JP2780218B2 - Videophone - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a videophone, and more particularly to a videophone capable of transmitting a previously captured image when using the telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a number of still picture videophones that transmit and receive still picture images in combination with transmitting and receiving audio have been commercialized. Normally, in this type of videophone, an image sensor is arranged near a display unit in a fixed state, and images a user located in front of the telephone.

[0003]

However, in a conventional videophone, a photographed image of oneself is transmitted during a telephone call using a telephone, or a document or the like in or near a telephone is photographed and transmitted. I could only do it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a videophone capable of capturing an image of an arbitrary place in advance and transmitting the image to the other party during a call. And

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the videophone comprises a main body and a separation unit, and the separation unit includes an imaging unit, an imaging switch, An image memory that stores image data captured by the imaging unit when the imaging switch is operated, a display unit that displays the captured image data, and a first power supply that supplies power to at least the imaging unit, the image memory, and the display unit A power supply unit, the main body is connected to a telephone line and the separation unit is detachably connected, and a memory to which image data stored in the image memory is supplied in a state where the separation unit is connected; Control means for performing data processing on the image data stored in the memory according to a predetermined format;
A modem for transmitting data processed by the control means via a telephone line, and a second power supply unit for supplying power to at least the memory, the control means, and the modem.

Further, as described in claim 2, the main body may have a telephone unit including a handset.
As described in above, the imaging unit of the separation unit may be movable in an imaging direction with respect to a display surface of the display unit. Further, as described in claim 4, the separation unit includes a first housing including the imaging unit and a second housing including the display unit, and includes the first housing and the second housing. The casings are rotatably coupled to each other so that the imaging direction of the imaging unit is
And the direction of the display surface of the display unit is rotated at least 180 °
You may make it provided movably .

[0007]

With this configuration, the separation unit has an image pickup unit, an image memory for storing image data, a display unit, and an independent power supply unit. The subject can be imaged and stored in an image memory, which can be connected to the main unit and processed by a control unit in the main unit according to a predetermined videophone format during a call and transmitted to the other party via a telephone line. .

[0008]

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the external configuration.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a telephone body,
The receiver 12 is placed on the left end. Further, a push button 13, a display unit 14, and an imaging unit 15 are provided on the upper surface. The display unit 14 is attached to the imaging unit 15 so as to be freely tiltable, and is configured using, for example, a liquid crystal display panel, and its angle can be adjusted according to the position of the user using the telephone. .

The image pickup section 15 has a CCD image pickup device and respective circuits for controlling the CCD image pickup element, and can be separated from the display section 14 and the telephone body 11 as shown in FIG. The imaging unit 15 is connected to the telephone body 11 by, for example, a curl cord 16, and a separation switch for detecting a separation state is provided below the imaging unit 15 (not shown). When the separation switch detects that the imaging unit 15 has been separated from the display unit 14 and the telephone body 11 as shown in FIG. 2, the image obtained by the imaging unit 15 has a normal left and right inverted. The image is displayed on the display unit 14 as a real image instead of a mirror image.

FIG. 3 shows the internal circuit configuration of the telephone main body 11, the display unit 14, and the image pickup unit 15. Reference numeral 21 denotes a telephone line, and reference numeral 22 denotes a modem. Telephone 23 is connected. A microcomputer 24 for transmitting and receiving still images is also connected to the modem 22.

The microcomputer 24 writes / reads still image data to / from the memory 25, and according to the image data sent from the modem 22 or the controller 29 of the imaging unit 15, a segment driver 26 in the display unit 14. And the common driver 27 to drive and display a still image of the other party on the liquid crystal display panel 28, and output the image data of the still image sent from the controller 29 to the modem 22 to output the standard still image format. After that, the data is sent to the other party via the telephone line 21.

The controller 29 controls the image pickup in the image pickup section 15. In the imaging unit 15, the image formed on the CCD image sensor 31 by the lens 30 is C
The signal is photoelectrically converted under the control of the CD controller 32 and sent to the A / D converter 33 as an electric signal. The A / D converter 33 digitizes the signal from the CCD image sensor 31 according to the sampling clock from the CCD controller 32 to obtain image data, and the obtained image data is sequentially sent to the controller 29.

The controller 29 converts the image data sequentially sent from the A / D converter 33 into an address sequence suitable for a mirror image / real image according to the open / close state of the above-described separation switch 35 provided below the image pickup unit 15. Once written in the image memory 34, it is read out when one screen is completed and sent to the microcomputer 24.

A main power supply 36 is used as a power supply for supplying power to the circuits on the telephone body 11 and the display unit 14, and a sub power supply is used as a power supply for supplying power to each circuit on the imaging unit 15 side.
37 are provided.

