JP2003202877A - Alarm device of electric equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an alarm device generating an alarm tone that a person can easily discriminate and recognize even when hearing it for the 1st time as to a plurality of kinds of alarm tones common to electric equipment. <P>SOLUTION: Alarm tones of the alarm device of the electric equipment are symbolized alarm tones that a person recognize in common through learning in daily life, clearly classified in terms of daily concepts, and divided into kinds to which nearly all of operations and states of the electric equipment belong, and classified into an operation tone, an adjustment tone, a start tone, a cancel tone, an operation end tone, an alarm tone, and a notice tone. Those alarm tones are meant by adding scales, rhythms, and intonations that people have in common according to the functions and meanings of the alarm tones. Further, proper reverberations are added to the alarm tones and so synthesized as to form a chord including a plurality of frequencies or include a sound of ≤1.5 kHz in frequency for an aged person who is hard of hearing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a notification device for an electric device for confirming a switch input operation of an electric device for general industrial use, household use, etc.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a switch input operation of a general electric device is accepted, or when an operating state of the electric device is displayed or notified, a notification device incorporated in the electric device provides a notification specific to the switch input or the operating condition. Sounds, alarms, and voices are generated so that the operator and others around him can hear them.

[0003] For example, as a conventional technique for generating a notification sound for confirmation in response to a switch input operation, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 61559, when one switch physically has two operation modes according to the set operation mode, when the switch is pressed, an operation sound of a different tone color is generated according to each operation mode. There is,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 86736, when a user selects and operates the temperature of hot water in a bathtub, the user's hearing aid determines whether or not there is an erroneous operation on the operation unit by uttering a voice signal of a different scale for each temperature. In addition, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-318290, a different confirmation sound is generated by changing the frequency or the number of occurrences according to the operating state of the switch of the electric device. There is a device that makes a voice so that the operation state of the switch can be reliably determined.

Further, for example, as a conventional technique for notifying or warning the operating state of an electric device, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-18 is known.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 7979, there is a refrigerator door opening warning device that outputs a large volume or high-pitched opening warning sound when the opening elapsed time is long compared to when the opening elapsed time is short. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-146218, when a kettle is boiled, a melody of music of a sufficient volume above the boiling sound is generated, and it is disclosed in JP-A-62-53618.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 188023, there is one that emits a melody sound when a temperature sensor of a boiling device senses 85 ° C. or higher and another melody sound when it senses 110 ° C. or higher.
As described in Japanese Patent Publication, changing physical quantities are measured and pronounced,
There is an alarm device for playing and displaying.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 6, a vacuum cleaner equipped with a dust sensor detects the amount of dust and if the amount of dust is less than a predetermined amount, it is considered that the cleaning condition of the floor surface has improved, and a voice utterance is driven to "clean up". There is a voice that says, "
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-207393, there is an electric washing machine that sounds a dismal melody in a minor tone when its operation is abnormal.

Further, there is one that optimizes the sounding condition of the notification device in accordance with the surrounding environment where the electric equipment is placed and the operator. For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-338420, the audible area is narrowed. People can select a range that is easy to identify, and the basic frequency is divided by a frequency divider so that it can be heard easily by elderly people who have difficulty hearing the high range. There is an electric cooker equipped with an informing device that changes the rhythm of the informing sound so as not to be confused with the informing sound of the electric device of FIG. 1 or detects the ambient sound and changes the sound pressure of the sounding body according to the ambient sound. As described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-204387, when environmental information such as ambient noise level, humidity, temperature, and brightness is regularly input, music adjustment, timbre adjustment, volume adjustment, tempo adjustment, reverberation adjustment suitable for the environmental information are performed. Do multiple speakers, etc. There is also an acoustic device for generating sound from.

[0006]

In the conventional example, there are some devices which individually generate a confirmation sound, a warning sound, and a melody that correspond to each electric device, but many electric devices have them. Regarding the confirmation of the operation and the plurality of series of notifications of the state, which are common functions, there is no notification device that generates a notification sound that allows each person to distinguish and recognize each of them easily.

Moreover, even when the generated sound is in the low frequency range so that it can be easily heard by the elderly, when a plurality of generations live together by simply dividing the fundamental frequency, when they feel discomfort with each other. There is.

