Method for operating a portable hand-held transmitter for a remote-control system for a vehicle

#This application claims the priority of German priority document 196 19 975.1, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.

#The invention relates to a method for operating a portable hand-held transmitter for a vehicle remote-control system in which a plurality of control functions are activated by a plurality of activation sequences which are assigned thereto.

#German patent document DE 38 30 511 C2 discloses a method for operating a central locking system in a motor vehicle, in which two prescribed activation sequences can be carried out as desired. A first activation sequence, characterized by a single turn of a key in a lock device, triggers a first control function which selectively unlocks only one closure associated with this lock device. A second activation sequence, characterized by a key being turned twice in the lock device, triggers a second control function, which globally unlocks all the closures of the central locking system. It may be considered a restriction on the operating convenience in this case that no remote-control device is provided for operating the central locking system.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a hand-held transmitter with an activation mechanism for remotely controlling control functions for a vehicle,

#FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a hand-held transmitter with two activation mechanisms for remotely controlling control functions for a vehicle.

#FIG. 1 shows a portable hand-held transmitter 1 with a first activation mechanism 2 (in the form of, for example, a tip switch) and an indicator 3 (for example, an LED), for remotely controlling control functions for a vehicle 5. Here, a first control function of the vehicle 5 is assigned to a first activation sequence, in which the activation mechanism 2 is actuated only once within a first time interval. A second control function is assigned to a second activation sequence in which the activation mechanism 2 is actuated twice within the first time interval, and a third control function is assigned to a third activation sequence in which the activation mechanism 2 is actuated three times within the first time interval. The previously described actuations of the activation mechanism 2 are characterized here by a first actuation interval. A switch-over activation sequence is characterized by single actuation of the first activation mechanism for a second actuation interval which is longer than the first actuation interval.

#In order to explain the programming sequence, the third control function will now be newly assigned to the first activation sequence. This results in the following programming sequence:

#The hand-held transmitter 1 is in the normal mode.