JP5094266B2 - Electric equipment and control device for making announcements - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electric device and a control device that notify a state in a home.

In home appliances, a simple buzzer sound pattern difference is used to notify the state of the home appliance. However, these buzzer sounds alone did not tell where they happened, and until they got used to the meaning of notification sounds for individual home appliances, the meaning of each buzzer sound had to be confirmed in the instruction manual. . On the other hand, a method has been proposed in which a network is built in a home, control data is transmitted from a centralized management device, and home appliances that are terminals in each home are controlled.
JP 2002-44743

However, there are still a number of insufficient points regarding the status notification in the home, and there is room for improvement.

In view of the above, the problem of the present invention is to improve the notification of the state of electrical equipment in the home and make it easier for the user to use, and can easily improve the notification method even for a once purchased electrical product. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric product and a control device cooperating therewith.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a functional unit having a predetermined function, a state detecting unit that detects a state change of the functional unit and generates a state detection signal, and a memory that stores a plurality of audio data A transmission unit that transmits the audio data of the storage unit to another electrical device, a reception unit that receives audio data corresponding to a state that can be detected by the state detection unit from another electrical device, and the received audio data Provided is an electric device having a first control unit to be stored in a storage unit and a second control unit that reads out audio data corresponding to a state detection signal from a plurality of audio data in the storage unit.
As a result, it is possible to receive audio data relating to its own state change from another electrical product, for example, to obtain a new version of audio data prepared for a newly purchased electrical product. According to a specific feature of the present invention, the transmission unit and the reception unit transmit and receive audio data to and from another electric device through a power line. As a result, audio data can be easily exchanged with other electrical products using a power line provided in the home.

According to a specific feature of the present invention, the storage unit stores audio data corresponding to a state detection signal of another electrical device, and the transmission unit stores audio data according to the state detection signal of the other electrical device. Is transmitted to another electric device.
This makes it possible to provide a new version of audio data for other electrical products that the user has.

According to a specific feature of the present invention, the storage unit stores voice data corresponding to a state detection signal of another existing electrical device from the beginning of shipment. As a result, it is possible to provide a new version of audio data for other electric products that the user has from the beginning of purchase. In addition, according to the further detailed feature described above, a system product is configured together with a plurality of other electrical devices, and the storage unit outputs audio data corresponding to a state detection signal of an existing electrical device in the system from the beginning of shipment. It is memorized. In this manner, not only the new product but also the old product that has already been purchased can be updated in the voice memory data when the new product is purchased regardless of the product category.

According to another specific feature of the invention, the first control unit updates the audio data corresponding to the same state detection signal with the audio data received by the receiving unit. As a result, when the same information corresponding to the same state detection signal is announced, it is possible to update the voice data in which the text, voice quality, intonation, etc. are upgraded. Furthermore, according to another specific feature of the present invention, the first control unit can select whether to update the audio data corresponding to the same state detection signal by the audio data received by the receiving unit. It is characterized by. With this configuration, it is possible to select whether to use upgraded data or conventional data.

According to another specific feature of the present invention, the second control unit transmits the read audio data to another electrical device. As a result, it is possible to announce the state detection result by another electrical product or the like.

According to another specific feature of the present invention, the second control unit includes a voice generation unit that announces a state detection result based on the voice data read out by the second control unit. This makes it possible for the home appliance to announce its own state detection result.
According to still another specific feature of the present invention, the receiving unit can further receive audio data corresponding to a state detection signal of another electrical device, and the second control unit receives According to another aspect of the present invention, an audio generation unit announces a state detection result of another electrical device based on audio data corresponding to the state detection signal of the other electrical device received by the unit. This makes it possible to make an announcement based on audio data corresponding to the state detection signal in place of the home appliance that has performed state detection.

