JP2002006069A - Clock with acoustic output function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clock with acoustic output functions that can freely change a melody being outputted at the appointed time and restrains the cost increase in a body. SOLUTION: In an alarm clock 1, a storage medium 10 for storing a melody as acoustic data is fitted to a body 1. Also, when time being clocked by a clocking part 3 reaches a pre-appointed time, acoustic data stored in the storage medium 10 is read and reproduced. Therefore, by changing the acoustic data stored in the storage medium 10, the melody being outputted from a device body can be changed, thus fully satisfying a user without causing the user to get bored. Also, the need for storing large-capacity acoustic data such as the melody in the body is eliminated, thus preventing the costs of the device body from increasing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a timepiece having an audio output function for outputting an electronic sound, a melody, or the like at a predetermined time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a clock with an audio output function that outputs a bell sound at a predetermined time, a so-called alarm clock. On the other hand, since the bell sound is a monotonous sound, an alarm clock that outputs a melody (music) has recently been proposed.

[0003] However, the conventional apparatus stores the melody acoustic data in a ROM provided in the main body. Therefore, the melody that can be output from the apparatus main body is limited to the melody in which the acoustic data is stored in the ROM provided in the main body. On the other hand, a melody is more tired when repeatedly heard than a monotonous sound such as a bell sound, so that the user cannot be sufficiently satisfied.

Therefore, the sound data of 32 music pieces are stored in the ROM of the main body, and an alarm clock (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-90991) for reproducing the sound data of the music piece selected from them is attached to the main body. A memory for storing acoustic data read from a read ROM card, and an alarm clock for reproducing the acoustic data stored in the memory (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-27)
No. 057) has been proposed.

[0005]

However, in the above-described apparatus, the number of melody songs stored in the ROM of the main unit is merely increased, and the period during which the user can be satisfied can be extended. Was not something to satisfy.

On the other hand, even if the above-mentioned device is tired of the melody in which the sound data is stored in the memory of the main body, the sound data of another melody can be stored in the memory using the ROM card. As described above, since the sound data (melody) reproduced in the apparatus main body can be freely changed by using the ROM card, the user does not have to keep listening to the melody that he / she is tired of forever. Therefore, the user was sufficiently satisfied.

[0007] However, since a memory for storing high-capacity acoustic data read from a ROM card is required in the apparatus main body, there is a problem that the cost of the main body increases.

An object of the present invention is to provide a timepiece with an audio output function that can freely change the melody output at a designated time and suppresses an increase in the cost of the main body.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems A timepiece with an acoustic output function according to the present invention has the following arrangement to solve the above-mentioned problems.

(1) Clocking means for measuring the time, sound data reading means for reading sound data stored in a storage medium mounted on the main body of the apparatus, and sound data reading means when a predetermined time is reached. Output means for reproducing data;
It has.

(2) There is provided storage means for storing acoustic data, wherein the output means stores the storage medium in the storage means at a predetermined time unless the storage medium is mounted in the apparatus main body. The sound data that is being played is reproduced.

(3) There is provided switching means for switching the setting as to whether or not the output means is enabled. If the storage medium is mounted in the apparatus main body, the output means is switched regardless of the setting by the switching means. To enable.

(4) There is provided control means for instructing the conversion level of the sound data in the output means.

(5) The output means includes: first reproduction means for reproducing sound data stored in the storage medium;
A second reproducing unit for reproducing the sound data stored in the storage unit.

In the configuration (1), the time is measured by the time measuring means, and when the time measured by the time measuring means reaches a preset time, the acoustic data reading means is output by the output means. The reproduction of the acoustic data read from the storage medium mounted on the device is performed.

Therefore, by changing the sound data stored in the storage medium mounted on the main body of the apparatus, the sound data reproduced in the main body can be changed. Is also good. In addition, since a memory for storing high-capacity acoustic data is not required in the apparatus main body, cost increase of the main body can be prevented.

In the configuration of (2), the sound data stored in the storage means provided in the main body is reproduced unless the storage medium is mounted in the main body of the apparatus.

The storage means provided in the main body stores relatively low-capacity acoustic data, for example, a bell sound, so that the apparatus main body is provided with a memory for storing high-capacity acoustic data. It is not necessary.

In the above configuration (3), when a storage medium is mounted on the apparatus main body, the output unit is enabled regardless of the setting state of the switching unit. Therefore, when the storage medium is mounted, the operation for enabling the output unit becomes unnecessary, and the user is not required to perform a complicated operation.
Usability of the main body can be improved.

