JPH05236554A - Remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain sure infrared ray remote control. CONSTITUTION:Plural reception sections 26, 27 on a moving section are alternately switched to be in the reception state by a changeover section 28 provided to an operation object deice 10 and drive information sent by an infrared ray from an operation section is received alternately by the plural reception sections 26 of 27. A control sections 25 judges whether or not a reception signal by any of the plural reception sections 26, 27 is normal. This judgement is implemented by discriminating the level of the reception signal by, e.g. the reception section 26 or 27 is a level required to discriminate the signal content and when it is judged that the reception signal from a specific reception section is normal, the changeover by a changeover section 28 is stopped and the reception of the specific reception section is continued. Furthermore, when the reception signal from the specific reception section is not normal, that is, the level is less than the reception level to be discriminated, the reception signal from the reception section is alternately switched again by the changeover section 28.

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 operating a remotely arranged video camera, spotlight or the like using infrared rays.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 13 shows an example of a conventional operation target device that is remotely operated. The operation target device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a support base 2 which is rotatable in the horizontal direction, a support shaft 3 which is provided upright at the center of the support base 2 in a vertical direction, and the support shaft 3
The upper end of the camera in the figure, which is attached to the camera 4 swingably in the vertical plane, and the upper surface of the support base 2 in the figure,
A single infrared ray receiving portion 5 provided near the outer edge portion is provided. The support base 2 and the camera 4, which are the movable parts of the operation target device 1, are driven to an arbitrary posture by the drive information sent as an infrared signal from the operation device 6 located at a position away from the operation target device 1. It has become.

[0003]

Operation information (for example, the support base 2) is input from the operation device 6 located at the position shown in FIG.
Is rotated to rotate the support base 2 in the counterclockwise direction, as the support base 2 rotates in the counterclockwise direction according to the operation information, the infrared light receiving portion provided on the support base 2 is rotated. 5 moves from the position shown in (a) to the position shown in (b). Assuming that the infrared light receiving unit 5 has moved to the position (b) in the figure, the infrared light receiving unit 5 is moving to the back side of the support shaft 3 when viewed from the operating device 6, so that in this state, The transmitted infrared signal is not received by the infrared light receiving section 5, or the received light output is extremely reduced.

In this case, the support base 2, which has been continuously rotationally displaced counterclockwise until then, stops when the infrared signal is interrupted, and cannot be driven to an arbitrary posture. There was a drawback. Further, when the infrared light receiving section 5 receives the infrared signal from the operating device 6 while moving as described above, when the pulse width and the receiving level of the received signal greatly fluctuate and the infrared signal is further placed indoors. Then, the reflected light from the ceiling is also generated, and the reflected light may be received by the light receiving unit 5 together with the transmission signal directly sent from the operation device 6. Therefore, even if the light receiving level of the light receiving unit 5 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the transmission information from the operating device 6 may not be accurately identified due to variations in the pulse width, variations in the receiving level, or the inclusion of reflected light. ..

Therefore, the present invention ensures that a transmission signal can be reliably received irrespective of the position of the light receiving part when remotely operating the operation target part where the light receiving part is provided in the movable part of the operation target part. It is another object of the present invention to provide a remote control device capable of accurately discriminating transmitted information.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a light receiving portion is provided in a movable portion, and the position of the light receiving portion is changed by the operation of the movable portion, and driving information is transmitted to the light receiving portion by infrared rays. In the remote operation device, the light receiving section is provided at a plurality of positions on the movable section, and the operation target section has a switching section for alternately switching each light receiving section to a receiving state and a plurality of light receiving sections. And a control unit for stopping the switching by the switching unit and continuing the receiving state of the light receiving unit that is normally receiving when it is determined that the received signal of any one of the units is normal. It is a thing.

Further, in the above means, a plurality of frames of transmission signals including drive information are transmitted by infrared rays from the operation unit, and the control unit provided in the operation target unit first receives the transmission signals. When the signal contents of the predetermined number of frames match, it is determined that the driving is started, and after the driving is started, the signal content of the received frame is equal to or more than a predetermined ratio with respect to the signal content of the previously received frame. When doing so, it is determined that the operation will continue.