According to another specific feature of the present invention, the audio data is a compressed signal, and the audio generation unit includes a decoding unit that decodes the audio data and generates an audio signal, and an output unit that outputs the audio signal. It is characterized by having. Since the compressed signal is used for the audio data, the audio data can be stored with a smaller capacity than that using the same data, so that the size can be further reduced. According to a more detailed feature, audio data is encoded by the ADPCM method, and the decoding unit includes an ADPCM decoder.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a functional unit having a predetermined function, a state detecting unit that detects a state change of the functional unit and generates a state detection signal, and a storage unit for storing a plurality of audio data A receiving unit that receives audio data corresponding to a state that can be detected by the state detecting unit, a first control unit that stores the received audio data in the storage unit, and a plurality of audio data in the storage unit An electric device is provided that includes a second control unit that reads out audio data in accordance with the state detection signal. As a result, it is possible to receive audio data related to its own state change from the outside, and to update the audio data. Specifically, the receiving unit receives audio data from another electrical device. Alternatively, the receiving unit can download the audio data by the communication means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a storage unit that stores audio data related to state changes of a plurality of electrical devices, a transmission unit that transmits audio data in the storage unit to the related electrical devices, There is provided a control device including a receiving unit that receives audio data related to a change in the state of the electric device from a second electric device, and a control unit that stores the received audio data in the storage unit. The control device configured as described above can receive and hold audio data related to the state change of the first electrical device from the second electrical device, and the first electrical device as necessary. It can function in response to changes in state.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first example of the announcement system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The announcement system includes a home appliance such as a refrigerator 300 having a predetermined function, an outlet 100 that supplies power to the refrigerator 300, and a personal computer 200. These are connected to each other via a power line 50 drawn from the distribution board 10. The outlet 100 for connecting the refrigerator 300 to the power line 50 is shown in detail because it relates to the announcement function, but the outlet for connecting the personal computer 200 to the power line 50 is of a normal configuration. Since it exists, illustration is abbreviate | omitted. In the above embodiment, other household electrical appliances are connected to the power line 50, but the basic configuration related to the announcement system is the same as that of the refrigerator 300, so illustration is omitted for the sake of simplicity. In addition to supplying power, the power line 50 enables communication between the above components by a PLC (Power Line Communications) method in which signals and data are superimposed on the power for communication. Note that signals and data superimposed on the power line 50 do not leak out from the distribution board 10. When a state change requiring an announcement occurs in the refrigerator 300, the state change is transmitted to the personal computer via the power line 50, and voice data (ADPCM voice data) corresponding to the state change is taken out from the personal computer 200. When this is sent to the outlet 100 via the electric power line 50, the outlet 100 makes an announcement corresponding to the state change of the refrigerator 300.

The outlet 100 is provided with a socket 114, and the lamp line 50 is directly electrically connected to the socket 114. Refrigerator 300 is powered by connecting its plug to socket 114 of outlet 100. This part has the same configuration as a normal outlet.

The power line 50 connected to the outlet 100 supplies power to the power supply unit 116 for the operation of the outlet 100 itself. The power supply unit 116 converts the power from the power line 50 into a voltage necessary for the operation of each unit of the outlet 100 such as the CPU 122 and supplies the converted voltage. Further, a power supply display unit 118 is connected to the power supply unit 116, and displays whether power is supplied to the power supply unit 116. An emergency storage battery 120 is further connected to the power supply unit 116, and is charged by the power supply unit 116. When the power supply from the power line 50 is interrupted, for example, it is necessary to perform a predetermined announcement several times. Power can be supplied to the power supply unit 116 only for a short time. When power is being supplied from the emergency storage battery 120, the power display unit 118 performs a display different from the normal power supply from the power line 50, for example, by blinking.

The outlet 100 is provided with a microphone 144 so that a user's favorite announcement can be input. The ADPCM encoder 146 converts the input voice into an electric signal and encodes it. The encoded ADPCM audio data is sent from the power line 50 to the personal computer 200 via the CPU 122 and the demultiplexing / synthesis module 166 and stored in the audio memory 206. Note that the ADPCM audio data encoded by the ADPCM encoder 146 may be stored in the audio memory 138 of the outlet 100 itself. Similarly, the personal computer 200 has a microphone 210, and a user's favorite announcement can be input in the same manner as an outlet. The input announcement is encoded by the ADPCM encoder 208 and stored in the audio memory 206. The personal computer 200 has a power supply unit 212 that receives power from the demultiplexing / synthesis module 204 and supplies power to each unit of the personal computer 200. The power supply unit 212 is turned on and off by the power supply operation unit 214.

Hereinafter, other configurations will be described along the flow from when the refrigerator 300 detects the state until the announcement according to the state is detected. In the refrigerator 300, the state detection unit 306 detects a change in the function unit 304. For example, in the case of a refrigerator, the refrigerator 300 detects that the door is open for a certain period of time. The state detection unit 306 creates a state detection signal according to the detection, and sends the detection result from the demultiplexing / synthesis module 302 to the lamp line 50 from the socket 114. The state detection signal sent to the power line 50 is demultiplexed by the demultiplexing / synthesis module 166 of the outlet 100 and sent to the CPU 122. Thus, the CPU 122 determines that the state detection unit 306 requests an announcement corresponding to the detection result, and sends a request signal for audio data from the demultiplexing / synthesis module 166 to the power line 50.

The request signal sent to the power line 50 is demultiplexed by the demultiplexing / synthesizing module 204 of the personal computer 200 and sent to the CPU 202, and the CPU 202 retrieves the requested announcement data from the audio memory 206 in response thereto. The extracted announcement data is combined into electric power by the demultiplexing / combining module 204 and is sent to the power line 50. The CPU 202 of the personal computer 200 has a memory for storing a program for its operation and temporarily storing various data necessary for the function of the CPU. This is the same as the memory 136 in the outlet 100. However, in the personal computer 200, for simplicity of illustration, such a memory is also shown as the CPU 202. In the following examples in FIG. 2 and subsequent figures, such a simplification is performed, and each block shown as a CPU is illustrated as including a memory for storing programs and data. The announcement data sent to the power line 50 is demultiplexed by the demultiplexing / synthesis module 166 of the outlet 100 and sent to the CPU 122.

