JP3332419B2 - Cordless answering machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cordless answering machine capable of recording an answering message on a slave unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, cordless telephones are being talked about. As shown in FIG. 5, this is divided into a base unit A (base set, ie, a device connected to a line) and a slave unit B (cordless handset, ie, a device not connected to a line). It communicates with the slave unit B wirelessly. Therefore, unlike a conventional external telephone, wiring with the base unit A can be performed, and the installation location of the slave unit B is not limited by the inability to perform wiring. There is an advantage that the slave unit B can be installed. Further, the slave unit B is designed to be portable and has an advantage that it can be used at any place, which is very convenient.

[0003] Further, the number of cases where the base unit A has an answering machine function is increasing. In this case, the operation from the slave unit B functions to record and play back a response message, play back a business message, and function as an answering machine. Settings such as answering mode, and DTMF (Dual
Some have a remote control function based on a tone multi frequency (Tone Multi Frequency) signal. In this case, the same operation as that from the above-mentioned slave unit can be performed from an external telephone, which is very convenient.

[0004] In addition, the cordless answering machine of such a cordless answering machine is provided with an answering machine voice memory, and a message is also recorded in the cordless phone, so that it is difficult to hear even in a situation where communication with the master unit is difficult. Some people can listen to a business message.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the setting as to whether or not to record a message on the slave must always be made by the master or the slave. When the user goes out without setting for recording a message, the setting cannot be made from the outside, so that the usability becomes very poor.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cordless answering machine which has solved the above-mentioned problems.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a cordless answering machine in which memories are provided on a base unit side and a handset side, respectively, and a detecting means for detecting a remote control signal from a telephone line. When a predetermined remote control signal is detected by the detecting means, a message from the telephone line from the next incoming call is
Means for changing from a setting for recording in the memory of the base unit to a setting for recording in the memory of the slave unit, or a unit for changing from a setting for recording in the memory of the slave unit to a setting for recording in the memory of the base unit. A cordless answering machine is provided.

[0008]

According to the present invention, by changing the setting of whether the answering machine is recorded by the base unit or the slave unit from the telephone at the destination, the answering machine recording that reflects the setting from the subsequent incoming call is performed. Will be able to do it.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein 1 to 18 constitute a master unit, 1 is a CPU for controlling the operation of the entire master unit, 2 is an audio signal processing circuit, Reference numeral 3 denotes a transmitting unit for outputting a signal from the master unit to the slave unit, 4 denotes a receiving unit for receiving a signal from the slave unit to the master unit, and 5 denotes A / D and D.
/ A, a modem for performing signal conversion of / A, and a duplexer (DUPLEXEX) 6 for separating transmission and reception signals.
R), 7 is an operation unit, 8 is a display unit, 9 is a memory for storing information necessary for the operation of the CPU 1, 10 is a speech network, 11 is a dialer, 12 is a tone ringer,
13 is an antenna, 14 is a speaker, 15 and 16 are a transmitting and receiving unit of a handset attached to the base unit, 17 is an answering machine unit including an answering machine voice memory, and 18 is a DTMF for detecting a DTMF signal. It is a detection circuit.

The slave unit includes a CPU 21 for controlling the operation of the entire slave unit, an audio signal processing circuit 22, a transmission unit 23 for outputting a signal from the slave unit to the master unit, Receiving section for receiving a signal to the receiver, 25 modems, 26 duplexer (DUPLEXER), 27 operation section, 28
, A memory required for the operation of the CPU 21 of 29, an antenna of 33, a transmitting unit of 35, a receiving unit of 36, and an audio memory for answering machine of 37.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the master unit and the slave unit.
41 and 42 are slave unit recording mode setting buttons and LEDs (light emitting diodes) in master unit C;
Is the remote unit recording mode setting button and LE
D. The buttons 41 and 43 constitute a part of the operation unit of the units 7 and 27, and buttons constituting the other part are also provided on the master unit C and the slave unit D, respectively. LED42,
44 constitutes a part of the display units 8 and 28, respectively.

