JP2003330476A - Method and device for emitting report tone - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To resolve the problem that report tones emitted in accordance with operation states of electric products are not standardized among the products by constituting a device for emitting report tones which are customized by a user and are standardized for operation states and make it easy to discriminate products and operation states. <P>SOLUTION: The device for emitting report tones is constituted as follows; report tone data are obtained from a report tone database wherein report tone data are stored, and are stored in a data storage means 12 incorporated in a report tone emitter and report tone data are assigned in accordance with classifications and operation states of electric products by a report tone assigning means 14, and state signals related to operation states of electric products are generated by a state signal generation means 51, and report tone data assigned on the basis of the state signals are emitted from a speaker 15. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to notification sound data for notifying a plurality of operating states of an electric device by a notification sound, and a desired notification sound data is stored in a notification sound database in which the notification sound data is accumulated. The present invention relates to a notification sound distribution system which is acquired via a network and is configured to notify the state of a user's electric device by a notification sound based on the acquired notification sound data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a melody of a mobile phone or the like is delivered to each mobile phone terminal by a melody creator from the melody creator over the Internet in response to a customer's request. There is an incoming melody distribution service that can be obtained as a notification sound.

[0003] Further, in household electric appliances arranged around the user, an electronic sound and a voice message are sounded according to the operation of the device, and the user is informed of the operating condition and operating state of the device. The equipment that can be done is realized. The electronic sound and the voice message are called a notification sound. The notification sound informs that the device body has received an operation command by the notification sound when, for example, a button on the remote controller is pressed to operate the home electric appliance.

Further, the rice cooker informs the cooked state of the rice by an alarm sound. Then, the notification sound is useful for a user who uses the device for the first time, a user who does not remember how to operate the device, and a user who is not near the device. Is.

[0005]

By the way, although the function of producing such an informative sound is built into the home electric appliance in advance, the pattern of the informative sound produced in correspondence with the state of the device is easier for the user. Cannot be changed to. Alternatively, even if it can be changed, the number of types of built-in notification sounds is small, and it is not possible to selectively generate a notification sound for accurately expressing the operation of the device.

[0006] Further, different types of alarm sounds are used depending on the device manufacturer. For example, the notification sound indicating the "error" state of the device manufactured by a certain manufacturer may be used as the notification sound indicating the "operation end" of the device manufactured by another manufacturer. Such similar and different notifying sounds cannot notify the user of an accurate operating state. Therefore, the user has a desire to customize the notification sound of all electric appliances arranged around him / herself to be a notification sound for notifying the operation state based on a unified concept.

The customized notification sound is, for example, a sound indicating "error" and a sound indicating "end of operation" are notification sounds of different categories. Then, the notification sounds relating to the same operation in different devices are systematized such as having the same tone color but different rhythms. In that case, the operation state is notified by the tone color of the notification sound, and it is possible to identify the device related to the notification sound by the rhythm pattern.
Then, the notification sound for that purpose can be allocated by the user according to the preference for each operation state of each device.

Further, it is preferable that the user can easily recognize the position and direction of the device that generates the notification sound. Conventional notification sounds were often composed of simple sounds with a single frequency. Further, it is preferable that the recognition of the incoming sound source direction includes the level change component in the high frequency band, and the notification sound uses the sound source including the level change component in the high frequency band in which the incoming direction is easily recognized. To

Further, the notification sound data relating to the notification sound having such characteristics that the operating state and the type of the device can be easily identified and the direction of sound generation is easily recognized has a sound characteristic by an expert. Created while investigating. The created notification sound data is information content having a pay value, and the notification sound data is used by being paid for by the user and downloaded.

Therefore, the present invention constitutes an alarm sound database in which a plurality of alarm sound data sets created as two-dimensional alarm sounds having at least two attributes are accumulated. The user obtains the alarm sound data set from there via the communication path. Then, the obtained notification sound data set is allocated by the user, for example, in such a manner that the first attribute corresponds to the operating state of the device and the second attribute corresponds to the type of the device. The assigned notification sound data is sounded in correspondence with the operating state of each device obtained from each device. Further, the notification sound data is obtained from the notification sound database via the communication path, and the notification sound distribution system is realized by enabling the charging by a simple method.

