JPH1117471A - Attenuator adjustment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an attenuator adjustment device capable of finely adjusting the attenuator value of an electronic volume without increasing the number of steps. SOLUTION: Attenuation data for respective attenuator adjustment steps are stored in a ROM(read-only memory) 13, and in the case that an up button 11a or a down button 11b are pressed only once within 0.7 second, a control part 12 reads the attenuation data of the next step from the ROM 13 and outputs them to the electronic volume 14. On the other hand, when the up button 11a or the down button 11b is pressed twice within 0.7 second, the control part 12 computes the attenuation data to be the attenuator value between the present step and the next step and outputs them to the electronic volume 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an attenuator adjusting device used for adjusting the volume of an audio device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, for adjusting the volume of an audio device,
Electronic regulators made into ICs have come to be used.
The electronic volume is composed of a plurality of ladder-connected resistance elements and a plurality of switch elements connected to each resistance element. The switch elements are selectively turned on and off according to input data (attenuation data). The attenuator value changes.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an attenuator adjusting device incorporated in an audio device. The electronic volume 24 attenuates the audio electric signal output from the signal source 26 and outputs the signal to the power amplifier 27. in this case,
The attenuator value of the electronic volume 24, that is, the signal attenuation is determined by the attenuation data provided from the control unit 22. The power amplifier 27 drives the speaker 28 by amplifying the input signal.

A read only memory (ROM) 13 divides the range between the maximum value and the minimum value of the attenuator value of the electronic volume 24 into, for example, 35 steps (volume steps), and stores attenuation data corresponding to the attenuator value of each step. A table is stored. The control unit 22 is provided with a volume up button (hereinafter, referred to as a volume up button) provided on the front surface of the housing 20 of the audio device.
When the "up button" 21a or the volume down button (hereinafter, simply "down button") 21b is operated, the ROM 2 stores the attenuation data of the volume step up or down by one step from the current step.
3 and output to the electronic volume 24.

As a result, the attenuator value of the electronic volume 24 changes, and the volume output from the speaker 28 changes. The control unit 22 displays a number indicating the current volume on the display unit 25. Usually, in audio equipment,
In order to make it possible to finely adjust the volume in a region of medium volume or higher that is often used, the relationship between the volume step and the attenuator value is as shown in FIG. , The change in the attenuator value for each step is set to be small when the sound volume is medium or high.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional attenuator adjusting device, the number of steps is limited, so that the attenuator value is 2 to 1 for each step.
It is set to change to about 0 dB. For this reason, the conventional attenuator adjusting device has a disadvantage that the sound volume cannot be finely adjusted particularly in a small sound volume region.

If the number of steps of volume control is increased, fine adjustments can be made in all areas. However, if this is done, it is necessary to press the up button or down button repeatedly until the desired volume is reached, and the usability is significantly reduced. . As described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an attenuator adjusting device capable of finely adjusting an attenuator value of an electronic volume without increasing the number of steps.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned problems are caused by an electronic volume whose attenuator value changes in accordance with attenuation data, an attenuator adjustment step being set, storage means for storing attenuation data for each step, and a user's user. An operation unit to which an instruction is input, a first process of reading out the attenuation data from the storage unit and outputting the attenuation data to the electronic volume according to the instruction given via the operation unit, and a current attenuator value; A control unit that executes one of a second process of calculating attenuation data to be an attenuator value between the attenuator value in the next step and outputting the attenuation data to the electronic volume. The problem is solved by the attenuator adjusting device of the first invention.

In addition, the above-mentioned problems are caused by an electronic volume in which an attenuator value changes according to attenuation data, an attenuator adjustment step being set, and first storage means storing attenuation data for each step; A second storage unit that stores attenuation data corresponding to the attenuator value during each attenuator adjustment step set in the storage unit; an operation unit to which a user's instruction is input; A first process of reading out the attenuation data from the first storage means and outputting the same to the electronic volume in accordance with the instruction, and reading out the attenuation data from the second storage means and outputting the same to the electronic volume. A second aspect of the invention provides an attenuator adjustment device having a control unit that executes either one of the second processing and the second processing.