[0008]

In the first means, the switching section provided in the operation target section switches the plurality of light receiving sections of the movable section to the receiving state alternately, and the driving information transmitted from the operating section by infrared rays is transmitted. The light is alternately received by the plurality of light receiving units.
The control unit determines whether the signals received by the plurality of light receiving units are normal. This determination is performed by determining whether or not the level of the received signal by the light receiving unit is equal to or higher than a value required to determine the signal content, and the received signal from a certain specific light receiving unit is normal ( When it is determined that the reception level is determinable), switching of the switching unit is stopped and reception from the specific light receiving unit is continued. Further, when the received signal from this specific light receiving unit is not normal, that is, when the received signal level is below the discriminable receiving level, the switching unit again switches the received signal from the light receiving unit alternately.

In the second means, as the discrimination of the signal received by the switching operation of the switching section, the operation is first started when the signal contents of, for example, two frames match. This can prevent malfunction due to reflected light in the room.
After the operation is started, the frame of the received signal is compared with the frame of the previously received signal. Then, for example, if the content of the frame of the received signal matches 60% or more of the content of the previously received frame, the operation is continued. With this, it is possible to prevent the operation from being stopped while the operation is continuing even if the reception level or the reception pulse width changes due to the movement of the light receiving unit on the movable unit.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 3 and 4 show an external configuration of an operation target device as one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view including a partial cross section, FIG. 4 is a side view including the partial cross section, and FIG. Is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration thereof, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the infrared light receiving portion. The light device 10 as an operation target device shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 includes a pedestal 11 mounted on a ceiling in a room in an upside down posture to the postures shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the pedestal 11 is horizontally rotated. The light rotation support portion 12 is movably arranged, and the spotlight 13 is supported on the tip of the light rotation support portion 12 so as to be swingable in the vertical direction.

The pedestal 11 is formed with a bearing 11b for rotatably supporting the light rotation support 12 in the center of a case 11a which is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, and is internally supported via the bearing 11b. A motor 15 for driving the light rotation support portion 12 in the horizontal direction, and the motor 15
An electric system including a motor drive unit for driving the motor is built in.

The drive shaft of the motor 15 has a gear 15a.
Is fixed, and a gear 17 fixed to the lower end of the rotary shaft 16 rotatably supported by the bearing portion 11b in the drawing is meshed with the gear 15a. The light rotation support portion 12 is rotatably supported on the pedestal 11 via the rotation shaft 16. The light rotation support portion 12 includes a case 18 that is fixed to the upper end portion of the rotating shaft 16 in the figure and has a substantially upward U-shape. The spotlight 13 is provided between the front ends of the arm portions 18a and 18b. Is rotatably supported in the vertical direction. A motor 19 for rotating the spotlight 13 in the vertical direction is built in the base of the case 18. Further, each arm 18a, 1
Light receiving elements 20 and 21 for receiving an infrared signal transmitted from an operation device described later are attached to the tip of 8b.

The motor 1 housed in the case 18
A connecting rod 22 is attached to the drive shaft of 9, and a bevel gear 22a is fixed to the upper end of the connecting rod 22 in the figure. This bevel gear 22a has a spotlight 13
A bevel gear 13b fixed to the rotating shaft 13a is meshed.

In the above structure, the drive shaft of the motor 15 is rotated by the gear 1 fixed to the gear 15a and the rotary shaft 16.
7 is transmitted to the light rotation support portion 12 to rotate the light rotation support portion 12 in the horizontal direction, and the rotation of the drive shaft of the motor 19 is performed by the connecting rod 22 and the bevel gear 22.
It is transmitted to the spotlight 13 via a and 13b, and the spotlight 13 is rotated in the swinging direction within the vertical plane.

