JPH0583332A - Telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the telephone set by which the user surely listen to an incoming call tone. CONSTITUTION:A controller 16 of the telephone set is provided with a function which controls a ring tone sound source signal and a gain control signal to change a ring tone signal from a small tone volume to a large tone volume as time elapses. The maximum tone volume in this case is set by using, e. g., an existing tone volume adjustment knob of the telephone set, and a step number, a ring number and a ring time or the like used to change the incoming call tone are set by using a ten-key 19 wile observing a liquid crystal display. Furthermore, a tone volume mute function signal for an audio house appliance is registered in advance to the telephone set having a remote controller with a learning function and a tone volume mute function signal is outputted at the detection of an incoming call to decrease the sound volume of the surrounding audio house hold appliances and the sound volume is restored by detecting a line interruption at the end of talking.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone, and more particularly to a telephone which allows a user to reliably hear a ring tone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are a magnet electric bell, a buzzer, a tone ringer, etc. as a component for notifying an incoming call. For example, when a tone ringer sound is generated, a tone unit including a transmission circuit, a modulation circuit, an amplification circuit, etc. is provided, and when a 16HZ incoming signal arrives from a station, high and low two frequencies are modulated by 16HZ and generated. .. Further, in a silver phone for the hearing impaired, the handset part of the telephone is provided with a reception amplifier, an attenuator connected in series with the reception amplifier, and a volume control knob for adjusting the reception amount.
The amount of amplification is adjusted to B. In addition, in a general telephone, the volume of the ringtone is set to an appropriate volume by the voice control knob of the ringtone, and the ringtone sounds at a fixed volume. Further, the telephone with an answering machine is provided with a remote controller, and by registering a series of operations of, for example, a video timer in advance, it is possible to operate home electric appliances in the room or around the telephone from outside. For a conventional telephone, see, for example, "Handbook of Electronic Communication, edited by Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (1988), pp. 2677-2.
684 ”.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, no consideration is given to changing the volume of the ringing tone stepwise and continuously. For this reason, if the volume control of the ringtone is set to a low volume, the ringtone may not be heard at a place slightly away from the seat. There is a problem in that the appropriate volume differs depending on the surrounding situation, such as the ringing tone being annoying sometimes. Also video, TV,
When an incoming call is detected while using an audio home appliance such as a stereo, if the volume of the ring tone is set to the minimum, the user of the telephone cannot hear the ring tone and notices the ring tone and picks up the handset. However, it was necessary to lower the volume of audio home appliances in order to make calls comfortably. The object of the present invention is to improve such problems, by gradually changing the ring tone depending on the elapsed time after receiving a call, or by automatically lowering the volume of the surrounding acoustic home appliances at the time of a call,
It is to provide a telephone capable of reliably listening to a ring tone.

[0004]

To achieve the above object, the telephone of the present invention comprises means for detecting an incoming call from a line,
In addition to the means for generating a ring tone when an incoming call is detected, a means (CPU, controller) for gradually changing the ring tone from a low volume to a high volume is provided. The feature is that the volume of the ringtone is increased with the passage of. The telephone user is provided with a means for designating the number of steps when changing the volume of the ring tone from a low volume to a high volume and a volume for each step (numerical keypad, liquid crystal display). It is characterized by operating the numeric keypad while looking at the display panel to specify the number of stages and volume when changing the ring tone. Further, a signal for controlling a means for detecting an incoming call from the line, a means for generating a ringtone when the incoming call is detected, a remote controller having a learning function, and an audio home electric appliance such as a video, a television, a stereo, etc. are transmitted. In addition to the means (remote control signal transmitter), a means (memory in the remote controller) for registering the volume mute function signal of the audio home appliance with a remote controller is provided, and the volume mute function signal is registered in advance. When an incoming call is detected from the line while the device is in use, a ring tone is generated and a volume mute function signal is transmitted, and when a line disconnection is detected after the call ends, the transmission of the volume mute function signal is stopped.

