JP2004289722A - Remote control unit, its layout editing device, and its information display system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote control unit which enables a user to arrange a display configuration and display desired information by a simple operation. <P>SOLUTION: A device to be controlled 1, a remote control unit 2 to control operations of the device, and a personal computer 3 are provided. The remote control unit 2 and the personal computer 3 are connected as a network by a wireless LAN and are accessible to external servers 6 and 7 via the Internet 5. A display area of the display part of the remote control unit 2 is divided into a plurality of divided display areas. Contents source information on each divided display area is obtained from a means of managing a screen profile 7. This means manages screen profile data in which contents source information showing a source of providing contents to be displayed on the divided display areas is associated with the divided display areas. The browser of the remote control unit 2 obtains contents to be displayed on each divided display area with the contents source information as link information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes a display unit, a remote control device that outputs control instruction information input through an operation input unit as a control signal to a device through a signal output unit, and edits a layout of the display unit of the remote control device. The present invention relates to a layout editing device and an information display system capable of displaying various types of information on a display unit of the remote control device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, the functionality of remote control devices for various devices has been remarkably improved, and new remote control software has been updated via the Internet in response to device improvements and new functions, and the display unit of the remote control device has a large number of pixels. 2. Description of the Related Art A remote control device equipped with a liquid crystal display device and capable of displaying content obtained via the Internet has been proposed.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-186063
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
[0005]
However, in the conventional remote control device, a plurality of pieces of information have to be displayed in a limited narrow display area. Therefore, a hierarchical menu format is adopted. And the operation is troublesome. For example, displaying content obtained on the Internet has the same inconvenience, and a complicated operation of following links deeply until obtaining the desired content is required.
[0006]
Also, the monitor display on the control target device, which is the original purpose of the remote control device, is fixed to the content set in advance by the manufacturer, which is sometimes difficult for the user.
[0007]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a remote control device, a layout editing device, and an information display system that allow a user to arrange a display mode and display desired information by a simple operation in view of the above-described problems of the remote control device. Is to do.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A first characteristic configuration of a remote controller according to the present invention for achieving this object includes a display unit as described in claim 1 of the claims, and is input via an operation input unit. A remote control device that outputs control instruction information as a control signal to a device via a signal output unit, comprising: an interface unit connectable to an external network; and a display unit configured to display information obtained from the external network via the interface unit. And a display area of the display unit is divided into a plurality of divided display areas, and content source information indicating a source of content to be displayed in the divided display area is associated with the divided display area. The content source information of each divided display area is obtained from the screen profile management unit that manages the screen profile data. The browser is a point that is configured to acquire the content to be displayed in each divided display area of the content source information as the link information.
[0009]
According to the above configuration, the display area of the display unit of the remote controller is divided into the divided display areas by the screen profile data obtained from the screen profile management means, and the content source information is allocated to each divided display area. Then, the content to be displayed with the allocated content source information as link information is acquired by the browser and displayed in the corresponding divided display area. The user of the remote controller can obtain a desired screen display by obtaining screen profile data that suits his / her preference.
[0010]
Here, if the screen profile management means is provided in the remote control device, it is preferable that a user can quickly obtain an appropriate screen profile data from the screen profile data matching the user's own remote control device. It is preferable to provide a screen profile server constructed on a network in that it is possible to select screen profile data that suits the user's preference from a large number of screen profile data. If the screen profile management means is provided in a layout editing device that edits and generates the screen profile data, it is preferable in that the screen profile data can be arranged at any time according to the user's preference.
[0011]
A first characteristic configuration of the layout editing apparatus according to the present invention is a layout editing apparatus that performs layout editing of a display area of a display unit of a remote control device, as described in claim 6 of the claims. A divided display area defining unit that divides the display area into basic display cells of a predetermined size and defines a divided area based on the divided basic display cells or a combination of the basic display cells as a divided display area; Display content defining means for allocating content to be displayed; and screen profile data generating means for generating screen profile data that includes identification data of the remote control device and associates the divided display area with the content. It is in the point.
[0012]
The user, according to his / her preference, divides the display area into divided display areas as display units of content obtained by combining basic cells of a predetermined size or basic cells by the divided display area defining means, and divides the display area into divided display areas by the display content defining means. The content to be displayed is appropriately selected and allocated, and furthermore, identification data of the remote control device is added thereto to generate screen profile data. Here, the identification data of the remote control device is data indicating a configuration of a display area of a display unit provided in the remote control device, and is more preferably data that can specify a control target device that can be controlled by the remote control device.
