JP2003111171A - Remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote controller having a superior operability. SOLUTION: A tilt sensor 13 and an acceleration sensor 14 detect the movement of a case 11 of the remote controller 1. A controlling section 15 creates an operation instruction signal according to the contents of the movement of the case 1 detected by the tilt sensor 13 and the acceleration sensor 14. A signal transmission section 16 transmits an optical signal wave corresponding to the operation instruction signal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote control device (remote controller) for remotely controlling various electronic devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, AV equipment such as a television receiver, a video tape recorder or a stereo device,
Electric devices such as an air conditioner and a lighting device are remotely controlled by a remote control device.
That is, the remote control device includes a plurality of operation buttons,
An infrared signal corresponding to the operation button pressed by the user is transmitted.

[0003]

As described above, when an electric device is to be operated using the remote control device, the user visually recognizes the remote control device to find an operation button corresponding to a desired operation. , It is necessary to press the operation button. However, there has been a problem that the operation of searching for and pressing a desired operation button is a heavy burden on, for example, an elderly person or a person with a finger movement problem. Particularly in recent years, with the diversification of functions of electronic devices, a large number of small operation buttons are often provided on a remote control device, and under such circumstances, the above problem may become more serious.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and an object thereof is to provide a remote control device having excellent operability.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a remote control device according to the present invention comprises a housing, a detection means for detecting the movement of the housing, and the housing detected by the detection means. It is characterized by comprising a control means for generating an operation instruction signal according to the movement content of (1) and a transmission means for transmitting an optical signal wave indicating the operation instruction signal generated by the control means.

According to this remote control device, an operation instruction signal for instructing the operation of the electronic device is transmitted according to the contents of movement of the housing. Therefore, the user can operate the electronic device by moving the housing.

Here, "movement of the casing" in the present specification
The concept includes not only moving the housing from one position to another, but also tilting the housing from one posture to another.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This embodiment shows one aspect of the present invention, does not limit the present invention, and can be arbitrarily modified within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

<A: Configuration of Remote Control Device> First, the configuration of the remote control device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. This remote control device is for remotely controlling a television receiver. The user can switch the channel to be displayed by the television receiver and adjust the volume by remote control using the remote control device.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the remote control device according to this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the remote control device 1 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing 11. An infrared transmitting surface 161 for transmitting an infrared signal to a television receiver is provided on one side end surface of the housing 11 in the longitudinal direction. In the following, as shown in FIG.
The center line in the longitudinal direction of the housing 11, that is, the direction from the side end surface on which the infrared transmission surface 161 is provided to the side end surface on the opposite side is referred to as the Y axis, and the housing is orthogonal to the Y axis. The center line extending in the width direction of the body 11 is referred to as the X axis.

Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the remote controller 1. As shown in the figure, in the housing 11 of the remote controller 1, an operator 12 and an inclination sensor 1 are provided.
3, an acceleration sensor 14, a control unit 15, a signal transmission unit 16, and a storage unit 17 are housed. However, the infrared transmission surface 161 forming a part of the signal transmission unit 16 is exposed from the housing 11 as described above. In addition, the operator 12
As shown in FIG. 1, a part thereof is provided so as to project from one surface (hereinafter, referred to as “main surface”) of the housing 11 and is pressed by the user. ing. When the user presses the operator 12, the operator 12 outputs a signal to that effect to the controller 15.

The tilt sensor 13 and the acceleration sensor 14 shown in FIG. 2 are sensors for detecting the movement of the housing 11 (the entire remote control device 1) when the user moves the remote control device 1. Of these, the tilt sensor 13 is the housing 1
A signal indicating the slope of 1 (hereinafter, referred to as "tilt signal")
Is output to the control unit 15. Specifically, the inclination sensor 13 in the present embodiment is based on the posture of the casing 11 when the main surface is arranged so as to be parallel to the horizontal plane.
It is detected how much the housing 11 is tilted about the Y axis. On the other hand, the acceleration sensor 14 outputs a signal (hereinafter, referred to as “acceleration signal”) representing the acceleration (force) in the X-axis direction accompanying the movement of the housing 11 to the control unit 15.

