JP2003235086A - Remote controller and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the operability when an electric product is remotely controlled. <P>SOLUTION: A CPU 100 displays a control object icon corresponding to a home electric appliance connected to a home electric appliance remote controller 10 and a control instruction icon with which a command to activate a home electric appliance is cross-referenced on a display section 180. When a selection/ movement operation with respect to the control object icon and the control instruction icon is entered, the CPU 100 decides a transmission command on the basis of information in cross-reference with each selected icon and transmits the command so as to control operations of the corresponding home electric appliance. Then the CPU 100 revises the form of the control object icon due to a state of the home electric appliance and a state change or the like acquired by response to the transmission command and displays the revised icon. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

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 and a program for remotely controlling an electric product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electrical products that can be electrically controlled are wired / wired by a host computer and a predetermined communication line.
A system has been developed in which electric appliances are integrated and centrally controlled by wireless connection.

For example, in a building such as a house, a bedroom,
Electric appliances such as TV, video, air conditioner, lighting, refrigerator, rice cooker, microwave oven, washing machine, and intercom, electronic lock, hot water supply equipment, windows and garages that are placed at predetermined positions in the living room, bathroom, etc. A home system for centrally managing and controlling electric products such as equipment such as shutters is known.

Further, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-275255
As disclosed in the publication, there is a technology for constructing a home system in which a home controller and general household equipment are connected by wire, and for remotely controlling general household equipment using a remote equipment control device having a function as an operation terminal. It has been published. According to this, an icon associated with a command for operating each general household device is displayed on the screen of the remote device control device, and by operating this icon, the connected general household device can be remoted. It can be controlled. Further, by registering an icon associated with a signal for controlling the operation of a predetermined general household device, a desired general household device operation instruction can be made into an icon.

[0005]

By the way, in the above-mentioned home system, the general household equipment can be controlled by operating the icon associated with the command for operating the specific general household equipment. . However, when a large number of electric products having different functions and operation methods are integrated and subjected to centralized control, there is a problem that the work of registering an icon associated with a command for each electric product is troublesome. That is, there is a demand for improvement in operability when remotely controlling an integrated electric product with an icon.

In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to improve the operability when remotely controlling an electric product.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 transmits a control signal from a remote position to a plurality of controlled products which perform a predetermined operation. In the remote control device that remotely controls each of the controlled products according to the transmitted control signal,
A storage unit that stores a control target indicator representing each of the controlled products and a control command indicator representing the meaning of the control signal for controlling each of the controlled products in association with each other (for example, A storage medium 200) shown in FIG.
Display control means (for example, CPU 100 shown in FIG. 3; step A9 in FIG. 5) for performing display control of the control target indicator and the control command indicator stored in the storage means.
And a movement operation means (for example, the input unit 140 or the touch panel 160 shown in FIG. 3) operated to move the display position of at least one of the control target mark and the control command mark, and the movement operation means. Judgment means for judging whether or not the display position of at least one of the operated control target mark and the control command mark satisfies a predetermined position condition (for example, CPU shown in FIG. 3
100; step A10) in FIG. 5, and when the determination means determines that the predetermined position condition is satisfied, the movement is performed with respect to the controlled target product corresponding to the control target marker that has been moved. Control signal transmitting means for transmitting a control signal corresponding to the operated control command indicator (for example, CPU 100 shown in FIG. 3; step A12 in FIG. 5).
And are provided.

Here, the controlled product means, for example, various electric products that can be electrically controlled. In the case of an electric product in which a TV and a video are integrated, each of the TV and the video is It corresponds to the controlled product.

The predetermined position condition is, for example,
Conditions such as whether or not the arrangement positions of the respective marks overlap, or whether or not the combination of the marks whose arrangement positions are judged to overlap are the combination of the control target mark and the control command mark is set.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation of the corresponding controlled object product can be controlled according to the movement operation of the controlled object sign or the control command sign. Specifically, when the control target indicator and the control command indicator satisfy the predetermined position condition, the control target product associated with the control target indicator is controlled by the control associated with the control command indicator. Output a signal. According to this, by selecting the control target indicator and the control command indicator on the display screen, a desired operation for the controlled target product can be realized. Further, since the control command indicator registered in common for each controlled target product is shared, it is not necessary to prepare the control command indicator for each controlled target product.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the remote control device according to the first aspect, when the display control means determines that the predetermined positional condition is satisfied by the determination means, Change control means for changing the display form of the control target mark or the control command mark (for example, FIG.
CPU 100 shown in FIG. 5; step A14) in FIG. 5 is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to determine the state of the controlled product or the change of the state on the display screen. For example, when the controlled object sign and the control command sign satisfy a predetermined position condition, the display mode of the controlled object sign is changed to thereby give a control command to the corresponding controlled object product on the display screen. It is possible to determine that the operation control according to the sign has been performed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the remote control device according to the first or second aspect, the determination means includes the control target indicator and the control command indicator in a predetermined display area. Within a region (for example, C shown in FIG. 3) for determining whether or not the predetermined position condition is satisfied when at least one of the positions is moved.
PU100; Step A10 of FIG. 5; Step C12 of FIG. 11) are provided.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is only necessary to move the control target mark and the control command mark into a predetermined area provided in advance to determine the sign movement operation.
It is possible to realize a desired operation, that is, a desired control command for a desired controlled product.

