JPH10155029A - Remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To operate outdoors an object device such as a VTR remotely controlled by an infrared ray signal by means of communication using a telephone line. SOLUTION: A television receiver 1 is equipped with a control circuit 9 that reads a control sequence code relating to device operation from a telephone signal sent through a telephone line 7 to a device main body to which the telephone line 7 is connected and converts the control sequence code into a remote control code and with an infrared ray transmitter 12 that sends out the remote control code obtained from the control circuit 9 to an object device as an infrared ray signal. Furthermore, the device main body is fitted with a reflection mechanism to reflect the infrared ray signal sent out from the infrared ray transmitter 12 to the object device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote control device for operating a target device which can be controlled by a remote control signal through communication using a telephone line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, TV (television) receivers,
2. Description of the Related Art Household electronic devices such as a VTR (video tape recorder) and an air conditioner are operated from a remote location indoors by a dedicated remote control operation device.
As one of the home automation systems, a method of controlling the locking and unlocking of a door and the ON / OFF of an air conditioner from outside through a telephone line has been put to practical use.

[0003]

However, in the conventional device operation using the remote control device, the operation of the remote control device must be performed in the room where the target device is installed, toward the target device. The equipment cannot be operated from outside. On the other hand, according to the conventional device control method using a telephone line, it is possible to control the target device from outside, but the target device needs to decode the control code sent through the telephone line It is necessary to have a special communication control function to operate various functions in advance,
A general target device that does not have such a function in advance cannot be controlled by a telephone line.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control device capable of operating general equipment having no special communication control function from outside by communication via a telephone line.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A remote control device according to the present invention comprises: a signal receiving means for receiving a telephone signal transmitted through a telephone line to a device main body to which a telephone line is connected; Code reading means for reading a control sequence code relating to device operation from a device, code conversion means for converting the read control sequence code into a remote control code recognizable by a target device, and a remote control signal obtained by the remote control code. Signal transmission means for transmitting the signal to the target device.

In the above remote control device, by making a call to the home from the outside, communication with the remote control device installed in the home becomes possible, and a telephone for operating a target device is operated by key input operation of the telephone. A signal is transmitted over the telephone line to the remote control. After the telephone signal is received by the remote control device, a control sequence code included in the telephone signal is read, and the control sequence code is subjected to addition of necessary codes and rearrangement of codes, and the like. It is converted to a remote control code having the same format. The remote control code is transmitted to the target device as a remote control signal such as infrared light.
As a result, the target device is controlled in the same manner as before, and according to the telephone signal related to the device operation transmitted through the telephone line,
The intended operation is realized.

[0007] In a specific configuration, a reflection mechanism for reflecting a remote control signal transmitted from the signal transmission means toward a target device is attached to the apparatus main body. According to this specific configuration, by setting the reflection direction of the reflection mechanism toward the target device, the remote control signal transmitted from the signal transmission unit is reflected by the reflection mechanism and then enters the target device. . Therefore, even when the target device does not exist in the signal transmission direction of the signal transmission unit, the device can be reliably operated.

In another specific configuration, a signal transmitting means is attached to the apparatus main body via a flexible arm. According to this specific configuration, by bending the flexible arm, the signal emission direction of the signal emission means can be directed to the target device. Here, since the flexible arm can be bent with a high degree of freedom, the position of the target device is not restricted.

Further, in a specific configuration, the remote control device includes a relay unit for relaying the remote control signal sent from the signal sending means of the device body and sending it to the target device. According to this specific configuration, the remote control signal is relayed between the different rooms by the relay unit even when the room where the remote control device is installed is different from the room where the target device is installed. Therefore, the room where the remote control device and the target device are to be installed is not restricted and can be freely arranged.

In another specific configuration, the code conversion means stores code conversion information for converting a control sequence code into a remote control code for each model of a target device. According to this specific configuration, the code conversion means converts the control sequence code into the remote control code with reference to the code conversion information. Therefore, if the correspondence between the control sequence code and the remote control code is registered in advance for each of a plurality of target devices of different manufacturers, types, or models as code conversion information, the plurality of target devices can be selectively operated. It is possible.

Further, the remote control device is provided with a download means for downloading at least a part of the code conversion information from the outside to the code conversion means through a telephone line. In the specific configuration, as the code conversion information, for example, the correspondence relationship between the control sequence code and the remote control code for the minimum model for each manufacturer,
Registered as default value. For other models, for example, the manufacturer downloads necessary information to the remote control device via a telephone line in response to a request from the remote control device by telephone communication. This allows the remote control device to perform code conversion for all necessary models.

[0012]

According to the remote control device according to the present invention, it is possible to operate a general device having no special communication control function by communication using a telephone line.

