JPH08331550A - Supervisory equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce number of communication cables in the supervisory equipment. CONSTITUTION: An output device 2 of a management location KP and each information collection equipment 1 of each of supervisory object places P1-Pn are interconnected by a communication cable 5 via a management control unit 4 and each individual control unit 3. Individual ID is registered to each control unit 3. An ID of an individual control unit 3 being a command request destination is added to command information sent from the management control unit 4. each individual control unit 3 executes a command of command information with its own ID added thereto. When supervisory information transmission request command information is sent to an optional individual control unit 3, the individual control unit 3 sends supervisory information collected by the information collection equipment 1 connecting to itself to the communication cable 5. The management control unit 4 receives received supervisory information and gives the information to the output equipment 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information collecting means (video camera, microphone, video with microphone, etc.) for collecting monitoring information such as video and audio in department stores, supermarkets, buildings, stations, banks, laboratories, etc. Camera etc.)
Are installed in multiple monitoring target locations (each sales floor, each room, entrance, etc.), and the monitoring information collected by these information collecting means is output to a predetermined management location (security room, guard room, etc.) The present invention relates to a monitoring device that can be given to a means (a monitor, a speaker, etc.) and can monitor the state of a plurality of monitoring target places (theft or confirmation of a suspicious person) at a predetermined management place.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a monitoring device provided in a department store or a supermarket is equipped with information collecting devices such as video cameras and microphones at a plurality of monitoring target places such as sales floors, doorways, and offices. Monitoring information such as collected video and audio is transmitted through a communication cable to a controller with communication function installed in a control room (management location) such as a security room or a guard room, and received monitoring information. The controller is configured to provide output devices such as monitors and speakers installed in the control room.

The connection between each information collecting device and the controller is
Conventionally, it is configured as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 18A, the information collecting device 1 and the controller CB (output device 2) have a one-to-one correspondence, and each information collecting device 1 and each controller CB communicate separately. The monitoring information, which is connected by the cable TC and is collected by each information collecting device 1, is transferred to each controller CB corresponding to each information collecting device 1.
Are respectively received, controlled, and given to the output devices 2 connected to each other.

Further, FIG. 18B shows a configuration in which the number of output devices 2 (M) is smaller than the number of information collecting devices 1 (N) (N> M). The communication cable TC connected to the collecting device 1 is connected to one controller CB, and the monitoring information from each information collecting device 1 is sent to the controller C.
B has been transmitted. A changeover switch or the like (not shown) is connected to the controller CB, and the operator (security guard or the like) instructs the controller CB to switch the monitoring image, so that the controller CB can collect the instructed information collection. Equipment 1
The monitoring information from (the information collecting device 1 installed at the designated monitoring target location) is switched and supplied to an arbitrary output device 2.

[0006]

However, the prior art having such a structure has the following problems. In each of the configurations shown in FIG. 18, each information collecting device 1
For collecting information between the controller and the controller CB.
Therefore, there is a problem in that the number of communication cables TC to be used is increased and the number of communication cables TC to be used is increased as the number of places to be monitored (information collecting device 1) is increased.

Further, since the communication cables TC from the respective information collecting devices 1 are gathered in the management room, it is necessary to arrange a large number of these communication cables TC in the management room. There is also a problem that the installation space of the cable TC becomes large and the cable processing in the control room of each communication cable TC becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and reduces the number of communication cables used,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a monitoring device that can effectively use the space of a management place.

[0009]

The present invention has the following constitution in order to achieve such an object. That is, in the invention described in claim 1, information collecting means for collecting monitoring information including video and / or audio is installed at each of a plurality of monitoring target locations, and the monitoring information collected by these information collecting means is predetermined. A monitoring device for providing the output means installed in the management place to monitor the state of each of the monitoring target places at the management place, and being connected to the output means,
Management control means provided with means for transmitting predetermined instruction information, means for receiving monitoring information and giving it to the output means, and information management means respectively connected to the individual information collecting means ) Is registered, the instruction information is received, the content thereof is analyzed, and individual control means having means for controlling switching of at least transmission of monitoring information and stop thereof according to the content; One communication cable for connecting the control means and each of the individual control means to each other, and for transmitting the instruction information and the monitoring information between the management control means and each of the individual control means, Further, the management control means includes at least the monitoring information transmission request instruction information to which an arbitrary ID is added and an arbitrary I
The monitoring information transmission stop instruction information to which D is added is transmitted at a predetermined timing through the communication cable in a predetermined instruction information transmission channel (frequency band), and is also transmitted through the communication cable. When the monitoring information transmission request instruction information transmitted via the communication cable is received, the individual control means controls the output monitoring information to be output to the output means. The ID is compared with the self ID, and only the individual control means in which the ID matching the ID in the information is registered is collected by the information collecting means connected to the self, and the monitoring information is collected via the communication cable. When the monitoring information transmission stop instruction is received while transmitting on a channel different from the instruction information transmission channel, the ID in the information is transmitted.
It is characterized in that only the individual control means in which the ID matching with is registered controls the transmission of the monitoring information.

The invention according to claim 2 is the monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the management control means, the individual control means, and the communication cable further include a plurality of pieces of monitoring information in a plurality of channels. , The output means is configured to be capable of outputting in parallel a plurality of pieces of monitoring information transmitted via the communication cable, and any monitoring currently output to the output means. When switching the information to the monitoring information from another monitoring target location, the management control means outputs the monitoring information transmission stop instruction information to which the ID registered in the individual control means for transmitting the switching source monitoring information is added. Request to transmit on the channel for transmitting the instruction information via a communication cable, and then transmit the monitoring information on the channel used to transmit the monitoring information of the switching source The instruction to transmit the switching transmission request instruction information to which the ID corresponding to the monitoring target location of the switching destination is added, is transmitted through the communication cable through the channel for transmitting the instruction information. When the switching transmission request instruction information is received, the ID in the information is compared with the own ID, and the ID in the information is compared.
Only the individual control means in which the ID matching with the above is controlled to transmit the monitoring information collected by the information collecting means connected to itself to the specified channel through the communication cable. Is.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the monitoring device according to the first or second aspect, the management control means is an individual control connected to an information collecting means installed at each monitoring target place. It is characterized in that it is provided with a management table that stores the correspondence between the ID of the means and each monitoring target location, and that the contents of this management table can be changed.

[0012] According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the monitoring device according to the first or second aspect, the management control means is an individual control connected to an information collecting means installed at each monitoring target location. It is characterized in that it is provided with a management table that stores the correspondence between the ID of the means and each monitoring target location, and that the ID registered in the individual control means can be changed.

The invention according to claim 5 is the monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the management control means is an individual control connected to an information collecting means installed at each monitoring target location. A management table that stores the correspondence between the IDs of the means and each monitored location is provided, and the IDs registered in the individual control means are rewritable, and the individual control means have serial numbers separate from the IDs. Is registered, and when the individual control means connected to the information collecting means installed at any monitoring target location is replaced with a new individual control means, the management control means is newly attached. In the instruction to change the ID of the individual control means to the ID of the individual control means that was previously attached to the ID, the changed I
D and the ID change instruction information to which the serial number of the newly attached individual control means is added are transmitted through the communication cable through the channel for transmitting the instruction information, and the newly attached individual control is performed. Upon receiving the ID change instruction information, each individual control means including means compares the serial number in the information with its own serial number, and the serial number that matches the serial number in the information is registered. It is characterized in that only the individual control means performs control to rewrite its own ID to the instructed ID.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the monitoring device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, each of the individual control means stores at least a part of the collected monitoring information. And an information storage unit for storing the information.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the monitoring device according to any of the first to sixth aspects, the individual control means to which the information collecting means is connected and / or the individual control separate from the individual control means. Each connected to the means 1
Alternatively, one or more sensors for state detection installed at a plurality of monitoring target locations and sensor information output means connected to the management control means are provided, and the communication cable is provided with the management control means. , The information collecting means or / and all the individual control means to which the sensor is connected are connected, and the management control means transmits the detection information of each sensor or the abnormality information specified from the information at least at regular intervals. A means for transmitting a request to each individual control means to which the sensor is connected via the communication cable through the channel for transmitting the instruction information, and the detection information or abnormality information of the sensor, and the information, or When the information is only the detection information of the sensor, the information or / and the abnormality information specified from the information is output to the sensor information output hand. Each individual control means to which the sensor is connected, in response to the transmission request from the management control means, the detection information of the transmission request target sensor connected to itself and / or the detection information thereof. It is characterized in that it further comprises means for transmitting the abnormality information specified by the above through the communication cable through a channel different from the channel for transmitting the instruction information.

