JP2002027131A - Notification system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a notification system that can surely and selectively accept an incoming call under a certain condition while ensuring the operation of communication equipment even when the notification system is connected to the same telephone line to which the communication equipment such as a telephone set or a facsimile machine is connected so as to activate its own various functions. SOLUTION: The notification unit 10 connected to the same telephone line to which the communication equipment such as a telephone set or a facsimile machine is connected, starts a usual incoming call reception depending on the satisfaction of both the conditions that an incoming call arrives in the telephone line 20 and the telephone line 20 is interrupted after ringing is made within a prescribed number of times and the incoming call again arrives within a preset reference time after the telephone line 20 is interrupted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a notification device connected to the same telephone line together with a communication device such as a facsimile machine and a telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a notification device which is installed in a house and detects an emergency such as an illegal intruder or a fire and notifies the outside through a telephone line. 2. Description of the Related Art Various types of notification devices have been developed which detect emergency situations such as sudden changes in the state of elderly people who need nursing care and report the situation to the outside through a telephone line. Then, a user (calling side) externally makes a call to activate the monitor function of the notification device by remote control, and the state of the house, for example, the state of the generation of the sound in the house, is transmitted to the notification device. It has a function to collect sound with a microphone and monitor it via the route of the notification device → telephone line → external telephone.

[0003] As a procedure, the calling side calls the notification device from outside. Then, the notification device detects an incoming call to the telephone line to which it is connected, and when the number of ringing tones reaches a predetermined number, determines that it is being called and starts a normal incoming call operation. This receiving operation automatically connects the telephone line and the notification device. Then, on the calling side, the desired operation contents of the notification device including the password are specified by pressing the numeric keypad or the like, and are transmitted as data to the telephone line. The notification device receives and decodes data transmitted through the telephone line, and performs an operation according to the content of the data. As an example of the operation of the notification device, there is the monitor function described above.

[0004] For example, the notification device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-262126 filed by the applicant of the present invention also has this monitoring function. In the case of a notification device that detects a situation, it is possible to know the situation inside a store, business office, home, etc. (at home) at night or when absent by sound while the user is in a remote place It can deal with disaster prevention and theft. In the case of a notification device for detecting the emergency situation of a home caregiver or the elderly, a home caregiver who is supposed to be present by talking with the home caregiver, for example, by talking to the home caregiver or the like. It is possible to check at a remote place whether or not a sound that would normally be generated is heard.

[0005]

When the above-mentioned notification device is installed in a house, there is a case where a dedicated telephone line is drawn into the house and connected alone to the dedicated telephone line. Since it is troublesome and costly to draw a dedicated line, a communication device such as a telephone and / or a facsimile device is connected to a telephone line that has already been connected, and a notification device is installed together with these communication devices. In most cases. In addition, recent telephones have an answering machine function, and facsimile machines use an automatic answering function, which is used for answering, etc., and provides an answering machine after an incoming call and then automatically switches to facsimile reception. Is attached. The answering machine function of these telephones and the automatic switching function of the facsimile machine count the number of rings after receiving a call and, when the number reaches a preset number, perform an incoming call operation and connect the communication device to the telephone line. A predetermined function such as a telephone function or an automatic switching function is operated.

