JP2012222803A - Device control system, and electric apparatus and operation device used therein - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable TV receiver settings to be operated easily by using an operation device in a device control system.SOLUTION: A TV receiver 2 shows setup items 21b and a cursor 21c on a display screen 21a. An operation device 3 includes a plurality of infrared sensor elements 33 which detect presence of a finger 4, and from the detection signal thereof, it detects whether the finger 4 is still or moving and the direction of the movement, and sends a detection signal to the TV receiver 2. The TV receiver 2 moves, based on the detection signal, the cursor 21c in a direction corresponding to the movement direction of the finger 4, and when the finger 4 is in repose, ascertains that selection is made for one of the setup items 21b by the cursor 21c. This enables the user to operate the TV settings by only moving or stopping the finger 4 as desired within the detection area of the infrared sensor elements 33 of the operation device 3 while watching the display screen 21a of the TV receiver 2. Therefore, the user does not need to check the position of the finger 4 each time when operating the TV settings.

Description

  The present invention relates to a device control system including an electrical device and an operation device for operating the electrical device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a device control system including a television (hereinafter referred to as TV) receiver that is an electrical device and a remote controller (hereinafter referred to as remote control) for remotely operating the TV receiver. In some device control systems, the remote control has a display screen, the display screen is a touch panel type, and various setting items of the TV receiver are displayed on the display screen. In this type of remote controller, when the displayed setting item is touched and selected by the user, the selection is detected and a detection signal is transmitted to the TV receiver. The TV receiver changes various settings of the own apparatus based on the detection signal received from the remote controller (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  By the way, in such a device control system, since the display screen of the remote control is not so large, the display size of setting items may be small due to the size of the display screen. For this reason, the setting items are difficult to see and the setting operation may be difficult.

  Therefore, in the device control system as described above, various setting items are displayed on the TV receiver, and simple operation keys are displayed on the display screen of the remote controller, and the remote controller is displayed while watching the setting items displayed on the TV receiver. It may be possible to select a setting item by operating an operation key.

  However, in such setting operation, when operating the operation key, it is necessary to move the line of sight from the TV receiver to the remote control and confirm the position of the operation key before operating the operation key. Therefore, the operation is troublesome.

  By the way, there is known a display device in which a display screen is configured by a touch panel and various settings of the device can be performed by operating the touch panel (for example, see Patent Documents 2 to 5). However, it is difficult to solve the above problem with this display device.

JP 2009-141602 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-35402 JP 2010-205134 A JP 2003-5912 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-189124

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and an apparatus control system that can easily perform setting operation of an electric apparatus using an operation apparatus, and an electric apparatus and an operation apparatus used therefor, The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the device control system of the present invention includes an electric device having a display screen for displaying a plurality of setting items of the electric device and a cursor for selecting any of the setting items, An operation device for performing an operation of selecting the setting item by moving the cursor on a display screen of the electric device, and the electric device and the operation device are provided separately from each other. In the above, the apparatus includes a detecting unit that detects a content of an operation performed by the user on the operation device, and the operation device is arranged so that a detection area is different, and is detected when a part of the user's body is detected in the detection area. A plurality of infrared sensor elements for outputting a signal, and the detection means is configured such that a part of the body is stationary or moves based on the detection signal output from the infrared sensor element. When the body part is detected to be moving, the movement direction of the body part is detected based on the position of the infrared sensor element that outputs the detection signal and the output order. In addition, the display device outputs detection signals indicating the various detection results, and the electric device displays the display screen so that the cursor is stationary or moved on the display screen based on the detection signals output from the detection means. And when the moving direction is detected by the detecting means, the control means moves the cursor in a direction corresponding to the moving direction, and the detecting means moves a part of the body. When it is detected that is stationary, selection of the setting item by the cursor is confirmed.

  In this invention, when the detection means detects that the body part is moving, the detection means detects the moving speed of the body part based on the timing at which the infrared sensor element outputs a detection signal, It is desirable that the control unit changes the movement amount of the cursor based on the movement speed detected by the detection unit.

  In the present invention, it is desirable that the infrared sensor elements are arranged in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction.

  In this invention, the said detection means may be provided in the said electric equipment.

  In this invention, the detection means may be provided in the operating device.

  The present invention may be an electrical device used in the device control system.

  The present invention may be an operating device used in the device control system.

  According to the present invention, setting items on the display screen can be selected by operating the operating device while viewing the display screen of the electric device, and the setting operation of the electric device can be performed. In addition, in the setting operation, as long as the finger is placed in the detection area of the infrared sensor element of the operating device, the cursor can be moved on the display screen of the electric device by simply moving the finger or stopping it. Can be moved and setting items can be selected. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to check the finger position by sequentially looking at the operation device. Therefore, it is possible to save the user's trouble of confirmation and simplify the setting operation.

