JP2001157273A - Electric device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric device that can save power. SOLUTION: A power switch 26 is connected between an AC power supply terminal 22 and a DC power supply section 28, and the power switch 26 is switched by the presence/absence of a power supply control signal. A device operation section is operated by a DC power supply from the DC power supply section 28. A remote control reception section 34 receiving an external wireless signal generates at least the power supply control signal. A solar battery 36 supplies the operation power supply to the remote control reception section 34.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to electrical equipment,
An electric device having a remote control receiving unit for receiving a remote control signal transmitted from an external remote control transmitting unit to be remotely controlled, for example, a satellite broadcast receiving tuner, a CATV
Terminal, television receiver, video tape recorder, various tuners, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a device having a remote control receiving unit, for example, there has been a device as shown in FIGS. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 5, for example, an AC power supply from the commercial AC power supply 2 is converted into a DC operation power supply by the power supply unit 4 and supplied to the device operation unit 8 via the open / close switch 6. The device operation unit 8 operates based on a remote control signal of an electric signal obtained by converting the wireless remote control signal transmitted from the remote control signal transmission unit (not shown) by the remote control reception unit 10. In addition, since the operating power is supplied to the device operating unit 8 by remote control, the remote control receiving unit 10 closes the power switch 6 when the power control signal is supplied from the remote control transmitting unit. In order to open and close the open / close switch 6 in this manner,
The remote control receiver 10 is always supplied with operating power from the power supply 4.

[0003] In the device shown in FIG.
It is provided between the main power supply unit 12 for the device operation unit 8 and the commercial AC power supply 2. Therefore, the main power supply unit 12
It operates only when the power switch 6 is closed. Also,
A sub-power supply unit 14 is provided so that the remote control receiving unit 10 always operates, and the operating power from now on is supplied to the remote control receiving unit 10.

[0004]

However, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 5, only one power supply unit 4 needs to be constantly operated, and power saving cannot be achieved. In the device shown in FIG. 6, since only the sub power supply unit 14 of the main power supply unit 12 and the sub power supply unit 14 always operates, power saving can be achieved as compared with the device shown in FIG. The power supply unit 14 must always be operating, and power saving cannot be achieved completely.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a device capable of completely saving power despite having a remote control receiving unit.

[0006]

The electric device according to the present invention has a power switch means, which is connected between an AC power terminal and a DC power part, and further comprises a power control signal supply. It is opened and closed depending on the presence or absence. As the power switch means, for example, a relay means or the like can be used. The electric device according to the present invention further includes a device operation unit that is operated by a DC power supply from the DC power supply unit. This device operation unit is a device that is remotely controlled,
Various things can be used. Further, a remote control receiving unit for receiving an external wireless control signal and generating at least the power control signal is provided. The remote control receiving unit also generates, in addition to the power control signal, other control signals for operating the device operating unit in various modes, based on the wireless control signal from the remote control transmitting unit. Further, a solar cell for supplying operating power to the remote control receiving unit is also provided.

[0007] In the electric device according to the present invention, the remote control receiving unit is operated by the power from the solar battery, and is not operated by the DC power obtained by converting the AC power supplied through the AC power terminal. . Therefore, the DC power supply unit does not operate until the device operation unit is actually operated. When the wireless control signal is transmitted from the remote control transmitting unit, the remote control receiving unit supplies the power control signal to the power switch, and closes the power switch. Thereby, the DC power supply unit operates for the first time, and the device operation unit operates. Only the remote control receiver is supplied with operating power by the solar cell at all times, so that the remote control receiver can be sufficiently operated even with a small solar cell.

In addition, between the power supply unit and the remote control receiving unit,
Another open / close switch is provided, and when the remote control receiving unit generates a power control signal, both the power switch and the other open / close switch are closed, and after the device operation unit starts operating, the remote control receiving unit is connected to a direct current. You may make it operate by the operation power supply from a power supply part. In this case, even after the surroundings of the device become dark after both switches are closed, the remote control receiver can be reliably operated.

[0009] The solar cell supplies an operating power to the remote control receiving unit and charges a secondary battery capable of supplying an operating power to the remote control signal receiving unit. By providing the secondary battery in this way, when the surroundings of the device are bright, the solar battery activates the remote control signal receiving unit and also charges the secondary battery. Therefore, even if the surroundings of the device become dark and the solar cell alone cannot supply the power required to operate the remote control signal receiving unit normally, the remote control receiving power from the secondary battery is used. The part can be operated.

