JP3104086B2 - Remote control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote controller for operating an electronic device or the like from a remote position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, many television receivers, video tape recorders (VTRs), satellite broadcasting (BS) tuning apparatuses and the like have a remote control device which enables operation from a remote position. ing. When a user plays back a VTR, for example, the user first turns on the power of the television receiver using a remote control device dedicated to the television receiver, and selects a video signal from the VTR so as to select a video signal from the VTR. Channel, and then the VTR
Each device is operated by using a dedicated remote control device, such as turning on the power of the VTR with a dedicated remote control device and turning on a play button switch so as to start playback.

In addition, with the recent development of audiovisual (hereinafter, AV) devices, various new devices such as high-definition television receivers, digital VTRs, and CD players have emerged. The number of users who combine devices and use them as, for example, an AV system is increasing.

[0004]

By the way, in the conventional remote control device, when the outer peripheral environment is dark, the key operation unit cannot be seen and the wrong key operation may be performed. Especially recently, A
When viewing an image using the V system, the outer peripheral environment may be darkened, and the key operation unit becomes invisible, which is inconvenient when performing a desired operation. Some remote control devices have a switch key for turning on / off the lighting. However, the location of the switch key itself is often dark and cannot be understood, and an unnecessary switch key may be pressed by mistake.

[0005] Therefore, a remote control device that illuminates the whole or a part of the key operation unit by the illuminating means when the surrounding environment is dark and a human body approaches is desired. Conventionally, there have been many malfunctions. For example, when detecting infrared rays emitted by a human body, even if the human body is far away, if the emission area of the infrared rays is large, the detection signal will have a high energy level. For this reason, the key operation unit may be illuminated by the illuminating unit even though the human body does not actually approach.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a remote control device capable of accurately illuminating a key operation unit without malfunction when a peripheral environment becomes dark and a human body approaches. Aim.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a remote control device for an electronic device, comprising: an illuminating means for illuminating the entire remote control device or a necessary portion; Brightness detection means for detecting the brightness of the surrounding environment; human body approach detection means for detecting the approach of a human body; band amplification means for passing a specific frequency band of a detection signal of the human body approach detection means; and band amplification means. Activating means for activating the operation of the illumination means based on the output signal and the output signal of the light / dark detection means.

[0008]

The band amplifying means passes a specific frequency band among the detection signals outputted by detecting the approach of the human body by the human body approach detecting means. For this reason, the activation unit can activate the operation of the illumination unit using the output signal of the specific frequency band passed by the band amplification unit and the output signal of the brightness detection unit.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of a remote control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a first embodiment of the remote control device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the remote control device is a lighting 16 or an LED 17 for illuminating the entire remote control device or necessary parts.
A light / dark detector 15 for detecting the lightness and darkness of the outer peripheral environment; and a pyroelectric detector 1 as a human body approach detecting means for detecting the approach of a human body.
4, a band limiting amplifier 18 for passing a specific frequency band of the detection signal of the pyroelectric detector 14, and a band limiting amplifier 18
Illumination 16 from the output signal of the
Or, it has a CPU section 12 for activating the operation of the LED 17. The remote control device is illuminated by the illumination 16 or the LED 17 and operated by a user.
A light emitting unit 13 such as an LED for sending an infrared signal to a controlled device (not shown) based on a command signal generated in response to the key input data from No. 1 is provided.

The light / dark detector 15 includes, for example, Cds
Is used to detect the brightness of the surrounding environment by utilizing the phenomenon that the resistance decreases when receiving light. The pyroelectric detector 14 is, for example, a ferroelectric element based on a lead zirconate titanate-based ceramic material, and absorbs infrared rays as heat when irradiated with infrared rays radiated from an object. A phenomenon (pyroelectric effect) in which a temperature change occurs in the element and charges are generated on the element surface in response to the temperature change is utilized.

The specific operation of the pyroelectric detector 14 will be described with reference to the time versus energy characteristics shown in FIG. This time-to-energy characteristic indicates a change in energy when an object having a temperature different from the background temperature crosses the detection area (spreads in a fan shape) of or away from the pyroelectric detector 14. Here, the energy E _L due to the background temperature is the sum of the energy level E _N of the detector is subjected to the energy level E _M and stability when by the temperature of the detector itself. Therefore, it is possible to detect the approach of an object by the size of the difference in energy to the energy E _L due to the background temperature (protrusion in Figure 2).