[0011]

The present invention comprises the following means 1) and 2) in order to solve the above problems. That is,

1) There is an alarm sound database in which data of a plurality of alarm sounds, which are different from each other in correspondence with a plurality of operating states of electric appliances and types of each electric appliance, is stored, and the alarm sound database is stored. Database for supplying information sound via communication line Obtaining the information sound data supplied from the database supplier, and providing different notifications corresponding to a plurality of operating states of the electric equipment and types of the electric equipment. A method of generating a notification sound, comprising a notification sound generator arranged in the vicinity of the electric device, for generating a sound, wherein the notification sound generator includes: A first step (12) of storing data and a plurality of notification sound data stored in the first step are notified for each of a plurality of operating states of the electric device. A second step (14) of allocating as a sound, a third step (13) of obtaining an operation type signal output from the electric device and relating to each operation of the electric device, and based on the operation type signal, A method of producing a notification sound, comprising: a fourth step (14) of reading the allocated notification sound data as the notification sound generation data. 2) An alarm sound database that stores data of a plurality of different alarm sounds corresponding to a plurality of operating states of electric devices and types of each electric device is provided, and the alarm sounds stored in the alarm sound database Acquires the data of the notification sound supplied from the database supplier that supplies data via the communication line, and generates different notification sounds corresponding to the plurality of operating states of the electric device and the type of each electric device. An informative sound generating device arranged near the electric device, the informative sound data storing means (12) for storing data of the informative sound supplied from the informative sound database supplier, and the informative sound. Information sound allocating means (14) for allocating the data of the plurality of notification sounds stored by the data storage means as the notification sound for each of the plurality of operating states of the electric device. ), And is output from the electric device,
And an operation type signal acquisition means (13) for obtaining an operation type signal relating to each operation of the electric device, and a notification for reading the data of the assigned notification sound as the notification sound generation data based on the operation type signal. An alerting sound producing device, comprising: sound data reading means (14).

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the method for producing a notification sound and the notification sound producing apparatus of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a notification sound distribution system of a first embodiment according to a notification sound generation method and a notification sound generation device.

In the figure, the notification sound distribution system includes a relay device 10 and a plurality of electric devices 50a, 50b, 50.
.., 50n, the user's home 1, the Internet 2, and an external database 3.

Next, the operation of the notification sound distribution system having such a configuration will be described. First, in the external database 3, a notification sound having a plurality of timbres and a plurality of rhythm patterns is accumulated so as to be arranged as a sound source having a timbre in the X-axis direction and a rhythm pattern in the Y-axis direction, for example. ing.

The sound sources are arranged not only in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction but also in the Z-axis direction, such as a melody of a song intro (introduction part) and chorus (variation part). The sound sources classified in the Z-axis direction related to the above may be arranged and accumulated in a three-dimensional arrangement.

These sound sources can be auditioned if necessary. Then, some of these sound sources are provided free of charge, and some are provided for a fee. That is, the sound source provided for a fee is configured as a notification sound set in which a plurality of types of electric devices and a plurality of operating states of the electric devices can be easily identified when the sound source is used as a notification sound.

The set of such multidimensionally identifiable sound sources is also a set of notification sounds created by an expert. In addition, the sound source of the notification sound set is, for example, a set of notification sounds set for each operating state of the device by giving priority to operability of the electric device. Furthermore, a set of alarm sounds may be provided, which is made by observing the inside of the user's room as a zoo and configuring each electric device by the cry of various animals. It may also consist of a melody set consisting of the best ten songs that are changed every month.

A notification sound set preferred by the user is acquired from the external database in which the notification sound set is stored, for example, via the Internet 2, and the acquired notification sound set is temporarily stored in the relay device 10. .

The relay device 10 is supplied with signals of operating states of the respective electric devices 50a, 50b, 50c, ..., 50n. Then, from the relay device 10, a notification sound associated in advance is sounded according to the operating state of each electric device supplied.

Then, the user who hears these notification sounds can easily recognize from which electric device the notification sound is emitted as a notification sound relating to what operation state.

The configuration of the notification sound distribution system for accumulating and outputting the notification sound set of, for example, a two-dimensional structure stored in the external database 3 and its operation have been outlined above. Then, in the notification sound distribution system, for example, by allocating the electric device in the X-axis direction and allocating the operation state in the Y-axis direction, it is possible to easily identify the electric device and the operation state related to the electric device by the generated notification sound. It is configured as a notification sound distribution system.

Next, the configuration and operation of the relay device and the electric equipment in the notification sound distribution system of the first embodiment that performs such an operation will be further described. FIG. 2 shows main components of the relay device and the electric equipment. In the figure, the relay device 10 includes a communication controller 11, a memory 12, and a state detector 1.
3, a central control unit 14, a notification sound control unit 15, and a speaker 16. The electric device 50 is composed of a central control unit 51 and a state notification unit 52.

