JP2633055B2 - Telephone - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Summary] The present invention relates to a telephone for making a dial call by bringing a user's finger into contact with a key of the keyboard, and to a number input means such as a push button for dial operation. Instead of adopting the format of assigning numbers, call and call processing including dialing is performed only by operation of the user's finger with an arbitrary key, so that call operation can be performed without relying on visuals. A main body having a keyboard for inputting a telephone number and a speaker for outputting the other party's voice and a voice for confirming dial operation, a microphone for inputting a transmission voice, and a telephone conversation. And an operation switch for controlling the user's finger, wherein the keyboard detects contact of the user's finger and generates an ON signal at least by the user's finger. By having more than a plurality of keys arranged, the user's finger is brought into contact with an arbitrary key of the keyboard in the number corresponding to the number of the telephone number and in the order of the telephone number, It is configured to be able to generate a dial signal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone that makes a dial call by bringing a user's finger into contact with a key on a keyboard.

In general, in a telephone call, a telephone set is off-hook when a call is made, and then the telephone number of the other party is input (dial transmission). .

[Prior Art] Conventional telephones use a rotary dial or a push button to insert a telephone number of a called party into a numbered hole corresponding to the number of the number, or press a finger on a button key to make a 1-digit number.
You have entered each digit.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since both the rotary dial and the push button correspond to a specific dial hole and a button key for each number, the dial operation and the blindness in a dark place are difficult. It is difficult for a serious person to accurately find a finger hole or a push button key of a rotary dial corresponding to a number.

In the present invention, instead of adopting a format in which individual numbers are assigned to number input means such as push buttons for dial operation, the user's finger (it cannot be said that it is only a finger) by an arbitrary key, The configuration is such that processing of outgoing and incoming calls, including dialing, is performed only by the operation of (explained as a finger), thereby making it possible to perform a call operation without necessarily relying on the visual sense.

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a telephone explaining the principle configuration of the present invention, wherein 3 is a keyboard, 31 is a key, and 4 is a speaker. The main body 30 is constituted by the portion provided with the four. 5 is a micro phone, 2
Is an operation switch comprising a start switch 21 for starting use of the telephone, an end switch 22 for ending use of the telephone, and a call switch 23 for transmitting a dial signal to the other party. These microphones 5 and 2 are used as stand microphones. Make up 50. The stand microphone 50 is connected to the main body 30 through an appropriate signal path such as a cord.

The keyboard 3 of the main body 30 has, for example, a total of 40 × 4 × 10
Keys 31 are provided. However, by providing at least ten keys, it is possible to respond to the input of Arabic numerals 1 to 10, so the number and arrangement are not necessarily limited to those shown in FIG.

A speaker 4 is provided at an appropriate position of the main body 30. The speaker 4 uses a voice for confirming a dial operation, that is, a voice reading of a number corresponding to the number of user's fingers input by a key of the keyboard 3, and for outputting a voice of the other party during a call. Is provided.

On the other hand, the stand microphone 50 is provided with a microphone 5 and an operation switch 2 for transmitting a transmission voice of a transmitter (user). As described above, the operation switch 2 is a start switch for starting use of the telephone.
21, an end switch 22 for ending the use of the telephone, and a call switch 23 for transmitting the input destination telephone number.

[Operation] The user who wants to talk on the telephone first turns on the start switch 21 of the stand microphone 50. Thereafter, one's finger is pressed against a plurality of keys provided on the keyboard 30 of the main body 30 in order from the upper digit of the telephone number of the other party.
The number pressed at this time is input corresponding to the number. Then, a confirmation sound is emitted from the speaker 4 for each digit of the input operation.

After entering all digits of the phone number, call switch
By pressing 23, a dial call to the destination telephone is executed.

When the called party hooks off the handset of the telephone and answers the call, the answering voice is output from the speaker 4 of the main unit 30. In response to the response, the caller makes a call via the microphone 5.

The call is terminated by pressing the end switch 22 of the stand microphone 50.

[Embodiment] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, wherein 1 is a user, 2 is an operation switch, 3 is a keyboard, 4 is a speaker, 5 is a micro phone, and 6 is a micro phone. An interface, 7 is a storage unit, 8 is a control unit, 81 is a counter unit, 82 is a command unit, 9 is a voice conversion unit, 10 is a dial oscillation circuit, 11 is a communication circuit, and 12 is a telephone line.