Next, the actual operation will be described.
Here, only the part related to the operation according to the present invention will be described, and other functions will be omitted.

First, an operation for recording a message in the answering voice memory of the master unit will be described. When a predetermined button of the operation unit 7 is pressed to set the master unit C to the answering machine mode, the slave unit recording mode setting button 4 of the master unit C and the slave unit D is set.
If the buttons 1 and 43 are not pressed, the CPU 1 sets a mode for recording a message in the answering voice memory of the master unit C. In this state, if there is an incoming call from the telephone line, the CPU 1 of the base unit C activates the answering machine unit 17 and stores it in the answering machine unit 17 on the telephone line via the speech network 10. When the response message has been sent, the message message recording operation is started, and the message message sent via the telephone line is sent to the answering machine voice memory of the base unit in the answering machine unit 17. Recording becomes possible via the speech network 10. This operation is repeated every time there is an incoming call from the telephone line.

Next, the operation for recording a message in the answering machine voice memory of the slave unit D will be described. Operation unit 7
When the master unit C is set to the answering machine mode by pressing a predetermined button, first, when the slave unit recording mode setting button 41 of the master unit C is pressed, the CPU 1 of the master unit C issues a signal from the operation unit 7. And a signal is sent to the display unit 8 to turn on the slave unit recording mode LED 42, and this signal is turned on. At the same time, the slave unit CPU 21 is transmitted to the slave unit CPU 21 via the modem 5, the transmission unit 3, the duplexer 6, and the antenna 13. A signal requesting that the slave unit recording mode LED 44 of the slave unit D be turned on is transmitted. (Via the antenna 33, the duplexer 26, the receiving unit 24, and the modem 25)
U21 indicates the slave unit recording mode LED 4 on the display unit 28.
A signal for lighting 4 is sent, and this is turned on.
When the slave unit recording mode setting button 43 of the slave unit D is pressed, the flow is reversed, and the CPU 21 of the slave unit D
When the signal is detected from the operation unit 27, the display unit 28
, A signal for turning on the slave unit recording mode LED 44 is sent to turn on the same, and at the same time, communication with the master unit C is performed in the same manner as described above (CPU 21 → modem 25 →
Transmitter 23 → duplexer 26 → antenna 33 → antenna 13 → duplexer 6 → receiver 4 → modem 5 → C
PU1), requests the main unit CPU1 to turn on the subunit recording mode LED 42 of the main unit C, and upon receiving the request, the main unit CPU1 issues a subunit recording mode LED to the display unit 8.
A signal for turning on 42 is sent out, and this is turned on to enter the slave unit recording mode.

In this state, if there is an incoming call from the telephone line, the base unit CPU 1 activates the answering machine unit 17 and stores it in the answering machine unit 17 on the telephone line via the speech network 10. At the same time as sending out the response message,
The slave CPU 21 requests the U21 to prepare for recording the message in the slave absence voice memory 37, and upon receiving the request, the slave CPU 21 sets the slave answerphone voice memory 37.
To enable recording. Next, when the transmission of the response message is completed, the main unit CPU 1 transmits the business message transmitted through the telephone line to the speech network 1.
0, an audio signal processing circuit 2, a transmitting unit 3, a duplexer 6, and an antenna 13 for transmission to a slave unit D,
Reference numeral 21 denotes a business message from the master unit C,
3. Recording is performed on the answering voice memory 37 via the duplexer 26, the receiving unit 24, and the voice signal processing circuit 22. This operation is repeated every time there is an incoming call from the telephone line.

At this time, if communication between the master unit C and the slave unit D does not work properly, a message is recorded in the answering voice memory in the answering unit 17 of the master unit C regardless of the mode. If you do so, you will not be able to record the message and skip it. In such a case, if the slave unit recording mode LEDs 42 and 44 are blinked,
It becomes very easy to understand.

When the answering voice memory 37 of the slave unit D is full, the slave unit CPU 21
By sending a signal to that effect to record the message in the answering machine voice memory of the master unit, long-time recording is possible. Conversely, even when the answering machine voice memory of the master unit is first full, the same effect can be obtained by using the answering machine voice memory of the slave unit in the same manner.