[0013]
Here, if the content is provided in a content server built on an external network, it is preferable in that a desired content can be selected from many contents, and the content is provided in a device to be controlled by the remote control device. May be. Further, the content is composed of content related to a device to be controlled by the remote control device and content unrelated to the device to be controlled, realizing the original function of the remote control device and additionally providing a useful display. It becomes possible.
[0014]
According to a first feature configuration of the information display system according to the present invention, as described in claim 10 of the claims, the screen profile data by the layout editing apparatus described in the first feature configuration is uploaded. Screen profile server, a remote control device described in the first characteristic configuration described above, and a content server to which the display content to the divided display area of the remote control device is uploaded, the remote control device, the remote control device, The screen profile of the display area is determined based on the screen profile data downloaded from the profile server, and the content of the screen profile determined from the content server is downloaded and displayed. , At any time, the display screen of the remote control device Mino useful information layout is that the infrastructure viewable is provided. Since the screen profile data stored in the screen profile server and the content stored in the content server can be provided by a third party, various applications are provided. Here, the content uploaded to the content server can be efficiently displayed in the divided display area as long as the content has a display size corresponding to the divided display area based on the basic display cell or a combination of the basic display cells.
[0015]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment in a case where the present invention is applied to a water heater provided in a home will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a water heater 1 as a control target device including a heat source device and a hot water terminal device connected to the heat source device, and operation and stop of the water heater 1, setting of hot water temperature, and the like are operated and input. A remote control device 2 and a personal computer 3 are provided in a home 8. The remote control device 2 and the personal computer 3 are connected to a network via a wireless LAN, and are configured to be accessible to external servers 6 and 7 via the Internet 5. I have.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 2, the remote control device 2 includes a display unit 21 having a 640 × 480 dot touch panel type liquid crystal display device, a liquid crystal driver circuit 22, a controller 23 for controlling the operation of the remote control device, A control signal is transmitted between the water heater 1 and a memory means 24 including a RAM 24a for storing control information for the water heater 1 and display information for the display unit and a ROM 24b which is a nonvolatile memory for storing an effective program by the controller 23. It comprises an input / output signal output unit 26 and an interface unit 25 connectable to the Internet 5 as an external network. Here, a control instruction information input unit for the water heater 1 is configured by the touch panel of the liquid crystal display device and its peripheral circuits (not shown).
[0017]
The ROM 24b includes a browser that displays information obtained from an external network via the interface unit 25 on the display unit 21. As shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, the display area of the display unit 21 of the remote control device is divided into a plurality of divided display areas, and an external server (screen profile server) 7 as a screen profile management unit is connected via the Internet 5. The display information to each divided display area is defined based on the input screen profile data in which the input content source information indicating the content to be displayed in the divided display area and the divided display area are associated with each other, The browser is configured to acquire the content from the content server 6 as an external server using the content source information as link information and to display the content on the display unit 21.
[0018]
The editing of the display layout (editing and generating the screen profile data) in the display unit 21 will be described below. The editing of the layout is not limited to the operation performed by the owner of the remote control device. The data may be selectively provided according to the owner's preference. The layout editing device is configured by installing application software for layout editing on the personal computer 3. The layout editing device is configured based on a specification table such as the number of constituent pixels of the liquid crystal display device for the remote control device stored in the hard disk of the personal computer 3 in advance. The identification data (also referred to as a remote control ID) for specifying the liquid crystal display device used in the remote control device to be edited is selected, and the display area of the selected display device is set in a predetermined basic display cell configuration table ( For example, 4 × 3, 4 × 2, 2 × 3, etc.). In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, a case where a 4 × 3 configuration is selected will be described, so that the basic display cell is 160 × 160 dots. A divided basic display cell (each rectangular area indicated by the window numbers 1 to 12 in FIG. 3A) or a divided area based on a combination of the basic display cells is selected and defined as a divided display area. The software for executing the processing up to this point and the hardware of the computer constitute a divided display area defining means.
