JP2701395B2 - Telecontrol device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telecontrol device capable of setting or controlling the operation of electric equipment from a remote place via a telephone line.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as one type of home automation, a telecontrol device capable of controlling an electric device from a remote place through a telephone line has been used. In this,
Some video tape recorders (hereinafter referred to as VTRs) are controlled by infrared light.

The telecontrol device that remotely controls this VTR automatically closes the telephone line when a bell signal arrives on the telephone line, and stores the recording channel, recording start time, and recording end time according to the remote signal sent by the caller. Set in the device. When the set recording start time comes, the VTR sends a signal indicating the selected channel and a signal indicating the start of recording to the same infrared light as the infrared light emitted by the remote controller attached to the VTR. Send it out by light and let the VTR start recording. Then, at the end time of the recording, the telecontrol device sends a signal for instructing the VTR to stop recording, and stops the recording of the VTR.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-described configuration, there is a person in front of the VTR as shown in FIG. 3, or another electric device is controlled by infrared light as shown in FIG. When the remote control device emits infrared light, the operation requested by the telecontrol device may not always be performed.

In such a case, the program to be recorded is not recorded at all.

Further, when the telecontrol device is driven by a battery, it does not have a function of detecting a power failure and sends a recording start signal to the VTR even during a power failure. However, the VTR has a problem that it does not record, and cannot record even if the power failure is restored within the operation time.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the telecontrol device of the present invention uses a telephone line interface unit corresponding to a remote signal representing an operation start time, an operation end time, etc. inputted from a telephone line. A storage unit that temporarily stores the output signal, a timer unit that performs a timing operation, and each time the timer unit measures a predetermined time, a determination is made from the operation start time and the operation end time stored in the storage unit. There is provided control means for controlling the control signal generation means to periodically generate a control signal corresponding to an operation which is to be performed by the controlled device at the time measured by the timer means.

Operation With this configuration, even if the operation control of the controlled device cannot be performed for some reason, it can be recovered by the same type of control signal transmitted again thereafter.

Hereinafter, a telecontrol device capable of controlling a VTR will be described as an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a telecontrol device and other devices according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the telecontrol device of the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1 is a telephone line, 2 is a telecontrol device, 3 is a telephone line interface, 4
Is control means constituted by a microcomputer. 5 is a memory provided in the control means 4, 6 is an infrared signal drive circuit, 7 is an infrared light emitting diode, 8 is a timer provided in the control means 4, 9 is a power supply circuit, 10 is a power failure detection circuit, and 11 is a television. Supply power to the control device 2
An AC adapter, 12 is a VTR, and 13 is a remote control attached to the VTR 12.

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

First, when a bell is input from the telephone line 1 to the telecontrol device 2, the telephone line interface 3 automatically closes the telephone line. In this state, when the caller sends a signal for recording reservation of the VTR, the signal is converted into a 4-bit signal by the telephone line interface 3 and transmitted to the control means 4.

The recording start time information, the recording end time information, and the recording channel information are stored in the memory 5 of the control means 4 by the 4-bit signal. The control means 4 performs a clock operation by the timer 8, and outputs the same recording start signal and channel signal as the remote control 13 attached to the VTR 12 outputs to the infrared drive circuit 6 when the recording start time comes. From 7, infrared light indicating the start of recording and a recording channel is emitted toward the VTR 12, and the VTR performs recording. When the recording end time comes, the timer 8 inside the control means and the contents stored in the memory 5 match, and the control means makes the infrared signal drive circuit 6 emit the same infrared light as the stop signal of the remote control of the VTR.
Output a signal to

 The above is the general operation of the telecontrol device.

Next, the operation of periodically emitting a control signal to the VTR will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The timer 8 always performs a clock operation, and performs an operation of a timer interrupt routine shown in FIG. 4 every 0.1 seconds on a program. When entering this routine, first, 0.1 seconds are counted (step 1), and then it is determined whether 1 second has elapsed (step 2). If one second has not elapsed, another processing is performed (step 12), and the operation of this flowchart is performed after 0.1 second. Similarly to the above, in step 1, the counter is counted again for 0.1 second, and it is determined whether 1 second has elapsed. If one second has elapsed in step 2, one second is counted and the count of 0.1 second is set to 0, and other processing is performed in step 12. When counting is continued for 60 seconds (step 4), 1 minute is counted, and the seconds and 0.1 seconds are set to 0 (step 5).
If the current time counted in the period is within the recording operation time stored in the memory 5, the control means 4 controls the infrared signal drive circuit 6 to transmit a recording start signal and a recording channel signal from the infrared light emitting diode 7. Fire. The timer 8 continues counting and counts the time and day. However, the timer 8 determines whether the recording time is within the recording time as described above. Fire a channel signal.

