JP2006304078A - Separate setting remote control system and electronic apparatus equipped therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote control system where each of a plurality of users carries a remote controller, an electronic apparatus stores a setting of each remote controller therein, and each user can call it easily. <P>SOLUTION: A single electronic apparatus 2 comprises a plurality of remote controllers 1a, 1b, which comprise an identification code for identifying the remote controllers 1a, 1b therein. The electronic apparatus 2 calls out the set information matching to the identification code transmitted by the remote controller, and reflects it as the setting of the electronic apparatus 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an individually configurable remote control system capable of storing electronic device settings for each of a plurality of remote controllers, and an electronic device including the remote control system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in many electronic devices represented by audio visual devices (hereinafter referred to as AV devices), it is possible to change settings depending on the user's application, environment, and preferences. However, many AV devices can only store one setting value for a setting item, and are used by a plurality of users in general households. In order to reflect the usage and preference of each user, Each time a user uses an electronic device, the setting is checked, and if another user is using it, the user has to make a setting according to his / her application and preference again. Various methods have been disclosed to solve this.

  For example, according to Patent Document 1, a user setting / discriminating GUI (Graphical User Interface) is displayed on a display device such as a monitor, a profile and a setting are registered for each user, and an electronic device is used. A method is disclosed in which, when a user can be confirmed through the GUI, the setting registered by the user is called.

  According to Patent Document 2, a remote controller is prepared for each user, an ID code that is a classification of the user is stored in the remote controller, predetermined setting information for each ID code is stored in the electronic device, and A method for calling up setting information that matches an ID code to be transmitted and operating an electronic device is disclosed.

JP 2002-335513 A JP 2004-254215 A

  However, in the method of Patent Document 1, there are many setting items such as a user's profile, the GUI becomes complicated, the setting operation becomes complicated, and the remote control itself becomes complicated such as an increase in buttons.

  In addition, in the method of Patent Document 2, it is possible to realize advanced setting changes, simple settings for elderly people, viewing restrictions for young people, and the like by dividing users with remote controllers. It is not possible to meet a wide variety of needs such as taste and taste.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an individually configurable remote control system capable of storing settings of each of a plurality of users and easily calling the settings, and an electronic apparatus including the remote control system. The purpose is to provide.

  The individually controllable remote control system according to claim 1 is a remote control system for controlling an electronic device by a plurality of remote controllers, and the remote controller stores an identification code for identifying the remote controller by the electronic device. An identification code storage means; and a signal transmission means for transmitting the identification code simultaneously with an operation signal of the remote control. The electronic device recognizes the identification code transmitted from the remote control; and the recognition means recognizes the identification code. Control means for controlling the electronic device with the set contents for each identification code stored in the setting storage means from the identification code is provided.

  According to the configuration of claim 1, a plurality of remote controllers have storage means for storing identification codes that can identify each of them, and by transmitting the identification codes at the same time when the electronic apparatus is operated, which remote controller depends on which electronic apparatus side The operation can be specified. The electronic device can specify the setting information for each identification code stored in the setting storage means by the identification code transmitted from the remote controller, and reflect the setting information on various settings through the control means based on the setting information.

  The remote control system that can be individually set according to claim 2 is the remote control system that can be individually set according to claim 1, wherein setting information when the electronic device is turned off by the remote control is transmitted from the remote control. The setting storage means stores the setting information for the transmitted identification code.

  According to the configuration of the second aspect, by storing the setting for each remote controller used when the power is turned off, that is, for each identification code, the setting can be easily recalled when the power is turned on next time.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic apparatus including the individually controllable remote control system according to the first aspect of the present invention.

  According to the configuration of claim 3, by providing the individually controllable remote control system according to claim 1 or 2, a plurality of users perform special operations for setting according to their respective uses and preferences. Can be used without

  The individually controllable remote control system according to claim 1 provides identification codes to a plurality of remote controllers for remote control of electronic devices, thereby identifying users of the respective remote controllers and performing operations using the remote controllers. The identification code is transmitted together with the operation signal, and the identification code recognition means provided in the electronic device and the setting storage means for storing the setting for each identification code call the setting for each identification code, that is, for each user, to control the electronic device. be able to. This eliminates the need for the user to call his / her settings each time the electronic device is used, and allows the electronic device to be easily operated with individual settings.

  The individually controllable remote control system according to claim 2 is configured so that, for example, items such as a selection channel and volume of a television receiver that are set fluidly are set for each remote control used when the power is turned off, that is, for each identification code. By storing, the setting can be easily recalled regardless of the use status of the electronic device immediately before the next power-on.

  Since the individually controllable remote control system according to claim 3 includes the individually controllable remote control system according to claim 1 or 2, the user's personal settings can be set according to the use and preference thereof. Can be stored separately.

  A first embodiment as the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Of course, it is needless to say that the present invention can be easily applied to those other than those described in the first embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention.

  1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a setting information calling operation when the electronic apparatus is powered on. It is a flowchart figure. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of channel switching, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of setting change.

  The configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numerals 1a and 1b denote remote controllers, which have the same configuration except for an identification code stored in an internal memory. Reference numeral 2 denotes an electronic device that can be operated by the remote controllers 1a and 1b, and is a television receiver in this embodiment. Reference numeral 3 denotes a non-volatile memory that stores an identification code provided in the remote controllers 1a and 1b. Reference numeral 4 denotes control means for controlling the operation of the electronic device 2. Reference numeral 5 denotes a recognition unit that extracts and recognizes an identification code from signals transmitted from the remote controllers 1a and 1b. Reference numeral 6 denotes a non-volatile memory that stores setting information of the electronic device 2 corresponding to the identification code acquired from the recognition unit 5. Some setting storage means. In the remote control system according to the present invention, in the present embodiment, the remote controllers 1a and 1b have an identification code, and the setting information for each identification code is called from the setting storage means 6 using the identification code.

  Next, based on FIG. 2, the operation of the setting information when the electronic device is powered on will be described. The electronic device 2 is turned on using the remote controller 1a having the identification code 1 (S1). At that time, the remote controller 1a transmits the identification code = 1 together with the power-on signal. Upon receiving the signal, the electronic device 2 turns on the power (S2), and acquires the setting information of the electronic device 2 in the identification code 1 from the setting storage unit 6 using the identification code acquired from the signal by the recognition unit 5. (S3). The acquired setting information is reflected in the operation setting of the electronic device 2 (S4). In this embodiment, since the electronic device 2 receives both the identification code and the power-on signal, it is possible to turn on the power after obtaining the setting information. When the power is turned off, power is supplied to the light receiving unit of the electronic device 2 and the control means 4 such as a microcomputer so that the remote control signal can be always received.

  Next, based on FIG. 3, an operation when the channel being selected by the electronic device 2 that is a television receiver is changed using the remote controller will be described. Here, for example, it is assumed that the remote controller 1a can select a predetermined channel of 32 stations, and the remote controller 1b has a setting in which the number of channels that can be selected as a predetermined 12 stations is limited. The channel selection operation is performed by the electronic device 2 remote controller 1a or 1b, and the signal is received by the electronic device 2 (S5). The identification code included in the signal is discriminated by the recognition means 5 (S6). As a result, when it is determined that the identification code is 1, that is, the remote controller 1a is used, a channel that can be selected for the electronic device 2 is called from the setting storage means 6 using the identification code 1 (S7), and the predetermined 32 stations Is set to be selectable (S8). If the recognition means determines that the identification code is 2, that is, the remote control 1b has been used, the selectable channel of the electronic device 2 is called from the setting storage means 6 using the identification code 2 (S9), and the predetermined 12 The selectable channels are restricted to the station (S10).

  Next, an operation when changing the setting of the electronic device 2 using the remote controller will be described with reference to FIG. Using the remote controller 1a or 1b, the setting of the electronic device 2 is changed on a setting menu screen (not shown) (S11). After viewing and the like, the user turns off the electronic device 2 using the remote controller 1a or 1b (S12). In the electronic device 2, the identification code is acquired from the signal received from the remote controller by the recognizing means 5 and determined (S13). When the identification code is 1, the setting information changed in S11 is stored for the setting information of the identification code 1 from the setting storage means (S14). When the identification code is 2, the setting information changed with respect to the setting information of the identification code 2 is stored (S15).

