JP2002144984A - On-vehicle electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow specific servicemen solely to simply acquire the operation history data while information leak to a third person is precluded. SOLUTION: The operation history data of a car audio device 10 is stored in a non-volatile memory 22, and in case the device is in failure, the serviceman presses the specified button(s), and a CPU 19 modulates the operation history data stored in the memory 22 using a modulator part 23 on the basis of the irAD communication system and emits to outside the device from LED 24a of an indicator lamp 24, and the modulated light is received by a signal receiving device 25 of a notebook type personal computer, etc., which the serviceman has brought so that the original operation history data is taken out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-vehicle electronic device capable of notifying an outside of an operating condition from the past to the present when repairing an audio device, a video device and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional on-vehicle audio equipment and video equipment are made stronger than ordinary household equipment because the vibration of the vehicle body is directly applied to the equipment. May be required. When repairing,
First, the cause of the failure must be determined. In particular, a changer such as a CD or DVD has many operation modes, and when a failure occurs, it is important to know in which operation mode the failure occurred when analyzing the failure at a later date. A clue. Conventionally, if a changer device or the like breaks down, there is no special means of recording the occurrence status, and a service technician at the site will use a questionnaire to investigate the usage status, and if an electronic device in an abnormal state is They had to bring them back and re-activate them, and reproduced the failure to determine the cause of the failure.

[0003]

However, when an electronic device such as a CD changer is removed from a vehicle, all the power is turned off, so that the microcomputer in the electronic device is reset, and the failure may not be reproduced. Was.
In addition, when a failure occurs, even if it has special means for analyzing the cause, for example, means for accumulating operation history data, there is a problem of information leakage to a third party. Without this, the stored information cannot be taken out. For this reason, even if it has the operation history data storage means, after all, the electronic device was removed from the vehicle, brought into the service station, the stored data was extracted, and the failure analysis was performed to determine the cause.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems. When a failure or abnormal state occurs, the failure state can be saved without removing the vehicle-mounted electronic device from the vehicle. It is another object of the present invention to provide an in-vehicle electronic device in which only a specific service person can easily obtain operation history data without leaking the operation history data to a third party.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicular electronic apparatus according to the present invention comprises an operation input unit having a plurality of operation buttons, a light emitting unit, and a specific operation button in the operation input unit. Input determination means for detecting that the operation has been performed, storage means for storing an operation history of the device, modulation means for modulating light emitted from the light emitting unit based on the operation history data stored in the storage means, And control means for controlling the modulation means to emit the modulated light from the light emitting unit to the outside of the device when a specific operation button is operated. With this configuration, when a failure or abnormal condition occurs, only a specific service person can easily acquire the vehicle-mounted electronic device without removing the electronic device from the vehicle and without leaking the operation history data to a third party. Become.

Further, the electronic device for a vehicle according to the present invention is characterized in that the modulating means modulates the intensity, wavelength or phase of light, and modulates light using a general-purpose technique. it can.

In the electronic device for a vehicle according to the present invention, the modulating means is a display control means of the electronic device for a vehicle, and a lamp or the like of a display unit is also used as a light emitting unit. It can be.

Further, the vehicle electronic device of the present invention is characterized in that the light emitting section for emitting the modulated light is provided in association with the operation button, and that the operation button is selected. By using the indicated indicator lamp as a signal light emitting unit, a dedicated light emitting unit can be dispensed with.

In the electronic device for a vehicle according to the present invention, the light emitting portion for emitting the modulated light is an LED, and the light emitting portion determines the operating state of the modulated light emitting portion and the operation button. The indicator lamp shown can also be used.

Further, in the electronic device for a vehicle according to the present invention, the modulating means uses the irDA communication method, and the operation history data is reliably transmitted using a versatile communication technology. Can be.

The present invention is also a receiving device for demodulating light modulated from the above-mentioned on-vehicle electronic device, and by using a receiving device different from the on-vehicle electronic device, failures and abnormal states can be prevented. When this occurs, only a specific service person can easily acquire the vehicle-mounted electronic device without removing it from the vehicle and without leaking the operation history data to a third party.

