JP2008109309A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify a user of exhaustion of the battery of a remote controller via an image display device, in an electronic equipment equipped with a remote controller and connected to the image display device. <P>SOLUTION: The remote controllers 10 and 50 send a signal of the battery exhaustion from a signal transmitting part 15, when a battery 13 is exhausted and the voltage detected by a voltage detecting part 12 decreases below a predetermined voltage. In a reception part 22 of a main part 20, when receiving the signal of the battery exhaustion sent from remote the controllers 10 and 50, a received signal determination part 23 determines a remote controller sending the signal. Then, a signal of a synthetic image obtained by combining an OSD display showing that a battery of the corresponding remote controller is exhausted with the contents of the image reproduced at the time is generated. Based on the signal, the synthetic image is displayed on a display 40. When the display 40 is turned off, the reception of the signal of the battery exhaustion is stored in the memory of a second control part 21. Immediately after a power supply is turned on, the exhaustion of a battery is displayed on the display 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to an electronic device that includes a remote controller such as a VCR or a DVD player and is connected to a display.

  Electronic devices equipped with a remote control that allow users to perform operations such as switch on / off, channel switching, image playback, stop, and fast-forward without approaching the main unit have been widely used for a long time. Yes.

  The remote control stops operating when the built-in driving battery is exhausted and the voltage drops, so the battery needs to be replaced. However, the user is aware that the battery is exhausted only when the user cannot operate the electronic device with the remote controller. This is inconvenient because a period in which the user cannot use the battery is generated unless a replacement battery is prepared. In addition, there is a problem that it is not known whether the reason why the main body cannot be operated by the remote control is due to a failure of the main body or because the battery of the remote control is exhausted.

  Therefore, in order to clarify battery consumption and prompt the user to replace or charge the battery when it is desired to replace or charge the battery, in Patent Documents 1 to 3, the voltage of the battery is reduced by the detection means built in the remote control. When this is detected, a method has been proposed in which battery consumption is displayed on a display device provided on the main body by transmitting to the main body side.

  In the methods proposed in Patent Documents 1 to 3, since the battery voltage is detected and the detection result is transmitted for each key operation, the power consumption of the remote controller is increased and the operation time of the entire wireless communication system is shortened. The problem arises. Therefore, in Patent Document 4, the main body side instructs the remote control to detect the remaining battery level, and the remote control receives the instruction, detects the remaining battery level, transmits the detection result, and receives it on the display unit on the main body side. A method for displaying the result is proposed.

  In Patent Document 5, when the battery voltage drops while transmitting data from the remote control transmitter, the data is transmitted and a signal indicating the voltage drop is transmitted, and the signal is received by the receiving unit of the VTR. Then, a method of performing a display notifying the necessity of battery replacement on a television screen, LED, or voice has been proposed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-153268 (second page, third page, FIGS. 3 and 4) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-245281 (page 4, page 5, FIG. 4) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 09-331585 (5th page, FIG. 8) JP 2000-332644 (5th page, 6th page, FIG. 3) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-076067 (2nd page, 3rd page, FIG. 1)

  According to the methods proposed in Patent Documents 1 to 4, the battery consumption of the remote control can be notified only by the display means of the main body. Further, according to the method proposed in Patent Document 5, the battery consumption of the remote control can be displayed on the television connected to the VTR, but cannot be displayed when the television is turned off. Therefore, the present invention can display that the battery of the remote control has been exhausted in the image display device, and receive that the battery of the remote control has been exhausted when the power of the image display device connected to the main body is turned off. An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that can immediately display when an image display device is turned on.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention inherently detects a battery, a voltage detector that detects the voltage of the battery, and that the voltage of the battery detected by the voltage detector is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage. A remote controller having a signal transmitter for transmitting a battery consumption signal together with the code of the receiver, a receiver for receiving the battery consumption signal, a display, and an interface for transmitting a signal to the image display device, the receiver When the battery consumption signal is received in the electronic device, the display unit displays that the battery is exhausted and transmits a signal indicating that the battery is exhausted from the interface. When receiving the battery consumption signal, if the image display device senses that the power is off, the battery consumption signal has been received. Storing in the memory, and then detecting that the battery has been exhausted from the interface based on the received storage of the battery depletion signal in the memory when sensing that the image display device is powered on The battery exhaustion signal can be received for a plurality of the remote controllers, and a signal indicating that the battery is exhausted is transmitted from the interface for each of the remote controllers. As the image display device, for example, a monitor or television provided with a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display or a liquid crystal display device can be used.

