US 12,247,420 B2
Emergency vehicle door opening by harvesting energy from an external field
Rene Wutte, Sankt Bartholoma (AT)
Assigned to STMicroelectronics International N.V., Geneva (CH)
Filed by STMicroelectronics International N.V., Geneva (CH)
Filed on May 30, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/203,159.
Prior Publication US 2024/0401379 A1, Dec. 5, 2024
Int. Cl. E05B 81/04 (2014.01); E05B 77/54 (2014.01); E05B 81/16 (2014.01); E05B 81/84 (2014.01)
CPC E05B 77/54 (2013.01) [E05B 81/04 (2013.01); E05B 81/16 (2013.01); E05B 81/84 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle, comprising:
a battery configured to operate the vehicle;
an energy storage device, the energy storage device storing less energy than the battery;
a door with an electronically actuated mechanical lock and a near field communication (NFC) circuit being disposed in the door; and
a microcontroller, wherein the microcontroller and a NFC circuit are configured to cooperate to: monitor a voltage of the battery; and switch the NFC circuit to card emulation (CE) mode with energy harvesting capability when the voltage of the battery has fallen below a threshold;
wherein the NFC circuit is configured to: harvest energy from a Qi wireless charging field and store the harvested energy in the energy storage device such that the microcontroller and electronically actuated mechanical lock are powered by the energy storage device when sufficient energy has been harvested; and
wherein the microcontroller, once powered by the energy storage device, is configured to: attempt to verify a nearby NFC device; and in response to verification of the nearby NFC device, operate the electronically actuated mechanical lock, but in response to lack of verification of the nearby NFC device, maintain the electronically actuated mechanical lock in an inactive state.