Further, in a sound generator capable of adjusting the volume, pitch, tempo, reverberation, etc. of the generated sound, the volume of a specific song adjusted according to the surrounding environment is reduced if the noise is small according to the ambient noise level. It deepens the reverberation of the entire song to make it gentle, and increases the volume if the noise is loud to reduce the reverberation of the entire song to produce a crisp and easily audible sound. is not.

Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to surely recognize which operation confirmation sound or what state the confirmation sound of a series of a plurality of notification sounds for confirming the operation and notifying the state common to electric equipment. At the same time, it is an object of the present invention to provide an informing device for an electric device that can generate a high-quality informing sound that is kind to humans.

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention as set forth in claim 1, is a notification device for an electric device utilizing human hearing,
It generates a short and symbolized notification sound composed of a plurality of clear and simple sound elements or a combination of the sound elements for recognizing a common concept.

In addition to the invention described in claim 1, the invention described in claim 2 has at least an operation sound, an adjustment sound, and
A plurality of types of notification sounds including a warning sound are distinguished and notified.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is the same as claim 1.
Alternatively, in addition to the invention according to claim 2, the notification sound has a scale.

The invention according to claim 4 is based on claim 1.
Alternatively, in addition to the invention according to claim 2 or claim 3, the notification sound has a rhythm.

In addition to the invention according to claim 2, the invention according to claim 5 is such that the length of the operation sound is 0.45 seconds to 0.65 seconds, and the same warning sound is repeatedly generated. The period of the combination of sounds is set to 0.3 to 0.4 seconds.

The invention according to claim 6 is the same as claim 1.
In addition to the described invention, the notification sound includes a low frequency sound of 1.5 kHz or less.

Further, the operation sound is an operation sound emitted for confirmation of an operation when an operation input for operating an electric device is received and accepted by the electric device, and an output of the electric device is adjusted. The control sound that is emitted, the start sound that is emitted when the operation of an electric device or a specific operation is started, and the stop sound or the cancellation sound that is emitted when the electric device is paused or cancels the setting conditions during operation or operation. , Driving end sound that is emitted when driving ends or a specific operation ends, warning sound that is emitted when the operating status is abnormal or malfunction, and various guidance that accompanies the use of electrical equipment And other information may be classified as a notification sound for notifying the user.

A scale may be added to the notification sound or an intonation may be added to the notification sound so that the notification sound can be clearly distinguished and recognized. Further, the notification sound may be of a length suitable for the notification sound such that the notification sound has a length that does not cause discomfort or the sounds of the same combination are repeated, and an appropriate pause time may be provided.

In addition, the tail end of the notification sound or each of the divided sounds is added with an appropriate lingering sound to make the information sound mellow. You may express it.

Further, as the notification sound, a tone color suitable for each of a plurality of electric devices may be assigned, and by configuring the notification tone in this way, a tone color of an instrument suitable for each electric device is assigned. Even if a plurality of electric devices are placed close to each other and the notification sound is mixed, the notification sound can be easily recognized, and the image of each electric device can be made more noticeable.

Further, by changing the tone color, sound pressure and sound length of the notification sound according to the installation environment of the electric equipment and the ambient noise level, it is possible to distinguish the notification sounds of the equipment of different systems installed close to each other. Of course, by configuring the notification sound in this way, if multiple notification sounds with different tone colors, sound pressures, and sound lengths are provided according to the environmental conditions around the electrical equipment, electrical equipment with different systems can be located nearby. Even if they are arranged, the notification sound of the same classification is not mistakenly heard, and the notification sound can be generated more effectively by providing various sensors and expanding the control program of the electric device.

It is also possible to synthesize an informative sound including waveforms of a plurality of frequencies and synthesize it into a chord so as to give a high quality impression. By constructing the informative sound in this way, a plurality of informative sounds can be produced. If it is synthesized from the frequency of, the information sound will be more natural and expressive without feeling unsatisfactory when the notification sound of only a single frequency is heard.