The perspective view which shows the structure of the apparatus control system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. (A) is a perspective view of the operation apparatus of the said apparatus control system, (b) is the top view. The electric block diagram of the said apparatus control system. The flowchart of the operation content detection process in the said operating device. The figure which shows the operation example of the said apparatus control system.

  An apparatus control system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the device control system of this embodiment. The device control system 1 includes a television (hereinafter referred to as a TV) receiver 2 (electric device) and an operation device 3 for remotely operating the TV receiver 2, which are provided separately. .

  The TV receiver 2 includes a display 21 that displays video of a broadcast program, a speaker 22 that outputs sound of the broadcast program, and a detection signal receiving unit (hereinafter referred to as a receiving unit) that receives a signal wirelessly transmitted from the operation device 3. ) 23, and drives the display 21 and the speaker 22 based on the signal received by the receiving unit 23. In addition to the video, the display screen 21a of the display 21 can display a menu screen. On the menu screen, a plurality of setting items of the TV receiver 2 and one of these setting items can be selected. Includes a cursor. The TV receiver 2 may be a device dedicated to TV reception, or may be a display device having other functions.

  The operation device 3 is a device for performing various operations on the TV receiver 2, and an example of the operation is a cursor on the display screen 21a when the menu screen is displayed on the display screen 21a of the display 21. This is an operation of selecting a setting item by moving. The operating device 3 has an infrared touch panel 31. When the user places a part of the body, for example, a finger, on the touch panel 31 and moves or stops the operation device 3, the operation device 3 detects such an operation content and sends a detection signal to the TV receiver. 2 is configured to perform the above-described operation on the TV receiver 2 by wireless transmission. The operation device 3 may be a dedicated remote controller for operating the TV receiver 2, or may be a mobile device having other functions in addition to the operation function of the TV receiver 2. Hereinafter, the operation device 3 will be described with respect to a case where the operation device 3 is operated with a finger of the body.

  2A and 2B show the configuration of the operating device 3. The operating device 3 includes the touch panel 31, a frame member 32 that covers the periphery of the touch panel 31, and a plurality of infrared sensor elements (hereinafter referred to as sensor elements) that are accommodated in the frame member 32 and detect fingers on the touch panel 31. 33. The touch panel 31 has a rectangular shape, for example. The sensor elements 33 are provided along two orthogonal sides of the touch panel 31, and are arranged in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction of the touch panel 31 in this way. The sensor elements 33 are arranged at equal intervals in each of the above directions. Among the above directions, the sensor elements 33 arranged along the same direction have detection directions parallel to each other, and the sensor elements 33 arranged along different directions have detection directions orthogonal to each other. The sensor elements 33 are arranged so that the detection areas are different. The sensor element 33 detects the presence of a finger in each area obtained by dividing the surface of the touch panel 31 in a lattice pattern for each pair of a vertical element and a horizontal element. The sensor element 33 outputs a detection signal when detecting the presence of a finger in the detection area.

  The operating device 3 detects whether the finger is stationary or moving based on the detection signal output from the sensor element 33. When it is detected that the finger is moving, the operating device 3 The moving speed is further detected, and detection signals indicating these various detection results are wirelessly transmitted to the TV receiver 2.

  FIG. 3 shows an electrical configuration of the device control system 1. The TV receiver 2 includes a tuner 25 that receives a digital TV broadcast signal (hereinafter referred to as a broadcast signal) via the antenna 24 in addition to the display 21, the speaker 22, and the receiver 23, and display control of the display 21. And a control circuit 26 that performs audio output control of the speaker 22 and reception channel control of the tuner 25.

  The receiving unit 23 is configured by a receiving circuit that receives a detection signal transmitted from the operating device 3. For the communication between the receiving unit 23 and the operation device 3, any of weak wireless, specific low power wireless, and infrared light may be used.

  The control circuit 26 demodulates the broadcast signal received by the tuner 25, separates the video signal and the audio signal from the demodulated broadcast signal, and decodes the separated video signal and audio signal, respectively. Then, the control circuit 26 controls the display 21 to display video based on the decoded video signal, and controls the speaker 22 to output sound based on the decoded audio signal. .

  The control circuit 26 is preset with control processes corresponding to various operations on the operating device 3. The control circuit 26 (control means) grasps the operation content indicated by the detection signal based on the detection signal received by the receiving unit 23, and performs control corresponding to the grasped operation content.

