JPH05260574A - Infrared remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an infrared remote controller with high versatility in which the maximum reception distance can be extended without limiting the format and length of a transmission signal by providing a control signal repeater between transmission equipment and reception equipment. CONSTITUTION:Light transmitted from the light emitting element 21 of the transmission equipment 20 is received with the optical receiving element 23 of the control signal repeater 1, and the signal of light is transmitted again to the control signal repeater 1' by using the light emitting element 21 of the repeater 1, and the same operation is performed by the repeater 1', and finally, the signal is transmitted to the optical receiving element 23 of the reception equipment 22. Such constitution is employed, and the transmission signal S1 from the infrared remote control transmission equipment 20 is received with the optical receiving part 2 consisting of the optical receiving element 23 of the control signal repeater, an amplifier 27, and an auto-bias level controller 31, and it is transmitted to a signal separation part 3 at the next stage. The separation part 3 comprises a control signal demodulation part 7 consisting of a BPF 4, a detection circuit 5, and a waveform shaping circuit 6, and a start and end signal demodulation part 11 consisting of a BPF 8, a detection circuit 9, and a waveform shaping circuit 10, and an obtained control signal can be held with a holding part 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an infrared remote control device used for consumer equipment such as TV receivers and air conditioners.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional technique will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of a conventional infrared remote control device, FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram of a conventional transmitter, and FIG. 6 is a block circuit diagram of a conventional receiver.

A conventional infrared remote control device, as shown in FIG. 4, has a light emitting element 21 in a transmitter 20.
Thus, for example, an optical signal is transmitted to the light receiving element 23 in the receiving device 22 on the electronic device side, which is separated by the distance L _0, and information is transmitted. An example of a block circuit of the transmitting device 20 is shown in FIG.
Shown in.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, this transmitter 20 pushes a key switch 24 to put a control signal corresponding to the key switch 24 on a carrier frequency from a transmitting IC 25 with a built-in key encoder. After modulating,
The signal is transmitted from the light emitting element 21 as an optical signal via the driving element 26.

In addition, the receiving device 22 photoelectrically converts the control signal by the infrared light receiving element 23, amplifies this signal by the amplifier 27, passes through the band-pass filter (BPF) 28, and then the detection circuit. 29, the optical signal modulated by the waveform circuit 30 is demodulated and a control code is output.

In the figure, 31 is an auto bias level coil roller, 32 is a center frequency setting resistor, 33 is a power supply filter, 34 is a power supply V _CC terminal, 35 is an output V _OUT terminal,
36 is a GND terminal.

[0007]

By the way, in the pair of remote control devices of the transmitting device 20 and the light receiving device 22, the amount of received light is increased as the distance between the transmitting device 20 and the light receiving device 22 attached to the electronic device side is increased. It gradually decreases, and when it exceeds a certain distance, the light receiving device 22 does not receive a normal control code. Hereinafter, this distance is referred to as the maximum reception distance.

This maximum receiving distance can be lengthened to some extent by increasing the current flowing through the light emitting element 21 on the transmitting device 20 side to increase the amount of light emission or by increasing the gain of the amplifier on the light receiving device 22 side. However, there is a limit to both, and the maximum reception distance cannot be made longer than this limit.

On the other hand, if the target control signal is a code having a specific format and length, a decoder for discriminating the code in the output of the conventional light receiving device and a transmission signal for returning this code to the transmission signal again. A simple repeater can be realized by providing a generating circuit and connecting the light emitting elements, but it is not practical because it lacks portability because the control signal is limited.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide an infrared remote control device having a large maximum receiving distance between a transmitter and a light-receiving device attached to an electronic device side, portability, and high practicality.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an infrared remote control transmitter,
The control signal is provided with a receiving device that is provided in the controlled device and that receives a control signal from the infrared remote control transmitting device, and at least one control signal relay device that is provided between the transmitting and receiving devices and that relays the control signal. The relay device includes a light receiving unit, a signal holding unit that stores the control signal received by the light receiving unit, and a transmission signal generating unit that reads the control signal again from the signal holding unit after the reception of the control signal and uses it as a transmission signal. And a light emitting unit for transmitting the transmission signal of the transmission signal generation unit to the reception device or another control signal relay device.

