JPH0231541B2 - RUSUBANDENWASOCHI - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an improvement in an answering machine that uses a recording and reproducing device to send a response message and record a message.

Conventionally, in this type of device, a response message recording area and a message recording area are provided in the recording area of the recording tape of the recording/reproducing device, and when an incoming call occurs, the response message recording area is accessed and the message is recorded in this area in advance. There is a system that not only sends out a response message to the line, but also records the message that comes from the other party's telephone in the message recording area after the response message has been sent. Such a device has the advantage that it can be realized with a relatively simple configuration, since it can send a response message and record a message by just using one recording tape.

On the other hand, as an advanced form of this type of device, in recent years the message recording area has been divided into a general message area for recording messages from third parties, and a general message area for recording messages transmitted between owners such as family members and employees. There is one that is divided into a specific message area and a so-called message board function.
In this type of device, in order to record a message in the specific message area, for example, a PIN number known only to the owner, such as a family member or employee, is specified in the specific message area in advance, and then a dial button can be pressed from an outside line. This is accomplished by selectively accessing the specific business area by sending this password through an operation, and by sending the business after this access. If the message recorded in this specific message area is to be listened to from an outside line, the user uses the dial button to send the above-mentioned password and a number indicating that the message is to be listened to. Then, the specific message area mentioned above is accessed, the message recorded in this area is played back and sent to the line,
By listening to this, the owner can learn of messages from other owners. In this way, the above-mentioned device is very useful because it can use two types of business recording areas depending on the nature of the business of the owner.

[Problems with background technology]

However, in conventional devices of this type, the above-mentioned general and specific task areas are fixedly provided. Therefore, depending on the usage pattern of the owner, each business area cannot be used efficiently, and the advantages of dividing the business area into two types cannot be fully utilized. For example, if an owner who rarely uses the specific area, such as when the owner primarily uses the area to respond to calls when the user is absent, may wish to use the specific area as a general area, but it may not be possible. , in this case, the specific task area is essentially wasted. Additionally, if a so-called response-only mode is set in which only a response message is sent as a form of answering when someone is away, and the message from a third party is not recorded, the general message area is not necessary. As mentioned earlier, the area has a fixed purpose, so even if the owner wants to use it as a specific area, it cannot be used, and as a result, there are many other areas that are not used. However, only a small number of specific areas must be used.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention enables all of the business recording areas to be used as general business recording areas or specific business recording areas depending on the usage pattern of the owner, thereby more reliably responding to the owner's requests. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an answering machine that provides an answering machine.

[Summary of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a password designation means for designating a password for each of the general and specific business recording areas, and selectively designating a response recording mode and a response-only mode. A response mode selection means is provided, and when mutually different passwords are specified for the general business recording area and the specific business recording area by the password designation means, each business recording area can be used as is. , and a common password is specified for the general business recording area and the specific business recording area,
When the response recording mode is selected by the response mode selection means, the specific business recording area can be used as a general business recording area, and when the response only mode is selected by the response mode selection means, the general business recording area can be used as a general business recording area. The matter recording area can be used as a specific matter recording area.

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing the configuration of an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which numeral 1 indicates the main body of the answering machine, and numeral 2 indicates a tape recorder as a recording and reproducing device.

First, the answering machine main body 1 connects the telephone line L1/LS via a control circuit 11 equipped with a microprocessor as a main controller, a telephone switch HS and a line switch LS which is turned on and off by a relay.
A telephone circuit 12 connected to L2, a dial circuit 13 that generates a PB signal, a response mode designation switch 14a, and other function switches that designate the operating mode of the device such as "record", "response", "playback", etc. 14b, a display 15 that displays the operating mode of the device, a silence detection circuit 16 that detects the end of a response message, etc., an audio switch 17 used to detect the end of a call, and a tape recorder. 2, and a loudspeaker circuit 18 which amplifies the response message and business information reproduced by an amplifier 18a and then outputs them as audio from a speaker 18b. The telephone circuit 12 includes an incoming call detection circuit in addition to circuits necessary for normal telephone call operations such as a telephone call circuit. Further, 12a, 12b, and 12c are a receiver, a transmitter, and a sounder, respectively.

Next, the tape recorder 2 includes a reel motor 22 that drives the recording tape 21 to run, a rotation control circuit 23 that controls the rotation direction and rotation speed of the reel motor 22, and an access position of the recording tape 21 from the rotation of the motor. It is comprised of a rotational position detection circuit 24 for detection, a magnetic head 25 for recording and reproducing response messages and business matters on the recording tape 21, and a recording and reproducing circuit 26.
Incidentally, reference numeral 27 is a microphone used by the owner when recording a response message and business matters.