Further, the invention according to claim 4 is based on claim 1
3. In the remote control device according to any one of 3 above, the control command indicator is composed of a plurality of control command indicators, and a synthesizing means for synthesizing the plurality of control instruction indicators into one control command indicator (for example, FIG. CPU 100 shown in FIG. 3;
E12, E14) are further provided.

According to the invention described in claim 4, a plurality of control command indicators can be combined. For example, a control command indicator in which a time setting and a reservation operation are associated with each other can be combined to create a control instruction indicator in which a control command for performing the reservation operation is associated with the set time. According to this, by synthesizing a plurality of control command indicators that are frequently used at the same time, it becomes possible to operate the control command indicator by moving the control instruction indicator later, and improve the operability for remote control of the controlled product. It can be further improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a control signal is transmitted from a remote position to a plurality of controlled target products which perform a predetermined operation, and each controlled target is controlled according to the transmitted control signal. In a remote control device for remotely controlling a product, a control target indicator representing each of the controlled products is associated with a control command indicator representing the meaning of the control signal for controlling each of the controlled products. And a storage unit (for example, the storage medium 220 shown in FIG. 18) that stores the first display control unit (for example, the display unit shown in FIG. 3) that controls the display of the first screen on which the control target marker is arranged. 180; the display screen 70 shown in FIG. 20 (a); step F9 in FIG. 21) and the first selection means (for example, one of the control target markers arranged on the first screen) for selecting one control target marker. , Shown in FIG. Power unit 140 or the touch panel 16
0; step F10) in FIG. 21 and, when the selection by the first selection means is made, a control representing the meaning of the control signal for controlling the controlled product represented by the selected control target indicator. A second display control unit (eg, display unit 180 shown in FIG. 3; shown in FIG. 20B) that retrieves a command indicator from the storage unit and controls the display of the second screen on which the retrieved control instruction indicator is provided. Display screen 70; step F14 in FIG. 21) and second selecting means (for example, the input unit 140 shown in FIG. 3) for selecting one of the control command markers arranged on the second screen. Touch panel 1
60; step F16) in FIG. 21 and, when the selection by the second selecting means is made, the controlled object product represented by the controlled object indicator selected by the first selecting means is selected by the second selecting means. The control signal corresponding to the retrieved control command indicator is retrieved from the storage means, and the retrieved control signal is output to the controlled product (for example, CPU 100 shown in FIG. 3; step F18 in FIG. 21). ), And are provided.

According to the invention of claim 5, a desired operation can be realized by sequentially selecting the displayed controlled object marker and the control command marker. Then, at this time, the control command indicator to be displayed can be determined according to the selected control target indicator. That is, when the control target indicator is selected, the control command indicator associated with the control instruction that can be directed to the associated controlled target product is retrieved and displayed. Therefore, it is possible to arrange and display only the control command indicators corresponding to the control commands registered in the control object indicator, so that the operability for remote control of the controlled object product can be further improved.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, referring to FIGS.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. In the embodiment of the present invention, the remote control device of the present invention is
An example will be described in which the invention is applied to a device that remotely controls home appliances. Further, the remote control device will be described as being configured by a general-purpose computer, a personal computer, or the like.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a home electric appliance remote control system 1 to which the present invention is applied. As shown in the figure, in the home appliance remote control system 1, the home appliance remote control device 10 includes a television 22, a video 24, an audio 26,
The facsimile 28 is, for example, a LAN or RS-232.
Wired connection using C or the like.

The home-appliance remote control device 10 provides an interface for operating the home-appliance by connecting the home-appliance or an icon associated with a control command for operating the home-appliance, and selecting / moving the icon. Control the operation of the corresponding home appliances according to.

[First Embodiment] First, a first embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described.

FIG. 2 shows a transition example of the display screen 30 in the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 2A, on the display screen 30, an icon associated with the home appliance connected to the home appliance remote control device 10 shown in FIG. 1 (hereinafter, referred to as a control target icon as appropriate). The control target area 32 in which is displayed and the control command area 34 in which an icon (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a control command icon) associated with a command for operating the home appliance is displayed are displayed.

Specifically, in the controlled area 32, a television icon OI10, a video icon OI20, an audio icon OI30, and a facsimile icon O are displayed.
I40 is displayed. In addition, the control command area 34
Shows a power-on icon CI10 associated with a command for instructing "power-on".

The first embodiment to which the present invention is applied operates a home electric appliance on a display screen by selecting / moving a control target icon and a control command icon.

Specifically, by selecting the control target icon corresponding to the home appliance to be operated and moving it to the control command icon, the operation corresponding to the control command icon can be realized. In addition, the state of the corresponding home appliance can be determined based on the shape and color of the control target icon.

For example, when the television is turned on in the display screen 30 shown in FIG. 2A, the television icon OI10 in the control target area 32 is selected, and the television icon OI10 is turned on in the control command area 34. The icon CI10 is moved to a position where the icons overlap each other.

FIG. 2B shows an example of the display screen 30 after the power of the television is turned on. As shown in the figure, the television icon OI10 is moved into the power-on icon CI10, and the shape and color of the television icon OI10 are changed and displayed. Therefore, on the display screen 30, it can be confirmed that the current state of the television is "power ON".

