JP2007129738A - Device and method for remote control - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to easily understand a function of an electronics device by a remote control device. <P>SOLUTION: A manual display screen 62 is displayed on a display unit 7 of a remote control device as a content of an instruction manual. On the screen, a three-dimensional model 61 of a VTR is displayed and its model can be zoomed in, zoomed out or rotated by a user operation. When a reproduction button 61A of the three-dimensional model 61 is operated, a signal corresponding to the operation is outputted to the VTR and the VTR starts a reproduction. When a remote control key 52 is selected, a remote control display screen is displayed on the display unit 7. The present invention can be applied to for example, a remote control device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote control device and method, and more particularly, to display the contents of an instruction manual of an electronic device on the remote control device so that the electronic device can be easily remotely controlled. About.

Manuals for conventional electronic devices (for example, television receivers, VTRs (Video Tape Recorders), etc.) have been distributed to users in the form of printed materials attached to the electronic devices. As other methods, the contents of the instruction manual are digitized and stored in advance in an electronic device or recorded on a recording medium (for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, CD-ROM, etc.) May be distributed.

A method of digitizing the contents of the instruction manual and storing it in an electronic device in advance is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-55895. In this method, a part of the content of the instruction manual of the television receiver is digitized and stored in the television receiver. The contents are displayed. This display is OSD (On Screen Display) in a menu format, and the user operates a remote control device (hereinafter referred to as a remote control device) to select a button displayed on the screen. A predetermined command is input.

  In the computer software, the contents of the instruction manual are recorded on a recording medium (for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, CD-ROM, etc.), and the recording medium is distributed. The user can easily know the operation method by displaying the contents of the instruction manual on the screen of the computer and performing a search using a keyword.

  In addition, remote control devices for electronic devices are attached to each electronic device, and there are a large number of them in the home. Therefore, when operating a certain electronic device, it is not uncommon to find a desired remote control device, and in order to improve such a situation, a “multi-remote control” that can operate a plurality of electronic devices with a single remote control device There is what is called. This “multi-remote control” is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-86365.

  Many of recent electronic devices have various functions, and it is difficult for a user to grasp the functions without reading the instruction manual. In addition, the instruction manual has a large number of pages, and it is difficult to find a page on which a desired function is described. In the description of the instruction manual, the positions of operation buttons and connection terminals of the electronic device may be difficult to understand. In the description of the instruction manual, it may be difficult to understand how the door of the electronic device is opened or the display content (such as a liquid crystal panel) provided in the electronic device is changed by a user operation. .

  Since an electronic instruction manual needs to display electronic contents on a screen, its use is limited to a television receiver or computer software. The OSD instruction using the screen of the television receiver displays the OSD menu on top of the video that the user is watching, making it difficult to view the video.

  In the remote control device called "multi-remote control", the complexity and size increase with the increase of functions such as electronic devices, and even when the display device such as a liquid crystal panel is provided to suppress the complexity and size increase, The user must refer to the instruction manual in order to grasp the operation method and functions of the buttons of the remote control device.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, the remote control devices of a plurality of electronic devices are consolidated into one remote control device, and the contents of the instruction manual are displayed on the remote control device. Thus, the user can easily grasp the functions of the electronic device and perform remote control.

  The remote control device according to claim 1 is a remote control device for remotely controlling one or a plurality of electronic devices, a capturing unit that captures instructions for handling the electronic device, a remote control display screen of the electronic device, and a capturing unit. Display means for displaying the instruction manual of the selected electronic device, display switching means for switching the display of the display means to a remote control display screen or instruction manual, and an operation button on the remote control display screen displayed on the display means is selected A transmission unit that transmits a signal corresponding to the operation button to the electronic device, and when the instruction displayed on the display unit includes an electronic device image having the operation button, the operation button on the electronic device image is selected. The transmission means transmits a signal corresponding to the operation button on the electronic device image to the electronic device, Write means, the instruction, and wherein the capture via the network.

  The remote control method according to claim 5 is a remote control method for remotely controlling one or a plurality of electronic devices, and includes a capturing step for capturing instructions for electronic devices, a remote control display screen for electronic devices, and a capturing step. When the display step for displaying the instruction manual of the selected electronic device, the display switching step for switching the display by the display step to the remote control display screen or the instruction manual, and the operation button on the remote control display screen displayed by the display step are selected A transmission step of transmitting a signal corresponding to the operation button to the electronic device, and when the instruction displayed by the display step includes an electronic device image having the operation button, the operation button on the electronic device image is selected. When the transmission step, the electronic device image Transmits a signal corresponding to the operation buttons of the electronic device, capturing step, the instruction, and wherein the capture via the network.

