JP2625776B2 - Telephone terminal device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone terminal device such as a video telephone for transmitting and receiving video and audio through a telephone line.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is, for example, a videophone for transmitting and receiving audio and video through a telephone line.

Hereinafter, a videophone as an example of a conventional telephone terminal device will be described.

The configuration of a conventional videophone is, for example, as shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an image input unit composed of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), an image pickup tube, etc., 2 denotes an image display unit composed of a CRT (cathode ray tube), a liquid crystal display panel, etc., 3 denotes a device body, 4 denotes an image. This is an image transmission button that is operated when transmitting an image captured by the input unit 1 to the other party via a telephone line.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration, in which 5 is a telephone line, 6 is a line interface unit,
Reference numeral 7 denotes an audio / video signal switch for switching the flow of a signal arriving on the telephone line between the audio side (A) and the video side (B). Reference numeral 8 denotes an audio / video signal switch 7 connected to the audio side. A video signal discriminating unit that detects whether there is no video signal in the signal sent from the other party via the telephone line, and when there is a video signal, switches the signal indicating that fact to an audio signal / video signal switch 7
Send to Reference numeral 9 denotes an audio output unit such as a speaker, reference numeral 10 denotes an audio input unit such as a microphone, reference numeral 11 denotes a video signal modulation unit that modulates a video signal captured by the video input unit 1 into a signal that can be transmitted through a telephone line, and reference numeral 12 denotes a video signal modulation unit. Video signal demodulators 13 and 14 for demodulating the modulated video signal sent through the telephone line are a first video memory and a second video memory, respectively.

Next, the operation of the videophone configured as described above will be described. In the following description, it is assumed that a plurality of video telephones having the configuration shown in FIG.

First, in the initial state, the audio signal / video signal switch 7 is connected to the audio side (A). When a call or an incoming call occurs in this state, the caller and the called party are connected via the telephone line, and thereafter, normal voice communication is performed mutually by the voice output unit 9 and the voice input unit 10. .

When the user wants to transmit a video to the other party, pressing the image transmission button 4 activates the audio signal / video signal switch 7 to switch the signal flow from the audio side (A) to the video side (B). The video information fetched into the first video memory 13 by the video input unit 1 is a video signal modulation unit.
The signal is modulated by 11 into a signal that can be transmitted through a telephone line.
Thereafter, the modulated video signal is prefixed with a signal for switching between audio and video, and transmitted from the line interface unit 6 to the other party via the telephone line 5. Then, the audio / video switching signal is detected by the video signal discriminating unit 8 of the other party's telephone terminal device, the audio / video signal switching switch 7 is operated, and the signal flow is changed from the audio side (A) to the video side (A). Switching to B), the video signal is demodulated by the video signal demodulation unit 12, stored in the second video memory 14, and displayed on the video display unit 2.

After the video transmission is completed, the audio signal / video signal switch 7 automatically returns to the audio side (A).

On the other hand, when the other party transmits the video, the same processing as described above is performed, and the received video is displayed on the video display unit 2 on the own side.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above configuration, even if an incoming call occurs when the user is absent, no message can be received from the other party, that is, automatic reception of the message is impossible. Had.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention relates to a telephone terminal device having answering machine function setting means connected to a telephone line and setting whether to make a home response or an answering machine response, An audio input unit for converting an audio signal into an audio signal and an audio output unit for converting an electric signal into an audio signal, and detecting whether or not a video signal is included in the input signal and the reproduced signal and including the video signal An audio communication unit having a video signal discrimination unit that discriminates a video signal and outputs a switching signal; a video input unit that converts a captured video into a video signal; and a video signal modulation unit that converts a video signal into a communicable signal. ,
A video signal demodulation unit that converts a communicable video signal into a displayable signal, and a video storage unit that temporarily stores a displayable signal in order to expand the displayable signal into a signal corresponding to a display screen.
A video communication unit having a video display unit that displays a displayable signal; a video signal switching unit that switches a connection to a voice communication unit side or a video communication unit side based on a determination result of the video signal determination unit; A message storage / reproducing means for recording and reproducing a received audio signal and a received video signal or a video signal converted into a signal communicable via a video signal modulator in a predetermined storage medium, and reproducing the audio data from the storage medium; An answering machine having a response message sending section for reproducing a voice signal and an incoming call detecting section for detecting a call signal coming from a telephone line is provided.