The CPU 122 sends the demultiplexed announcement data to the ADPCM decoder 126. The announcement data item decoded by the ADPCM decoder 126 is converted into an analog audio signal by the digital / analog conversion circuit 128, amplified by the speaker amplifier 130, and output as audio from the speaker 132. Hereinafter, the part of the digital-analog conversion circuit, the speaker amplifier, and the speaker is referred to as a speaker unit. The output of the ADPCM decoder 126 is also sent to an alarm display unit 134 composed of a liquid crystal display panel, LEDs, and the like, and the announcement content is displayed by a character display, a blinking display lamp, or the like. The above is the flow from state detection to announcement.

The memory 136 stores a program for the operation of the CPU 122 and temporarily stores various data necessary for the function of the CPU 122. The audio memory 138 is mainly used to temporarily store announcement data items demultiplexed by the demultiplexing / synthesis module 116. This is because the same announcement is output repeatedly. The operation unit 140 is for accepting a manual operation on the outlet 100 side, and is used when performing a test request or setting specific to each announcement unit on the outlet 100 side. As described above, in the first embodiment, only the demultiplexing / synthesis module 302 is provided in the refrigerator 300, and the announcement data prepared in the personal computer 200 is announced from the outlet 100 according to the detection of the state detection unit in the refrigerator. Can do.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second example of the announcement system according to the embodiment of the present invention. This is different from the first embodiment in that audio data is output from the main controller 400 instead of the personal computer 200. The main controller 400 is provided with a voice memory 406 for storing voice data to be transmitted to housing equipment represented by the bathroom 500 and the home appliances 600 and 700. The main controller 400 is connected to the bathroom 500 and the home appliances 600 and 700 via the electric power line 50. The main controller 400 includes an ADPCM decoder 408 and a speaker unit 410 that are functions relating to announcements. Furthermore, unlike the first embodiment, the refrigerator 600 of the second embodiment has an ADPCM decoder 610 and a speaker unit 612 that are functions relating to the announcement. On the other hand, the bathroom 500 and the washing machine 700 have no announcement-related functions or voice memory.

In the bathroom 500 and the home appliances 600 and 700, there are functional units 506, 606, and 706 corresponding to the respective functions. In addition, state detection units 508, 608, and 708 that detect the state of each functional unit detect a change in each functional unit, and generate a detection state code in accordance with the change. Then, the generated detection status code is sent to the CPUs 502, 602, and 702 of each home appliance. Each CPU synthesizes the given IP address and the detection status code described above, and each demultiplexing / synthesis module 504 as a status detection signal. , 604, 704. Each demultiplexing / combining module 504, 604, 704 combines these state detection signals with power and outputs the combined power to the lamp line 50. In addition, the demultiplexed power is supplied to each power supply unit 510, 614, 710, and is fed to a necessary place in each home appliance.

The IP address output via the power line 50 and the detection status code described above are sent to the main controller 400. These signals are demultiplexed by a demultiplexing / combining module 404 into a state detection signal composed of power, an IP address, and a detection state code. The demultiplexed power is supplied to the power supply unit 412 and is then fed to a necessary location in the main controller. The IP address and the detection signal are decoded by the CPU 402, and the audio data corresponding to the decoding result is read from the audio memory 406, and is transmitted to the refrigerator 600, which is a home electric appliance that can be announced and synthesized with the power by the demultiplexing / synthesis module 404. This corresponds to the case where the refrigerator 600 is set to announce its own state detection results and the state detection results of the bathroom 500 and the washing machine 700. The refrigerator 600 receives audio data from the main controller. First, the demultiplexing / synthesis module 604 demultiplexes power and audio data. The demultiplexed audio data is sent to the ADPCM decoder 610 via the CPU 602, decoded, and announced from the speaker unit 612. This announcement includes information on which home appliance is in what state.

On the other hand, when the main controller 400 is set to announce the state detection results of the bathroom 500 and the home appliances 600 and 700 and the state detection results of the bathroom 500 and the washing machine 700, the IP received from each home appliance. After reading the audio data corresponding to the address and the detection signal from the audio memory 406, the audio data is sent to its own ADPCM decoder 408, and an announcement based on the decoding result is performed by the speaker unit 410. In addition, in FIG. 2, the announcement from the main controller 400 and the refrigerator 600 can select the setting which announces both, or the setting which announces only from any one, Furthermore, the state detection result is announced from where. It is also possible to set differently for each target home appliance. As described above, also in the second embodiment, the bathroom 500, the washing machine 700, and the like simply provide the demultiplexing / synthesis module 302, and the announcement prepared by the main controller 400 according to the detection of the state detection unit. Data can be announced from the main controller 400 or other designated home appliances. Further, for example, like the refrigerator 600, the state detection result can be announced without itself having an audio memory.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the basic functions of the CPU 402 of the main controller 400 in the second embodiment of FIG. When power is supplied to the main controller and the flow starts, it is first checked in step S2 whether a state detection signal has arrived. When the state detection signal is received, the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, the IP address and the detection state code are confirmed from the transmitted state detection signal, and the process proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the detected home appliance name announcement data corresponding to the IP address confirmed in step S4 is read from the voice memory. In step S6, furthermore, detection state announcement data corresponding to the detection state code of each home appliance confirmed in step S4 is read from the voice memory. Note that these announcement data are encoded (encoded) by the ADPCM method (Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation). Accordingly, since the data can be stored with a small capacity, even a memory element with the same capacity can provide an abundant sound source.