When the message is recorded on the slave unit D, in order to listen to the message, if the message is from the slave unit D, the message is transmitted from the receiver 36 through the audio signal processing circuit 22 of the slave unit D as it is. It can be heard, and in the case of the master unit C, the communication can be similarly performed by communicating with the slave unit D.

Next, a remote control operation using a DTMF signal from a telephone line using an external telephone will be described. As described above, when the parent device C is set to the answering machine mode and the slave unit recording mode setting buttons 41 and 43 of the master unit and the slave unit are not pressed, the message is stored in the answering machine voice memory of the master unit C. Enters the mode for recording messages. In this state, if there is an incoming call from the telephone line,
U1 activates the answering machine unit 17, sends out the response message stored in the answering machine unit 17 on the telephone line, and when it is finished, starts recording the business message. During this time, the DTMF detection circuit 18 monitors whether a remote control signal (DTMF signal) is received, and if not, continues the operation of recording the message. At this time, if the DTMF detection circuit 18 detects a remote control signal (DTMF signal), it sends a detection signal to the CPU 1 and receives this signal.
U1 enters the remote control mode and stops the recording operation for the answering voice memory. And that D
If the detection signal from the TMF detection circuit 18 is a signal for setting the slave unit recording mode, the master unit CPU 1 receiving the signal indicates the slave unit recording mode LE to the display unit 8 in the same manner as described above.
At the same time, a signal is sent and turned on so as to turn on D42, and at the same time, communication with the slave unit D is performed, and a request is issued to the slave unit CPU 21 to turn on the slave unit recording mode LED 44 of the slave unit D. Receiving the notification, the slave unit CPU 21 sends a signal for turning on the slave unit recording mode LED 44 to the display unit 28 to turn it on. Thereafter, when there is an incoming call from the telephone line, the above-described slave unit recording operation is performed. Conversely, when the external telephone is used to release the slave unit recording operation mode by the DTMF signal, a slave unit recording operation mode release signal (DTMF signal) is transmitted from the external telephone to the master unit via the telephone line. , When I received it, the parent machine CP
U1 is a slave unit recording mode LED 42, 44 of the master unit and the slave unit.
Is turned off, and as described above, the operation for recording the message in the answering machine voice memory of the master unit is performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is controlled whether or not a message is recorded in a slave unit from an external telephone connected to a telephone line by a remote control signal (DTMF signal). Thus, even when the user forgets the setting for recording the message on the slave unit and goes out, the user can set and change the setting from where he / she is away from home.

(Other Embodiment) FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an external view of a master unit and a slave unit in the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the present embodiment differs from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that a timer circuit 38 is provided in place of the DTMF detection circuit 18, and the display units 8 and 2
8 shows a timer mode L for lighting in the timer mode.
The EDs 45 and 46 are provided, respectively, and the other is the same as the first embodiment shown in FIGS.

Next, the actual operation will be described. Here, only the differences from the first embodiment will be described.

That is, an operation for recording a message in the answering voice memory 37 of the slave unit D for a limited time by the timer circuit 38 will be described.

In this embodiment, the slave unit recording mode setting buttons 41 and 43 of the master unit C and the slave unit D are continuously pressed for two times.
By pressing the button twice, the CPUs 1 and 21 are set to a mode in which the message is recorded in the answering voice memory 37 of the slave unit D uniformly for two hours.

First, the master unit C is set to the answering machine mode by pressing a predetermined button of the operation unit 7, and when the slave unit recording mode setting button 41 of the master unit C is continuously pressed twice, the master unit CPU
1 detects it from the signal from the operation unit 7, sets 2 hours in the timer circuit 38, and sends a signal to the display unit 8 to turn on the slave unit recording mode LED 42 and the timer mode LED 45. At the same time, the communication with the slave unit D is performed, and a request is issued to the slave unit CPU 21 to turn on the slave unit recording mode LED 44 and the timer mode LED 46 of the slave unit. Receiving the notification, the slave unit CPU 21 sends a signal for turning on the slave unit recording mode LED 44 and the timer mode LED 46 to the display unit 28, and turns them on. The setting from the slave unit D is opposite to the flow described above.