Next, the configuration of the electric system will be described mainly with reference to FIG. 1 or 2. The illustrated light device 10 is a CPU (Central Processing Uni) that serves as a control center of the device.
t) and the like, a control unit 25, a power supply unit 40 that supplies electric power to the control unit 25, infrared receiving units 26 and 27 including the light receiving elements 20 and 21, and the control unit 25. Infrared receivers 26, 27 according to commands from
A switching unit 28 for switching the received signal from the motor, and a motor driving unit 29 for driving the motors 15 and 19, respectively.
30 and 30 are provided.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the structure of the infrared receiving section 26 (27).
In (27), the above-mentioned light receiving element 20 (21), a resistor 31 for applying a voltage to the light receiving element 20 (21),
A current amplification amplifier 32 that amplifies the received light current from the light receiving element 20 (21), a conversion element 33 that converts the current amplified by this amplifier 32 into a current / voltage, and an output voltage from this conversion element 33 is input to the base. And a transistor 34 that performs a switching operation. The collector of the transistor 34 is connected to the reception output unit 3 of the infrared reception unit.
4a. Each of the reception output units 34a and 34a from the infrared reception units 26 and 27 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the switching unit 28.

The power supply unit 40 includes a backup power storage unit 40a including a diode D and a large-capacity capacitor C.
Is provided, and in the standby state, the control unit 25 and the infrared receiving unit 2 are controlled by the power supplied from the power storage unit 40a.
6, 27 are in the reception state, and when the normal operation information is received, the power supply unit 40 supplies power to each unit.
The control unit 25 serves as a control center of the entire apparatus, and in the present embodiment, a function of determining whether or not the reception verification level of the reception signal from each infrared reception unit 26 or 27 is a predetermined value or more. As a result of this determination, if the reception verification level of the reception signal from one of the infrared receiving sections continues and is equal to or more than the predetermined value, the switching of the switching section 28 is stopped and the light receiving operation of one of the infrared receiving sections is continued. It has a control function.

The control unit 25 also has a function of identifying an operation command based on the received signal and a function of verifying, for example, continuity of the data of the received signal. This test is performed by comparing received signals between frames. The control by this verification compares the received data at the start of reception with a plurality of frames, for example, two frames, and when they completely match or match at a certain ratio or more, it is determined that the operation has started. Alternatively, when the operation is continuing, the code signal of the received frame is compared with the code signal of the frame previously received, and when a predetermined ratio, for example, 60% or more, is determined to be the operation continuing, and the ratio is matched. Is not obtained, a decision is made to stop the operation.
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 25 controls the dimming unit 13a based on the infrared reception signal, and the light amount control of the light 13 and the like are performed.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an internal circuit of the operating device (remote control device) 6. Operation device 6 shown in FIG.
Is an input unit 35 for inputting drive information of each drive unit of the operation target device 10 to be remotely operated, a control unit 38 for encoding the input drive information, and converting the encoded drive information into a current signal. And a light emitting element 37 that is driven to blink by this output current.

The drive information is, for example, rotation direction information for rotating the spotlight 13 in any direction on a horizontal plane, and rotation indicating how many degrees the spotlight 13 is rotated in the direction specified by the rotation direction information. The information includes angle information, swing direction information and swing angle information for swinging the spotlight 13 in the vertical direction, information about the set light amount of the spotlight 13, and information about setting of illumination time and reservation. Each piece of information as described above is transmitted from the light emitting element 37 as information on a frame-by-frame basis at regular intervals only while the input unit 35 is operated. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, in the above drive information, coded signals corresponding to respective operations are continuous in frame units, and this continuous signal is the operation of the input unit 35 in the operation device 6 of FIG. While holding down the button,
It is sent continuously.

The operation state of the remote control device having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9. 9A and 9B are flowcharts showing the control operation by the control unit 25 provided in the operation target device 10. 9A shows a flow of control operation for switching the switching unit 28, and FIG. 9B shows a flow of control operation for verifying the received signal.

First, the switching operation of the switching unit 28 shown in FIG. 9A will be described. When the input unit 35 of the operating device 6 is operated, a code signal corresponding to this operation input is generated by the control unit 3.
A current corresponding to the code is obtained from 8 to the signal conversion unit 36, and the light emitting element 37 is driven to blink by this current. The operation target device 10 includes a backup power storage unit 40.
When the infrared receiving unit 26 or 27 receives the output (step (2)), the main power source of the power source unit 40 is turned on. (Step (3)). In step (4), the switching operation of the switching unit 28 is started by a command from the control unit 25, and the switching unit 28 alternately switches the reception path to the infrared receiving units 26 and 27, for example, every 100 ms.
Therefore, the received signals from the infrared receivers 26 and 27 are alternately switched and input to the controller 25.