Next, the operations of the relay device and the electric equipment configured as described above will be described. First, the user accesses the external database 3 connected to the Internet 2 and browses the alarm sound data stored therein. That is, the notification sound data is WAV (Wave File Fo
rmat) file or AIFF (Audio Interchange Fi)
le Format) file is information sound data, which is viewed and viewed by the user when the data is acquired and reproduced. The browsing allows selection of a notification sound set that is preferred.

The data of the alarm sound set selected by the user is acquired by transmitting a request signal to the external database 3 by the user. The acquired alarm sound data is downloaded from the external database unit to the memory 12 as data packetized by a predetermined communication packet via the communication control unit 11.

The predetermined notification sound in the notification sound set downloaded to the memory 12 is allocated and used as notification sound data for notifying the operating state of the electric equipment. That is, the central control unit 51 of the electric device 50 supplies a state signal related to the operation of the electric device to the state notification unit 52. Then, when a predetermined state to be notified occurs, a state signal related to the state is supplied from the state notification unit 52 to the state detection unit 13 of the relay device 10.

The status signal supplied to the status detector 13 is supplied to the central controller 14. The central control unit 14
Then, a specific notification sound to be notified is selected based on the supplied state signal, and the selected notification sound data is acquired from the memory 12.

The obtained notification sound data is supplied to the notification sound control section 15, the notification sound signal is generated based on the notification sound data, and the notification sound signal is supplied to the speaker 16.
A predetermined notification sound is emitted from the speaker 16. As described above, the sound source of the notification sound set selected by the user is used to generate the systematic notification sound preferred by the user according to the operating state of the electric device.

Here, an example in which only one electric device 50 is connected to the relay device 10 has been described. When there are a plurality of electric devices, the relay device 1 is installed from each of the status notification units incorporated in the plurality of electric devices.
An operation state signal relating to each electric device is supplied to the 0 state detection unit. The supply of those operation state signals to the state detection unit may be input to a plurality of input terminals provided in the state detection unit 13. As another configuration,
The input terminal provided in the state detection unit may be set to 1, and the operation state signals from the respective electric devices may be supplied by the time division operation.

The notification sound distribution system in the first embodiment has been described above. In that system, the notification sound related to the operating state of the electric device is generated from the speaker 16 incorporated in the relay device 10. When the relay device 10 is arranged adjacent to the electric device 50, there is no practical problem even if the alarm sound is emitted from the adjacent relay device. However, when the plurality of electric devices and the relay device are arranged in different directions with respect to the user, a feeling of discomfort is felt by the notification sound generated by the user from different directions.

Therefore, the notification sound is configured to be emitted from each electric device. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the notification sound distribution system according to the second embodiment, and its operation will be described.

The notification sound distribution system shown in the figure has a communication control unit 11, a memory 12, a state detection unit 13, and a central control unit 1.
4, a notification sound control unit 15, a speaker 16, a transmission unit 17, and a relay unit 10a including a display unit 18, and a central control unit 5.
1a, a memory 53a, an alarm sound controller 54a, and an electric device 50a including a speaker 55a, and an electric device 50b.
, Electrical equipment 50c, ..., Electrical equipment 50n. The internet 2 and the external database 3 are connected to the relay device 10a in the same manner as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the notification sound distribution system will be described. First, the external database 3 which is operated by the user and connected via the Internet 2 is accessed, and the data of the notification sound list stored in the external database 3 is acquired. The notification sound list data is supplied to the central control unit 14 via the memory 12.

In the central control unit 14, the supplied alarm sound list data is converted into data to be displayed on the display unit 18 and displayed on the display unit on the display unit 18. Figure 4
Shows an example of the display. The display is, in addition to the list of the alarm sound data, the electric device 50a connected to the relay device 10a,
Display of 50b, 50c, ..., 50n is also made.

The displayed plurality of notification sounds and the plurality of electric devices are associated with each other by the user and assigned on the display. Then, the plurality of notification sound sets are allocated such that similar notification sounds are generated for similar operation states. Further, if desired by the user, the respective notification sounds generated in correspondence with the operating state of the electric device can be changed so as to be allocated as the operating state and the notification sound of the preferred relationship. .

Therefore, for example, the user sets the alarm sound indicating "error" of a certain electric device to the sound "A1", the alarm sound indicating "end of operation" is the sound "B1", and the alarm sound of other electric devices " The notification sound indicating "error" has a different tone color from "A1" but the same rhythm pattern as the sound of "A2", and "operation end" is "A".
It is defined and used as a group of notification sound groups systematically set by the user, such as the sound of "B2" having the same tone color as "2" and the same rhythm pattern as "B1".

