JP4555267B2 - Communication robot - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication robot that can communicate with a user by emitting sound from a speaker.

  In recent years, various types of robots have been developed, but they are equipped with speakers and liquid crystal display devices to communicate information with users by voice and video, and to communicate with users. There is a communication robot that aims to achieve this. The type of speaker attached to the communication robot, the position of the speaker, and the sound quality emitted by the speaker are important factors for the user to clearly hear the voice of the communication robot.

  FIG. 1 shows an external view of a conventional communication robot. A cone type speaker 14 as shown in FIG. 2 is built in the trunk 6 of the communication robot 2. The cone type speaker 14 is disposed on the front surface of the trunk portion 6 of the communication robot 2, and an area called the speaker portion 12 is secured on the appearance of the communication robot 2. The main configuration of the cone type speaker 14 is an enclosure 14a, a speaker unit 14d, and cone paper 14e.

  In order to transmit the sound emitted from the cone type speaker 14 to the outside, a large number of opening holes 14 c are provided in the exterior cover 14 b of the trunk portion 6. If too many openings 14c are provided, the rigidity of the exterior cover 14b may be impaired, but conversely, if the number and area of the openings 14c are reduced, the sound emitted from the cone-type speaker 14 will be muffled, It becomes a situation where clear voice cannot be transmitted to the outside.

  Further, the opening hole 14c impairs the appearance design of the communication robot 2. Furthermore, there is intrusion of dust, rainwater, and the like through the opening hole 14c, and it is necessary to consider in terms of dustproofing and dripproofing.

  The enclosure 14a used for the cone type speaker 14 is a component used for facilitating acoustic design and obtaining high sound quality. Since the enclosure 14a protrudes behind the cone-type speaker 14, the space of other equipment built in the trunk 6 of the communication robot 2 is restricted. In order for the user and the communication robot 2 to communicate with each other, it is necessary to concentrate various functions on the front part of the trunk 6 of the communication robot 2, so that various devices are concentrated on the front part. Therefore, it is difficult to design the layout of the equipment including the enclosure 14a.

  In addition, since the speaker unit 12 is provided in front of the trunk 6 of the communication robot 2, when the user stands behind the communication robot 2, the user may not be able to hear the voice emitted by the communication robot 2. is there.

  When a plurality of users communicate with the communication robot 2, not all users stand at the same distance from the communication robot 2. Therefore, even if the voice uttered by the communication robot 2 can be heard well by a user standing near the communication robot 2, the voice uttered by the cone type speaker 14 is attenuated, so that the voice from the communication robot 2 stands far away. May be difficult to hear.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a humanoid robot including a speaker that transmits sound and a microphone that receives sound. The speaker transmits sound with the outer shell of the head as a vibrating body, and the sound transmission range is horizontal. There is disclosed a humanoid robot characterized in that it extends from the upper part of the vertical direction passing through the head to the lower part of the horizontal direction in the entire direction (see Patent Document 1).

  Patent Document 2 discloses a communication robot that is capable of bidirectional communication with a control device through a network and is remotely operated by the control device so as to communicate with a person by video and audio, and capable of traveling A liquid crystal display panel in which a liquid crystal screen and functional parts are integrated on the same panel, and a body portion mounted on the traveling portion and a head portion disposed on the body portion. A communication robot is disclosed (see Patent Document 2).

  In Patent Document 3, a thin plate-like main body, a vibrating body attached to one side of the main body and applying vibration to the main body to generate bending corresponding to the vibration frequency of the main body, and the main body are fixed to the earth. A support device that supports the fixed object, the support device forms a vibration insulator having vibration insulation against the fixed object, the main body forms a connector on one side of the main body, and the connector vibrates. A display to which a connector at an end of an electric cable that transmits an audio signal to the body is connected is disclosed (see Patent Document 3).

  Patent Document 4 discloses a panel type speaker provided in front of a display screen, a transparent panel that covers the front of the display screen, an exciter that is attached to the back surface of the transparent panel and vibrates the transparent panel, and a back side of the transparent panel. And a support panel that elastically supports the transparent panel and the exciter, and an exterior member that surrounds the outer periphery of the transparent panel without supporting the transparent panel, and at least a part of which projects forward from the transparent panel. A panel type speaker is disclosed (see Patent Document 4).