Further, in this state, for example, the audio icon OI30 is selected, and the power ON icon CI10 is selected.
The audio can be turned on by moving it to the upper position. In this case, the television icon OI10 and the audio icon OI30 are displayed in the power ON icon CI10. That is, the control command icon associated with the command common to a plurality of home appliances can be shared and used.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a functional configuration of the home appliance remote control device 10 according to the first embodiment will be described. In FIG. 3, the home electric appliance remote control device 10 includes a CPU.
(Central Processing Unit) 100, RAM (Random
Access Memory) 110, ROM (Read Only Memory)
120, communication unit 130, input unit 140, position detection circuit 1
50, touch panel 160, display drive circuit 170, display unit 180, storage medium reading unit 190, and storage medium 2
00 of each part.

The CPU 100 executes a process based on a predetermined program in response to an input instruction, and gives an instruction to each functional unit and transfers data. That is, the CPU 100
Performs processing according to various programs stored in the storage medium 200 in response to an operation signal or the like input from the input unit 140 or the touch panel 160. Then, the processing result is stored in the RAM 110, and a display signal for displaying the processing result is output to the display drive circuit 170 to display the display information corresponding to the display signal.
80 is displayed. Further, the CPU 100 is the RAM 1
Some or all of the processing results stored in 10 are saved in the storage medium 200.

Further, in the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the CPU 100 executes processing in accordance with the home appliance icon control program 202 stored in the storage medium 200.

Specifically, the control target icon and the control command icon are displayed on the display unit 180, and the operation of the corresponding home appliance is controlled and the display of the corresponding icon is switched according to the operation input to the icon.

Specifically, the CPU 100 displays a control target icon corresponding to a home appliance connected to the home appliance remote control device 10 and a control command icon associated with a command for operating the home appliance on the display unit 180. To display. Then, when the selection / move operation for the control target icon and the control command icon is input, the CPU 100
Controls the operation of the corresponding home appliance by referring to the icon / transmission command conversion table 204, determining the transmission command and transmitting it. Then, the form of the control target icon is changed and displayed in accordance with the state of the home electric appliance, the change in the state, or the like acquired by the response from the home electric appliance by the transmission command.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the icon / send command conversion table 204. As shown in the figure, the icon / transmission command conversion table 204 is a data table in which a control command icon, a control target icon, and a transmission command are associated with each other. Determine the send command from the combination. For example, if a selection / move operation is input for the TV icon and the power ON icon, the CPU
100 determines the transmission command AA. That is, the transmission command AA is a control signal for instructing the TV to turn on the power.

The communication unit 130 is a device for transmitting / receiving predetermined information to / from another device (home electric appliance connected to the home electric appliance remote control device 10) connected via a communication line, such as a serial system or a parallel system. It is composed of a communication device capable of predetermined communication. The CPU 100 uses the communication unit 13
The control for communicating with home appliances is performed via 0 and the communication line. Specifically, the CPU 100 has the communication unit 130.
Through the, the connection with the home electric appliance is established according to the communication method corresponding to each home electric appliance to be connected, and various signals such as a transmission command described later are exchanged.

The ROM 120 stores an IPL (Initial Program Loader) program executed by the CPU 100, various initial setting values related to the IPL program, and the like.

The RAM 110 has a memory area for temporarily storing various programs executed by the CPU 100, data relating to the execution of these programs, and the like.

The input section 140 includes a cursor key, a numeric keypad, a keyboard provided with various function keys, and a pointing device such as a mouse. The input section 140 receives an operation signal such as a pressed signal of a pressed key or a position signal of a mouse.
It outputs to PU100 and implement | achieves an input means, such as various selection operation and setting operation.

The home appliance remote control device 10 also includes a touch panel 160 as an input device. The touch panel 160 is an input device in which a device such as a pen for instructing the position on the display unit 180 and a device for sensing the instructed position of the display unit 180 are combined, and a position detection circuit connected to the touch panel 160. 150 detects the position coordinates designated by touch panel 160. By using this touch panel 160, the position on the display unit 180 can be designated in detail, and the touch panel 160
It is also possible to realize the above-mentioned instructing means in the input unit 140 by selecting the area of the display unit 180 using.

The display drive circuit 170 controls the display section 180 based on the display signal input from the CPU 100 to display various screens.
RT (Cathode Ray Tube) and LCD (Liquid Crystal D)
isplay) and the like.

The storage medium 200 is realized by, for example, a hard disk, an IC memory card, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc., and stores various processing programs related to the operation of the home appliance remote control device 10 and data such as processing results by the processing programs. It In particular, in order to realize the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the home appliance icon control program 202 and the icon / send command conversion table 20 are provided.
4 and 4 are stored. The CPU 100 performs processing such as reading and writing of data stored in the storage medium 200 via the storage medium reading unit 190.

Next, the operation of the home electric appliance remote control device 10 according to the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When the power of the home electric appliance remote control device 10 is turned on, the CPU 100 causes the home electric appliance icon control program 2 to operate.
02 execution is started, and the home appliance connected to the home appliance remote control device 10 and the state of the home appliance are detected,
The control target icon and the control command icon are displayed according to the detected information (step A9), and the input of the selection / movement operation for this control target icon is awaited.

