JP3005237B2 - Radio selective call receiver - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a radio selective calling receiver (hereinafter abbreviated as a receiver), and more particularly to a receiver capable of displaying a remaining use time of a battery used as a power supply.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, as this type of receiver has been reduced in size and weight, a battery as a power supply unit has also been required to be reduced in size. Therefore, the batteries are not only AA and AAA batteries, but also coin-type batteries.
NiCd batteries and lithium batteries have also been used.

However, the capacity of this coin-type battery is 50 to 12
0 mAh is 1/10 or less of the conventional AA battery (1200 mAh), and therefore, the continuous operation time of the receiver is also about 1 week which is 1/10 or less of the conventional. Also, these batteries are not as commonly used as AA and AAA batteries, so it is very difficult to purchase a replacement immediately. Therefore, the user must always be careful about the continuous use time of the battery.

For this reason, in this type of receiver, a sounding means that sounds at a fixed pattern and a period, and a display means that displays the consumption of the battery are provided as means for notifying that the battery which is a power source is exhausted and for disabling the battery. Has been adopted. Conventionally, this type of alarm means has a battery voltage set on a circuit and a reference voltage (1.1 V
), The alarm means is activated when it is lowered.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, since such a conventional receiver issues a warning of battery exhaustion only when the battery voltage falls below a set reference voltage, it is not possible to know the remaining use time of the battery when necessary. . For this reason, when the set reference voltage is reached, the user will know that the usable time of the receiver is short after that, and if the battery used is short-lived or a replacement battery can be obtained immediately. If not, there is a problem that the operation of the receiver is stopped due to battery exhaustion.

An object of the present invention is to provide a receiver capable of displaying the remaining usage time of a battery.

[Means for solving the problem]

The receiver of the present invention is a radio selective call receiver having an intermittent reception function that operates a radio unit only at the time of group reception to which its own call number belongs, using a battery as a power source,
A count unit that counts a control signal output as a pulse during the intermittent reception operation to operate the intermittent reception operation, and outputs a signal every time a predetermined number is counted. And a notifying means for notifying the remaining use time of the battery based on the information.

Here, the counting unit receives a control signal and outputs a signal every day, a N-ary counter that receives an output of the day counter, counts the number N of battery life days, and outputs a signal. An alarm counter that receives the control signal and outputs a signal shortly before counting the number of days of life of the battery.

A notification unit configured to display the remaining battery life based on the output signals of the day counter and the N-ary counter;
It is composed of a sound section that outputs an alarm based on the output signal of the alarm counter, and an LED (light emitting diode).

[Operation] According to the present invention, by counting the clock signal used in intermittent reception, it is possible to detect the battery usage time, that is, the remaining usage time of the battery, and to notify the user of the battery usage time. And the operation stop against the intention of the receiver is prevented.

〔Example〕

 Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a radio selective calling receiver (hereinafter, referred to as a receiver), which transmits radio waves transmitted from a transmitting station to an antenna unit 2
This signal is amplified by the radio section 3 and the waveform shaping circuit section 4 and converted into a digital signal, and the signal control section 5 compares the signal with its own calling number sent from the individual number storage section 7. When the received signal matches the own number, the user is notified using the LED unit 10 and the sounding unit 12. If there is message information at this time, the message information is displayed on the display unit 16 through the display processing unit 15. 9 is LE
D blinking signal amplifying unit, 11 is a sound amplifying unit, and 15 is a display processing unit, which drives the LDE unit 10, the ringing unit 12, and the display unit 16, respectively.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a main power supply, and the radio unit 3, the waveform shaping circuit unit 4,
Power is supplied to the signal control unit 5, the LED blinking signal amplification unit 9, the sound amplification unit 11, and the like. Here, it is assumed that the main power supply 14 has a battery life of seven days, that is, one week. In addition, the receiver 1 performs intermittent reception in which the radio section 3 of the apparatus operates only at the time of receiving a group to which its own call signal belongs, in order to reduce the consumption of the battery capacity as the main power supply 14. I have. In order to perform the intermittent reception, the wireless unit stabilized power supply unit 13 was inserted between the main power supply unit 14 and the wireless unit 3, and a pulse was input from the signal control unit 5 to the wireless unit stabilized power supply unit 13. Only when the power is supplied to the wireless unit 3.

This pulse is output from the signal controller 5 at a rate of about 1.44 seconds every about 21.6 seconds by the clock section 6 composed of a crystal oscillator. Then, this pulse is counted by the battery use time counting unit 8, and the battery use time,
In other words, the remaining time of the battery is detected. In the pulse cycle (about 21.6 seconds), 21.6 seconds × 4000/3600 seconds = 24 hours = 1 day can be counted by counting the pulses 4,000 times.

FIG. 2 shows details of the battery use time counting section 8. The battery use time counting unit 8 counts the number of days in one week for each day by outputting a pulse 17 from the output terminal O4 every time 4000 pulses corresponding to the time of one day are input. A week counter that outputs weekly pulses in binary code from the output terminals O5 to O7, here a 7-digit counter 18, and counts every time 26,000 pulses corresponding to 6.5 days are input, and outputs from the output terminal O8 It comprises an alarm counter 19 for outputting pulses, and AND circuits 20 and 21 for resetting the respective counters and preventing erroneous signal input at the input section.