JP 2002-154079 A JP 2004-261194 A JP 2005-94377 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-197868

  An object of the present invention is to provide a communication robot that allows a user to clearly hear the sound generated by the communication robot.

  Hereinafter, means for solving the problem will be described using the numbers used in (Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention). These numbers are added to clarify the correspondence between the description of (Claims) and (Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention). However, these numbers should not be used to interpret the technical scope of the invention described in (Claims).

  The communication robot (2) according to the present invention is arranged in the clearance between the exterior of the communication robot (2), the exciter (16) bonded to the inner surface of the exterior, and the inner surface of the exterior and the exciter (16). The exciter (16) vibrates the exterior and outputs sound from the exterior.

  The communication robot (2) according to the present invention includes an exciter (16) whose exterior includes a head (4), a trunk (6), and a bottom (8), and is bonded to the inner surface of the exterior of the bottom (8). And a cushion material (22) disposed in a gap between the inner surface of the exterior of the bottom (8) and the exciter (16), the exciter (16) gives vibration to the exterior of the bottom (8), Sound is output from the exterior of the bottom (8).

  The communication robot (2) according to the present invention includes an exciter (16) having a bottom (8) exterior including a single flat plate (24) and another exterior, and is bonded to the inner surface of the flat plate (24). A first cushion material (22) disposed in the gap between the inner surface of (24) and the exciter (16), and a second cushion material disposed in the gap between the flat plate (24) and the other exterior. The exciter (16) provides vibration to the flat plate (24), and sound is output from the flat plate (24).

  The communication robot (2) according to the present invention has an exciter (16) whose exterior includes a head (4), a body (6), and a bottom (8), and is bonded to the inner surface of the exterior of the body (6). ) And a cushioning material (22) disposed in a gap between the inner surface of the exterior of the body (6) and the exciter (16), and the exciter (16) vibrates in the exterior of the body (6). And a sound is output from the exterior of the trunk (6).

  A communication robot (2) according to the present invention includes a transparent plate (32) constituting a part of the exterior of the communication robot (2), a display device (30) disposed inside the transparent plate (32), and a transparent plate. An exciter (16) bonded to the inner surface of (32) and a cushion material (34) disposed in a gap between the transparent plate (32) and the exterior, and the exciter (16) is a transparent plate (32 ) And a sound is output from the transparent plate (32).

  In the communication robot (2) according to the present invention, the transparent plate (32) includes an opening (38) that matches the outer shape of the display device (30).

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the communication robot which a user can hear clearly the audio | voice which the communication robot generate | occur | produces is provided.

  The best mode for carrying out a communication robot according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 3 shows a front view of the communication robot 2 according to the present invention. FIG. 4 shows a side view of the communication robot 2 according to the present invention. Although the form of the communication robot 2 is not particularly limited, the communication robot 2 includes a head 4, a trunk 6, a bottom 8, and legs 10.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A ′ of FIG. 3 for explaining the speaker structure according to the first embodiment. An exciter 16 is joined to the inner surface of the exterior of the bottom 8 using an adhesive. The joint surface 20 is a flat surface. The exciter 16 is an excitation member that includes a magnet and a voice coil. Upon receiving an electrical signal through the cable 18, the voice coil of the exciter 16 reciprocates to transmit vibration to the exterior of the bottom 8, and sound is generated from the exterior of the bottom 8. In addition, the material of the exterior of the bottom 8 is exemplified by aluminum, iron, resin, or the like.

  A cushion material 22 is disposed in the gap between the exciter 16 and the inner surface of the exterior of the bottom 8. The cushion material 22 is exemplified by an elastic body such as sponge or rubber.

  The voice uttered by the communication robot 2 having the speaker structure as described above is clear and clear. In other words, in the conventional structure of the cone type speaker 14, the exterior cover 14b disposed on the front side of the cone type speaker 14 has a sound covered, but according to the speaker structure according to the present invention, the exterior is a diaphragm. Therefore, the sound reaches the user's ear without shielding the sound pressure. Therefore, the voice uttered by the communication robot 2 is clear and clear.

