JPH04165739A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain talking with a slave telephone set without any operation from a main body equipment side user by activating a pseudo call tone generator for a prescribed time only when an externally mounted slave telephone set makes a call and transferring the mode to the hand-free function mode. CONSTITUTION:The main body equipment 1 is provided with an operation section 2, a control section 3, a MODEM 4, a speech network section 5, a microphone section 6, a speaker section 7, a pseudo call signal generating circuit section 8 and a telephone circuit section 9. Then in response to a call from a slave telephone set 17, the pseudo call signal generating circuit section 8 is operated and a hand-free mode function is set. Thus, the talking with the slave telephone set is attained by the hand-free mode function without any operation by the user of the main body equipment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a communication device such as a facsimile device to which a slave telephone can be connected.

[Prior Art] Conventional facsimile devices have been provided that have a function for connecting a slave phone and that can be used in a variety of convenient ways by connecting a telephone with an answering machine function, etc. .

By the way, among such devices, there is one that enables a parent-child phone in which both a child phone and a facsimile device can call each other.

In this device, when there is a call from the other party and a bell rings, the two parties switch to a conversation state by picking up the handset or operating a button.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, with the above-mentioned conventional technology, if the telephone is out of reach, the call cannot be answered unless the telephone is moved to that location, and the above-mentioned calling function cannot be used sufficiently. The problem was that it could not be used for

Furthermore, even if both hands are occupied or hands are dirty, it is difficult to operate the buttons or hold the handset, making it difficult to answer the phone, which is inconvenient.

As described above, the present invention provides a communication system that allows a parent-child call to be made by properly handling calls from a child phone even when the user is unable to operate the main unit for some reason. The purpose is to provide equipment.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is capable of connecting a slave telephone and also enables amplified telephone calls (
A communication device having a hands-free) Ia function and a pseudo ring tone generator, which activates the pseudo ring tone generator in response to a call from the slave phone and then shifts to a loudspeaker function. It is characterized by

Another feature of the present invention is that if silence continues during the loudspeaker operation, a warning sound is generated every predetermined period of time.

Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that it includes a current sensor that monitors the line current of the slave phone, and when this sensor detects that the line current is turned off, the call state using the loudspeaker function shifts to a standby state. do.

[Operation] In the present invention, when a call is made from an external slave telephone,
After activating the pseudo ring generator for a certain period of time,
Since the function will shift to the loudspeaker function, the user of the main unit will be able to
It is possible to talk to the sub-phone side using the loudspeaker function without performing any operations.

In addition, even if the user on the main device side does not respond immediately after automatically switching to the loudspeaker function in this way,
By emitting a warning sound every time a predetermined period of time elapses, the user on the first main unit side can be informed that a call has been received from the slave phone, and can be prompted to respond using the loudspeaker function.

Furthermore, as the on-hook operation from the slave phone also changes the state of the main device to standby, the user of the main device does not need to perform any operations to end the call, and the loudspeaker call operation is appropriately terminated. can.

[Example] FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

The communication device is configured as a facsimile device, and includes a main unit 1, an operation unit 2 including a display unit, a key input unit, etc., a control unit 3 including a CPU, ROM, RAM, and other I10, etc. Modem 4 that modulates and demodulates data
, a speech network section 5 for switching between receiving and transmitting calls, a microphone section 6 for voice input, a speaker section 7 with a volume adjustment function for outputting voice output, pseudo ring tone, and other signal sounds, and an external It has a ringing signal generation circuit section 8 for ringing a telephone connected to the telephone, and a telephone circuit section 9 which is built into the main body and includes a handset, a part of a ringer, etc.

The main unit 1 also includes a current sensor 10.11 that monitors the line capture state, electrically separates the telephone line from the control system of the main unit 1, and converts the signal line from 2 to 4 lines. A transformer 12 for performing printing, relays 13 to 15, a reading section 19 for reading a document, and a recording section 20 for printing on recording paper are provided.