  In the remote control device according to claim 1 and the remote control method according to claim 5, the instruction manual of the electronic device is captured, the remote control display screen of the electronic device and the instruction manual of the captured electronic device are displayed. In addition, when the display on the display unit is switched to the remote control display screen and an operation button on the remote control display screen displayed on the display unit is selected, a signal corresponding to the operation button is transmitted to the electronic device. In addition, when the instruction manual displayed on the display means includes an electronic device image having an operation button, when the operation button on the electronic device image is selected, a signal corresponding to the operation button on the electronic device image is Sent to the device. Further, the instruction manual is taken in via the network.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily grasp the function of an electronic device.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below, but in order to clarify the correspondence between each means of the invention described in the claims and the following embodiments, the correspondence is indicated in parentheses after each means. The features of the present invention will be described by adding the embodiment (however, an example). However, of course, this description does not mean that each means is limited to the description.

  That is, the remote control device according to claim 1 is a remote control device that remotely controls one or a plurality of electronic devices, taking-in means (for example, the interface unit 34 in FIG. 2) that captures instructions for handling the electronic devices; Display means (for example, display unit 7 in FIG. 2) for displaying the electronic device remote control display screen and the electronic device handling instructions captured by the capturing means, and a display for switching the display means display to the remote control display screen or the handling instructions. When a switching unit (for example, the manual display key 48 in FIG. 4) and an operation button on the remote control display screen displayed on the display unit are selected, a transmission unit (sends a signal corresponding to the operation button to the electronic device ( For example, an electronic device that includes the transmission unit 6) of FIG. In the case of including an image, when an operation button on the electronic device image is selected, the transmission unit transmits a signal corresponding to the operation button on the electronic device image to the electronic device, and the capturing unit explains the instruction, It is characterized by being taken in via a network.

  FIG. 1 is an external view showing a configuration example of a remote control device 1 to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the remote control device 1. An insertion slot 2 for inserting the recording medium 11 is provided on the side surface of the remote control device 1.

  The input unit 3 includes, for example, a cross cursor key and is operated when the user selects contents displayed on the display unit 7. The input unit 3 may also be configured with a trackball, a light pen, a touch panel, or the like. The keypad 4 or the keypad 5 is provided in advance in the remote control device 1 so that functions frequently used by the user (for example, playback and stop functions in the VTR) can be easily operated. A specific function is assigned to the keypad 4 or the keypad 5 by the user. The shape of the keypad 4 or the keypad 5 is not limited to the shape (triangle) shown in FIG. 1, and the number thereof does not need to be two as shown in FIG. That is, the keypad 4 or the keypad 5 may or may not satisfy the convenience of the user's operation.

  The transmission unit 6 is constituted by, for example, an infrared transmitter, and transmits a remote control signal (VTR reproduction signal) corresponding to the operation of the input unit 3, the keypad 4, or the keypad 5 to the target electronic device (VTR).

  The display unit 7 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display device or the like, and displays electronic device instruction information (contents of a conventional instruction manual) and an operation screen (corresponding to an operation part of a conventional remote control device). .

  The audio output unit 8 includes, for example, a speaker, and outputs audio data when the instruction data includes audio data. The remote control device 1 may be configured without the audio output unit 8.

  The recording medium 11 is composed of, for example, a card-type memory using a flash memory, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, or a CD-ROM, etc., wiring with related devices of an electronic device, initial setting operation, operation at the time of failure, etc. Instruction information data and operation information data necessary when operating the electronic device with the remote control device 1 (hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish them individually, they are also simply referred to as instruction information data) It is recorded in a fixed format. The recording medium 11 is distributed in association with an electronic device in a state where necessary data is recorded in advance, or receives necessary data from a data server connected to a communication network and records it. In this case, for example, an ID (Identification) number is given to the electronic device and distributed to the user. The user accesses the data server installed by the manufacturer of the electronic device from the interface unit 34 via the communication network using the ID number, and downloads data from the data server to the remote control device 1.

  The electronic device instruction information data recorded on the recording medium 11 is multimedia information including character information, image information, audio information, and three-dimensional information. Further, in the instruction information data, a remote control signal (for example, a VTR playback signal) for remotely controlling the electronic device has a corresponding item (for example, a VTR playback button displayed on the display unit 7). Is associated with.