The present invention also relates to a method of repairing an on-vehicle electronic device using the above-described on-vehicle electronic device and a receiving device, the method for repairing the on-vehicle electronic device. Only a specific service person can easily and quickly acquire the electronic device without removing the electronic device from the vehicle and without leaking the operation history data to a third party.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows an appearance of a front panel of a car audio apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A front panel 1 includes a liquid crystal display unit 2 for displaying information on a reception frequency and a CD and an operation status, a cassette insertion slot 3 for inserting a cassette tape, an operation dial 4 for volume adjustment and the like,
A mode button 5 for switching between a CD changer, a cassette player, and a radio, an FM / AM button 6 for switching between FM broadcast and AM broadcast, and various operation buttons 7 are provided. The mode button 5, the FM / AM button 6, and the operation button 7 are provided with an indicator lamp 8 indicating that the button is selected. The liquid crystal display unit 2, the mode button 5, the FM / AM button 6, and the operation button 7 are illuminated at night with numbers or characters using LEDs (light emitting diodes) or light bulbs. The indicator lamp 8 is set to be bright during the day and dark at night during the day and night in consideration of its visibility. Further, when a CD changer is selected by the mode button 5, the presence or absence of a disc in the CD changer can be displayed by the indicator lamp 8, and in this case, the emission color is changed depending on the number of the disks. For example, when the first disc is present in the changer, the indicator lamp 8a of the operation button 7a is illuminated in green, and when the second disc is not present, the indicator lamp 8b of the operation button 7b is lit in orange. Indicator lamp 8a of operation button 7a
The device also functions as a light emitting unit for transmitting operation history data to the outside of the device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the car audio device according to the first embodiment. The car audio device 10 includes a CD changer 11 that can store six CDs and reproduce one by one, a cassette player 12,
The audio signal output from each of the radio receiving circuits 13 is adjusted in volume by an electronic volume 14, amplified by an audio amplifier 15, and output from a vehicle speaker 16. The operation input unit 17 corresponds to the front panel 1 described above, and determines which button has been operated by the input determination unit 1.
8 to determine, for example, whether the CD changer 11, the cassette player 12, or the radio receiving circuit 13 has been selected by the mode button 5, and based on the result, the CPU 19 CD changer 11, cassette player 12, radio receiving circuit 1
3. Control the electronic volume 14 and the like. In the present embodiment, the input determination unit 18 is configured by a resistance matrix circuit, but may be configured by other means. The CPU 19 also operates the CD changer 11 by pressing the mode button 5, for example.
Is selected, a signal for displaying the disc number, the track number, the playing time, and the like is sent to the display control unit 20, and the display control unit 20 converts the signal into character data and displays it on the liquid crystal display 21. The display section of the liquid crystal display 21 corresponds to the liquid crystal display section 2 of FIG. The CPU 19 also determines what kind of signal has been input from the input determination unit 18, and determines whether the CD changer 11, the cassette player 12,
Operation history data indicating what signals are output to the radio receiving circuit 13, the electronic volume control 14, and the display control unit 20 are stored in the nonvolatile memory 22, and the operation history data stored in the nonvolatile memory 22 is stored in the nonvolatile memory 22. Based on this, the light of the indicator lamp 24 is modulated by the modulator 23. The indicator lamp 24 includes an LED 24a, and corresponds to the above-described indicator lamp 8a.