When the selection / move operation for the control target icon is input, the CPU 100 determines whether the arrangement position of the control / target icon selected / moved and the display position of the other icon satisfy predetermined position conditions. It is determined whether or not (step A10). When the predetermined condition is satisfied (step A10; YES), the CPU1
00 refers to the icon / transmission command conversion table 204, determines the transmission command from the selected control target icon and the control command icon displayed at the position where the control target icon has been moved, The transmission command is transmitted via the communication unit 130 (step A
12).

Next, the CPU 100 changes the form of the control target icon and updates the display screen according to the state of the home electric appliance or the change in the state obtained from the response to the transmission command or the like (step A14), and this processing To finish.

In the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied, a control target icon is selected, moved to the control command icon, and the icons are arranged at positions where they touch each other. Although the above-described operation of the home appliance is realized, the control command icon may be selected, moved to the control target icon, and the icons may be arranged at a position where they are in contact with each other. FIG. 6 shows a transition example of the display screen 30 in this case.

In FIG. 6A, for example, when the power of the television is turned on, the power ON icon CI10 is selected and moved and placed on the television icon OI10. Further, after the power of the television is turned on, the color of the television icon OI10 is changed and displayed as shown in FIG. 6 (b).

As described above, according to the first embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the control command icon and the command associated with the control command icon are shared. It is not necessary to prepare a control command icon associated with a command common to a plurality of home appliances such as "power off" for each home appliance. Therefore, the home appliance can be remotely operated by selecting the control target icon and the control command icon according to the desired home appliance operation, and the operability of the home appliance operation on the display screen can be improved.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described. The configuration of the home electric appliance remote control device in the second embodiment is the same as the home electric appliance remote control device 10 shown in FIG. 3 in the first embodiment, except that the storage medium 200 is shown in FIG. The configuration is the same as that shown in FIG. 7B except that the storage medium 210 and the RAM 110 shown in FIG. 7 are replaced by the RAM 112. The same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

First, referring to FIG. 7, a storage medium 210 and a RAM 11 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
The configuration of No. 2 will be described. The recording medium 21 is shown in FIG.
The configuration of the RAM 112 is shown in (b) of 0. As shown in FIG. 7A, in order to realize the second embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the storage medium 210, in particular, has a home appliance icon control program 212, an icon creation program 214, and an icon composition program. 216 and an icon list table 218 are stored. Also, FIG.
As shown in (b), the RAM 112 particularly includes an icon information storage area 114 that holds a list of icons.

In the second embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the CPU 100 executes the processing according to the selection of the operation mode. FIG. 8 shows an operation flow of the home electric appliance remote control device 10 according to the second embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

That is, the CPU 100 waits for an instruction to select an operation mode on the display screen (step B10) and executes a process according to the instructed operation mode. And
When the home appliance operation mode is instructed, the CPU 100 starts execution of the home appliance icon control program 212 to execute the home appliance icon control process (step B12), and when the icon creation mode is instructed, the icon creation program 214. Is started to execute the icon creating process (step B14), and when the icon combining mode is instructed, the icon combining program 216 is started to execute the icon combining process (step B16).

When the processing in each operation mode is completed, the process returns to step B10 to accept the operation mode selection operation. Further, for example, the power supply to the home electric appliance remote control device 10 is cut off, and the present processing is ended in response to the home electric appliance control function end instruction.

Next, the processing relating to the above-mentioned operation modes will be described.

First, a case where the home appliance operation mode is instructed will be described. FIG. 9 shows a transition example of the display screen 40 in the home appliance operation mode. FIG. 9A is an example of the display screen 40 when the home appliance operation mode is selected. As shown in the figure, a control target area 41 and a control command area 42
, A time designation area 43 in which an icon associated with a command relating to time designation (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a time designation icon) is displayed, and a confirmation area 44 in which an OK button 45 is displayed in a light color are displayed. That is, the OK button 45 cannot be pressed when the icon does not exist in the confirmed area 44.

Specifically, in the control command area 42, the power ON icon CI10 and the reservation icon CI20 associated with the command for instructing "reservation" are displayed, and in the time designation area 43, the time "4 o'clock". A time designation icon TI10 associated with a command for instructing
An interval designation icon TI20 associated with a command designating the time interval "1 hour" is displayed.

It is possible to select two or more control command icons by instructing the home appliance operation mode.

Specifically, the control target icon corresponding to the home appliance to be operated is moved to the confirmation area 44, and the icon corresponding to the desired operation is displayed in the control command area 4.
2, or by moving the collection from the time designated area 43 to the confirmed area 44, and then pressing the confirm button 45, all control command icons and time designated icons included in the confirmed area 44 for the home appliance are displayed. An operation corresponding to the associated command can be performed.

For example, when a video is reserved from 4 o'clock, first, the video icon OI is displayed in the controlled area 41.
20, the reservation icon CI20 from the control command area 42,
The time designation icon TI10 is moved from the time designation area 43 into the confirmation area 44.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), when each icon is moved to the fixed area 44, the video icon OI2 in which the color and shape of the icon before the movement is changed is displayed.
0 ′, the reservation icon CI20 ′, and the icon TI10 ′ from 4:00 are displayed, and the OK button 45 can be pressed.