The operation of the present invention will be described below. In the first invention of the present application, when the user performs an operation on the operation unit, an instruction is transmitted from the operation unit to the control unit,
For example, the control unit executes a first process of reading out the attenuation data stored in the storage unit and outputting the data to the electronic volume. Further, when the user performs another operation on the operation unit, the control means obtains the attenuation data as the attenuator value between the steps stored in the storage means by calculation and outputs the attenuation data to the electronic volume. Execute the processing of Thus, the attenuator adjustment device of the first invention of the present application can finely adjust the attenuator value without increasing the number of steps.

Further, in the second invention of the present application, an attenuator adjustment step is set, and first storage means storing attenuation data for each step, and an attenuator adjustment step set in the first storage means is provided. And second storage means for storing attenuation data corresponding to the intervening attenuator. When the user performs a certain operation on the operation unit, the control unit executes a first process of reading out the attenuation data stored in the first storage unit and outputting the data to the electronic volume. When the operation is performed, a second process of reading out the attenuation data stored in the second storage means and outputting it to the electronic volume is executed. Thus, even in the attenuator adjusting apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, fine adjustment of the attenuator value can be performed without increasing the number of steps.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an attenuator adjusting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment shows an example in which the present invention is used for a volume control unit of an audio device.

An attenuator adjusting device is provided with an up button 11 provided on an operation panel of a housing 10 of the audio device.
a, a down button 11b, a control unit 12 constituted by a microcomputer, an electronic regulator 14 formed into an IC, and a division between the maximum value and the minimum value of the attenuator value of the electronic volume 14 in 35 steps. ROM 1 storing attenuation data corresponding to the attenuator value of the step
3 and a display unit 15 for displaying the volume by numbers. An instruction from the user is transmitted to the control unit 12 via the up button 11a or the down button 11b.

The electronic volume 14 is connected between a signal source 15 and a power amplifier 16, and a speaker 17 is connected to the power amplifier 16. FIG. 2 is an equivalent circuit diagram showing an example of the electronic regulator 14 formed as an IC. The electronic volume 14 has a first attenuator section 14a and a second attenuator section 14b.
Reference numeral 4a denotes a plurality of resistance elements R1 to R16 ladder-connected between the terminal IN and the terminal C, and switch elements S1 to R1 respectively connected between the connection points between the resistance elements R1 to R16 and the terminal C1. And S17. The second attenuator unit 14b includes a plurality of resistance elements R21 to R25 ladder-connected between the terminal C2 and the terminal C, and a connection point between each connection point between the resistance elements R21 to R25 and the terminal OUT. It is composed of switch elements S21 to S26 connected respectively.

The resistance elements R1 to R16 are set so that the attenuator values differ by 5 dB, the resistance elements R21 to R24 are set so that the attenuator values differ by 1 dB, and the resistance element R25 is set to a sufficiently large value. Have been. Therefore, the electronic regulator 14 can externally connect the terminal C1 and the terminal C2 and combine the first and second attenuators 14a and 14b, so that the attenuator value is 1 dB from 0 dB to -79 dB.
Can be determined in units.

The volume control attenuation data input to the electronic volume 14 is composed of 7 bits as shown in FIG. Of these, the upper 4 bits determine the attenuator value in the first attenuator section 14a, and the lower 3 bits determine the attenuator value in the second attenuator section 14b. FIG. 4 shows the attenuation data and the first and second attenuators 14a and 14b.
Shows the relationship between the attenuator values in the above. For example, Top 4
Bit is (0000) and the lower three bits are (00)
0), the attenuator value is infinite (∞),
If the upper bit is (0000) and the lower bit is (001), the attenuator value is -79 dB and the upper bit is (0
000) and the lower bit is (010), the attenuator value is set to -78 dB, so that the electronic volume 14 is set to an attenuator value corresponding to the input attenuation data.

The attenuation data is input to the electronic volume 14 as parallel data. At this time, the attenuation data is input in order from the upper bits. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a table of attenuation data stored in the ROM 13. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the volume level is set to 35 steps,
M13 stores attenuation data corresponding to the attenuator value of each step. The control unit 12 stores the ROM 13 according to a predetermined program as described later.
, Or generates attenuation data by calculation, and outputs it to the electronic volume 14. In addition,
The control unit 12 has an internal storage device that retains the stored contents even when the power of the audio device is turned off, and the internal storage device stores a volume step before the power was last turned off.