[0019]
Next, content to be displayed is allocated to each of the defined divided display areas. Specifically, a content table stored on the hard disk of the personal computer 3 (a title of a content that can be displayed for each divided display area, a sample image, and a URL of a content server that provides the content as content source information are table data. By selecting a desired content from the stored contents and dragging it to the corresponding divided display area, each content is associated with each divided display area. The software for executing the processing up to this point and the hardware of the computer constitute the content definition means.
[0020]
When the allocation of the contents is completed, as shown in FIG. 5, the identification data, the screen size, the number of basic display cell divisions, the number of contents data, and the window data (defined by the window numbers of the basic display cells constituting the divided display area). ) And the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the content associated with the divided display area specified by the window data are automatically generated. Screen profile data generating means is constituted by software for executing this processing and hardware of a computer.
[0021]
The generated screen profile data is stored in a region defined as a screen profile database on the hard disk of the personal computer 3, and is configured to be uploaded to the screen profile server 7. Here, an interface unit may be provided in the memory unit 24 of the remote control device 2 or the memory unit (not shown) provided in the control unit of the water heater 1 so as to be uploadable. That is, the profile management means 7 can be constructed in any one of the personal computer 3, the server 7 on the Internet, the remote control device 2, and a heat source device or a hot water terminal which is a device to be controlled by the remote control device 2.
[0022]
Hereinafter, the setting of the display screen of the remote control device 2 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 3B, the initial screen of the remote control device 2 is used to set a "Control" icon for shifting to a device control screen, an "Information" icon for shifting to a display screen for additional information, and screen settings. The “Initialize” icon is displayed, and when the “Initialize” icon is turned on, icons such as “remote control device”, “water heater”, and “server” are displayed as a source of screen profile data (not shown). When the "server" icon is turned on, the screen profile server 7 is accessed via the interface unit 25, and a "Control" icon and an "Information" icon are displayed on the screen. Next, when the “Control” icon is turned on, a list of screen profile data for device control is downloaded, and when the “Information” icon is turned on, a list of screen profile data for displaying additional information is downloaded and displayed. The list is a list of those applicable to the remote control device. When one of the lists is turned on, the corresponding screen profile data is downloaded and installed in the memory means 24 as display program data of the remote control device. Here, if the identification data is configured to include data capable of specifying the control target device, the screen profile data in the “Control” mode can display a plurality of lists specialized for the control target device. Easy to choose. Even when one of “remote control device” and “water heater” is selected as the source of the screen profile data, the same processing is performed only by different screen profile data acquisition routes, but “water heater” is selected. At that time, screen profile data specialized by the manufacturer of the water heater can be obtained. When the "remote control device" is selected, it is necessary to select it when a plurality of screen profile data are stored in the memory means 24, but when only a single profile data is provided, the default is selected. Set as a value.
[0023]
When the above setting is completed, the screen returns to the initial screen shown in FIG. 3B. Here, when the “Control” icon is turned on, the browser causes the content to be divided for each divided display area based on the image profile data. Content defined by HTML data or XML data is acquired from the content server 6 using the source information as link information, and is displayed on the display unit 21. For example, as shown in FIG. 3C, a control icon indicated by a pictogram is displayed. When the icon indicating the bath at the lower left of the drawing is turned on, the bath water level setting icon and the bath temperature setting icon acquired from the content server 6 are displayed as shown in FIG. When the water level setting level display section of the water level setting icon is turned on or the temperature setting level icon of the bath temperature setting icon is turned on, as shown in the mechanical operation and terminal operation columns of FIG. Calls the temperature and water level setting control program to the hot water terminal and activates it, receives the acknowledgment from the heat source unit and the hot water terminal, and reverses the set temperature and water level in a manner different from other values, for example, inversion. It is displayed.
[0024]
On the other hand, when the "Information" icon is turned on, as shown in the column of the link A to the information in FIG. 6, the browser transmits the content source information for each divided display area based on the image profile data to the link information. The content defined by the HTML data and the XML data is acquired from the content server 6 and displayed on the display unit 21. For example, date data and weather forecast data as shown in FIG. 4A are displayed by combining pictograms and the like, and as shown in FIG. 4C, date data and news data are displayed. The icon “M” shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is an operation switch for returning to the initial screen, and the icon “R” is an operation switch for returning to the previous screen. FIG. 4B shows a screen for setting date data, which is displayed when the month display icon of “March” is turned on in FIG. 4A and shows a selection screen for selecting a month with an up / down icon. It is. Data that changes every moment, such as weather forecast data, is automatically updated periodically by a display control program stored in the memory means 24.