  For example, when the menu screen is not displayed on the display screen 21a and the touch panel 31 (see FIG. 2) is pressed with a finger a plurality of times within a predetermined period, the control circuit 26 displays the menu screen on the display screen 21a. Display. The menu screen includes setting items for the TV receiver 2 and a cursor. The setting items relate to the display setting of the display screen 21a or the sound output setting of the speaker 22. The cursor indicates a setting item to be selected among the displayed setting items, and the setting item to be selected is highlighted or surrounded by a frame, or the character or background of the setting item to be selected Is displayed in a display form such as a color and brightness different from those of other setting items, thereby indicating a selection target. In addition, when the operation device 3 detects that the finger is stationary, the control circuit 26 controls the display of the display screen 21a so that the cursor is stationary on the display screen 21a. Is detected to move, the display screen 21a is controlled to move the cursor on the display screen 21a. Further, when the movement direction of the finger is detected by the operating device 3, the control circuit 26 moves the cursor in the direction corresponding to the movement direction on the display screen 21a. In this display control, the movement direction of the cursor on the display screen 21 a is the same as the movement direction of the finger on the touch panel 31. Further, the control circuit 26 changes the movement amount of the cursor based on the movement amount and the movement speed detected by the operating device 3. The greater the finger movement amount or the faster the finger movement speed, the greater the cursor movement amount. In addition, when the operating device 3 detects that the finger is stationary, the control circuit 26 confirms selection of the setting item using the cursor. When the touch panel 31 is pressed with a finger a plurality of times within a predetermined period while the menu screen is displayed on the display screen 21a, the control circuit 26 turns off the display. The control circuit 26 is configured by a microprocessor or the like.

  In addition to the sensor element 33 described above, the operation device 3 detects the operation content of the user on the operation device 3 and generates a detection signal (detection means) that indicates the detected operation content, and the detection circuit 34. And a detection signal transmission circuit (hereinafter referred to as a transmission circuit) 35 that wirelessly transmits the detection signal generated by the above to the TV receiver 2.

  In addition to FIG. 3, with reference to FIG. 4, the detection process of the operation content in the operating device 3 and the notification process to the TV receiver 2 are shown. FIG. 4 shows the procedure of these processes. The sensor element 33 outputs a detection signal when the presence of the finger is detected (Yes in S1), and the detection circuit 34 is based on the detection signal output from the sensor element 33, or the finger is stationary or moved. Detect whether you are doing. When the detection circuit 34 receives a detection signal from another sensor element 33 after the detection signal is received from the sensor element 33 and before a predetermined period elapses, the detection circuit 34 has moved the finger based on the reception. Is detected. On the other hand, when the detection signal is not received from the other sensor element 33 during the predetermined period, the detection circuit 34 detects that the finger is stationary based on the non-reception.

  When the movement of the finger is detected (Yes in S2), the detection circuit 34 obtains the coordinates before and after the movement of the finger based on the position of the sensor element 33 that has output the detection signal and the output order thereof. The finger movement direction (S3) and the movement amount (S4) are detected. The coordinates of the finger can be obtained from the position of the sensor element 33 in the vertical direction where the finger is detected and the position of the sensor element 33 in the horizontal direction. Further, the detection circuit 34 obtains the time that the finger has moved based on the timing at which the sensor element 33 outputs the detection signal, and detects the movement speed of the finger from the obtained time and the amount of movement (S5). . The detection circuit 34 generates detection signals indicating various detection results obtained by the processing of S2-S5 (S6) and outputs the detection signals to the transmission circuit 35. The transmission circuit 35 transmits the detection signal output from the detection circuit 34 to the reception unit 23 of the TV receiver 2 (S7).

  When it is detected that the finger is stationary, the detection circuit 34 generates a detection signal to that effect (S8) and outputs the detection signal to the transmission circuit 35. The transmission circuit 35 transmits the detection signal output from the detection circuit 34 to the reception unit 23 of the TV receiver 2 (S9).

  FIG. 5 shows an operation example of the device control system 1. A menu screen in which three setting items 21b are arranged vertically is displayed on the display screen 21a of the TV receiver 2, and a cursor 21c indicates a selection target in a highlighted display. The top setting item 21b is selected on the display screen 21a. At this time, when the touch panel 31 of the operating device 3 is pressed with the finger 4 and the finger 4 is slid downward on the touch panel 31 as shown on the right side of the figure, the cursor 21c of the display screen 21a is Following the movement, it moves downward, selects another setting item 21b on the lower side, and the setting item 21b is highlighted.

