AU4088900A

AU4088900A - Method of switching an alert mode during charging of a handy phone

Info

Publication number: AU4088900A
Application number: AU40889/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Kiyokazu Yajima
Original assignee: NEC Corp
Current assignee: NEC Corp
Priority date: 1999-06-17
Filing date: 2000-06-16
Publication date: 2000-12-21
Also published as: GB0014708D0; GB2353186A; JP2000358085A

Description

S&FRef: 512015

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name and Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: NEC Corporation 7-1, Shiba Minato-ku Tokyo Japan Kiyokazu Yajima Spruson Ferguson St Martins Tower 31 Market Street Sydney NSW 2000 Method of Switching an Alert Mode During Charging of a Handy Phone The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- IP Australia Documents received on: i 6 JUN 2000 D Batch No: I 5845c METHOD OF SWITCHING AN ALERT MODE DURING CHARGING OF A HANDY PHONE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an alert mode switching device for a handy phone capable of alerting the user thereof to a cal I incoming with at least either one of sound and vibration and more particularly to a method of switching such alerting means during charging of the phone.

It is a common practice with a handy phone to alert the user of the phone to a call incoming with either one of a ringer and a vibrator producing sound and vibration, respectively. A lamp, an LCD 0*1' 10 (Liquid Crystal Display) or simi lar optical alertingmeans may be used 0 in addition to the ringer and vibrator. The user of the phone is 0:00.: capable of selecting a desired alert mode matchingwith the condition of use or the environment. Specifically, the user selects, in many cases, a ringer mode using the ringer or selects a vibrator mode using the vibrator in an environment in which an alert tone would annoy persons around the user.

The vibrator mode, however, gives rise to problems when the user sets the phone on a charging unit in order to charge a secondary battery mounted on the phone. Specifically, the phone set on the charging unit with the vibrator mode selected by the user cannot alert the user to a cal I incoming that may occur dur ing charging. Moreover, the v i bration of the vibrator is apt to make the contact of the charge terminal included in the phone and therefore the charging operation defective.

In light of the above, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-126061, for example, discloses a handy radio apparatus including means for determining whether or not the apparatus is set on a charging unit, in addition to signal receiving means. A ringer is selected if the apparatus is set on a charging unit, but a vibrator 10 is selected if otherwise. The apparatus further includes means for determining, when the apparatus is foldable, whether or not the apparatus is folded up, and means for determining whether the apparatus is located inside or outside of a bui Iding. The apparatus automatically selects sound or vibration on the basis of the outputs 15 of such means.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-257559 teaches a charging unit for a radiophone including a power supply adapter for feeding charging power to the charge terminal of the radiophone via an output terminal. A microphone picks up an alert tone generated at the time of a call incoming. A display informs the user of the radiophone of the ca I I incoming. A control ler controls the charging power and transforms the output of the microphone to a drive signal for driv i ng the display. The rad i ophone a I llows the user remote from the radiophone to recognize a cal I incoming during charging even in a noisy room.

3 Japanese Patent La id-Open Pub Iicat ion No. 10-308800 proposes an implementation for simplifying an alert mode switching procedure and reducing the overall size of a handy radio apparatus. The implementation has a charging unit including means for determining whether or not the apparatus is being charged, means for detecting a call incoming, and alert tone outputt i ng means. When the apparatus is set on the charging unit, the charging unit produces an alert tone in place of the apparatus. After the apparatus has been removed from the charging unit, the apparatus itself operates in an alert mode 10 selected by the user beforehand.

The above-descri bed conventiona I technologies, however, each automatica ly select an alert mode in accordance with whether or not ee** the apparatus is set on a charging unit, whether or not the apparatus is located inside of a building or whether or not the apparatus is folded up. Stated another way, none of them al lows the user of the apparatus to select a desired alert mode.

Technologies relating to the present invention are also disclosed in, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos.

10-173741 and 10-178468.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to allow the user of a handy phone to select an optimal alert mode matching with the condition of use of the phone.

