JP4210229B2 - Remote control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote controller capable of switching an operation target of an operating means of a joy stick, etc., with a simple operation. <P>SOLUTION: This remote controller for remotely operating electronic equipment has the operating means 25 having a control lever and a display means 33 for displaying a menu for remotely operating the electronic equipment. The control lever is configured to be able to perform tilting movement by which the control lever tilts in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the control lever and pushing movement by which the control lever moves in the axial direction with the tilting operation prevented. The operation of the menu displayed on the display means 33 is executed on the basis of movement caused by the tilting movement, and the operation of the menu displayed on the screen of the electronic equipment is executed on the pushing movement. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&amp;NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote control device for remotely operating an electronic device such as an AV device having an operation means such as a joystick.

In recent years, some remote control devices (remote controllers) for remotely operating electronic devices have a display unit on which operation keys are displayed, and select and determine the operation keys using a joystick or the like. For example, a remote control body is provided with a liquid crystal display unit, and a joystick for selecting and determining an instruction key displayed on the liquid crystal display unit and a joystick for selecting and determining an icon displayed on the monitor are combined to be changed by a changeover switch. There is known a technique for switching a joystick to a monitor icon when there is an instruction to move it to the outside of the outermost edge of an instruction key of a liquid crystal display (Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-252405

However, the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 has a joystick operation target that is switched by a changeover switch or an operation on a liquid crystal screen, which is cumbersome and difficult to use.
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and provides a remote control device capable of switching an operation target of an operation means such as a joystick by a simple operation.

The present invention is a remote control device for remotely operating an electronic device, comprising operating means having an operating lever, and display means for displaying a menu for remotely operating the electronic device, wherein the operating lever The tilting operation for tilting the operation lever in the direction orthogonal to the axial direction, the tilting pushing operation for moving in the axial direction with the tilting operation performed, and the shaft without performing the tilting operation A push operation that moves in a direction is possible, and the tilt operation or a menu operation displayed on the display means is executed based on the tilt push operation, and the screen of the electronic device is executed based on the push operation. The operation target is switched depending on whether or not the tilting operation is performed so that the menu operation displayed on the screen is executed .
The menu displayed before Symbol display means is composed of a plurality of rows, the said rows, characterized in that the menu items to the respective right and left are displayed.
Based on the tilting operation in the row direction, the selection of the row of the menu displayed on the display unit is executed, and based on the tilting operation in a direction different from the row direction, the selected row is selected. The menu item is determined.
Selection of the menu displayed on the display means is executed based on the tilting operation, and determination of the selected menu is executed based on the tilting push operation.
The screen displayed on the display means is switched based on the tilting and pushing operation.
The menu displayed on the screen of the electronic device is determined based on the pushing operation.
Around the operation lever, a direction instruction button for executing selection of a menu displayed on the screen of the electronic device is provided.
The remote control device includes a main body member provided with the operation means, and a moving member provided on the main body member so as to be movable and having the display means. The moving member includes the main body member. The display unit is movable to a first position covered with a second position, and the second position is not covered with the main body member.
The main body member includes an upper main body and a lower main body, and the moving member is movable between the upper main body and the lower main body.

  The present invention can provide a remote control device capable of switching an operation target of an operation means such as a joystick by a simple operation.

  Next, the contents of the present invention will be described in detail, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

  1 to 3 show an operation means having an operation lever such as a joystick that can be used in the remote control device of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the operation means 1. The operating means 1 includes a groove member 2 provided to be rotatable about the X axis in the Y axis direction, a groove member 3 provided to be rotatable about the Y axis to the X axis direction, and each groove member. Rotation angle detection members 4 and 5 for detecting the rotation angle of the lens, and a spherical member 6 rotatably supported by the operation means 1, an operation provided through the grooves of the spherical member 6 and the groove members 2 and 3. The lever 7 is composed of switches 8 to 12 that detect movement of the operation lever 7 in the Z-axis direction.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the operation unit 1 of FIG. 1 in a plane including the X axis and the Z axis. The operation lever 7 is biased upward by a spring (not shown) or the like. A part of the operation lever 7 protrudes upward from the housing 13 of the operation means 1, and is configured to be able to be tilted around the spherical member 6. The direction and execution of the tilting operation are determined based on the rotation angle detected by the rotation angle detection members 4 and 5. The operation lever 7 is provided so as to penetrate the spherical member 6 and is configured to be able to be pushed in the Z-axis direction. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the operation lever 7 is not tilted in any direction. In this state, the switch 8 can be operated by pushing the operation lever 7 as indicated by a broken line.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state where the operation lever 7 is tilted in the X-axis direction in FIG. The operation lever 7 is configured to be able to be pushed in this state. In the case of FIG. 3, the switch 12 can be operated by pushing the operation lever 7 as indicated by a broken line. Similarly, the switches 9 to 11 can be operated by changing the tilt direction and pushing the operating lever 7.
The configuration of the operation unit 1 is not limited to this, and the tilt direction, the number of switches, and the like can be arbitrarily changed.

