JPH04270539A - On-vehicle information device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce number of sound quantity control switches and to obtain an optimum sound volume level. CONSTITUTION:A sound volume of an audio amplifier 10 is attenuated by a hand-free telephone unit 12 at the telephone incoming and outgoing call, a speaker changeover switch 12a selects an audio speaker for the telephone set and the voice at the receiver side is received by an antenna and the audio signal generated from speakers 11a-11d at a level in response to the manipulated variable of the sound volume switch via a radio equipment 14 and the hand-free telephone unit 12 is sounded from the same speaker at an attenuated constant low level. Number of the sound volume control switches is decreased and the cost is reduced.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-vehicle information device including a car telephone, an audio device, a video device, and the like.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In contrast to the conventional audio-only system, there is a system in which an audio device and a video device are mounted on a vehicle, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 121142/1983. Furthermore, navigation functions such as map information and vehicle location information are increasingly being installed.

[0003] Furthermore, it has become necessary to install a car telephone in order to communicate with the outside of the car. In the case of car phones, a hands-free function is required for safety while driving. Regarding car telephones and audio devices, the following proposals have been made.

[0004] When receiving a telephone call, a part of the audio speaker is switched and used (Utility Model Application No. 62-193347
(Disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1988) and to reduce (attenuate) the audio volume (Disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 62-51847).

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the configuration of a steering operation switch of an in-vehicle information device when a car telephone, an audio device, and an air conditioner are operated from the steering wheel. In this FIG. 7, 4a is a telephone switch, 40a
is the phone volume switch, 4b is the audio switch, 40
b is an audio volume switch, and 4c is an air conditioner switch.

[0006] Car phones require a hands-free function for safety reasons, and it is desirable to have an operation switch on the steering wheel.

Next, the operation will be explained. The driver selects the desired station by operating the audio switch 4b,
The user operates the audio volume switch 40b to adjust the volume level to a suitable level, and drives while listening to radio broadcasts or the like.

[0008] If you receive a phone call while driving,
As described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 51847, the audio volume is attenuated, and as described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 62-193347, a portion of the audio speakers are switched to telephone audio. The receiving volume can be increased or decreased by operating the telephone volume switch 40a.

[0009] Also, when the call ends, the call end switch 41
Press a. The speaker switches to the audio side, and the attenuation of the audio volume is also canceled.

0010

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Since the conventional in-vehicle information device is configured as described above, there are many switches on the steering wheel, the layout is complicated, and there are only two volume control switches, namely, a telephone volume switch. Since there are two switches, the audio volume switch 40a and the audio volume switch 40b, there are problems such as having to operate the audio volume switch 40b when operating the telephone volume.

[0011] There is also a growing demand for enjoying background music while on the phone. If you end a call after increasing the volume, the audio volume was too loud and you had to adjust the volume again.

On the other hand, due to safety requirements, it has become necessary to reduce the number of switches on the steering wheel as much as possible in order to mount an air bag on the steering section.

[0013] The invention as claimed in claim 1 has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an in-vehicle information device that can reduce the number of volume control switches and prevent erroneous operations.

[0014] Furthermore, the invention of claim 2 keeps the audio volume constant and changes only the telephone reception volume, thereby reducing the operational burden on the driver while driving by eliminating the need to adjust the audio volume after the call ends. The purpose is to obtain an in-vehicle information device that makes it possible.

Furthermore, the invention as claimed in claim 3 provides an in-vehicle information device that can control the audio volume even during a phone call, allows the user to enjoy background music, and eliminates the need to adjust the audio volume even after the phone call ends. The purpose is to

[0016]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The in-vehicle information device according to the invention of claim 1 includes a speaker changeover switch provided in a hands-free car telephone unit, and a speaker changeover switch provided in the hands-free telephone unit to change the telephone volume. It is equipped with an electronic volume switch that can be used for both audio and phone calls.

Further, in the in-vehicle information device according to the invention of claim 2, the audio volume is at a constant level when the telephone is used, and the volume control is effective only for the telephone, and the audio volume after the telephone call is finished is the same as that of the telephone. It is equipped with a control unit that automatically returns to the level before incoming or outgoing calls.

Furthermore, in the in-vehicle information device according to the invention of claim 3, when the telephone is used, the audio volume is attenuated to a certain degree, the volume control is effective for both the telephone and the audio, and the audio capacity after the telephone call is finished is the same as that of the telephone. The control unit is equipped with a control unit that automatically returns to the level before the incoming or outgoing call.

