JPH04317300A - Remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure operability equivalent to that of a dedicated remote control ler and to take control information simply or in short time when the functions of plural number of remote controllers are put together into one device. CONSTITUTION:The information for the remote control of a desired controlled device is read from an external device 11 consisting of an IC card or a magnetic card and stored in a storage device 14, the guidance of the operation is displayed on a display device 18 based on the stored information, the operation according to the guidance is inputted from an input device 17, and a control signal corresponding to the operation is outputted to the controlled device.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote control device for controlling equipment.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Today, remote control devices (hereinafter simply referred to as remote control devices) are provided for various electrical appliances such as television sets and air conditioners to remotely control their operations. The most common remote control device is dedicated to a controlled device, and cannot be used to control any number of devices. Therefore, compatible remote control devices and learning remote control devices have been conventionally provided. Compatible remote control devices are fixedly built-in remote control logic for one or two types of home appliances such as television sets and video tape recorders, corresponding to the products of each company, and can be controlled by selecting a combination of switches on the operation panel. This allows for a certain degree of versatility by registering which products are to be used as remote control devices. Also,
A learning remote control device is a type of remote control device that inputs and stores infrared output information output by actually operating a remote control device attached to a specific product.
Operate the specific switch on the remote control device you want to memorize, and also operate the specific switch on the remote control device you want to memorize.
As a result, the infrared output output when the specific switch of the latter remote control device is operated is made the same as the output when the specific switch of the former remote control switch is operated. It is also possible to perform this operation on all the switches, store information on multiple types of remote control devices for controlled equipment, and use this information selectively.

[0003] An example of a document describing the compatible remote control device and the learning remote control device is ``Mitsubishi Color Television 29C-CZ3 Instruction Manual'' published by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation on October 1, 1989. There are pages 30 to 33.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in conventional compatible remote control devices, the selectable functions are limited in advance, and there is a lack of versatility in realizing remote control functions for arbitrary controlled devices. If this were attempted, there would be a large number of useless functions that are not actually used, leading to an increase in cost and an increase in the size of the remote control device.

[0005] In addition, conventional learning remote control devices or unified remote control devices that can obtain the functions of several devices from infrared signals and store them in one remote control device can be used. The problem was that it was time consuming and required a large number of key switches, which worsened operability. Further, the information that can be learned by this unified remote control device simply corresponds to key switch information transmitted by infrared signals, and there is no function to recognize and learn specific functions. Therefore, for example, the channel information of the television set, the volume, or the information that directly indicates the playback and recording functions of the video tape recorder device are not learned, so the recording reservation time of the video tape recorder device cannot be set in the remote control device. Functions such as transferring reservation date and time data cannot be ported to the same device. In any case, conventional remote control devices lack versatility and good operability for various controlled devices, and as the number of controlled devices increases, the number of remote control devices also increases, making maintenance and storage of remote control devices a problem. becomes.

An object of the present invention is to consolidate the functions of a plurality of arbitrary remote control devices into one remote control device. Another object of the present invention is to obtain operability equivalent to that of a plurality of remote control devices on one remote control device. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a remote control device that can easily or quickly import data in order to generalize the functions of the remote control device.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A brief overview of typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows.

That is, information for remote control of a desired controlled device is read and stored from an external storage device constituted by an IC card or a magnetic card, and operation guidance is displayed based on the stored information. In addition, the remote control control function is configured to be selectable by inputting operations according to this.

[0010] When storing information read from an external storage device in a storage means, in order to increase the efficiency of use of the storage area, a predetermined storage area is allocated for each type of control information, and each storage area is assigned a plurality of storage areas. It is preferable to store the relevant type of control information for the controlled device.

[0011] In order to eliminate the need for a large number of key switches and improve operability, a display panel is used as the display means, and a pressure-sensitive touch switch panel is placed over the display panel to display information specific to the controlled equipment. It is preferable to adopt a control function that displays the operation guidance display figure on the display panel and allocates the switches on the pressure-sensitive touch switch panel in accordance with the display position of the operation guide display figure.

In order to efficiently perform a display function corresponding to a large number of remote control devices in a limited display space, the types of selectable controlled devices are displayed, and the selected controlled devices are displayed according to the display state. It is preferable to adopt a hierarchical menu display control function that displays operation information.