  In addition, the sound emitted from the conventional cone-type speaker 14 generally has a characteristic that the directivity becomes narrower as it goes higher. However, according to the speaker structure according to the present invention, the directivity is wide even in the high sound range. The communication robot 2 can hear almost the same voice in any direction. In particular, the speaker structure has an effective characteristic when an elderly person whose hearing with respect to high-frequency sound is likely to decline is a user.

  Furthermore, the sound emitted by the speaker structure according to the present invention has a characteristic that it is less likely to attenuate than the sound emitted by the conventional cone type speaker 14. Therefore, when the communication robot 2 emits sound to a plurality of users, a user standing far away and a user standing nearby can hear sound of the same volume. Of course, even if one user approaches or leaves the communication robot 2, the user can hear the sound of the same volume.

  Further, since the sound emitted from the speaker structure according to the present invention has low directivity, the sound is transmitted to the user's ear even when the exciter 16 is attached to the inner surface of the exterior of the bottom portion 8 as well as the outer surface of another portion. be able to. Therefore, it is not always necessary to provide a speaker structure in front of the communication robot 2. Can be placed anywhere in the empty space.

  Furthermore, according to the speaker structure of the present invention, the opening 14c provided in the exterior, which is indispensable for attaching the conventional cone type speaker 14 to the communication robot 2, is unnecessary, and the appearance design is not impaired. . In addition, since there is no hole in the exterior, there is no need to worry about the intrusion of dust or rainwater into the communication robot 2.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 6 shows a mounting position of the speaker according to the second embodiment. As described above, the speaker according to the present invention emits sound by vibrating the exterior of the communication robot 2 by the exciter 16. In the second embodiment, the exciter 16 is attached to the inner surface of the exterior of the body 6 of the communication robot 2. Even if the exciter 16 is attached to the inner surface of the exterior of the trunk portion 6 and the rear portion, the sound emitted from the exterior has a wide directivity even in high sounds, so that the user stands on the front of the communication robot 2. Even if it is, the voice which the communication robot 2 utters can be heard.

  In addition, a camera, a microphone, and other control devices (not shown) need to be concentrated on the front portion of the communication robot 2. The reason is that the communication robot 2 must recognize the image of the user and recognize the voice of the user. Therefore, even if the space for attaching the exciter 16 cannot be secured in the front portion, if the speaker structure according to the present invention is used, a sound can be emitted by attaching the exciter 16 to an empty space.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 7 shows a mounting position of the speaker according to the third embodiment. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 3 for explaining the speaker structure according to the third embodiment. The communication robot 2 according to the third embodiment has a divided structure in which the bottom 8 of the communication robot 2 is divided into another piece diaphragm 24 that is a flat plate and another exterior. Examples of the material of the separate piece diaphragm 24 include aluminum, iron, and resin.

  The exciter 16 is joined to the separate piece diaphragm 24 using an adhesive. The joint surface 26 is a flat surface.

  A cushion material 22 is disposed in the gap between the exciter 16 and the separate piece diaphragm 24. The cushion material 22 is exemplified by an elastic body such as sponge or rubber.

  Further, a cushion material 22 ′ is provided in the gap between the separate piece diaphragm 24 and the flange 28 of the other exterior.

  The exciter 16 receives an electrical signal through the cable 18, the voice coil of the exciter 16 reciprocates, and the separate piece diaphragm 24 vibrates, thereby generating sound from the separate piece diaphragm 24.

  Thus, since the communication robot 2 has a speaker structure having an exterior division structure that is divided into a flat plate and another exterior, the acoustic designer of the communication robot 2 can pursue pursuit of good sound quality, etc. Therefore, the material selection and shape selection of the separate piece diaphragm 24 can be freely performed. That is, the selection of the material and thickness of the separate piece diaphragm 24 is not constrained by the material and thickness of the exterior of the communication robot 2.