On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows the structure of the recording tape 21, in which ST indicates the beginning of the tape, and ED indicates the end. A response message recording area (response area) AM is provided at an intermediate position between the start end ST and the end end ED. This response area AM consists of a block AMa that records a response message for the response recording mode (re-recording) that includes a message that the matter can be recorded, and a block AMa that records a response message that does not include a message that the matter can be recorded. Block for recording dedicated (specialized) response messages
AMb, each set to a length of 60 seconds. Further, a general business area G is provided at the end of the response area AM, and a specific business area S is provided at the start end. The general message area G is for recording messages that arrive from a third party's telephone after the response message has been sent, and consists of 10 blocks G1 each having a length of 40 seconds.
~G10. Specific task area S
is for recording messages being communicated between the parties using this telephone, that is, the owners.
4 blocks S1-S each having a length of 40 seconds
It consists of 4. Furthermore, these response areas
Between each block of AM and each task area G, S, there is an interval of 6 seconds of silence.

Further, FIG. 3 shows the functional configuration of the control circuit 11 of the answering machine main body 1. As shown in FIG. This control circuit 11 is a transmission/reception control means 11 that controls the telephone circuit 12 and the like to send a response message and send/receive business matters in the answering mode.
a, a recording/playback control means 11b for controlling the recording/playback operation of the tape recorder 2, and a function switch group 1.
4 and a dial button of the dial circuit 13, a password identification means 11c identifies and stores a password designated for the general business area G and specific business area S of the recording tape, respectively.
, a response mode setting means 11d that recognizes the response mode designated by the response mode designation switch 14a of the function switch group 14, and a general and specific response mode setting means 11d that recognizes the response mode designated by the response mode designation switch 14a of the function switch group 14; Message area setting control means 11 for setting usage patterns of message areas G and S
It has e.

With this configuration, if you want to use both the general business area G and the specific business area S, you can do as follows. That is, by pressing the function button for specifying the password of the function switch group 14 and operating the dial button of the dial circuit 13, different passwords are specified for each of the general business area G and the specific business area S. . For example, “111” in general business area G.
and specify “222” in the specific task area S. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the control circuit 11 determines in step 4a whether or not the password numbers for the business areas G and S are the same. In this case, since they are not common, the control circuit 11 proceeds to step 4b. In step 4b, each of the business areas G and S is set as the general business area G and the specific business area S, and the system enters a standby state.

Therefore, when an incoming call occurs in this state and is detected by the incoming call detection circuit of the telephone circuit 12, the control circuit 11 configures a calling circuit and then drives the reel motor 22 of the tape recorder 2 to record the recording tape 21. The response message recorded in the block AMa is played back and the audio signal is sent to the telephone circuit 12.
to the telephone line L1/L2 via the telephone line L1/L2. still,
At this time, the audio signal of the response message is also output as audio from the speaker 18b of the loudspeaker circuit 18. When the sending of the response message is finished, the control circuit 11 fast-forwards the reel motor 22 of the tape recorder 2 to cue an empty block in the general business area G, and when the cueing is completed, the telephone line A guidance sound indicating that it is OK to start recording the message is sent to the device, and then the recording operation state is entered. Therefore, if a message arrives from the other party's telephone after this, this message will be transferred to the telephone circuit 12.
and the magnetic head 25 via the recording/playback circuit 26.
The recording tape 2 is guided by the magnetic head 25 of
Recording is performed in an empty block in the general business area G that was cued above in No. 1.

In addition, in the standby state, for example, when a pin number (“111”) for specifying the specific task area S and a block designation number arrive from an outside line by operating a dial button, the CPU 11
The above-specified block is cued up and the message that arrives via the telephone line is recorded in this block. In this way, an absentee response operation using both the general business area G and the specific business area S is performed.

On the other hand, if you wish to use the previous message area as a message board between owners without recording messages from a third party, for example, you can do as follows. That is, by operating the button for specifying the password of the function switch group 14 and the dial button of the dial circuit 13, a common password, for example "111", is designated for the general business area G and the specific business area S. , and the response-only mode is designated by the response designation switch 14a of the function switch group 14. Then, in step 4a of FIG. 4, the CPU 11 determines that each password is the same, and proceeds to step 4c. Then, in step 4c, it is determined whether the response mode is set to the response recording mode or the response-only mode, and since the response-only mode is currently designated by the response mode designation switch 14a, step 4d is performed. Then, the entire task area is set as a specific task area S (blocks S1 to S14) as shown in FIG. 5, for example. Therefore, each owner can access the specific business area S by specifying the PIN number "111".
(Blocks S1 to S4) as well as the business area (blocks S5 to S14), which are originally used as the general business area G, can also be used as the specific business area S, resulting in a total of 14 blocks. can be used as a message board. Therefore, the message board function is greatly improved.