In accordance with the present invention, a method of 4 switching the alert mode of a handy phone including at least a ringer and a vi brator as a ert i ng means when a secondary battery accommodated in the phone is charged includes the steps of caus i ng the user of the phone to se I ect a r i nger mode us i ng the r i nger or a v i brator mode us i ng the vibrator beforehand, determining whether or not the battery is being charged, automatically selecting, if the battery is being charged, the ringer mode without regard to the mode selected by the user beforehand, and restoring, if the battery is not being charged, the mode selected by the user beforehand.

10 Also, in accordance with the present invention, an alerting device for a handy phone includes a cal I incoming detecting circuit for detecting the receipt of a cal I meant for the phone. An a I erting circuit alerts, in response to the output of the call incoming detecting circuit, the user of the phone to the receipt of a ca ll with 15 at least either one of a ringer and a vibrator that produce sound and vibration, respectively. Asettingsection allows the user to select either one of the ringer and vibrator to which the output of the ca ll incoming detecting circuit should be input. The alerting circuit includes a memory for storing information representative of the ringer or the vibrator selected by the user, a charge detecting circuit for determining whether or not a secondary battery accommodated in the phone is being charged, and a switching circuit for delivering, when the battery is being charged, the output of the call incoming detect i ng circu it to the r i nger or de I i ver i ng, when the battery is not be i ng charged, the output to the r i nger or the v i brator on the basis of the information stored in the memory.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detai led description taken with the accompany ing drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an alerting device embodying the present invention and included in a handy phone; FIG. 2 is an external view showing the handy phone; FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a specific configuration of the handy phone; FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing a connection detecting circuit included in the illustrative embodiment; FIG. 5 is a flowchart demonstrating a specific operation of 15 the illustrative embodiment; and FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, an alerting device embodying the present invention is shown. FIG. 2 shows a handy phone including the alerting device. As shown in FIG. 1, the alerting device, generally 10, includes a call incoming detection 11 for detecting a ca I incoming meant for the handy phone labeled 1 in FIG.

2. The call incoming detection 11 includes an antenna, a radio 6 section and a modem although not shown specifically. A ringer 12 generates sound, or alert tone, in response to the output of the cal I incoming detection 11, thereby alerting the user of the phone 1 to the call incoming. A vibrator 13 is also responsive to the output of the call incoming detection 11, but alerts the user to the incoming call by generating vibration.

A key input 14 allows the user to select either one of the ringer 12 and vibrator 13. A memory 17 stores a ringer mode or a vibrator mode selected by the user on the key input 14. A charger 10 30 accommodates a secondary battery, not shown, therein. A charge detection 16 determines whether or not the secondary battery is being charged. If the battery is be i ng charged, as determined by the charge detection 16, an alert mode switching section 15 transfers the output of the call incoming detection 11 to the ringer 12. If the battery 15 is not being charged, the alert mode switching section 15 transfers the output of the call incoming detection 11 to either one of the ringer 12 and vibrator 13 by referencing the memory 17. In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 38 designates an external power supply to which the phone 1 is connectable.

As shown in FIG. 2, the phone 1 has on its front face the key input 2, an LCD3, a microphone or transmitter 4, a speaker or receiver and an LED 10 that turns on the receipt of a call. An antenna 7 and a battery holder 6 are respectively positioned on the upper portionandthe lower portion of the rear face of the phone 1. Further, a charge terminal 8 and a data communication terminal 9 are positioned on the bottom of the phone 1.

FIG. 3showsspecificcircuitrybuilt inthe phone 1. As shown, a signal coming in through the antenna 7 is input to a radio 40 while a signal to be transmitted is radiated via the radio 40 and antenna 7. The radio 40 converts the frequency of a received signal and that of a signal to be transmitted. A transmitting function available with the radio 40 will not be described specifically because it is not relevant to the understanding of the illustrative embodiment.

Specifica lly, the rad i o 40 converts the frequency of a rece i ved s i gnal to an IF (Intermediate Frequency) signal with two consecutive mixers, not shown, and delivers the IF signal to a modem 42. The modem 42 demodulates the IF signal and inputs the resulting voice and data to a controller 44. On the other hand, the user of the phone 1 selects the vibrator mode or the ringer mode on a key input 46 beforehand.

