delay during which the lock is active. There is only one level of standby.

Thus, after said first delay, powering of all of said short-range wireless communication modules equipping said lock is then cut

Recall that the expression "standby mode" generally designates a mode of reduced energy consumption in which said lock can enter automatically after a certain period of activity or following a manual action by the user.

Advantageously, this electrically autonomous lock can be configured, for example, as a function of the standby level or levels desired by the user. - Said or said wireless communication modules use a short-range wireless communication protocol such as near-field communication (NFC), RFID, Bluetooth® or Zigbee®. - This lock comprising at one of its ends, a manual actuation button for the cylinder bit, said accelerometer is configured to detect actuation of said button.

In known manner, the bit is the part of the cylinder which enters the lock and causes the bolt of this lock to move.

By default, this manual actuation button rotates in a vacuum until the lock is activated, or engaged. after leaving the lock from standby mode and without locking / unlocking of said lock after a predetermined period of time, said lock re-enters standby mode.

This ensures that the state of charge of the energy storage means is preserved.

The lock can, of course, re-enter the same standby level as that left before its activation period or be placed in a different standby level.

This activation period is a time interval, purely by way of illustration, of the order of ten seconds, during which the user has the possibility of actuating the external button for manual actuation of the barrel bit. The short-range wireless communication modules are then active to receive a possible unlocking signal from the lock. - the state of charge of said energy storage means is monitored by the re-absorption of one or more measurements, it is determined whether the state of charge of said energy storage means is higher or lower relative to a threshold value predetermined charge, and an alert is transmitted by wireless communication when the state of charge of said energy storage means is less than said threshold value.

Optionally, at least one short-range wireless communication module will also have been deactivated to reduce the electrical consumption of said lock. said lock comprising a short-range wireless communication module such as based on the Bluetooth® protocol and said lock having been previously paired with a device such as a mobile terminal, for example a mobile telephone such as a smartphone, or a laptop computer such as a tablet computer, and / or a home automation gateway, said device being capable of communicating on the one hand, according to at least the short-range wireless communication protocol used by said lock and on the other hand, according to a cellular communication protocol such as 2 G, 3G, 3G +, H +, 4G, LTE, LTE-Advanced, 5G, WiMAX and / or according to a wireless communication protocol of Wifi type, at least one information is exchanged by a short range wireless communication between said device and said lock.

This information includes, for example, a state of said energy storage means.

The present invention also relates to a lock for the implementation of the management method as described above, said lock being electrically autonomous and comprising an energy storage means for its electrical supply.

According to the invention, this lock comprises: - at least one short-range wireless communication interface, said or one of said communication interfaces being configured to exchange data with a mobile terminal and / or a home automation gateway equipped with an interface short-range wireless communication devices, - an accelerometer to detect one or more predetermined events, - an electromechanical assembly powered by said energy storage means to lock / unlock said lock, - a processing unit connected to said accelerometer to receive signals from said accelerometer, said unit being configured to generate in response to the detection of a predetermined event by said accelerometer, a signal capable of restoring the electrical increase of each short-range wireless communication interface not supplied by said storage means Ladi standby energy lock, so as to pass said lock into a normal operating state, - said lock being configured so that at least said accelerometer and said processing unit are supplied in standby mode of said lock.

According to one aspect of the lock of the invention, it comprises a Bluetooth® type communication interface and an RFID type communication interface.

According to another aspect of the lock of the invention, it comprises at one of its ends, a button for manual actuation of the bit of the cybndre, said accelerometer being configured to detect the actuation of said button.

According to another aspect of the lock of the invention, it also comprises at one of its ends a key entry to allow the locking / unlocking of said lock by means of a physical key.

It is thus possible to manually lock / unlock said lock, in particular when the state of charge of the energy storage means does not make it possible to supply its electronic components.

According to another aspect of the lock of the invention, this means of storing electrical energy consists of a single battery.

Advantageously, the electrical consumption of this lock being optimized, a simple and single battery is therefore sufficient for the electrical supply of its components.

According to yet another aspect of the lock of the invention, said processing unit being connected to a memory in which an encryption key is stored, said processing unit is configured to ensure the decryption of an encrypted message received by said lock by means of said key in order to authorize or not the locking / unlocking of said lock.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other advantages, aims and particular characteristics of the present invention will emerge from the description which follows, given, for explanatory and in no way limiting purposes, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: - Figure 1 is a schematic representation of an electrically autonomous mechatronic lock according to a particular embodiment of the present invention; - Figure 2 is a perspective view of the lock of FIG. 1;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

First, note that the figures are not to scale.

Figures 1 and 2 schematically show an electrically autonomous lock 10 according to a particular embodiment of the present invention.

This lock 10 is produced here in brushed steel. It comprises at a first of its ends a handle 11 intended to be placed on the interior side of an access, and at its other end, a button 12 intended to be placed on the exterior side of an access, this button 12 making it possible to actuate manually the bit 13 of the cylinder.

This button 12 is configured to rotate in a vacuum until the lock 10 has not been activated, that is to say engaged, by the user. Once the lock 10 is activated, the bit 13 is mechanically actuable. This activation is carried out by waking up the lock of the standby mode in which it is placed to save the energy of its means of storing electrical energy when it is not in use.

The lock 10 also comprises a first short-range wireless communication interface 14 of the Bluetooth® type and also a second short-range wireless communication interface 15 of the RLID type. By way of example, this last interface 15 makes it possible to read a bracelet or an RLID badge.

Advantageously, the Bluetooth® short-range wireless communication interface 14 makes it possible to exchange data with a mobile terminal 16 such as a smartphone, equipped with a short-range wireless communication module 17 of Bluetooth® type.