[0010] The DC power supply, the power switch means, the device operating unit, and the remote control receiving unit may be housed in a single housing, and the solar cell may be provided outside the housing. In this case, since the solar cell can be arranged at a position away from the housing, for example, if it is indoors, it can be arranged in a bright place near a fluorescent lamp or near a window,
The remote control receiver can always be activated.

[0011] The device operation section may process a high-frequency signal transmitted from outside via a transmission line. For example, like a CS / BS tuner, a satellite first intermediate frequency signal in a 1 GHz band is supplied via a coaxial transmission line. The solar cell is disposed outside, for example, in a bright place such as outdoors so that the operating power is supplied to the remote control receiving section while being superimposed on the transmission line and the high-frequency signal. This allows the solar cell to always activate the remote control receiver.

[0012]

1 and 2 show a first embodiment of an electric apparatus according to the present invention. This electric device is, for example, a CS / BS tuner as shown in FIG. This tuner has a housing 20, and this housing 20 includes
, An AC power input terminal 22 is provided.

The AC power supply terminal 22 is connected to a commercial AC power supply,
For example, it is connected to a single-phase commercial AC power supply 24. The AC power supply terminal 22 is connected to a DC power supply unit 28 via a power switch 26. The power switch 26 is configured to close when a power control signal is supplied and open when no power control signal is supplied, as described later. As the power switch 26, for example, a relay circuit can be used.

The DC power supply unit 28 converts a single-phase commercial AC power supplied through the power switch 26 into a DC power, and may include, for example, a rectifier circuit and a smoothing circuit. Needless to say, a constant voltage circuit may be provided.

The DC power from the DC power supply unit 28 is C
It is supplied to the device operation unit 30 of the S / BS tuner. As a result, the device operation unit 30 starts operating. The device operation unit 30 includes, for example, a second frequency conversion unit, a second intermediate frequency amplification unit, a demodulation unit, and the like. This device operation unit 3
0 has various functions, for example, switching of a reception channel. As shown in FIG. 2, these functions are selected by a wireless remote control signal from a remote control transmitting unit 32 arranged outside the housing 20.

In order to receive the wireless remote control signal and convert it into an electric control signal, a remote control receiving unit 34 is provided in the housing 20. The remote control receiving unit 34 further receives a wireless remote control signal for closing the power switch 26 transmitted by the remote control transmitting unit 32, and outputs a power control signal that is an electric signal. This power control signal is supplied to the open / close switch 26.

In order to operate the remote control receiver 34, a solar cell 36 is provided in the housing 20. The solar cell 36 is attached to, for example, a front panel of the housing 20 so that external light can be favorably received.
The output side of the solar cell 36 is connected to the power supply terminal of the remote control receiver 34. Further, a secondary battery, for example, a nickel cadmium battery 3 is provided on the output side of the solar battery 36.
8 are connected. Since the nickel cadmium battery 38 is connected to such a position, the solar battery 36 supplies its power output to the remote control receiver 34 and charges the nickel cadmium battery 38. Therefore, case 2
Even if it becomes impossible to operate the remote control receiving unit 34 normally due to the power output of the solar cell 36 due to the darkness of the area around 0, the remote control receiving unit 34 is normally operated by the nickel cadmium battery 38. Can work.

In the CS / BS tuner thus configured, the remote control receiver 34 operates by the power output of the solar cell 36 even when the power switch 26 is open. When the user wants to operate the CS / BS tuner, the user operates the remote control transmitting unit 32 to transmit a wireless power control signal to the remote control receiving unit 34.
The remote control receiving unit 34 generates a power control signal and closes the power switch 26. Thereby, the DC power supply unit 2
8 operates, and the device operation unit 30 starts operating. Since then
The device operation unit 30 operates based on the wireless control signal from the remote control transmission unit 32. Thus, the solar cell 3
Since the remote control receiving unit 34 is operated by 6,
It is not necessary to always operate the DC power supply unit 28 for converting the AC power supply from the commercial AC power supply 24 to the DC power supply. Therefore, power saving can be completely achieved. Also,
Since only the remote control receiving unit 34 is always operated by the solar cell 36, the solar cell 36 can sufficiently operate with relatively small power. In addition, the solar cell 3
Since the nickel cadmium battery 38 is also charged by 6, after the power output of the solar battery 36 decreases, the output of the nickel cadmium battery 38 operates the remote control receiving unit 34.