In addition, contrary to the above usage example, if you want to use the entire business area as a general business area for third parties, you can use the general business area G and specific business area S as in the case above. After specifying a common password, a response recording mode is designated by the response mode designation switch 14a. Then CPU1
1 recognizes the response recording mode in step 4c and moves to step 4e, where all the business areas are set as the general business area G (blocks G1 to G14) as shown in FIG. 6, for example.
Therefore, it is possible to record up to 14 messages received from a third party's telephone, which is very suitable for owners who often receive calls while they are away.

In this embodiment, it is set whether or not to use the same password for the general business area G and the specific business area S, and the response mode is set to response recording mode using the response mode designation switch 14a. By simply specifying either response-only mode or response-only mode, you can easily use the task area in its original usage mode according to the user's request, or change the entire area to specific task area S.
It can be set in three ways: to use it as a general purpose area, or to use the entire area as a general business area G, and as a result, the business area can be used extremely efficiently and without waste according to the user's requests. .

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiments, all task areas are set in the general task area G or in the specific task area S. It is also possible to set only the preset number of blocks to be partially changed. In addition, the control procedure and control contents of the control circuit,
Regarding the number of blocks in the specific business area S and the general business area G, the means for specifying the password, the means for specifying the response mode, the type of recording medium (for example, it is possible to digitize the audio signal and record it in a memory, etc.), etc. However, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, the present invention provides a password specifying means for specifying a password for each of the general and specific business recording areas, and a response mode for selectively specifying a response recording mode or a response-only mode. and selecting means, and in a state where mutually different passwords are specified for the general business recording area and the specific business recording area by the password designation means, each business recording area is used as it is, and In a state where a common password is specified for the general business recording area and the specific business recording area, when the response recording mode is selected by the response mode selection means, the specific business recording area is set as the general business recording area. In addition, when the response-only mode is selected by the response mode selection means, the general business recording area can be used as a specific business recording area.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the entire business recording area can be used as a general business recording area or a specific business recording area, depending on the usage pattern of the owner. It is possible to provide an answering machine that can reliably respond to requests.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings are for explaining an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1 is a circuit block diagram of the device, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a recording tape, and Fig. 3 is a control circuit. Functional block diagram, 4th
The figure is a flowchart showing the control procedure and control contents of the control circuit, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams of recording tapes showing different usage patterns of the task area, respectively. 1... Answering machine body, 2... Tape recorder, 11... Control circuit, 12... Telephone circuit,
13...Dial circuit, 14...Function switch group, 14a...Response mode designation switch, 15...
... Display, 16 ... Silence detection circuit, 17 ... Sound switch, 18 ... Loudspeaker circuit, 18a ... Amplifier, 18b ... Speaker, 21 ... Recording tape,
22...Reel motor, 23...Rotation justice circuit, 24...Rotation position detection circuit, 25...Magnetic head, 26...Recording and playback circuit, 27...Microphone, AM...Response area, G...General Business area, S...Specific business area.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In the recording area of the recording medium, there is a response message recording area for recording the response message to be sent to the other party's telephone, a general message recording area for recording the message that comes from the other party's telephone after the response message is sent, and a general message recording area for recording the message that comes from the other party's telephone after the response message is sent. A specific message recording area is provided, which is selected only when a password is specified, and the message is recorded, and these areas are accessed as appropriate during the answering mode to send a response message and record the message. In the answering machine, a password specifying means for specifying a password for each of the general business recording area and the specific business recording area of the recording medium, and a response record for sending a response message and recording the business when an incoming call occurs. A response mode selection means for selectively setting a mode and a response-only mode in which only a response message is sent, and the password designation means allow different passwords to be set in the general business recording area and the specific business recording area. In the designated state, each business recording area is used as it is, and in a state where a common password is specified for the general business recording area and the specific business recording area, the response recording mode is selected by the response mode selection means. is selected, the specific business recording area is set as a general business recording area, and when a response only mode is selected by the response mode selection means, the general business recording area is set as a specific business recording area. What is claimed is: 1. An answering machine characterized by comprising: a message recording area setting control means for controlling a message recording area.