The series of notification sounds may be signal-processed in advance as a quantized signal and stored in a well-known melody IC including a semiconductor circuit and a semiconductor memory.
When the main control unit that controls the entire electric device outputs the control signal and selects the notification sound to be generated, the selected notification sound is generated as an analog signal, amplified, and output from the sounding body such as a speaker. It is also possible.

Note that such an informative sound may be expressed by notation on a musical score, and the informative sound can be standardized and stored by creating the informative sound in this way. (Compose) is easy and can be spread widely. Further, the organic relationship between the plurality of notification sounds can be visually observed, and the expression power can be further expanded by applying the invention to a display device of a general electric device having a display device together with the notification device.

[0024]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Generally, when a person tries to operate an electric device, a person turns on a power switch or operates various operation switches of an operation unit provided in the electric device to cause a control unit of the electric device to operate under operating conditions. Settings and operation programs are executed.Electrical equipment also displays the operation status and informs when the operation program is executed, whether there is any erroneous operation or malfunction, whether there is an abnormal operation status, etc. It is necessary to inform the user and others of whether the driving program is correctly executed or not and whether or not the electric equipment is normal by issuing an alarm such as An audible alarm device is provided together with the display device.

The present invention can be applied to various kinds of electric appliances for general industrial use from electric appliances used at home such as microwave ovens, electric rice cookers, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, televisions, video tape recorders and facsimiles. This is related to the notification sound of the notification device provided in the device or mechanical device.It is organic so that anyone can easily recognize what kind of operating condition the electric device is in by listening to the notification sound generated by the electric device. It is an informative sound that is formed in the above, and for this reason, it is possible to extract a part that can be commonly recognized and recall a common concept from many existing sounds that people have learned in daily life since their birth, and associate it without error. As can be recognized, it is a symbolic notification sound composed of clear and simply divided sound elements or a combination thereof.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an outline of a notification sound of a notification device for electric equipment of the present invention.

These information sounds shown in the column of information sound classification in FIG. 1 are correctly operated when an operation input such as a switch input is made on the operation unit in an attempt to operate the electric device or set conditions. Operation sound such as a reception sound that is emitted for confirmation when the data is correctly input and received by an electrical device, and to adjust the output increase / decrease of an electrical device and to set or change adjustable setting conditions of large and small. A control sound that is sometimes emitted, a start sound that is emitted when the operation of an electric device is started, or when a specific operation program is started, and it is emitted when the operation is stopped or the setting conditions are canceled during operation. Stop sound or cancellation sound, operation end sound that is emitted when power is turned off, operation is completed, or all operations are completed, and operation status An alarm sound that is emitted in the event of an abnormality, a malfunction, or a request for a change or input of some kind of operation, various types of guidance that may occur with the use of other electrical devices, and the remaining time during driving is notified in advance. It can be distinguished by classifying it into a notification sound that is emitted when notifying that a set temperature or the like has been reached or other information to a person.

If the notification sounds are classified into such classifications, any person can recognize them without error, and the symbolized notification sounds composed of clear or simply divided sound elements or a combination thereof are associated with each classification. It is easy to form.

Furthermore, since the notification sound itself is made meaningful by adding a scale, a rhythm, and an intonation that are associated with each of the notification sounds by distinguishing the respective classifications, these notification sounds are humanized. Can be easily associated with the meaning without being confused or misrecognized even when first heard.

As shown in the scale column of FIG. 1, a scale is added to each of these alarm sounds so as to distinguish each classification from each other. The operation sound is a constant midtone that is easy for humans to hear, and the adjustment sound increases the scale when the output is increased or the setting condition is increased, and the scale is used when the output is decreased or the setting condition is decreased. Lower.

The start sound is either raised in the scale so that it starts from static to dynamic, or is raised in order to emphasize the static and be released from the restraint immediately after the start so as to be vigorous and then raised. The stop or cancellation sound is at the same level of the scale, and the end-of-drive sound is the level that moves quietly from high to low, or changes the scale from high to low to give a sense of rest at the end of operation. After raising the scale. The warning sound changes the scale from high to low in a manner reminiscent of transition. Then, the notification sound is changed to high and low like a wild deer or a collective trumpet of a trumpet hand.