Specifically, when at least one icon to be controlled and one icon related to home appliance operation (in this case, any icon displayed in the control command area 42 or the time designation area 43) are selected one by one. Then, the OK button 45 can be pressed.

FIG. 9C shows an example of the display screen 40 after the video reservation operation in response to the depression of the OK button 45 is completed. As shown in the same figure, the color of the video icon OI20 ′ in the controlled area 41 is changed and displayed, and the operation instructed for the video is in progress (in this case, “reservation” is in progress). It can be confirmed on the display screen 40.

Next, the home appliance icon control process executed when the home appliance operation mode is instructed will be described.
That is, the CPU 100 uses the home appliance icon control program 2
The process is executed according to 12.

Specifically, the CPU 100 displays the icons stored in the icon information storage area 114 on the display unit 180.
Then, the transmission command is determined and transmitted according to the selection / movement operation for this icon, and the operation of the corresponding home appliance is controlled. In addition, at this time, when a plurality of commands related to the operation of the home appliance are selected, the CPU 100 newly generates a command based on the command associated with the selected plurality of icons.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the storage format of the icon information storage area 114. As shown in the figure, in the icon information, for each icon, an icon name, a type, an operation content that can be realized by the icon, and a command corresponding to the operation content are stored in association with each other. . CPU
100 refers to this icon information storage area 114,
The icon is displayed according to the type of each icon, and the transmission command is determined based on the command of each icon to control the operation of the home appliance.

FIG. 11 shows an operation flow of the home appliance remote control device 10 for executing the home appliance icon control process. As shown in the figure, when the home appliance operation mode is instructed, the CPU 1
00 first displays the icon registered in the icon information storage area 114 on the display unit 180 (step C10), and waits for the input of the selection / confirmation operation for the icon.

That is, the CPU 100 determines whether or not the display position of each selected icon satisfies a predetermined position condition (step C12), and when the predetermined condition is satisfied (step C12; (YES), accept the confirmation input.

Upon receipt of the confirmed input, the CPU 100 generates a command according to the input operation (step C14), and transmits the generated transmission command via the communication section 130 (step C16).

Next, the CPU 100 acquires the state of the home electric appliance by a response to the transmission command or the like, changes the form of the controlled object icon and updates the display screen (step C18), and ends this processing.

As described above, by selecting / collecting and confirming the icon corresponding to the desired operation, the operation can be realized. Further, by selecting a plurality of icons related to the operation of home appliances, a transmission command is automatically created based on the home appliance information and commands associated with the plurality of icons, and the corresponding operation can be realized.

Next, the case where the icon creation mode is instructed will be described. FIG. 12 shows a transition example of the display screen 50 in the icon creation mode. FIG. 12A shows
It is an example of the display screen 50 when the icon creation mode is selected. As shown in the figure, the icon creation window 5
1 is displayed, and settings are input to create an icon for operating a home electric appliance. A menu selection window 52 is displayed in the icon creation window 51. For example, a time designation button 53 for selecting a time designation icon or a control command icon and a control command button 54 are displayed. There is. The user presses a button depending on the type of desired icon.

Here, for example, a case of creating a time designation icon will be described. That is, the time designation button 53
When is pressed, a time designation icon creation window 55 is displayed in the icon creation window 51 as shown in FIG. 12B, and settings relating to time designation can be made.
Specifically, a value that can be set for each item can be selected from a pull-down menu or the like, and an icon associated with a command based on setting items can be created.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12B, a day designation box 56, a time designation box 57, and an interval designation box 58 are displayed in the time designation icon creation window 55, and set values are selected for each. You can do it. Then, "fire" is set in the day of the week designation box 56, and "1" is set in the interval designation box 58.
And the OK button 59 is pressed, a time designation icon associated with a command corresponding to “Tuesday 1 hour” is newly created.

Next, the icon creating process executed when the icon creating mode is instructed will be described.
That is, the CPU 100 uses the icon creation program 214
Perform processing according to.

Specifically, the CPU 100 receives an input of a setting item for creating an icon relating to the operation of a home electric appliance, generates a command according to the setting item, and creates a new icon associated with the created command. To create. Further, at this time, the information on the created icon is added to the icon information storage area 114 shown in FIG.

For example, when "Tuesday" and "From 4:00" are set and an instruction to create an icon relating to time designation is given,
The CPU 100 creates the time designation icon associated with the command dd corresponding to “from 4 o'clock on Tuesday”, and FIG.
The icon information L10 is added to the icon information storage area 114 as shown in FIG. Further, the CPU 100 determines the form of the icon by referring to the icon list table 218.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the icon list table 218 for creating the time designation icon. As shown in the figure, the icon list table 218 is, for example,
Day of the week / color conversion data for setting the color corresponding to each day of the week, time / color conversion data for setting the color corresponding to each time, and time for setting the design corresponding to each time interval An icon which is composed of the interval / symbol conversion data and in which each setting item is visually identifiable can be created according to the icon list table 218.

FIG. 14 shows this icon list table 21.
8 shows an example of a time designation icon created by referring to FIG. In the figure, "1 hour from 4:00 on Tuesday",
The example of the display form of the icon created when the commands corresponding to "70 minutes" and "Thursday" are generated is shown. That is, for example, in the time designation icon, the upper half of the icon is the day of the week identification area, the lower half is the time identification area, and a pattern for identifying the time interval is drawn on the icon. . The display forms of the created icons may be unified, and when the icon is selected, the operation content corresponding to the associated command may be displayed in text.