In step S8, it is checked whether or not the main controller is designated to announce. When it is designated to announce, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S10, the announcement data read from the audio memory is decoded (decoded) by the ADPCM decoder 408. Then, the process proceeds to step S12, and a main controller announcement process for causing the speaker unit 410 to announce the decoded announcement data is started. In the announcement performed in the main controller announcement process, phrases corresponding to the detected home appliance name announcement data and the detected state announcement data read from the voice memory in step S6 are combined to form one sentence. For example, the sentences “in the bathroom” and “hot water boiled” are composed. This sentence can be set to repeat a predetermined number of times.

After starting the main controller announcement process in step S12, the flow proceeds to step S14 in parallel with the process. Note that if the main controller is not designated to announce in step S8, the process directly proceeds to step S14. In step S14, it is checked whether or not an instruction to make an announcement is made in the home appliance. If any home appliance is designated to be announced, the process proceeds to step S16, and it is checked whether or not the designated home appliance is currently in the announcement prohibition condition. For example, in an announcement-designated home electric appliance installed in a bedroom, a case where the bedroom is turned off at midnight can be set as an announcement prohibition condition. In this case, it may be inappropriate to wake up a sleeper by making an announcement as specified. Such announcement prohibition conditions can be set for each home appliance. If the announcement prohibition condition is not satisfied in step S16, the process proceeds to step S18. In step S18, it is confirmed whether or not the power supply of the home appliance to be announced is turned on. If it is confirmed that the power is off, the process proceeds to step S20. In step S20, it is added to the signal announcement data for on / off control of the power supply of the home appliance. This power on / off signal is a signal for automatically turning on the power of the home appliance prior to the announcement being performed and automatically turning off the power of the home appliance upon the end of the announcement. Then, the flow proceeds to step S22. On the other hand, if the power supply of the home appliance to be announced in step S18 has already been turned on, the flow directly proceeds to step S22.

In step S22, it is confirmed whether or not the home appliance itself that has detected the state change has been designated for announcement. If it is the home appliance itself that has detected the state change that will be announced, the process proceeds to step S24. In step S24, when the detected home appliance itself announces, it is not necessary to inform the name of the home appliance to be announced. Therefore, the detected home appliance name announcement data is deleted from the announcement data transmitted for the home appliance and the process proceeds to step S26. . On the other hand, if the home appliance itself that has detected the state change in step S22 is not designated for announcement, the process directly proceeds to step S26. In step S26, announcement ADPCM encoding data suitable for the announcement designated home appliance is transmitted.

Next, proceeding to step S28, it is confirmed whether or not a new home appliance has been added to the announcement system, or whether or not there has been a change in the setting contents such as a new announcement even for an existing home appliance. . If addition or setting change has occurred, the process proceeds to step S30, and registration and setting change processing described later is performed. When the process is finished, the flow returns to step S2, and thereafter, steps S2 to S30 are repeated. Accordingly, it is possible to respond to the incoming state detection signal and the home appliance addition / setting change at any time. In step S28, if home appliance addition / setting change is not detected, the process immediately returns to step S2. If the state detection signal has not arrived at step S2, the process directly proceeds to step S28. Further, when there is no announcement designation by the home appliance in step S14, or when the household appliance designated for announcement in step S16 satisfies the announcement prohibition condition, the process immediately proceeds to step S28.