[0013]

[Operation] According to the above-described means, the reading means for reading information for remote control control from an IC card or a magnetic card shortens the time for reading such information. and,
The read and stored information includes not only a control program for the controlled device, but also operation guide information to be displayed on the display means and control information for the input means.
Increase the degree of freedom or flexibility of the operating system necessary to support the functions of various controlled devices.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a remote control device according to the present invention. This remote control device 1 includes an IC
A reading device 12 for reading information from an external storage device 11 constituted by a card or a magnetic storage card; 1 storage device 14, an output device 18 that displays operation guidance information for remotely controlling each controlled device based on the control information stored in the first storage device 14, and operation guidance displayed on the output device 18. an input device 17 for inputting operation information for remote control according to the information;
and a transmitting device 16 that wirelessly transmits a control signal for the corresponding controlled device based on the operation information input from the input device 17, and further includes a transmitting device 16 that wirelessly transmits a control signal for the corresponding controlled device based on the operation information input from the input device 17, The information is stored in the first storage device 1.
4, the control information corresponding to the plurality of controlled devices is stored in the first storage device 14 in an identifiable manner, the operation guide information is displayed in accordance with the stored control information, and the operation guidance information is inputted in accordance with this display. It has a microprocessor 15 as a control means that transmits control signals for corresponding controlled devices in accordance with operations, and a second storage device 13 that stores its operating program.These functional blocks are interconnected via an internal bus 19. It is connected. In the figure, 20 is a power supply circuit of the remote control device 1, which supplies operating power to each functional block using, for example, a battery power supply, and
When the first storage device is a volatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a backup power supply voltage is supplied to retain the stored information even when the power switch is turned off.

The reading device 12 is an external storage device 11
If it is a magnetic card, it is configured by a magnetic card reader. In the case of an IC card, at least terminals connected to external terminals of the card are arranged, and it has a function of outputting a signal indicating whether or not the IC card is inserted to the internal bus 19. from the first storage device 1
If you want to further shorten the data transfer operation time to 4, please use DM.
AC (Direct Memory Access Controller)
can also be included.

[0016] The transmitting device 16 transmits a control signal to the controlled device using infrared rays, although not particularly limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 2, the output device 18 is constituted by a display panel such as a liquid crystal (hereinafter, the output device 18 will also be referred to as the display panel 18). At this time, the input device 17 is constituted by a pressure-sensitive touch switch panel placed over the display panel 18 (hereinafter, the input device 17 is also referred to as a pressure-sensitive touch switch panel). The pressure-sensitive touch switch panel senses the force of pressing the surface of the display panel 18 disposed on the surface thereof and turns on the switch at the corresponding position.

FIG. 3 shows an I as the external storage device 11.
An example of a data mapping configuration of a C card is shown.

The external storage device 11 has storage areas roughly classified according to the type of information to be stored, and each storage area stores the corresponding type of information of the controlled device. According to FIG. 3, the storage areas of the first storage device 14 include a pressure-sensitive touch switch assignment information area 22, a key switch display graphic information area 23 corresponding to a key switch, a transmission signal information area 24, and a control program information area 25. divided into The storage capacity of each area may be fixed or may be variable depending on the actual usage situation. Each area 22
Data codes 22A to 25A are provided at the beginning of each of the data codes 22A to 25A, which contain information indicating the type of data, the number of valid data, and the location of each piece of data. The key switch display graphic information is data for displaying on the display panel 18 an operation guide display graphic (key switch graphic) unique to the controlled device as shown in FIG. The pressure-sensitive touch switch allocation information is information indicating a switch allocation position on the pressure-sensitive touch switch panel that corresponds to the display position of the operation guidance display figure. For example, when a rectangle is displayed with the words "TV", "Video", "Stereo", "Air Conditioner", and "Next" as shown in the upper row of FIG. 4, the pressure-sensitive touch located below the shape This is information for assigning the switch on the switch panel 17 as the information input means indicated by the figure. The transmission signal information includes a control signal code to be output to the controlled device. The control program information is a program for controlling the selected controlled device. Note that an end data code 16 is stored between the free area and the used area in the storage area of the first storage device 14, making it possible to confirm that no valid information exists in the subsequent storage area.

Next, the operation of reading information into the remote control device 1 of this embodiment from the external storage device 11 having the stored information shown in FIG. 3 will be explained. First, when the external storage device 11 is connected to the reading device 12, the data code 22A is read, a storage area for the amount of information specified by the code is secured in the storage device 14, and the secured area is used for sensing. Pressure touch switch assignment information is stored. Thereafter, various types of information are similarly stored in predetermined areas of the storage device. The mapping state of information stored in the first storage device 14 in this way is also similar to that in FIG. 3. Note that part or all of the data code can be used when the microprocessor 15 accesses required information, so in this embodiment, information such as the number of data words included in the data code is also stored in the first storage device 14. is stored in

It is expected that the IC card holding the information to be stored in the first storage device will be individualized for each controlled device, but in this case, the IC card will have to be replaced for each controlled device. Bye. However, certain rules must be established for code information indicating the type of data in the data code so that it does not overlap between controlled devices.