Furthermore, a telephone line 18 is connected to the main body device 1 .

Further, this main body device 1 is provided with an external slave telephone connection function, and in this embodiment, a cordless telephone is connected. Cordless phone Paceset 16
and a handset 17, and cordless communication is performed between the two.

Next, FIG. 2 is a flowchart explaining the operation in this embodiment.

First, when the device is in the standby state (Sl), the contacts of the relay 13 are on the N and C sides.

The calling signal generation section 8 includes a 48V DC voltage generation section and a 16H
When making the external telephone ring, the AC signal generator's 16Hz, A
By superimposing the output of C75v on the 48v DC voltage, this can be applied between the output lines 81 and 82, and the external telephone can be made to ring.

In addition, when the handset cellar) 17 side calls the main body device 1 side for an extension call, the base cellar) 16 changes from the base set 16 to the current sensor io.

N, C side of relay 13 → relay 14 → current sensor 11 →
Since it is connected to the line 18, the pace set 16 is supplied with the voltage of the line 18 and is ready to make a call at any time. Therefore, when a call operation is performed by operating the handset 17, the handset 17 and the base
Communication is carried out between 6 using the control channel,
When ID verification is completed, a communication channel is selected with the handset 17, and the communication channel is determined.

Thereafter, the base cell phone 16 seizes the line and enters into a dialing signal calling state.

In this way, a communication path is established between the line 18 and the handset 17 via the pace set 16, and the handset 17 of the cordless telephone functions as a slave telephone.

Further, when the telephone 16 captures the line, a line current flows, which is detected by the current sensor 10, and the control unit 3 can recognize that the telephone 16 is off-hook (S2).

Therefore, on the main body device I side, the external cordless telephone determines whether the call is being made to an outside line or whether the call is being made to the main body device II side (S3).

There are two ways to call the main device l side, one of which is a hooking operation. This method involves opening the line temporarily and then closing it again after a certain period of time. This opening time is set longer than the normal dial pulse opening time, and the opening time is set longer than the opening time of the normal dial pulse. ! ! ! This is set to be shorter than the time required for the machine to recognize a line disconnection.

The second method is to send a DTMF signal.
To recognize a TMF signal by forming a special combination not found in a normal dial signal.

Note that various other methods are possible, but in any case, if it is determined that the main device 1 side is being called, it is then determined whether or not to sound a pseudo ringing tone (S4).

In other words, in this embodiment, when the main device L side is called, there are two modes: one mode in which the pseudo ring tone is not played and the transition to hands free is made without sound, and the other mode in which the pseudo ring tone is played and the transition is made to hands free. There are two easy modes to do this. This is set in advance from the operation unit 2 at the discretion of the user.

Note that the pseudo ring tone here is not limited to a normal ring tone, but may also include other bell sounds.

Also, during this ringing operation, it is effective to make the pseudo ringtone sound different depending on whether the setting is for a normal handset call, or whether the setting is automatically set to monitor or hands-free. be.

Next, in S4, if it is determined that the mode is to play a pseudo ring tone and then shift to hands-free mode, S4
In step 5, a pseudo ring tone is sounded.

In this embodiment, the conditions for shifting to hands-free are two modes: a mode in which the mode shifts to hands-free when there is a voice response, and a mode in which the mode shifts to hands-free after a certain period of time has passed regardless of whether or not there is a voice response. Provided. This is also set in advance by the user from the operation unit 2.

If a voice response is a condition for hands-free transition (SS), wait for voice response (S7), and if there is a voice response, stop the pseudo ring tone and transition to hands-free (S).
S). In S7, in detail, the output from the micro is input to the modem 4 during the pause period of the ringer, and it is checked whether the input is significant voice or the like.

If the voice response is not a condition for hands-free transition (S6), the pseudo ring tone is sounded for a certain period of time, then stopped, and the hands-free transition is made (S8).