Note that, for the sake of simplicity, the flow in FIG. 3 illustrates a case where there is one announcement-designated home appliance. On the other hand, when there are a plurality of household electrical appliances designated for announcement, in FIG. 3, steps S16 to S24 are repeated for each household electrical appliance designated for announcement, and steps S16, S18 and S22 are performed for each household electrical appliance. Whether or not is possible is determined sequentially. Specifically, after step S14, a step of sequentially selecting one designated home appliance is inserted, and after step S24, a step of asking whether there is an undecided home appliance in steps S16, S18 and S22 is added. Moreover, when there exists an applicable household appliance in step S16, it is made to transfer to the step which inquires about the presence or absence of said undecided / undecided household appliance through the step which temporarily excludes this household appliance from an announcement designation | designated object. Then, when it is confirmed in the step of asking whether or not there is an undecided / undecided home appliance, if it is confirmed that there is no undecided / undecided home appliance, the process proceeds to step S26. Return to the step of selecting one. As a result, the next home appliance is selected, and steps S16 to S24 are executed for the newly selected home appliance. The flow configured as described above is applicable even when there is only one announcement designated home appliance. That is, in the step of sequentially selecting one designated home appliance, this one home appliance is selected, and in the step of asking whether there is an undecided home appliance, there is no such home appliance, and the process proceeds to step S26. As in FIG. 3, steps S16 to S24 are executed only once.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a third example of the announcement system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 2 differs from the second embodiment of FIG. 2 in that each home appliance has not only the main controller 400 but also audio memories 812, 912, 1012, ADPCM decoders 810, 910, 1010, and speaker units 814, 914, 1014, respectively. It is a point. Further, in the third embodiment, description will be made on the assumption that the range 800 is newly added to the place where the system is configured by the main controller 400, the refrigerator 900, and the washing machine 1000. As described above, in the third embodiment, at least the announcement regarding the state detection of the home appliances can be performed in a self-contained manner by the audio data stored in the audio memory of each home appliance itself. Therefore, it is not necessary to communicate with the main controller each time detection is performed with respect to an announcement based on at least detection of its own state.

Next, the meaning of the communication by the electric light line 50 and the existence of the main controller 400 will be described. The first significance is a case where a certain home electric appliance announces a state detection result in another home electric appliance. Since this is the same as the case where the refrigerator 600 announces the state detection result of the washing machine 700 in the second embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. The second significance relates to the update of voice announcement data. Each household electrical appliance in the third embodiment of FIG. 4 constitutes a system product group that is standardized for voice announcements. Specifically, the range 800, the refrigerator 900, the washing machine 1000, and the like are classified according to standardized product category codes, and the same state detection code for the same state with respect to the state detected in each product category. Has been standardized so that And when a new product belonging to such a system product group is released, the voice memory in all other product categories belonging to the system, together with audio data corresponding to all status detection codes of its own product category A new version of audio memory data corresponding to the state detection code is stored. These new versions announce the same information corresponding to the same state detection code, but their expressions have been upgraded, and the specific text voice quality and intonation are different.

For example, when the range 800 is newly released, and when the range 800 is purchased and added to the system of FIG. 4, among the new version of the voice memory data stored in the voice memory 812, the data related to the refrigerator 900 is sent via the electric power line 50. Then, the refrigerator 900 receives it, and thereby the announcement of the voice memory 912 of the refrigerator 900 can be updated. In this manner, not only the new product but also the old product that has already been purchased can be updated in the voice memory data when the new product is purchased regardless of the product category. Note that all new version audio memory data in all product categories stored in the audio memory 812 of the range 800 in the above is also stored in the audio memory 406 of the main controller 400 via the power line 50. Furthermore, the voice memory data can be updated not only at the time of purchase of the new product as described above but also by data downloaded by the main controller via the Internet. Such audio memory data downloaded from the outside is not only stored in the audio memory 406 of the main controller 400 but also distributed to the audio memory in the home appliances of the corresponding product category via the power line 50 as necessary. Is done.

A flowchart of basic functions in the CPU 402 of the main controller 400 in the third embodiment of FIG. 4 is the same as the flowchart of FIG. Here, as a function common to the second embodiment and the third embodiment, the above-described home appliance registration and setting change processing will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of the registration / setting change process in step S30 in the flow of FIG. When the flow starts, it is first checked in step S42 whether a new home appliance has been added. When the addition of a new home appliance is confirmed, the process proceeds to step S44. In step S44, an IP address different from that already assigned to the newly added home appliance is assigned to the home appliance. Further, in step S44, it is confirmed that communication with the additional home appliance is established based on the assigned IP address by performing a communication test process.

In step S46, it is confirmed whether or not new ADPCM data is included in the voice memory of the newly added home appliance. If there is new ADPCM data, the process proceeds to step S48, where the ADPCM data is received via the power line 50, stored in the voice memory 406, and the process proceeds to step S50. On the other hand, when it is confirmed that the new ADPCM data is not included in the voice memory of the newly added home appliance in step S46, the process directly proceeds to step S50. In step S50, it is confirmed whether the added home appliance has an announcement function. If it is confirmed that the announcement function is provided, in step S52, the announcement home appliance is automatically designated by default, and the process proceeds to step S54. If you do not want to announce additional home appliances, you can later cancel the designation of the announced home appliances manually. On the other hand, when it is confirmed that the added home appliance has no announcement function in step S50, the process directly proceeds to step S54. If it is not confirmed in step S42 that a new home appliance has been added, the process directly proceeds to step S54.