[0016]

The operation of the invention described in claim 1 is as follows. The management control means transmits the monitoring information transmission request instruction information to which the ID of the individual control means connected to the information collecting means installed at the desired monitoring target location is added, through the communication cable through the channel for instruction information transmission. To do. This instruction information is received by all the individual control means via the communication cable. Upon receiving the instruction information, each individual control means compares the ID added in the instruction information with the ID registered in itself, and the individual ID in which the ID matching the ID in the instruction information is registered. Only the control means transmits the monitoring information collected by the information collecting means connected to itself through the communication cable on a channel different from the channel for transmitting the instruction information. This monitoring information is received by the management control means via the communication cable. The management control means gives the monitoring information transmitted from the individual control means to the output means to output it.

Further, when switching the monitoring information output to the output means, the management control means adds the ID registered in the individual control means which transmits the monitoring information currently output to the output means to the monitoring means. Information transmission stop instruction information,
It is transmitted through a channel for transmitting instruction information via a communication cable. As a result, the individual control unit in which this ID is registered stops transmitting the monitoring information. Next, the management control means
The monitoring information transmission request instruction information added with the ID of the individual control means connected to the information collecting means installed at the monitoring target location to be newly output to the output means is transmitted through the communication cable through the channel for instruction information transmission. To do. As a result, the monitoring information is transmitted from the individual control means in which this ID is registered, and the management control means gives this monitoring information to the output means for output.

[0018] Thus, the monitoring information collected by the information collecting means installed in an arbitrary monitoring target place can be output to the output means installed in the management place via one communication cable. Further, each instruction information is transmitted by a channel for transmitting the instruction information, and the monitoring information is transmitted by a channel different from the channel for transmitting the instruction information, that is, each information is transmitted by the frequency division multiplexing method. And monitoring information can be transmitted by one communication cable without interference.

According to the second aspect of the invention, a plurality of pieces of monitoring information are also divided and multiplexed at the same time. Then, the management control means causes the output means to output the plurality of pieces of monitoring information transmitted via the communication cable in parallel.

Here, when switching any monitoring information from the plurality of monitoring information currently output to the output means to the monitoring information from another monitoring target location, the management control means first monitors the switching source. ID registered in individual control means that transmits information (currently output monitoring information)
The monitoring information transmission stop instruction information added with is transmitted through the communication cable through the instruction information transmission channel. As a result, the individual control means in which this ID is registered (the switching source individual control means that is currently transmitting the monitoring information) stops the transmission of the monitoring information, and the output of this monitoring information to the output means is stopped. .

Next, the management control means gives an ID corresponding to the monitoring target location of the switching destination (the switching destination of the switching destination to the instruction for requesting the transmission of the monitoring information on the channel used for transmitting the monitoring information of the switching source). (Individual control means connected to the information collecting means installed in the monitoring target location, that is, an ID registered in the individual control means for newly requesting transmission of monitoring information)
The switching transmission request instruction information added with is transmitted through the communication cable through the instruction information transmission channel. As a result, the individual control means in which this ID is registered becomes the channel for which the monitoring information to be collected by the information collecting means connected to itself has been instructed via the communication cable (the monitoring information transmission stop instruction information has become vacant). Channel), and the management control means gives this new monitoring information to the output means instead of the monitoring information whose output has been stopped as described above, and causes it to output.

The invention described in claims 3 to 5 is an invention relating to the correspondence when the individual control means connected to the information collecting means installed at an arbitrary monitoring target place is replaced. Here, the individual control means is replaced, for example, when the information collection means and the individual control means are integrally configured, when the information collection means and / or the individual control means fails, and the information collection means When the means and the individual control means are configured separately, this is the case when the individual control means fails.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the management control means stores the correspondence relationship between the IDs of the individual control means connected to the information collecting means installed at each monitoring target location and each monitoring target location. A management table is provided, and the management table is provided.
When selecting the monitoring information from an arbitrary monitoring target location in (1) or (2), the management control means specifies the correspondence between the ID of the individual control means and the monitoring target location based on this management table, and, for example, the desired monitoring For example, the ID to be added to the instruction information requesting the transmission of the monitoring information from the target location is determined. Therefore, for example, the individual control means (ID is “C
1 ”) is replaced with, for example, an individual control unit with an ID of“ C100 ”, the ID of the management table
The corresponding relationship between the target location and the monitoring target location is different from the actual corresponding relationship, and it becomes impossible to give an instruction to the newly attached individual control means. Therefore, in the invention according to claim 3, the contents of the management table are configured to be changeable, and the contents of the management table are changed so that the correspondence relationship between the newly attached ID and its monitored location becomes an actual correspondence relationship. It is changed by the operator.

In the fourth aspect of the present invention, instead of changing the contents of the management table, the operator or the like changes the ID of the individual control means to be newly attached so as to match the contents of the management table.

Further, in the invention described in claim 5, when the individual control means is replaced, the ID of the newly attached individual control means is automatically changed so as to match the contents of the management table. Is.

That is, when the individual control means connected to the information collecting means installed at an arbitrary location to be monitored is replaced with a new individual control means, the management control means becomes the newly installed individual control means. An instruction to change the ID to the ID of the previously installed individual control means, the changed ID and the ID change instruction information in which the serial number of the newly installed individual control means is added is instructed via the communication cable. It is transmitted on the channel for information transmission. here,
As the changed ID, the ID of the individual control means previously attached according to the replaced monitoring target location is specified from the management table. Further, an ID and a serial number are registered in each individual control means, and as the serial number, for example, a serial number is assigned an individual number for each product.

Upon receipt of the ID change instruction information, each individual control means including the newly attached individual control means compares the serial number in the information with its own serial number, and in the information. Only the individual control means in which the serial number that matches the serial number is registered (that is, the newly installed individual control means) changes its own ID to the instructed ID (ID that matches the correspondence relationship in the management table). To do. With this, the ID of the newly attached individual control means is changed according to the contents of the management table.

According to the invention described in claim 6, each individual control means stores the monitoring information in the information storage means while the monitoring information is not transmitted to the management control means. The monitoring information stored in the information storage means may be, for example, both video and audio, or may be either video or audio.

Further, in the invention as set forth in claim 7, a state detecting sensor is further attached to the apparatus, and in addition to the monitoring information by the information collecting means, the sensor detects a fire or an intrusion of a suspicious person. , It is configured to output that information at the management location. This sensor may be one (installed at one monitoring target location) or multiple (several (multiple types of sensors) installed at one monitoring target location or multiple monitoring target locations). One or a plurality of them may be installed). Further, each sensor may be connected to an individual control means to which the information collecting means is connected (installed in the vicinity of the place where the information collecting means is installed), or connected to an individual control means separate from that (information. It may be installed in a place apart from the place where the collecting means is installed).

The management control means detects the detection information of each sensor (for example, the temperature and the amount of wind pressure) or the abnormal information specified from the information at least at regular intervals (for example, a fire occurs when the temperature is higher than the reference temperature). It is determined that the sensor is connected to the individual control means to which the sensor is connected, and a request for transmission of information indicating the abnormality is transmitted through the communication cable through the instruction information transmission channel. Each individual control means to which the sensor is connected, in response to the transmission request from the management control means, the detection information of the transmission request target sensor connected to itself or / and the abnormality information specified from the detection information, The data is transmitted via a communication cable on a channel different from the channel for transmitting the instruction information. The management control means receives the detection information or abnormality information of the sensor, and outputs the information or the abnormality information specified from the information or / and the abnormality information when the information is only the detection information of the sensor. Give it to the means to output. The information to be output by the sensor information output means may be both the sensor detection information and the abnormality information, or either one of them. Further, the abnormality information may be specified on the individual control means side or may be specified on the management control means side.

[0031]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a monitoring device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The apparatus of this embodiment is an information collecting device (a video camera with a microphone or a video camera with a microphone) as an information collecting means for collecting monitoring information such as video and audio in department stores, supermarkets, buildings, stations, banks, laboratories and the like. Video cameras, microphones, etc.) 1 are installed in a plurality of monitoring target locations (each sales floor, each room, doorway, etc.) P1, P2, ..., Pn, and the monitoring information collected by these information collecting devices 1 is predetermined. A plurality of monitoring target places P1, P2, ... Are given to an output device (monitor, speaker, etc.) 2 as an output means installed in a management place (security room, guard room, etc.) KP.
The Pn status is monitored (such as theft or confirmation of a suspicious person) by a guard or the like at a predetermined management place KP.

The apparatus of this embodiment is provided with individual control units 3 as individual control means, which are respectively connected to the information collecting devices 1 installed at the plurality of monitoring target locations P1, P2, ... A management control unit 4 as a management control means connected to the device 2 is mutually connected by a single communication cable 5, and transmission of each information described below between the management control unit 4 and each individual control unit 3. Is configured to do. The detailed configuration of each unit will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 2, the information collecting device 1 includes a video camera section 11 for converting a picked-up image into an electric signal and outputting the electric signal, and a microphone for collecting sound and converting the sound into an electric signal and outputting the electric signal. The unit 12 is provided. Although the information collecting device 1 and the individual control unit 3 described later may be configured separately, the individual control unit 3 can be configured by various small electronic components including a microcomputer (microcomputer) as described later. In this embodiment, the information collecting device 1 and the individual control unit 3 are integrated.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3A, the video camera unit 11, the microphone unit 12, and the individual control unit 3 are built in the information collecting device unit 13. Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the information collecting device unit 1
A lens portion 14 of the video camera portion 11 and a microphone 15 of the microphone portion 12 are exposed and attached to one end surface of the reference numeral 3 in the longitudinal direction. The sound collected by the microphone 15 is converted into an electric signal by the sound processing unit 16, and the individual control unit 3
Is provided to the RF transmitter 31 for the television, which constitutes (see FIG. 2). 3 (a) is an internal configuration diagram of the information collecting device unit, FIG. 3 (b) is a perspective view seen from one end face side in the longitudinal direction, and FIG. 3 (c) is that of FIG. 3 (a). It is a figure which shows the structure of the other end surface side of the longitudinal direction seen from the right side.