FIG. 15 shows an operation flow of the home appliance remote control device 10 relating to this icon creation processing. As shown in the figure, when the icon creation mode is instructed, the CPU 10
0 waits for input of various setting items related to icon creation (step D10).

When the input of the setting item is confirmed, the CPU 1
00 generates a command according to the setting items (step D12), and creates an icon in which the generated command is associated (step D14).

Then, the icon information of the created icon is added to the icon information storage area 114 (step D
16) Then, this process is terminated. That is, the icon created in the icon creation mode is reflected on the screen displaying the icon when the home appliance operation mode is selected next time.

As described above, in this icon creation mode, it is possible to create an icon for operating a home electric appliance. Therefore, by creating an icon associated with a command corresponding to an operation that is frequently used, the operation can be realized by the icon, and the operability of home appliance control by the icon can be improved. .

Next, the case where the icon composition mode is instructed will be described. FIG. 16 shows a transition example of the display screen 60 when the icon composition mode is selected. FIG.
As shown in (a), a control command area 63 and an icon combining area 61 in which an OK button 62 is displayed are displayed. When the icon composition mode is selected, this icon composition area 61 is displayed, and the icon composition area 6 is displayed.
When a plurality of icons are moved within 1, a new icon that combines the plurality of icons is generated.

Specifically, for example, the control command area 63
When the icon 64 and the icon 65 displayed on the screen are selected, moved to the icon combining area 61, and the OK button 62 is pressed, a new icon 66 is displayed on the control command area 63 as shown in FIG. 16B. It

Next, the icon synthesizing process executed when the icon synthesizing mode is instructed will be described.
That is, the CPU 100 causes the icon synthesis program 216
Perform processing according to.

Specifically, when a plurality of icons relating to the operation of home appliances are selected, the CPU 100 synthesizes the command associated with the selected icon and newly creates an icon associated with the synthesized command. To create. Further, at this time, the information of the combined icon is added to the icon information storage area 114 shown in FIG.

For example, when the day designation icon designating Wednesday and the time designation icon designating 5 o'clock are selected,
The CPU 100 searches the icon information storage area 114 for the corresponding icon information. And the CPU 100
Generates a command corresponding to "Wednesday at 5 o'clock" from the command associated with each searched icon, and newly creates an icon associated with the command fg.
Then, the icon information L20 is added to the icon information storage area 114 shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 shows an operation flow of the home appliance remote control device 10 relating to icon composition processing. As shown in the figure, when the icon synthesis mode is instructed, the CPU 100
Waits until the icon to be combined is confirmed.

That is, the CPU 100 determines whether or not a plurality of icons have moved into the composition area (step E1).
0), when it is determined that it has moved (step E10; Y
ES) and accept a confirmed input.

When the icon to be combined is confirmed,
The CPU 100 synthesizes all the commands associated with the moved icon (step E12), and newly generates an icon associated with the synthesized command (step E14).

Then, the icon information of the generated combined icon is added to the icon information storage area 114 (step E16). At this time, the icon information corresponding to the plurality of combined icons may be deleted in the icon information storage area 114.

Then, the created composite icon is arranged and the display screen is updated (step E18), and this processing ends.

As described above, in this icon synthesizing mode, it is possible to synthesize a plurality of icons for operating household appliances. Therefore, by selecting and synthesizing icons that are frequently used at the same time, it is possible to further improve the operability of home appliance control by icons.

[Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described. The configuration of the home electric appliance remote control device according to the third embodiment is the same as the configuration of the home electric appliance remote control device 10 illustrated and described in the first embodiment with reference to FIG. The configuration is the same as that replaced with 220.
The same components are assigned the same reference numerals and explanations thereof are omitted.

First, the configuration of the storage medium 220 according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, in order to realize the third embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the storage medium 220, in particular, the home appliance icon control program 222, the icon / send command conversion table 224, and the home appliance / control. The command icon correspondence table 226 is stored.

In the third embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the CPU 100 displays a control target folder associated with each home appliance connected to the home appliance remote control device 10,
When the folder is selected, the home electric appliance / control instruction icon correspondence table 226 is referred to, and a control instruction icon usable for the corresponding home electric appliance is determined and displayed.

FIG. 19 shows an example of the home electric appliance / control command icon correspondence table 226. As shown in the figure, home appliances /
In the control command icon table 226, for each control target,
Information indicating whether each control command icon is usable is stored as 0 (unusable) / 1 (usable). That is,
The CPU 100 refers to the home appliance / control command icon table 226 and determines whether or not the operation corresponding to the command associated with each control command icon is registered for each home appliance to be controlled.

FIG. 20 shows a transition example of the display screen 70 in the third embodiment to which the present invention is applied. Figure 20
As shown in (a), the display screen 70 has a television folder 71, a microwave oven folder 72, and a fax folder 73.
Is displayed, and when this folder is selected, a control command icon in which an operable command is associated with the home appliance associated with the selected folder is displayed.