15 The vibrator mode or the ringer mode selected is written to a memory 48. A charger 50 causes a secondary battery, not shown, to be charged while controlli ng the charging operation. In addition, the charger includes a connection detection circuit, not shown, for determining whether or not the phone 1 is connected to a power supply unit, as will be described specifically later. The output of the connection detection circuit is sent to the controller 44.

The controller 44 processes the input control data and the output of the connection detection circuit and controls an alerting method at the time of a call incoming. Specifically, if the phone 1 is connected to the power supply unit at the time of a ca ll incoming, the controller 44 drives a ringer 52; if otherwise, the controller 44 drives either one of the ringer 52 and a vibrator 54 in accordance with the information stored in the memory 48. Further, the controller 44 controls the operation of the entire phone 1 while displaying on a display 56 information input on the key input 46, information representative of a communication status, and so forth.

FIG. 4 shows a specific arrangement of the connection detection circuit included in the charger 50. As shown, assume that the phone, labeled 1A, is connected to a power supply nit 21. Then, the power supply unit 21 feeds a voltage to the phone 1A. An input voltage detection 22 detects the voltage and delivers a signal representative of a chargeable state to a charge controller 23. A battery voltage detection 24 detects the voltage of a secondary battery 26 and also delivers a signal representative of the battery 15 voltage to the charge controller 23. In response, the charge controller 23 recognizes the input of the voltage from the power supply unit 21 and the battery voltage. The charge control ler 23 then operates a constant current circuit 25 for control I ing the start and stop of charging of the secondary battery 26. On the start of a charging operation, the constant current circuit 25 feeds a constant current to the battery 26. If the phone 1A is not connected to the power supply unit 21 or if the charging operation is ended because of, e. fu I I charging, the constant current circuit 25 does not feed the constant current to the battery 26.

In the illustrative embodiment, the output of the input voltage detection 22 is additionally sent to the controller 44 of the phone 1A. This allows the control ler 44 to determine whether or not the phone 1A is connected to the power supply unit 21.

A specific alert mode switching operation of the i llustrative embodiment, particularly the controller 44, will be described with reference to FIG. 5. As shown, the controller 44 references the output of the charger 50 to see if the phone 1A is connected to the power supply unit 21 or not (step S1). If the answer of the step S1 is positive (YES) and if a call is received (YES, step S2), the

*S

10 controller 44 references the memory 48 to determine whether or not the user has se I ected the v i brator mode on the key input 46 (step S3).

If the answer of the step S3 is YES, the contro ler 44 automat i ca I ly sets up the ringer mode, neglecting the information stored in the memory 48 (step S4). If the answer of the step S3 is negative (NO), 15 meaningthat the ringer mode is stored in the memory 48, the controller 44 sets up the ringer mode. When the user presses an acknowledge key, not shown (step S6 or S7), the control ler 44 ends the alert control procedure (step S8) and executes conversation control (steps S9 and Assume that the phone 1A is disconnected from the power supply unit 21 after the end of conversation. Then, the controller 44 determines, based on the output of the charger 50, that the phone 1A is not connected to the power supply unit 21 (step S11), and again sets up the alert mode stored in the memory 48 (usual alert mode) (step S12). If the answer of the step S11 is NO, mean i ng that the user does not desire to disconnect the phone 1A from the power supply unit 21, the procedure returns to the step S2.

On the other hand, if the answer of the step S1 is NO, meaning that the phone 1A is not connected to the power supply unit 21, and if a call is received (YES, step S13), the contro I ler 44 executes the usual alert mode in accordance with the information stored in the memory 48 (step S14). Subsequently, when the user presses the acknowledge key (YES, step S15), the controller 44 ends the alert control procedure (step S16) and then executes conversation control (steps S17 and S18).