Further, as shown in the rhythm column of FIG. 1, rhythms that are associated with the respective classifications are added to these notification sounds. The operation sound is a short rhythm with crisp short sounds as if a key was hit, and the control sound is a long rhythm following a short sound that is associated with change and extension. The start tone is a long rhythm that follows three short tones like the unique melody used in fanfare and new scenes in movies.

The stop or cancel sound is a continuation of two short tones, as if stopping the run immediately. The end-of-drive sound is a long, long rhythm that follows from four short tones, from dynamic to quiet, like the end of a symphony or nursery rhyme. The warning sound should be a rhythm in which two short notes are repeated three times or three short notes are repeated three times so as to draw the most attention. The notification sound is a long sound rhythm followed by three short sounds that call attention and convey in the distance.

Similarly, as shown in the section of intonation in FIG. 1, intonation and strength are added to these notification sounds so as to distinguish each kind and associate them. The operation sound is crisp and staccato, and the adjustment sound is a crescendo that gradually increases when the output is increased or the setting condition is increased, and a decrescendo that gradually decreases when the output is decreased or the setting condition is decreased.

The start sound is a crescendo so as to increase the driving speed, and the stop sound or cancellation sound is two crisp staccatos, and the operation end sound is decrescendo or adagio to give them a staccato. The warning sound is accented with the first note and followed by three short decrescendos. As for the notification sound, three crescendos with accents added to the last sound are continued.

Further, a reverberation is added to these notification sounds at the end of the notification sound or the tail of each sound forming the notification sound. If an alert sound is added, that is, if an element of a sound whose output level is gradually reduced is added to the tail of each sound, the alert sound becomes mellow and becomes a natural and high-quality alert sound.

In this way, these notification sounds that have been symbolized and classified into a plurality of types, added with a scale, added with a rhythm, added with intonation, and have a lingering sound, have a frequency and a sound pressure with respect to time. Is expressed as a parameter, and a combination of scale, rhythm, and intonation can be expressed by notation on the score.

[0038]

EXAMPLE FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an alarm sound of an alarm device for electric equipment according to the present invention.

As shown in the note column and the waveform column in FIG. 2, if each informative sound is defined as one bar of four-quarters, it is expressed in C major. Only the note, the waveform with a frequency of 783 Hz is 0.15 seconds and the afterglow of 0.35 seconds continues. When increasing the output, the adjustment sound is a combination of the 16th note of the So sound and the quarter note of the high sound, and the waveform of the frequency 783Hz continues for 0.12 seconds and the frequency 1046Hz.
The waveform of 0.12 seconds continues for 0.36 seconds, and when the output is reduced, it is a combination of the 16th note of the So tone and the quarter note of the low tone, and the waveform of the frequency 783Hz is 0. The waveform with a frequency of 523 Hz continues for 12 seconds and the afterglow of 0.36 seconds continues for 0.12 seconds, and the setting of the intermediate or standard value is the same as the operation sound.

The start sound is Mi, Seo, Do, Mi and a 32nd note followed by a quarter note of the same Mi note with a frequency of 659Hz.
Waveforms with a frequency of 783 Hz and a frequency of 1046 Hz last for 0.06 seconds, respectively, and a waveform of a frequency of 1318 Hz lasts for 0.3 seconds including a lingering sound. There are two eighth notes of chords, which are the sound of Seo and the sound of high Mi, for stop or cancel sound, and the frequency is 78
Synthetic sound with waveform of 3Hz and frequency 1318Hz is 0.36
What should have lingering seconds lasts 0.24 seconds without disappearing, and then the chord disappears in 0.36 seconds with the lingering sound.

The operation end tone includes two notes of the Si note, the So note, the La note of the 16th note, the Si note, the So note of the 8th note, and a high note of the quarter note. Continuing, a waveform with a frequency of 987 Hz that decays at the end for 0.24 seconds, a waveform with a frequency of 783 Hz that decays immediately and a waveform with a frequency of 880 Hz for 0.12 seconds each, and a frequency that decays at the end 987 Hz
And the frequency 783Hz waveform is 0.24 seconds each,
Further, a waveform with a frequency of 1046 Hz continues for 0.48 seconds including a lingering sound of 0.35 seconds, but it may be repeated a plurality of times by adding a pause time depending on the installation location and the perspective of the electric equipment.
As for the warning sound, a combination of 16th notes of high-pitched notes and 8th notes and 16th notes of do's notes continued three times, and the waveform of frequency 1318Hz immediately attenuated at 0.12 seconds and reverberated for 0.36 seconds. A set including a waveform having a frequency of 1046 Hz that continues for 0.36 seconds is repeated three times, and is repeated after the rest time or repeated a plurality of times.