The in-vehicle information device according to the invention of claim 1 includes:
When making or receiving a call, the hands-free telephone unit sends an attenuated signal to the audio device, and the speaker selector switch inside the hands-free telephone unit sends an attenuated signal to the audio device.
In addition to switching the audio speaker to telephone,
When controlling the telephone volume, use the volume switch that used to control the audio volume.

[0020] Furthermore, the hands-free telephone unit according to the invention according to claim 2 has the following functions under the control of the control unit:
When controlling the telephone volume using the electronic volume level in the hands-free telephone unit, the audio volume is kept constant, and after the call ends, the speaker selector switch in the hands-free telephone unit is switched back to audio, and the audio volume is adjusted. Remove attenuation.

Furthermore, in the invention of claim 3, when enjoying audio music etc. while on the phone, the audio volume at the time of incoming and outgoing calls is controlled at a constant level by the control unit based on the level of the electronic volume. The volume control switch simultaneously controls the volume of the car phone and the audio, and after the call ends, the audio volume automatically returns to the level before the incoming or outgoing call.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the in-vehicle information device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of one embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1 is a selection switch for operating each unit, 2 is a display that displays the operating status of each unit according to the operation of the selection switch 1, and 3
The steering wheel is equipped with an operation switch 4 for easy operation by the driver.

5 is a control unit for the entire system, which includes a selection switch 1, a display 2, an operation switch 4 provided on the steering wheel 3, and a tape cassette 6 (hereinafter referred to as a cassette) which is each audio unit.
, a CD (compact disc) cassette 7, a radio tuner 8, and a television tuner 9.

The audio output end of each audio unit is connected to an audio amplifier 10, and the audio amplifier 10 is connected to a plurality of speakers 11a to 11c. These speakers 11a to 11c each share the output of the cassette 6, the CD cassette 7, or the radio tuner 8.

Further, 12 is a speaker selection switch 12a.
, a hands-free telephone unit with a built-in electronic volume 12b, and a microphone 13 and a radio 14 are connected to this hands-free telephone unit 12. Radio 1
4 is connected to an antenna 15, thus configuring a car phone.

The speaker changeover switch 12a of the hands-free telephone unit 12 switches the output of the audio amplifier 10 to the speaker 11d side, or switches the output of the audio amplifier 10 to the speaker 11d side.
d can be switched to the telephone side.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a specific configuration example of the selection switch 1 and the display 2. The selection switch 1 includes a telephone selection switch 1a, a volume switch 1b, a screen touch switch 1c on the display 2, and other units. It consists of a selection switch 1d. These switches are connected to the control unit 5 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the operation switch 4 on the steering wheel 3.
2 is a front view showing an example of a specific configuration arrangement, and is composed of a telephone switch 4a, an audio switch 4b, an air conditioner switch 4c, and a volume switch 4d, and these switches are also connected to the control unit 5 of FIG. There is.

Next, the operation when making a telephone call from inside the car will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG. When the telephone selection switch 1a in FIG. 2 is selected while listening to the audio, the process proceeds to step S101, and it is determined in step S102 whether or not a telephone call has been specifically made.

[0030] In this step S102, if a telephone call has not been made, the process branches from the NO side of step S102 to step S103, and this step S1
03, it is determined whether the volume switch 1b or 4d is operated.

If it is determined in this step S103 that the volume switch 1b or 4d has been operated, the process proceeds to step S104, in which the control unit 5 sends a volume up/down control signal to the audio amplifier 10, and the audio amplifier Adjust the volume and proceed to step S.
The process returns to step 102.

Further, in step S102, if a telephone call has been made, the process moves from the YES side of step S102 to step S105, and the hands-free telephone unit 12
sends an attenuated signal to the audio amplifier 10 via the control unit 5, and the audio amplifier 10
attenuates the audio volume.

In the hands-free telephone unit 12, the speaker 11d is switched to the telephone side by the speaker changeover switch 12a in step S106. In response to this call, the voice on the receiving side is outputted from the speaker 11d via the antenna 15, the radio 14, and the hands-free telephone unit 12. At this time, the audio sound is outputted from one of the speakers 11a to 11c in an attenuated state.

Next, in step S107, it is determined whether or not the volume switch 1b or 4d has been operated. If the result of this determination is that the volume switch 1b or 4d has been operated, the process advances to step S108, and the control unit 5 The electronic volume 12b of the hands-free telephone unit 12 is controlled to control the volume of the telephone reception.

Since the volume switches 1b and 4b are used for both audio volume control and telephone volume control, the volume control method may be shown in FIG. 5 or 6.