An alternative embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6. While the previous embodiment arranges a charger within the handy phone, the alternative embodiment is applicable to a handy phone lacking a charger. As shown, when a 15 handy phone, labeled 1B, is connected to a power supply unit 60, a charger 62 bui It in the power supply unit 60 feeds a voltage to the phone 1B. An input charge detection .64 detects the voltage and determines that the phone 1B is connected to the power supply unit while sending its output to a controller 66. IN response, the contro ler 66 operates in the same manner as the control ler 44 of the previous embodiment. In FIG. 6, the reference numeral 68 designates a secondary battery mounted on the phone 1B.

In each of the embodiments shown and described, assume that the user does not want the ringer mode whi le phone 1A or 1B is charged.

Then, the user may turn off a power switch, not shown, provided on the phone 1A or 1B. Alternatively, a photodiode, an LCD or simi lar optical indicator may be turned on in place of the ringer 12. This al lows the power switch of the phone and therefore the cal I incoming detection 11, FIG. 1, to be continuously turned on during charging.

As stated above, in each of the i I l ustrative embodiments, even when the handy phone is connected to the power supply unit with the vibrator mode selected by the user, it automatically replaces the v i brator mode with the ringer mode on the receipt of a ca I and surely alerts the user to the call. That is, the user does not have to replace the vibrator mode with the ringer mode when connecting the °.oo phone to the power supply unit. Further, such automatic switching of the alert mode obviates defective contact between the phone and the power supply unit ascribable to the operation of the vibrator, insuring the communicating function with the charging operation being continued.

In summary, it wi I I be seen that the present invention provides an alerting device allowing the user of a handy phone to select an optimal alert mode in accordance with the condition of use of the phone.

Various modifications will become possible for those ski I led in the art after receiving the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the scope thereof.

Claims

1. A method of switching an alert mode of a handy phone including at least a ringer and a vibrator as alerting means when a secondary battery accommodated in said handy phone is charged, said method comprising the steps of: caus i ng a user of the handy phone to select a r i nger mode us i ng the ringer or a vibrator mode using the vibrator beforehand; determining whether or not the secondary battery is being charged; automatically selecting, if the secondary battery is being charged, the ringer mode without regard to the ringer mode or the vibrator mode selected by the user beforehand; and restoring, if the secondary battery is not being charged, the ringer mode or the vibrator mode selected by the user beforehand.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the handy phone Sf further includes optical alerting means for alerting the user to an incoming call while said handy phone is charged.

3. An alerting device for a handy phone, comprising: ca ll incoming detect i ng means for detect i ng a rece i pt of a ca ll meant for the handy phone; alerting means for a I erting, in response to an output of said call incoming detect i ng means, a user of the handy phone to the rece i pt of a ca ll with at least either one of a r i nger and a v i brator producing sound and vibration, respectively; and setting means for allowing the user to select either one of said ringer and said vibrator towhichthe output of said call incoming detecting means should be input; said alerting means comprising: storing means for storing information representative of said ringer or said vibrator selected by the user; charge detecting means for determining whether or not a secondary battery accommodated in the handy phone is being charged; and switching means for delivering, when the secondary battery is being charged, the output of said call incoming detecting means to said ringer or delivering, when said secondary battery is not being charged, said output to said ringer or said vibrator on the basis of 0.0. the information stored in said storing means.

4. An alerting device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said charge detecting means determines whether or not the secondary battery is being charged on the basis of a voltage to be applied to a charge terminal included in the handy phone.

An alerting device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said charge detecting means determines whether or not the secondary battery is being charged on the basis of a voltage to appear on an output terminal of a charger built in the handy phone and connected to the secondary battery.

6. An alerting device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said alerting means further includes optical alerting means, said setting means further allowing the user to select said optical alertingmeans -14- such that the output of said call incoming detecting means is delivered to said optical alerting means instead of to said ringer during charging.

7. A method of switching an alert mode of a handy phone, said method substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1-6 of the accompanying drawings.

8. An alerting device for a handy phone substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1-6 of the accompanying drawings. DATED this Fifteenth Day of June 2000 NEC Corporation 0. Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON FERGUSON oeoo bt [R:\LIBQ]336.doc:iad