JP2001014233A - Device for notifying of electronic mail incoming call - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the amusement property when an electronic mail is used. SOLUTION: A doll simulated to an animal includes a USB interface terminal 10 for connection with a personal computer 2, a motor 17 swinging and driving a part (tail) of the doll body and a controlling part 11 which receives an incoming signal of an electronic mail and drives the motor 17 through a driving part 16. When a mail incoming signal is received from the computer 2, the part 11 drives the motor 17 to swing a driving pole 18 buried in the tail and also drives a sound source part 13 to output cry from a speaker 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a peripheral device attached to a computer, and notifies a user that an electronic mail transmitted from an external server computer via an Internet information network or the like has arrived. The present invention relates to an electronic mail arrival notification device for performing the following.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, desktop and notebook personal computers (hereinafter abbreviated as "PCs") have begun to spread rapidly to ordinary households. Providing and exchanging information through a so-called Internet information network is promoting such dissemination. Among them, e-mail is widely used because of its low cost of transmission to remote places and convenience such as simultaneous transmission to many people.

[0003]

Conventionally, generally used software for e-mail, when there is a new e-mail, a display is displayed on the display screen to notify that there is a new e-mail. It has become. However, as the use of e-mail has spread from the conventional business type to the personal type, not only operability and workability are good but also entertainment such as pleasure when using it is demanded. It is becoming.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a main object of the present invention is to enhance the recreational use of a personal computer so as to provide a positive motivation to use electronic mail. It is an object of the present invention to provide an e-mail arrival notification device that can be given.

[0005]

According to the electronic mail arrival notification device of the present invention, a new electronic mail is transmitted from a server computer connected to the server computer via a communication line. An electronic mail arrival notification device for notifying that a part of the electronic mail arrival notification device has an outer shape formed operably, and a) connection for connecting to the computer via a wireless or wired communication line. B) driving means for driving a part of the outer shape to perform a predetermined operation; c) receiving e-mail incoming information sent from a computer through the communication line and driving the driving means accordingly. And control means for transmitting a signal.

Here, the external shape may be, for example, a doll that imitates a human being, a creature such as various animals and plants, or an inanimate person. Further, in addition to the shape of the doll, it may have a geometrical shape such as a square block shape or a sphere.

According to this configuration, when a user performs an e-mail receiving operation on a computer or when an e-mail receiving operation is automatically performed at a preset timing, a new mail is received. Then, a part of the outer shape performs a predetermined operation and informs the user to that effect. Therefore, it is possible to give the user a very high level of entertainment compared to a case where the presence or absence of new mail is simply displayed on the display screen. For example, when a child or the like learns how to use e-mail, The learning effect can be greatly enhanced. Also,
It can moisturize computer work that tends to be inorganic when it is obtained, and can relax the user's mood.

The electronic mail arrival notification device according to the present invention further includes a sound source and a speaker, wherein the control means sends a drive signal to the drive means and drives the sound source to generate a predetermined sound. It can be.

According to this configuration, the arrival of the e-mail is notified not only by the operation of the outer shape but also by the sound, so that the above-described effects can be further enhanced and the visually impaired can also use it.

[0010]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic mail arrival notification device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a system including the electronic mail arrival notification device, and FIG. 2 is an external view of the electronic mail arrival notification device.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic mail arrival notification device 1 connected to the personal computer 2 has a dog stuffed outer shape, and has the configuration shown in FIG. 1 therein. That is, in the electronic mail arrival notification device 1, a USB interface terminal 10, a memory 12, a sound source unit 13, a drive unit 16, and the like are connected around a control unit 11 including a CPU and the like. The sound source unit 13 outputs an audio signal to the speaker 15 via the amplifier 14. The driving unit 16 drives a motor 17 that swings a driving rod 18 embedded in a tail 19 of the doll. In addition, these electric circuits are USB
It is driven by a power supply supplied via the interface line 23.

The personal computer 2 has a well-known configuration, and is connected to a server computer (hereinafter, referred to as “server”) 4 of a provider via, for example, a general telephone line network 3 as shown in FIG. . The server 4 is provided with an e-mail storage device 41 for storing a huge amount of e-mail received through mutual communication with another server.