FIG. 5(a) shows the audio volume level, and FIG. 5(b) shows the telephone volume level. As shown in FIG. 5(a), the audio volume is kept at a constant low level while making a call, and as shown in FIG. 5(b), only the listening volume of the telephone is changed.

Furthermore, FIG. 6(a) shows the audio volume level, and FIG. 6(b) shows the telephone volume level. As is clear from FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), This changes both the audio volume and the telephone listening volume.

[0038] Since calls can be made from inside the car through the microphone 13, the telephone can be used from inside the car without having to hold a handset (not shown).

Next, if the telephone call is not terminated in step S109, the process returns to step S107, and when the telephone call is terminated, the process returns to step S109 from the YES side of step S109.
The process moves to step S110, and the speaker changeover switch 12a in the hands-free telephone unit 12 switches the speaker 11a to the audio side, and in step S111, the audio volume is changed as shown in FIGS. 5(a) and 6(a). Return to the level before making the call.

In the above embodiment, it is not possible to control only the audio volume while making a telephone call, but if it is particularly necessary, the volume switches 1b and 4d can be used to control the volume of only the audio for a certain period of time. A small switch may be provided, and at the end of the call, the audio volume may be returned to the level before the call was made.

[0041]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1, the hands-free telephone unit has a speaker changeover switch and an electronic volume for controlling the volume, and the volume switch is used for both audio and telephone calls. This reduces the number of switches, which is advantageous in terms of cost, and at the same time makes it possible to mount airbags on the steering wheel.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, when using the telephone, the audio volume is kept constant, and the volume can be controlled only for the telephone. This makes it unnecessary to adjust the audio volume after a call ends, simplifying the operation.

Furthermore, according to the third aspect of the invention, the audio volume is attenuated to a certain degree while the telephone is in use;
Volume control is now effective for both audio and phone calls, and after the call ends, the audio volume returns to the level before making or receiving a call, so you can control the audio volume even while on a call, and enjoy background music etc. It is possible to make a telephone call, and there is also an advantage that there is no need to adjust the volume even after the telephone call ends.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of an in-vehicle information device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a specific configuration of a selection switch and a display in the in-vehicle information device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a specific configuration of an operation switch in the in-vehicle information device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation flow of the in-vehicle information device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the volume level in the in-vehicle information device of FIG. 1 when the audio volume is constant and only the telephone volume changes.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the volume level when the audio volume and telephone volume are changed simultaneously in the in-vehicle information device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the configuration of a steering operation switch in a conventional in-vehicle information device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Selection switch 1a　Telephone selection switch 1b Volume switch 1c Tube touch switch 1d Unit selection switch 2 Display 3 Steering 4 Operation switch 4a　Telephone switch 4b Audio switch 4c Air conditioner switch 4d Volume switch 40a　Telephone volume switch 40b Audio volume switch 41a Call end switch 5 Control unit 6 Tape cassette 7 CD cassette 8 Radio tuner 9 TV tuner 10 Audio amplifier 11a-11d Speaker 12 Hands-free telephone unit 13. Microphone 14 Radio equipment 15 Antenna

Claims (3)

[Claims] [Claim 1] An audio device mounted on a vehicle;
A hands-free telephone unit that is installed in the vehicle and has a hands-free function and has an electronic volume that changes the telephone volume level and a speaker changeover switch that switches the speaker of the audio device to use for telephone calls when making a call; A microphone for sending and receiving calls connected to the free phone unit, a radio device that is connected to the handsfree phone unit by connecting an antenna and transmits calls to the handsfree phone unit, and an audio device installed on the steering wheel and connected to the handsfree phone unit. An in-vehicle information device comprising: a volume switch that is operated when adjusting the volume level of the device and the hands-free telephone unit; and a control unit that controls the volume level of the audio according to the amount of operation of the volume switch when making a call. 2. The control unit controls the audio device so that a certain level of attenuation is applied to the audio volume when a call is received or made, and the volume due to the operation of the volume switch is controlled by the hands-free telephone unit. 2. The in-vehicle information device according to claim 1, wherein the in-vehicle information device is effective only for controlling the volume of a telephone call, and the audio volume after the end of the telephone call is automatically returned to the level before the incoming or outgoing telephone call. 3. The control unit controls the audio device so that a certain level of attenuation is applied to the audio volume when a call is received or made, and the volume due to the operation of the volume switch is controlled by the hands-free telephone unit. 2. The in-vehicle information device according to claim 1, wherein the audio volume is adjusted at the same time, and the audio device automatically returns to the level before the incoming or outgoing call after the call ends.