The control unit 15 controls the operation of the remote control device 1 by exchanging signals with other units inside the housing 11. More specifically, the control unit 15 uses the tilt signal supplied from the tilt sensor 13 or the acceleration signal supplied from the acceleration sensor 14 to output a signal (hereinafter, referred to as “operation (Denoted as “instruction signal”) and outputs this operation instruction signal to the signal transmission unit 16. The signal transmission unit 16 modulates the carrier wave by the operation instruction signal given from the control unit 15, and transmits the infrared signal obtained by this modulation from the signal transmission surface 161. As a result, the television receiver receives the operation instruction signal according to the movement of the housing 11.

However, the remote control device 1 according to the present embodiment
In the above, the control unit 15 generates the operation instruction signal only while the operator 12 is being pressed. Therefore, the infrared signal corresponding to the operation instruction signal is also transmitted only while the operator 12 is being pressed. In this way, limiting the operation of the remote control device 1 is
If an operation instruction signal corresponding to the movement of the casing 11 is transmitted to the television receiver in any case, if the user does not intend to operate the television receiver (for example, the television receiver). Even when the position where the remote control device 1 is arranged is changed unintentionally for the operation of the receiver, etc.), an operation instruction signal according to the movement content of the housing 11 is transmitted to the television receiver, and the volume and the display are displayed. This is because the channel will be changed.

Next, the storage unit 17 stores a signal generation table. This signal generation table is used by the control unit 1
5 is a table that is referred to when the operation instruction signal is generated by 5, and as shown in FIG.
The contents of the instructions to be given to the television receiver when the contents are moved are associated with each other. For example, according to the contents of the first stage from the top in the signal generation table shown in FIG. 3, the movement contents are “the housing 11 of the remote control device 1 tilts in the A1 direction (clockwise) about the Y axis”. Is associated with the instruction content “increase volume”. Further, as shown in the third row from the top in FIG. 3, the movement content “the housing 11 moves in the positive direction of the X axis” is associated with the instruction content “channel forward”. In addition, "sequential feed" means
This means that the channels to be displayed by the television receiver are cyclically switched from a channel assigned a small number to a channel assigned a large number. Conversely, "reverse channel feed"
Means an operation of cyclically switching from a channel assigned a large number to a channel assigned a small number.

Furthermore, the contents of the signal generation table can be changed by the user. Therefore, the user can arbitrarily set the movement content of the housing and the content to be instructed to the television receiver when the movement indicated by the content is performed.

In the television receiver which receives the operation instruction signal from the remote controller 1, various operations such as volume adjustment and channel switching are performed according to the operation instruction signal. Since the configuration itself is the same as the well-known one, its description is omitted in this specification.

<B: Operation of Remote Control Device> Next, the operation of the remote control device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, when operating the television receiver remotely, the user presses the operating element 12 with the infrared transmission surface 161 of the remote control device 1 facing the receiving portion of the television receiver. When a signal is output from the manipulator 12 in response to this pressing, the control unit 15 starts processing for transmitting an operation instruction signal according to the movement content of the housing 11.

That is, while the user keeps the operator 12 pressed down, the casing 11 is moved around the Y-axis by A.
When tilted in one direction (clockwise), the tilt sensor 13 outputs a tilt signal corresponding to the tilt. Control unit 15
Upon receipt of this tilt signal, refers to the signal generation table stored in the storage unit 17 and generates an operation instruction signal indicating the instruction content associated with the tilt signal. More specifically, in the signal generation table shown in FIG. 3, since the movement content “inclination in the A1 direction” is associated with the instruction content “increase volume”, the control unit 15 , And generates an operation instruction signal indicating that the volume should be increased (see FIG. 4).