FIG. 4 shows a detailed circuit configuration of the controller 29 for controlling the operation of each circuit on the image pickup section 15 side. In the figure, an image is captured by the CCD image sensor 31 and the A / D
The image data digitized by the converter 33 (“CC
D input) is first input to the input / output control circuit 29a in the controller 29.

The input / output control circuit 29a controls the column address counter 29b and the row address counter 29c to specify the address of the image memory 34, and outputs the input image data to the image memory 34 for writing. .

At this time, the input / output control circuit 29a controls the row address counter 29c according to the open / close state of the separation switch 35, that is, whether or not the imaging unit 15 is separated from the telephone body 11.
To send an instruction for up-counting / down-counting.
This is done by a 1-bit control signal,
When the control signal is "1", the row address counter 29
When the signal is sent to the count-up terminal of c, the count is up. When the signal is sent to the count-down terminal of the row address counter 29c, the count is down.

The image data written in the image memory 34 is read out by the address designation of the column address counter 29b and the row address counter 29c under the control of the input / output control circuit 29a when the image data for one screen has been prepared. Are sent to the input / output control circuit 29a. At this time, the row address counter 29c always counts up regardless of the state of the separation switch 35 by the control signal of the input / output control circuit 29a. The image data read by the input / output control circuit 29a is sent to the microcomputer 24 of the telephone body 11 as it is.

In the above configuration, when the imaging unit 15 is mounted on the telephone body 11 and the display unit 14 as shown in FIG. 1, photoelectric conversion is performed by the CCD imaging device 31, and the A / D converter is used. The image data digitized in 33 is sent to the controller
The image memory is temporarily stored in the memory 29 by the instruction of the input / output control circuit 29a.
Written in 34.

At this time, the input / output control circuit 29a sets the control signal to the row address counter 29c to "0" and operates the row address counter 29c as a down counter. Therefore, the image data written in the image memory 34 is mirror image data in which the left and right are inverted. When the writing of one screen of the image data is completed, the input / output control circuit 29a reads the image data.

At this time, the input / output control circuit 29a sets the control signal to the row address counter 29c to "1" and operates the row address counter 29c as an up counter. The read image data is sent from the controller 29 to the microcomputer 24 of the telephone body 11, and is temporarily stored in the memory 25.

The microcomputer 24 controls the driving of the segment driver 26 and the common driver 27 according to the image data stored in the memory 25 to display an image on the liquid crystal display panel 28. In this case, the image data is displayed as a mirror image. The microcomputer 24 reads out the image data from the memory 25 in accordance with a user's instruction, and
The call is transmitted to the other party via the telephone line 21.

When the imaging unit 15 is separated from the telephone body 11 and the display unit 14 as shown in FIG. 2, the image is photoelectrically converted by the CCD imaging device 31 and digitized by the A / D converter 33. Data is input / output control circuit in controller 29
The data is temporarily written into the image memory 34 according to the instruction of 29a. At this time, the input / output control circuit 29a sets the control signal to the row address counter 29c to "1" and operates the row address counter 29c as an up counter. Therefore, image memory
The image data written in 34 is real image data.
When the writing of one screen of the image data is completed, the input / output control circuit 29a reads the image data. At this time, the input / output control circuit 29a sets the control signal to the row address counter 29c to "1" as it is, and
Operate as an up counter. The read image data is sent from the controller 29 to the microcomputer 24 of the telephone body 11, and is temporarily stored in the memory 25. The microcomputer 24 drives and controls the segment driver 26 and the common driver 27 in accordance with the image data stored in the memory 25 to display an image on the liquid crystal display panel 28. In this case, the image data is displayed as a real image. The microcomputer 24 reads out the image data from the memory 25 according to a user's instruction, and sends the image data to the other party via the modem 22 and the telephone line 21.

The input / output control circuit 29a includes a CCD
When writing image data sent from the image sensor 31 via the A / D converter 33 to the image memory 34, the row address counter 29c is counted up / down in accordance with the state of the separation switch 35, and the real image / mirror image is obtained. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when writing to the image memory 34, the row address counter 29c is always counted up, and when reading, the row address counter 29c is controlled according to the state of the separation switch 35. The address counter 29c may be read out by counting up / down, and switching between a real image and a mirror image of image data may be controlled. [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 shows the external configuration.

In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes a telephone body,
The receiver 42 is placed on the left end. Further, a push button 43, a display unit 44, and an imaging unit 45 are provided on the upper surface. The display unit 44 can be separated from the telephone body 11 integrally with the imaging unit 45. The display unit 44 itself is, for example, a liquid crystal display panel.
46 and its driving circuit.