  The present invention also provides a battery, a voltage detection unit that detects the voltage of the battery, and a battery depletion together with a unique code when detecting that the voltage of the battery detected by the voltage detection unit is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage. A remote control having a signal transmission unit for transmitting a signal, a reception unit for receiving the battery consumption signal, and an interface for transmitting a signal to the image display device, and receiving the battery consumption signal in the reception unit, In an electronic device including a main body that transmits a signal indicating that the battery is depleted from the interface, the main body senses that the image display device is turned off when the battery depletion signal is received. , Storing in the memory that the battery consumption signal has been received, and then sensing that the image display device is turned on, The battery from the interface based on the stored received ponds depletion signal and transmits a signal indicating that it has depleted.

  In the electronic device having the above configuration, when the main body includes a display unit and the receiving unit receives the battery consumption signal from a remote controller corresponding to the main body, the battery of the remote controller corresponding to the main body is displayed on the display unit. It is good also as what displays exhaustion.

  According to the present invention, by displaying on the image display device connected to the main body, it is possible to clearly notify the user that the battery of the remote control has been exhausted. In addition, when the image display apparatus connected to the main body is turned off, if it is received that the battery of the remote control has been exhausted, it can be displayed as soon as the image display apparatus is turned on. Furthermore, not only the image display device but also a display unit provided in the electronic device main body can notify the consumption of the battery of the remote controller corresponding to the electronic device main body.

  In addition, by simply changing the configuration of the electronic device main body, not only the remote control corresponding to the electronic device main body but also the battery consumption of the remote control of other electronic devices can be notified to the user through an image display device such as a television. it can.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the remote controller, main body, and display of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a control flowchart of the remote controller of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of the main body and display of this embodiment.

  The remote controller 10 of the present embodiment is driven by a battery. As shown in FIG. 1, the first controller 11, the voltage detector 12, the battery 13, a plurality of keys 14, and a signal transmitter 15 are provided. With.

  The main body 20, which is a DVD / VCR multifunction device, includes a second control unit 21, a reception unit 22, a reception signal determination unit 23, a display unit 24, and a first interface 25. The reception unit 22 receives a signal transmitted from the signal transmission unit 15 of the remote controller 10, and the reception signal determination unit 23 determines the content of the received signal. The first interface 25 is connected to the second interface 42 of the display 40 via the cable 30, and sends an image signal to be displayed on the screen 43 of the display 40 to the display 40. The display unit 24 is composed of an LED (Light Emitting Diode) that displays the operating state of the main body 20 and the remote controller 10, and is provided on a front panel (not shown) of the main body 20 so that the user can easily see it. It has been.

  The display 40 includes a third control unit 41, a second interface 42, and a screen 43. The third control unit 41 receives an image signal from the main body 20 via the cable 30 and the second interface 42, and the screen 43 displays an image based on the signal.

  The main unit 20 is a DVD / VCR multi-function peripheral that records and plays back DVD discs and video tapes, and plays back video recorded on DVD discs and video tapes on the screen 43 of the display 40 connected to the main unit 20. can do.

  The remote controller 10 is used by a user to operate the main body 20 from a remote position. The remote controller 10 operates to turn on the power of the main body 20 in standby, to turn off the power of the main body 20 and return to the standby state, Operations such as video tape recording, playback, pause, stop, and channel switching of the built-in tuner can be performed by pressing a key 14 corresponding to each operation.

  When the remote controller 10 depresses a key 14 corresponding to a desired operation, the first control unit 11 detects this and transmits a signal corresponding to the operation from the signal transmission unit 15 together with a carrier wave such as infrared rays or radio waves. In the main body 20, the signal is received by the receiving unit 22, and the received signal determining unit 23 determines the content of the signal and performs a desired operation.