However, the monitoring function from the outside of the notification device also operates on the condition that the number of rings after the call reaches a preset number, as in the case of the answering machine function and the automatic switching function. For this reason, if the telephone, the facsimile machine, and the notification device are connected together on the same telephone line, only the device that has the smallest set number of rings before activation can be operated from the outside.
In other words, if you give priority to the notification device, you will not be able to use the answering machine function or facsimile device of the telephone, while if you give priority to the telephone, etc., you will be able to selectively call the notification device from the outside, perform an incoming call operation and connect to the telephone line. For example, various functions of the notification device such as a monitor function cannot be operated, which is inconvenient. Also,
In particular, when the notification device installed in the home is a notification device for a home caregiver or an elderly person, the number of times of sounding when the various functions of the notification device such as a monitor function are externally activated is determined by the number of the caregiver. And want to set as few times as possible in consideration of the elderly. Therefore, in the case of a house equipped with such a notification device, the notification device always operates in preference to other communication devices such as a telephone and a facsimile device in response to an incoming call from the outside. However, there is a problem that the telephone cannot be used, which is inconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication apparatus which is connected to the same telephone line as another communication apparatus such as a telephone or a facsimile apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide a notification device that can selectively perform an incoming call operation while ensuring operation, and can operate various functions that the terminal device itself has.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a reporting device connected to the same telephone line together with a communication device such as a facsimile device and a telephone. , Incoming to the telephone line,
Normal incoming call operation on condition that both the telephone line is disconnected immediately after ringing within a predetermined number of times and that the telephone line is disconnected and the call is received again within a preset reference time. Is started.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a notifying apparatus connected to the same telephone line together with a communication device such as a facsimile apparatus and a telephone, and detects an incoming call to the telephone line. Means, disconnection detecting means for detecting disconnection of the telephone line on the calling side, and the number of times a ringing tone sounds after the incoming call detecting means detects an incoming call until the disconnection detecting means detects the disconnection. Counting means for counting, comprising a time measuring means for measuring the elapsed time since the disconnection detection means detects the disconnection,
After detecting that the number of ringing times is within a predetermined number via the counting means, and before the elapsed time measured via the time measuring means reaches a preset reference time, the incoming call detecting means A normal incoming call operation is started on condition that an incoming call to the telephone line is detected via the terminal.

[0010] According to these, the notification device is that the telephone line is disconnected after a relatively small number of ringing tones within a predetermined number of times (for example, once or twice) in which the telephone or facsimile device does not normally operate. The notification device waits for an incoming call according to a condition (a condition that the number of temporary calls is within a predetermined number of times), and immediately after the incoming call is again received within the reference time, the normal receiving operation is immediately started. On the other hand, even if a telephone or a facsimile apparatus is connected to the same telephone line, these communication apparatuses have to secure at least four hours before a person picks up the receiver, assuming that the calling side is a telephone. In general, it is set to automatically start the incoming call operation only after detecting that the ringing tone sounds a relatively large number of times, such as five, six,... . For this reason, these communication devices
It is possible to avoid automatically starting up and shifting to the incoming call operation in the above-mentioned provisional call stage and in the stage between the subsequent incoming call and the incoming call operation of the notification device. Therefore, it is possible to selectively shift the notification device from the outside to the incoming call operation.

[0011] Further, by setting the reference time to a relatively short time (eg, several tens of seconds), a person other than the user who has tentatively made a temporary call can make an external call within the reference time. The possibility can be suppressed sufficiently low, and it is possible to effectively prevent a transition to the receiving operation of the notification device due to a call made by something other than the user. Also, if the ringing operation is performed continuously without disconnecting the telephone line halfway from the first incoming call, the answering machine function of the telephone and the automatic switching function of the facsimile apparatus can be operated. Therefore, the telephone and the facsimile can be used without any trouble. Furthermore, the provisional call is a relatively small number of predetermined times, and the notification device immediately shifts to a normal reception operation by the second reception within the reference time, so that the notification device is in a state of receiving a call. Can be reduced as much as possible.
For this reason, especially when the notification device is a notification device for a home remedy or the elderly, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the sound of the ringing sound impairs sleep and rest of the recuperator or the elderly. Also,
The time required to shift the notification device to the incoming state can be shortened, and when using various functions such as a monitor, the notification device can be started up in a short time.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of a notification device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First, the configuration of a basic part of the notification device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The various sensors 12 include, for example, a fire sensor, a gas sensor, and a so-called human body sensor (infrared passive sensor). Sound collecting microphone 14
Has a function to capture sounds around the place where the in-home notification device 10 is installed. The push button 16 is the notification device 1
0 is operated in an emergency by a person in the house where the device is installed. The speaker 18 uses a terminal such as a telephone set as the report destination 22 or an external telephone 24 such as a general telephone or a public telephone, and transmits the report device 10 via the telephone line 20.
Is reproduced and output as sound to the home.