However, the control unit 15 does not generate the operation instruction signal when the inclination of the housing indicated by the inclination signal is less than the predetermined threshold value. That is,
The operation instruction signal is generated only when the housing 11 moves so as to have an inclination that exceeds the threshold value. This means that if a motion instruction signal is generated by reflecting any inclination, a motion instruction signal that also reflects the inclination caused by, for example, a hand tremor is generated, which is contrary to the intention of the user. This is because a situation in which the television receiver is operated may occur.

The operation instruction signal generated by the controller 15 is output to the signal transmitter 16. Signal transmitter 16
Transmits an infrared signal obtained by modulating a carrier wave by the operation instruction signal from the infrared transmitting surface 161. This infrared signal is received by the receiving unit included in the television receiver. As a result, the volume output by the television receiver is increased according to the operation instruction signal obtained by demodulating the signal. In addition, here, the housing 11
Has been illustrated as being tilted in the A1 direction around the Y axis, but the opposite direction, that is, A around the Y axis
When tilted in two directions (counterclockwise), an operation instruction signal indicating that the volume should be reduced is generated by the same operation as above, and is transmitted as an infrared signal.

On the other hand, when the user moves the housing 11 in the positive direction of the X-axis while keeping the operator 12 pressed down, the acceleration sensor 14 responds to the acceleration (force) accompanying the movement. Acceleration signal is output. Control unit 15
Generates an operation instruction signal indicating the instruction content associated with the acceleration signal by referring to the signal generation table. For example, in the signal generation table shown in FIG. 3, since the movement content “move the housing 11 in the positive direction of the X axis” is associated with the instruction content “channel forward”, the control unit 15 generates an operation instruction signal indicating that the channels should be forwarded. Also in this case, the control unit 15 generates the operation instruction signal only when the acceleration indicated by the acceleration signal exceeds the predetermined threshold, and the acceleration is less than the threshold. In this case, the operation instruction signal is not generated.

The operation instruction signal thus generated by the control unit 15 is output from the signal transmission unit 16 as an infrared signal. In the television receiver that has received the infrared signal, the channels are sequentially forwarded according to the operation instruction signal obtained by demodulating the infrared signal. Although the case where the housing 11 moves in the positive direction of the X-axis is assumed here, the same operation is performed when the housing 11 moves in the opposite direction, that is, in the negative direction of the X-axis.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by moving the housing 11 of the remote control device 1, the television receiver to be operated can be remotely operated, so that the volume can be increased or decreased or each channel can be changed. It is not necessary to search for a corresponding operation button or the like, or press them down. Therefore, the burden on the user who operates the television receiver can be significantly reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, the operator 1
The operation instruction signal is generated only while 2 is pressed. When the user does not intend to operate the electronic device, the operator 12 is not pressed, so that the housing 11
Even if the user moves, the electronic device is not operated if the user does not intend. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to avoid an erroneous operation of the electronic device (operation not intended by the user).

Next, the operation when the user changes the contents of the signal generation table will be described. In the signal generation table shown in FIG. 3, the instruction content “increase volume” is associated with the movement content “tilt toward A1 direction”, and the instruction content “Reduce volume” is in “A2 direction”. The content was associated with the movement content of “inclination”. Therefore, in the following, an operation for changing the signal generation table so that this correspondence is reversed, that is,
In the content of the signal generation table shown in FIG. 3, the instruction content “decrease volume” is associated with the movement content “tilt toward A1 direction”, and the instruction content “Increase volume” is “A2 direction”. The operation for changing to the content associated with the movement content of "inclination to" will be described.

First, the user performs a predetermined operation according to an instruction target (eg, volume adjustment or channel switching) whose setting is desired to be changed,
The controller 15 is instructed to change the setting. Here, since it is assumed that the contents related to the volume adjustment are changed, the user performs a specific operation corresponding to the “change related to the volume adjustment” (for example, pressing the operator 12 three times in a row). Do. When a setting change instruction is given by such an operation, control unit 15 starts an operation for changing the signal generation table without generating an operation instruction signal.