If there is an incoming call from the telephone line in this state, the operation of recording a message in the answering voice memory 37 of the slave unit D is performed.

After two hours have elapsed, the timer circuit 38 outputs a signal indicating the lapse of time to the master unit CPU 1, and when the master unit CPU 1 detects this, the slave unit recording mode LED 42 and the A signal is sent to turn off the timer mode LED 45, and at the same time, these are turned off, and at the same time, communication with the slave unit D is performed, and the slave unit recording mode LED 44 and the timer mode L of the slave unit are transmitted to the slave unit CPU 21.
A request is made to turn off the ED 46. The slave unit CPU 21 receiving the notification indicates the slave unit recording mode LE to the display unit 28.
A signal for turning off D44 and the timer mode LED 46 is transmitted, and these are turned off.

As a result, the subsequent operation is in a mode in which a message is recorded in the answering voice memory of the master unit.

In the above-described embodiment, when the recording mode setting buttons 41 and 43 of the parent device and the child device are continuously pressed twice, the voice recording voice memory of the child device is uniformly stored for two hours. The configuration was such that the message mode was set to record the message, but by pressing the slave unit recording mode setting buttons 41 and 43 three times in succession, the voice recording memory for the answering machine of the slave unit would be started after two hours. You can also set the mode to record business messages. In this case, after setting,
Until two hours have passed, the slave unit recording mode LEDs 42, 44
Is turned off and the timer mode LEDs 45 and 46 are turned on, and after 2 hours, the former can be turned on and the latter can be turned off. The recording operation is the same as described above.

In the above embodiment, the set time of the slave unit recording mode is uniformly set to two hours. However, the set time can be arbitrarily set by, for example, a combination of the slave unit recording mode setting buttons 41 and 43 and the ten keys. It can also be set as a simple structure. In the above embodiment, the timer circuit 38 is connected to the master unit C.
Although the configuration is different from that of the PU1, the cost can be reduced by using the internal timer of the CPU 1 if the internal timer is vacant. The same operation can be performed even if a timer circuit is provided on the slave unit side.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to change the setting of whether the answering machine is recorded at the master unit or the slave unit from a telephone at a destination, and the setting is reflected from a subsequent incoming call. You can make a recorded answering machine.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a parent device and a child device of a cordless answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a parent device and a child device of a cordless answering machine according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an external view of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an external view of a conventional cordless answering machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 Audio signal processing circuit 3 Transmitting part 4 Receiving part 5 Modem 6 Duplexer 7 Operation part 8 Display part 9 Memory 10 Speech network 11 Dialer 12 Tone ringer 13 Antenna 14 Speaker 15 Transmitting part 16 Listening part 17 Answering machine 18 DTMF detection Circuit 21 CPU 22 Audio signal processing circuit 23 Transmitting unit 24 Receiving unit 25 Modem 26 Duplexer 27 Operation unit 28 Display unit 29 Memory 33 Antenna 35 Transmitting unit 36 Listening unit 37 Answering machine voice memory 41 Master unit slave unit recording mode setting Button 42 Remote unit recording mode LED of parent unit 43 Remote unit recording mode setting button of child unit 44 Remote unit recording mode LED of child unit

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04M 1/64-1/78 H04M 1/00 H04M 11/00-11/10 H04B 7/24-7/26 H04Q 7 / 00-7/38

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A cordless answering machine having a memory on each of a base unit and a slave unit, detecting means for detecting a remote control signal from a telephone line, and the detecting means detecting a predetermined remote control signal. The message from the telephone line from the next incoming call is changed from the setting of recording in the memory of the base unit to the setting of recording in the memory of the slave unit, or from the setting of recording in the memory of the slave unit. A cordless answering machine, characterized by comprising means for changing the setting to be recorded in the memory of the base unit. 2. The cordless system according to claim 1, wherein when the predetermined remote control signal is detected by the detection unit, the change process is executed without executing a message recording process in the communication. Answering machine.