The transmission / reception unit 26 is arranged between a control unit described later and the telephone line 20. When a call is received from the outside via the telephone line 20, data (including an AC signal serving as a ringing tone) sent in response to the call is captured and output to the control unit. Further, the data transmitted from the control unit can be transmitted to the telephone line 20. This makes it possible to externally receive the transmitted data. In addition, the telephone line 20 is controlled by an instruction from the control unit.
Has a function of setting the notification device 10 to an off-hook state or an on-hook state. In addition, it has an automatic dial function, and can automatically dial when a telephone number is input from the control unit. The memory 28 is configured using a semiconductor storage element such as a RAM,
Data writing and reading are performed by the control unit.
The control unit 30 is configured using a computer, performs a predetermined operation according to a program stored in the memory 28 in advance,
It reads abnormal information from the various sensors 12, stores the read information in the memory 28, reads out the information from the memory 28, makes the transmitting / receiving unit 26 perform an automatic dial operation, and outputs the voice input from the sound collecting microphone 14. To the telephone line 20 via the transmission / reception unit 26,
8 has a function of reading out the telephone number and the like stored in the memory 8.

With this configuration, when a detection signal is input to the control unit 30 from the sensor 12 that has detected an abnormality or the like, the control unit 30 searches the area where the telephone number is stored in the memory 28 and has a high priority. The telephone number is read out from the memory 28 in order from the telephone number of the report destination, and the calling operation of the report operation of the series of plural operations to the report destination 22 is started. When the report destination 22 does not respond, the telephone number of the report destination 22 of the next priority is read out from the memory 28 and the call is made to the report destination 22 of the telephone number (call is made). This operation is performed until one of the report destinations 22 responds. Then, when the report destination 22 goes off-hook in response to the call and the telephone line is connected, voice data such as a message stored in advance corresponding to the detected sensor 12 is transmitted to the telephone line 20.

As described above, when an abnormality or the like is detected, it is possible to automatically make a telephone call to the report destination 22, so that it is possible to know the abnormality or the like inside the house or office (inside the house) from a remote place. Become. The control unit 3 also operates when the home caregiver or the elderly in the home presses the push button 16.
If 0 detects this, the report destination 2 registered in the memory 28
Call 2 automatically and report.

Also, a telephone line 20 is connected to an external telephone 24.
, One of various functions of the notification device 10 can be selected and activated. For example, the control unit 30 detects an incoming call to the telephone line 20 via the transmitting / receiving unit 26,
If it is determined that the call is to the notification device 10 itself,
Thereafter, a normal incoming call operation is performed to connect the notification device 10 to the telephone line 20. Then, when the instruction content input via the telephone line 20 is to activate the monitor function, the sound collecting microphone 14 is operated. Thereby, the notification device 10 can take in the sound around the notification device 10 with the sound collecting microphone 14 and send it to the external telephone 24 connected via the telephone line 20 via the transmission / reception unit 26. Therefore, the inside of the house can be monitored with the external telephone 24. The above configuration is the basic configuration of the notification device 10 conventionally, and this configuration enables the notification operation to the outside as described above.
The state of the house can be monitored via.

The feature of the notification device 10 of the present embodiment is that a configuration described below is further added. Then, with the added configuration, after the notification device 10 receives a call on the telephone line 20, the telephone is immediately called only with a ringing of a predetermined number of times (set to a relatively small number of times, such as once or twice). The normal notification operation is started on condition that both the line 20 has been disconnected and that the telephone line 20 has been disconnected and the call has been received again within a preset reference time. For this reason, even when the notification device 10 is connected to the same telephone line 20 together with a communication device such as the facsimile device 40 and the telephone 42, a call is made to the home from an external telephone and the call is issued according to a predetermined procedure. By performing call, disconnection, and re-calling, only the notification device 10 selectively starts a normal reception operation, shifts to an off-hook state prior to other communication devices, and connects the external telephone 24 and the telephone line 20 to each other. It can be set to a state in which a call can be made via the terminal.