In step S54, it is confirmed whether or not an announcement designation changing operation has been performed on any of the home appliances. If there is a change operation, the process proceeds to step S56. In step S56, the announcement designation by the household electric appliance is changed according to the operation, and the process proceeds to step S58. On the other hand, when it is confirmed in step S54 that there is no change in the announcement designation by the home appliance, the process directly proceeds to step S58. In step S58, it is confirmed whether or not an operation for changing the designation of the household electrical appliance to be announced by the main controller has been performed. If the designation has been changed, the process proceeds to step S60. In step S60, the home appliance announced by the main controller is changed according to the operation, and the flow ends. On the other hand, if it is not confirmed in step S58 that an operation for changing the designation of the household electrical appliance to be announced by the main controller has been performed, the flow is immediately terminated.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the basic functions of the CPU 902 in the refrigerator 900. This flowchart is common to the CPUs 802 and 1002 of other home appliances, but will be described as a function of the refrigerator 900 below. The flow in FIG. 6 starts every time when the power is turned on for the first time after the refrigerator 900 is installed in the home or when the refrigerator 900 is already installed. When the flow starts, first, in step S72, it is confirmed whether or not it is a newly installed home appliance. If it is a new installation, the process proceeds to step S74, where an IP address is acquired from the main controller and at the same time a communication test with the main controller is performed. When the test is completed, the process proceeds to step S76, ADPCM data stored in its own voice memory is transmitted to the main controller 400 and other home appliances, and the process proceeds to step S78. When it is confirmed in step S72 that the device is not a newly installed home appliance, the process directly proceeds to step 78. Specifically, in step S72, it is checked whether the IP address given from the main controller 400 is stored in the memory of the CPU, thereby confirming whether it is a newly set home appliance.

In step S78, communication is performed with other home appliances and the main controller, and it is confirmed whether or not there is new ADPCM data. If there is new data, the process proceeds to step S80. The case where there is new data corresponds to the case where, for example, a range 800 is newly installed in the home. In step S80, it is confirmed whether or not the received new data of other home appliances has data corresponding to its own state detection code. If there is a match with its own state detection code, the ADPCM data is received and stored in the voice memory 912 in step S82. Next, in step S84, the ADPCM data received and stored as described above is decoded and a test announcement is made. At this time, the already set one may be announced so that it can be compared with the one already set. When the test announcement is completed, the process proceeds to step S86, and it is confirmed whether or not there is an operation for adopting the test announcement data. If there is an operation, the process proceeds to step S88, the ADPCM data for the corresponding state detection code is updated from the old one to the newly adopted one, and the process proceeds to step S90. In addition, when there is no new ADPCM data from another home appliance in step S78, or when there is no new ADPCM data corresponding to its own state detection code in step S80, or new ADPCM data announced in a test in step S86 If there is no operation to be adopted, the process directly proceeds to step S90. As a result, when step S88 is not passed, the ADPCM data corresponding to the state detection code is not updated and is maintained as it is. As described above, whenever a new home appliance is added to the home, the announcement corresponding to the state detection code is updated to a new version according to preference even if it is already installed. Can do.

In step S90, it is confirmed whether a change in its own state has been detected. If detected, the process proceeds to step S92. In step S92, it is confirmed whether or not it is set to make an announcement. If it is set to announce itself, the process proceeds to step S 94, ADPCM data stored in the audio memory 912 is read out, decoded by the ADPCM decoder 910, and announced by the speaker unit 914. When the announcement ends, the process proceeds to step S96. On the other hand, when it is confirmed in step S92 that it is not set to announce itself, the process proceeds to step S100, a state detection signal is transmitted to the main controller or other home appliances, and the process proceeds to step S96. In step S96, it is confirmed whether ADPCM data is received from another home appliance or the main controller. If reception is confirmed, the received ADPCM data is decoded and announced from the speaker unit 914 in step S98. When the announcement is over, the flow returns to step S78, and thereafter, the flow repeats step S78 to step S100, corresponding to various events in the meantime. If no state is detected in step S90, or if no ADPCM data is received from outside in step S96, the process directly returns to step S78.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4 differs from the third embodiment of FIG. 4 in that each of the home appliances 1200, 1300, 1400 including the main controller 1100 includes human sensors 1114, 1218, 1318, 1418 for detecting whether or not a person is nearby. It is to have. The human sensors 1114, 1218, 1318, and 1418 include, for example, infrared sensors or pyroelectric sensors. The reason why the human sensors 1114, 1218, 1318, and 1418 are provided is to prevent the announcement from being made because it is useless even if the announcement is made in a place where no person is present. That is, if the home appliance sensor detects a person, an announcement is made in the same manner as in the embodiments described so far, but if it cannot be detected, the announcement by the home appliance is canceled. Furthermore, even if it is a household electric appliance which a person could not detect at the time of a state detection, if a person is detected within a predetermined time after that, the contents of the state detection will be announced at that point. By adopting such a configuration, for example, when a person approaches immediately after the state is detected, the announcement starts after waiting for the person's approach. It is also possible to prevent people who missed the announcement. When a person is detected after a predetermined time has elapsed, it is no longer meaningful to announce it, so no announcement is made. Counting for a predetermined time after such state detection or ADPCM data reception is achieved by a clock function built in the CPUs 1102, 1202, 1302, and 1402.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the basic functions of the CPU 1302 of the refrigerator 1300 with the human body detection function shown in FIG. This flowchart is common to CPUs 1202 and 1402 of other home appliances. The flow in FIG. 8 starts every time when the power is turned on for the first time after the refrigerator 1300 is installed in the home or when the refrigerator 1300 is already installed. When the flow starts, first, a new installation process is performed in step S102. The contents are the same as steps S72 to S76 in FIG. Next, in step S104, ADPCM data update processing is performed. The contents are the same as steps S78 to S88 in FIG.