The operation of the relay device and the electric equipment will be further described with reference to FIG. That is, the notification sound data of the plurality of notification sound sets forming the notification sound group are downloaded and acquired from the external database. For the download, an acquisition signal of the notification sound data is generated based on the notification sound set information related as a notification sound of the electric device by the display unit 18, and the generated acquisition signal of the notification sound set is transmitted via the communication control unit. Supplied to an external database.

Then, from the external database, the data of the alarm sound set required based on the acquired signal is supplied to the communication control unit 11 as a predetermined communication packetized signal. In the communication control unit 11, the packetization of the communication packetized signal is released and the data of the alarm sound set is obtained. The obtained data is supplied to the memory 12 and stored therein.

The data of the stored alarm sound set is
Based on the correspondence relationship assigned by the display unit 18, the data of each alarm sound set is transmitted to the corresponding electrical equipment via the transmission unit 17.

Here, the electric equipment is the electric equipment 50a, 50
.., 50n, and a central control unit, a memory, a notification sound control unit, and a speaker are arranged in each of the electric devices. Each of the electric devices 50a, 50b, 50c, ..., 50n emits a notification sound for the same operation and device state as described above.

Next, the operation of the electric device 50a will be described. First, the notification sound data of the notification sound set allocated to the electric device 50a transmitted from the transmission unit 17 is supplied to the memory 53a and temporarily stored therein. The operation of the electric device 50a is monitored by the central controller 51a. In the electric device 50a, when the operating state in which the notification sound is to be generated, the state signal related to the state is generated.

The generated status signal is stored in the memory 53a.
The notification sound data related to the status signal is acquired from the data of the notification sound set that is supplied to and accumulated therein. The acquired notification sound data is supplied to the notification sound control unit 54a. In the notification sound control unit 54a, a notification sound signal is generated based on the supplied notification sound data, and the generated notification sound signal is supplied to the speaker 55a, where the notification sound is sounded.

At this time, the transmitting unit 17 to the memory 53a
The information of the information sound set transmitted to the electronic device 50 is the data of the information sound set stored in advance until the information sound set is changed using the display unit 18.
The operating state of a is notified.

The notification sound produced by the above-described method is systematically arranged two-dimensionally such that the type of operating state is the X axis and the different electric equipment is the Y axis according to the preference of the user. The signals of the notification sound group are used to notify the operating state of each electric device. Therefore, the user can immediately recognize which device is in what state only by hearing the notification sound.

Further, according to the method described in the second embodiment, in comparison with the case where the speaker of the relay device is used only in the first embodiment, the alarm sound is output from the speaker built in each electric device. Is pronounced. Since the direction of the sound source from which the notification sound arrives and the location where the electric device is installed are in the same direction, the user can further easily grasp the operation state notified by the notification sound.

As described above, according to the first and second embodiments, the information sound data accumulated in the external database is acquired, and the information sound similar to the same kind of operating state is given to each of a plurality of electric devices. The notification sound distribution system that generates a two-dimensional systematized notification sound to be pronounced has been described.

The two-dimensional systematic alarm sound can easily transmit two-dimensional information.
The alarm sound data thus configured is suitable and has commercial value.

The notification sound data having that value is downloaded and used by the user via the Internet or the like. Next, a charging method when the user downloads the pay notification sound data will be described.

FIG. 5 shows a method of downloading the alarm sound data performed by the user side and the external database side via the communication company. In the figure, the user is connected to a communication company through, for example, a telephone line. For the connection, a user's user name and password are used to establish a communication path.

The established communication path is used to access the content provider side from the user side. And
The user operates to instruct to download the alarm sound data stored in the external database. At that time, the external database side also performs authentication and confirmation work for the user side.

Next, the preview page data of the informative sound is transmitted from the external database side to the relay device on the user side via the communication company. On the user side, the audition button of the notification sound desired to be viewed by the user is operated on the audition page displayed on the display unit of the relay device.

The button operation information is transmitted from the user side to the external database side. Then, from the external database side, the notification sound data is transmitted based on the viewing command. The notification sound data is received by the relay device,
The received notification sound data is stored in the memory. The accumulated notification sound data is input to the notification sound control unit via the central control unit.

In the notification sound control unit, the notification sound data is converted into a notification sound signal, and the converted signal is sounded by the speaker and viewed by the user. When the user wants to purchase the data based on the viewing, the purchase button is operated by the user. Then, the operation information is transmitted to the external database side, and the alarm sound data is transmitted to the user side.

On the user side, the transmitted notification sound data is stored in the memory, and the download of the notification sound data is completed. Then, at the same time as the download from the external database side, the billing details of the content price for the user side are transmitted to the communication company.