The image pickup section 45 has a CCD image pickup element 47 provided on the same surface as the liquid crystal display panel of the display section 44 and respective circuits for controlling the same. It has 48. Display unit 44 of imaging unit 45
The side portion connected to the display unit 44 is rotatable with respect to the display unit 44 as shown by an arrow A in the figure. When the display unit 44 and the imaging unit 45 are separated from the telephone body 41, As shown in the figure, the CCD image pickup device 47 of the image pickup section 45 and the liquid crystal display panel 46 of the display section 44 can be opposed in completely different directions.

In FIG. 6, the direction of the imaging surface of the imaging unit 45 is indicated by a display unit.
This shows a case where the direction of the display surface of the liquid crystal display panel 44 is different from that of the liquid crystal display panel by 180 ° and the imaging switch 48 is located on the upper surface thereof.
A connector 49 is provided below the display unit 44, and the connector 49 electrically connects the display unit 44 to the telephone main body 41.

FIG. 7 shows the telephone main body 41 and the display unit 44.
And an internal circuit configuration of the image pickup unit 45, wherein 51 is a telephone line, 52 is a modem, and a telephone 53 for transmitting and receiving normal voice is connected to the modem 52. The modem 52 is also connected to a microcomputer 54 for transmitting and receiving still picture images.

The microcomputer 54 writes / reads still image data to / from the memory 55,
The controller controls transmission and reception of image data between the V-phone modem 52 and the controller 56 on the imaging unit 45 side.
The image data sent from is transmitted to the other party via the telephone line 21 after the data is processed by the modem 52 in accordance with the standard still image format.

The controller 56 controls the display on the display unit 44 and the imaging on the imaging unit 45.
In the image pickup unit 45, a CCD image pickup device is provided by a lens 57.
The image formed on 47 is photoelectrically converted under the control of a CCD controller 58 and sent to an A / D converter 59 as an electric signal.

The A / D converter 59 digitizes a signal from the CCD image pickup device 47 in accordance with a sampling clock from the CCD controller 58 to obtain image data. The obtained image data is sequentially transmitted to the controller 56. Can be

The controller 56 writes the image data sequentially sent from the A / D converter 59 into the image memory 60, reads out the image data when one screen is completed, and sends it to the microcomputer 54. Alternatively, the segment driver 61 and the common driver 62 in the display unit 44 are driven and controlled in accordance with the image data, and the liquid crystal display panel 46 displays the data.

A main power supply 63 serves as a power supply for supplying power to each circuit on the telephone body 41 side, and a sub power supply serves as a power supply for supplying power to each circuit on the display section 44 and the imaging section 45 side.
64 are provided. The sub power supply 64 is configured by, for example, a rechargeable battery, and is charged by the main power supply 63 in a state where the normal display unit 44 and the imaging unit 45 are connected to the telephone body 41, and the display unit 44 and the imaging unit 45 Power is supplied to each circuit of the display unit 44 and the imaging unit 45 while being separated from the telephone body 41.

Although not described in detail here, the controller 56 is the controller 29 shown in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment.
A liquid crystal controller for driving and controlling the segment driver 61 and the common driver 62 is provided in addition to the respective circuits in FIG.

That is, the videophone is a telephone body 41.
And an image separation unit 50. The separation unit 50 includes an imaging unit 45, an imaging switch 48, and an image memory that stores image data captured by the imaging unit 45 when the imaging switch 48 is operated.
60, a display unit 44 for displaying the captured image data,
A sub-power supply 64 for supplying power to at least the imaging unit 45, the image memory 60, and the display unit 44; the telephone body 41 is connected to the telephone line 51; A memory 55 to which the image data stored in the image memory 60 is supplied while the unit 50 is connected.
And a microcomputer for processing the image data stored in the memory 55 according to a predetermined format.
54, a modem 52 for transmitting data processed by the microcomputer 54 via a telephone line 51, and at least the memory 55, the microcomputer 54 and the modem
And a main power supply 63 for supplying power to the power supply 52.

The separating unit 50 comprises a first housing 50A including the image pickup unit 45 and a second housing 50B including the display unit 44. The first housing 50A and the second housing 50A include the display unit 44. The body 50B is rotatably coupled to each other so that the direction of the imaging surface of the imaging unit 45 and the direction of the display surface of the display unit 44 can be moved by approximately 180 °, and the imaging switch 48 is connected to the first housing. Body 50A
Is provided on a surface 50C substantially 90 ° with respect to the imaging surface of the imaging unit 45.