For example, when the microwave oven folder 72 is selected, the display screen 70 is switched to, for example, the screen in which the microwave control instruction area 74 shown in FIG. 20B is displayed, and the microwave oven control instruction area is displayed. A power ON icon 75, a power OFF icon 76,
A start icon 77 and a stop icon 78 are displayed. That is, for the microwave oven, "power on",
The operations of "power OFF", "start", and "stop" can be performed on the display screen 70.

Next, the operation of the home electric appliance remote control device 10 according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, first, the CPU 100 displays the folders corresponding to the household appliances connected to the household appliance remote control device 10 on the display screen (step F9), and waits for the input of the selection / moving operation for the folders (step F10). ).

When the selection input of the folder is accepted, the CP
The U100 first refers to the home appliance / control command icon correspondence table 226 to detect a control command icon that can be used for the selected control target icon (step F12). Then, the detected control command icon is displayed (step F14), and the input of the selection operation for this control command icon is awaited (step F16).

When the control command icon is selected, the CPU
100 is an icon / send command conversion table 224
With reference to, the transmission command is determined from the home appliance corresponding to the folder and the command associated with the selected control command icon, and the transmission command is transmitted to the communication unit 13
It is transmitted via 0 (step F18).

Next, the CPU 100 changes the form of the corresponding control command icon and updates the display screen according to the state of the home electric appliance or the change of the state acquired by the response to the transmission command, etc. (step F20), and The process ends.

As described above, according to the third embodiment to which the present invention is applied, the control command icon to be displayed can be searched and determined according to the selected control target icon. Therefore, it is possible to arrange and display only the control command icons corresponding to the commands registered in the home appliance associated with the control target icon, and to operate the control command icons corresponding to the commands not registered in the home appliance. It will be possible. This allows
The operability for remote control of electric appliances can be further improved.

The three embodiments to which the present invention is applied have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to these and can be appropriately modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, in the present embodiment, the home electric appliance remote control device and the peripheral home electric appliance are connected via a predetermined wired communication line. The remote control device may be connected to an electric product around the remote control device by a communication method. In this case, the remote control device may be a mobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assy) capable of Bluetooth communication.
It is configured as a mobile terminal such as istant) and that home appliances can communicate with the Bluetooth standard. FIG. 22 shows the overall configuration of the home appliance remote control system 2 in this case. As shown in the figure, the home electric appliance remote control device constituted by the mobile phone 12 is, for example, a television 22, a video 24, an audio 26.
It is wirelessly connected to home appliances such as.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention,
Home appliance remote control system 1 shown in 1
The case where 0 controls each home electric appliance has been described, but the home electric appliance remote control device 10 is connected to the network, and the home electric appliance remote control device 10 is controlled from another terminal device connected to the network via the network. A system configuration for controlling each home electric appliance may be adopted.

[0109]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the operation of the corresponding controlled object product can be controlled according to the movement operation of the controlled object sign or the control command sign. Specifically, when the control target indicator and the control command indicator satisfy the predetermined position condition, the control target product associated with the control target indicator is controlled by the control associated with the control command indicator. Output a signal. According to this, by selecting the control target indicator and the control command indicator on the display screen,
A desired operation for the controlled product can be realized.
Further, since the control command indicator registered in common for each controlled target product is shared, it is not necessary to prepare the control command indicator for each controlled target product.

According to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to determine the state of the controlled product or the change of the state on the display screen. For example, when the controlled object sign and the control command sign satisfy a predetermined position condition, the display mode of the controlled object sign is changed to thereby give a control command to the corresponding controlled object product on the display screen. It is possible to determine that the operation control according to the sign has been performed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the desired operation, that is, the desired operation, can be performed by simply moving the control target marker and the control command marker within a predetermined area provided in advance to determine the marker moving operation. It is possible to realize a desired control command for a desired controlled product.

According to the invention described in claim 4, a plurality of control command indicators can be combined. For example, a control command indicator in which a time setting and a reservation operation are associated with each other can be combined to create a control instruction indicator in which a control command for performing the reservation operation is associated with the set time. According to this
By synthesizing a plurality of control command indicators that are frequently used at the same time, it is possible to operate the control command indicator by moving the control instruction indicator later, and further improve the operability for remote control of the controlled product. it can.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, a desired operation can be realized by sequentially selecting the displayed control target indicator and the control command indicator. Then, at this time, the control command indicator to be displayed can be determined according to the selected control target indicator. That is, when the control target indicator is selected, the control command indicator associated with the control instruction that can be directed to the associated controlled target product is retrieved and displayed. Therefore, it is possible to arrange and display only the control command indicators corresponding to the control commands registered in the control object indicator, so that the operability for remote control of the controlled object product can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a home electric appliance remote control system in the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a transition example of a display screen in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a home electric appliance remote control device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an icon / send command conversion table.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the home electric appliance remote control device in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a transition example of a display screen in the modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration (a) of a storage medium and a configuration (b) of a RAM according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of the home electric appliance remote control device in the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a transition example of a display screen in a home appliance operation mode.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a storage format of an icon information storage area.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the home electric appliance remote control device in the home electric appliance operation mode.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a transition example of a display screen in the icon creation mode.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an icon list table.