The content of the display control for the display panel 18 is to display the type of controlled device corresponding to the control information stored therein, and to perform remote control of the selected controlled device according to this display state. It is a hierarchical menu display control that displays operation information. Such control is performed by the microprocessor 15 according to an operating program held in the second storage device 13.

Next, the control operation for the controlled equipment by the remote control device 1 will be explained.

When the power switch is turned on, a display panel 1 such as a liquid crystal display device is turned on, as shown in FIG.
8, a selection screen of selectable controlled devices is displayed. If all selectable controlled devices cannot be displayed on one screen,
A graphic indicating "Next" is used to indicate that there are remaining selectable devices, and selection of the graphic switches to the remaining controlled device selection screen. When a controlled device is selected, the functions of the selected controlled device are displayed as shown in FIG. As for the function display, menu hierarchization by displaying "next" can be adopted in the same manner as described above. When displaying functions on the display panel 18, not only text information but also graphics corresponding to the functions are displayed, so the operability of controlling the controlled device is the same as that of a dedicated remote control device.

When displaying the characters and graphics on the display panel 18, pressure-sensitive touch switch assignment information corresponding to the display screen is read into the microprocessor 15 from the first storage device 14. The microprocessor 15 determines the content selected on the screen according to the allocation information and the input from the touch switch panel 17. If the operation on the pressure-sensitive touch switch panel 17 is a remote control operation on a controlled device, the corresponding transmission signal information is read from the first storage device 14, and the control signal is transmitted to the communication device 1.
6 to the controlled device.

If another device is to be controlled, the display on the display panel may be returned to the controlled device selection screen and another device may be selected.

The above embodiment has the following effects.

(1) Information for remote control of a desired controlled device is read from the external storage device 11 constituted by an IC card or a magnetic card and stored in the first storage device 1.
4, and based on the memorized information, displays an operation guide on the display panel 18, inputs the corresponding operation from the pressure-sensitive touch switch panel 17, and sends a control signal corresponding to the operation to the controlled device. Since it is output to the device, the functions of multiple arbitrary remote control devices can be integrated into one remote control device.

(2) At this time, since the information for remote control control is read from the IC card or magnetic card, it is possible to shorten the time for reading such information in order to generalize the functions of the remote control device, and also to Operation can also be simplified.

(3) Furthermore, the read and stored information includes not only a program for controlling the controlled equipment, but also operation guidance information to be displayed on the display panel 18 and control information for the pressure-sensitive touch switch panel 17. As a result, the degree of freedom or flexibility of the operating system required to correspond to the functions of various controlled devices can be increased. That is, it is not subject to the restrictions of complexity and multiplicity required for operating key switches in accordance with the increasing versatility and multi-functionality.

(4) As shown in FIG. 3, by allocating a predetermined storage area for each type of control information and storing the corresponding type of control information for a plurality of controlled devices in each storage area, , when information read from the external storage device 11 is stored in the first storage device 14, the utilization efficiency of the storage area can be improved.

(5) A display panel 18 is employed as a display means, a pressure-sensitive touch switch panel 17 is placed over the display panel 18, and operation guidance display figures specific to the controlled device are displayed on the display panel 18. In addition, by adopting a control function that assigns the switches on the pressure-sensitive touch switch panel 17 in accordance with the display position of the operation guidance display figure, a large number of key switches are not required, and the operability of remote control control is significantly improved. be able to.

(6) By adopting a hierarchical menu display control function that displays the types of selectable controlled devices and displays the operation information of the selected controlled device according to this display state, it is possible to use a large number of remote control devices. Corresponding display functions can be efficiently realized within a limited display space.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically explained above based on examples, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited thereto and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. stomach. For example, a barcode can be used as an external storage device. Further, the external storage device may be fixed inside the remote control device. The mapping of storage information to the first storage device, the content of information to be stored, etc. can be changed as appropriate. Furthermore, the operating power source is not limited to being entirely battery power.

In the above explanation, the invention made by the present inventor was mainly applied to a remote control device for home appliances, which is the background field of application.
The present invention is not limited thereto and can be widely applied to any remote control device.

[0036]

Effects of the Invention The effects obtained by typical inventions disclosed in this application are briefly explained below.