The image captured by the lens unit 14 is captured by the image capturing CCD 17 through the lens unit 14, converted into an electric signal (video signal), and given to the television RF transmitter 31 and the like ( See FIG. 2). In the present embodiment, the lens unit 14 is provided with an AF (autofocus) mechanism and a zoom mechanism. These mechanisms are, as shown in FIG. 4, a zoom lens control unit (configured with an LSI or the like).
It is controlled by 14a, and is driven by each drive motor 14b, 14c. Zooming is performed by the zoom lens control unit 14a driving the zoom motor 14b based on a control signal from the individual control unit 32 included in the individual control unit 3. In the lens unit 14, a half mirror 14d for optically splitting a captured image is provided. The image branched by this half mirror 14d is the CCD for AF.
14e, the zoom lens controller 14 converts the electric signal into an electric signal.
is supplied to a. The zoom lens control unit 14a adjusts the focus of the lens unit 14 based on the given image.
The F motor 14c is driven. As a result, even if zooming is performed according to an instruction from the individual control unit 32, the focus at that time is automatically adjusted. Depending on the location to be monitored,
In a place where zooming or the like is not particularly required, the video camera unit 11 without the zooming mechanism (including the AF mechanism) built in the information collecting device unit 13 may be attached to the monitoring target place.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, a monitor output jack 13a and a cable connecting connector 13b are provided on the other end surface of the information collecting device unit 13 in the longitudinal direction. The monitor output jack 13a is a jack for connecting a video cable for displaying the image currently captured by the video camera unit 11 on the monitor. It should be noted that the reason why the image being picked up is viewed at each monitoring target location in this way is for confirmation when the information collecting device unit 13 is attached to the site, which will be described later. The cable connecting connector 13b is used for the communication cable 5 and the individual control unit 3 in the information collecting device unit 13.
It is a connector for connecting the cable C for connecting to.

The information collecting device unit 13 may be fixedly mounted on the ceiling or the wall of the place to be monitored (so that the orientation of the lens portion 14 is fixed), or a lens angle adjusting mechanism described next. The lens unit 14 may be attached to the ceiling, wall, or the like of the monitoring target location so as to be vertically and horizontally displaceable via the. This is the lens unit 14 depending on the surveillance exit location where the information collecting device unit 13 is attached.
It may be determined as appropriate depending on whether or not it is necessary to displace the direction of the arrow up and down or left and right to monitor a wide range.

Referring to FIG. 5, the lens angle adjusting mechanism 18
The configuration of will be described. 5A is a side view of the lens angle adjusting mechanism, and FIG. 5B is a sectional view of the lens angle adjusting mechanism as seen from the front. This lens angle adjusting mechanism 18
The cylindrical horizontal rotation frame 18 is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical fixed frame 18a that is attached and fixed to the ceiling or wall.
b is rotatably fitted. A ring-shaped vertical rotary plate frame 18c is fixedly mounted on the inner peripheral surface of the horizontal rotary frame 18b, and a vertical rotary plate 18d is rotatably mounted in the hole of the vertical rotary plate frame 18c in the circumferential direction. ing. The information collecting device unit 13 is fixedly mounted on the vertical rotating plate 18d.

A mounting plate 18e is provided on the upper end of the main body frame 18a, and the fixing frame 18a is fixed by abutting the mounting plate 18a against the ceiling or wall and screwing. Further, a part of the communication cable 5 penetrates through the mounting plate 18e, and the communication cable 5 and the individual control unit 3 in the information collecting device unit 13 are connected via the cable C and the cable connecting connector 13b. Has been done. The cable C is loosened to some extent so as not to hinder the information collecting device unit 13 from moving vertically and horizontally.

The rotation of the horizontal rotary frame 18b with respect to the fixed frame 18a is performed by a motor 18 in which a rack 18f provided on the outer circumferential surface of the horizontal rotary frame 18b and a worm gear 18g meshing with the rack 18f are connected to an output shaft 18h.
i (mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the fixed frame 18a). That is, the motor 18i
Horizontal rotation frame 1
8b rotates in the forward and reverse directions with respect to the fixed frame 18a,
Thereby, the lens unit 14 of the information collecting device unit 13
Can be displaced in the left-right direction.

The rotation of the vertical rotary plate 18d with respect to the vertical rotary plate frame 18c is such that the motor 18j mounted on the vertical rotary plate 18d rotates in the forward and reverse directions via a speed reducer (not shown). By being transmitted to the rotation of (not shown), it is performed via a rack (not shown) provided in the circumferential direction of the vertical rotating plate 18d that meshes with this. By rotating the vertical rotation plate 18d with respect to the vertical rotation plate frame 18c, the orientation of the lens unit 14 is displaced in the vertical direction. Drive control of these motors 18i and 18j is performed by the individual control unit 32 in the individual control unit 3 (see FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 2, the individual control unit 3 includes a television RF transmitter 31, an individual control unit 32, a switch 33, a receiver 34, a demodulation unit 35, and a parallel conversion unit 36.
Etc.

The RF transmitter for television 31 receives the video signal from the video camera unit 11 and the audio signal from the microphone unit 12 (in this embodiment, the video signal and the audio signal are combined as monitoring information). Similar to the transmission of television broadcasting, the channel is modulated into a channel of an arbitrary frequency band (channel will be described later) and transmitted to the communication cable 5 via the switch 33.

The switch 33 is controlled by the individual control section 32 to switch between a state in which the monitoring information is transmitted to the communication cable 5 and its stop.

The receiver 34 receives various kinds of instruction information transmitted from the management control unit 4 described later via the communication cable 5 on the channel for transmitting instruction information described later,
It is given to the demodulation unit 35. The demodulation unit 35 demodulates the instruction information (the frequency band of the channel for transmitting the instruction information is predetermined), serial-to-parallel conversion is performed by the parallel conversion unit 36, and the result is given to the individual control unit 32.

In the individual control section 32, individual identification information (ID) is registered for each individual control unit 3 installed at each monitoring target location. Since each individual control unit 3 and each information collecting device 1 are connected on a one-to-one basis, this ID is also an ID for identifying each information collecting device 1. As will be described later, an ID is added to various instruction information transmitted from the management control unit 4,
The individual control unit 32 adds the I added to the received instruction information.
D is compared with the ID registered in self, and if both IDs match, that is, if it is the instruction information transmitted to itself, it will be described later based on the instruction content included in this instruction information. In this manner, the switch 33, the television RF transmitter 31, the zoom lens controller 14a, the motors 18i and 18j of the lens angle adjusting mechanism 18, and the like are drive-controlled.

Note that, for example, a television RF transmitter 31,
The switch 33, the receiver 34, the demodulation unit 35, the parallel conversion unit 36, and the like are each configured by an LSI or the like that realizes each function, and the individual control unit 32 stores the program executed by the individual control unit 32, the ID, and the like. The read-only memory (ROM), a memory used for temporarily storing data being processed, a microcomputer including a CPU (central processing unit), and the like.

As shown in FIG. 6, the management control unit 4 installed in the management place KP includes a management control unit 41, a serial conversion unit 42, a modulation unit 43, an RF transmitter 44, and one or a plurality of TVs. Receiver (TV Chena) 45 _i (i
= 0 to m), and a switch 46 and the like.

The management control unit 41 configures the I constituting the instruction information.
D, a command, (a command will be described later), etc. are edited and given to the serial conversion unit 42, and a switch 46
Switching control. Further, the management control unit 41 uses the monitoring target locations P1, P2, ..., Pn as shown in FIG.
It has a management table KTb that stores the correspondence relationship with the ID registered in the individual control unit 3 (individual control unit 32) installed at each monitoring target location.

The serial conversion section 42 receives parallel data (ID, command, etc.) from the management control section 41.
Is serially converted according to the format as shown in FIG. Note that FIG. 8A is a communication format when there is no command data, and FIG. 8B is a communication format when there is command data. The serial-converted instruction information is sent to the modulator 4
The signal is modulated into a channel for transmitting instruction information in 3 and is transmitted from the RF transmitter 44 to the communication cable 5.