The means 18 for storing energy of the lock 10 making it possible to electrically supply its various electronic components, is here formed of a single electric cell such as a 1/2 AA battery, 1200 milbamps of current reserve.

This means 18 of energy storage is received in the internal volume debited by the handle 11, which incorporates a removable cover to facilitate access to its internal volume and therefore to this means 18 of energy storage. This cover is, for example, provided with cbpsage members.

This lock 10 also comprises, in known manner, an electromechanical assembly (not shown) supplied by the means 18 for storing electrical energy, this electromechanical assembly serving for locking / unlocking of the lock 10.

The lock 10 also includes an accelerometer 19 configured here to detect the actuation of the button 12 by the user. By way of example, this accelerometer 19 is a 3-axis accelerometer.

The lock 10 also includes a logic unit 20 for processing rebated at this accelerometer 19 for receiving signals from the latter.

This logic unit 20 is configured on the one hand to automatically put the short-range wireless communication interfaces 14, 15 of the lock into standby mode after a given delay and, on the other hand, to generate in response to the detection of 'An event by the accelerometer 19, a signal capable of restoring the electrical increase of each of these interfaces 14, 15 of wireless communication. In the latter case, the lock 10 is advantageously restored in normal operating state.

This logic processing unit 20 being connected to a memory 21 in which an encryption key is stored, it is configured to decrypt an encrypted message received by the lock 10 in order to decrypt the dematerialized key making it possible to authorize the locking / unlocking of this lock. The accelerometer 19 also makes it possible to detect a shock on the door equipped with said lock 10. Without authorized opening, an alarm message is automatically sent to the user to notify a potential intrusion.

For this, the lock 10 is advantageously connected via its short-range wireless communication interface 14 of Bluetooth® type to a home automation gateway 22 placed inside the house, one door of which is the front door, equipped with said lock 10.

This home automation gateway 22 is configured to communicate on the one hand, according to the same short-range wireless communication protocol as that used by the lock 10, here a Bluetooth® protocol so as to be able to communicate with the latter, and d on the other hand, according to a WiFi type wireless communication protocol for transmitting messages via the Wifi network.

Claims (12)

1. Method for managing a means (18) of energy storage in an electrically autonomous lock (10), characterized in that - said lock (10) comprising at least one module (14, 15) for wireless communication at short range to receive one or more data for unlocking said lock (10), after a given delay period, said lock (10) enters the standby mode or switches between different standby levels to save sound energy energy storage means (18), the electrical supply of said or at least one of said short-range wireless communication modules being then cut, and in that - said lock (10) comprises an accelerometer (19) for detecting one or more predetermined events, at least one control signal being generated in response to the detection of a predetermined event by said accelerometer (19), said at least one control signal being able to restore the power supply to each short-range wireless communication module (14, 15) not supplied by said energy storage means (18) for passing said lock (10) into a normal operating state. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said lock (10) has a so-called "deep" standby level in which the power supply to each short-range wireless communication module (14, 15) is cut. 3. Method according to claim lou 2, characterized in that said lock (10) comprising at least two short-range wireless communication modules, after a first time delay, the electrical supply of at least a first of said communication modules wireless is cut and in that after a second predetermined time delay, the power of at least one second short range wireless communication module (14, 15) is cut. 4. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that after said first delay, the supply of all of said short-range wireless communication modules fitted to said lock (10) is cut. 5. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said lock (10) comprising at one of its ends, a button (12) for manual actuation of a bit (13), said accelerometer ( 19) is configured to detect the activation of said button. 6. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that after leaving said lock (10) from standby mode and without locking / unlocking of said lock (10) after a predetermined time interval , said lock (10) re-enters standby mode. 7. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the state of charge of said means (18) of energy storage is monitored by carrying out one or more measurements, it is determined whether l state of charge of said energy storage means (18) is higher or lower compared to a predetermined threshold value of charge, and in that an alert is transmitted by wireless communication when the state of charge of said means (18) of energy storage is less than said threshold value. 8. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said lock (10) comprising a short-range wireless communication module (14) as based on the Bluetooth® protocol and said lock (10) having been previously paired with a device (16) capable of communicating on the one hand, according to at least the short-range wireless communication protocol used by said lock (10) and on the other hand, according to a cellular communication protocol and / or alternatively according to a Wi-Fi type wireless communication protocol, at least one piece of information is exchanged by a short range wireless communication between said device and said lock (10). 9. Lock (10) for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, said lock (10) being electrically autonomous and comprising means (18) for storing electrical energy for its electrical supply, characterized in that it comprises: - at least one short-range wireless communication interface (14, 15), said or one of said communication interfaces being configured to exchange data with a mobile terminal (16) and / or a home automation gateway (22) equipped with a short-range wireless communication interface, - an accelerometer (19) for detecting one or more predetermined events, - an electromechanical assembly powered by said energy storage means (18) for locking / unlocking said lock (10), - a processing unit rebated to said accelerometer (19) for receiving signals from said accelerometer (19), said unit being configured for g generating in response to the detection of a predetermined event by said accelerometer (19), a signal capable of restoring the electrical supply of each short-range wireless communication interface not abmented by said energy storage means (18) in standby mode of said lock (10), so as to put said lock (10) into a normal operating state, - said lock (10) being configured so that at least said accelerometer (19) and said control unit processing are abmenté in standby mode of said lock (10). 10. Lock (10) according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises a Bluetooth® type communication interface and a RFID type communication interface. 11. Lock (10) according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that it comprises at one of its ends, a button (12) for manual actuation of the bit (13), said accelerometer (19) being configured to detect reactivation of said button. 12. Lock (10) according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that said means (18) of energy storage consists of a single cell.