[0001] The present invention concerns a system to communicate with an electronic vehicle
antitheft device. More particularly, the system serves the purpose of performing a
diagnosis of the functioning or to modify the original functioning parameters of an
electronic antitheft device in which both the central unit installed on board the
vehicle and the remote control are fitted with at least one LED, the central unit
one LED that shows that the device is activated and/or shows that the device is under
diagnosis, and the remote control at least one LED that confirms to the user that
the finger pressure applied is followed by the emittance of a signal or that the remote
control is receiving signals from the central unit. Communication with said central
unit and/or remote control is performed by means of a conventional control apparatus.
[0002] For linguistic simplicity purposes the electronic antitheft device and the central
unit of the electronic device will henceforth respectively be termed -antitheft- and
-central unit- and the control apparatus will be termed -controller-.
[0003] Currently when an installer of said antitheft device must perform one or both the
above mentioned operations (control the functioning and modify parameters) it is necessary
to materially access the electronics of the central unit installed on board and sometimes
to that of the remote control, connect the controller terminals to the central unit
and/or remote control, activate necessary controls and, in some cases, close the central
unit box.
[0004] The disadvantage of the above described procedure lies in its involving a lot of
time.
[0005] The present invention avoids the above disadvantage.
[0006] The invention is based on LEDs well known feature of converting a light emission
striking it into an electric signal and viceversa. Hence, an LED connected to a micro-processor
of an antitheft central unit may be interfaced by means of optical fibres with an
LED connected to the micro-processor of a controller, in order that conveniently encoded
electric signals that an operator has made the controller emit are received by the
micro-processor of the central unit so as to communicate with it, in general, but
especially to carry out a diagnosis of the functioning of the same central unit or
to modify its functioning conditions.
[0007] A preferred embodiment of the invention is supplied below with reference to attached
drawings in which
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the connections, and
FIG. 2 is a functional diagram.
[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates a central unit 1 installed under dash-board 2 of a vehicle, a
conventional controller 3 suited to checking said central unit 1 when an operator
acts on keys 4 of keyboard 5 of said controller (6 indicates the controller's display)
and an optical fibre cable 7. Both the central unit 1 and the controller 3 have an
LED, respectively 8 and 9, connected to respective micro-processors, not shown; LED
8 appears on dash-board 2, and is connected to central unit 1 by means of conductor
10 and appears as a conventional LED signalling antitheft activated, that is as a
body with a convex surface, while LED 9 bears a cavity on its external top suited
to receiving a connection plug. The optical fibre cable 7 at one end bears a rubber
vent 11 that can be applied to LED 8 of the central unit and at the other end a plug
12 that can be fitted into the said cavity in LED 9 of controller 3.
[0009] The advantage of this system is that, by means of this optical fibre 7 connection,
it is possible to quickly and easily operate a communication between central unit
1 and controller 3 by means of a data transmission protocol included in the micro-processors
of central unit 1 and controller 3.
[0010] FIG. 2 is self-explanatory. The assembly "central unit 1 - controller 3" interfaced
by means of an optical fibre conductor 7 is shown in the transmission conditions indicated
by arrow F, that is "controller → central unit" (this is a HALF-DUPLEX transmission):
the microprocessor µPR
x of central unit 1 acts as a receiver of signals emitted by the controller, it is
associated to LED 8 and to an EEPROM memory containing functioning data and parameters;
the microprocessor µPT
x of controller 3 acts as a transmitter of the signals input by the operator by means
of keyboard 5, and associated to LED 9 and to an EEPROM memory containing functioning
data and parameters; the two LEDs are interfaced by means of the optical fibre cable
7 as explained with reference to FIG. 1.
[0011] The diagram of the central unit 1 and LED 8 can be reviewed as a diagram and LED
of the antitheft's remote control that leads to how the system described also allows
to communicate with the remote control of an electronic antitheft device for vehicles.
1. A system to communicate with an electronic antitheft device for vehicles comprising
a central unit (1) installed on board the vehicle and holding at least one LED (8)
connected to its micro-processor (µPRx) and accessible from the vehicles cabin, a remote control held by the user holding
at least one external LED connected to its microprocessor, and one controller (3)
suited to checking said central unit and remote control and holding at least one external
LED (9) connected to its micro-processor (µPTx), characterized in that said controller (3) is interfaced to said central unit (1)
and with said remote control by means of an optical fibre cable (7) that bears at
its ends suitable means to be applied, respectively, to LED (9) of the controller
and to LED (8) of the central unit or remote control.
2. System according to claim 1 characterized in that each end of said optical fibre cable
(7) bears a vent (11) that can be forced onto and remain applied to one of said LEDs
(8,9).
3. System according to claim 1 characterized in that one of the ends of said optical
fibre cable (7) bears a plug (12) suited to being forced into a cavity in one of said
LEDs (9) and the other end bears said vent (11).
4. System according to claim 1 characterized in that both ends of said optical fibre
cable (7) bear a plug (12) suited to being forced into the corresponding cavity in
one of the said corresponding LEDs (8,9).