In step (5), it is judged whether or not the reception level of the received signal, which is alternately switched by the switching unit 28, is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, that is, a level at which the signal content can be read or not. When the received signal from 26 or 27 is above a predetermined level, the switching unit 2
The switching by 8 is stopped, and one receiving unit 26 or 2
The reception state from 7 is continued. That is, the receiving state by the receiving unit 26 or 27 that has received the output above the predetermined level is fixed (step (6)). If it is determined in step (5) that the receiving level required for signal discrimination cannot be obtained by only one of the receiving sections 26 or 27, the switching section 28 is continuously switched to the infrared receiving section 2
The signal content is discriminated based on the received signals which are alternately input to the control unit 25 from 6 and 27.

Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the infrared transmission from the operating device 6 is reliably received at a high level by the light receiving element 20 of the one receiving unit 27 of the operation target device 10, the switching unit 28 is used. Thus, the reception input of the receiving unit 27 is fixed. For example, if the drive information based on the received signal is a signal for rotating the light rotation support unit 12 in one direction, the control unit 25 outputs a corresponding drive command to the motor drive unit 29, and the motor 15 causes the motor 15 to rotate. The light rotation support portion 12 is rotated in one direction via the above-mentioned mechanism portion.

At this time, if the light rotation support unit 12 is rotated from the posture shown in FIG. 6 to the posture shown in FIG. 7, the reception level by the reception unit 27 and the code verification level are lowered, so that the switching unit 28 causes the reception unit. The reception signals from 26 and 27 are switched alternately, and as shown in FIG. 7, when the light receiving element 21 on the receiving unit 26 side is directed to the operating device 6, the switching unit 28 causes the receiving unit 26 to operate. Only the reception signal from the input signal is input to the control unit 25.

Next, the discrimination and verification operation of the received signal shown in FIG. 9B will be described. Steps (1) to (3) of FIG. 9B are the same as those of FIG.
When the main power source of the power source unit 40 is turned on, the code signal of the signal received in step (7), that is, the received signal sent from one of the infrared receivers 26 or 27 or alternately sent, is the predetermined number of frames. (For example, 2 frames) It is judged whether they completely match or match at a predetermined ratio or more. When the predetermined numbers of frames match, the control unit 25 accepts the received signal, and the content of the code signal is decoded in step (8). Then, in step (9), a control command is given to each part. When the control command is to rotate the light 13 in the horizontal direction, the motor 15 rotationally drives the light rotation support portion 12, and when the control command is to move the light 13 in the vertical direction, the motor 19 rotates the light 13. .. Further, in the case of a control command for adjusting the light quantity of the light 13, the light control section 13a is controlled.

This operation command is continuously issued while the frames of the transmission signal from the operating device 6 are continuously transmitted as shown in FIG. Then, in step (10), the signal code of the frame currently input to the control unit 25 matches the signal code of the previously received frame (plural frames) at a predetermined verification rate (for example, 60%). It is determined whether or not it is present. If it is determined by this determination that the agreement is equal to or higher than the predetermined verification rate, the operation is continued, and if the agreement is not equal to or higher than the predetermined verification rate, the operation is stopped (finished).

As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a signal is received by the receiving section 26 or 27 while the light rotation supporting section 12 is rotating, and this receiving section 26 or 2 is received.
Even if the pulse width of the received data fluctuates or the reception level fluctuates depending on the rotation speed of 7, or the light reflected on the ceiling in the room is mixed into the receiver 26 or 27, the same operation signal continues. As long as it is output from the operating device 6, the possibility that the operation will be stopped due to a malfunction will be significantly reduced.

Next, when the operating device 6 issues a command to increase or decrease the rotation speed of the motor 15 or 19, the motor drive unit 29 or 30 outputs a high speed to the motor 15 or 19. In this case, continuous drive power is given, and in the case of low speed, intermittent drive power is given.