The notification sound is a combination of S, R, S, S, and 16th notes, followed by a quarter note of the same S sound, which is repeated twice, and the frequency is 783 Hz, the frequency is 587 Hz, and the frequency is 9.
The 87 Hz waveform and the frequency 783 Hz waveform continue for 0.06 seconds each, and the same frequency 783 Hz waveform includes a 0.36 second lingering sound and continues for 0.48 seconds two times in a row, and these combinations are repeated a plurality of times after the rest time.

FIG. 3 shows the results of a hearing test on the identification rates of these seven types of notification sounds. The seven types of notification sounds from the operation sound to the notification sound were randomly sent to each of 26 test subjects. The test was conducted in order to determine which notification sound occurred 3 times in total. The first time, the identification rate of the start sound and the notification sound was 3 in 8 out of 26 people respectively.
It is as low as 0.8%, and the identification rate of cancellation sound is particularly low at 11.5% among 3 out of 26 people, but other notification sounds are high at 60% or more even though they are heard for the first time, that is, for the first time. The identification rate is shown.

Further, in the second and third times, the discrimination rate shows a high value of 60% or more and is 1 in the operation sound and the adjustment sound.
It shows 00%. Further, the fact that the identification rate is saturated and becomes a high value in the second and third times is combined with the fact that the first time has a relatively high identification rate with the exception of the notification rate, and the notification sound of the notification device of the present invention. Indicates nothing but an alarm sound that can be recognized by a person who hears it for the first time without misrecognition.

Further, FIG. 4 shows the results of a hearing test as to whether or not the meaning of each of the notification sounds can be perceived. The present sound used as the notification sound and the notification sound of the notification device of the present invention are shown. Is generated for each of the 26 test subjects in order from the adjustment sound to the notification sound, and is evaluated by 5 levels of not feeling, slightly feeling, normal, slightly feeling, and feeling. This is the calculated ratio. The proportions of the persons who feel a little in this listening test and those who answered that they feel it are shown as persons who have sensed the meaning of self-confidence by comparing the current sound with the notification sound of the present invention.

As shown by the numbers attached to the graph of FIG. 5, the adjustment sound is 15.4% in 4 out of 26 people, compared with 65.4% in 17 sounds in the present invention. Similarly, for the start sound and the cancel sound, the current sound has a value of about 10%, and the notification sound of the present invention has a much higher value than that. In the case of the end sound, the warning sound, and the notification sound, the notification sound of the present invention has a high value together with the current sound. As described above, in the notification sound of the present invention, the result is that it is significantly higher than the current sound, or if it is equivalent, the meaning is felt at an extremely high rate. This is the notification sound of the notification device of the present invention. It is nothing but showing that oneself has a strong meaning.

Here, the frequencies of all the existing sounds are 2.5k.
Hz, the adjustment sound, the start sound, and the cancellation sound are the same, a single sound of 0.1 seconds, a continuous sound for 2 seconds, a warning sound, an error sound of 0.1 seconds and a sound of 1 second cycle. The sound that lasts 10 times and the notification sound is a sound that lasts 0.5 times for 10 times in a cycle of 1 second, and the notification sound that is used in a microwave oven is adopted as the current sound.

Looking at the results of this listening test, the notification sound of the notification device of the present invention was 50% except for the start sound.
The above high values are shown, clearly indicating that the notification sound itself has meaning.

FIG. 5 shows the results of the hearing test concerning the length of the operation sound and the hearing test concerning the period of the warning sound and the notification sound. When the operation sound of a specific length was heard, 56 persons were heard. When each of the testers feels long +
1, when it feels a little long, +0.5 is shown, when it feels short, it shows -1, and when it feels a little short, -0.
5 shows the average value of the numerical values shown by all the test subjects when the generation time of the operation sound is changed, and these average values are neither long nor short. The length of the generation time is between 0.45 seconds and 0.65 seconds as shown in the area around the average value 0 in FIG.
Seconds and 0.9 seconds show results that feel a little longer.