[0005]

In the present invention, the controller controls the ring sound source signal and the gain control signal to be output to the audio amplifier so that the ring sound signal for notifying an incoming call is changed from a low volume to a high volume at a predetermined interval over time. Change with. As a result, it is possible to easily confirm the incoming call because the ring tone is gradually loud even if the user is seated near the telephone and is far from the seat. Also, when the user specifies the maximum volume of the ring tone by the existing volume control knob of the telephone, the CPU with A / D converter checks the designated level and outputs a signal to the controller to receive the incoming call. Controls the maximum volume at which the sound steps up. In addition, when operating the numeric keypad while looking at the display panel of the liquid crystal display to specify the number of steps for changing the ring tone, the number of rings at each step, or the ring time, the ring tone is changed by the timer of the controller. Control. As a result, an appropriate volume can be obtained according to the user, and it is possible to handle various places and users. Also, in a telephone having a remote controller with a learning function, by registering the volume mute function signal of the audio home appliance with a remote controller in advance, the volume mute function signal is output when an incoming call arrives on the line and the sound is output. Since the volume of home appliances is lowered, the user can easily hear the ring tone. Therefore, a comfortable call can be made even when the user picks up the handset and talks. Further, since the volume mute function is canceled due to the disconnection of the line, it is not necessary to reset the volume of the audio home appliance. Therefore, the user of the telephone can reliably listen to the ring tone.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telephone according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the telephone according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 11 is a line protection for preventing intrusion of abnormal voltage / current, 12 is a line interface (line I / F) for detecting an incoming from the line, 1
Reference numeral 3 is a speech circuit, 14 is a dialer for transmitting a PB signal by pressing the numeric keypad, 15 is an audio amplifier for amplifying a ring tone, 16 is a controller for transmitting a gain control signal and a ring sound source signal to the audio amplifier 15, and 21 is a controller. CPU controlling 16
Reference numeral 7 is a handset, 18 is a speaker for expanding / outputting a ring tone, 19 is a keypad showing a ten-key pad, and 20 is a power source. Under the control of the CPU 21, the controller 16 of the present embodiment outputs the gain control signal and the ring sound source signal to the audio amplifier 15, and gradually increases the volume of the ringing tone from a low volume to a high volume at predetermined intervals. .. Also,
When the user who listens to the ring tone goes off-hook, the handset 17 receives the signal sent from the line through the speech circuit 13 and enables the call. With such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, when an incoming call from the line is detected (201), the controller 16 gradually increases the incoming call tone (202, 203). Then, when the user of the telephone picks up the handset 17 (204), the call is ready (205), when the user returns the handset (206), the line is disconnected (207), and the process ends. Waiting for incoming call.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a telephone according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the ring tone is gradually increased as in the first embodiment, but the maximum volume of the ring tone is
The user can use the existing volume control knob (variable resistance VR) on the telephone.
Specify by. In addition, the CPU 21 has an A / D conversion function, checks the maximum volume level designated by the volume control knob, and outputs a signal to the controller 16.
Further, the controller 16 controls the maximum volume when the volume of the ringing tone is stepped up by the gain control signal and the ring sound source signal according to the signal from the CPU 21. Therefore, the user can specify an appropriate volume with the volume control knob existing on the telephone.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a telephone in the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, 31 is a liquid crystal display control / driver (LCD C / D) for controlling the display of the liquid crystal display 32, and 32 is a liquid crystal display (LCD). Also in this embodiment, the ringing tone is gradually increased as in the first embodiment. Further, the controller 16 controls the number of steps when stepping up the volume of the ring sound by the gain control signal and the ring sound source signal, the number of rings at each stage, or the ring time by a built-in timer (not shown). .. The user inputs / sets values such as the number of steps, the number of rings, and the ring time from the ten-key pad of the keypad 19, and displays them on the display panel (not shown) of the liquid crystal display 32 at that time.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a telephone according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the telephone according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, 14 is a dialer that sends out DP signal and PB signal by pressing the numeric keypad, 50 is an incoming call detection circuit that detects an incoming call from the line, and 51 is a remote control signal transmission unit based on the signal obtained by the incoming call detection circuit 50. A remote controller with a learning function for transmitting a remote control signal (volume mute function signal) via 52 and accumulating a signal registered by the user in its own memory, 52 is a remote control signal transmitter, 53
Is a ringer that rings and outputs a ringtone when there is an incoming call on the line, 54 is a speaker for the ringtone, and 55 is a loud speaker. In this embodiment, the volume mute function signal of the audio home appliance is stored in advance in a memory (not shown) in the remote controller 51. In addition, acoustic home appliances with a remote control function are installed around the telephone. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, an incoming call from the line is detected by the incoming call detection circuit 5
When detected at 0 (601), this signal is sent to the remote controller 51. As a result, the remote controller 51 outputs the volume mute function signal stored in advance via the remote control signal transmission unit 52 (602) and outputs the ringing tone via the ringer 53 (603). Therefore, the ring tone is output in a state where the volume of the audio home appliance is erased. As a result, the telephone user picks up the handset 17 to make a call (604,
605), when the call ends, the handset 17 is returned to the original state (606). As a result, the line is disconnected (607),
The incoming call detection circuit 50 detects a line disconnection and notifies the remote controller 51. And the remote controller 5
1 stops the volume mute function signal output from the remote control signal transmitter 52 (608), and restores the volume of the audio home appliance.

