JPH11284990A - Video interphone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the video interphone system where a sensor senses an angle adjustable range and no power is supplied to a slave set control section when no image is outputted on a monitor. SOLUTION: The system is provided with a slave set 1 that has a camera 5 and a slave set speech section 11 and with a master set 6 that has a monitor 10 and a master set speech section 12 to make a speech with the slave set speech section 11. The master set is also provided with a master set control section 8 that provides an output of an angle adjustment signal when an angle adjustment switch 9 to adjust a camera angle is operated and with a slave set power supply circuit 7 that supplies power to the slave set under the control of the master set control section when the camera outputs an image. The slave set is also provided with an angle adjustment drive section 3 that adjusts the camera angle based on the angle adjustment signal and with a slave set control section 2 that controls the angle adjustment drive section using a sensor 4 to sense whether or not the camera angle is within an angle adjustable range and adjusts the camera angle in a reverse direction when the camera angle is adjusted and stays at the outside of the angle adjustable range so that the camera angle is always kept within the angle adjustable range.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television intercom apparatus, which has a single sensor for detecting an angle adjustable range of a camera and supplies power to a slave unit control unit when an image is not output from the camera. And a television intercom device for stopping the operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional intercom apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is known. The television intercom apparatus shown in FIG. 2 includes a child device 51 having a camera 55 and a parent device 5 having a monitor 61 for outputting an image from the child device 51.
6.

The master unit 56 includes a monitor 61 for outputting an image of the camera 55 of the slave unit 51, a tilt switch 60 for tilting the camera 55 up and down, and a tilt for tilting the camera 5 by operating the tilt switch 60. A base unit control unit 59 for outputting a signal to the slave unit 51;
A power supply circuit 57 for supplying power to the mobile device, and a base unit communication unit 63 having a function for communicating with the mobile device 51 are provided.

The slave unit 51 has a camera 55 for outputting an image to the monitor 61 of the master unit 56, a tilt drive unit 53 for tilting the camera 55 up and down, and the camera 55 reaching the upper limit of the tilt drivable range. An upper limit sensor 54 for detecting whether the camera 55 is tilted or not, a lower limit sensor 62 for detecting whether the camera 55 has reached the lower limit of the tilt drivable range, and a power supply from a slave unit power supply circuit 57 of the master unit 56. A slave unit control unit 52 that controls the tilt drive unit 53 using a tilt signal from the master unit control unit 59 and outputs of the upper limit sensor 54 and the lower limit sensor 62;
It has a handset communication unit 64 having a function for making a call.

[0005] The operation of the slave unit 51 in the television intercom apparatus configured as described above will be described. The slave controller 52 of the slave 51 receives the tilt signal for tilting the camera 55 upward from the master controller 59 by operating the tilt switch 60 of the master 56, and tilts the camera 55 upward. When the camera 55 tilts to the upper limit, the upper limit sensor 5
Numeral 4 outputs to the slave unit control unit 52 that it is out of the tilt range. When detecting that the slave unit is out of the tiltable range, the slave unit control unit 52 outputs a stop signal of the camera 55 to the tilt drive unit 53, and stops the drive of the camera 55. Thereafter, the slave unit control unit 52 operates the master unit control unit 5 by operating the tilt switch 60.
When the camera 55 receives the tilt signal for tilting downward from the camera 9 and tilts the camera 55 downward,
Until a signal indicating that the camera 55 is within the tiltable range is received from 4, the tilt signal for tilting the camera 55 received from the master control unit 59 is ignored.

[0006] Similarly, when the slave unit control unit 52 receives a tilt signal for tilting the camera 55 downward from the master unit control unit 59, and detects that the tilt signal is out of the tiltable range from the lower limit sensor 62, By receiving a tilt signal for tilting up and tilting the camera 55 up,
Until a signal indicating that the camera is within the tiltable range is received from the lower limit sensor 62, the camera 5 received from the master unit control unit 59
Ignore the tilt signal for tilting 5 down.

[0007] Further, since the handset 51 has two sensors, an upper limit sensor 54 and a lower limit sensor 62, the handset control unit 5
When the camera 55 is out of the tilt range when the power supply to the camera 2 is started, it is possible to easily determine whether the upper limit or the lower limit outside the tilt range. Therefore, when the camera 55 is not tilted, power can be saved by stopping power supply to the slave unit control unit 52.

[0008]

However, in a television intercom apparatus having two sensors as shown in FIG. 2, it is necessary to always supply power because there are separate upper and lower sensors for detecting out of the tiltable range. However, two sensors are required, which hinders downsizing of equipment and cost reduction.