The alarm sound is a combination of three combinations of the same sound and a pause, which is repeated continuously or a plurality of times. However, when the cycle of the generation time of the same sound is changed, 24
The cycle that 80% or more of human testers feel is optimal is 0.3
It is shown to be from 0.4 seconds to 0.4 seconds. Similarly, the notification sound repeats two consecutive same melodies and pauses for a plurality of times, but when the cycle of the same melody is changed, the cycle that 80% or more of 56 test subjects feel is optimal is the cycle. Is shown to be 1.0 to 2.0 seconds.

These notification sounds include a lingering sound, which gives a mellowness and a high quality, but most of the sound elements forming each notification sound are lingering except for the particularly short sound elements of the notification sound. The length of the afterglow occupies 1/3 or more of the generation time of each sound including the afterglow.

Further, the operation end sound, the warning sound and the notification sound are generated a plurality of times or continuously with the rest time added. According to the hearing test, if the rest time exceeds 2 seconds, a feeling of strangeness is felt. Since it was obtained, the rest time was set within 2 seconds. According to the present invention, by assigning a peculiar timbre to each of the plurality of electric devices, even if the plurality of electric devices are operated at the same time, the confirmation of each operation is facilitated by the different timbres.

For example, a microwave oven has a piano tone, a washing machine has a vibra horn tone, an air conditioner has a harp tone and a piccolo tone, and further, not only the tone of the musical instrument but also various kinds of acoustic processing are performed to make the clothes drier. You can assign a dry sound to the humidifier, a heavy moist sound to the humidifier, an animal cry, an elephant or hippo cry to the refrigerator, and a woodpecker piercing sound to the intercom or intercom. Good.

As a method of creating a notification sound, there are a method of recording the vocalizations of these animals and the like to make a notification sound having a scale by a well-known sampling reproduction means, and a method of artificially processing sound using a synthesizer.

FIG. 6 shows a circuit block diagram of the alarm device for electric equipment of the present invention.

The notifying device of the present invention is a well-known melody I comprising a semiconductor circuit and a semiconductor memory as sounding means.
It comprises a C1, an amplifier 2, and a sounding body 3 such as a speaker. The melody IC1 can preset and input a selection of a sound source that generates a basic waveform of a sound to be generated, its frequency, generation time, and data such as attenuation and expansion as a series of music using a dedicated setting means (not shown). , A plurality of songs can be stored as digital information in the internal memory 11 from the musical note data (1) to the musical note data (n).

The notification sound of FIG. 2 is sequentially stored as a musical note data (1) by using a dedicated setting means (not shown), and the control sound is similarly notified to the musical note data (2). Memory 11 as sound note data (7)
Remember. Now, the main control unit 4 which controls the entire electric equipment outputs a music selection signal and a music performance start signal in an attempt to generate a specific notification sound, and when the melody IC 1 receives these signals, the control unit 12 causes the memory 11 A specific piece of musical note data is selected from the inside, and the tone generator 13 is controlled to convert the selected piece of music into a digital signal format piece of music. The music in digital signal format becomes an analog signal in the DA converter 14,
The sounding body 3 including a speaker or the like is output to the external amplifying section 2 and amplified to drive the sounding body 3 to generate a specific notification sound selected.

Further, the tone color, sound pressure and tone length of the notification sound may be changed according to the installation environment of the electric equipment and the noise level of the surroundings,
These are information sounds to be expressed in musical notes, in which a plurality of notification sounds having different tone colors, sound pressures, and tones are previously set and input to the melody IC1 by dedicated setting means (not shown). Various adjustments are easily realized by changing the selection of the alarm sound without losing the organic relationship of.

In this way, the musical scale is transposed by paying attention to the frequency band not included in the ambient noise to generate a low tone to make it easy to hear, or to make a low noise when the user of the electric device is nearby. Thus, it is possible to make a loud sound when the user is far away, and to gradually increase the sound pressure or the sound length or to make the tempo faster when the user does not respond. It is possible to make the important notification sound louder.