[0013]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a television receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a TV receiver (1) has a TV broadcast receiving circuit (4) for receiving a TV broadcast signal transmitted from an antenna (3) and a receiving unit as a common configuration with a conventional TV receiver. An audio / video circuit (5) for processing the generated TV broadcast signal to generate an audio signal and a video signal, and a speaker (6) and a display (6) for outputting the generated audio and video signals.
0).

Further, the TV receiver (1) has a characteristic configuration of the present invention, in which a TV (8) to which a telephone line (7) is connected and digital data obtained from the modem (8) are necessary. A control circuit (9) for creating a remote control code, and a control circuit (9)
And an infrared transmitter (12) for transmitting a remote control code obtained from the control circuit (9) as an infrared signal. RA
M (10) is a main memory associated with the CPU constituting the control circuit (9), which is a component of the control circuit (9), but is drawn as an external component for convenience in FIG. I have. The EEPROM (11) stores information necessary for code conversion described later.

The infrared signal transmitted from the infrared transmitter (12) is reflected by a reflecting surface (15) such as a wall surface of a room or a reflecting mechanism to be described later, or directly, to a VTR as a target device.
(2). The VTR (2) has the same configuration as a conventional VTR that operates in response to an infrared signal from a dedicated remote control operation device (not shown), and includes an infrared receiver (13) for receiving an infrared signal, And a control circuit (14) for realizing a required function according to the infrared signal.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a TV receiver (1) is installed on a VTR (2), and a position below a front panel of the TV receiver (1) is transmitted from an infrared transmitter (12). A reflection mechanism (16) for reflecting the transmitted infrared rays toward the infrared receiver (13) of the VTR (2) is provided. The reflection mechanism (16)
As shown in FIG. 3, it is slidable back and forth, and a reflection surface (18) of a convex curved surface bulging toward the VTR (2) is formed at a portion facing the infrared transmitter (12). Also, the reflection mechanism (1
6) is provided with a through hole (17) penetrating from the center of the reflection surface (18) forward. The through hole (17) is formed in a rectangular cross section, and its bottom surface is finished with a mirror surface (17a) which is inclined low toward the TV receiver (1). Further, the through hole (17) has a size capable of accommodating the entire infrared transmitter (12), and the reflection mechanism (16) is moved to the front panel side of the TV receiver (1). By sliding, the whole can be stored in the front panel.

Therefore, the infrared transmitter (1) of the TV receiver (1)
The infrared signal transmitted with directivity within a certain angle range from 2) passes through the through-hole (17) of the reflection mechanism (16) at the extraction position as shown by trajectories B1 and B2, and moves forward as it is. As shown by the trajectory B3, the mirror surface (1) of the through hole (17)
7A), which travels obliquely upward, and VTR (2) which is reflected by the reflecting surface (18) as shown by a locus B4.
Are traveling toward the infrared receiver (13).

The infrared signal reflected by the reflecting surface (18) as shown by the locus B4 becomes a control signal for controlling the VTR (2). On the other hand, the infrared signal that travels forward as indicated by the trajectories B1 and B2 is, for example, a three-dimensional T signal that enables the TV receiver (1) to observe a three-dimensional image by wearing special glasses.
V receiver (for example, "Automatic 2D / 3D video conversion" Technical Report of the Institute of Television Engineers of Japan Vol.19, No.46, pp23-28, HIR'95-13 (Se
(p. 1995) Kanaya et al.) is used as a control signal for switching the liquid crystal shutter mechanism provided in the special glasses between an image for the right eye and an image for the left eye. Locus B
An infrared signal traveling obliquely upward as indicated by 3 is used to control an air conditioner (not shown) installed at a higher position than the TV receiver (1), for example, facing the TV receiver (1). Used as a control signal.

FIG. 6A shows an example of a shutter control signal to be supplied to the dedicated glasses of the above-mentioned three-dimensional TV receiver, whereby an image L for the left eye and an image R for the right eye are shown. Are switched at a period of 8.3 msec. On the other hand, FIG.
(b) shows a general format of an infrared signal for remote control, in which a reader code LC for identifying that a remote control code follows.
A custom code CC for identifying the type (manufacturer or model) of the remote control operating device, a negative logic of the custom code CC, a data code DC representing a control code corresponding to a key of the remote control operating device, And the negative logic of the code DC is included.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which an infrared transmitter (12) is installed on a front panel of a TV receiver (1) via a flexible arm (19). According to this embodiment, by bending the flexible arm (19), it is possible to arbitrarily change the infrared transmission direction of the infrared transmitter (12). Therefore, the target device such as the VTR (2) is a TV receiver.
Not only when it is located below (1), for example, a TV receiver
Even in the case of being located on the side of (1), the infrared signal can be reliably incident on the target device.