In FIG. 2, a characteristic A indicates a temporal change in energy when a person crosses near the detection area of the pyroelectric detector 14, and a characteristic B is farther from the detection area of the pyroelectric detector 14. Shows the change over time of the energy when crossing. The speed of crossing shall be constant and the same. Characteristic A
Of the object (difference of the energy of the object to the energy E _L )
Is higher in energy than the protruding portion of the characteristic B, so that it can be determined that the human exhibiting the characteristic A crosses a place near the pyroelectric detector 14. However, even if the human body is far away, if the emission area of infrared rays is large, the detection signal will have a high energy level, and there is a risk of erroneous detection. Therefore, in the present invention, the time change between the protruding portion of the characteristic A and the protruding portion of the characteristic B is used as the frequency, and attention is paid to the difference in the frequency. As described above, since the detection area of the pyroelectric detector 14 expands in a fan shape, detection can be started earlier when traversing a farther position than when traversing a closer position,
And can be done until late. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the energy of the protruding portion of the characteristic B starts to change from earlier in time and changes to later. Therefore, it can be said that the time change, that is, the frequency of the protrusion of the characteristic B is lower than that of the protrusion of the characteristic A. In this way, the level of the energy level changes depending on the temperature difference from the background temperature when a person crosses the light receiving area of the pyroelectric detector 14, but the frequency of the protruding portion decreases when the distance at which the person crosses increases, When the distance is short, the frequency of the protrusion increases. When using a remote control device, humans may view the remote control device from 30 to 5
It will be lifted to a distance of about 0 cm. For this reason, the pyroelectric detector 14 obtains a detection output larger than the background temperature, and further has a temperature change of several Hz (specifically, 1 to 10 Hz) due to a temperature change caused by bringing the hand close to the key switch. Large protruding portions (high and low energy levels) are obtained. In addition, when the remote control device is not used, since the human is at a distance of 1 m or more from the remote control device, only a low frequency can be obtained. Therefore, in this remote control device, the pyroelectric detector 1
4, a band limiting amplifier 18 that amplifies only the frequency band (1 to 10 Hz) output when approaching the remote control device is provided between the pyroelectric detector 14 and the CPU unit 12.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the remote control device according to the present invention, which is automatically activated and automatically turns on the light, will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 3, the pyroelectric detector 14
Is supplied to the band limiting amplifier 18. The band limiting amplifier 18 detects a specific frequency band (1 to 10H) of the detection signal obtained by detecting the approach of the human body by the pyroelectric detector 14.
amplify only z). The output from the band limiting amplifier 18 is supplied to the identification unit 21. In addition to the identification unit 21, an identification unit 22, a logical product unit 23, and an activation unit 24, which will be described later,
Are functions executed by the CPU unit 12. Identification unit 2
1 compares, for example, a predetermined reference value with the above-mentioned band-limited detection output, and when it is determined from the detection output amplified by the band-limiting amplifier 18 that a human body has approached, a logical product unit
3 to output "1". When the brightness of the outer environment is detected by the brightness detector 15 and the surroundings are identified as dark by the identification unit 22, the identification unit 22 supplies an input “1” to the AND unit 23. The AND unit 23 outputs a start signal to the start unit 24 by being supplied with “1” as an input. The activation unit 24 functions as an automatic change-over switch that activates the remote control device and turns on the illumination. When the two conditions of “people approach” and “the surroundings are dark” are met. An activation output is derived from terminal 25. The light activation output from the terminal 25 is supplied to the lighting 16 or the LED 17 to turn on the lighting 16 or the LED 17 to illuminate the entire remote control device or necessary parts. Then, as in the related art, the lighting 16 or the LED 17 stops lighting after a predetermined time corresponding to the time required for the operation.

Therefore, the first embodiment of the remote control device according to the present invention is such that the illumination 16 or the LED 17 is turned on accurately and without malfunction only when the peripheral environment is dark and a person approaches. Or it can illuminate the necessary parts.

Next, a second embodiment of the remote control device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
A light 3 which is a so-called backlight for illuminating the LCD display unit 32 and the touch switch key unit 31 from inside the device.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a remote control device that turns on 3 when two conditions of “dark surroundings” and “people approach” are met.

The second remote control according to the present invention shown in FIG.
The configuration and operation of detecting the brightness of the surrounding environment and the approach of the human body in the third embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, respectively. In particular, a band limiting amplifier 18 that amplifies only the frequency band when the human body approaches the remote control device with respect to the output of the pyroelectric detector 14 is provided between the pyroelectric detector 14 and the CPU unit 12. The main part that is present is the same, and the description using FIGS. 2 and 3 can be used as it is.

Therefore, in the second embodiment of the remote control device according to the present invention, the light 33 is illuminated accurately and without malfunction only when the surrounding environment is dark and a person approaches.
The D display unit 32 and the touch switch key unit 31 can be illuminated from inside the device.

The remote control device according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the human body approach detecting means for detecting the approach of a human body includes, for example, a photodiode having a high infrared sensitivity. And various other infrared sensors can be used. Further, the present invention can be applied to a remote control device for operating an air conditioner, lighting, and the like in addition to the AV equipment.

[0019]

According to the remote control device of the present invention, the detection result of the light / dark detection means for detecting the brightness of the outer peripheral environment, the detection result of the human body approach detection means for detecting the approach of the human body through the band amplification means, and Thus, even in a dark environment, the lighting is turned on and activated accurately without malfunction by merely approaching the remote control device. Therefore, the user does not perform an erroneous operation even when the outer peripheral environment is dark.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a first embodiment of a remote control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram of a pyroelectric detector.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating operations of a light / dark detector and a pyroelectric detector.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a second embodiment of the remote control device according to the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 11 Key operation unit 12 CPU 13 Transmitter 14 Pyroelectric detector 15 Light / dark detector 16 Lighting 17 ······· LED 18 ····· Band-limited amplifier

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A remote control device for an electronic device, comprising: an illuminating means for illuminating the whole or necessary part of the remote control device; a light / dark detecting means for detecting the brightness of an outer peripheral environment; Means, a band amplifying means for passing a specific frequency band of a detection signal of the human body approach detecting means, and an operation of the lighting means based on an output signal of the band amplifying means and an output signal of the brightness detecting means. A remote control device comprising: a starting unit.