Next, in the first embodiment, for example, C
The operation when the D changer 11 has failed will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the CPU 19
The command transmitted to the D changer 19, the designated music number, the designated disk, the message returned from the CD changer 11, and the like are stored in the nonvolatile memory 22 each time. When the service center is informed that the CD changer has failed, the service center dispatches a serviceman to send the CD
The inspection of the audio device 10 equipped with the changer 11 is started. First, in step S1, the serviceman turns on the data transmission mode by operating a hidden key.
The hidden key operation is, for example, the operation button 7a of FIG.
Pressing the button 6a and the mode button 5 simultaneously for 3 seconds or more. When the input determination unit 18 detects that the operation button 7a, the FM button 6a, and the mode button 5 are simultaneously pressed for three seconds or more, it sends a signal to the CPU 19 to turn on the transmission mode. Upon receiving this signal, the CPU 19
In step S2, it waits for a specific key input A, for example, the operation button 7a to be pressed, and if pressed, sends the operation history data stored in the nonvolatile memory 22 to the modulation unit 23 in step S3. At the same time, it instructs the modulation unit 23 to modulate the light of the indicator lamp 24 based on the operation history data of the nonvolatile memory 22. When the light modulation method used in the irDA communication method is used as the modulation method at this time, the light emission intensity of the LED 24a is modulated, and more preferably, the same data is transmitted three times to ensure transmission. The modulated light emitted from the LED 24a is transmitted to the signal receiving device 25 brought by the serviceman.
Light receiving element (phototransistor) 2 of light receiving section 26
After being received by 6a, converted into an electric signal and amplified, the signal is demodulated by a demodulation unit 27, and the original operation history data is extracted by a signal processing unit 28. IrDA as the modulation method
In the case of using the communication method, the light receiving device corresponding to the wavelength of the LED 24a is used directly for the portable personal computer or the notebook personal computer having the irDA communication means without preparing the special signal receiving device 25, so that the LED 24a can be directly transmitted from the LED 24a. Can be received and demodulated. The CPU 19 monitors in step S4 whether or not all of the operation history data has been transmitted. After all of the data has been transmitted, the process proceeds to step S5.
To monitor whether a specific key input, for example, the operation button 7b has been pressed, and if pressed, turns off the data transmission mode in step S6.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the operation history data of the car audio device 10 is stored in the non-volatile memory 22, and when the device is broken down, the serviceman performs a predetermined button operation. By doing, CPU1
9 modulates the operation history data stored in the non-volatile memory 22 based on the irAD method by the modulating unit 23, emits the modulated light from the LED 24a of the indicator lamp 24 to the outside of the device, and brings the modulated light to the serviceman. Since the original operation history data is received by the signal receiving device 25 and the original operation history data is taken out, information leakage to a third party is prevented without removing the device from the vehicle, and only a specific service person acquires the operation history data. can do. When a notebook computer is used as the signal receiving device 25, the signal receiving device 25 can be changed only by changing the software of the notebook computer.
Can be configured. Further, since the light receiving element 26a of the light receiving section 26 has light sensitivity in a wide wavelength region as described above, a signal can be received by the red LED by appropriately selecting an optical filter for preventing external light.
Further, the modulation unit 23 provided in the car audio device 10 includes:
If the same control unit as the display control unit 20 is used, a car audio device having the above functions can be realized without newly installing a special block as a whole device.

(Embodiment 2) Next, as Embodiment 2 of the present invention, an example in which an operation history is transmitted to the outside by using a modulation method based on the wavelength of light is shown in FIG. In this case, the main configuration is the same as in FIG. In FIG. 4, indicator 2
4 uses two LEDs 24b and 24c.
Here, the LED 24b is a green LED and the LED 24c
Is a red LED. In normal operation, the LED
24b and 24c indicate the presence or absence of a disk. For example, if the display of the button "1" is lit in red by the LED 24c, it indicates that there is no disk in the disk storage location corresponding to "1", and the illumination of the button "2" is LED2.
If it is lit green by 4b, it indicates that there is a disk in the disk storage location corresponding to "2". This 2
The wavelength of the two LEDs is 555 nm for the green LED 24b.
And the red LED 24c has a wavelength of 700 nm. On the other hand, the light receiving section 26 of the signal receiving device 25 has two light receiving elements 2
6b and 26c. The phototransistor constituting the light receiving element has a spectral sensitivity of 500 nm to 100
Because it is as wide as 0 nm, 555 nm is provided before the light receiving element 26b.
A filter 29b that easily transmits light and a filter 29c that easily transmits 700 nm light are provided in front of the light receiving element 26c. As a transmission procedure, a signal obtained by modulating the “high level” of the output of the control unit 23 as 24b light emission and the “low level” as 24c light emission is transmitted. With such a configuration, since the “high level” and the “low level” can be confirmed by respective light emission, it is possible to reduce the influence of disturbance such as external light.