  The processor 31 reads the handling instruction information data input from the interface unit 34 and stores it in the memory 33 as necessary. The processor 31 outputs image data (including character information) of an image to be displayed on the display unit 7 to the image generation unit 32 and outputs audio data to the audio output unit 8 based on the handling instruction information data. Further, when the user operates the input unit 3, the keypad 4, or the keypad 5, the processor 31 outputs a signal for controlling the electronic device to the transmission unit 6 in response to the operation.

  Further, the processor 31 detects that the signal selected from the input unit 3, the keypad 4, or the keypad 5 by the user does not correspond to the information already output from the display unit 7 or the audio output unit 8 (for example, VTR). If the user selects the VTR stop key when the instruction screen for the playback procedure is displayed, the text, image, or sound information is generated as necessary, and the display unit 7 or the sound output is generated. It outputs to the part 8, and provides guidance information with respect to a user.

  The image generation unit 32 generates a two-dimensional or three-dimensional image based on the characters and image data input from the processor 31 and outputs them to the display unit 7. In addition, the image generation unit 32 simulates a series of recovery procedures such as opening / closing operation of a copier door and operation of a lever when recovering moving image data (for example, when a paper jam of the copier is recovered) from image data from the processor 31. ) Is included, the moving image data is processed using a computer graphics function and output to the display unit 7.

  The memory 33 has a storage capacity enough to store handling instruction information data of a plurality of electronic devices, and appropriately stores handling instruction information data input from the processor 31.

  The interface unit 34 performs interface processing for inputting the electronic instruction information of the electronic device from the recording medium 11 to the remote control device 1. The interface unit 34 is, for example, a memory interface device when the recording medium 11 is a card-type memory, and a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive when the recording medium 11 is a floppy (registered trademark) disk. When the recording medium 11 is a transmission medium in which handling instruction information is downloaded from a data server connected to a network, the interface unit 34 is a standard network interface device such as a modem or an Ethernet (registered trademark) interface.

  Next, the operation of the remote control device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the user has an electronic device A (for example, a VTR) and an electronic device B (for example, a television receiver), as a preparation for the remote control device 1, the user can convert the instruction information data of the VTR into an electronic form. A recording medium a (for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk) that is recorded and a recording medium b (for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk) in which handling instruction information data of a television receiver is recorded electronically Are inserted into the interface unit 34 (for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive) of the remote control device 1 in order from the insertion slot 2, and the respective instruction information data is downloaded to the remote control device 1. As a result of the download process, the instruction information data of the VTR and the television receiver is stored in the memory 33 of the remote control device 1.

  At this time, in step S1, the processor 31 controls the image generation unit 32 to generate an image in which the name of the electronic device in which the instruction information data is stored is displayed on the device name tag and display the image on the display unit 7. . Thereby, for example, an image as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display unit 7. In the example of FIG. 4, in addition to the device name tag 42 “VTR” of the VTR, a device name tag 71 “TV” of the television receiver is displayed. In this state, the user inputs the device name tag of the electronic device (for example, VTR) to be operated (the device name tag 42 of the VTR in FIG. 4 or the device name tag 71 of the television receiver (TV)). Select by operating part 3 (crosshair cursor key). In step S <b> 2, the processor 31 of the remote control device 1 reads out the remote control display screen data of the electronic device corresponding to the device name tag input from the input unit 3 in step S <b> 1 from the memory 33 and supplies it to the image generation unit 32. Display on the display unit 7.

  For example, when the user selects the device name tag 42 of the VTR while the television receiver remote control display screen is displayed in the initial state, the VTR remote control display screen 41 is displayed as shown in FIG. It becomes the state.

  The remote control display screen 41 displays the same contents as the operation buttons in the conventional VTR remote control device. The numeric keypad 43 of the remote control display screen 41 is operated when a number or the like is input. The power key 44 is operated when turning on or off the power of the VTR. The input switching key 45 switches an input signal to the VTR to a signal from another device connected to the VTR (for example, when recording, the input signal to the VTR is changed to a television receiver (LINE1 in FIG. 4)). To another VTR (for example, switching to LINE2 (not shown)). The operation key 46 is operated when playing back, stopping, rewinding, fast-forwarding, pausing, or recording a VTR. The clock display unit 47 displays a time to be referred to when making a recording reservation. The manual display key 48 (the key on which the symbol “?” Is displayed in FIG. 4) is operated when the display on the display unit 7 is switched from the remote control display screen 41 to the manual display screen (handling instruction information display screen). .