In the above configurations (4) and (5), the conversion level is adjusted according to the sound data stored in the storage means or the storage medium. Therefore, unnecessary power consumption in reproducing the sound data can be eliminated, and the running cost can be suppressed.

[0021]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of an alarm clock according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the alarm clock. The alarm clock 1 of this embodiment includes a control unit 2 that controls the operation of the main body,
A clock section 3 for measuring the current time; a display section 4 for displaying the current time being measured by the clock section 3; keys (not shown) operated when inputting and setting an alarm time; An input unit 5 having an alarm SW 5a for switching, a storage unit 6 storing sound data of a bell sound, and an interface unit 7 (hereinafter, I / F) to which a storage medium 10 storing sound data such as a melody are connected. And an output unit 8 that reproduces the sound data stored in the storage unit 6 or the storage medium 10.

When the main body 1 is in an alarm-on state (a state in which sound data is output when an alarm time comes), a bell mark is displayed on the display unit 5 as shown in FIG. (The state in which no sound data is output even when the condition is reached), the bell mark is not displayed. Therefore, whether the main body is in the alarm on state or the alarm off state can be easily recognized by checking whether the bell mark is displayed on the display unit 5. Switching between the alarm on state and the alarm off state can be performed by the alarm SW 5a.

The display unit 4 displays not only the time measured by the clock unit 3 but also the set alarm time. Further, a window 9 is provided on the front of the main body 1 so that it can be easily checked whether or not the storage medium 10 is mounted on the main body 1. Storage medium 10 mounted on main body 1
Can be seen from this window 9. The eject switch 7a is a switch that is pressed to remove the storage medium 10 mounted on the apparatus main body. When the eject switch 7a is depressed, the storage medium 10 mounted on the main body 1 is pushed upward to release the mounted state of the storage medium 10 with respect to the main body 1.

In the storage medium 10, MP3 (MPEG1
High-quality sound data compressed by Audio Layer-3) is stored. Recently, sound data compressed by MP3 can be easily downloaded from a music distribution site or the like on the Internet, so that sound data stored in the storage medium 10 can be easily changed. As a storage medium for storing such high-quality sound data,
There are media cards and memory sticks. On the other hand, the storage unit 6 stores sound data of a bell sound. The acoustic data stored in the storage unit 6 is also compressed by MP3, but has relatively low sound quality.

The output unit 8 includes a decoder 11 for returning (decompressing) the compressed audio data to the original data as shown in FIG. 3, and a DAC 12 for converting the audio data decompressed by the decoder 11 into an analog signal. , And an amplifier 13 that outputs an analog signal converted by the DAC 12 as sound. The sound data compressed by MP3 is
A sampling rate and the like are recorded in the header.
The control unit 2 controls the decoder 1 according to the sound data to be reproduced.
1 and a function of instructing the DAC 12 of the conversion level.

Hereinafter, the operation of the alarm clock 1 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the alarm clock of this embodiment. The alarm clock 1 performs a timing process for measuring the time,
It waits until the time measured in (1) becomes a preset alarm time (s1, s2). An arbitrary time can be set as the alarm time in the input unit 5. Alarm clock 1
When the time measured by the clock unit 3 reaches a preset alarm time, it is determined whether the storage medium 10 is mounted on the apparatus main body via the I / F unit 7 (s
3). When the storage medium 10 is mounted on the apparatus main body, the alarm clock 1 executes the reproduction of the sound data compressed by the MP3 stored in the storage medium 10 (s4).

Here, reproduction of acoustic data stored in the storage medium 10 will be described. The control unit 2 determines the sampling rate and the like of the audio data from the header of the audio data stored in the storage medium 10 and
1 and the conversion level to the DAC 12. Control unit 2
The decoder 11 decompresses the sound data read from the storage medium 10 based on the conversion level indicated by
The AC 12 converts the decompressed data into an analog signal. The analog signal converted by the DAC 12 is output from the amplifier 13.

On the other hand, if the storage medium 10 is not mounted on the main body 1, it is determined by the alarm SW 5a whether the main body 1 is set to the alarm on state (s).
5). If the main body 1 is not set to the alarm-on state, the process returns to s1 to repeat the above processing. That is,
The storage medium 10 is not mounted on the main body 1 and the main body 1
If the alarm time is off, the sound data stored in the storage unit 6 is not reproduced even if the time measured by the timer unit 3 reaches a preset alarm time.