The personal computer 2 has an e-mail transmission / reception program 20 for transmitting / receiving e-mails, and when a new e-mail is received through the telephone network 3,
An electronic mail reception notification program 21 for creating new mail reception information and sending it to an interface to be described later is installed. The electronic mail sending / receiving program 20 is a standard one included in recent OS (operating system) for personal computers (for example, Microsoft Outlook Express included in Microsoft Windows 95/98, both of which are Microsoft Corporation). Trademark) or one provided by another application program (for example, one included in Netscape, an Internet browser of Netscape).

The operation of the above-structured device is as follows.
That is, the electronic mail sending / receiving program 20
When the user performs a predetermined operation while operating the
The personal computer 2 reads out the electronic mail addressed to its own mail address from the electronic mails stored in the electronic mail storage device 41 of the server 4. Email storage device 41
Is stored in the hard disk 22 of the personal computer 2 when the newly arrived electronic mail is stored in the personal computer 2 via the telephone line network 3. When the personal computer 2 recognizes that there is a new mail by the operation of the electronic mail reception notifying program 21, the personal computer 2 creates an electronic mail incoming signal and sends it to the electronic mail incoming notification device 1 via the USB interface line 23.

In the electronic mail arrival notification device 1, the electronic mail arrival signal is transmitted to the USB interface terminal 10.
Is input to the control unit 11 via the. When receiving the e-mail incoming signal, the control unit 11 sends a predetermined drive signal to the drive unit 16 for a predetermined time. In response to this, the drive unit 16 supplies a drive current to the motor 17, and when the motor 17 operates, the tail 19 of the doll swings via the drive rod 18. At the same time, the control unit 11 sends an instruction signal to the sound source unit 13, and the sound source unit 13 reads out predetermined sound source data, performs voice synthesis, and generates a sound from the speaker 15 via the amplifier 14. Therefore, a dog squeal can be generated in conjunction with the swinging motion of the tail 19. Thereby, when there is a new mail, it is notified by the operation and the cry of the tail 19 of the doll.

For example, when the server 4 and the personal computer 2 are connected to each other and automatically check for a new mail at predetermined time intervals, for example, other operations (for example, browsing a homepage) are performed. Even in the middle, it is possible to immediately recognize that there is a new mail from the operation and sound of the electronic mail arrival notification device 1.

The above embodiment is an example, and the present invention is not limited to the description of the above embodiment. For example, the outer shape of the doll can be in various forms that are familiar or interesting, and the operation part when notifying of the arrival of the e-mail can also be various parts.
However, in order to prevent accidents such as contacting other nearby objects and damaging them when operating automatically in response to an incoming call, the operation may be interrupted during the operation due to stress that hinders the operation. It is desirable to perform control such as quick stop.

Further, the connection interface between the electronic mail arrival notification device and the personal computer does not need to be based on the USB standard, and other wired systems such as RS232C,
Alternatively, various types of serial communication such as a wireless method using infrared communication or the like can be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a system including an electronic mail arrival notification device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the electronic mail arrival notification device according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... E-mail arrival notification device 10 ... USB interface terminal 11 ... Control unit 13 ... Sound source unit 14 ... Amplifier 15 ... Speaker 16 ... Drive unit 17 ... Motor 18 ... Drive rod 19 ... Tail 2 ... Personal computer (PC) 20 ... E-mail transmission / reception program 21 ... E-mail reception notification program 22 ... Hard disk 23 ... USB interface line 3 ... Phone line network 4 ... Server computer (server)

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Claims (2)

[Claims] An electronic mail arrival notification device for notifying that a new electronic mail has been transmitted from the server computer in a computer connected to the server computer via a communication line, a part of which is provided. An external shape formed operably; a) connecting means for connecting to the computer via a wireless or wired communication line; and b) driving a part of the external shape to perform a predetermined operation. Driving means; and c) control means for receiving e-mail incoming information sent from a computer through the communication line and transmitting a driving signal to the driving means in response thereto. apparatus. 2. The electronic mail arrival notification device according to claim 1, further comprising a sound source and a speaker, wherein the control means sends a drive signal to a drive means and drives the sound source to generate a predetermined sound. An e-mail arrival notification device, wherein