Next, the remote control device of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 4 shows a state when the liquid crystal panel 33 described later is in a position covered by the upper main body 21a. FIG. 5 is a side view of the remote control device of FIG. 4 as viewed from the right side. As shown in FIG. 5, the apparatus main body is composed of an upper main body 21a and a lower main body 21b, and the operation unit 32 is sandwiched between the upper main body 21a and the lower main body 21b. The upper body 21a includes a device switching key 22 for switching an electronic device to be used, a display unit 23 such as a liquid crystal for displaying the selected electronic device, a power key 24 for controlling on / off of the power of the selected electronic device, Displayed on the liquid crystal panel 33 and the liquid crystal panel 33, the joystick 25 for operating the menu displayed on the screen of an electronic device such as a television, the screen operating member 26 for operating the menu displayed on the screen of the electronic device such as a television. A device / setting key 27, a volume key 28, a channel selection key 29, and the like for switching the screen mode are provided. Similarly, a channel selection key 30 composed of numeric keys “1” to “12” and an AV operation key 31 for performing operations such as reproduction and recording which are common to AV devices are also provided on the upper main body 21a. It has been. In the present invention, an operation key provided on the upper main body 21a is referred to as a hard key, and an operation key displayed on the liquid crystal panel 33 configured as a touch panel described later is a soft key. That's it.

  6 and 7 respectively show states when the operation unit 32 is moved from the state of FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the operation unit 32 is being moved, and FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the liquid crystal panel 33 is not covered by the apparatus body, that is, a state when the operation unit 32 is in the use position. It is. FIG. 8 is a side view of the remote control device in the state of FIG. 7 as viewed from the right side. 9 and 10 are configuration diagrams in a state in which the upper main body 21a is removed in the states of FIGS. The operation unit 32 is rotatably supported by the upper main body 21a and the lower main body 21b by a rotation support portion 35. The operation unit 32 can be moved by a moving operation member 34 that rotates in conjunction with the operation unit 32. The moving operation member 34 may be configured integrally with the operation unit 32 or may be configured separately. Since the movement operation member 34 is configured to be partially exposed from the upper main body 21a and the lower main body 21b, the movement operation member 32 can be moved by rotating the movement operation member 34 with a finger or the like from the outside. Can be performed.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which the operation unit 32 is moved in the direction opposite to that in FIG. In this way, by adopting a configuration in which the operation unit 32 can be used even if it is moved in either the left or right direction, it is possible to handle both right-handed and left-handed, and the usability is further improved. When the operation unit 32 takes a plurality of use positions, the screen can be always recognized in the same direction by configuring the screen direction of the liquid crystal panel 33 to change according to the positions.

  According to the present invention, in the normal state, that is, in the state of FIG. 4 in which the operation unit 32 is not used, the operation unit 32 is sandwiched and covered between the upper main body 21a and the lower main body 21b. The effect of being protected from dirt and the like is exhibited.

  Next, a method for using the remote control device of the present invention will be described. For example, if you do not perform complicated operations or operations specific to each electronic device, such as watching television (such as terrestrial analog broadcasting) or viewing playback images on a video deck, without using the operation unit 32, The operation can be performed in the state of FIG. For example, if a television is selected with the device switching key 22, a channel to be viewed is selected with the channel selection key 30 composed of the numeric keys “1” to “12”, and the volume is changed with the volume key 28. Can be performed. If a video is selected, operations necessary for video recording, reproduction, etc. can be performed by AV operation keys 31 for reproduction, recording, and the like. As described above, if the operation keys corresponding to frequently used functions and operations are provided in the upper main body 21a, the operation unit 32 is not used and the operation is performed in the same manner as a remote control device configured with conventional hard keys. Therefore, there is no sense of incongruity in appearance and operation for the user, and it is easy to operate. Since these hard keys are operation keys that can be operated blindly, that is, operation keys that are operated while watching a television screen or are switched when operated, the operability is further improved. The operation keys provided on the upper body 21a are not limited to these.

Next, an operation using the operation unit 32 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 12, a television is selected as a device to be used, and on the liquid crystal panel 33, a menu relating to the function and operation of the television such as the display of the selected device name “TV” and “program guide” is displayed as a screen 33 a. ing.
The screen displayed on the liquid crystal panel 33 is sequentially switched to three mode screens such as a remote control mode screen 33a, a device selection mode screen 33b, and a setting mode screen 33c as shown in FIG. 12 by pressing the device / setting key 27. Can do. The device selection mode screen 33b can be used to select a device to be used, and the setting mode screen 33c is configured to allow various settings. As described above, functions and operations peculiar to each electronic device can be switched by being displayed as a menu on the liquid crystal panel 33, so that it is possible to cope with many devices and functions.

The menu displayed on the liquid crystal panel 33 can be operated with the joystick 25 provided on the upper body 21a. FIGS. 13 to 15 are diagrams for explaining the operation method. 13 to 15 are menu screens when the DVD is selected as the device to be used. The menu is composed of a plurality of lines, and two menu items are displayed on the left and right of each line. In order to explain the procedure for selecting and determining a desired menu item from the menu, here, the selection and determination of the “zoom” menu item will be described as an example.
First, the row is selected by tilting the joystick 25 in either the up or down direction. FIG. 13 shows a state in which a row including the menu item “Subtitle / Audio” is selected. When the joystick 25 is tilted downward from this state, the “zoom / angle” row can be selected as shown in FIG. In FIGS. 13 and 14, each menu item is not selected even though a row is selected.
After selecting a row, the menu item can be selected by tilting the joystick 25 in either the left or right direction. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a state where the “zoom” menu item is selected by tilting the joystick 25 leftward while the “zoom / angle” row is selected. The menu item can be selected as long as the joystick 25 is tilted in either the left or right direction, but any menu item is released when the joystick 25 returns to a state in which the joystick 25 is not tilted. Is also configured so that it is not selected.
Next, the menu item can be determined by pushing the joystick 25 while tilting the joystick 25 in either the left or right direction. Therefore, when determining the “zoom” menu item, as shown in FIG. 15, the joystick 25 is tilted to the left and the “zoom” menu item is selected, and the joystick 25 is pushed in. Can be performed.

  On the other hand, the selection operation of the menu displayed on the screen of a television or the like can be performed by the screen operation member 26, and the menu selected by the screen operation member 26 can be determined using the joystick 25. It is configured. That is, when the joystick 25 is pushed in a state where it is not tilted in any direction, the menu of the screen of the television or the like selected by the screen operation member 26 can be determined. It is.

As described above, since the determination operation of the menus of the two screens can be performed with one joystick 25, it is not necessary to provide a key for the determination operation for each screen, leading to a reduction in the number of parts. It is.
In addition, the key for determining the menu is generally arranged at the center of the screen operation member 26 for instructing the up / down / left / right directions, and the user to be used should be familiar with the operation keys having such a configuration. There are many. Therefore, the joystick 25 arranged at the center of the screen operation member 26 has no relation to the operation of the liquid crystal panel 33 unless it is tilted, and simply acts as a determination key of the screen operation member 26, and is a general operation key. Since the same operation can be performed, it is very convenient. Further, when the joystick 25 is used while being tilted, it is irrelevant to menu operations on a screen of a television or the like, and acts as an operation key for the liquid crystal panel 33. Therefore, since the operation target can be switched only by whether or not the joystick 25 is tilted without performing a special switching operation, the operation is simplified and easy to operate.

  In the above configuration, the menu item is determined by tilting the joystick 25 in the vertical direction to select a row and then pushing it in while tilting in the horizontal direction. However, the menu item can be determined by simply tilting the joystick 25 in the left-right direction. With this configuration, the two items of tilting and pushing are not necessary, and the menu items can be determined only by the tilting operation, so that the operability is further improved.

  The joystick 25 can also be configured to be used for other operations. An example is shown below. FIG. 16 is an example used for page switching of the screen displayed on the liquid crystal panel 33. The DVD operation menu screen shown in FIG. 16 is composed of two pages. In this way, it is possible to switch the pages by, for example, pushing the joystick 25 while tilting it downward on a screen composed of a plurality of pages. FIG. 17 is an example used for switching an electronic device to be operated by the remote control device. With the DVD selected as the operation target device, the operation target device can be switched to the television by, for example, pressing the joystick 25 while tilting it upward. The same operation can be performed to sequentially switch the operation target devices. Thus, the joystick 25 can be applied to various operations.