When the main unit 1 is set to the alarm-on state, the control unit 2 transmits the MP3 stored in the storage unit 6.
The reproduction of the sound data of the bell sound compressed in step (1) is executed. As described above, since the sound data stored in the storage unit 3 is data of low sound quality, the conversion level instructed by the control unit 2 to the decoder 11 and the DAC 12 is relatively low. Therefore, the power consumption for reproducing the sound data stored in the storage unit 6 is reduced, so that the running cost is reduced.

As described above, in the alarm clock 1 of this embodiment, the melody output from the output unit 8 can be changed by changing the sound data stored in the storage medium 10 mounted on the main body 1. Therefore, the user does not have to keep listening to the melody that he or she gets tired of. Therefore, the user was sufficiently satisfied. Further, since a high-capacity memory is not required for the main body 1, an increase in the cost of the apparatus main body can be prevented.

If the storage medium 10 is mounted,
When the preset alarm time comes, regardless of whether the main body 1 is set to the alarm-on state, the reproduction of the sound data stored in the attached storage medium 10 is executed. Therefore, when the storage medium 10 is mounted on the main body 1, the operation of switching the main body 1 to the alarm-on state by operating the alarm SW 5a does not have to be performed, so that the operability of the main body 1 can be improved.

Further, since the sound data of the bell sound stored in the storage unit 3 is of low sound quality, power consumption during reproduction of the sound data stored in the storage unit 3 can be suppressed. Since the bell sound is a monotonous sound, there is no particular problem even if the sound data has low sound quality.

Further, the output section 8 may be configured as shown in FIG. In this configuration, the audio data read from the storage medium 10 is reproduced by the decoder 11, the DAC 12, and the amplifier 13 that function in the same manner as in the above embodiment. Further, the control unit 2 instructs the decoder 11 and the DAC 12 on the conversion level.

On the other hand, the audio data stored in the storage section 6 is output by the decoder 16, DAC 17 and amplifier 13. The conversion level and the like of the decoder 16 and the DAC 17 are fixed based on the acoustic data stored in the storage unit 6. Therefore, the acoustic data stored in the storage unit 6 and the acoustic data stored in the storage medium 10 need not be compressed by the same compression method.

It is needless to say that, even if the output section 8 is configured as shown in FIG.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, the melody output at the time designated in advance can be easily changed, so that the user can be sufficiently satisfied without getting bored. Further, since a memory for storing a large volume of acoustic data such as a melody is not required in the main body, an increase in the cost of the main body of the apparatus can be prevented.

If a storage medium is mounted on the main body, the sound data stored in the mounted storage medium is reproduced at a preset alarm time. When is mounted on the main body, the operation of switching the main body to the alarm-on state does not need to be performed, so that the operability is also improved.

Further, since the conversion level is adjusted according to the audio data to be reproduced, power consumption can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an alarm clock according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an alarm clock according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an output unit of the alarm clock according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the alarm clock according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an output unit of an alarm clock according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-Alarm clock 2-Control unit 3-Timekeeping unit 4-Display unit 5-Input unit 6-Storage unit 7-Interface unit (I / F unit) 8-Output unit 10-Storage medium 11, 16-Decoder 12,17 -DAC 13-Amplifier

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A time measuring means for measuring time, an acoustic data reading means for reading acoustic data stored in a storage medium mounted on an apparatus main body, and an apparatus main body when a predetermined time is reached. Output means for reproducing the audio data read from the storage medium mounted on the storage medium. 2. A storage means for storing acoustic data, wherein said output means is stored in said storage means when a predetermined time is reached and said storage medium is not mounted on the apparatus main body. The timepiece with the sound output function according to claim 1, wherein the timepiece reproduces the sound data. 3. A switching means for switching a setting as to whether or not to enable the output means, wherein the output means is enabled regardless of a setting state by the switching means when the storage medium is mounted on the apparatus main body. The timepiece with an acoustic output function according to claim 2. 4. The timepiece with an acoustic output function according to claim 1, further comprising control means for instructing a conversion level of acoustic data in said output means. 5. An output device comprising: a first playback device for playing back audio data stored in the storage medium; a second playback device for playing back audio data stored in the storage device; The timepiece with an acoustic output function according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising: