JP2008306539A - Electric appliance and method for setting on timer function thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically control ON timer operation safely and efficiently. <P>SOLUTION: A television receiver 1 of the present invention was powered on on the previous day, so that a no-operation OFF execution flag becomes FALSE. At the time of ON timer setting, therefore, the television receiver is automatically powered on (S6). If a user is absent, however, no operation is performed, so that in accordance with a determination in S8, the television receiver is automatically powered off (S9). On the second day while the user is absent, the no-operation OFF execution flag is set to TRUE on the previous day as mentioned above. A determination in S5 becomes "No", therefore, so that the television receiver is kept in an initial state (powered off) as it is. In the case where the user comes back home later, in order to power on the television receiver 1, it is necessary for the user to perform power-on operation (S2) without fail (S2). The no-operation OFF execution flag is set to FALSE thereafter (S11), and the television receiver 1 is brought into active state (S12). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric device having a function of automatically turning on its power by an on-timer function, such as a television receiver. Further, the present invention relates to a method for setting a timer function in this electric device.

  In addition to being able to operate the power supply of household electric appliances such as a television receiver with a power switch, an on / off operation may be controlled by a timer operation. For example, the power can be automatically turned on at a preset time (on time) in the morning by an on timer to substitute for an alarm clock. Also, from the viewpoint of safety and saving power consumption, the power can be automatically turned off when the power is turned on and left unoperated for a long time. In this case, when it is determined that no user operation is performed within a preset automatic off time, the power is automatically turned off by the automatic off function (off timer). With these functions, the television receiver is easy to use for the user and is safe and consumes low power.

  The on time and the automatic off time can be freely set by the user. However, such an operation is not always preferable. For example, a user may watch a television program of the same broadcast station for a long time at night, and in this case, even if the user uses this television receiver for a long time, There may be no operation at all. In this case, a situation occurs in which the power is automatically turned off while the user is viewing.

  For this reason, Patent Document 1 describes a television receiver that stores a viewing history of a user's television program and controls an off-timer operation according to this information. In general, since television programs are determined in units of days of the week, this television receiver controls the operations of the off timer and on timer according to the viewing history for each day of the week, and performs power off and on operations more appropriately. I was able to.

  The above example is a television receiver, but the same applies to other electric devices such as an air conditioner.

JP 2004-349946 A

  However, the user may be absent for a long time. In particular, in such a case, if the user forgets to cancel the on-timer setting, or if this setting cannot be canceled, the television receiver automatically turns off every morning in the morning despite the absence of the user. A situation occurs in which the power is turned on. This situation is the same when the on timer and the off timer are set based on the viewing history. It is clear that this situation is not preferable from the viewpoint of safety or energy saving.

  For this reason, there has been a demand for an electric device that automatically and safely controls the on-timer operation, and an on-timer function setting method used therefor.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to provide an invention that solves the above problems.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configurations.
The electrical device of the present invention has a timer, and when the power is turned off, an on-timer function for automatically turning on the power when the current time obtained from the timer has passed the automatic on time; An electric device including a control unit having an automatic off function for automatically turning off the power when no operation is performed by the user within the automatic off time, and the control unit operates the on-timer function and It is determined whether or not the user is absent based on the operation of the automatic off function, and the on-timer function is invalidated when it is determined that the user is absent.
In the electric device of the present invention, the control unit, when the power is automatically turned off by the automatic off function without any operation by the user after the power is turned on by the on-timer function, The on-timer function is disabled.
In the electric device according to the present invention, the controller is configured such that a day when the power is automatically turned off by the automatic off function without any operation by a user after the power is turned on by the on-timer function continues. The on-timer function is invalidated when the number of days exceeds a preset number of days.
In the electric device of the present invention, the control unit enables the on-timer function when a power-on operation is performed by a user when the power is off and the on-timer function is invalid. It is characterized by doing.
In the electric device according to the present invention, the control unit uses the on-timer function when a power-on operation is performed by the user when the power is off and the on-timer function is invalid. It is characterized by having a function of resetting to.
In the electric device of the present invention, the control unit sets the automatic on time and / or the automatic off time based on a usage history of the electric device.
In the electric device according to the present invention, the electric device is a television receiver.
The on-timer function setting method of the present invention has a timer, and when the power is turned off, an on-timer function that automatically turns on the power when the current time obtained from the timer has passed the automatic on-time; A method for setting the on-timer function in an electrical device having an automatic-off function that automatically turns off the power when the user does not perform an operation within the automatic-off time when the power is turned on, the on-timer function The on-timer function is set to be invalid when the power is automatically turned off by the automatic off function without any user operation after the power is turned on.
The on-timer function setting method of the present invention has a timer, and when the power is turned off, an on-timer function that automatically turns on the power when the current time obtained from the timer has passed the automatic on-time; A method for setting the on-timer function in an electrical device having an automatic-off function that automatically turns off the power when the user does not perform an operation within the automatic-off time when the power is turned on, the on-timer function If the number of consecutive days when the power is automatically turned off by the auto-off function exceeds the preset number of days without any user operation after the power is turned on by The timer function is set to be invalid.
The on-timer function setting method of the present invention is characterized in that the on-timer function is set to be valid when a power-on operation is performed by a user when the on-timer function is set to be invalid. And
The on-timer function setting method of the present invention is characterized in that the automatic on-time and / or automatic off-time are set based on a usage history of the electric device.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the electric equipment which can perform control of the on-timer operation used for power-on safely and automatically can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a television receiver 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the television receiver 1, the channel selection unit 2 receives a broadcast radio wave and selects a channel. The video processing unit 3 generates a video / audio signal from the selected signal, and the OSD generation unit 4 generates a video signal in which various types of information are superimposed on the video signal. The display unit 5 displays the video / audio signal thus obtained. The display unit 5 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display and a speaker. The power supply circuit 6 supplies power to all these components. The control part 7 is comprised by the microcomputer etc. which control all these components. The memory 8 stores information for the control unit 7 to perform this control operation. The timer 9 calculates an elapsed time from the current time and a certain set time, and outputs this to the control unit 7.

