JP2532527B2 - Telephone terminal equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone terminal device such as a video telephone for transmitting and receiving video and audio through a telephone line.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is, for example, a videophone that transmits and receives voice and still images through a telephone line. However, in recent years, with the increase in the amount of information, this type of device has attracted attention.

However, the applicant added the answering machine function because he / she cannot receive a message from the other party even if an incoming call occurs when he is absent, that is, it cannot automatically receive the message. Then, we proposed a still picture videophone that automatically stores the audio and video signals from the other party and can output the stored information from the audio output unit and the video display unit.

Hereinafter, a still image videophone, which is an example of a telephone terminal device proposed by the applicant, will be described.

The configuration of the video telephone proposed by the present applicant is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an image input unit composed of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), an image pickup tube and the like, 2 an image display unit composed of a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), a liquid crystal display panel, etc. An image transmission button 5 operated when transmitting the image captured by the input unit 1 to the other party via the telephone line is a cassette tape deck for storing the received audio signal and video signal on the cassette tape 6.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration,
In the figure, 7 is a telephone line, 8 is a line interface section, and 9 is a flow of signals coming through the telephone line on the audio side (A)
And an audio signal / video signal selector switch for switching to the video side (B), and 10 for a signal sent from the other party via the telephone line when the audio signal / video signal selector switch is connected to the audio side. This is a video signal discriminating unit for detecting whether or not there is a video signal, and when there is a video signal, it sends a signal indicating that to the audio signal / video signal changeover switch 9. Reference numeral 11 is a voice output unit such as a speaker, 12 is a voice input unit such as a microphone, and 13 is the video input unit 1
A video signal modulation unit that modulates the video signal captured by the device into a signal that can be sent out over the telephone line, 14 is a video signal demodulation unit that demodulates the modulated video signal sent over the telephone line, and 15 and 16 are respectively A first video memory, a second video memory, and 17 are answering machine function switches that selectively switch the videophone section and the answering machine section manually. In the ON state, the answering machine function switch is connected to the (D) side and in the OFF state (C). Connected to the side. Reference numeral 18 is an incoming call detecting section for detecting a calling signal coming from the telephone line 7, 19 is a response message sending section including a voice synthesizing IC and a voice storing memory IC, and 20 and 21 are reception message storages using the cassette tape deck 5. And a received message reproducing unit. In the figure, a portion surrounded by a broken line 22 indicates an audio communication portion, a portion surrounded by 23 indicates a video communication portion, and a portion surrounded by 24 indicates an answering machine.

Next, the operation of the still image videophone configured as described above will be described. In the following description, it is assumed that a plurality of video telephones having the configuration shown in FIG.

First, at home, the answering machine function switch 17 is set to the (C) side, and the audio signal / video signal switching switch 9 is connected to the audio side (A). When a call or an incoming call occurs in this state, the caller and the called party are connected via a telephone line,
Thereafter, normal voice communication is mutually performed by the voice output unit 11 and the voice input unit 12.

Also, if you want to send the video to the other party from yourself, by pressing the image sending button 4, the audio signal / video signal switching switch 9 operates, and the signal flow is switched from the audio side (A) to the video side (B). The video information taken into the first video memory 15 by the video input unit 1 is the video signal modulation unit.
The signal is modulated by 13 into a signal that can be transmitted through the telephone line.
After that, the modulated video signal is added with a signal for switching between audio and video at the head and sent from the line interface unit 8 to the other party via the telephone line 7. Then, the audio / video switching signal is detected by the video signal discriminating unit 10 of the telephone terminal device of the other party, and the audio / video switching switch 9 is operated to change the signal flow from the audio side (A) to the video side (B ), The video signal is demodulated by the video signal demodulation unit 14, stored in the second video memory 16, and displayed on the video display unit 2.

After the video transmission is completed, the audio signal / video signal changeover switch 9 automatically returns to the audio side (A).

On the other hand, when the other party sends the video, the same processing as above is performed, and the received video is displayed on the video display unit 2 on the own side.

When the user is absent, the answering machine function switch 17 is turned on, that is, set to the (D) side. When a call signal arrives from the telephone line 7 in this state, the call signal is detected by the incoming call detection unit 18, and after the telephone line is automatically closed, the response message transmission unit 19 is driven to previously store the voice storage memory IC. The response message stored in is sent to the telephone line. When the sending of the response message is completed, the audio signal sent from the calling side via the telephone line 7 and the video signal modulated into a signal that can be sent out via the telephone line are stored in the received message storage section 20 in the cassette tape 6 Remember. In this way, an incoming call which is on the absence is automatically answered, and a voice signal and a video signal from the other party are stored.

Next, when the operator operates the received message reproducing section 21 after returning home and starts reproducing the received message stored in the cassette tape 6 while he / she is absent, the voice message in the reproduced signal is a voice output section which is a voice output section. The audio / video switching signal added to the beginning of the video signal is detected by the video signal discriminating unit 10 and the audio / video signal switching switch 9 is switched to the video side (B) to demodulate the video signal. It is stored in the second video memory 16 via the unit 14 and reproduced on the video display unit 2 which is a video display unit. When the output of the video signal is completed, the audio signal / video signal switch 9 is switched to the audio side (A).