Further, each television receiver 45 _i receives and demodulates the monitor information transmitted from each individual control unit 3 via the communication cable 5, and further converts it into a video signal VS and an audio signal SS. Separately, the audio signal SS is supplied to the switcher 46 to the monitor 21 _i that constitutes the output device 2 connected to the video signal VS. Each monitor 21 _i displays an image on the basis of the supplied image signal. As will be described later, since a plurality of pieces of monitoring information are simultaneously transmitted through a plurality of channels (CH0 to CHm ((m + 1) channel) via the communication cable 5, each television receiver 45 _i is set to each. Only the monitoring information of the channel, that is, the monitoring information transmitted by the television receiver 45 _i by the channel CHi (the number of channels is equal to or less than the number n of the individual control units 3 provided in the device, m ≦ n) Configured to demodulate only. As a result, the monitor 21 _i connected to each television receiver 45 _i displays the video of the monitoring information transmitted on the channel CHi. The numbers of the television receivers 45 _i and the monitors 21 _i are usually equal to the number of channels for transmitting monitoring information.

The audio signal SS output from each television receiver 45 _i is input to the a _i terminal of the switch 46 and selected by the management controller 41 (switching control).
Only the reproduced audio signal SS is output to the output device 2 via the output terminal b.
Is reproduced from the speaker 22 constituting the.

Although not shown in the figure, the video signal VS output from each television receiver 45 _i is recorded on a video tape by a video tape recorder, or each television receiver 45 _i outputs it. Output audio signal S
Each S may be configured to be recorded on a cassette tape or the like by a tape recorder. The video tape recorder and the tape recorder in such a case are also included in the output device 2.

Further, in the configuration of FIG. 6 described above, the image transmitted on each channel is configured to be displayed on each individual monitor 21 _i . For example, as shown in FIG. The video signal from each television receiver 45 _i is given to the split display controller 47, and this split display controller 47 is displayed on one (or a plurality of) monitors 21 as shown in FIG. 9B. May be divided into a plurality of parts (four parts in the figure) for display. In claim 2, "the output means,
9 is configured so that a plurality of pieces of monitoring information transmitted via the communication cable can be output in parallel. ”In addition to displaying each image on a plurality of monitors 21 _i , FIG.
As described above, the case where each image is divided and displayed on one monitor 21 is also included.

The management control unit 4 is, as shown in FIG. 10, a personal computer (personal computer) main body,
The personal computer system may include an operating CRT 4a, an input device 6 such as a K / B (keyboard) or a mouse, and an expansion board 4b. At this time, the management control unit 41 is configured by the CPU 4c and the memory 4d in the main body of the personal computer (the program executed by the management control unit 41, the management table KTb, and the like are stored in the memory 4d), and the serial conversion unit 42 and the modulator. 43, an RF transmitter 44, and a plurality (four in the figure) of TV tuner units (corresponding to a television receiver) 45 _{0 to} 45 ₃ , a selector (corresponding to a switch) 46, a four-screen screen circuit (division display control) Equivalent to 4)
The expansion board 4b equipped with 7, etc. will be installed in the expansion I / O slot of the personal computer body. The television tuners 45 _{0 to} 45 ₃ and the selector 46 and the 4-split screen circuit 47 are controlled by control signals from the CPU 4c provided via the ISA bus 4e, the address decoder 4f, the data bus 4g, the serial conversion unit 42 and the like. . Reference numeral 4h in the drawing is an I / O interface, and the monitor 21 ₄ is provided with each of the television tuner units 45 ₀ to 4 _0.
The image from 5 ₃ is divided into four and displayed. When increasing the number of TV tuner units, the modulator 4
3. The expansion board 4b without the RF transmitter 44 may be added to the expansion I / O slot of the personal computer body.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, an input device 6 is connected to the management control unit 4. This input device 6
Is for an operator (security guard or the like) to give various instructions to the management control unit 4. From the input device 6, "initial", "video switching", "audio switching", "lens angle (up)", "lens angle (down)", "lens angle (left)", "lens angle (right)" , “Zoom (W)”, “Zoom (T)”, and the like.

The "initial" instruction is an instruction of initialization (for example, the monitoring information is transmitted from a predetermined individual control unit 3 through a predetermined channel).

The "video switching" instruction is an instruction for switching the video currently displayed on the arbitrary monitor 21 _i to the video from another monitoring target place. In connection with this instruction, it is possible to instruct the monitoring target location transmitting the video to be stopped, which monitoring target location the video to be newly displayed, and the like at the monitoring target location.

"Voice switching" means that the sound currently being reproduced from the speaker 22 is transmitted to another monitoring target location (the monitoring target location where the video is currently displayed on any of the monitors 21 _i , but the audio is not reproduced). ) Is the instruction to switch to the voice. In connection with this instruction, the source of the sound to be newly reproduced can be designated at the monitoring target location.

The “lens angle (upper)”, “lens angle (lower)”, “lens angle (left)”, and “lens angle (right)” instructions indicate the lens unit 14 of the arbitrary information collecting device 1.
Direction (image captured by the lens unit 14) is up, down, left,
It is an instruction to move to the right. In connection with this instruction, the angle information for displacement and the information collecting device 1 for which the direction of the lens unit 14 is desired to be changed are specified, and this information collecting device 1 can be specified at the monitoring target location.

The “zoom (W)” and “zoom (T)” instructions are used to zoom (W) the lens unit 14 of the arbitrary information collecting device 1.
Is a wide-angle lens, and T is a telephoto lens.)
For instructions. In connection with this instruction, the zoom magnification and the information collecting device 1 to be zoomed are instructed, and this information collecting device 1 can be instructed at the monitoring target place.

As described above, the management control unit 4
When configuring a computer system using
Although it is performed from B or a mouse, in order to support this input, a menu screen may be displayed on the operating CRT 4a.

The communication cable 5 is, for example, a coaxial cable. As shown in FIG. 11, the management control unit 4, each individual control unit 3, and the communication cable 5 have a channel (frequency band) C for transmitting instruction information transmitted from the management control unit 4 to each individual control unit 3.
Hx and each individual control unit 3 to management control unit 4
CHg for transmitting monitoring information transmitted to
Further, in order to simultaneously transmit a plurality of pieces of monitoring information, the channel CHg for transmitting the monitoring information is divided into a plurality of channels (CH0 to CHm), and each information is transmitted by the frequency division multiplexing method. I am configuring.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 7 is a power supply unit for supplying electric power to each information collecting device unit 13, and an appropriate interval (distance interval or every several information collecting device units 13 installed). Is connected to the communication cable 5 at every interval. Further, reference numeral 8 is a terminator.

The operation of the apparatus having the above configuration will be described.
Prior to the description of the operation, an example of the command in the instruction information transmitted from the management control unit 41 will be shown below.

Command instruction content 00 Designates the channel for transmitting the monitoring information ~ For example, "00" designates the channel CH0 50 Here, the channels for transmitting the monitoring information are 51 channels 0 to 50 51 Instructing “lens angle (up)” 52 Instructing “lens angle (bottom)” 53 Instructing “lens angle (left)” 54 Instructing “lens angle (right)” 55 Starting transmission of monitoring information 56 Instruct to stop transmission of monitoring information 57 Instruct to “zoom (W)” 58 Instruct to “zoom (T)”

First, the operation when the "initial" is instructed will be described. Here, the monitoring target location P1 (for example, front entrance: ID = C1), the monitoring target location P5
(For example, general purpose: ID = C5), ..., Monitoring information (51 places) from the monitoring target place Pn (for example, dining room: ID = Cn) are CH0 and CH, respectively.
, ..., CH50 shall be transmitted.

At this time, from the management control unit 41, for example, each instruction information is sequentially transmitted through the communication cable 5 in the channel CHx in the order of the following transmission numbers.

[0070]

When the management control section 41 transmits the instruction information of the transmission number 1, all the individual control units 3 receive the instruction information. When the individual control unit 32 of each individual control unit 3 receives this instruction information transmitted via the communication cable 5, the individual control unit 32 compares the ID in the information with the ID registered in itself and Only the individual control unit 3 (in this case, the individual control unit 3 with ID = 1 installed in the monitoring target place P1) in which the ID that matches the ID in the information is registered sets the transmission channel of the monitoring information to the channel CH0 ( The individual control unit 32 uses the RF transmitter 3 for the television.
Set the transmission channel within 1). After that, similarly, only the individual control unit 3 in which the ID added to the instruction information is registered performs the operation according to the command of the information.

Next, when the instruction information of the transmission number 2 is transmitted from the management control unit 41, the individual control unit 32 of ID = 1 installed in the monitoring target place P1 turns on the switch 33 to turn on the self control unit. The monitoring information composed of the video signal and the audio signal collected by the connected information collecting device 1 is transmitted through the communication cable 5 through the channel CH0. Thus, the monitoring information is received by the management control unit 4, it is displayed on the monitor 21 _0.