  As described above, the electronic device 2 in the present embodiment includes the remote controls 1a and 1b for remote operation, and the remote control includes an identification code so that each can be identified. By providing the identification means 5 for transmitting the identification code to be transmitted and the setting storage means 6 for storing the setting information for each identification code, the identification code is simultaneously transmitted when the electronic device 2 is operated using the remote controls 1a and 1b. Since the setting information stored in the setting storage means for each identification code can be recalled by the transmitted identification code and reflected in the electronic device 2, the setting of the electronic device 2 can be set for each remote controller. Can be called. In addition, since the setting storage unit 6 can store the setting information of the electronic device 2 for each identification code, even when there are a plurality of users and the usage of the electronic device and the preference of the setting are different, it corresponds to each. Can be set and stored. Further, the channel and volume selected at the time of power-off of the electronic device 2 are stored for each identification code, that is, for each remote controller by the setting storage means, so that the power is turned on by the remote controller. In this case, the power-off setting for each remote control can be reproduced.

  Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The same parts as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, the description of overlapping parts is omitted, and only different parts will be described. In the first embodiment, the electronic device 2 is a television receiver, but in the present embodiment, the electronic device 2 is an air conditioner. In many air conditioners, one of the temperature setting items is “automatic”, an operation mode that automatically performs the optimum operation according to the room temperature and the outside temperature, and “cooling” to change the room to a predetermined temperature. It has a function to set a desired temperature after selecting “heating” or the like. However, the temperature that is comfortable for each user is different. Therefore, the remote control 1a or remote control 1b having the remote control system according to the present invention and having an identification code individually used by a plurality of users, and setting storage means 6 for storing the set temperature for each identification code are provided. In the air conditioner which is the electronic device 2, by setting the temperature for each identification code, each user can operate the air conditioner with a comfortable temperature setting.

  Next, the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The same parts as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, the description of overlapping parts is omitted, and only different parts will be described. In this embodiment, the electronic device 2 is a lighting fixture capable of adjusting the brightness. Since each user has a favorite brightness, if the favorite brightness is different from the previous user, the lighting fixture must be adjusted, but according to the present invention, the remote control of the lighting fixture is performed. By using the remote controls 1a and 1b for the user and individually setting the desired brightness in the setting storage means 6, when the power is turned on, the user can turn on the lights with the desired brightness. Can do. Further, the present invention can be applied to a lighting system that centrally controls on / off and brightness of power sources of a plurality of lighting fixtures.

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was explained in full detail, it is not limited to each said Example of this invention, A various deformation | transformation implementation is possible within the range of the summary of this invention. For example, although two remote controllers 1a and 1b are used, the number is not limited to two, and a plurality of three or more remote controllers may be used. As a result, even when there are a plurality of users of the electronic device 2, it is easy to use the electronic device with each user's preference setting by using one remote control for each person. It becomes. Further, the remote controllers 1a and 1b have the same configuration except for the identification code. However, the remote controller 1a and 1b may be configured to have different colors, shapes, number of buttons, and the like so that settings and function restrictions can be determined by appearance. good.

It is a block diagram which shows the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the operation | movement which turns on the power supply of an electronic device same as the above. It is a flowchart figure which shows the remote control identification operation | movement at the time of operating an electronic device same as the above. It is a flowchart figure which shows the remote control identification operation | movement at the time of setting an electronic device same as the above.

Explanation of symbols

1a Remote control (remote control with identification code 1)
1b Remote control (remote control with identification code 2)
2 Electronic equipment 3 Identification code storage means 4 Control means 5 Recognition means 6 Setting storage means

Claims (3)

  A remote control system for controlling an electronic device by a plurality of remote controllers, wherein the remote controller has an identification code storage means for storing an identification code for specifying the remote controller with the electronic device, and the identification code is used as an operation signal of the remote controller. The electronic device includes a recognition unit for recognizing the identification code transmitted from the remote controller, and an identification code stored in a setting storage unit from the identification code recognized by the recognition unit. A remote control system capable of being individually set, comprising a control means for controlling an electronic device according to the setting contents.   2. The individual storage device according to claim 1, wherein setting information when the electronic device is turned off by the remote controller is stored by the setting storage unit as setting information for the identification code transmitted from the remote controller. Configurable remote control system. An electronic device comprising the individually controllable remote control system according to claim 1, comprising the individually controllable remote control system according to claim 1.

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