  Although not shown in FIG. 1, the television receiver 1 is remotely operated by a separate remote control transmitter. Therefore, the television receiver 1 also includes a receiving unit that receives a signal from the remote control transmitter.

  In the television receiver 1, the control unit 7 controls the power supply circuit 6 with reference to the memory 8 and the timer 9. Since this control is always performed, power is always supplied from the power supply circuit 6 to the control unit 7, the memory 8, and the timer 9, and the operation for supplying power to the other components other than these is hereinafter referred to as power-on. Hereinafter, the operation for cutting off the power supply to the above-described components other than these will be referred to as power-off. Since the power consumption of the control unit 7, the memory 8, and the timer 9 is smaller than that of other components (for example, the display unit 5), the power consumption in a state where power is supplied only to these components is the power to all the components. This value is negligible compared to the case where is inserted. It is possible to set the control unit 7, the memory 8, and the timer 9 to a mode in which the power is not turned on. However, in this case, since no operation is performed in the television receiver 1, in this case Will not be considered later. Hereinafter, it is assumed that power is always supplied to the control unit 7, the memory 8, and the timer 9.

  The television receiver 1 has a function of automatically turning on the power at a predetermined time (on timer function) when the power is turned off. For this reason, there are two types of control modes in which the on-timer setting is turned on or off as control modes in which the control unit 7 controls the power supply circuit 6 in the power-off state. In either mode, when the power is off, the power can be turned on by a user operation. This operation can be performed using, for example, operation keys provided on the remote control transmitter. When the on-timer setting is off, the power-on operation is performed only by this operation by the user.

  When the on-timer setting is on, the power is automatically turned on when the set on-time has elapsed, other than the power-on operation by the user. For this reason, the control unit 7 obtains the data of the current time from the timer 9, controls the power supply circuit 6 according to this, and turns on the power.

  Whether the on-timer setting is on or off can be freely set by the user, and is stored in the memory 8. In the on-timer setting, the memory 8 also stores the automatic on-time data. Usually, this time is a morning time zone and can be set to AM 6:00, for example, but is arbitrary depending on the mode of use. The automatic on time can be set arbitrarily by the user.

  In the television receiver 1, a no-operation-off execution flag is set as a parameter relating to this operation, and the memory 8 stores this. The no-operation off execution flag has two states, TRUE and FALSE. When the no-operation off execution flag is TRUE, the on-timer function is disabled even when the on-timer setting is on. When the no-operation off execution flag is FALSE, the on-timer function is valid in the television receiver 1.

  The television receiver 1 is also provided with an automatic off function in order to automatically turn off the power. The automatic off time is set as this parameter, and the memory 8 stores this. The auto-off time is a time for automatically turning off the power when the next operation is not performed within this time after some operation. This time is set to 3 hours, for example, but can be arbitrarily set by the user.

  The memory 8 also stores a history of operations performed by the user. That is, the contents of the key operation performed and the time when this operation was performed are stored. However, the contents of the key operation may not be stored, and only the time may be stored. The number of operations to be stored is arbitrary, and only the time at which the most recent operation was performed may be stored.