When the monitoring information is simultaneously transmitted on a plurality of channels, "ID + channel designation command (any command from 00 to 50)" (transmission number 1, 3, ..., 101), "ID + monitoring information transmission start instruction command (55)" (transmission number 2, 4, ..., 102)
And correspond to the monitoring information transmission request instruction information in the invention described in claim 1. Note that, for example, instruction information in which an instruction of a transmission channel is added to the monitoring information transmission start instruction command (55) as command data (for example, “ID + monitoring information transmission start instruction command (55) + command data (specified transmission channel 00-50 If the management control unit 41 and the individual control unit 32 are configured to be able to exchange the instruction information, the instruction information will be transmitted as the monitoring information transmission request in the invention according to claim 1. Corresponds to instruction information. The same applies to the switching transmission request instruction information in the invention described in claim 2.

Similarly, when the management control unit 41 transmits the instruction information of the transmission numbers 3 and 4, the individual control unit 32 of ID = 5 installed in the monitoring target location P5 is connected to itself to collect information. The monitoring information collected by the device 1 is the communication cable 5
Via the channel CH1 and the monitoring information is received by the management control unit 4 and displayed on the monitor 21 ₁ .
... When the management control unit 41 transmits the instruction information of the transmission numbers 101 and 102, the monitor information collected at the monitoring target location Pn is displayed on the monitor 21 ₅₀ .

Regarding the order of transmitting the instruction information, all the channels are designated first, and then the instruction to start the transmission of the monitoring information (in the transmission number of the instruction information, 1, 3, ...
101, 2, 4, ..., 102).

At this time, from the speaker 22,
It is assumed that the audio signal transmitted from CH0 (at the monitoring target place P1) is being reproduced. In this state, speaker 2
When switching the audio signal to be reproduced from No. 2 to the audio signal transmitted by CH5 (at the monitoring target location P5) (when the “audio switching” is instructed from the input device 6), the management control unit 41 sets the monitoring target location. The switching device (selector) 46 is switched so that the audio signal of P5 is supplied from the speaker 22.

Next, in the state, images from the monitoring target location P1 that is displayed on the monitor 21 _0, "switching Video" from the case (input device 6 to switch display images from the monitored location P2 indicated In the case of being performed), the management control unit 41 sequentially transmits each instruction information in the order of the following transmission numbers via the communication cable 5 through the channel CHx.

[0078]

When the instruction information of the transmission number 101 is transmitted from the management control unit 41, the I installed in the monitoring target place P1.
The individual control unit 32 with D = 1 turns off the switch 33 and stops the transmission of the monitoring information from the switch 33. as a result,
The video that is displayed on the monitor 21 ₀ disappears.

Next, the transmission number 10 from the management control unit 41.
When the instruction information items 2 and 103 are transmitted in that order, the individual control unit 32 with ID = 2 installed in the monitoring target location P2
The transmission channel of the monitoring information is set to CH0 by the preceding (102) instruction information, and the monitoring information collected by the information collecting device 1 connected to itself by the following (103) instruction information is transmitted via the communication cable 5. Transmit on channel CH0. as a result,
The monitoring information from the monitoring target place P2 is displayed on the monitor 21 ₀ . Accordingly, a video from the monitored location P1 that is displayed on the monitor 21 ₀ is switched displayed on the image from the monitored location P2.

The above "ID + transmission stop instruction command (5
6) ”(transmission number 101) corresponds to the monitoring information transmission stop instruction information in the invention described in claims 1 and 2. In addition, "ID + channel designation command (any one of 00 to 50)" (transmission number 102) and "ID + monitoring information transmission start instruction command (55)" (transmission number 10)
3) corresponds to the switching transmission request instruction information in the invention described in claim 2.

By the way, in the above "video switching" instruction, the designation of the video to be stopped and the video to be newly displayed (designation by the operator from the input device 6) is configured to be designated at the monitoring target location. are doing. That is,
The operator usually does not know which ID has the individual control unit 3 (information collection device unit 13) installed in which monitoring target place. Further, the operator designates a video to be switched based on a request to watch a video of a monitoring target place. For example, when the target video is configured to be designated by the ID, the operator refers to the correspondence table between the monitoring target location and the ID and the like, and the individual control unit installed in the monitoring target location desired to switch. The ID of No. 3 must be checked one by one, and this designation must be made, which causes inconvenience in an urgent case or when the information collecting device unit 13 is replaced, as will be described later. Therefore, in this embodiment, the management table KTb is provided in the management control unit 41, and the management control unit 41 converts the ID for the designated monitoring target location to generate the instruction information. The target video can now be specified at the surveillance target location. Regarding this, in the next lens angle or zoom instruction, the information collecting device 1 to be the target of these operations is designated in the same manner.

Next, for example, the operation in the case where the "lens angle (up)" for displacing the lens angle of the information collecting device unit 13 installed at the monitoring target place P5 in the upward direction is instructed will be described. In response to this instruction, the management control unit 41 searches the management table KTb for an ID, and transmits the following instruction information via the communication cable 5 through the channel CHx.

[0084]

When the management control unit 41 transmits the instruction information of the transmission number 201, the I installed in the monitoring target place P5.
The individual control unit 32 of D = 5 displaces the direction of the lens unit 14 upward by driving the motor 18j of the lens angle adjustment mechanism 18 in the positive direction, for example.

Here, the operator gives an instruction as to the amount of displacement (displacement angle) of the lens unit 14. For example, when the command "51" is received once, the individual control unit 32 sets the lens unit 14 at a predetermined angle (displacement angle). For example, if it is decided to displace in a designated direction (1 °), the management control unit 41 displaces a displacement angle (for example, 10 °) designated by the operator for each command “51”. Angle (eg 1
The command “51” may be transmitted only the number of times divided by (°) (10 ° / 1 ° = 10 times), or the displacement angle may be transmitted as command data as follows. Good.

Transmission number of instruction information ID command command data 201 C5 51 10 In the case of such instruction information, the individual control unit 32 of ID = 5 installed at the monitoring target location P5 has the lens unit 14 oriented upward. For example, the motor 18j of the lens angle adjusting mechanism 18 is driven in the positive direction so as to be displaced by 10 °.

"Lens angle (bottom)", "Lens angle (left)", "Lens angle (right)", "Zoom (W)",
The basic operation of the “zoom (T)” instruction is the same as that of the “lens angle (up)” instruction. However, the management control unit 41 determines that the command (“lens angle (down)” is “52” and “lens angle (left)” is “5” according to the operation instruction.
3 "," lens angle (right) "is" 54 "," zoom (W) "is" 57 ", and" zoom (T) "is" 58 "). Then, the individual control unit 32 having the designated ID that has received the command drives the motor 18j of the lens angle adjusting mechanism 18 in the direction opposite to the upward displacement at the "lens angle (bottom)" to set the "lens angle (left)". , "Lens angle (right)", the motor 18i of the lens angle adjusting mechanism 18 is driven in forward and reverse directions so as to be displaced in respective directions, and in "zoom (W)" and "zoom (T)", zooming is performed. A control signal is given to the zoom lens controller 14a so as to drive the motor 14b for rotation in a predetermined direction. The zoom magnification may be transmitted in the same manner as the displacement angle of the lens unit 14.

Note that, for example, when the apparatus is activated, the management control unit 41 performs the same operation as the above initialization,
After that, in a predetermined sequence (for example, in a predetermined order and at a predetermined time), programming is performed so that the monitoring information of each monitoring coping place is sequentially switched,
If the management control unit 41 operates according to this program, it is not necessary to refer to the correspondence relationship between the monitoring target location and the ID, so the management table KTb does not necessarily have to be provided. However, even in the case of automatic control by a program as described above, there may be a situation in which it is urgently necessary to output the monitoring information of an arbitrary monitoring target location, so under normal circumstances, the program automatically switches the monitoring information. It is preferable that the configuration (including the management table KTb) be performed so that the instruction from the input device 6 can be received in the event of an abnormality (emergency).

In the above embodiment, the information collecting device 1 is configured to collect video and audio. However, the information collecting device 1 may collect only video or audio. It may be one that collects only. Depending on the situation and purpose of use of the location to be monitored,
Video or / and audio may be collected as monitoring information and transmitted to the management control unit 4. This modified example and the following modified examples are similarly applicable to the second embodiment described later.

For example, when it is desired to collect an image in a dark area, the information collecting device 1 is provided with an illumination mechanism, and the individual control unit 32 transmits the image (when the information transmission start instruction is received, The illumination mechanism may be controlled so that the illumination light is applied to the area captured by the lens unit 14 until the transmission stop instruction is received).

Further, although a plurality of monitoring information transmission channels CHg are prepared in the above embodiment, at least
If the channel CHx for transmitting the instruction information and one channel CHg for transmitting the monitoring information are prepared, the instruction information and the monitoring information do not interfere with each other, that is, the instruction is issued while the monitoring information is being transmitted. Even if information is transmitted at the same time, each information can be transmitted without causing interference.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the control (for example, the adjustment of the lens angle and the zoom) for the information collecting device 1 is configured to be performed from the management control unit 41, but these are not always necessary.