  In the present embodiment, when the battery 13 of the remote controller 10 is exhausted, this is displayed on the display unit 24 of the main body 20 and the screen 43 of the display 40. Hereinafter, this control will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the voltage detection unit 12 of the remote controller 10 constantly monitors the voltage of the battery 13 (S110). When the battery 13 is consumed and the voltage drops to a predetermined value, for example, 2.0 V or less, and this is detected by the voltage detection unit 12 (S120), the first control unit 11 receives it, and the signal transmission unit 15 A battery consumption signal is transmitted together with a code specific to the remote controller 10 (S130). The predetermined value of this voltage is not limited to 2.0 V, but is preferably a voltage higher than the voltage at which the remote controller 10 does not operate completely in order to give the user time to replace the battery 13.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the main body 20 always waits for a signal in the recording, reproduction or standby state of the DVD disk and video tape (S210). In this state, when the signal received by the reception unit 22 is determined by the reception signal determination unit 23 to be a battery exhaustion signal of the remote control 10 (S220), for example, “battery” is displayed on the display unit 24, and the remote control 10 Is displayed (S230). Subsequently, the second control unit 21 generates a battery consumption display signal for displaying on-screen display (OSD) that the battery 13 has been exhausted on the screen 43 of the display 40 (S240), and is displayed on the screen 43 at that time. A composite image signal is generated by combining the content of the current video and the OSD display indicating that the battery 13 is exhausted (S250). In the display 40, when the composite image signal is received by the second interface 42 via the first interface 25 and the cable 30, the third control unit 41 displays on the screen 43 based on the signal, for example, “DVD player”. An image obtained by combining the characters “the battery of the remote controller is low” with the image currently displayed is displayed (S260).

  When the power of the display 40 is turned off, the battery consumption signal is received by the reception unit 22, the reception signal determination unit 23 determines that the battery consumption signal is for the remote control 10, and the battery of the remote control 10 is displayed on the display unit 24. It is displayed that 13 is exhausted. Subsequently, the second control unit 21 of the main body 20 senses that the display 40 is turned off via the first interface 25 and the cable 30, and the battery in the memory built in the second control unit 21 is depleted. It memorizes that the signal was received. Then, when the second control unit 21 senses that the display 40 is turned on, the contents of the image displayed on the screen 43 at that time and the fact that the battery 13 is depleted are based on the contents of the memory. A composite image signal combined with the OSD display is transmitted to the display 40, and an OSD display indicating that the battery 13 has been exhausted is immediately displayed on the screen 43 as a composite image with the video currently displayed.

  As a result, the user can be clearly and quickly notified that the battery of the remote controller 10 has been exhausted. The display 24 continues to be displayed until the battery is replaced while the main body 20 is turned on, and the OSD display on the screen 43 of the display 40 can be erased by operating the keys 14 of the remote controller 10. It is good. In addition, when the battery 13 of the remote controller 10 is replaced with a new one while the power of the display 40 is turned off, when the voltage detector 12 detects that the voltage of the battery 13 is higher than a predetermined value, the first In response to this, the control unit 11 transmits a signal indicating that the voltage of the battery 13 is higher than a predetermined value together with a code unique to the remote controller 10 from the signal transmission unit 15. When this signal is received by the receiving unit 22 of the main body 20 and the reception signal determining unit 23 determines that the voltage of the battery 13 is higher than a predetermined value, the display on the display unit 24 is erased. The reception of the battery consumption signal from the memory of the second control unit 21 may be deleted.

  Further, in the present embodiment, not only the remote controller 10 for the main body 20 but also other remote controls for electrical appliances, for example, the remote controller 50 for an air conditioner, as shown in FIG. , And an OSD display can be made on the screen 43 of the display 40 to the effect that the battery of the remote controller 50 for the electrical appliance has been exhausted.