FIG. 5 shows a relay unit (20) for relaying and transmitting an infrared signal from the TV receiver to the target device when the TV receiver is located in room A and the target device such as a VTR is located in room B. ). The relay unit (20) is installed in the room A and receives an infrared signal from the TV receiver (21), and the relay unit (20) is installed in the room B and transmits infrared light for transmitting an infrared signal to a target device. (24), a control circuit (22) interposed between the infrared receiver (21) and the infrared transmitter (24) for controlling signal relay, and an R connected to the control circuit (22).
AM (23).

In the above remote control device, when one target device installed at home is to be operated, a call is made from outside to the home, and a telephone signal relating to the operation of the device is transmitted to the home by key operation of the telephone. Is sent. For example, in the case of VTR recording reservation, a telephone signal including a series of control sequence codes as shown in FIG. 7A is transmitted. When the heating of the air conditioner is turned on / off, a telephone signal including a series of control sequence codes as shown in FIG. The telephone signal undergoes a predetermined modulation process and a transmission speed conversion process when transmitted from the telephone to the telephone line.

As shown in FIG. 1, a telephone signal transmitted to the TV receiver 1 through the telephone line 7 is subjected to necessary demodulation processing and transmission rate conversion processing by a modem 8 and is controlled by a control circuit. After being converted into digital data that can be handled by (9), it is input to the control circuit (9). Control circuit (9)
Executes the processing shown in FIG. 8 when any data is received through the telephone line (7). First, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the received data includes an infrared control code. This determination can be made by determining whether "# **" is added to the head of the code as shown in FIG. If the determination is YES here, the process proceeds to step S2 in FIG.
The control sequence code following "# **" is read.

Next, in step S3, the EE shown in FIG.
Referring to the code conversion information stored in the PROM (11), add necessary codes such as a menu code and a power ON / OFF signal to the read control sequence code, and further rearrange these codes. Thus, the control sequence code is converted into a remote control code having the same format as the remote control code sent from the conventional remote control operation device dedicated to the device. In the EEPROM (11), the correspondence between the control sequence code and the remote control code for the basic operation of each target device for each maker or model of the target device is written as code conversion information.

In step S4 of FIG. 8, an infrared transmission code is generated based on the remote control code obtained by the code conversion. Here, the aforementioned relay unit (20)
When a relay instruction is used, a predetermined relay instruction code for instructing the relay unit (20) to perform a relay operation is added to the head of the infrared transmission code. However, the relay instruction code is an invalid code in a TV receiver or a VTR.

In step S5, a series of infrared transmission codes for instructing the operation of the apparatus are transmitted as infrared signals from the infrared transmitter (12). It is desirable that the infrared signal be transmitted with a larger power than the infrared signal transmitted from the conventional remote control. As a result, malfunction due to reflection of infrared signals and mixing of noise can be prevented. In step S6, it is determined whether or not the infrared signal has been transmitted a specified number of times.
In the case of NO, after waiting for 10 seconds in step S7, the process returns to step S5 to repeat the transmission of the infrared signal. Thereafter, when YES is determined in step S6, the procedure ends.

According to the above procedure, a series of infrared transmission codes is repeatedly transmitted as an infrared signal a specified number of times (for example, twice), so that a communication between the TV receiver (1) and the target device such as the VTR (2) is performed. If the infrared transmission path of
The infrared signal will reach the target device with a high probability.

When performing a remote control operation using the relay unit (20), as shown in FIG.
First, in step S21, it is determined whether or not an infrared signal including a relay instruction code has been received from the TV receiver (1).
If determined to be YES, the process shifts to step S22 to wait for reception of the next leader code LC, and if determined to be received, shifts to step S23 where the custom code CC following the leader code LC and Data code D
C is extracted and these data are stored in the RAM (23) in step S24. Thereafter, returning to the determination in step S22, extraction and storage of necessary data are repeated.

Thereafter, if NO is determined in step S22, it is determined in step S25 whether one second has elapsed without receiving a code, and if not, the flow returns to step S22. Repeat the decision. And
When YES is determined in the step S25, it is considered that the transmission of the series of infrared transmission codes is completed, and the process proceeds to the step S26, where the stored data is transmitted again as an infrared signal from the infrared transmitter (24). Let me know.

By the above procedure, an infrared signal having the same content as the infrared signal transmitted by the TV receiver (1) is transmitted from the relay unit (20), and the TV receiver (1)
Even if the distance from the TV to the target device such as the VTR (2) is long, or the TV receiver (1) and the target device are installed in different rooms, the target device can be reliably operated. is there. In addition, according to the above procedure, the TV is transmitted every 10 seconds.
After receiving a series of infrared transmission codes sent from the receiver (1), after confirming that there is no infrared signal from the TV receiver (1) during the above one second period, transmitting the stored data. Therefore, the infrared signal incident on the infrared receiver (21) and the infrared signal emitted from the infrared transmitter (24) do not interfere with each other.