  The control unit 7 automatically changes the setting of the no-operation-off execution flag at the same time as turning on the power based on the information stored in the memory 8.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing this operation. The operation here shows the operation of the control unit 7 in a state where the power of the television receiver 1 is turned off (standby state: S1). This flow starts immediately after the television receiver 1 is turned off.

  First, in the power-off state (S1), it is determined (S2) whether or not an operation for turning on the power by the user has been performed. This operation may be performed by a key operation on the remote control transmitter, or may be performed by a switch operation on the main body of the television receiver 1.

  If it is recognized that a power-on operation has been performed (S2), the no-operation off execution flag stored in the memory 8 is set to FALSE (S11). Next, the power supply circuit 6 is controlled to turn on the power supply (S12), whereby the television receiver 1 is in a state in which the user can view the television program. Thereafter, the television receiver is turned off when the user performs a power-off operation or when the automatic off function is activated (S13). In either case, the no-operation-off execution flag remains set to FALSE.

  When the user does not perform an operation for turning on the power (S2), the control unit 7 refers to the memory 8 and determines whether or not the on-timer setting is turned on ( S3). If the on-timer setting is not turned on, it is determined that the subsequent operation is unnecessary, and the process returns to the initial state (S1). That is, the power off state is maintained. When the on-timer setting is not on, the television receiver 1 is powered only by a power-on operation by the user and is not automatically turned on.

  When the on-timer setting is on (S3), the control unit 7 refers to the timer 9 and refers to the current time. Also, the automatic on time is read with reference to the memory 8. If the current time is before the automatic on-time (S4), it is determined that the subsequent operation is unnecessary, and the process returns to the initial state (S1). That is, the power off state is maintained.

  When the current time has passed the automatic on time (S4), the control unit 7 refers to the memory 8 again to determine the state of the no-operation off execution flag (S5). When the no-operation-off execution flag is not FALSE (S5), the control unit 7 controls the power supply circuit 6 to turn on the power (S6). As a result, the power is automatically turned on. That is, in this state, the power is turned on at the time set by the user. Thus, the television receiver 1 can be used as a substitute for an alarm clock.

  Thereafter, the control unit 7 reads the automatic off time from the memory 8 in a state where the power is turned on, refers to the timer 9, and whether the current time has passed the automatic off time since the power was turned on. It is determined whether or not (S7). When the time has elapsed, it is determined with reference to the operation history stored in the memory 8 whether or not any operation has been performed by the user during the automatic off time (S8). If an operation by the user has been performed even once during this period (S8), the no-operation off execution flag is set to FALSE (S11). Thereafter, the same operation as when the power is turned on by the user (S2) is performed.

  When it is determined that no operation is performed by the user within the no-operation off time (S8), the control unit 7 controls the power supply circuit 6 to turn off the power (S9). Next, the no-operation-off execution flag is set to TRUE, and after the memory 8 stores this, the initial state (S1) is set again. This state is a state in which the television receiver 1 is turned off by the automatic off function as it is without being operated after that even though the power of the television receiver 1 is turned on by the on-timer function.

  In the above flowchart, when S2 is “Yes” or S8 is “Yes”, it is determined that the user is at home. In either case, some operation is performed by the user. In this case, the no-operation off execution flag is set to FALSE (S11).

  If the determination in S8 is “No”, it is determined that the user is absent, and the no-operation off execution flag is set to TRUE.

  An operation in the case where the user has used this television receiver 1 by the previous day and goes out from the early morning with the power off on the next day will be described below. Hereinafter, only the case where the on-timer operation is on will be described.

  In this case, since the power of the television receiver 1 is turned on the previous day, the no-operation-off execution flag is FALSE. Accordingly, the power is automatically turned on at the time set by the on timer (S6). However, since the user is absent and no operation is performed, the power is automatically turned off by the determination in S8 (S9). That is, the power is automatically turned off (S9) after the automatic off time has elapsed since the automatic on (S6). Further, the no-operation off execution flag is set to TRUE (S10).

  The operation on the second day when the user is absent will be described below. In this case, as described above, the no-operation-off execution flag is set to TRUE on the previous day. Therefore, since the determination in S5 is “No”, the initial state (power off) is maintained. That is, on the second day of absence, even if the on-timer is set, the power is not automatically turned on (S6). This operation is the same after the next day if there is no user. Therefore, the power is not automatically turned on after the next day when it is recognized that the user is absent. When the no-operation off execution flag is TRUE, the on-timer function is invalid according to the determination in S5.