That is, when the user tilts the housing 11 in the A2 direction (counterclockwise) after the setting change instruction,
A tilt signal corresponding to the tilt is output from the tilt sensor 13. The control unit 15 searches for “increase in volume”, which is one of the instruction contents related to “volume adjustment” stored in the signal generation table, and determines the movement content associated with the instruction content with the tilt sensor. The movement content is updated according to the tilt signal output from 13. More specifically, in the signal generation table shown in FIG. 3, the movement content “inclination in the A1 direction” associated with the instruction content “increase in volume” is replaced with the movement content “A2” of the current case 11. It is updated to "inclination in the direction". Further, the control unit 15 sets the movement content “inclination in the A2 direction” associated with the instruction content “volume reduction”, which is contrary to the “volume increase”, as the movement content performed by the user this time. The content of the opposite movement is updated to “inclination in the A1 direction”. By the above processing,
The signal generation table will be updated. Note that, here, the case where only the portion related to the volume adjustment in the signal generation table is changed is illustrated, but the same processing is executed when the portion related to the channel switching is changed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the user can arbitrarily change the contents of the signal generation table. Therefore, for example, the movement content and the instruction content corresponding thereto can be set in a combination that is easy for the user to remember, so that a remote control device that is easy for the user to use can be realized.

<C: Modified Example> Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the above embodiment is merely an example, and various modifications can be made to the above embodiment without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Can be added. For example, the following may be considered as modifications.

<C-1: Modification 1> In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the inclination sensor 13 and the acceleration sensor 14 are provided has been exemplified, but a combination of sensors for detecting the movement of the housing 11 is not shown. It is not limited to this. For example,
By providing an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration in the Y-axis direction in addition to the inclination sensor 13 and the acceleration sensor 14 according to the above-described embodiment, not only the inclination and movement of the housing 11 in the X-axis direction but also movement in the Y-axis direction. May also be detected and reflected in the operation instruction of the electronic device. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, while outputting an operation instruction signal for adjusting the volume and switching the channel in accordance with the contents detected by the tilt sensor 13 and the acceleration sensor 14 in the X-axis direction, the operation signal in the Y-axis direction is output. The power of the electronic device may be switched on / off according to the content detected by the acceleration sensor 14.

Further, the control unit 15 may generate the operation instruction signal according to the combination of the signals output from the plurality of sensors. For example, when the tilt signal indicating the “tilt in the A1 direction” is received from the tilt sensor 13 and the acceleration signal indicating the “movement in the positive direction of the X axis” is received from the acceleration sensor 14, the volume is increased. For example, an operation instruction signal indicating that it should be generated is generated.

Further, the types of sensors applicable to the present invention are not limited to the tilt sensor and the acceleration sensor, and various known sensors such as a speed sensor can be used.

<C-2: Modification 2> In the above embodiment, the remote control device 1 including only one operator 12.
However, in addition to this, a plurality of operation buttons (that is, the volume of the volume and the operation buttons assigned to each channel) included in the conventional general remote control device may be additionally provided. That is, not only the function of transmitting an operation instruction signal according to the movement of the housing 11 with the movement of the housing 11, but also the function of transmitting an operation instruction signal according to a pressed operation button as in a normal remote control device. It may be configured to have both. When this configuration is adopted, a changeover switch is further provided, and the operation shown in the above-described embodiment and the operation of a normal remote control device are performed depending on whether the changeover switch is “ON” or “OFF”. The configuration may be switched. That is, the changeover switch is "ON"
In the case of, the operation instruction signal corresponding to the movement of the housing 11 is transmitted (operation of the above-described embodiment), while the changeover switch is set to “O”.
In the case of "FF", the operation instruction signal corresponding to the depression of the operation button is transmitted (normal operation of the remote controller).

<C-3: Modification 3> In the above-mentioned embodiment and modifications, the operation instruction signal is generated only while the operator 12 is being pressed. Is not always necessary. That is, the remote controller 1 is configured to have no operator 12,
The control unit 15 may generate the operation instruction signal each time the movement of the housing 11 is detected. In this case, the user does not need to perform the operation of pressing the operating element 12 when operating the electronic device, so that the burden for the operation can be further reduced.