Next, in step S106, it is confirmed whether or not its own state has been detected. When the state is detected, the process proceeds to step S108. In step S108, it is confirmed whether or not the self-announcement is set so that the home appliance itself announces. If it is set to self-announce, the process proceeds to step S110.

In step S110, it is confirmed whether or not a human body is detected by a sensor mounted on the home appliance. When a human body is detected, the process proceeds to step S112, and ADPCM data decoding / announce processing is performed. Details of step S112 will be described later.

When step S112 is completed, the process proceeds to step S114, and it is confirmed whether or not the announcement made in step S112 is based on the received ADPCM data. If it is based on the received data, the process proceeds to step S116, a signal reporting that the announcement has been executed is transmitted to the transmission source of ADPCM data, and the process proceeds to step S120. If it is not an announcement based on the ADPCM data received in step S114, it is an announcement for detecting the state of confidence, and there is no need to report, so the process proceeds directly to step S120. In step S120, it is confirmed whether ADPCM data has been received from another home appliance. If reception is not confirmed, the process proceeds to step S122. In step S122, it is confirmed whether or not a state detection signal is transmitted to another home appliance. If it is confirmed that the transmission has been completed, the process proceeds to step S124. In step S124, it is checked whether a report indicating that the announcement based on the transmitted state detection signal has been received has been received. If not received, the process proceeds to step S126, and it is confirmed whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed after the transmission of the state detection signal. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S124, and thereafter, step S124 and step S126 are repeated unless an announcement execution report is received in step S124 or the elapse of the predetermined time is confirmed in step S126. When the predetermined time has elapsed in step S126, the process proceeds to step S128, a signal for canceling the transmitted state detection is transmitted, and the process returns to step S104.

If the state detection signal has not been transmitted in step S122, the process directly returns to step S104. Also, when an announcement execution report is received in step S124, the process returns to step S104. Therefore, in these cases, the state detection cancel signal in step S128 is not transmitted.

On the other hand, if there is no detection of its own state in step S106, the process directly proceeds to step 120. If it is confirmed in step S108 that it is not set to announce itself, the process proceeds to step S130, and the state detection signal detected in step S106 is transmitted to the outside.

If the reception of ADPCM data is confirmed in step S120, it is necessary to make an announcement based on this, and the process proceeds to step S110.

If no human body is detected in step S110, the process proceeds to step S132, and it is confirmed whether a predetermined time has elapsed after the state detection in step S106 or the ADPCM data reception in step S120. If the predetermined time does not elapse, the process returns to step S110, and hereinafter, human body detection is repeated by repeating step S110 and step S132 unless the human body is detected and the predetermined time elapses. And if predetermined time passes, it will transfer to step S120. As a result, step S112 is skipped and no announcement is made.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing details of the ADPCM data decode / announce process in step S112 of FIG. When the flow starts, it is checked in step S142 whether the announcement is based on newly received ADPCM data. Otherwise, since it is an announcement based on its own state detection, the process proceeds to step S144, the announcement ADPCM data stored in its own voice memory is read, and the process proceeds to step S146. If ADPCM data is newly received, it may be announced using this, and there is no need to read out, so the process proceeds directly to step S146.

In step S146, the time difference between the time when the other home appliance or its own home appliance detects the state and the current time is detected. In step S148, it is confirmed whether or not the detected time difference exceeds a predetermined time set in the home appliance. The predetermined time is set to a relatively short time. If the predetermined time is exceeded, ADPCM data for announcing the time difference information is read in step S150, and the process proceeds to step S152. This time difference information announcement is, for example, an announcement such as “1 minute ago”, and is for adding information on when the state change has occurred to the announcement. On the other hand, when the time difference is smaller than the predetermined time in step S148, the process directly proceeds to step S152. This is because, for example, the state detection time at which the change in the state of the home appliance is detected and the current time at which the human body is detected are only a few seconds, for example, and it is not necessary to announce the time difference, which is complicated.