[0010]

According to the present invention, since the volume of the ring tone changes gradually from a low volume to a high volume, it is not noisy even in the seat near the telephone, and the ring tone gradually increases even when the user is away from the seat. Since it becomes larger, incoming calls can be easily confirmed. Further, since the maximum volume of the ring tone can be designated by the existing volume control knob of the telephone, an appropriate volume can be obtained according to the user. Further, by preliminarily designating the number of ringtone volume setups, the volume corresponding to the setups, etc., it is possible to respond to various places of use and users. In addition, when a user of a telephone having a remote controller with a learning function registers an appropriate volume mute function signal in advance, an incoming call is detected on the line while using an audio home appliance with a remote controller having a volume mute function. If you do, you can automatically lower the volume. As a result, the user can easily listen to ringing tones, pick up the handset, and talk. Furthermore, since the volume mute is released when the line is disconnected, there is no need to restore the volume again.

[0011]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a telephone according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the telephone according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a telephone according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a telephone in a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a telephone according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the telephone according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 line protection 12 line interface (line I / F) 13 speech circuit 14 dialer 15 audio amplifier 16 controller 17 handset 18 speaker 19 keypad 20 power supply 21 CPU 31 liquid crystal display control / driver (LCD C /
D) 32 liquid crystal display (LCD) 50 incoming call detection circuit 51 remote controller 52 remote control signal transmitter 53 ringer 54 speaker 55 loud speaker

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A telephone having a means for detecting an incoming call from a line and a means for generating a ringing tone when an incoming call is detected, wherein the generating means gradually changes the ringing tone from a low volume to a high volume. A telephone which is provided with a means for changing to, and increases the volume of the ring tone with the passage of time when an incoming call is detected from the line. 2. A means for designating the number of stages when changing the volume of the ring tone from a low volume to a high volume and a volume for each stage, the user of the telephone changes the ring tone by the designating means. 2. The telephone according to claim 1, wherein the number of stages and the volume at which the telephone is played are designated. 3. A means for detecting an incoming call from a line, a means for generating a ringing tone when an incoming call is detected, a remote controller having a learning function, and a means for transmitting a signal for controlling an audio home appliance. The telephone has a means for registering a volume mute function signal of an audio home appliance with a remote controller, the volume mute function signal is registered in advance, and when an incoming call is detected from the line while the audio home appliance is in use, the ring tone is output. And a volume mute function signal are transmitted, and when the line disconnection is detected after the call ends, the transmission of the volume mute function signal is stopped.