In the figure, the control unit 8 starts recognizing how many keys the user 1 has provided on the keyboard 3 (how many keys have been touched: the key operation is hereinafter referred to as "pressing a key"). It controls the operation of each component block of the telephone, and includes a counter section 81 for counting the number of pressed keys and an instruction section 82 for controlling an operation sequence of the telephone. Depending on the user's keyboard operation, the state of each dial operation from 40 keys (as mentioned above, at least 10 keys are sufficient, but the greater the number, the more effective from the viewpoint of ease of use) / Off) (in this case, 1 bit for each key, a total of 40 bits of parallel data), the 8-bit serial data is transferred five times through the parallel interface 6, and the number of key presses is counted. Dial data corresponding to one digit of the telephone number is stored in the storage unit 7. The dial data of each digit to be stored corresponds to the number of key presses, such as "ichi", "ni", "san", etc., in the voice conversion unit 9 each time it is stored in the storage unit 7. Then, the data is converted into audio data and output from the speaker 4 as audio.

The dial data stored in the storage unit 7 is transferred to the dial oscillation circuit 10 by turning on the call switch 23 provided in the stand microphone 50 when all the digit digits are completed, and is converted into a dial signal, and the telephone call is made. It is sent from the circuit 11 to the telephone line 12. In addition, as described above, the present invention is not limited to the configuration in which all digits of the telephone number are transmitted in a lump when the digits are stored in the storage unit 7, and the call switch 23 is operated for each digit entered from the keyboard 3. It is also possible to transmit the data sequentially.

Further, a dial signal from a destination called from the telephone line 12 is transmitted from the communication circuit 11 to the voice converter 9 so that a bell sound is output from the speaker 4 by transmitting control information.

The telephone circuit referred to here is a telephone which is provided as a basic function of the telephone. The telephone switch function for connecting / disconnecting the telephone to / from an exchange of a central office, transmission / reception of voice during a telephone call, transmission / reception of dial signals, etc. Is what you do. The communication circuit is connected to the control unit by a bus, and has a function of transmitting and receiving a control signal.

The call after the completion of the transmission / reception of the dial signal is performed by the microphone 5 of the stand microphone 50 and the speaker 4.

When the call is finished, by pressing the end switch 22 of the stand microphone 50, the same state as the on-hook of the handset can be set.

FIG. 3 is a front view (a) and a partial cross-sectional perspective view illustrating an example of the configuration of the keyboard. Reference numeral 31 denotes a finger hole into which a user inserts a finger, and 32 denotes a switch mechanism provided in the finger hole. .

The structure of the keyboard shown in the figure is merely an example for implementing the present invention, and any structure having a function of inputting each digit of a telephone number with the number of fingers can be used. Are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

In FIG. 1 (a), it is considered that the keyboard 3 is operated by a visually impaired person, and it is important that the keyboard 3 has a size and the number of keys that can be operated without difficulty by both hands of the person. For example, it has a size of 100 mm in height and 230 mm in width, and a circular key hole ((the finger hole described above) 31 having a diameter of 20 mm) is formed on the plane at a distance of 2 mm 4.
× 10 (= 40) pieces are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the key hole 31 is provided with a switch mechanism 32 below the surface edge of the key hole, that is, at a position slightly submerged in the key hole 31.

When performing a key input operation, the switch mechanism 32 installed in the key hole is operated by pushing the finger inserted into the key hole 31 further inward. Thus, it is possible to prevent a finger from touching another key or operating a plurality of keys with one finger to make an erroneous input. In this embodiment, the switch mechanism installed in the key hole is illustrated as a so-called push button switch in which contacts are closed by pressing down a finger.
The present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a touch switch using capacitance, an optical relay switch that operates by blocking light, or a switch of various other operation methods can be used. In short, any switch mechanism may be used as long as the switch is operated in a state where the user's finger is securely inserted into the keyhole.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram for explaining an example of the electric circuit of the keyboard. Each of the four switch mechanisms (33-11 to 33-14,
... 33-101 to 33-104) as one group (key group), divided into a total of 10 groups, and 40 bits of parallel output of 40 output lines of 4 output lines of each group x 10 Is input to the interface 34.

To electrically represent the states of these switch mechanisms, one of the two terminals of each switch mechanism is grounded, and the other, that is, the line connected to the parallel interface 34 is kept at a high potential by pull-up. When the key is not pressed, it is set to "1" at high potential,
If it is pressed, it is dropped to ground and is given the ground potential to the parallel interface 34 as a "0" state. As a result, the parallel interface
The signal input to 34 is a 40-bit parallel signal.

At the time of reading the key state, each of the 40 bits is examined, the number of bits in the state "0" is counted, the counted value is treated as one digit of the telephone number, and the signal of this digit is passed to the subsequent processing circuit. When the state of all the bits is "1", the data is ignored because there is no input and the key state is read again (note that the numeral "0" indicates that ten keys are pressed simultaneously, that is, ten fingers are used). Is output when all are inserted into the keyhole).