FIGS. 6 and 7 are flow charts showing the operation of the apparatus in the state where the answering machine function switch 17 is set to the ON side (D) and the state in which the received message is reproduced, respectively.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-mentioned configuration, when a plurality of video signals are present in the received message when the stored received message is reproduced, one image is displayed on the video display unit one after another. It had a problem that it was impossible to see only the desired time.

Also, when the received message playback unit is provided with a pause function, if the playback is paused while the image signal is being played back from the received message storage unit, the image may be displayed halfway or destroyed on the image display unit. Had the problem.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the case where the pause button is operated while the connecting means is connected to the image display section side, the connecting means is changed from the image display section side. A pause function control unit was added to perform control to pause the received message playback operation after being connected to the audio output unit side.

With this configuration, even if the pause button is pressed at any time during the reproduction of the video signal in the received message, the output of the video does not stop midway and the reproduced video is not destroyed.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a still picture television telephone according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 25 is a pause for temporarily stopping the received message reproducing operation in the received message reproducing section 21. If the pause button 25 is pressed while the audio signal / video signal selector switch 9 is set to the video side (B), the buttons and 26 will cause the audio signal / video signal selector switch 9 to move to the audio side (A). This is a temporary stop function control unit that controls the temporary stop function to work after being set.

In this embodiment, the same parts as those in the above-mentioned conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

The operation of the videophone configured as described above will be described below.

The normal operation at home and the answering machine function when not at home are capable of transmitting and receiving voice and video as in the conventional example, and when the received message stored in the received message storage unit 20 is reproduced by the received message reproduction unit 21, the operation is performed first. This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

After the operator returns home and operates the received message reproducing section 21 to start reproducing the received message stored in the cassette tape 6 while he / she is away (step .a), the voice output message of the reproduced signal is output by the voice output section. It is played back from a certain audio output section 11 (step.c), and when the pause button 25 is pressed and turned on during audio playback, the operation shifts from (step.d) to (step.e), and is played back at that point. Is suspended. After that, when it is detected that the pause button 25 has been pressed and turned off again in (step.f), the reproduction operation is restarted in (step.g). For the video signal, the audio / video switching signal added to the beginning of the video signal is detected by the video signal discrimination unit 10, and the operation shifts from (step.b) to (step.h). 9 is switched to the video side (B) and the video signal demodulation unit 14
Is stored in the second video memory 16 via the memory and reproduced on the video display unit 2 which is a video display unit (step i). When the output of the video signal is completed, the process moves from (step.k) to (step.l), and the audio signal / video signal switch 9
Switches to the audio side (A), and then returns to (step.b). If the pause button is pressed during video output, the operation switches from (step.j) to (step.m) because the audio signal / video signal switch is on the video side (B), and the video signal is output. When is finished, the process moves from (step.m) to (step.n), the audio signal / video signal changeover switch 9 is switched to the audio side (A), the process moves to (step.e), and the reproduction of the received message is temporarily stopped. It When the end of the received message is detected in (step.o), the process proceeds to (step.p) and the reproduction of the received message is ended.

In the embodiment of the present invention, in order to make the description easy to understand, the audio signal / video signal changeover switch 9 is described as an example of a switch having mechanical contacts, but it is an analog switch made of semiconductor or a program made by software. It is needless to say again that the same function can be achieved even with the processing.

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the pause button is pressed at any time during the reproduction of the video signal in the received message, the output of the video is stopped halfway or the reproduced video is destroyed. It has the effect that it does not occur, and is very useful in practice.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a still picture videophone which is a telephone terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a flow of operation of the embodiment,
FIG. 4 and FIG. 4 are perspective views of a still picture television telephone as a conventional telephone terminal apparatus, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a still picture television telephone as a conventional telephone terminal apparatus, FIGS. The figure is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the conventional example. 1 ... video input section 2 ... video display section 3 ... device body 4 ... image transmission button 5 ... cassette tape deck 6 ... cassette tape 7 ... telephone line 8 ... line interface section 9 ... audio signal・ Video signal selector switch 10 …… Video signal discrimination unit 11 …… Sound output unit 12 …… Sound input unit 13 …… Video signal modulation unit 14 …… Video signal demodulation unit 15 …… First video memory 16 …… First 2 Video memory 17 …… Answering function switch 18 …… Incoming call detection section 19 …… Response message sending section 20 …… Received message storage section 21 …… Received message playback section 22 …… Voice communication section 23 …… Video communication section 24 …… Answering machine section 25 …… Pause button 26 …… Pause function control section

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A voice communication unit having a voice input unit and a voice output unit, a video communication unit having a video input unit and a video display unit, and a response message sending unit for sending a response message to a telephone line. A received message storage unit and a received message reproduction unit capable of storing an audio signal and a video signal coming through a telephone line and reproducing the same, and a reproduction signal from the received message reproduction unit to the audio output unit and the video display unit. Connecting means for connecting, a pause button for giving a command for temporarily stopping the received message reproducing operation in the received message reproducing section, and the pause button when the connecting means is connected to the image display section side Is operated, the reception message reproduction operation is temporarily suspended after the connection means is connected from the video display unit side to the audio output unit side. Telephone terminal apparatus characterized by having a pause function controller that performs control to.