(Embodiment 3) Next, Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
An example in which the operation history is transmitted to the outside using a modulation method based on the phase of light will be described with reference to FIG. Also in this case, the main configuration is the same as that of FIG. In FIG. 5, LE
D24d is an LED that emits a signal serving as a phase reference. The light receiving section 26 has two light receiving elements 26a and 26d as shown in FIG.
b, 29c. Two LEDs 24a, 24
d corresponds to the indicators 8a and 8b of the operation button 7a and the operation button 7b, respectively. As shown in FIG. 6, the light receiving unit 26 is applied to the two operation buttons 7 a and 7 b, and a light receiving element is disposed at a position corresponding to the position of each of the indicators 8 a and 8 b. Have The LED 24d serving as a reference for the phase is located on the back of the indicator 8b and blinks at a predetermined interval by a constant clock signal. The other LED 24a is located on the back of the indicator 8a and has a phase modulated by the phase information with respect to the LED 24d. Flashes. Signal receiving device 25
Then, the demodulation unit 27 demodulates the light into a predetermined signal based on the phases of the two lights received by the light receiving unit 26. In this case LED
When the modulator 23 transmits a signal in a device having the same configuration as that of FIG. 2 without using the 24d, it is also possible to generate a synchronization signal in advance, blink the LED 24a, and then transmit a phase-modulated signal. It is possible. Further, a synchronization signal common to both the car audio device 10 and the signal receiving device 25 may be provided by crystal oscillation or the like, and information may be modulated and demodulated by a phase difference from the synchronization signal. Further, phase information can be obtained by the LEDs having different wavelengths shown in FIG.

In each of the above embodiments, the light emitting portion for emitting the modulated light and the indicator lamp for indicating the operation state of the operation button are used. However, the light emitting portion for emitting the modulated light may be provided independently. Good. When the light emitting unit that emits the modulated light is provided independently, the light from this light emitting unit does not need to be visible light, so that light outside the visible region can be used. In addition, the light emitting unit that emits the modulated light and the lamp that illuminates each unit of the operation unit may be used in common. Further, in the above embodiment, the car audio device is taken as an example of the in-vehicle electronic device, but another audio device or video display device may be used.

[0020]

As described above, the present invention provides an operation input unit having a plurality of operation buttons, a light emitting unit, an input determination unit for detecting an operation of a specific operation button on the operation input unit, and an apparatus. Storage means for storing an operation history of the light-emitting device, modulation means for modulating light emitted from the light-emitting unit based on the operation history data stored in the storage means, and modulation means when the specific operation button is operated. Control means for controlling the light emission of the modulated light from the light emitting unit to the outside of the apparatus, so that information leakage to a third party is prevented, and only a specific service person easily obtains operation history data. This allows quick and accurate failure diagnosis.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the appearance of a front panel of a car audio device according to each embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the car audio device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation history transmission process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a car audio device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a car audio device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Front panel 2 Liquid crystal display part 3 Cassette insertion slot 4 Operation dial 5 Mode button 6 FM / AM button 7 Operation button 8 Indicator lamp 10 Car audio device 11 CD changer 12 Cassette player 13 Radio reception circuit 14 Electronic volume 15 Audio amplifier 16 Vehicle Speaker 17 Operation input unit 18 Input determination unit 19 CPU 20 Display control unit 21 Liquid crystal display 22 Non-volatile memory 23 Modulation unit 24 Indicator lamp 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d LED 25 Signal receiving device 26 Light receiving unit 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d Light receiving element 27 Demodulation unit 28 Signal processing unit 29 Filter

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An operation input unit having a plurality of operation buttons, a light emitting unit, an input determination unit for detecting that a specific operation button in the operation input unit has been operated, and a storage for storing an operation history of the apparatus. Means, modulating means for modulating light emitted from the light emitting section based on operation history data stored in the storage means, and controlling the modulating means when the specific operation button is operated to control the light emitting section. Control device for emitting modulated light from the outside of the device. 2. The on-vehicle electronic device according to claim 1, wherein said modulating means modulates the intensity, wavelength, or phase of light. 3. The in-vehicle electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the modulation unit is a display control unit of the in-vehicle electronic device. 4. A light emitting unit for emitting said modulated light is provided in connection with an operation button.
4. The in-vehicle electronic device according to any one of items 1 to 3. 5. The in-vehicle electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit that emits the modulated light is an LED. 6. The in-vehicle electronic device according to claim 1, wherein said modulating means uses an irDA communication method. 7. A receiving apparatus for demodulating modulated light from the on-vehicle electronic device according to claim 1. Description: 8. A method for repairing an on-vehicle electronic device using the on-vehicle electronic device according to claim 1 and the receiving device according to claim 7.