(Fourth embodiment)
FIG. 9 shows a mounting position of the speaker according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 9 for explaining the speaker structure according to the fourth embodiment. In the communication robot 2 according to the fourth embodiment, a part of the front portion of the trunk 6 of the communication robot 2 is opened.

  The diaphragm 32 having a shape that substantially matches the shape of the opening is fitted into the opening. The material of the diaphragm 32 is exemplified by transparent resin or glass.

  Two exciters 16 are attached to the inside of the diaphragm 32 using an adhesive. A cushion material 34 is provided in the gap between the diaphragm 32 and the flange 36 of the body portion 6.

  The exciter 16 receives an electrical signal through a cable (not shown), the voice coil of the exciter 16 reciprocates, and the diaphragm 32 vibrates, so that sound is generated from the diaphragm 32.

  Further, the display device 30 is installed inside the diaphragm 32 so as not to contact the diaphragm 32. The display device 30 is exemplified by a liquid crystal display. The display device 30 displays video such as characters and images. Therefore, since the diaphragm 32 is transparent, a user who is in contact with the communication robot 2 can visually recognize the image displayed on the display device 30 via the diaphragm 32.

  That is, according to the fourth embodiment, since the sound and the video are output from the same position, the user in contact with the communication robot 2 can obtain a high sense of realism.

  FIG. 11 illustrates a case where the diaphragm 32 according to the fourth embodiment is replaced with an apertured diaphragm 32 ′. The diaphragm 32 ′ having an opening has an opening 38 having a size that substantially matches the size of the display device 30. That is, the user visually recognizes the image on the display device 30 without using the diaphragm 32. Therefore, the diaphragm 32 'with the opening may be transparent or opaque. Further, the diaphragm 32 'with the opening is exemplified by metal, resin or glass.

  In the case of the diaphragm 32 without the opening 38, foreign matter such as dust may enter between the diaphragm 32 and the display device 30, and the image on the display device 30 may be difficult to see. On the other hand, since the diaphragm 32 'with the opening does not have such a situation, the user can see a clear image. Further, when assembling the diaphragm 32 without the opening 38 to the communication robot 2, it is necessary to check whether dust or the like is adhered between the diaphragm 32 and the display device 30, but the diaphragm 32 ′ with an opening is used. Such a confirmation work is unnecessary and it is excellent in productivity.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a conventional communication robot. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a cone type speaker. FIG. 3 is a front view of the communication robot according to the present invention. FIG. 4 shows a side view of the communication robot according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A ′ of FIG. 3 for explaining the speaker structure according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a mounting position of the speaker according to the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a mounting position of the speaker according to the third embodiment. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A ′ of FIG. 3 for explaining the speaker structure according to the third embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a mounting position of the speaker according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B ′ of FIG. 9 for explaining the speaker structure according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a case where the diaphragm according to the fourth embodiment is replaced with a diaphragm with an opening.

Explanation of symbols

2: Robot 4: Head 6: Body 8: Bottom 10: Leg 12: Speaker 14: Cone type speaker 14a: Enclosure 14b: Exterior cover 14c: Opening hole 14d: Speaker unit 14e: Cone paper 16: Exciter 18 : Cable 20: Joint surface 22: Cushion material 22 ': Cushion material 24: Separate piece diaphragm 26: Joint surface 28: Flange 30: Display device 32: Diaphragm 32': Diaphragm with opening 34: Cushion material 36: Flange 38: opening

Claims (2)

In communication robots with audio output and video display functions,
An exterior of the communication robot;
An exciter that is bonded to the inner surface of the exterior and includes a magnet and a voice coil;
A cushioning material disposed in a gap between the inner surface of the exterior and the exciter;
A transparent plate constituting a part of the exterior;
A display device disposed inside the transparent plate;
A third cushion material disposed in a gap between the transparent plate and the exterior;
Was immediately Bei,
The exciter is adhered to the inner surface of the transparent plate, giving vibration to the transparent plate, sound Ru output from said transparent plate
Co-Myunikeshon robot. The communication robot according to claim 1, wherein the transparent plate has an opening adapted to an outer shape of the display device.

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