[0025]
As described above, the information display system of the remote control device includes the screen profile server 7 to which the screen profile data has been uploaded by the layout editing device, the remote control device 2, and the display content in the divided display area of the remote control device 2. And the content server 6 (6a, 6b,..., 6n) to which the remote control device 2 uploads the screen profile of the display area based on the screen profile data downloaded from the screen profile server 7. The content of the determined screen profile is downloaded from the content server 6 and displayed. The above-described configuration enables the user to arrange the display mode and to easily obtain desired information without following a deep link. Additional information can be displayed by simple operation Information display system is realized.
[0026]
Hereinafter, another embodiment will be described. In the above-described embodiment, the remote control device of the water heater has been described as an example. However, the remote control device is not limited to this, and can be applied to a remote control device that controls any device, and according to the present invention, Thus, a remote control device that can be used in common by a plurality of devices is realized.
[0027]
In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the screen profile data is acquired from the screen profile server 7 as the screen profile management unit has been described. However, the screen profile data is constructed in the remote control device itself, the device to be controlled, the layout editing device, and the like. It can be obtained from the screen profile management means.
[0028]
With regard to downloading of content from the content server, a management device that charges for the number of basic display cells constituting the divided display area may be provided in the content server.
[0029]
In the above-described embodiment, the remote control device having the single remote control function and the additional information display function of one screen has been described. However, it is natural that the remote control device has different remote control functions for different models and the additional information display function of multiple screens. While possible.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a remote control device, a layout editing device, and a remote control device that allow a user to arrange a display mode and display additional information by a simple operation without following a deep link with desired information are provided. An information display system can now be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information display system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a remote control device. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a display unit of the remote control device. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a display unit of the remote control device. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of profile data. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of operation of a remote control device.
1: water heater 2: remote control device 3: layout editing device (personal computer)
5: Internet 6: Content server 7: Screen profile server 8: Home 21: Display unit 22: LCD driver circuit 23: Controller 24: Memory means 25: Interface unit 26: Signal output unit

Claims (11)

A remote control device that includes a display unit and outputs, via a signal output unit, control instruction information input through an operation input unit as a control signal for a device,
An interface unit that can be connected to an external network, and a browser that displays information obtained from the external network via the interface unit on the display unit, and the display area of the display unit is divided into a plurality of divided display areas. Obtaining content source information of each divided display area from screen profile management means for managing screen profile data in which content source information indicating a source of content to be displayed in the divided display area is associated with the divided display area; A remote control device, wherein the browser acquires the content to be displayed in each divided display area using the content source information as link information. The remote control device according to claim 1, further comprising the screen profile management unit. 2. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the screen profile management means is provided in a screen profile server constructed on the external network. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the screen profile management means is provided in the device. 2. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein the screen profile management unit is provided in a layout editing device that edits and generates the screen profile data. A layout editing device for layout editing a display area of a display unit of a remote control device,
A divided display area defining means for dividing the display area into basic display cells of a predetermined size, and defining a divided area based on the divided basic display cells or a combination of the basic display cells as a divided display area; Display content defining means for allocating content to be displayed on the remote control device, and screen profile data generating means for generating screen profile data including the identification data of the remote control device and associating the divided display area with the content. Layout editing device. 7. The layout editing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the content is provided in a content server constructed on an external network. 7. The layout editing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the content is provided in a device to be controlled by the remote control device. 9. The layout editing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the content includes content related to a device to be controlled by the remote control device and content unrelated to the device to be controlled. 10. A screen profile server to which screen profile data is uploaded by the layout editing device according to claim 6, a remote control device according to claim 1, and a content to which display contents to be displayed on a divided display area of the remote control device are uploaded. And a remote control device, wherein the remote control device determines a screen profile of the display area based on screen profile data downloaded from the screen profile server, and downloads and displays content of the determined screen profile from the content server. Remote control device information display system. The information display system of a remote control device according to claim 10, wherein the content uploaded to the content server is a content having a display size corresponding to the divided display area by the basic display cell or a combination of the basic display cells.

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