In the present embodiment, the recording start signal is emitted every minute, but this may be performed at any time. In addition, although only the recording start signal is periodically emitted, the recording stop signal may be periodically emitted during the recording stop time.

Also, in the present embodiment, the reservation recording of the VTR has been described. However, without setting the recording start time or the like, the telephone line is purchased and the recording start or recording end signal is sent immediately when it is sent.
It goes without saying that the same technology as described above can be employed in a telecontrol device that sends an infrared signal for instructing the VTR to start or end recording. In other words, once the recording start signal is sent to the telecontrol device via the telephone line, the telecontrol device sends out an infrared signal instructing the VTR to start recording a plurality of times. Even if the first infrared signal is not transmitted to the VTR for some reason, the recording of the VTR is started by the second, third, etc. infrared signals sent again thereafter. Further, in the above embodiment, the control signal for the VTR control, that is, the infrared signal is configured to be periodically transmitted many times. However, if the control signal is transmitted twice or more, the same effect as the above embodiment can be obtained. Needless to say.

Effect of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a storage unit that temporarily stores a signal output from a telephone line interface unit in response to a remote signal representing an operation start time, an operation end time, and the like input from a telephone line, A timer means for performing a timekeeping operation, and each time the timer means measures a predetermined time, it is determined from the operation start time and the operation end time stored in the storage means, and the timer is controlled by the time counted by the timer means. By providing control means to generate a control signal corresponding to the operation that should be performed by the device from the control signal generating means periodically, the operation of the controlled device can be controlled for some reason at the set time. Even if there is no such operation, the operation control can be reliably performed by the control signal transmitted again thereafter.

Therefore, it is possible to minimize the state in which the control operation of the controlled device is not performed due to accidental conditions, and the practical effect is large.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the telecontrol device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the embodiment, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are the operations of the embodiment. It is a figure showing a state. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Telephone line 2 ... Telecontrol device 3 ... Telephone line interface 4 ... Control means 5 ... Memory 6 ... Infrared signal drive circuit 7 ... Infrared light emitting diode 8 ... Timer 9 ... Power supply circuit 10 Power failure detection circuit 11 AC adapter 12 VTR 13 Remote control

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A telephone line connected to a telephone line and automatically closing the telephone line in response to an incoming signal, detecting a remote signal input from the telephone line and representing an operation start time and an operation end time, and a signal corresponding thereto. , A memory for temporarily storing a signal output from the telephone line interface, a timer for performing a clock operation, and a control signal corresponding to the signal output from the telephone line interface. Control signal generating means for outputting to the controlled device, and when the current time measured by the timer means matches the operation start time stored in the storage means, the control signal generating means operates the controlled device. Control signal to start the operation, and periodically sends the control signal until the operation end time comes. And control means for controlling the control signal generating means to transmit a control signal for terminating the operation to the controlled device when the operation end time coincides with the operation end time. Telecontrol device. 2. A telephone line connected to a telephone line, automatically closing the telephone line in response to an incoming signal, detecting a remote signal indicating an operation start time and an operation end time inputted from the telephone line, and detecting a signal corresponding to the remote signal. , A memory for temporarily storing a signal output from the telephone line interface, a timer for performing a clock operation, and a control signal corresponding to the signal output from the telephone line interface. Control signal generating means for outputting to the controlled device, and when the current time measured by the timer means matches the operation start time stored in the storage means, the control signal generating means operates the controlled device. Control signal to start the operation, and periodically sends the control signal until the operation end time comes. And a control signal for terminating the operation of the controlled device from the control signal generating means when the operation coincides with the operation end time, and thereafter periodically instruct the operation end. A telecontrol device comprising control means for controlling a control signal to be transmitted. 3. A remote telephone connected to a telephone line, automatically closing the telephone line in response to an incoming signal, detecting a remote signal input from the telephone line and representing an operation start time and an operation end time, and a signal corresponding thereto. , A memory for temporarily storing a signal output from the telephone line interface, a timer for performing a clock operation, and a control signal corresponding to the signal output from the telephone line interface. Control signal generating means for outputting to the controlled device, and when the current time measured by the timer means matches the operation start time stored in the storage means, the control signal generating means operates the controlled device. Control signal to start the operation, and periodically sends the control signal until the operation end time comes. Control signal generation means to terminate the operation of the controlled device when the operation end time coincides with the controlled device, and periodically instruct the operation termination until the next operation start time. And a control means for controlling the transmission of the control signal.