Operation When the answering machine detects that a call signal has arrived at the telephone line when the answering machine function setting means is set to answering machine response, a voice signal is sent from the response message sending unit to the telephone line. After that, the received audio signal or video signal is stored in the message storage / reproduction means, and when the message storage / reproduction means is operated for reproduction, if the reproduction signal is an audio signal by the video signal switching means, it is reproduced from the audio communication unit. If it is a video signal, it is played back from the video communication unit, and if it is displayed on the video display unit and the displayed content is saved, the content stored in the video storage unit is stored in a message via the video signal modulation unit. It can be stored in the reproducing means.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 are perspective views showing the appearance of a video telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a video input unit which is constituted by a CCD camera (an imaging camera or the like may be used). ). Reference numeral 2 denotes a video display unit having a CRT unit. Reference numeral 3 denotes an apparatus main body, 4 denotes an image transmission button, and 15 denotes a cassette tape deck for storing received audio and video signals on a cassette tape 16.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a video telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 17 denotes an answering machine function switch for manually selectively switching between the videophone section and the answering machine section. The switch is connected to the (D) side in the on state and is (C) in the off state.
Connected to the side. Reference numeral 18 denotes an incoming call detection unit for detecting a call signal coming from the telephone line 5, 19 a response message sending unit comprising a voice synthesis IC and a voice storage memory IC, and 20 and 21 storage of received messages using the cassette tape deck 15. And a received message reproducing unit. The video signal modulation section 11 is connected to the received message storage section 20, and enables the video data stored in the first video memory 13 and the second video memory 14 to be stored on a cassette tape. In the figure, a portion surrounded by a broken line 22 indicates an audio communication portion, a portion surrounded by 23 indicates a video communication portion, and a portion surrounded by 24 indicates an answering machine.

In this embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those in the conventional example described above, and the description is omitted.

The operation of the videophone configured as described above will be described below with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

When the user is at home, voice and image transmission and reception can be performed in the same manner as in the conventional example by setting the answering machine function switch 17 to OFF, that is, to the (C) side. When not present, the answering machine function switch 17 is turned on, that is, set to the (D) side. When a call signal arrives from the telephone line 5 in this state, the process proceeds from (step.a) to (step.b), and the call signal is detected by the incoming call detection unit 18, and after the telephone line is automatically closed, The response message sending unit 19 is driven, and the response message stored in the voice storage memory IC is sent to the telephone line (step .c). When the transmission of the response message is completed, the process proceeds from (Step .d) to (Step .e), and is modulated into a voice signal transmitted from the calling side via the telephone line 5 and a signal that can be transmitted through the telephone line. The received video signal is stored in the cassette tape 16 in the received message storage unit 20. Then, when the line disconnection of the calling side is detected, after (step.f) and (step.g), the state returns to the standby state (that is, the standby for the voice incoming call by the answering machine function of step a). In this way, the automatic answering of the incoming call while being away from the telephone is performed, and the voice signal and the video signal from the other party are stored.

Next, when the operator operates the received message playback unit 21 after returning home to start playback of the received message stored in the cassette tape 16 while the user is away (Step A), the voice message among the playback signals is output as voice. The video signal is reproduced from the speaker 9 (step c), and the video signal is detected by the video signal discriminating unit 8 (step b) when the audio / video switching signal added to the head of the video signal is detected (step b). The operation shifts to ()), the audio signal / video signal switch 7 is switched to the (B) side, and is stored in the second video memory 14 via the video signal demodulation unit 12 and reproduced on the video display unit 2 (step. G). When the output of the video signal is completed, the process proceeds from (Step H) to (Step Re), the audio signal / video signal switch 7 is switched to the (A) side, and the process returns to (Step B). Then, when the end of the received message is detected in (Step D), the process proceeds to (Step E).

Also, during video and audio communication with the other party as a videophone, the screen sent from the other party and displayed on the CRT unit has the video data stored in the second video memory 14 in the display state. Since it is stored, the operator operates the cassette tape deck 15 as necessary, and stores the video data in the second video memory 14 on the cassette tape via the video signal modulating unit 11 as necessary. You can save only the video.

Although the embodiment has been described with reference to a case where the video to be transmitted is a still image, a videophone capable of simultaneously transmitting audio and moving images may be provided with an automatic reception function.

Effect of the Invention As described above, the present invention is a telephone terminal device which is connected to a telephone line and has an answering machine function setting means for setting whether to perform a home response or an answering machine response, wherein the voice terminal converts voice into an electric signal. An audio communication unit having an input unit, an audio output unit that converts an electric signal into audio and outputs the audio signal, and a video signal determination unit that detects whether a video signal is included in the input signal; A video input unit that converts the video signal into a video signal, a video signal modulation unit that converts the video signal into a communicable signal,
A video signal demodulation unit that converts a communicable video signal into a displayable signal, and a video storage unit that temporarily stores a displayable signal in order to expand the displayable signal into a signal corresponding to a display screen.
A video communication unit having a video display unit that displays a displayable signal; a video signal switching unit that switches a connection to a voice communication unit side or a video communication unit side based on a determination result of the video signal determination unit; A message storage / reproducing means for recording and reproducing a received audio signal and a received video signal or a video signal converted into a signal communicable via a video signal modulator in a predetermined storage medium, and reproducing the audio data from the storage medium; It has a configuration including a response message sending section for reproducing a voice signal and an answering machine having an incoming call detecting section for detecting a call signal coming from a telephone line.

According to the configuration described above, when the answering machine function setting means is set to the answering machine response and the incoming call detecting unit detects that the call signal has arrived on the telephone line, the voice signal is transmitted from the response message sending unit to the telephone line. After that, the received audio signal and video signal can be stored in the message storage / reproduction means.

Therefore, since the voice response is first made to the incoming call, the answering machine can be answered regardless of whether the calling party is a general voice telephone or a videophone.