In step S152, ADPCM data is decoded, and in step S154, an announcement is executed through the speaker unit 1314. In step S156, it is confirmed whether or not the announcement has been executed a predetermined number of times. If the announcement has been repeated a predetermined number of times, the process proceeds to step S158. If the predetermined number of times has not been reached, the process returns to step S154, and thereafter, steps S154 and S156 are repeated until the announcement reaches the predetermined number of times. In step S158, it is confirmed whether the received ADPCM data is ADPCM data that has been received so far. If the newly received ADPCM data has not been received, the flow is immediately terminated. On the other hand, if it is new received ADPCM data that has not been received so far, the received ADPCM data is stored in its own voice memory for reuse in step S160, and the flow ends.

In the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the CPU checks whether or not a human body is detected by the sensor 1318. When the human body is detected by the own sensor, the voice data is read from the own voice memory 1312 and decoded by the ADPCM decoder 1310. When the human body cannot be detected by the own sensor 1318, a predetermined time specified by the timer has elapsed. In this case, the state detection signal may be sent from the demultiplexing / combination module 1304 and the detection result may be sent to the power line 50.

It is a block diagram which shows the 1st Example of the announcement system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the 2nd Example of the announcement system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the basic performance of the personal computer and the main controller in the Example of a figure. It is a block diagram which shows the 3rd Example of the announcement system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of the registration / change process in step S30 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the basic performance of the electric equipment of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the 4th Example of the announcement system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the basic performance of the electric equipment of FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing details of the ADPCM data decode / announce process in step S112 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

806, 906 100, 6 function unit 808, 908, 1008 status detection unit 812, 912, 1012 storage unit 804, 904, 1004 transmission unit 804, 904, 1004 reception unit 802, 902, 1002 first control unit 802, 902, 1002 Second control unit

Claims (14)

A functional unit having a predetermined function;
A state detection unit that detects a state change of the functional unit and generates a state detection signal;
A storage unit storing a plurality of audio data including audio data for other electrical devices;
A transmission unit that transmits the audio data of the storage unit to other electrical devices regardless of the detection of the state detection unit;
A receiving unit that receives audio data corresponding to a state that can be detected by the state detecting unit from another electrical device;
A first control unit that stores the received voice data received in the storage unit in advance regardless of the detection of the state detection unit;
A second control unit that reads out audio data corresponding to the state detection signal from a plurality of audio data including the received audio data stored in the storage unit in response to detection by the state detection unit;
Having electrical equipment. The electrical device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit and the reception unit exchange audio data with another electrical device through a power line. The storage unit stores audio data corresponding to a state detection signal of another electrical device, and the transmission unit transmits audio data corresponding to the state detection signal of the other electrical device regardless of the detection of the state detection unit. The electric device according to claim 1, wherein the electric device is transmitted to another electric device. The storage unit stores audio data according to a state detection signal of another existing electrical device from the beginning of shipment, and the transmission unit stores the audio data stored from the beginning of shipment in the state detection unit. The electric device according to claim 1, wherein the electric device is transmitted to another electric device regardless of the detection of the signal. 5. The system product is configured with a plurality of other electrical devices, and the storage unit stores voice data corresponding to a state detection signal of an existing electrical device in the system from the beginning of shipment. The electrical equipment described. The said 1st control part updates the audio | voice data corresponding to the same state detection signal with the audio | voice data which the said receiving part received from the other electric equipment, The one in any one of Claim 1 to 5 characterized by the above-mentioned. Electrical equipment. The said 1st control part enables selection of whether the audio | voice data corresponding to the same state detection signal is updated by the audio | voice data which the said receiving part received from the other electric equipment, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. 6. The electric device according to 6. The electric device according to claim 1, wherein the second control unit transmits the audio data read in response to the detection of the state detection unit to another electric device. 9. The voice generation unit according to claim 1, further comprising: a voice generation unit that announces a state detection result based on voice data read out in response to detection by the state detection unit. Electrical equipment. The receiving unit can further receive audio data corresponding to a state detection signal of another electrical device, and the second control unit can receive the status of the other electrical device received by the receiving unit. 10. The electric device according to claim 9, wherein the sound generation unit is made to announce the state detection result of another electric device based on the audio data corresponding to the detection signal, instead of the other electric device. The audio data is a compressed signal, and the audio generation unit includes a decoding unit that decodes the audio data to generate an audio signal and an output unit that outputs the audio signal. The electrical equipment described. 12. The electric apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the audio data is encoded by an ADPCM method, and the decoding unit includes an ADPCM decoder. A functional unit having a predetermined function;
A state detection unit that detects a state change of the functional unit and generates a state detection signal;
A storage unit storing a plurality of audio data including audio data for other electrical devices;
A transmission unit that transmits the audio data of the storage unit to other electrical devices regardless of the detection of the state detection unit;
A control unit that reads out audio data corresponding to the state detection signal from a plurality of audio data in response to detection by the state detection unit;
Having electrical equipment. The storage unit stores audio data according to a state detection signal of another existing electrical device from the beginning of shipment, and the transmission unit stores the audio data stored from the beginning of shipment in the state detection unit. 14. The electric device according to claim 13, wherein the electric device is transmitted to another electric device irrespective of the detection of.