Further, the remote control device of the present invention has a download function for downloading code conversion information on other manufacturers and models through a telephone line in addition to the code conversion information on the basic operation described above. FIG. 10 shows a procedure for executing the download function. First, at step S31, the TV
The user accesses the homepage of the maker of the receiver (1), and further accesses the download service page of the remote controller. Then, in step S32, a download data file of a required model is selected, and in step S33, the file is downloaded. The downloaded file is stored in the TV receiver at step S34.
After the data is temporarily stored in the RAM (10) of (1), the communication is terminated in step S35. Thereafter, in step S36, RA
Read the download data file from M (10), perform necessary processing on the file, and
Write to.

FIGS. 11 (a), 11 (b) and 13 show EEPRO
An example of various information written in M (11) is shown. FIG. 11A shows the correspondence between the custom code and the machine ID for each model. FIG. 2B shows the correspondence between functions, data codes, and sequential IDs for each machine ID. Here, the order ID is used to control various devices according to the sequence as described later.

When each mnemonic used to define the forward ID sequence is defined as shown in FIG. 12, the forward ID sequence for each model can be described as shown in FIG. As conversion information,
The correspondence between the function key, the function, and the sequential ID sequence is stored for each machine ID.

For example, in the case of VTR recording reservation, FIG.
By performing a series of key operations shown in (a), a target device, a function key, a TV channel, a day of the week, a start time,
When a series of control sequence codes specifying an end time and a mode are created, and the codes are received by the TV receiver (1), the received control sequence codes are as shown in FIG.
By referring to (a), (b) and the information of FIG. 13, the information is converted into a remote control code as shown after the arrow in FIG. 14 (a). The data in [] in the remote control code indicates the order ID. Therefore, the TV receiver (1)
Is a data sequence of the order ID shown in FIG.
, And convert the data code DC to an infrared signal in accordance with the format shown in FIG. 6B. At this time, the custom code CC is created with reference to FIG.

According to the above-mentioned TV receiver (1), by calling the house from outside, the T
Since an infrared signal in the same format as the infrared signal transmitted from the conventional remote control device is transmitted from the V receiver (1) to the target device such as the VTR (2), the target device has a special communication control. Even if it has no function, it is possible to operate such a target device from outside.

The description of the above embodiments is for the purpose of explaining the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the invention described in the claims or reducing the scope thereof.
In addition, the configuration of each part of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made within the technical scope described in the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a TV receiver and a VTR according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an installation state of a TV receiver and a VTR.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of a reflection mechanism attached to the TV receiver.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the infrared transmitter attached to the TV receiver via a flexible arm.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a relay unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a format (a) of a control signal for switching a liquid crystal shutter mechanism provided in dedicated glasses of a three-dimensional TV receiver and a format (b) of an infrared signal used for remote control.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control sequence code created by a key operation of a remote control operation device.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a series of operations from reception of an infrared control code by the control circuit to transmission of an infrared signal.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the relay unit.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a download process by a control circuit.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating code conversion information on a custom code and a data code for each model.

FIG. 12 is a table showing mnemonics of a sequential ID sequence.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating code conversion information for a sequential ID sequence for each model.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of code conversion using code conversion information.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (1) TV receiver (2) VTR (7) Telephone line (8) Modem (9) Control circuit (12) Infrared transmitter (13) Infrared receiver (15) Reflecting surface (16) Reflecting mechanism (17) Penetration Hole (18) Reflective surface (19) Flexible arm (20) Relay unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A remote control device for operating a target device controllable by a remote control signal by communication using a telephone line, wherein the remote control device is sent to a device main body to which the telephone line is connected via a telephone line. Signal receiving means for receiving an incoming telephone signal, code reading means for reading a control sequence code relating to device operation from the received telephone signal, and converting the read control sequence code into a remote control code recognizable by the target device. A remote control device comprising: code conversion means; and signal transmission means for transmitting a remote control code obtained thereby as a remote control signal to a target device. 2. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein a reflection mechanism for reflecting a remote control signal sent from the signal sending means toward the target device is attached to the device main body. 3. The remote control device according to claim 1, wherein signal transmission means is attached to the device main body via a flexible arm. 4. The remote control according to claim 1, further comprising a relay unit for relaying a remote control signal transmitted from a signal transmitting unit of the apparatus main body and transmitting the relayed signal to a target device. apparatus. 5. The code conversion means according to claim 1, wherein the code conversion means stores code conversion information for converting the control sequence code into a remote control code for each model of the target device. Remote control device. 6. The remote control device according to claim 5, wherein the apparatus main body is provided with a download unit for downloading at least a part of the code conversion information from outside through a telephone line to the code conversion unit.