  In this case, it is assumed that the remote controller 50 includes the voltage detection unit 12, and a signal to be transmitted includes a code unique to the remote controller. In addition, the received signal determination unit 23 of the main body 20 reads the code included in the signal from the remote controller 50, determines which remote controller the signal is from, and determines that the signal is a battery exhaustion signal. Assume that a battery depletion display signal for generating an OSD display indicating that the remote control battery has been depleted is generated. In the present embodiment, the remote controller 50 has the same configuration as that of the remote controller 10, but may have a configuration different from that of the remote controller 10 as long as the above configuration is included.

  When the display 40 receives the battery consumption display signal from the remote controller 50, the third controller 41 displays the content displayed on the screen 43 at that time and the remote controller 50, as in the case of the remote controller 10 for the main body 20. A signal of an image combined with an OSD display indicating that the battery of the battery is exhausted is generated, and on the screen 43, for example, the words “the battery of the air conditioner remote control is low” are displayed at that time based on the signal Display the composite image with the current video.

  Further, when a plurality of remote control 10 and remote control 50 transmit battery exhaustion signals at the same time, it is possible to OSD display on the screen 43 of the display 40 that the batteries of those remote controls have been exhausted.

  In this case, if only the battery consumption of the remote control 10 for the main body 20 is displayed on the display unit of the main body 20 and the other battery consumption of the remote control is displayed only by the OSD display, the shape of the main body 20 Further, by changing only the second control unit 21 without greatly changing the design, it is possible to easily notify the battery consumption of a plurality of remote controllers. In the present embodiment, the number of remote controllers other than the remote controller 10 for the main body 20 is one, but two or more remote controllers may be used.

  The present invention can be applied to an electronic device used by connecting to a display such as a VCR or a DVD player, a television provided with the display, or the like.

Block diagram of remote control, main body and display of this embodiment Control flowchart of the remote controller of this embodiment Control flow chart of main body and display of this embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Remote control 12 Voltage detection part 13 Battery 15 Signal transmission part 20 Main body 22 Reception part 24 Display part 25 1st interface 40 Display

Claims (3)

A battery, a voltage detection unit for detecting the voltage of the battery, and a signal transmission for transmitting a battery depletion signal together with a unique code when detecting that the voltage of the battery detected by the voltage detection unit is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage A remote control having a portion;
A receiving unit that receives the battery consumption signal; a display unit; and an interface that transmits a signal to the image display device. When the battery consumption signal is received by the receiving unit, the battery is consumed in the display unit. In an electronic device comprising: a main body that transmits a signal indicating that the battery is exhausted from the interface,
When the main body senses that the image display device is turned off when the battery consumption signal is received, the main body stores the fact that the battery consumption signal has been received in a memory, and then the power source of the image display device is turned off. When detecting that the battery has entered, a signal indicating that the battery has been exhausted is transmitted from the interface based on the received storage of the battery exhaustion signal in the memory,
An electronic apparatus, wherein the battery exhaustion signal can be received for a plurality of the remote controllers, and a signal indicating that the batteries are exhausted for each of the remote controllers is transmitted from the interface. A battery, a voltage detection unit for detecting the voltage of the battery, and a signal transmission for transmitting a battery depletion signal together with a unique code when detecting that the voltage of the battery detected by the voltage detection unit is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage A remote control having a portion;
A signal that includes a receiving unit that receives the battery depletion signal and an interface that transmits a signal to the image display device. When the battery depletion signal is received by the receiving unit, a signal that indicates that the battery has been depleted from the interface. In an electronic device comprising a main body for transmitting
When the main body senses that the image display device is turned off when the battery consumption signal is received, the main body stores the fact that the battery consumption signal has been received in a memory, and then the image display device is turned on. When the electronic device detects that the battery is exhausted, the interface transmits a signal indicating that the battery is exhausted from the interface based on the received storage of the battery exhaustion signal in the memory.   The said main body is provided with the display part, and when the said battery consumption signal is received from the remote control corresponding to the said main body in the said receiving part, it will display that the said battery of the remote control corresponding to the said main body was exhausted in the said display part. The electronic device as described in.

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