In the electric apparatus according to the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a solar cell 36 is provided outside the housing 20.
It is connected to a solar cell connection terminal 42 via a line 40. The solar cell connection terminal 42 is connected to the secondary battery 38 and the remote control receiver 34. Thus, the solar cell 3
Since the battery 6 is provided outside the housing 20, the solar cell 36 can be arranged in a place having a relatively large amount of light, such as near a fluorescent lamp or near a window. In particular, if the solar cell 36 is configured to be movable, the arrangement location of the solar cell 36 can be arbitrarily changed such that the solar cell 36 is arranged near a window during the day and near a fluorescent lamp at night. . The same parts as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

The electric apparatus according to the third embodiment has a solar cell 36 provided outside the housing 20 as shown in FIG. Since the electric device is a CATV terminal, the power from the solar cell 36 is transmitted to the electric device by using a transmission line for transmitting a high-frequency signal, for example, a CATV signal, for example, a coaxial cable 44. Supplying.

That is, the CATV signal is supplied to the power supply insertion circuit 48.
, And the operating power from the solar cell 36 is also supplied to the coaxial cable 44 via the power supply insertion circuit 48. The power supply insertion circuit 48 has a DC blocking capacitor 50 connected to the end of the coaxial cable 44,
And a high-frequency blocking coil 52 connected between the connection point 4 and the solar cell 36. This power supply insertion circuit 48
Accordingly, the CATV signal and the DC power are supplied to the electric device via the coaxial cable 44. In addition, CATV
Instead of a signal for use, a signal received by an antenna such as UHF or VHF can be transmitted.

A power supply separation circuit 54 is provided in the housing 20 of the electric equipment. The power supply separation circuit 54 has a DC blocking capacitor 56 connected between the coaxial cable 44 and the device operation unit 30. Further, a high-frequency blocking coil 58 is connected between a connection point between the coaxial cable and the capacitor 56 and a power supply terminal 34a of the remote control receiver 34. Of course, this power supply terminal is a nickel cadmium battery 38.
It is connected to the. The DC power transmitted through the coaxial cable 44 is supplied to the remote control receiver 34 and the nickel cadmium battery 38 by the power supply separation circuit 54.

As described above, since the power of the solar cell is transmitted through the coaxial cable 44, the solar cell 3
Even if 6 is placed outdoors, such as on a roof, there is no need to lay a special cable for DC power transmission. In addition, since the solar cell 36 can be placed outdoors, it is possible to generate sufficient DC power in the solar cell 36 to operate the remote control receiver 34 normally and charge the nickel cadmium battery normally. it can.

In each of the above embodiments, the present invention is applied to the BS /
Although the present invention is applied to the CS tuner and the terminal for CATV, the present invention can be applied to any electrical equipment as long as the equipment is remotely controlled such as a video tape recorder, a television receiver, and an audio component. Further, although the nickel cadmium battery was used as the secondary battery, other batteries, such as an electric double layer capacitor, may be used as long as they are rechargeable batteries, and the nickel cadmium battery may be omitted in some cases. it can. Also,
If a power switch that can be manually opened / closed is provided in parallel with the power switch 26, for example, even if the power switch 26 cannot be closed due to a failure of the solar cell 36 or the like, this electric device can be used. It can be in a usable state.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the remote control receiver is operated by the solar cell, it is necessary to supply the DC power generated based on the commercial AC power to the remote control receiver. And power saving can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electric device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the electric device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially omitted block diagram of an electric device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an electric device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example of a conventional electric device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of another example of a conventional electric device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 housing 22 AC power supply terminal 24 commercial AC power supply 26 power switch 28 DC power supply unit 30 device operation unit 34 remote control reception unit 36 solar cell 38 secondary battery 44 coaxial cable (transmission line)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A power switch means connected between an AC power supply terminal and a DC power supply section and opened and closed according to the presence or absence of a power supply control signal; a device operation section operated by a DC power supply from the DC power supply section; An electrical device comprising: a remote control receiving unit that receives a wireless control signal from the remote control unit and generates at least the power control signal; and a solar cell that supplies operating power to the remote control receiving unit. 2. The electric device according to claim 1, wherein the solar battery charges a secondary battery capable of supplying operating power to the remote control receiving unit while supplying operating power to the remote control receiving unit. Electrical equipment. 3. The electric device according to claim 1, wherein the DC power supply unit, the power switch unit, the device operation unit, and the remote control receiving unit are housed in one housing, and the solar cell is provided in the housing. An electric device having a remote control receiving unit provided outside. 4. The electrical device according to claim 1, wherein the device operation unit processes a high-frequency signal transmitted from outside via a transmission line, and the solar cell includes the high-frequency signal in the transmission line. An electric device that supplies the operating power to the remote control receiving unit in a manner superimposed on a signal.