The added configuration will be described with reference to FIG. As an example, in the following configuration, the control unit 30 operates according to a predetermined program stored in the memory 28 so that the control unit 30 itself operates as these components. Naturally, it is also possible to adopt a configuration that is realized by hardware and provided in the notification device 10 separately from the control unit 30.

The incoming call detecting means 32 has a function of detecting an incoming call to the telephone line 20 to which the notification device 10 is connected.
The disconnection detecting means 34 has a function of detecting disconnection of the telephone line 20 on the calling side (external telephone 24 side), that is, detecting that the calling side has been on-hook and disconnected the telephone line 20.
The counting means 36 has a function of counting the number of ringing tones after the incoming call detecting means 32 detects the incoming call and before the disconnection detecting means 34 detects the disconnection of the telephone line 20. The time measuring unit 38 has a function of measuring an elapsed time after the disconnection detecting unit 34 detects the disconnection of the telephone line 20.

Next, the operation of the notification device 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, after the power of the notification device 10 is turned on, the control unit 30 performs various initial settings and enters a standby state (step S100). And the incoming call detecting means 32
The control unit 30 checks at any time whether there is an incoming call on the telephone line 20 (step S102). When an incoming call is detected in step S102, the number of ringing tones is counted by operating the counting means 36 (step S104).

The control unit 30 detects whether or not the telephone line 20 has been disconnected via the disconnection detecting means 34 while detecting whether or not the count value of the number of times of ringing has exceeded a predetermined number N (step S106). While detecting (step S1
08), Steps S104 to S108 are repeated. By the processing in this loop, it is possible to detect that the telephone line 20 has been disconnected before the ringing tone exceeds the predetermined number N. For example, when the predetermined number N is set to 1, it is possible to detect that the telephone line 20 has been disconnected once the number of ringing tones is once. Also, if the predetermined number N is set to 3, the telephone line 20 is set immediately after the number of ringing tones becomes one, two, or three.
Can be detected as disconnected. In particular, when the predetermined number is set to N = 1 so that a temporary call is made once, especially when the notification device is a notification device for a home remedy or the elderly, the remedy or the elderly can be used. It is possible to minimize the harm of sleep and rest by the sound of a sound, which is preferable. And
If the count value exceeds the predetermined number N in step S106, the process exits this loop and returns to the standby state of step S100.

When the disconnection of the telephone line 20 is detected in step S108, the process shifts to step S110, and the notification device 10 enters a waiting state before starting the incoming call operation.
Then, the control unit 30 starts measuring the elapsed time t after cutting through the time measuring unit 38. Then, the control unit 30 detects whether the elapsed time t has exceeded a predetermined reference time (step S112), while detecting whether there is an incoming call again on the telephone line 20 via the incoming call detecting means 32 (step S112). Step S114), Steps S110 to S
Repeat 114. By the processing in this loop, it is possible to detect that the telephone line 20 has arrived again immediately after the disconnection of the telephone line 20 and before the reference time has elapsed. This reference time is the time required for telephone 2
It is desirable to set the minimum time required to perform the operation 4. For example, a short time such as several tens of seconds (specifically, about 20 seconds). As a result, it is possible to reduce the probability that a third party will accidentally call during the reference time.

If the elapsed time t exceeds the reference time in step S112, the process exits this loop and returns to the standby state of step S100. Step S114
When the control unit 30 detects a second incoming call, the control unit 30 starts up from the standby state, shifts to a normal incoming call operation, and sets the external telephone 24
And a call can be made via the telephone line 20.

If the number of rings exceeds the predetermined number N each time in step S106 described above, the notification device 10 returns to step S100 to enter a standby state. The telephone answering function of the telephone 42 is activated or the facsimile apparatus 40 shifts to a state in which the facsimile apparatus 40 can receive a facsimile according to the number of ringing times set in advance for each of the telephone 42 and the facsimile apparatus 40 connected to the telephone. That is, the functions of the telephone 42 and the facsimile machine 40 can be used without any problem.

