Method and Apparatus for Remote Vehicle Keypad Enablement and Disablement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016358392-A1
Application number	US-201514731982-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 5, 2015
Priority date	Jun 5, 2015
Publication date	Dec 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system includes a processor configured to determine that a number of invalid attempts to input a code into a vehicle door keypad has passed a predetermined threshold. The processor is also configured to notify a registered user through a vehicle telematics system of the invalid attempts and selectively ignore future attempts to input the code.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system comprising:
a processor configured to: determine that a number of invalid attempts to input a code into a vehicle door keypad exceeds a predetermined threshold; notify a registered user through a vehicle telematics system of the invalid attempts; and selectively ignore future attempts to input the code.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
receive a response from the registered user; and wait to ignore future attempts until the response, indicating attempts should be ignored, is received.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to temporarily disable the keypad in order to ignore the future attempts.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to notify the registered user of the number of invalid attempts.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to notify the registered user of a present-state of the keypad.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the present-state indicates the keypad is enabled.

7 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the present-state indicates the keypad is disabled.

8 . A system comprising:
a processor configured to: receive a request to control a vehicle door keypad state from a remote device; validate the request; receive a current vehicle door keypad state from a vehicle; send the current vehicle door keypad state to the remote device; and send an instruction to change the vehicle door keypad state to the vehicle, responsive to an instruction to change the vehicle door keypad state received from the remote device.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the vehicle door keypad state indicates the vehicle door keypad is enabled.

10 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the vehicle door keypad state indicates the vehicle door keypad is disabled.

11 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the request includes a vehicle identifier identifying the vehicle containing the vehicle door keypad and a user identifier identifying a user requesting to change the vehicle door keypad state.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to validate the request based on a determination that the user is authorized to change the vehicle door keypad state for the vehicle.

13 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to send an unlock code to the vehicle door keypad to unlock the vehicle, responsive to an instruction to unlock the vehicle received from the remote device.

14 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
in response to a number of invalid attempts to input a code into a vehicle door keypad exceeding an associated threshold, sending a message via a vehicle telematics system to notify a registered user of the invalid attempts; and selectively disabling vehicle feature access in response to subsequent input of a valid code.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
receiving a response from the registered user; and disabling vehicle feature access only after receiving the response.

16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising temporarily disabling the keypad to selectively disable vehicle feature access.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising sending a message including the number of invalid attempts to notify the registered user.

18 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising sending a message including a present-state of the keypad to the registered user.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the present-state indicates the keypad is enabled.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the present-state indicates the keypad is disabled.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Badger Ii Charles Everett

Classifications

• G07C9/0069

  actuated in a predetermined sequence · CPC title

• G07C9/33 Primary

  by means of a password · CPC title

• G07C9/38

  with central registration · CPC title

• G07C9/00817

  where the code of the lock can be programmed · CPC title

• B60R25/20

  Means to switch the anti-theft system on or off · CPC title