  In step S3, the user determines whether or not a manual display screen is necessary when the remote control display screen 41 (display screen in FIG. 4) displayed in step S2 cannot understand the operation of the VTR. When it is determined that the manual display screen is necessary, the process proceeds to step S4, where the user operates the input unit 3 (crosshair cursor key) to operate the manual display key 48 on the remote control display screen 41 (FIG. 4) of the display unit 7. Select. At this time, the processor 31 reads the screen data of the manual display screen from the memory 33, outputs it to the image generation unit 32, and displays it on the display unit 7. As a result, a manual display screen as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 shows a table of contents screen 51 of the manual display screen, and “connection with TV”, “insert / removal cassette tape”, “play video”, and “record TV” are displayed as instruction items. Has been. Further, a remote control display key 52 for switching the display on the display unit 7 from the manual display screen to the remote control display screen is displayed. When the remote control display key 52 is selected, the processor 31 instantaneously switches the display on the display unit 7 from the manual display screen to the remote control display screen.

  In step S5, the user operates the input unit 3 (cross-cursor key) on a desired handling explanation item (for example, “play video”) from the contents screen 51 of the manual display screen displayed on the display unit 7. To select. In step S <b> 5, the processor 31 reads the display screen data “play video” from the memory 33 based on the handling instruction item “play video” selected by the input unit 3, and outputs the display screen data to the image generation unit 32. Then, a video reproduction handling explanation screen 62 (FIG. 6) is displayed on the display unit 7. The user can confirm the operation method of the VTR on this video reproduction handling explanation screen 62.

  The video playback instruction screen 62 shown in FIG. 6 includes a video playback procedure 1 “insert a tape” and a video playback procedure 2 “press the playback button”, and a VTR three-dimensional model 61 for easy understanding. Is displayed. Here, when the user selects the video playback procedure 2 “press the playback button” by operating the input unit 3 (cross cursor key), the playback button 61A in the three-dimensional model 61 of the VTR is turned on, and the user Prompt for operation. The user can enlarge or reduce the VTR three-dimensional model 61 or rotate it in any direction by operating the input unit 3 (cross cursor key). Since the three-dimensional model 61 corresponds to an actual VTR, the user can accurately know the position, shape, color, and the like of each button.

  In step S5, the user who has confirmed the operation method of the VTR moves to step S6 and turns on the VTR that is turned on by selecting the video playback procedure 2 “push playback button” on the video playback instruction screen 62. The playback button 61A of the three-dimensional model 61 is selected by operating the input unit 3 (cross cursor key).

  In step S7, the user who has determined that manual display is not required in step S3 selects the playback button 46A on the remote control display screen 41 (FIG. 4) by operating the input unit 3 (crosshair cursor key).

When the playback button 61A of the three-dimensional model 61 of the VTR selected by the user in step S6 is operated, or when the playback button 46A of the remote control display screen 41 selected by the user is selected in step S7, in step S8 The processor 31 controls the transmission unit 6 to output a command for instructing reproduction to the VTR. When the VTR receives this command, it starts playback in response to this command.

  Thus, not only can the remote control device 1 be used as a normal remote control device in step S7, but when the button being explained is operated in step S6, the corresponding operation is actually performed on the electronic device. Thus, the user can understand the handling of the electronic device more accurately.

  Through the processing in steps S1 to S8 described above, the user selects the playback button on the remote control display screen 41 displayed on the display unit 7 of the remote control device 1 or the video playback instruction screen 62, and remotely plays back the VTR. Can be controlled. In addition, for example, when the function of playing a VTR is assigned in advance to the keypad 4 of the remote control device 1 by the user, the user operates the keypad 4 to play the VTR with the remote control device 1. Remote control is possible.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the handling explanation screen 63 displayed on the display unit 7 when “connection to television” is selected as the handling explanation item in FIG. The TV connection instruction screen 63 displays a TV connection procedure 1 “connect antenna” and a TV connection procedure 2 “connect AV cable”, and a three-dimensional model 61 of the VTR for easy understanding of the connection. The Here, when the TV connection procedure 2 “Connect AV cable” is selected by the input unit 3 (crosshair cursor key) by the user, the connection terminal 61B of the AV cable in the three-dimensional model 61 of the VTR is the marker 71. Instructed. The user can scale the VTR three-dimensional model 61 by operating the input unit 3 (crosshair cursor key) or rotate it in any direction. (The three-dimensional model 61 of the VTR in FIG. 7 is obtained by rotating the three-dimensional model 61 of the VTR in FIG. 6 and displaying the back surface of the VTR).