The user pays the alarm sound data purchase price at the same time as the communication charge of the communication company is paid. Also, the communication company side deducts only the communication charge and pays the remaining content price to the external database provider side, and the operation of purchasing the notification sound data is ended.

Here, when the user has listened to the alarm sound data but has not purchased the data,
The data downloaded to the user side is automatically erased when the disconnection of the connection line by the user side is detected.

In the notification sound distribution system described in this example,
There is no need to newly install a communication network dedicated to charging between the user side and the external database side. In addition, since the user can pay the communication charge as well as the usage charge related to the notification sound data, there is an advantage that the operation is not complicated. In addition, there is an advantage that the content provider on the database side is likely to pay the fee.

As described in detail above, according to the notification sound distribution system of the present embodiment, a plurality of electric sounds can be selected by using the notification sound that the user likes from a large number of notification sound data sets. It is possible to generate a plurality of operating states of the device by a notification sound that is easily recognized. Then, since a plurality of sets of information sound data can be assigned to each electric device and assigned according to the user's own clear policy, it is possible to recognize the operation state of which electric device by the notification sound. Is easily done. Further, since the notification sound data assigned to each electric device is transmitted to each electric device and the notification sound related to those devices is generated by the devices themselves, the arrival direction of the notification sound It is easier to recognize the electric device that emits the notification sound.

Further, the payment of the notification sound data content fee charged when using the notification sound data accumulated in the external database is billed to the user together with the communication charge from the communication company, for example. Therefore, the user can simultaneously pay both the communication fee and the content fee to the communication company, and the fee payment process is simple. In addition, since the content provider pays the content price from the communication company, the method of collecting the charge becomes easy.

[0060]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the data of the alarm sound obtained from the alarm sound database is stored in the memory of the alarm sound generator arranged around the user, and the stored alarm sound is stored. Since the data of is generated as a notification sound assigned to each of a plurality of operations of the electric device, the user can easily recognize the notification sounds related to the plurality of operations that are sounded from the plurality of electric devices. There is an effect that it is possible to provide a method of producing an informative sound.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the data of the notification sound obtained from the notification sound database is stored in the memory of the notification sound generator arranged around the user, and the stored notification sound is stored. Since the data is generated as a notification sound assigned to each of a plurality of operations of the electric device, the user can easily recognize the notification sounds related to the plurality of operations generated by the plurality of electric devices. There is an effect that the configuration of the sound producing device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a notification sound distribution system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a relay device and an electric device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a relay device and an electric device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for allocating a notification sound set to user home equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation example relating to communication between a user's home and an external database according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 user's house 2 Internet 3 External database 10 Repeater 11 Communication control unit 12 memories 13 Status detector 14 Central control unit 15 Notification sound control unit 16 speakers 17 Transmitter 18 Display 50 electrical equipment 51 Central control unit 52 Status notification section 53 memory 54 Information sound control unit 55 speakers

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A notification sound database that stores data of a plurality of different notification sounds corresponding to a plurality of operating states of an electric device and a type of each electric device, and is stored in the notification sound database. Database for supplying information sound via communication line Obtaining the information sound data supplied from the database supplier, and providing different notifications corresponding to a plurality of operating states of the electric equipment and types of the electric equipment. A method of generating an alarm sound having an alarm sound generator arranged in the vicinity of the electric device for generating a sound, wherein the alarm sound generator is the alarm sound database supplied by the alarm sound database supplier. The first step of storing data and the data of the plurality of alarm sounds stored in the first step are assigned as alarm sounds for each of a plurality of operating states of the electric device. A second step of attaching, a third step of obtaining an operation type signal output from the electric device and relating to each operation of the electric device, and data of the assigned notification sound based on the operation type signal And a fourth step of reading as the notification sound generation data. 2. A notification sound database, which stores data of a plurality of different notification sounds corresponding to a plurality of operating states of electric equipment and types of each electric equipment, and is stored in the notification sound database. Database for supplying information sound via communication line Obtaining the information sound data supplied from the database supplier, and providing different notifications corresponding to a plurality of operating states of the electric equipment and types of the electric equipment. An alarm sound generating device which is arranged in the vicinity of the electric device and which generates a sound, wherein the alarm sound data storage means stores data of the alarm sound supplied from the alarm sound database supplier, and the alarm sound. Data of a plurality of notification sounds stored by the data storage means, a notification sound allocation means for allocating as a notification sound for each of a plurality of operating states of the electric device, An operation type signal acquisition unit that obtains an operation type signal that is output from an electric device and that relates to each operation of the electric device; and, based on the operation type signal, the data of the assigned notification sound for generating the notification sound. An informative sound producing device, comprising: an informative sound data reading means for reading out as data.