Hereinafter, the operation of the attenuator adjusting device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the power of the audio device is turned on, the control unit 12 reads a volume step before the power was previously turned off from the internal storage device, reads attenuation data corresponding to the volume step from the ROM 13, and reads the attenuation data corresponding to the volume step from the electronic volume 1.
4 is output. Further, control unit 12 displays a number corresponding to the current volume step on display unit 15. The electronic volume 14 changes the attenuator value according to the attenuation data input from the control unit 12, attenuates the signal input from the signal source 15, and outputs the signal to the amplifier 16.

In processing step 101, control unit 12
Checks whether the up button 11a or the down button 11b has been pressed, and when the user presses the up button 11a or the down button 11b, the process proceeds to the processing step 102, and the control unit 12 sets the Then 0.7
It is determined whether or not the up button 11a or the down button 11b has been pressed twice. If the button has been pressed only once, the process proceeds to processing step 103, and the control unit 12 reads out the attenuation data of the next step which goes up or down by one step from the ROM 13. Then, the processing shifts to processing step 104, where the control unit 12
The attenuation data read from 13 is output to the electronic volume 14, and a number indicating the volume is displayed on the display unit 15. The electronic volume 14 sets an attenuator value based on the attenuation data input from the control unit 12. afterwards,
It returns to processing step 101.

On the other hand, in processing step 102, 0.
Up button 11a or down button 11 within 7 seconds
If either one of the buttons b is pressed twice, the process proceeds to the processing step 105, where the control unit 12 reads out the attenuation data of the current step and the attenuation data of the next step from the ROM 13, and determines the intermediate value between the two. Is calculated by calculation.
Then, the processing shifts to processing step 104, where the control unit 12 outputs the calculated value to the electronic volume 14 as attenuation data. The electronic volume 14 sets an attenuator value based on the attenuation data input from the control unit 12. Thereafter, the process returns to the processing step 101.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the control unit 1
It is checked whether or not the up button 11a or the down button 11b has been pressed twice within a certain period of time by means of 2, and if it has been pressed only once, attenuation data is read from the ROM 13 and output to the electronic volume 14. When the button is pressed twice, the control unit 12 executes a second process of calculating and outputting to the electronic volume 14 attenuation data intermediate between the current step and the next step. . Thus, without increasing the number of steps,
This has the effect that the volume can be finely adjusted.

In this embodiment, when the up button 11a or the down button 11b is pressed twice within 0.7 seconds, the attenuator value is set to an intermediate value between the current step and the next step. Has been described, but the time of twice pressing and the amount of change in the attenuator value may be arbitrarily set. For example, when the up button 11a or the down button 11b is pressed twice within 0.7 seconds,
When the up button 11a and the down button 11b are pressed simultaneously, the control unit 12 may add 1 to the present attenuation data to change the attenuator value of the electronic volume 14 by 1 dB.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram showing an attenuator adjustment device of an embodiment. 7, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the first ROM 13 in which the volume step and the attenuation data are stored in association with each other, a second ROM in which data for obtaining an attenuator value between each volume step is stored. ROM 13a. This second RO
FIG. 8 shows the attenuation data, the volume step, and the attenuator value stored in M13a.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the attenuator adjusting device according to the present embodiment. The control unit 12 checks whether or not the up button 11a or the down button 11b has been pressed in the processing step 201. When the user presses the up button 11a or the down button 11b on the front of the panel, the processing shifts to the processing step 202. The control unit 12 checks whether the up button 11a or the down button 11b has been pressed twice within a predetermined time (for example, within 0.7 seconds). If the button has been pressed only once, the process proceeds to processing step 203, and the control unit 12 reads out the attenuation data of the next step which goes up or down by one step from the ROM 13. And processing step 204
The control unit 12 outputs the attenuation data read from the ROM 13 to the electronic volume 14 and displays a number indicating the volume on the display unit 15. Electronic volume 14
Sets the attenuator value based on the attenuation data input from the control unit 12. Thereafter, the process returns to the processing step 201.