  Next, the operation when the user returns home will be described. Since the on-timer function is disabled, the power is always turned off when the user returns home. In order to turn on the power of the television receiver 1, the user must turn on the power ( S2) There is a need. Thereafter, the no-operation-off execution flag is set to FALSE (S11), and the television receiver 1 is set in an operating state (S12). Thereafter, the power is turned off by the user, or the power is automatically turned off after the automatic off time elapses to enter a standby state (S13).

  On the next day, since the no-operation-off execution flag is FALSE, the power of the television receiver 1 is turned on by the user's power-on operation (S2) or automatic on-time (S6) by the on-timer. That is, the on-timer function is enabled when the no-operation off execution flag is FALSE.

  According to this flow, even if the user suddenly goes out due to a business trip or the like, the setting in the television receiver 1 is not changed at all, and the on-timer operation is not performed after two days after the absence. The power off state is maintained. On the other hand, when the user returns home and performs the power-on operation even once, the on-timer function is automatically enabled without changing any setting. Therefore, the on-timer control is automatically performed safely and efficiently.

  In the above example, both the automatic on time and the automatic off time are set in advance by the user. It is not limited to this. For example, like the television receiver described in Patent Document 1, the memory 8 stores the use history of the television receiver, and the control unit 7 sets the automatic on time and / or the automatic off time accordingly. It is good also as a structure. In this case, it is preferable to set these for each day of the week.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the no-operation-off execution flag is used to determine whether or not the user is at home. Other parameters can be used for similar operation. In the television receiver according to the second embodiment, an automatic off-count number is used as a parameter for this purpose. This flowchart is shown in FIG. The configuration of the television receiver is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the operation of the control unit 7 and the like is different. In the first embodiment, if there is one day when the television receiver is automatically turned on and automatically turned off without any operation, it is determined that the user is absent and the no-operation off execution flag is set. TRUE. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, when there are a plurality of consecutive days automatically turned off without any operation, it is determined that the user is absent.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 3, the step of determining whether the no-operation off execution flag in FIG. 2 is FALSE (S5), the step of setting the no-operation off execution flag to TRUE (S10), and the no-operation off execution Instead of the step of setting the flag to FALSE (S11), the step of determining whether the automatic off count number is less than 2 times (S21), the step of adding the automatic off count number (S22), and the automatic off count number are cleared. (S23) is used.

  The automatic off count is the number of consecutive days when the television receiver is automatically turned on (S6) and is automatically turned off (S9) without any operation by the user. 8 remembers. When the user performs a power-on operation (S2) or some operation is performed within the automatic off time (S8), the automatic off count number is reset. Further, if the day when the user is automatically turned off (S9) without any operation by the user after being automatically turned on (S6) continues, 1 is added (S22).

  The case where the automatic off count is determined to be two times or more (S21) is equivalent to the case where the no-operation off execution flag is FALSE (S5) in the first embodiment. That is, in this case, the on-timer operation is invalid and automatic power-on (S6) is not performed.

In addition, when the user performs a power-on operation (S2) or some operation is performed within the automatic off time (S8), the automatic off-count number is reset. That is, the automatic off count is zero, and the next determination in S21 is "Yes", so automatic on (S6) by the on timer is valid.

  In this embodiment, the determination reference value used in S21 is set to twice, but the number is arbitrary. When this reference value is set to N times, the on-timer operation is invalidated on the (N + 1) th day after the absence of the user, and the automatic on is not set. When N = 1, the flow of FIG. 3 is substantially the same as the flow of FIG.

  Therefore, also in the second embodiment, even when the user suddenly goes out, the on-timer control is performed safely and efficiently without changing any setting in the television receiver. Further, the number of days until the on-timer operation is invalidated can be arbitrarily set by the user setting N as described above.

  The automatic on time and the automatic off time are both set in advance by the user. However, as in the first embodiment, these are set as appropriate according to the usage history of the television receiver. Also good.

(Third embodiment)
In the first and second embodiments, when the user goes home from the outside, if the power-on operation is performed once, the on-timer operation that has been invalid until then is validated. On the other hand, in the third embodiment, on / off of the on-timer setting is automatically controlled. The configuration of the television receiver is the same as the configuration in the first embodiment (FIG. 1), and the operation of the control unit 7 is different.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing this operation. In this flow, the on-off setting of the on-timer setting is directly controlled without using the no-operation off execution flag. Therefore, the determination of S5 in FIG. 2 is not used. Further, the step (S10) of setting the no-operation off execution flag in FIG. 2 to TRUE is not used, and instead, the step of turning off the on-timer setting (S31) is used. That is, if it is determined that the user is absent, the on-timer setting is forcibly turned off. Thus, on the next day, the television receiver is not automatically turned on (S6) by the determination of S3.