The start sound and the end sound may be set longer than usual when the set operation time is long or the automatic operation time is long. Furthermore, there is also a method to make the notification sound new and powerful, or to make the sound louder by adding instruments one after another, and if a voice synthesis circuit is provided, it is possible to change the sound to a sound depending on the notification sound. It will be easier to recognize.

By combining these notification sounds and some sound elements of the notification sounds with sounds of a plurality of frequencies, it is possible to give a natural feeling without causing insufficientness due to transparency due to only a single frequency. You can In particular, if the informative sound is synthesized into a chord or a dissonant sound, the quality is enhanced and the expressiveness is expanded.

The same notifying device can be obtained by synthesizing a sound having a low frequency of 1.5 kHz or less, which can be easily recognized even by an elderly person with deafness, as a main component so as to be included in a part or all of the notification sound. However, even if it is accepted by other generations without any discomfort, it is not necessary to particularly increase the alarm sound as in the case where this frequency is not included.

In addition, when the state of the electric device is displayed on the display device in the test mode of the electric device and the display capability is insufficient, the alarm sound of the notification device is used to compensate for the lack of the display capability. Can express test results.

[0064]

As described in claim 1, the informing device for electric equipment according to the present invention is clearly and simply classified so that a common concept can be recognized in the informing device for electric equipment utilizing human hearing. Further, since a short symbolized notification sound composed of a plurality of sound elements or a combination of the sound elements is generated, even a first person can easily associate and distinguish the meaning of the notification sound.

Further, as described in claim 2, since a plurality of types of notification sounds including at least an operation sound, an adjustment sound, and a warning sound are distinguished and notified, the user outputs each notification sound. There is no confusion or misrecognition.

Further, as described in claim 3, since the notification sound has a scale, even a short notification sound can be easily recognized.

Similarly, as described in claim 4, since the notification sound is provided with a rhythm, the meaning of the notification sound can be associated with the rhythm, and a large amount of information is contained in the notification sound to make the notification sound clear. Can be distinguished and recognized.

Further, as described in claim 5, by setting the length of the operation sound to be 0.45 seconds to 0.65 seconds, the user can surely recognize the operation sound, and By setting the cycle of the combination of the same sounds that repeatedly generate the warning sounds from 0.3 seconds to 0.4 seconds, the cycle of the same melody part of the warning sounds becomes short, and the user's feeling of tension can be increased. it can.

Further, as described in claim 6, by adding a low frequency of 1.5 kHz or less to the notification sound, it is possible to make it easy for the elderly who have deafness who cannot hear a high sound. Even with the same notification device, different generations can recognize the notification sound without causing discomfort.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a notification sound of a notification device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a notification sound of the notification device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a result of a hearing test regarding a notification sound identification rate of the notification device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a result of a hearing test regarding meaning definition of a notification sound of the notification device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the results of a hearing test regarding the length and period of the notification sound of the notification device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a circuit block diagram of the alarm device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Melody IC 2 amplifier 3 pronunciation bodies 4 Main control unit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Jun Saito             22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka             Inside the company (72) Inventor Yoshitaka Kawase             22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka             Inside the company F-term (reference) 5D108 CA03 CA04 CA07 CA15 CA29                 5D378 MM21 MM96

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An informing device for an electric device utilizing human hearing, wherein a short symbol is composed of a plurality of clear and simple sound elements or a combination of the sound elements for recognizing a common concept. A notification device for an electric device, which generates a notification sound. 2. The notification device for an electric device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of types of notification sounds including at least an operation sound, an adjustment sound, and a warning sound are distinguished and notified. 3. The notification device for an electric device according to claim 1, wherein the notification sound has a scale. 4. The notification device for an electric device according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the notification sound has a rhythm. 5. The length of the operation sound is 0.45 second to 0.65 second, and the cycle of a combination of the same sounds that repeatedly generate the warning sound is 0.3 second to 0.4 second. The notification device for an electric device according to claim 2, wherein: 6. The notification device for an electric device according to claim 1, wherein the notification sound includes a sound with a low frequency of 1.5 kHz or less.