On the other hand, in processing step 202, 0.
Up button 11a or down button 11 within 7 seconds
If any one of the buttons b is pressed twice, the process proceeds to the processing step 205, and the control unit 12 reads out the attenuation data which is increased or decreased by 0.5 step from the current step from the ROM 13a. Then, the processing shifts to processing step 204, where the control unit 12 outputs the attenuation data read from the ROM 13a to the electronic volume 14. The electronic volume 14 sets an attenuator value based on the attenuation data input from the control unit 12. Thereafter, the process returns to step 201.

In this embodiment, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained. In each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which the present invention is applied to volume control of an audio device has been described. However, the attenuator adjusting device of the present invention is not limited to this, and may have a roundness and a fader. , Bass and treble.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In response to an instruction given via the operation unit, the control unit reads out the attenuation data from the storage unit and outputs the attenuation data to the electronic volume, and controls the intermediate processing between the current attenuator value and the attenuator value in the next step. And the second process of calculating the attenuation data to be the attenuator value and outputting the obtained data to the electronic volume. Thereby, there is an effect that the attenuator value can be finely adjusted without increasing the number of steps.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the first storage means storing the attenuation data corresponding to the attenuator value for each step and the intermediate between the attenuator adjustment step stored in the first storage means. And a second storage unit in which attenuation data corresponding to the attenuator value is stored. The control unit reads the attenuation data from the first storage unit in response to an instruction given via the operation unit, and electronically stores the attenuation data. Either a first process for outputting to the volume or a second process for reading out the second storage means attenuation data and outputting the data to the electronic volume is executed. Thereby, there is an effect that the attenuator value can be finely adjusted without increasing the number of steps.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an attenuator adjusting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an equivalent circuit diagram illustrating an example of an electronic regulator.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between attenuation data for volume adjustment given to an electronic volume and an attenuator value.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between attenuation data and attenuator values in first and second attenuator sections of the electronic regulator.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an attenuation data table stored in a ROM.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the attenuator device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an attenuator adjusting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an attenuation data table recorded in a second ROM.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the attenuator device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an attenuator adjusting device incorporated in the audio device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a relationship between a volume step and an attenuator value.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 20 Housing 11a, 21a Up button 11b, 21b Down button 12, 22 Control unit 13, 13a, 23 ROM 14, 24 Electronic volume 15, 25 Display unit 16, 26 Signal source 17, 27 Power amplifier 18, 28 Speaker

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Ryoji Gamo 1-1-8, Nishigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Alpine Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Manabu Goto 1-1-8, Nishigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Alpine Inside (72) Inventor Motohiro Yoshino Alpine, Inc. 1-1-8 Nishigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Alpine Incorporated (72) Inventor Tsuyoshi Yoshida 1-1-18 Nishigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Alpine shares Inside the company (72) Inventor Kazu Aizawa Alpine Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic volume in which an attenuator value changes according to attenuation data, an attenuator adjustment step is set, a storage means for storing attenuation data for each step, and an operation unit to which a user's instruction is input; A first process of reading out the attenuation data from the storage unit and outputting the attenuation data to the electronic volume in accordance with an instruction given through the operation unit, and a process between the current attenuator value and the attenuator value of the next step. An attenuator adjustment device comprising: a control unit that executes either one of a second process of calculating attenuation data to be an attenuator value and outputting the attenuation data to the electronic volume. 2. An electronic volume in which an attenuator value changes in accordance with attenuation data, an attenuator adjustment step is set, first storage means storing attenuation data for each step, and setting in the first storage means. A second storage unit storing attenuation data corresponding to the attenuator value during each of the attenuator adjustment steps performed, an operation unit to which a user's instruction is input, and an instruction given through the operation unit , The first
One of a first process for reading out the attenuation data from the storage means and outputting the data to the electronic volume, and a second processing for reading out the attenuation data from the second storage means and outputting the data to the electronic volume An attenuator adjustment device comprising: a control unit that executes the processing of (1).