  The liquid crystal panel 33 may be configured as a touch panel, and may be selected and determined by touching the menu on the screen with a finger as a soft key that can operate the menu.

  The operation device of the present invention can also be applied to a remote control device in which the liquid crystal panel 33 is provided on the upper surface of the upper body 21a without providing the operation unit 32.

  The main body of the remote control device may be configured so that the operation unit 32 is movably provided on the lower surface of the main body without dividing the main body into the upper main body 21a and the lower main body 21b.

  Although the above configuration has been described as a remote control device corresponding to a plurality of electronic devices, the present invention may be used for a composite device (for example, a television with a built-in DVD recording / playback device) or a single device. Applicable.

The perspective view which shows schematic structure of the operation means which can be used for the remote control apparatus of this invention. Sectional drawing in the plane containing the X-axis and Z-axis of the operation means of FIG. Sectional drawing of the state which inclined the operation lever in the X-axis direction in FIG. The figure which shows the external appearance structure of the remote control apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. The side view of the remote control apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows the movement state of the operation unit in the remote control apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows the movement state of the operation unit in the remote control apparatus of FIG. The side view of the remote control apparatus of FIG. The block diagram which removed the upper main body of FIG. The block diagram which removed the upper main body of FIG. The figure which shows the movement state of the operation unit in the remote control apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows the use condition of the operation unit of the remote control apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. The figure of the menu screen displayed on a liquid crystal panel in the remote control device concerning an embodiment of the invention. The figure of the menu screen displayed on a liquid crystal panel in the remote control device concerning an embodiment of the invention. The figure of the menu screen displayed on a liquid crystal panel in the remote control device concerning an embodiment of the invention. The figure for demonstrating the other operation method of the menu by a joystick in the remote control apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. The figure for demonstrating the other operation method of the menu by a joystick in the remote control apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Operation means 2 Groove member 3 Groove member 4 Rotation angle detection member 5 Rotation angle detection member 6 Spherical member 7 Operation lever 8 Switch 9 Switch 10 Switch 11 Switch 12 Switch 13 Case 21a Upper main body 21b Lower main body 22 Device switching key 23 Display Part 24 Power key 25 Joystick (operating means)
26 Screen operation member (direction indication button)
27 Device / Setting key 28 Volume key 29 Channel selection key 30 Channel channel selection key 31 AV operation key 32 Operation unit (moving member)
33 Liquid crystal panel (display means)
34 Moving operation member 35 Rotation support part

Claims (9)

A remote control device for remotely operating an electronic device,
An operating means having an operating lever;
Display means for displaying a menu for remotely operating the electronic device,
The operating lever is tilted in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the operating lever, in a state in which the tilting operation is performed, and in a state in which the tilting push-in operation is performed in the axial direction and the tilting operation is not performed. Is configured to be capable of pushing in to move in the axial direction,
The tilting operation or the operation of the menu to be displayed on said display unit based on the tilting push operation is performed such that said operation menu displayed on the screen of the electronic device based on the push operation is performed A remote control device characterized in that an operation target is switched depending on whether or not a tilting operation is performed . The menu displayed on the display means is composed of a plurality of rows, the remote control device of claim 1 in the row, characterized in that the menu items to the respective right and left are displayed. Based on the tilting operation in the row direction, the selection of the row of the menu displayed on the display unit is executed, and based on the tilting operation in a direction different from the row direction, the selected row is selected. 3. The remote control device according to claim 2 , wherein the menu item is determined. Based on the tilting operation, the selected execution of a menu displayed on the display means, on the basis of the tilting push operation, to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the determination of the selected menu is executed The remote control device described. On the basis of the tilting push operation, the remote control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the screen displayed on the display unit switching is performed. Based on the push operation, the remote control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that determination of the menu displayed on the screen of the electronic apparatus is executed. The remote control according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein a direction instruction button for executing selection of a menu displayed on the screen of the electronic device is provided around the operation lever. apparatus. A body member provided with the operating means;
A movable member that is movably provided on the main body member and has the display means;
The moving member has a first position in which said display means is covered by said body member, said display means according to claim 1 to 7, characterized in that it is movable to a second position which is not covered with the body member The remote control device according to any one of the above. The remote control device according to claim 8 , wherein the main body member includes an upper main body and a lower main body, and the moving member is movable between the upper main body and the lower main body.

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