That is, information for remote control of a desired controlled device is read from an external storage device constituted by an IC card or a magnetic card and stored in the storage means, and based on the stored information, information is displayed on the display means. In addition to displaying operation guidance, the corresponding operation is input from the input means and a control signal corresponding to the operation is output to the controlled device, so the functions of multiple arbitrary remote control devices can be combined into one remote control device. It can be summarized as follows. At this time, since the information for remote control control is read from the IC card or magnetic card, it is possible to shorten the time required to read such information in order to generalize the functions of the remote control device, and the operation for this purpose is also simplified. Can be done. Furthermore, the read and stored information includes not only a program for controlling the controlled equipment, but also operation guide information to be displayed on the display means and control information for the input means, thereby controlling the functions of the various controlled equipment. It is possible to increase the degree of freedom or flexibility of the operation system necessary to cope with the above, and it is not subject to the restrictions of complexity and multiplication required for operation key switches in accordance with the multifunctionalization of versatility.

[0038] A display panel is adopted as a display means, a pressure-sensitive touch switch panel is placed over the display panel, and operation guidance display figures specific to the controlled equipment are displayed on the display panel, and the operation guidance display figures are displayed on the display panel. By adopting a control function that allocates switches on the pressure-sensitive touch switch panel in accordance with display positions, it is possible to eliminate the need for a large number of key switches and to significantly improve the operability of remote control control.

[0039]Displaying selectable types of controlled equipment;
By adopting a hierarchical menu display control function that displays the operation information of the controlled device selected according to this display state, display functions compatible with a large number of remote control devices can be efficiently realized within a limited display space. be able to.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a remote control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic external view of the remote control device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a data mapping diagram of an example of data stored in an external storage device applied to the remote control device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display format of a display screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Remote control device 11 External storage device 12 Reading device 13 Second storage device 14 First storage device 15 Microprocessor 16 Transmission device 17 Input device (pressure-sensitive touch switch panel) 18
Output device (display panel) 22 Pressure-sensitive touch switch assignment information area 23 Key switch display graphic information area 24 Transmission signal information area 25 Control program information area

Claims (4)

[Claims] Claim 1: A reading means for reading information from an external storage device constituted by an IC card or a magnetic card, and storing control information corresponding to a plurality of controlled devices read from the reading means in an identifiable manner. storage means for displaying operation guidance information for remotely controlling each controlled device based on the control information stored in the storage means; an input means for inputting operation information for control; a transmission means for wirelessly transmitting a control signal for a corresponding controlled device based on the operation information input from the input means; Transferring control information from the external storage device to the storage means, storing each control information corresponding to a plurality of controlled devices in the storage means in an identifiable manner, and transmitting the operation guidance information according to the stored control information. 1. A remote control device comprising: a control means for displaying a display and transmitting a control signal for a corresponding controlled device in response to an input operation according to the display. 2. The display means is a display panel, the input means is a pressure-sensitive touch switch panel disposed overlapping the display panel, and the control means includes an operation guidance display specific to the controlled device. The remote control according to claim 1, further comprising a function of displaying a figure on the display panel and controlling the allocation of switches on the pressure-sensitive touch switch panel in accordance with the display position of the operation guidance display figure. control device. 3. The control means displays the type of the controlled device corresponding to the control information stored in the storage means based on the information stored in the storage means, and displays the selected device according to this display state. 3. The remote control device according to claim 2, further comprising a hierarchical menu display control function for displaying operation information of the control equipment. 4. A reading means for reading information from an external storage device, a storage means for storing in an identifiable manner each control information corresponding to a plurality of controlled devices read from the data reading means, and said storage means. A display panel that displays operation guidance information for remotely controlling each controlled device based on control information stored in the display panel, and inputting operation information for remote control according to the operation guidance information displayed on this display panel. a pressure-sensitive touch switch panel disposed overlapping the display panel, and a transmission for wirelessly transmitting a control signal for a corresponding controlled device based on operation information input from the pressure-sensitive touch switch panel. means for transferring control information from the external storage device to the storage means via the reading means, and storing each control information corresponding to a plurality of controlled devices in the storage means in an identifiable manner; control means for displaying the operation guidance information in accordance with the control information and transmitting a control signal for a corresponding controlled device in response to an operation input according to the display, the control means being configured to transmit a control signal specific to the controlled device; displaying the operation guidance display figure on the display panel, and assigning switches on the pressure-sensitive touch switch panel in accordance with the display position of the operation guidance display figure, and based on the information stored in the storage means, It is characterized by having a hierarchical menu display control function that displays the type of controlled device corresponding to the control information stored therein, and displays the operation information of the controlled device selected according to this display state. remote control device.