  In this case, when the user returns home after that, the on-timer setting is off. For this reason, when the user goes home and performs a power-on operation (S2), if the on-timer setting is off (S32), the user is caused to reset the on-timer (S33).

  Note that by determining whether the current on-timer setting is on or off (S31), if the on-timer setting is on, this resetting (S32) is omitted, and the television receiver immediately The power is turned on (S12). This case corresponds to the case where the user is at home the previous day and is using a television receiver.

  In resetting the on-timer (S32), for example, the setting screen shown in FIG. FIG. 5A shows this initial screen, which allows the user to decide whether or not to reset. If “No” is selected, the resetting process ends, and the on-timer setting remains off thereafter.

  When “Yes” is selected, the screen of FIG. 5B is displayed. Here, the time for the on-timer operation is set. Also, the channel selected at that time is set.

  Finally, by selecting “setting” in FIG. 5C, the on-timer is set under this condition. Thereby, on the next day, the television receiver is turned on by the on-timer function (S6).

  For example, when the user has been absent for a long period of time and then the user returns home, the contents of the on-timer setting of the television receiver may be forgotten. This embodiment is particularly effective in such a case, and the user can set an appropriate on-timer.

  When the user turns on the power for the first time after returning home, the on-timer setting is automatically performed under the same conditions as the previous setting condition without causing the on-timer to be reset (S32). It can also be. In this case, the operation is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment. Alternatively, the setting condition in this case can be a predetermined condition.

  In this embodiment, even when the user suddenly goes out, the on-timer control is performed safely and efficiently without changing any setting in the television receiver. .

  In this embodiment, the automatic on time and the automatic off time may be set as appropriate according to the use history of the television receiver.

  In any of the above embodiments, the television receiver has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is similarly applied to an electric device having an on-timer function and an automatic off function. it can. For example, the present invention can be similarly applied to an air conditioner, AV equipment, and the like.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the television receiver used as the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the on-timer function and automatic off function in the television receiver used as the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the on-timer function and automatic off function in the television receiver used as the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the on-timer function and the automatic off function in the television receiver used as the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the on-timer reset screen displayed in the television receiver used as the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Television receiver 2 Channel selection part 3 Video processing part 4 OSD generation part 5 Display part 6 Power supply circuit 7 Control part 8 Memory 9 Timer

Claims (11)

Has an on-timer function that automatically turns on the power when the current time obtained from the timer has passed the auto-on time when the power is turned off, and is used within the auto-off time when the power is turned on An electric device including a control unit having an automatic off function that automatically turns off the power when no operation is performed by a person,
The controller is
Determine whether the user is absent based on the operation of the on-timer function and the operation of the automatic off function,
An electrical apparatus that disables the on-timer function when it is determined that the user is absent. The controller is
The on-timer function is disabled when the power is automatically turned off by the auto-off function without any user operation after the power is turned on by the on-timer function. The electric device according to claim 1. The controller is
When the number of consecutive days when the power is automatically turned off by the automatic off function exceeds the preset number of days without any user operation after the power is turned on by the on-timer function The electrical apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the on-timer function is disabled. The controller is
4. The on-timer function is enabled when a power-on operation is performed by a user in a state where the power is off and the on-timer function is invalid. The electrical apparatus of any one of Claims. The controller is
When the power-on operation is performed by the user when the power is off and the on-timer function is invalid, the on-timer function is reset by the user. The electrical device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The controller is
6. The electric device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic on time and / or the automatic off time are set based on a use history of the electric device.   The electrical device according to claim 1, wherein the electrical device is a television receiver. Has an on-timer function that automatically turns on the power when the current time obtained from the timer has passed the auto-on time when the power is turned off, and is used within the auto-off time when the power is turned on A method for setting the on-timer function in an electrical device having an automatic off function that automatically turns off the power when no operation is performed by a person,
When the power is turned on by the on-timer function and the power is automatically turned off by the auto-off function without any user operation, the on-timer function is set to be invalid. How to set the on-timer function. Has an on-timer function that automatically turns on the power when the current time obtained from the timer has passed the auto-on time when the power is turned off, and is used within the auto-off time when the power is turned on A method for setting the on-timer function in an electrical device having an automatic off function that automatically turns off the power when no operation is performed by a person,
When the number of consecutive days when the power is automatically turned off by the automatic off function exceeds the preset number of days without any user operation after the power is turned on by the on-timer function And setting the on-timer function to invalid.   The on-time function according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the on-timer function is set to be valid when a power-on operation is performed by a user when the on-timer function is set to be invalid. How to set the timer function.   The on-timer function setting method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the automatic on time and / or the automatic off time are set based on a usage history of the electric device.