The output terminal O1 of the signal control unit 5 outputs an intermittent reception pulse obtained from the clock unit 6, and the output terminal O2 is connected to the main power supply 14.
Is turned on, an output is output, and a reset signal is output from the output terminal O3.

Next, the operation of the receiver having the above configuration, particularly, the operation of informing the remaining battery usage time will be described.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing signal output in each section of FIG. 2. First, when the main power supply 14 is turned on, the signal at the output terminal O2 of the signal processing section 5 changes from low to high. Then, a pulse at the timing of intermittent reception is output from the output terminal O1. When these signals are input to the AND circuit 20, the pulses are input to the day counter 17, and here, every time 4,000 pulses are input, that is, every one day, 1 is output from the output terminal O4.
A pulse is output. This pulse is input to the week counter 18, where signals are output in binary code from the output terminals O5 to O7 to perform week counting.

On the other hand, the pulse passing through the AND circuit 21 is
When a pulse is input 26000 times, the signal at the output terminal O8 changes from Low to High and is input to the display processing unit 15.

The count result in the battery use time counting section 8 is displayed on the display section 16 as the remaining battery time.
That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (c), the use time display section of the display section 16 is generated by the output pulse of the 7-digit counter 18.
The display at 16a changes to show the remaining battery life on a daily basis. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), this display is displayed only when the battery remaining use time notification switch 22 provided on the upper part of the main body of the receiver 1 is pressed.

When the pulses for 6.5 days are counted in the alarm counter 19, as shown in FIG.
, A continuous sounding instruction is issued to the sounding unit 12 to notify by sound that the remaining battery life is short. When the user notices the sound and presses the battery remaining time notification switch 22, the fifth
As shown in FIG. 7B, the sound stops and an instruction to replace the battery is displayed on the display section 16a.

When the battery is removed, the clock unit 6, which is always operating, is stopped. Next, when a new battery is inserted again, the clock unit 6 starts operating again. When the signal of the clock unit 6 that has been re-operated is received by the signal control unit 5, a reset signal is input from the output terminal O3 of the signal control unit 5 to the battery usage time counting unit 8, and the battery usage time counting unit 8 starts using the battery from the beginning. Start counting time. This allows the battery to be used continuously for one week.

In a receiver without the display unit 16 and the display processing unit 15, the battery usage time counting unit 8 counts the usage time in days in the same manner as the above-described display-equipped receiver, and notifies the remaining battery usage time. When a signal is input from the power switch 22 to the signal control unit 5, the electricity use time counting unit 8 transmits the signal to the signal control unit 5.
From the signal control unit 5 to the LED unit 10 and the sounding unit 12, the intermittent sound and the LED blink so that the number of remaining days input to the
Is sent to The remaining use time of the battery can be known from the intermittent sound and the number of times the LED blinks.

Further, in the receiver 1 of the previous example, the capacity of the battery to be used is set in the signal control unit 5 in advance, but the capacity of the battery to be used is set in the individual number storage unit 7, and the signal control unit is set in accordance with the set value. By controlling the number of counts of the battery use time counting unit 8 at 5, it becomes possible to use various types of batteries having different battery life times.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the remaining use time of the battery can be detected and reported by counting the clock signal output as a pulse during the intermittent reception operation. Thereby, the remaining use time of the battery can be detected by counting the clock signal output in synchronization with the operation timing of the intermittent reception operation, which is managed with extremely high precision. The use time can be accurately grasped, and the effect that the receiver can be used with confidence even when using a battery with a short life is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a battery usage time counting section, FIG. 3 is a timing chart of signals in each section of FIG. 2, and FIGS. 5C is a diagram showing a display state on the display unit, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing a sound and a display state on the display unit. 1 ... radio selective call receiver, 2 ... antenna part, 3 ... radio part, 4 ... waveform shaping circuit part, 5 ... signal control part, 6 ...
... Clock section, 7 ... Individual number storage section, 8 ... Battery use time counting section, 9 ... LED blinking signal amplification section, 10 ... LE
D, 11: sound amplification section, 12: sound section, 13: stabilized power supply section for radio section, 14: main power supply, 15: display processing section, 16 ...
... Display unit, 17 ... Day counter, 18 ... Seven-digit counter, 19
…… Alarm counter, 20,21 …… AND circuit, 22 …… Battery remaining time notification switch.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-143985 (JP, A) JP-A-1-113681 (JP, A) JP-A-61-173535 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int .Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04B ^7/ 24-7/26 H04Q ⁷ /00-7/38

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A radio selective call receiver having a battery as a power source and having an intermittent reception function for operating a radio unit only when receiving a group to which a call number belongs to, the intermittent reception for operating the intermittent reception. A counting unit that counts a control signal output as a pulse during operation and outputs a signal every time a predetermined number is counted, and notifies the remaining use time of the battery based on the output signal of the counting unit and the life time of the battery. And a notifying means for performing a call. 2. The count section receives the control signal and outputs a signal every day, and receives the output signal of the day counter to count the number N of battery life days and output a signal. 2. The radio selective calling receiver according to claim 1, comprising an N-ary counter, and an alarm counter that receives the control signal and outputs a signal shortly before counting the number of days N of life of the battery. . 3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said notifying means includes:
A display unit for displaying a remaining use time such as a remaining battery life based on an output signal of a binary counter, a sounding unit for outputting an alarm based on an output signal of the alarm counter, and an LED. 3. The radio selective call receiver according to claim 2, wherein