[0012]

In the infrared remote control device according to the present invention, as described above, the control signal relay device relays the control signal from the infrared remote control transmission device and transmits it to the reception device, so that the maximum reception distance can be increased.

Further, the control signal relay device has a signal holding unit for storing and holding the control signal. The control signal relay unit stores the received control signal in the signal holding unit, and after the control signal is received, it is read again and transmitted. Therefore, there is no need to limit the format of the control signal or the length of the code, and the portability is excellent.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the use state of the control signal relay apparatus of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of the control signal relay apparatus of this embodiment, and FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (j) are FIG. 3 is a signal waveform diagram of each part of FIG.

The same functional parts as those of the conventional example shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 are designated by the same symbols.

As shown in FIG. 1, the infrared remote control device according to this embodiment has a transmitter 20 and a receiver 2.
At least one control signal relay device is provided between the light receiving device and the light receiving device to increase the maximum reception distance L between the light receiving and emitting devices.

As shown in FIG. 1, the light transmitted from the light emitting element 21 of the transmitting device 20 is received by the light receiving element 23 of the control signal relay device 1, and this signal is again output from the light emitting element 21 of the control signal relay device 1. It transmits to the control signal relay apparatus 1 '. Then, the control signal relay device 1 ′ also performs the same operation, and finally transmits to the light receiving element 23 of the receiving device 22.

The control signal relay device and the control signal communication method will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The transmission signal S ₁ of the control signal of the infrared remote control device according to the present embodiment is, as shown in FIG. 3A, before and after the control signal section S _1-2 modulated by the carrier frequency f ₁ . A start signal section S _1-1 and an end signal section S _1-3 modulated by the carrier frequency f ₂ are added.

This transmission signal S ₁ is, as shown in FIG.
The light receiving element 23 and the amplifier 2 of the control signal relay device of the present embodiment
7 and an automatic bias level controller 31 to receive the signal and send it to the signal separating unit 3 in the next stage.

The signal separation unit 3 is for separating the transmission signal S ₁ into the control signal unit S _1-2 start / end signal units S _1-1 and S _1-3, and is a band pass filter (BPF). (Hereinafter, simply referred to as BPF) 4, a control signal demodulation unit 7 including a detection circuit 5 and a waveform shaping circuit 6, and a start / end signal demodulation unit 11 including a BPF 8, a detection circuit 9 and a waveform shaping circuit 10. Have a section. In the figure, 12 is a power supply filter.

A control signal holding section 13 for holding the control signal S _1-2 in an internal memory is provided at the subsequent stage of the control signal demodulation section 7.

Further, in the subsequent stage of the start / end signal demodulating section 11, after the end signal S _1-3 of the transmission code S ₁ is detected, the control signal S _1- held by the control signal holding section 13 will be described later. ₂ is read again (S _7-2 ), and transmission signal generator 14 which adds S _7-1 and S _7-3 as new start / end signals
Is provided. The transmission signal generation unit 14 is composed of an inverter gate 15, an OR gate 16, a JK flip-flop 17, and a transmission signal generation circuit 18.

Further, in the subsequent stage of the transmission signal generating section 14,
A light emitting unit 19 is provided for photoelectrically converting the transmission signal S ₁ and transmitting it as an optical signal. The light emitting section 19 is composed of an infrared emitting element 21 and a transistor 26 for driving the infrared emitting element 21.