Next, in order to shift to hands-free mode, the pace setter 6 and the transformer 12 are connected by closing the relay 15. As a result, hands-free operation is possible using the microphone section 6 and speaker section 7 via the speech network section 5 on the main body device 1 side, and communication with the handset 17 via the pace set 16 becomes possible.

Here, in the main device 1, the level of speech transmission and reception is constantly monitored, and the presence or absence of voice input is monitored.

Then, after switching to hands-free in s10 above, if voice input does not come (Sll), a warning sound is emitted every time a certain period of time elapses (S12.513). If this situation continues, the speaker may be concerned about whether or not they are still connected to the other party, so in order to solve this problem, and to notify that the other party is already in operation when the hands-free situation occurs unilaterally. It has two functions. #N like this! By issuing a warning sound 1
Even if the user on the main device l side is a little far from the device 1, he or she can easily recognize that it is already in operation.

Next, a case will be described in which a call is canceled from a hands-free call state.

This call can be canceled in two ways: when the external cordless telephone is turned on-hook, and when keys on the operating section 2 are operated on the main unit 1 side.

First, during a hands-free call, the line current is monitored by the current sensor lO, and if the line current stops flowing, the external device determines that the cordless phone is on-hook, and the cordless phone side determines that the line current is on-hook. The control unit 3 of the main device 1 monitors the stop key of the operation unit 2, and determines that the call is over (S l 4).
If the stop key is pressed, it is determined that the call is to be terminated according to the will of the user on the main device 1 side (S15).

When the call is finished, the relay 15 is released and the outputs 81 and 82 of the calling signal generation circuit section 8 are turned off. As a result, after the off-hook of the base cellar) 16 is released, the relay 13 is switched to the N and C sides to return to the standby state.

The volume of the speaker unit 7 during hands-free operation can be adjusted by sending a predetermined command using DTMF from the handset 17 during the audio input monitoring process in the SLL, and then adjusting the volume to either the current sensor 10 or the modem 4. It is possible to detect and respond accordingly.

Furthermore, according to this embodiment, hands-free operation is achieved only when connected to a slave phone, so there is an effect that line charges are completely unnecessary.

In the above embodiment, the pace set of the cordless telephone is attached to the slave telephone connection terminal of the communication device, and wireless transmission and reception is performed between the handset. It is also possible to have a configuration in which both are stored in the same casing.
A simpler structure can be obtained. In this case, the content described so far becomes the relationship between the communication device and the cordless handset, and the degree of freedom in usability is greatly improved.

It is also possible to connect a general telephone, an answering machine, etc. as a slave telephone and perform the above-described processing.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, when a call is made from an external slave phone, the pseudo ring generator is activated for a certain period of time and then the hands-free function is activated. The user has the advantage of being able to talk to the sub-phone side using the hands-free Ia connection without having to perform similar operations and even when he or she is away from the device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation in the same embodiment as shown in FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Main unit, 2... Operation unit, 3... Control unit, 4... Modem, 5... Speech network unit, 6... Microphone unit, 7... Speaker unit, 8 ... Calling signal generation circuit section, 9... Telephone circuit section, 10.11... Current sensor, 12... Transformer, 13-15... Relay, 16... Pace set, 17... -Handset, 18...Telephone line, 19...Reading section, 20...Recording section. Patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd. Agent Arata Yokubo - Figure 2 (1) Figure 2 (2)

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A communication device to which a slave telephone can be connected and has a loudspeaker function and a pseudo ring generator, and after activating the pseudo ring generator in response to a call from the slave telephone, A communication device characterized by shifting to a loudspeaker function. (2) The communication device according to claim (1), further comprising a setting switching means for switching generation of the pseudo ringing tone continuously, only for a certain period of time, or silently. (3) The communication device according to claim (1), characterized in that if silence continues during a loudspeaker call operation, a warning sound is generated every predetermined period of time. (4) Claim (1) further comprising a current sensor that monitors the line current of the slave telephone, and when this sensor detects that the line current is turned off, the system shifts from the talking state using the loudspeaker function to the standby state. A communication device characterized by: