JPH11168778A - Remote controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform remote control over plural remote-controlled devices in an integrated way, without modifying them by converting plural control codes into remote control codes which directly control each remote-controlled device respectively. SOLUTION: A wireless remote controller 1 is provided with plural control keys which correspond to remote-controlled devices 10, and when a control key is operated, the controller 1 sends a control code in the form of an infrared ray IR1 that controls the device 10 that corresponds to the control key. A storing part of a code conversion controlling part 7 stores data that represent correspondence between the control codes and remote control codes as a conversion table. When an operator depresses a key that corresponds to a television 11 of the control 1, the control code is received and demodulated by a receiving part 2, is then converted into a remote control code by an IR transmitting and receiving control part 4 and is sent to the television 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a remote control device used for integrated remote control of, for example, a television, a video tape recorder, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of remotely controlled devices such as a television, a video tape recorder, and an air conditioner in a home are provided with remote controllers (hereinafter, referred to as remote controllers) for remotely controlling these devices. I have. Therefore, the user performs remote control on the remote control device by selecting the remote control corresponding to the remote control device from the plurality of remote controls and operating the remote control. Further, different remote control codes are used for a plurality of remote controls for each manufacturer. Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-328998 discloses a technique relating to a remote control device having a function of determining a remote control code and receiving a remote control code from a combined remote controller.

[0003]

However, the conventional remote control device has a problem that the operability is very poor because one remote control must be selected from a plurality of remote controls. Therefore, it is conceivable to integrate a plurality of remote controllers, but as described above, since different remote control codes are used for each manufacturer, there is a problem that a plurality of devices must be modified. Further, the remote control device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-328998 can be applied only to a specific code system, and cannot remotely control a plurality of remotely controlled devices of different manufacturers in an integrated manner. There was a disadvantage. The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a remote control device capable of integrally controlling a plurality of remotely controlled devices without modification.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of remotely controlled devices to be remotely controlled, and a remote controller for generating a plurality of control codes corresponding to the plurality of remotely controlled devices. , The plurality of control codes,
It is characterized by comprising code conversion means for converting the plurality of remote control devices into remote control codes for directly controlling the respective remote control devices, and output means for outputting the remote control codes to the remote control devices. Also,
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the remote control device according to the first aspect, a first communication unit that performs communication between the remote controller and the code conversion unit via an electromagnetic wave; And a second communication unit for performing communication between the output unit and the plurality of remotely controlled devices. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the remote control device according to the first or second aspect, further comprising a control device that generates the plurality of control codes corresponding to the plurality of remotely controlled devices. I do.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a remote control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an integrated wireless remote controller for remotely controlling the remote control device 10, which is used for home automation. As the remote control device 10, for example, a television 11,
A VTR (Video Table Recorder) 12, an air conditioner 13, and the like are included.

[0006] The wireless remote controller 1 is provided with a plurality of control keys corresponding to the remote control device 10, and the wireless remote controller 1 assigns the newly added remote control device 10 to the control keys. It is possible. Further, when the control key is operated, the wireless remote controller 1 transmits a control code for controlling the remote controlled device 10 corresponding to the control key as infrared rays IR1.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a receiving unit for receiving the infrared ray IR1 and outputs a received signal. The demodulator 3 demodulates the received signal input from the receiver 2 and outputs the control code signal described above. Reference numeral 4 denotes an IR for controlling the receiving unit 2, the IR signal demodulating unit 3, and an IR signal modulating unit 8 and a transmitting unit 9 described later.
It is a transmission / reception control unit. Reference numeral 5 denotes a centralized control device composed of, for example, a personal computer or the like, which outputs a control code signal for remotely controlling the remotely controlled device 10 in the same manner as the wireless remote controller 1.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a communication processing unit which takes an interface between the central control device 5 and the code conversion control unit 7,
The control code signal output from the central control device 5 is output to the code conversion control unit 7. Code conversion control unit 7
Converts the control code output from the wireless remote controller 1 and the central control device 5 into a remote control code for directly controlling the remote controlled device 10, and outputs this to the IR transmission / reception control unit 4.

Here, a storage unit (not shown) of the code conversion control unit 7 stores data representing the correspondence between the control code and the remote control code as a conversion table. When the remote control device 10 is newly added, the control code and the remote control code corresponding to the remote control device 10 are registered in the conversion table.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an IR signal modulator for modulating a remote control code input from the IR transmission / reception controller 4, and outputs a modulation result as a modulation signal. 9
Is a transmitting unit for transmitting the modulated signal as infrared rays IR2 to the remote controlled device 10.

In the above configuration, when the operator presses an operation key corresponding to the television 11 among a plurality of operation keys of the wireless remote controller 1 to operate the television 11, for example, the wireless remote controller 1 A control code corresponding to the television 11 is transmitted as infrared rays IR1. Accordingly, the receiving unit 2 can receive the infrared IR
After receiving 1, the received signal is output to the IR signal demodulation unit 3. Then, after demodulating the above-described control code corresponding to the television 11 from the received signal, the IR signal demodulation unit 3 outputs a signal of the control code to the IR transmission / reception control unit 4.

Thus, the signal of the control code is I
The input / output is transmitted to the code conversion control unit 7 by the R transmission / reception control unit 4, and the code conversion control unit 7 refers to the conversion table,
After converting a control code corresponding to the television 11 into a remote control code for directly controlling the television 11, a signal of the remote control code is output to the IR transmission / reception control unit 4.

The signal of the remote control code is transmitted to the IR signal modulation section 8 by the IR transmission / reception control section 4.
After being modulated by the IR signal modulator 8, the modulated signal is output to the transmitter 9 as a modulated signal. Thereby, the infrared ray IR2 corresponding to the remote control code is transmitted from the transmission unit 9 to the television 11. Then, the infrared ray IR2 is received by a receiving unit (not shown) of the television 11. As a result,
The television 11 is remotely controlled according to a remote control code output from the receiving unit.

When the operator inputs a control code corresponding to the air conditioner 13 using the central control device 5 to operate the air conditioner 13, for example, a signal of the control code is transmitted from the central control device 5. Is input to the code conversion control unit 7 via the communication processing unit 6.

Thus, the code conversion control section 7 refers to the conversion table and converts the control code corresponding to the air conditioner 13 into a remote control code for directly controlling the air conditioner 13 in the same manner as the above operation. After the conversion, the remote control code signal is output to the IR transmission / reception control unit.

The signal of the remote control code is sent to the IR signal modulation section 8 by the IR transmission / reception control section 4.
After being modulated by the IR signal modulator 8, the modulated signal is output to the transmitter 9 as a modulated signal. As a result, the infrared ray IR2 corresponding to the remote control code is transmitted from the transmission unit 9 to the air conditioner 13. The infrared rays IR2 are transmitted to the air conditioner 13
(Not shown). As a result, the air conditioner 13 is remotely controlled according to the remote control code output from the receiving unit. Note that, in the remote control device according to the above-described embodiment, the infrared rays IR1,
Although an example using IR2 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and any wavelength may be used as long as it is an electromagnetic wave.

As described above, according to the remote control device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the control code output from the wireless remote control 1 or the central control device 5 is used to directly control the remote control device 10. Since the configuration is such that the remote control code is converted, the remote control device 10 can be remotely controlled in an integrated manner without modification.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since a code conversion means for converting a control code into a remote control code is provided, an effect is obtained that remote control can be integrally performed without modifying a plurality of remotely controlled devices.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a remote control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 wireless remote control 2 reception unit 3 IR signal demodulation unit 4 IR transmission / reception control unit 5 centralized control device 7 code conversion control unit 8 IR signal modulation unit 9 transmission unit 10 remote controlled device 11 television 12 VTR 13 air conditioner IR1 infrared IR2 infrared

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of remotely controlled devices to be remotely controlled; a remote controller for generating a plurality of control codes corresponding to the plurality of remotely controlled devices; A remote control device comprising: code conversion means for converting a control device into a remote control code for directly controlling each of the control devices; and output means for outputting the remote control code to the remote control device. A first communication unit that performs communication between the remote controller and the code conversion unit via an electromagnetic wave; and a communication unit that communicates between the output unit and the plurality of remotely controlled devices via an electromagnetic wave. The remote control device according to claim 1, further comprising a second communication unit that performs communication between the remote control units. 3. The remote control device according to claim 1, further comprising a control device that generates the plurality of control codes corresponding to the plurality of remotely controlled devices.