14 is a diagram showing an example of a time designation icon created according to the icon list table shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the home electric appliance remote control device in the icon creation mode.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a transition example of a display screen in the icon combining mode.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the home electric appliance remote control device in the icon synthesizing mode.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a storage medium according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a home appliance / control command icon correspondence table.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a transition example of a display screen in the third embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of the home electric appliance remote control device in the third embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the configuration of another home appliance remote control system to which the present invention has been applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Home appliances remote control system 10 Home appliances remote control device 100 CPU 110 RAM 120 ROM 130 Communication unit 140 Input section 150 position detection circuit 160 touch panel 170 Display drive circuit 180 Display 190 storage medium reading unit 200 storage media 202 Home Appliance Icon Control Program 204 Icon / send command conversion table 22 TV 24 videos 26 audio 28 Facsimile

Continued front page    F term (reference) 5C056 AA01 AA07 BA01 BA08 BA10                       CA01 CA11                 5E501 AA19 AC31 BA05 CB07 EA11                       FA04 FA45                 5K048 AA04 BA01 DA02 DA05 DC03                       EB02 FB05 FB06 FB10 FB15                       HA01 HA02

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A control signal is transmitted from a remote position to a plurality of controlled products which perform a predetermined operation,
In a remote control device that remotely controls each of the controlled products according to the transmitted control signal, a control target indicator representing each of the controlled products and the control signal for controlling each of the controlled products. A storage unit that stores a control command indicator that represents the meaning of the control unit in association with each other; a display control unit that controls the display of the control target marker and the control command marker stored in the storage unit; Moving operation means operated to move the display position of at least one of the controlled object sign and the control command sign, and display of at least one of the controlled object sign and the control command sign that are moved by the moving operation part Judgment means for judging whether or not the position satisfies a predetermined position condition, and this judgment means satisfies the predetermined position condition. Control signal transmitting means for transmitting a control signal corresponding to the control instruction mark that has been moved to the controlled object product that corresponds to the controlled mark that has been moved. A remote control device characterized by the above. 2. The change control means for changing the display form of the controlled object sign or the control command sign when the judging means judges that the predetermined position condition is satisfied. The remote control device according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The determining means satisfies the predetermined position condition by moving at least one of the control target mark and the control command mark within a predetermined display area. 3. An area determination means for determining whether or not the area is included.
The described remote control device. 4. The control command indicator is composed of a plurality of control command indicators, and the control command indicator further comprises a synthesizing unit for synthesizing the plurality of control instruction indicators into one control command indicator. 4. The remote control device according to any one of 3 to 3. 5. A control signal is transmitted from a remote position to a plurality of controlled products which perform a predetermined operation,
In a remote control device that remotely controls each of the controlled products according to the transmitted control signal, a control target indicator representing each of the controlled products and the control signal for controlling each of the controlled products. And a storage unit that stores a control command indicator that represents the meaning and content of the control unit in association with each other;
Display control means, first selection means for selecting one of the control target markers arranged on the first screen, and when the selection is made by the first selection means, the selection is made. The control command indicator representing the meaning of the control signal for controlling the controlled product represented by the control target indicator is retrieved from the storage means, and the display control of the second screen on which the retrieved control command indicator is arranged is performed. Second display control means for performing, second selection means for selecting one control command indicator among the control target indicators arranged on the second screen, and when the selection by the second selection means is made, The control signal corresponding to the control command indicator selected by the second selecting unit, of the controlled object product represented by the control target indicator selected by the first selecting unit, is retrieved from the storage unit, and the retrieved control signal is retrieved. The controlled object A remote control device comprising: a control signal output means for outputting to a product. 6. A control signal is transmitted from a remote position to a plurality of controlled products which perform a predetermined operation,
A remote control device for remotely controlling each of the controlled products according to the transmitted control signal, a control target indicator representing each of the controlled products and the control signal for controlling each of the controlled products. A storage unit that stores a control command indicator that represents the meaning of the control unit in association with each other; a display control unit that controls the display of the control target marker and the control command marker stored in the storage unit; Moving operation means operated to move the display position of at least one of the controlled object sign and the control command sign, and display of at least one of the controlled object sign and the control command sign that are moved by the moving operation part Determination means for determining whether or not the position satisfies a predetermined position condition, and if the determination condition satisfies the predetermined position condition Control signal transmitting means for transmitting a control signal corresponding to the control instruction mark that has been moved to the controlled object product that corresponds to the control target mark that has been moved. Program of. 7. A control signal is transmitted from a remote position to a plurality of controlled products which perform a predetermined operation,
A remote control device for remotely controlling each of the controlled products according to the transmitted control signal, a control target indicator representing each of the controlled products and the control signal for controlling each of the controlled products. And a storage unit that stores a control command indicator that represents the meaning and content of the control unit in association with each other;
Display control means, first selection means for selecting one of the control target markers arranged on the first screen, and when the selection by the first selection means is made, the first selection means is selected. The control command indicator representing the meaning of the control signal for controlling the controlled product represented by the control target indicator is retrieved from the storage means, and the display control of the second screen on which the retrieved control command indicator is arranged is performed. Second display control means for performing, second selection means for selecting one control command indicator among the control target indicators arranged on the second screen, and when the selection by the second selection means is made, The control signal corresponding to the control command indicator selected by the second selecting unit, of the controlled object product represented by the control target indicator selected by the first selecting unit, is retrieved from the storage unit, and the retrieved control signal is retrieved. The controlled object Control signal output means to output to the product, and a program to make the function.