Further, in the above-described embodiment and each modification, the movement of the remote control device while the operator 12 is being pressed is detected, and the operation instruction signal corresponding thereto is transmitted. May be configured. That is, a changeover switch is provided in place of the manipulator 12, and when the changeover switch is "ON", an operation instruction signal corresponding to the movement of the housing 11 is transmitted, while the changeover switch is changed to "OF".
In the case of “F”, the configuration may be such that the transmission of the operation instruction signal is stopped (that is, the operation instruction signal is not generated). With this configuration, it is not necessary to press the operating element 12 while moving the remote control device to operate the electronic device, so that the operability can be further improved.

<C-4: Modified Example 4> In the above-described embodiment and modified examples, “inclination in the A1 direction” or “X”.
Although the operation instruction signal is generated according to the content of the movement such as "movement of the axis in the positive direction", the content of the operation instruction signal may be different according to the degree of the movement. For example, when the inclination is large, an operation instruction signal indicating that the volume is significantly increased is generated, while when the inclination is small, an operation instruction signal indicating that the volume is finely increased is generated. The amount of change in the volume may be changed according to the degree of inclination of the body 11. In this case, as the signal generation table, a table in which the degree of inclination of the housing 11 and the instruction content to the electronic device are associated with each other may be used.

<C-5: Modified Example 5> In the above embodiment, the case where the remote control device 1 is remotely operated by the television receiver is illustrated. However, the remote control device according to the present invention is operated by the remote control device 1. Of course, it is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied as a remote control device for operating various kinds of electric equipment such as AV equipment such as video tape recorders and stereo equipment, and air conditioners and lighting equipment.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the volume and the display channel of the television receiver are instructed by the remote control device 1 is illustrated, but the object of the instruction is not limited to this. For example, when the remote control device according to the present invention is applied to a video tape recorder, an operation such as video tape playback / stop or fast forward / rewind may be instructed according to the movement content of the remote control device. However, when applied to a stereo device, it is conceivable to instruct the size of the output musical sound and the reproduction / stop of the musical sound according to the movement content of the remote control device. Furthermore, when the remote control device according to the present invention is applied to an air conditioner, operations such as switching between cooling / heating and rising / falling of the set temperature may be instructed according to the movement of the remote control device. However, when applied to a lighting device, it is conceivable to instruct operations such as turning on / off the light and adjusting the brightness of the light according to the movement content of the remote control device. In addition to these, the remote control device according to the present invention can be applied as a device for remotely controlling various electric devices.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The operability of the remote control device can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a remote control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the remote control device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing specific contents of a signal generation table in the remote control device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a correspondence relationship between contents of movement of a casing and contents of instructions to electronic devices in the remote control device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a correspondence relationship between contents of movement of a housing and contents of instructions to an electronic device in a remote control device according to a modified example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Remote control device, 11 ... Case, 12 ... Operator,
13 ... Inclination sensor (detection means), 14 ... Acceleration sensor (detection means), 15 ... Control unit (control means), 16 ...
... Signal transmitter (transmitting means), 161 ... Infrared transmitting surface,
17 ... Storage unit (storage means).

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A housing, a detection means for detecting movement of the housing, a control means for generating an operation instruction signal according to the movement content of the housing detected by the detection means, and the control means. And a transmitting unit that transmits an optical signal wave indicating the operation instruction signal generated by the remote controller. 2. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes an inclination sensor that detects an inclination of the housing. 3. The detecting means includes an acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration of the housing.
Alternatively, the remote controller according to item 2. 4. An operation element operated by a user is provided, and the control means generates an operation instruction signal according to the movement content detected by the detection means while the operation element is operated. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The storage unit stores a movement content of the housing and an instruction content corresponding to the movement content, and the control unit refers to the storage content of the storage unit,
The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the operation instruction signal indicating the instruction content corresponding to the movement content of the housing detected by the detection means is generated. 6. The control means, when an operation setting instruction is given by a user, stores the movement content of the casing and the instruction content to be associated with the movement content in the storage means. The remote control device according to claim 5.