In the configuration as described above, the transmitter 20
The transmission signal S ₁ from S1 is separated at the time of demodulation in the signal separation unit 3, and the demodulation signal of the control signal unit S _1-2 becomes S ₂ as shown in FIG. 3B, and the start / end signal S _{1- 1,} the demodulated signals S _1-3 is as shown in FIG. 3 S ₃ of (c). Here, the demodulation of the start signal / end signal S _1-1 , S _1-3 is canceled if the detected time t ₁ , t _{2 of} the low bell is not longer than a certain time. This is because noise detected in the demodulated signal S ₃ is removed so as not to be regarded as a start signal / end signal.

The signal obtained by inverting the demodulated signal S ₃ of the start / end signal by the inverter 15 is S in FIG. 3 (d).
₄ , and when the in-transmission signal S ₅ shown in FIG. 3 (e) is Low, the first falling edge of the inverted signal S ₄ S _4-1 (corresponding to the end timing S _3-1 of the start signal) The control signal holding permission signal S ₆ (Q output of the JK flip-flop 17) shown in 3 (f) is set to High, and the second fall S _4-2 of the inversion signal S ₄ (end signal end timing S _{3 -2}
The control signal holding permission signal S _{6 is set} to Low.

The control signal holding unit 13 writes the demodulation output signal S ₂ of the control signal in the internal memory only when the control signal permission signal S ₆ is High. In addition, the transmission signal generation circuit 18
When the control signal enable signal S ₆ changes from High to Low, the inverter gate 15 (see FIG.
A start signal S _7-1 of the transmission signal S ₇ (as shown in (g)) is generated, and at the same time, the transmission signal S ₅ is changed from Low to High, and writing of the control signal to the control signal holding unit 13 is prohibited.

When the transmission of the start signal S _7-1 is completed,
The control signal read enable signal S ₈ is changed from Low to High, and the control signal transmission unit input signal S ₉ of FIG. 3 (i) from which the control signal is read is generated as the transmission signal S ₇ as the control signal S _7-2 . Then, when the reading of the control signal S _7-2 ends, the control signal holding unit 13 changes the control signal reading end signal S ₁₀ shown in FIG. 3 (j) from Low to High. The transmission signal generation circuit 18 uses the control signal read end signal S ₁₀
Is changed from Low to High, the end signal S _{7-3 is} generated in the transmission signal S ₇ , and when it is ended, the control signal read end signal S ₁₀ is changed from High to Low, and at the same time the transmission signal S _{5 is} transmitted.
Is changed from High to Low, and a reception signal waiting state of a transmission signal from the outside is set. Then, when a signal is sent from an external transmitter, the above operation is performed again.

As described above, in this embodiment, if the length of the control signal to be transmitted / received is equal to or less than the length that can be held by the signal holding unit 13,
Since it can be set to various formats and code lengths, it is highly portable and highly practical.

As described above, according to the present invention, the maximum receiving distance can be increased by providing the relay device between the transmitting and receiving devices, and at that time, the format and length of the transmission signal can be variously set, which is highly portable. An infrared control device can be realized.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an infrared control device having a high maximum portability and a high portability without limiting the format or length of a transmission signal.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a usage state of a control signal relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block circuit diagram of a control signal relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 (a) to 3 (j) are signal waveform diagrams of respective portions of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of an infrared remote control device according to a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram of a transmission device according to a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a block circuit diagram of a receiver according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control signal relay device 2 Light receiving part 13 Signal holding part 14 Transmission signal generating part 19 Light emitting part 20 Infrared remote control transmitting device 22 Receiving device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An infrared remote control transmitting device, a receiving device provided in a controlled device for receiving a control signal from the infrared remote control transmitting device, and at least one provided between the transmitting / receiving device and relaying the control signal. The control signal relay device includes a light receiving unit, a signal holding unit that stores the control signal received by the light receiving unit, and the control unit that controls the signal holding unit after receiving the control signal. It is characterized by further comprising a transmission signal generating section for re-reading a signal to be a transmission signal, and a light emitting section for transmitting the transmission signal of the transmission signal generating section to the receiving device or another control signal relaying device. Infrared remote control device.