Then, when the message storage / reproduction means is operated for reproduction, the video signal switching means can reproduce the reproduction signal from the audio communication unit if the reproduction signal is an audio signal, and reproduce the video signal from the video communication unit if the reproduction signal is a video signal. In addition, by modulating the image displayed on the image display unit and storing the received image in the received message storage unit, only the necessary image can be saved in the storage medium, and the effect is also achieved. Furthermore, if there is an incoming call, the signal is stored irrespective of the type, and the process returns to the standby state of the incoming voice, and when the signal is reproduced, the type of the signal is determined and reproduced as audio and video (video is a still image). As described above, the present invention is not limited to the moving image and the moving image, but may be any signal that can be modulated as an image signal.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to respond to the most widespread voice call without specifying the other party, and to record the received content on the storage medium without being restricted by the received signal. In addition, when the received content is reproduced, it can be reproduced in accordance with the received signal, which is extremely effective in practical use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 and 2 are perspective views of a video telephone as a telephone terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration thereof, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are the same. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the example, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a videophone as a conventional telephone terminal device, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration thereof. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Video input part 2 ... Video display part 3 ... Device body 4 ... Image transmission button 5 ... Telephone line 6 ... Line interface part 7 ... Audio / video signal switch 8 ... Video signal discrimination Unit 9 Audio output unit 10 Audio input unit 11 Video signal modulation unit 12 Video signal demodulation unit 13 First video memory 14 Second video memory 15 Cassette tape deck 16 … Cassette tape 17… Answering machine function switch 18… Incoming call detecting section 19… Answer message sending section 20… Received message storage section 21 …… Received message playback section 22 …… Voice communication section 23 …… Video communication section 24 …… An answering machine

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Kazumi Kawano 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-62-179288 (JP, A) JP-A-59-30351 (JP) , A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 54-138514 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A telephone terminal device connected to a telephone line and having an answering machine function setting means for setting whether to make a home response or an answering machine response, comprising: a voice input unit for converting a voice into an electric signal; And an audio output unit that converts a video signal into an audio signal and outputs a switching signal by detecting whether a video signal is included in the input signal and the reproduction signal and determining that the video signal is included. An audio communication unit having a signal discrimination unit; a video input unit for converting a captured video to a video signal; a video signal modulation unit for converting a video signal to a communicable signal; and a displayable communicable video signal A video signal demodulation unit for converting the displayable signal into a signal, a video storage unit for temporarily storing a displayable signal into a signal corresponding to a display screen, and a video display unit for displaying a displayable signal. Have a picture A video signal switching means for switching a connection to the audio communication unit side or the video communication unit side based on a switching signal of the video signal determination unit; a received audio signal and a received video signal or the video signal Message storage and playback means for recording a video signal converted into a signal communicable through a modulation unit on a predetermined storage medium and playing back from the storage medium,
An answering machine having a response message transmitting unit for storing voice data and reproducing a voice signal; and an answering machine having an incoming call detecting unit for detecting a call signal coming from a telephone line, wherein the answering machine function setting means sets the answering machine response. When the incoming call detection unit detects that a call signal has arrived at the telephone line, a voice signal is transmitted from the response message transmitting unit to the telephone line, and then the received voice signal and the received voice signal are received. When a video signal is stored in the message storage / reproduction means, and the message storage / reproduction means is operated for reproduction,
If the reproduced signal is an audio signal by the video signal switching means, the video signal is reproduced from the audio communication unit. If the reproduced signal is a video signal, the video signal is reproduced from the video communication unit. The telephone terminal device, wherein when storing the content, the content stored in the video storage unit is stored in the message storage / reproduction unit via the video signal modulation unit. 2. An audio input unit for converting audio into an electric signal;
An audio output unit that converts the signal into audio and outputs the signal, and detects whether or not a video signal is included in the input signal and the reproduced signal, determines that the video signal is included, and outputs a switching signal. An audio communication unit having a video signal discriminating unit that converts an input video into a video signal, a video signal modulation unit that converts a video signal into a communicable signal, and outputting a communicable video signal A video signal demodulation unit that converts the signal into a possible signal, a video communication unit that has a video output unit that outputs a signal that can be output, and the video communication unit from the audio communication unit based on a switching signal of the video signal determination unit. A video signal switching means for switching the connection to the side, recording the received audio signal and the received video signal or the video signal converted into a communicable signal on the same storage medium and playing back from the storage medium And a message storage / reproducing means, when detecting that a call signal has arrived, converts the previously stored voice data into a voice signal and sends it to the telephone line, and converts the received voice signal and the received video signal into After storing the message in the message storage / playback means, it waits for the arrival of a call signal due to a voice call again. When the message storage / playback means is to be played back, if the video signal is not included in the playback signal, the video signal switching means is used. The video signal is reproduced from the audio communication unit, and when a video signal is included in the reproduction signal, the video signal is reproduced from the video communication unit by the video signal switching unit based on the switching signal, and the video signal is included in the reproduction signal. The telephone terminal device, wherein the video signal switching unit switches to the audio communication unit again when the communication is stopped.