Also, since more than 10 fingers will not be inserted,
If, for some reason, the count value of the state “0” bit becomes 11 or more, the count value is invalidated and the process waits for the next input.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the standby / call operation of the telephone. When the telephone is not used, it is always in a state of waiting for input of a start switch attached to the stand microphone (S-). 1). When the start switch 21 is turned on, the telephone is in a use state, and starts reading keyboard information from the parallel interface (S-2). If a key is pressed (S-3), the control unit determines the number of keys pressed (key state is "0") from the keyboard information from the parallel interface.
Is counted (S-4), and sent to the voice conversion unit together with the control signal, "ichi", "ni", "san" ...
The audio output of... Is output from the speaker (S-5).
This key information reading-voice output is performed three times (this is not limited to three times) at regular intervals (for example, 1.5 seconds) (S-
6) If the key state changes during that time, clear the data up to that point and read the key information for the key state after the change.

When the voice output corresponding to the same number is output three times in succession, the number is recognized as one digit of the telephone number, and a sound for notifying the user of the recognition (for example, a "beep!" Sound) Is output (S-7). The recognized numbers are stored in the storage unit (S-8), and the next key information is read.

The above operation of reading and storing the key state is continued until the user presses the call switch (S-9). When the call switch is pressed, the telephone number data stored in the storage unit is sequentially transmitted from the top to the voice conversion unit to output voice from the speaker (S-10), and prompts the user for final confirmation.

Then, the control unit sends a control signal to the communication circuit, and sets the telephone to an off-hook state (S-11).

In this state, under the control of the control unit, the stored telephone number data is sent to the dial oscillation circuit one digit at a time (S-12), and the dial oscillation circuit converts this to a dial signal, Send to the line (ie, dial out: S-13).

Thereafter, when the other party goes off-hook, communication becomes possible.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation at the time of an incoming call and the use suspension / end of the telephone. FIG. 6 (a) is an operation flow chart at the time of an incoming call, and FIG. 6 (b) is an operation flow chart of the use stop / end.

First, when a dial signal is received from the other party, in FIG. 10A, the communication circuit notifies the control unit of the reception (S-12). The control unit sends a control command to the voice conversion unit to start oscillating a bell sound from the speaker (S-22).
Then, the telephone is in a standby state for inputting a start switch (S-23). When the start switch is pressed and turned on, the bell sound is interrupted (S-24), and the communication circuit is switched to a hook-off state (S-25). ) Makes it possible to talk.

Next, the operation of stopping the use of the telephone and ending the telephone call will be described with reference to FIG.

If you stop using the phone or end the call,
Press the end switch provided on the stand microphone (S-31). By the operation of the end switch, the control unit sends a control signal to the communication circuit to set the telephone to the hook-on state (S-32), and thereafter to the standby state.

In this way, by using the telephone according to the present invention, it is possible to process an accurate call / incoming call without erroneous operation for a telephone operation in the dark or a blind person. It is.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to input a number using both hands at any place on the keyboard provided on the main body, and to set the dial position as in the related art. Dial oscillation can be performed without awareness, and when recognizing the number of fingers pressed with both hands, if the pressed state is not maintained for a certain period of time, it will be invalid, so Recognition is difficult to occur, and the number corresponding to the number of fingers pressed by voice output is output, so that the telephone number can be accurately recognized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a telephone illustrating the principle configuration of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a front and partial cross-sectional perspective view illustrating an example of a keyboard configuration, and FIG. 4 is an example of an electric circuit of the keyboard. FIG. 5 shows the standby /
FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation at the time of making a call, and FIG. In the figure, 1 is a user, 2 is an operation switch, 21 is a start switch, 22 is an end switch, 23 is a call switch, 3
Is a keyboard, 30 is a main body, 31 is a key, 4 is a speaker, 5
Is a microphone, 50 is a stand microphone, 6 is an interface, 7 is a storage unit, 8 is a control unit, 81 is a counter, 82
Is a command section, 9 is a voice conversion section, 10 is a dial oscillation circuit, 11
Represents a speech circuit, and 12 represents a telephone line.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A body (30) having a built-in keyboard (3) for inputting a telephone number and a speaker (4) for outputting voice of the other party and voice for dial operation confirmation.
And a microphone (5) for inputting a transmission voice, and an operation switch (2) for controlling a telephone call. The keyboard (3) is turned on by detecting a touch of a user's finger. A key (31) having at least a plurality of fingers for generating a signal, the number of which is equal to or greater than the number of fingers of the user; the operation switch (2) is a start switch (21) for starting use of the telephone; End switch (22) and a call switch (23) for transmitting a dial signal to the other party. The keyboard is arranged in such a manner that the number of fingers of the user corresponds to the number of the telephone number and the notation of the telephone number in the order described. The telephone according to (3), wherein a dial signal is obtained by being brought into contact with an arbitrary key (31).