By the way, for example, a certain monitoring target place Pj
(J = 1 to n) information collection device unit 13
(Information collecting device 1 and individual control unit 3 are integrated)
In the case where either or both of the information collecting device 1 and the individual control unit 3 have failed, or when the information collecting device 1 and the individual control unit 3 are separately configured,
When the individual control unit 3 breaks down, it is necessary to replace the individual control unit 3 at the location Pj. If the individual control unit 3 is replaced, the management table KTb
Of the newly installed individual control unit 3 at
The correspondence relationship between D and the monitoring target place Pj is different from the actual correspondence relationship. In this case, the management control unit 41 refers to the management table KTb, searches the ID, and creates the instruction information created by the newly installed individual control unit 3
Can not be given to. Therefore, some countermeasures for eliminating such inconvenience are introduced below.

First, when the ID registered in the newly attached individual control unit 3 is known,
If the contents of the management table KTb included in the management control unit 41 can be changed (stored in a memory or the like and the contents can be rewritten), the newly attached known ID is reflected in the management table KTb. Management table KT
The content of b may be changed (rewritten). In the case of automatic control by the above-mentioned program and when the ID is directly incorporated in the program to create the program, the program itself needs to be changed when the individual control unit 3 is replaced. Therefore, if a program is constructed so that the management table KTb is accessed by the program and the ID is determined, the contents of the management table KTb are reflected in the program by rewriting the management table KTb, and the individual control unit 3 is replaced. There is no need to change the program.

Next, when the ID registered in the newly installed individual control unit 3 is unknown, the ID of the individual control unit 3 is configured to be changeable, and the ID of the newly installed individual control unit 3 is set. The ID of the individual control unit 3 previously attached to the place Pj may be changed. Here, when the ID of the individual control unit 3 is configured to be changeable, for example, the ID is EEPRO.
An example is a configuration in which the data is stored in a rewritable storage medium such as M. Moreover, even if the ID is stored in the ROM,
If the ROM itself is configured to be replaceable with respect to the individual control unit 3 (information collection device unit 13), the ID of the individual control unit 3 can be changed afterwards.

The third method is to automatically change the ID of the newly attached individual control unit 3 by the instruction information of the management control unit 41. In this case, the individual control unit 3
The D is stored in a rewritable storage medium such as an EEPROM. The serial number is also registered separately from the ID. The serial number (manufacturing number) is a number that is attached when the device is manufactured, and is usually stamped or attached on the surface of the case of the device, so that the serial number can be confirmed later. ID this serial number
Along with that, it is registered in the individual control unit 3. And
The management control unit 4 sends a command for ID re-registration (for example, “60”) to “I” in the format of FIG. 8B.
"Serial number" newly installed instead of "D"
An ID (management table KT) to which (known) is added and rewritten
The command information is transmitted with the command data being the ID of the individual control unit 3 previously installed according to the monitoring target location Pj retrieved from b.

In this case, in all the individual control units 3 including the newly installed individual control unit 3, the data (either the ID or the serial number) added to the "ID" portion of the format shown in FIG. And your own ID
Are matched or their own serial numbers are matched, and if either is matched, the operation according to the instruction information is performed. The serial number and I
The ID code system and the serial number code system are different so that there is no match with D.

Therefore, the instruction information regarding the command "60" is executed only by the newly installed individual control unit 3. That is, the individual control unit 3 rewrites its own ID with the ID of the command data. Now the newly installed individual control unit 3
Is automatically changed to the ID of the individual control unit 3 previously attached according to the place Pj.

In the case where the information collecting device 1 and the individual control unit 3 are separately configured and only the information collecting device 1 fails, only the information collecting device 1 may be replaced. It is not necessary to replace the individual control unit 3. Therefore, in such a case, the correspondence relationship between the ID on the management table KTb and the monitoring target locations P1 to Pn and the actual correspondence relationship do not conflict.

By the way, in the above description of the operation, it has been explained that the images collected at the monitoring target locations P1 to Pn are displayed at the management location KP. Therefore, for example, at the time of installing a monitoring device or replacing an arbitrary information collecting device 1 (information collecting unit 13), when installing the information collecting device 1 (information collecting unit 13) to be newly installed, the management place KP It is necessary to attach a new information collecting device unit 13 so that a desired image can be viewed at. here,
When the monitoring target places P1 to Pn and the management place KP are in a long distance and cannot be contacted with each other, a new mounting position of the information collecting device unit 13 is provided so that a desired image can be viewed at the management place KP. , It is difficult to adjust the mounting direction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the information collecting device unit 13 is configured to be capable of monitor output, so that the information collecting device 1 to be attached at each of the monitoring target locations P1 to Pn. Then, it is possible to perform the work of mounting the information collecting device unit 13 while confirming what kind of image is captured (this image becomes the image displayed at the management place KP) on site. Therefore, it is possible to easily adjust the mounting position, the mounting direction, etc. of the new information collecting device unit 13.

Further, when each monitoring target place KP extends over a relatively wide range and the length of the communication cable 5 becomes long, the signal level of each information transmitted via the communication cable 5 decreases, and effective information transmission is possible. Will not be guaranteed. Therefore, in FIG.
The communication cables 5 (communication cables 5 ₁ and 5 _{2 in the} figure) may be connected via a repeater 9 as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 91 in the figure is a band-pass filter (band filter) that passes only the frequency band of the channel CHx for transmitting instruction information, and reference numeral 92 is a band-elimate filter (band-stop filter). It is a filter that passes a frequency band (including each channel CHg for monitoring information transmission) other than the frequency band of the channel CHx for information transmission. Reference numeral 93 is a terminator resistance of the repeater 9. At this time, a plurality of communication cables 5 are used. However, because of the configuration, there is only one communication cable that connects the management control unit 4 and each individual control unit 3 to each other. It is included in one communication cable in the invention described in Item 1.

Furthermore, when the number of monitoring target locations P1 to Pn is greater than the number of monitoring information outputs at the management location KP, the monitoring information from all monitoring target locations P1 to Pn is managed at the management location KP. Since it is not output to the management location KP, the guards and the like cannot confirm the status of the monitoring target locations P1 to Pn that are not output at the management location KP even after the fact.
Therefore, for example, the monitoring information while not being transmitted may be stored in an appropriate storage medium on the side of each individual control unit 3.

The monitoring information to be stored may be both video and audio, or either one.

The storage medium can be constituted by a video tape (video), a cassette tape (audio), a memory (both video and audio), and the like. When storing video and audio on a video tape, a cassette tape, or the like, a changeover switch is provided between the video camera unit 11, the microphone unit 12, and the RF transmitter 31 for television, for example, when the device starts up or when monitoring information is displayed. At the timing when it was instructed to stop transmission,
The individual control unit 32 switches the above-mentioned changeover switch so that the video signal and the audio signal given to the RF transmitter for TV 31 are given to the video tape recorder and the tape recorder, respectively, and the video tape recorder and the tape recorder are recorded and recorded. On the other hand, when the start of transmission of monitoring information is instructed, the video tape recorder or tape recorder stops recording, and
The changeover switch is controlled so as to apply the video signal and the audio signal to the RF transmitter 31 for television. With this, the monitoring information while not being transmitted is stored in the video tape, the cassette tape or the like in each individual control unit 3. The security guards, etc. may use these video tapes, cassette tapes, etc., at each monitoring target location P1 as necessary.
By collecting from ~ Pn, it is possible to confirm the state at those monitoring target locations after the fact.

When storing video and audio in the memory,
A changeover switch similar to that described above may be provided, and it may be controlled in the same manner as described above to perform A / D (analog to digital) conversion of the monitoring information during non-transmission and store the digital information in the memory. The collection of the monitoring information stored in the memory may be carried out, for example, by data transmission to the management control unit 4 via the communication cable 5. For example, the management control unit 4 sends an ID to a command (for example, "70") requesting collection of the monitoring information stored in the memory at predetermined time intervals.
And a channel for recovery (a part of the channel CHg for transmitting monitoring information is allocated for this recovery)
The instruction information in the form of command data is sequentially transmitted to each individual control unit 3. When each individual control unit 3 receives this instruction information transmitted to itself, it reads out the monitoring information stored in the memory, performs D / A (digital to analog) conversion, and then transmits it via the RF transmitter 31 for television. Then, the monitoring information is transmitted through the designated recovery channel.
In the management control unit 4, the television receiver 45 _i for receiving and demodulating the monitoring information transmitted through the recovery channel receives and demodulates it, displays the video on the monitor 21 _i , and outputs the audio on the speaker 22. To play.

By the way, when the monitoring information is stored in the memory, due to the memory capacity, a short time (in some cases,
In some cases, only one to several frames of video and accompanying audio may be stored. Therefore, for example, the individual control unit 32 analyzes the audio signal and stores the monitoring information for one to several frames when the sound of the reference value or more is generated in the memory, or the video camera unit 11 normally operates in a corridor or the like. In the case where an image where there is little change in the image is being imaged, the image signal is analyzed by the individual control unit 32 and the brightness of the image is changed (for example, when a suspicious person enters and an image of a moving object is imaged. Only the monitoring information of) may be stored in the memory. When a sensor is attached as in the second embodiment described later, only the monitoring information when the sensor detects an abnormality may be stored in the memory. Also,
When the monitoring information is partially stored in this way, it is preferable to add information such as date and time.