  Connection (wiring) between the VTR and the television receiver is performed on the back side of the apparatus. Accordingly, when an image as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the television receiver, the image is displayed on the front of the television receiver, so the user confirms the position of the terminal while viewing the image. It becomes difficult. However, since the user can move to the back side of the apparatus by holding the remote control device 1, when the image shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the remote control device 1, the user can easily confirm the position of the terminal. it can.

  In addition, when the instruction information data of the electronic device C (for example, a copy machine) is stored in the remote control device 1, the user can display the copy machine on the display unit 7 of the remote control device 1 when the copy machine is jammed. A simulation of a procedure for recovering the paper jam state (a series of recovery procedures such as opening / closing operation of the copier door and operation of the lever) can be displayed. By viewing this simulation, the user can grasp in advance a recovery procedure that is difficult to grasp accurately in the description of the instruction manual, and can prevent an erroneous operation when actually recovering.

Note that the above-described simulation image (including the contents of the instruction manual) may be displayed on a display unit installed in the copier.

  As described above, according to the remote control device and the remote control method of the present embodiment, the handling instructions of one or a plurality of electronic devices are displayed on the remote control device. And it becomes possible to understand with certainty.

  According to the remote control device and the remote control method of the present embodiment, since the three-dimensional image related to one or a plurality of electronic devices is displayed on the remote control device, the buttons of the electronic devices, the positions of the connection terminals, etc. , Quickly and reliably.

  According to the remote control device and the remote control method of the present embodiment, since the instruction manual and the three-dimensional image of the electronic device are displayed on the remote control device, the operation changes when the electronic device is operated. The shape and the like can be grasped in advance, and erroneous operation can be prevented.

It is a perspective view showing the example of composition of the appearance of remote control device 1 to which the present invention is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the example of an internal structure of the remote control apparatus 1 of FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the remote control device 1 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the remote control display screen displayed on the display part 7 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the manual display screen displayed on the display part 7 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of a display of the manual display screen displayed on the display part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of a display of the manual display screen displayed on the display part of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Remote control device, 2 Insertion slot, 3 Input part, 4,5 Keypad, 6 Transmission part, 7 Display part, 8 Sound output part, 11 Recording medium, 31 Processor, 32 Image generation part, 33 Memory, 34 Interface part

Claims (5)

In a remote control device that remotely controls one or more electronic devices,
Capture means for capturing instructions for the electronic device;
Display means for displaying a remote control display screen of the electronic device and an instruction for the electronic device captured by the capturing device;
Display switching means for switching the display of the display means to the remote control display screen or the instruction manual;
When an operation button on the remote control display screen displayed on the display means is selected, a transmission means for transmitting a signal corresponding to the operation button to the electronic device,
In the case where the instruction displayed on the display means includes an electronic device image having an operation button, when the operation button on the electronic device image is selected, the transmission means operates on the electronic device image. A signal corresponding to is sent to the electronic device,
The remote control device, wherein the fetching means fetches the handling instructions via a network. The capturing means further captures audio data,
The remote control device according to claim 1, further comprising a voice output unit that outputs the voice data captured by the capture unit in response to an operation of an operation unit operated by a user. In the case where the instruction displayed on the display means includes an electronic device image having an operation button, the instruction does not correspond to the instruction displayed on the display means or the audio data output by the sound output means, The remote control device according to claim 2, wherein when the operation button on the electronic device image is selected, the voice output unit outputs the guidance information as voice data. When an operation button on the electronic device image that does not correspond to the instruction displayed on the display unit is selected when the instruction displayed on the display unit includes an electronic device image having an operation button. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the guidance information as a character or an image. In a remote control method for remotely controlling one or more electronic devices,
A capture step for capturing instructions for the electronic device;
A display step for displaying a remote control display screen of the electronic device and an instruction for the electronic device captured by the capturing step;
A display switching step of switching the display by the display step to the remote control display screen or the instruction manual;
A transmission step of transmitting a signal corresponding to the operation button to the electronic device when the operation button on the remote control display screen displayed in the display step is selected;
In the case where an electronic device image having an operation button is included in the instruction displayed in the display step, when the operation button on the electronic device image is selected, the transmission step includes an operation button on the electronic device image. A signal corresponding to is sent to the electronic device,
In the remote control method, the capturing step captures the instruction manual via a network.

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