In the above description, in the control operation of FIG. 9A, whether the value of the reception verification level is equal to or higher than the reference value is used as a method of selecting whether the reception input of the infrared receiver is 26 or 27. The determination in step (10) of FIG. 9B may be used as the determination method. That is, the infrared receiver 26 or 27
If a match between the frames is equal to or higher than a predetermined verification rate based on the received signal from only one of the receiving signals, the receiving output is obtained from only one infrared receiving unit 26 or 27, and the receiving output from the one receiving unit is received. If a match of more than a predetermined verification rate cannot be obtained only by the receiving unit 2, the switching unit 28 causes the receiving unit 2
The reception outputs from 6 and 27 may be alternately switched.

As described above, in this embodiment, the signals output from the two light receiving elements are discriminated and the respective parts are driven based on the signals from the normal light receiving elements, so that the respective parts are always driven normally. Can be done. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the operation does not stop during the operation. Also,
Even if the received pulse width or the received level fluctuates greatly, and even if one of the light receiving elements cannot reliably receive the reflected light from the ceiling, normal driving information can always be received.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to 0 to 12. The operation target device 41 shown in FIGS. 10 to 12 includes a pedestal 42 fixed to a ceiling 45.
With respect to the pedestal 42, a light rotation support portion 43 that is rotated in the horizontal direction in the drawing and a light support member 44 that is formed to project in the center of the light rotation support portion 43 are released ends (lower ends in the drawing). A spotlight 48 mounted so as to rotate in the vertical direction, and the light rotation support portion 43.
And the two light receiving elements 46 and 47 arranged on both sides of the light supporting member 44. Even with a remote control device including the operation target device 41 having such a configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those of the above embodiments. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the operation target device is not limited to the light, and may be the camera shown in FIG. 13 or the like.

[0033]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1,
By alternately switching the light receiving output from the plurality of receiving units provided in the movable section, and when the light receiving output from one receiving unit is normal, by setting only one receiving unit to the light receiving state,
Even if any of the receiving parts is in a position shadowing the transmission area from the operating part due to the movement of the movable part, the remote operation can be surely performed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the operation is started when the data of a predetermined number of frames match, and after the operation starts, when the codes between the frames match at a predetermined verification rate. Since the operation is continued, problems such as start of operation due to malfunction and interruption of continuous operation due to noise do not occur.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an operation target device as one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of an infrared receiving section shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view including a partial cross section mainly showing a mechanical portion of the apparatus to be apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view including a partial cross section mainly showing a mechanical portion of the apparatus target apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an internal circuit of the operating device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an operating state of the remote control device shown in FIGS. 1 to 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an operating state of the remote control device shown in FIGS. 1 to 5;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of data transmitted from the operating device.

9A is a flowchart showing switching control of a switching unit, and FIG. 9B is a flowchart showing data verification control.

FIG. 10 is a bottom view showing a mechanical portion of an operation target device as another embodiment.

11 is a front view of the operation target device shown in FIG.

12 is a side view of the operation target device shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration and an operating state of a conventional remote control device.

[Explanation of Codes] 6 Operation Device 10 Operation Target Device 13 Light 13a Light Control Section 15, 19 Motor 25 Control Section 26, 27 Infrared Reception Section 28 Switching Section 29, 30 Motor Drive Section 35 Input Section 36 Signal Conversion Section 37 Light-Emitting Element

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A remote control comprising a light receiving portion provided on a movable portion, an operation target portion whose position is changed by the operation of the movable portion, and an operation portion for transmitting drive information to the light receiving portion by infrared rays. In the device, the light receiving section is provided at a plurality of positions on the movable section, and the operation target section has a switching section for alternately switching each of the light receiving sections to a receiving state and a reception signal of one of the plurality of light receiving sections. A remote control device comprising: a control unit that stops the switching by the switching unit and continues the reception state of the light receiving unit that is normally receiving when it is determined to be normal. 2. A plurality of frames of transmission signals including drive information are transmitted by infrared rays from the operation section, and the control section provided in the operation target section receives a predetermined number of initial signals when the transmission signals are received. When the signal contents of the frame match, it is determined that the driving has started, and after the driving starts, the signal contents of the received frame match the signal contents of the previously received frames by a predetermined ratio or more. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined that the operation continues.