  In the present embodiment, the setting item 21b on the display screen 21a can be selected by operating the operation device 3 while viewing the display screen 21a of the TV receiver 2, and the setting operation of the TV receiver 2 can be performed. It can be carried out. Moreover, in the setting operation, as long as the finger 4 is placed in the detection area of the sensor element 33 by placing it on the touch panel 31 of the operating device 3, the finger 4 can be arbitrarily moved regardless of the arrangement position, It is possible to move the cursor 21c on the display screen 21a or select the setting item 21b simply by making it stand still. Therefore, the user does not need to confirm the position of the finger 4 on the operation device 3 sequentially. Therefore, it is possible to save the user's trouble of confirmation and simplify the setting operation.

  Further, since the operation device 3 does not have various keys, the configuration is simplified, and therefore, design restrictions are reduced and costs can be reduced. In addition, since the operation of the operation device 3 is a simple operation such as moving or stopping the finger 4 on the touch panel 31, there are a plurality of models of the TV receiver 2, and the contents of the menu screen for each of these models. Alternatively, even if the layout is different, the setting operation of the TV receiver 2 can be performed for any model without changing the configuration. Further, when the finger is moved on the touch panel 31, the moving amount of the cursor 21c on the display screen 21a can be increased only by increasing the moving speed, and the operation becomes convenient.

  Further, in the operating device 3, since the detection areas intersect in a lattice shape between the vertical sensor elements 33 and the horizontal sensor elements 33, there is no overlapping detection area and there is no leakage area, which is efficient. The presence of the finger 4 can be detected.

  When the detection circuit 34 is provided in the TV receiver 2, the operation device 3 needs to wirelessly transmit a detection signal to the TV receiver 2 every time each sensor element 33 detects the presence of the finger 4. . For this reason, the amount of communication increases, and therefore the possibility of noise superimposition and signal loss on the signal increases, and as a result, the communication accuracy may decrease. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the detection circuit 34 is provided in the operating device 3, and the operating device 3 detects the operation content based on the detection signal of each sensor element 33, and then the detection result. Since only the detection signal indicating is transmitted, the amount of communication is reduced, and thus the above possibility can be reduced, and as a result, the communication accuracy can be improved.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the structure of said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible according to a use purpose. For example, the sensor elements may be arranged in a column array. The detection circuit may be provided in the TV receiver. In such a case, the transmission circuit of the operating device wirelessly transmits a detection signal from the sensor element to the reception unit of the TV receiver. The receiving unit receives the detection signal transmitted from the transmission circuit of the operating device, and the detection circuit of the TV receiver detects various operation contents to the operating device based on the detection signal received by the receiving unit. The detection signal is generated and sent to the control circuit. According to such a configuration, the operating device can be reduced in size.

1 Equipment control system 2 TV receiver (electric equipment)
21a Display screen 21b Setting item 21c Cursor 26 Control circuit (control means)
3 Operating device 33 Infrared sensor element 34 Detection circuit (detection means)

Claims (7)

An electric device having a display screen displaying a plurality of setting items of the electric device and a cursor for selecting one of the setting items;
An operation device for performing an operation of selecting the setting item by moving the cursor on the display screen of the electric device,
In the device control system provided separately, the electrical device and the operation device,
Comprising a detecting means for detecting a content of operation of the operating device by a user;
The operating device is arranged so that the detection areas are different, and has a plurality of infrared sensor elements that output a detection signal when a part of the user's body is detected in the detection area,
The detection means detects whether the body part is stationary or moving based on the detection signal output from the infrared sensor element, and is detected that the body part is moving. Sometimes, based on the position of the infrared sensor element that has output the detection signal and its output order, it detects the moving direction of a part of the body, and outputs detection signals indicating these various detection results,
The electrical apparatus further includes control means for controlling the display screen so that the cursor is stationary or moved on the display screen based on the detection signal output from the detection means,
When the moving direction is detected by the detecting means, the control means moves the cursor in a direction corresponding to the moving direction, and when the detecting means detects that a part of the body is stationary. A device control system for confirming selection of the setting item by the cursor. When the detection means detects that the body part is moving, the detection means detects the moving speed of the body part based on the timing at which the infrared sensor element outputs a detection signal;
The apparatus control system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit changes a moving amount of the cursor based on a moving speed detected by the detecting unit.   The apparatus control system according to claim 1, wherein the infrared sensor elements are arranged in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction.   The device control system according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is provided in the electric device.   The device control system according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is provided in the operation device.   An electric device used in the device control system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   The operating device used for the apparatus control system as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5.

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