When the imaging switch 48 is operated in a state where the display unit 44 and the imaging unit 45 are separated from the telephone main body 41 as shown in FIG. An instruction is sent from 56 to the CCD controller 58, and photoelectric conversion in the CCD image pickup device 47 is executed. The image formed on the CCD image pickup device 47 by the lens 57 is photoelectrically converted and digitized by the A / D converter 59, and then temporarily stored in the image memory 60 by the controller 56.
Are written in sequence.

When the writing of one screen of the image data is completed, the controller 56 next reads the image data, and
The segment driver 61 and the common driver 62 are driven and controlled according to the contents, and an image is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 46.

Therefore, the user can select the display unit 44 and the imaging unit.
An arbitrary drawing, map, or the like that is desired to be transferred using the 45 can be picked up by the CCD image pickup device 47 by operating the image pickup switch 48 and displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 46.

When the desired image is obtained, the user mounts the display unit 44 and the imaging unit 45 on the telephone main body 41. Display
When transfer of the image data displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 46 is held in the image memory 60 while the image pickup unit 45 and the image pickup unit 45 are attached to the telephone body 41, the image data is written into the image memory 60 in accordance with the instruction. The stored image data is read out again by the controller 56 and sent to the microcomputer 54 of the telephone main body 41.

The microcomputer 54 temporarily stores the image data in the memory 55, processes the data according to the standard still image format by the modem 52, and sends the processed data to the other party via the telephone line 21.

Further, the display unit 44 and the image pickup unit 45 are connected to the telephone body.
When image data of a still image is transmitted via the telephone line 51 in a state of being attached to the device 41, the image data is temporarily stored in the memory 55 by the microcomputer 54 and then transmitted to the controller 56. The controller 56 sequentially writes the image data in the image memory 60, reads out the image data, controls the driving of the segment driver 61 and the common driver 62, and causes the liquid crystal display panel 46 to display the image data.

[0044]

As described in detail above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the separating unit includes the imaging unit, the image memory for storing image data, and the display unit, and further includes the independent power supply unit. The separation unit is carried alone, an arbitrary subject is imaged and stored in an image memory, which is connected to the main unit, and data is processed according to a predetermined videophone format by a control unit in the main unit during a telephone call during telephone conversation. Can be sent to the other party. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the telephone unit including the handset is provided in the main body, it is possible to make a telephone call only by connecting the separating unit to the main body.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the imaging direction of the imaging unit can be moved with respect to the display surface of the display unit, an arbitrary direction can be set whether the separation unit is mounted on the main body or separated. Images can be taken.

Further, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, even if the imaging surface of the imaging unit is rotated by 180 °, the imaging switch is provided on a surface forming 90 ° with respect to the display surface of the display unit. The operability does not deteriorate even when the surface is rotated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a specific use state of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall circuit configuration according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a detailed circuit configuration in the controller of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state where a display unit and an imaging unit in FIG. 5 are separated.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the overall circuit configuration according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 41 ... telephone body, 12, 42 ... handset, 13, 43 ... push button, 14, 44 ... display unit, 15, 45 ... imaging unit, 16 ... curl code, 21, 51 ... telephone line, 22, 52 ... Modem, 23, 53
... Telephone, 24,54 ... Microcomputer, 25,55 ... Memory, 26,61 ... Segment driver, 27,62 ... Common driver, 28,46 ... Liquid crystal display panel, 29,56 ... Controller, 29a ... I / O control circuit , 29b ... column address counter, 29c ... row address counter, 29d ... inverter, 3
0, 57: Lens, 31, 47: CCD image sensor, 32, 58: C
CD controller, 33, 59 A / D converter, 34, 60 Image memory, 35 Separation switch, 36, 63 Main power supply, 3
7, 64: sub power supply, 48: imaging switch, 49: connector, 5
0 ... separation part.

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An imaging unit, an imaging switch, an image memory storing image data captured by the imaging unit when the imaging switch is operated, a display unit displaying the captured image data, and at least the imaging unit A separation unit having a first power supply unit for supplying power to the image memory and the display unit, and a separation unit connected to a telephone line, the separation unit is detachably connected, and the separation unit is connected. A memory to which the image data stored in the image memory is supplied, control means for processing the image data stored in the memory according to a predetermined format, and data processed by the control means via a telephone line It is characterized by comprising a main body including a modem for sending out, and at least the memory, the control means, and a second power supply unit for supplying power to the modem. Levi telephone. 2. The videophone according to claim 1, wherein said main body has a telephone unit including a receiver. 3. The videophone according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit is movable in an imaging direction with respect to a display surface of the display unit. 4. The separation unit includes a first housing including the imaging unit and a second housing including the display unit.
The first housing and the second housing are rotatably coupled to each other, so that the imaging direction of the imaging unit and the direction of the display surface of the display unit are small and can be rotated by 180 °. Item 4. The videophone according to item 1 or 2.