Once the notification device 10 performs the above-described incoming call operation, the communication between the notification device 10 and the external telephone 24 that calls the house where the notification device 10 is installed is made one-to-one via the telephone line 20 (communication). If it is possible to do so, by inputting data from the external telephone 24, the function of the notification device 10 according to the content of the data can be activated.

For example, the sound collecting microphone 14 can be operated to enable the monitoring function of the notification device 10. Similarly, it is possible to change or add the telephone number of the report destination stored in the memory 28, and to change the priority order (reporting order) of the report destination. Furthermore, when an abnormal condition occurs by operating various sensors, the warning operation of the notification device 10 that notifies a predetermined notification destination is released,
Conversely, it is also possible to shift to a warning operation.

[0027]

According to the notification device of the present invention, the notification device does not normally operate the telephone or the facsimile device.
When the telephone line is disconnected after ringing within a relatively small number of predetermined times (for example, once or twice) (so-called temporary calling is within a predetermined number of times), the notification device enters an incoming call waiting state, Only immediately after that, if there is an incoming call again within the reference time, the normal incoming call operation starts immediately. On the other hand, even if a telephone or a facsimile device is connected to the same telephone line, these communication devices must secure at least four hours before a person picks up the receiver, assuming that the calling side is a telephone. , 5, 6
In general, it is generally set to automatically start the incoming call operation only after detecting that the ringing tone sounds a relatively large number of times, such as times,. For this reason, these communication devices are not automatically activated in the above-mentioned provisional call stage and in a stage between the subsequent incoming call and the incoming call operation of the notification device, thereby eliminating the transition to the incoming call operation. Can be. Therefore, it is possible to selectively shift the notification device from the outside to the incoming call operation.

Also, by setting this reference time to a relatively short time (eg, several tens of seconds), a user other than the user who has tentatively made a temporary call from outside will make a telephone call within this reference time. The possibility can be suppressed sufficiently low, and it is possible to effectively prevent a transition to the receiving operation of the notification device due to a call made by something other than the user. Also, if the ringing operation is performed continuously without disconnecting the telephone line halfway from the first incoming call, the answering machine function of the telephone and the automatic switching function of the facsimile apparatus can be operated. Therefore, the telephone and the facsimile can be used without any trouble. Furthermore, the provisional call is a relatively small number of predetermined times, and the notification device immediately shifts to a normal reception operation by the second reception within the reference time, so that the notification device is in a state of receiving a call. Can be reduced as much as possible.
For this reason, especially when the notification device is a notification device for a home remedy or the elderly, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the sound of the ringing sound impairs sleep and rest of the recuperator or the elderly. Also,
The time required to shift the notification device to the incoming state can be shortened, and when various functions such as a monitor are used, the notification device can be started up in a short time. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of a notification device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the notification device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Notification apparatus 20 Telephone line 32 Incoming detection means 34 Disconnection detection means 36 Counting means 38 Time measuring means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A notifying device connected to the same telephone line together with a communication device such as a facsimile machine or a telephone, wherein the telephone line is disconnected immediately after receiving a call on the telephone line and ringing within a predetermined number of times. A notifying apparatus characterized by starting a normal incoming call operation on condition that both the incoming call is re-established within a preset reference time after the disconnection of the telephone line. 2. A notifying device connected to the same telephone line together with a communication device such as a facsimile machine or a telephone, an incoming call detecting means for detecting an incoming call to the telephone line, and a disconnection of the telephone line on a calling side. A disconnection detecting means for detecting the incoming call, a counting means for counting the number of ringing tones until the disconnection detecting means detects the disconnection after the incoming call detecting means detects the incoming call, and the disconnection detecting means comprises: Time measuring means for measuring an elapsed time from the detection of disconnection, and after detecting that the number of sounds is within a predetermined number of times through the counting means, measuring through the time measuring means Starting a normal incoming call operation on condition that an incoming call to the telephone line is detected via the incoming call detecting means before the elapsed time reaches a preset reference time. Reporting device according to claim.