When the monitoring information stored in the memory is transmitted to the management control unit 4, for example, the monitoring information currently collected by itself is transmitted to the management control unit 4 in addition to the above-mentioned recovery channel. At this time, the stored monitoring information may be superimposed on the teletext code of the monitoring information and transmitted.

This will be described with reference to FIG. 13, taking as an example the case where only the audio signal is stored. The individual control unit 32 controls the changeover switch 37a to give an audio signal to the television RF transmitter 31 while transmitting the monitoring information currently being collected to the management unit 4, while the transmission is stopped. During the period, the audio signal is converted into digital data by the A / D converter 37b and stored in the memory 37c.

When the instruction information for starting the information transmission is received in the state where the transmission is stopped, the monitoring information (video and audio) currently being collected is given to the RF transmitter 31 for television, and the communication cable is used on the designated channel. 5, the sync signal generation unit 37d extracts a sync signal for identifying one frame of the video signal from the video camera unit 11 at this time, and the individual control unit 32 based on this sync signal.
Each time one frame of video is supplied to the RF transmitter 31 for television, the switch 37e is switched to convert the audio signal of the digital data stored in the memory 37c into a predetermined number of bytes (for example, one frame of video is converted into characters). The number of bytes that can be superimposed as a broadcast code) is superimposed on the teletext code, data processing is performed, the result is given to the television RF transmitter 31, and the information is transmitted to the communication cable 5. As a result, the audio signal stored in the memory 37c can be transmitted as the digital data to the management control unit 4 by superimposing it on the currently collected monitoring information as a teletext code. On the management control unit 4 side, in addition to discriminating between video and audio, the television receiver 45 _i discriminates a teletext code (provided with a receiving mechanism similar to a television tuner capable of receiving teletext). The audio signal transmitted as the teletext code may be A / D converted and reproduced from a speaker or the like. Note that, in FIG. 13, the portions denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment.

Next, the configuration of the second embodiment device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 14
It is a schematic block diagram of a 2nd Example apparatus, FIG. 15: is a block diagram which shows the structure of the individual control unit of a 2nd Example, FIG.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the management control unit of the second embodiment.

In the device of the second embodiment, one or a plurality of sensors 51 for detecting fire or intrusion of people are installed, and the detection information from these sensors 51 is sent to the management control unit 4 at regular intervals. If there is an abnormality, an alarm is emitted from an alarm device 52 such as an alarm lamp or an alarm buzzer, or the detection information of the sensor 51 is displayed on the operation CRT 4a, the monitor 21 _i, etc. I am trying to let the staff know the sensor information. The alarm device 52, the operating CRT 4a, the monitor 21 _i, etc. constitute the sensor information output means in the invention of claim 7.

As the sensor 51, a fire sensor for detecting a fire by detecting temperature, smoke, flame, etc., and an intrusion for detecting a person's intrusion by detecting impact, wind pressure, sound, door open / closed state, etc. A sensor etc. can be adopted.

Each sensor 51 may be connected to the individual control unit 3 connected to the information collecting device 1, or the sensor 5 may be connected.
It may be connected to the individual control unit 3 dedicated to one. In addition,
The individual control unit 3 dedicated to the sensor 51 is also the information collecting device 1
Has the same configuration as the individual control unit 3 to which is connected (see FIG. 15).

The channel for transmitting the detection information from the sensor 51 is set as follows, for example. From the individual control unit 3 dedicated to the sensor, the detection information of the sensor 51 is transmitted via the channel for transmitting the sensor information (a part of the channel CHg for transmitting the monitoring information is used as the channel for transmitting the sensor information). To do.

Further, in the individual control unit 3 to which the sensor 51 and the information collecting device 1 are connected, when the detection information from the sensor 51 is to be transmitted, it occupies a specific monitoring information transmission channel. Even when there is no (monitoring information is not transmitted from this individual control unit 3 through that channel), the detection information of the sensor 51 is transmitted through the channel for transmitting sensor information, similarly to the above.

When the sensor 51 and the information collecting device 1 are connected to the individual control unit 3 and a specific monitoring information transmission channel is exclusively used when transmitting the detection information from the sensor 51. In the channel currently used by the individual control unit 3 for transmitting the monitoring information, the detection information of the sensor 51 is included in a part of the monitoring information for transmission.

The selection of the channel used for transmitting the detection information from the sensor 51 is determined by the individual control unit 3 side according to the situation at that time.

Note that the sensor information (detection information of the sensor 51 and abnormality information specified by the individual control unit 3 side based on the information) is transmitted as being superposed on the monitoring information as the teletext code described in FIG. To do.

That is, the television RF transmitter 31 of each individual control unit 3 has a function of superimposing a teletext code on video and audio, as described with reference to FIG. The individual control unit 32 uses, as data for this teletext code, detection information from the sensor 51 connected to itself or /
And abnormal information that can be identified from that information for TV RF
Give to the transmitter 31. The switching control of the changeover switch 37e is performed based on the synchronization signal from the synchronization signal generation unit 37d. Although the video camera unit 11 and the like are not connected to the individual control unit 3 dedicated to the sensor, for example, a synchronization generation circuit is attached and a video signal and an audio signal from this circuit are given to the RF transmitter 31 for television. At the same time, the synchronization signal generator 37d may generate a synchronization signal based on the signal and give it to the individual controller 32.

The transmission channel of the RF transmitter 31 for television is the channel used for transmitting the monitoring information currently being collected as described above, and is otherwise the channel for transmitting sensor information. Set to channel.

Thereby, the management control unit 4 described later
In response to the instruction from, the sensor information is transmitted to the management control unit 4 as a teletext code at regular intervals.

Television receiver 45 of management control unit 4
_i has a function of discriminating the video VS of the received information, the audio SS, and the teletext code MS. Then, the teletext code MS portion is given to the management control unit 41. The management control unit 41, based on the sensor information provided, alarm device 52
Alarms and detect information from the sensor 51 for operation CR
It is displayed on T4a.

From the management control unit 4, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the instruction signal CS is transmitted at constant time intervals (for example, 1 ms) and the instruction signals CS are transmitted by the number of the sensors 51, the reset signal RS is transmitted. The instruction signal CS and the reset signal RS are cyclically transmitted at all times. The instruction information in the format shown in FIG. 8 is transmitted at a timing between each instruction signal CS or between the instruction signal CS and the reset signal RS.

The individual control section 32 of the individual control unit 3 is
The number of receptions of the instruction signal CS after receiving the reset signal RS is counted. Corresponding the count number to each sensor 51, the individual control unit 32 determines whether or not it is the information transmission timing of the sensor 51 connected to itself. For example, in the individual control unit 32 of the individual control unit 3 to which the sensor 51 corresponding to the count number 20 is connected, the reception count number of the instruction signal CS after receiving the reset signal RS is “2.
When it becomes "0" ((20
The sensor information of the sensor 51 is transmitted (when the th instruction signal CS is received). This sensor information is used for each instruction signal CS
Or the timing between the instruction signal CS and the reset signal RS. Although a plurality of sensors 51 may be connected to the individual control unit 3, each sensor 5
Each one is associated with the above count number. Therefore, for example, if the two sensors 51 connected to a certain individual control unit 3 correspond to the above-mentioned count numbers "20" and "21", the individual control unit 3 has the above-mentioned count number "20". , The sensor information of the corresponding sensor 51 is transmitted, and when the count number is “21”, the sensor information of the corresponding sensor 51 is transmitted. As a result, the sensor information of each sensor 51 is transmitted to the management control unit 4 for each instruction signal CS corresponding to the transmission.

Further, since the sensor information is transmitted at the timing between the respective instruction signals CS or between the instruction signal CS and the reset signal RS, the management control unit 4 side determines the number of the instruction signal from the transmission of the reset signal RS. Since it can be determined whether the sensor information is for CS, the management control unit 4 can also recognize from which sensor 51 the sensor information is sent.

In the management control unit 4, which sensor 51
CRT 4a for operation to determine what state is detected by
To be displayed. The sensor information from the sensor 51 that is connected to a separate control unit 3 of the managed location displaying the monitoring information on the monitor 21 _i is to superimposed on the monitoring information displayed on the monitor 21 _i You may Further, when the individual control unit 32 determines the abnormal state and transmits it to the management control unit 4, the alarm device 52 issues an alarm based on the abnormal state. For example, when an abnormal state is received, an alarm buzzer sounds and an alarm lamp is turned on in association with the sensor 51. The abnormal condition is
The determination may be made on the individual control unit 3 side or the management control unit 4 side. Further, only the alarm may be issued, or only the detection information of the sensor 51 may be displayed.

The individual control unit 3 which is transmitting the monitoring information currently being collected to the management control unit 4 is not restricted by the instruction signal CS, and the sensor information of the sensor 51 connected to itself is detected by the individual control unit 3. You may make it always transmit to the management control unit 4 (The transmitted monitoring information is transmitted as a teletext code | code) by the channel which it occupies.

In the second embodiment described above, the sensor information is transmitted in the form of a teletext code.
On the individual control unit 3 side, the serial conversion unit 42, the modulation unit 43, and the RF transmitter 4 of the management control unit 4 (see FIG. 6).
4, etc., the sensor information is edited by the individual control unit 32 and transmitted by the channel for transmitting sensor information, and the receiver 3 of the individual control unit 3 (see FIG. 2) is provided to the management control unit 4 side.
4, the demodulation unit 35, the parallel conversion unit 36, and the like may be provided to receive and modulate the sensor information transmitted through the sensor information transmission channel.

Further, in the second embodiment, the sensor information transmission timing is set based on the instruction signal CS in FIG. 17 or the like. However, the individual control in which the sensor 51 is connected from the management control unit 4 is performed at regular intervals. A transmission request for the sensor information may be issued to the unit 3 by using the instruction information in the format shown in FIG. 8 (the destination is designated by the ID).

With this configuration, the management place KP
In, the state of each of the monitoring target locations P1 to Pn can be monitored by the video and audio monitoring information and the sensor detection information.

[0132]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the invention described in claim 1, the monitoring information collected at a plurality of monitoring target locations is output to the management location via a single communication cable. Since it can be given to the means and output, the number of communication cables for information transmission can be greatly reduced. Accordingly, the installation space of the communication cable at the management place can be reduced, and the cable processing of the communication cable at the management place can be easily performed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the monitoring information from a plurality of monitoring target locations is simultaneously output in parallel at the management location, and it is possible to easily change the output of only arbitrary monitoring information.

According to the invention described in claims 3 to 5,
Even when the individual control means connected to the information collecting means installed at an arbitrary monitoring target location needs to be replaced due to a failure or the like, it can be easily dealt with. In particular, claim 3
In the invention described in, the ID of the individual control means to be newly replaced
Is convenient, and the invention of claim 4 is convenient when the ID of the individual control means to be replaced is unknown. Furthermore, the invention according to claim 5 is more convenient because the ID can be changed automatically.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the monitoring information can be stored in the information storage means while the monitoring information is not being transmitted to the management control means, so that while the output information is not output to the management means, The state of the monitored place can be confirmed later.

According to the invention described in claim 7, in addition to the monitoring by the monitoring information, the occurrence of a fire at any place or the intrusion of a person can be known at the management place by the sensor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a monitoring device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information collecting device unit in which an information collecting device and an individual control unit included in the apparatus of the embodiment are integrally configured.

FIG. 3 is an internal configuration diagram of the information collecting device unit, a perspective view seen from one end face side in the longitudinal direction, and a configuration diagram on the other end face side in the longitudinal direction.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a zoom mechanism and an AF mechanism of a lens unit.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a configuration of a lens angle adjusting mechanism and a sectional view seen from the front.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a management control unit.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a management table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a transmission format of instruction information.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a modified example of the management control unit, and a diagram showing a display example of a monitor in the modified example.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration when the management control unit is configured by a personal computer system.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining transmission channel division of each information.

FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication cable repeater.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an individual control unit of a modified example in which monitoring information that has not been transmitted is stored.

FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration diagram of a second embodiment device.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an individual control unit of the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a management control unit of a second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining a sensor information transmission request timing according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Information collection device 2 ... Output device 3 ... Individual control unit 4 ... Management control unit 5 ... Communication cable 37c ... Memory 51 for monitoring information storage ... Sensor for condition detection 52 ... Alarm device P1 to Pn ... Monitoring target location KP ... Management location CHx ... Channels for transmitting instruction information CHg, CH0 to CHm ... Channels for transmitting monitoring information KTb ... Management table

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. Information collecting means for collecting monitoring information including video and / or audio is installed at each of a plurality of monitoring target locations, and the monitoring information collected by these information collecting means is installed at a predetermined management location. A monitoring device for monitoring the status of each of the monitoring target locations at the management location by providing to the output means, means for transmitting predetermined instruction information, and receiving the monitoring information. Management control means including means for giving it to the output means, and individual identification information (ID) connected to each of the information collecting means, respectively, are registered, and the instruction information is received and The individual control means having means for analyzing the content and controlling at least the transmission and the stop of the monitoring information according to the content, and the management control means and the individual control means are mutually connected. Next, one communication cable for transmitting the instruction information and the monitoring information between the management control means and each of the individual control means is provided, and the management control means is at least , Monitoring information transmission request instruction information to which an arbitrary ID is added and monitoring information transmission stop instruction information to which an arbitrary ID is added, at predetermined timings, and channels for transmitting predetermined instruction information via the communication cable. While performing transmission in the (frequency band), control is performed such that the monitoring information transmitted via the communication cable is given to the output unit to be output, and each of the individual control units is transmitted via the communication cable. When the incoming monitoring information transmission request instruction information is received, the ID in the information is compared with the own ID,
Only the individual control means in which the ID that matches the ID in the information is registered by the information collecting means connected to itself is monitored by the communication cable through a channel different from the channel for transmitting the instruction information. When the monitoring information transmission stop instruction is received along with the transmission, the I in the information is transmitted.
The monitoring device, wherein only the individual control unit in which the ID matching D is registered controls to stop the transmission of the monitoring information. 2. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the management control means, the individual control means, and the communication cable are configured to be capable of simultaneously transmitting a plurality of pieces of monitoring information on a plurality of channels, The means is configured to be capable of outputting a plurality of pieces of monitoring information transmitted via the communication cable in parallel, and monitoring any monitoring information currently output to the output means from another monitoring target location. When switching to information, the management control means transmits the monitoring information transmission stop instruction information added with the ID registered in the individual control means for transmitting the monitoring information of the switching source to the instruction information transmission via the communication cable. To the monitoring target of the switching destination in the instruction requesting to transmit the monitoring information on the channel used to transmit the monitoring information of the switching source. A control for transmitting the switching transmission request instruction information to which the ID corresponding to the location is transmitted through the communication cable through the channel for transmitting the instruction information, and the individual control means respectively receive the switching transmission request instruction information. Then, the ID in the information is compared with its own ID, and only the individual control means in which the ID matching the ID in the information is registered is collected by the information collecting means connected to the self, and the monitoring information is transmitted through the communication. A monitoring device which controls to transmit on the specified channel via a cable. 3. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the management control unit includes an ID of the individual control unit connected to the information collecting unit installed at each monitoring target location, and each monitoring target location. The monitoring device is characterized by being provided with a management table that stores the correspondence relationship between the management table and the contents of the management table. 4. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the management control unit includes an ID of an individual control unit connected to an information collecting unit installed at each monitoring target location, and each monitoring target location. The monitoring device is provided with a management table that stores the correspondence relationship between the individual control means and the changeable ID registered in the individual control means. 5. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the management control unit includes an ID of an individual control unit connected to an information collecting unit installed at each monitoring target location and each monitoring target location. Is provided with a management table that stores the correspondence relationship between the IDs, and the IDs registered in the individual control means are rewritable,
When a serial number is registered in each of the individual control means in addition to the ID and the individual control means connected to the information collecting means installed at an arbitrary monitoring target location is replaced with a new individual control means. The management control means gives an instruction to change the ID of the newly attached individual control means to the ID of the individual control means that was previously attached thereto, and the changed ID and the newly attached individual control means. ID with the serial number of the means
When the individual control means including the newly installed individual control means receives the ID change instruction information, control is performed to transmit the change instruction information through the communication cable through the instruction information transmission channel. , The serial number in the information is compared with its own serial number, and only the individual control means in which the serial number that matches the serial number in the information is registered rewrites its own ID to the instructed ID. A monitoring device characterized by performing. 6. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein each individual control unit includes an information storage unit for storing at least a part of the collected monitoring information. Monitoring device characterized by. 7. The monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the information collecting unit is connected to an individual control unit or / and an individual control unit separate from the individual control unit.
A sensor for detecting a state, which is installed in one or a plurality of locations to be monitored, and a sensor information output unit, which is connected to the management control unit, and the communication cable includes the management control unit. And all the individual control means to which the information collecting means or / and the sensors are connected, the management control means is arranged to detect the detection information of each sensor or abnormal information specified from the information at least at regular intervals. A means for transmitting a transmission request to each individual control means to which the sensor is connected through the communication cable through the channel for transmitting the instruction information, and sensor detection information or abnormality information is received, and the information, Alternatively, when the information is only the detection information of the sensor, the information and / or abnormality information specified from the information is output as the sensor information. Each individual control means to which the sensor is connected, in response to a transmission request from the management control means, the detection information of the transmission request target sensor connected to itself or / and its A monitoring apparatus comprising means for transmitting abnormality information specified from detection information through a channel different from the instruction information transmission channel via the communication cable.