If these two sensors are used as a single sensor having a function of detecting whether the camera is within the tilt range or outside the tilt range, for example, the sensor is tilted upward and out of the tiltable range. When the power supply to the slave unit control unit is stopped when the tilt is tilted until, and then the power supply to the slave unit control unit is performed, it is possible to detect that the sensor is out of the tiltable range by the sensor because there is only one sensor, Unable to determine upper or lower limit.

For this reason, even when the tilt is not performed, the power supply is always required to be supplied to the slave unit control unit, which requires extra power.

According to the present invention, in order to solve such a problem, a television interphone which detects an angle adjustable range with a single sensor and does not require power supply to a slave unit control unit when an image is not output to a monitor. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to a television intercom apparatus according to the present invention,
A handset having a camera for outputting an image and a handset communication unit for making a call; a monitor for outputting an image from the camera; and a base unit communication unit for making a call with the handset communication unit A master unit, wherein the master unit includes an angle adjustment switch for adjusting the angle of the camera when an image is output from the camera, and a master unit control for outputting an adjustment signal when the angle adjustment switch is operated. Unit and a slave unit power supply circuit for supplying power to the slave unit under the control of the master unit control unit when outputting an image from the camera, wherein the slave unit adjusts the camera angle by an angle adjustment signal. An angle adjustment drive, one sensor for detecting whether the camera is within or outside the angle adjustable range, and a sensor for controlling the angle adjustment drive by the output of the sensor to adjust the angle of the camera Angle from Detects that it is integer can range,
The camera further includes a slave unit control unit that adjusts the angle of the camera in a reverse direction until the camera detects the position within the adjustable angle range, and always maintains the camera within the adjustable angle range.

In such a television intercom apparatus, the power supply to the slave unit control unit is stopped when no image is output from the camera, and the camera is always within the angle adjustable range at the time of the next power supply. At startup, it is not necessary to determine the upper and lower limits of the camera, and one sensor determines whether the range is within the angle adjustable range or outside the range.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of a television intercom apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, a television intercom apparatus according to the present invention comprises a slave unit 1 having a camera 5 and a camera 5.
The main unit 6 is provided with a monitor 10 for outputting the image.

The master unit 6 includes a monitor 10 and the camera 5 of the slave unit 1.
An angle adjustment switch 9 for tilting the camera up and down, a master unit control unit 8 for outputting a tilt signal for tilting the camera 5 by operating the angle adjustment switch 9 to the slave unit 1,
A slave unit power supply circuit 7 for supplying power to the slave unit 1;
Master unit communication unit 12 having a function for talking with slave unit 1
It has. The child device 1 also includes a camera 5 for outputting an image to the monitor 10 of the parent device 6, an angle adjustment drive unit 3 for tilting the camera 5 up and down, and whether the camera 5 is within the tiltable range or outside the range. Sensor 4 for detecting whether
Power is supplied from the slave unit power supply circuit 7 of the master unit 6,
A slave unit control unit 2 that controls the angle adjustment drive unit 3 based on a tilt signal from the tilt signal 8 from the master unit control unit 8 and an output of the sensor 4, and a slave unit that has a function for talking with the master unit talk unit 12. The communication unit 11 is provided.

Normally, base unit control unit 8 controls slave unit power supply circuit 7 to save power, and stops power supply to slave unit control unit 2. The master unit control unit 8 supplies power to the slave unit control unit 2 when outputting an image from the camera 5. When the angle adjustment switch 9 is operated to tilt the camera 5 upward after power is supplied to the slave unit control unit 2, the master unit control unit 8 outputs an upward tilt signal to the slave unit control unit 2. When receiving the upward tilt signal, the slave unit control section 2 outputs a signal for tilting the camera 5 upward to the tilt drive section 3 according to the signal. When the camera 5 tilts up to a position outside the tiltable range, the sensor 4 connected to the angle adjustment drive unit 3 outputs a signal outside the tiltable range to the slave unit control unit 2. Upon receiving this signal, the slave unit control unit 2 outputs a signal for tilting down to the angle adjustment drive unit 3 to tilt the camera 5 downward, and receives a signal within the tiltable range from the sensor 4, Therefore, a signal for stopping the tilt is output to the angle adjustment drive unit 3. At this time, since the camera 5 is at the upper limit of the tiltable range, until the camera 5 deviates from the upper limit of the tiltable range by a downward tilt signal from the master unit 1,
Disable tilt signal up from.

Similarly, when the tilt exceeds the lower limit of the tiltable range due to the downward tilt signal from the master unit 1, the slave unit control unit 2 receives the signal out of the tiltable range from the sensor 4 and turns the camera 5 on. When tilted upward and a signal within the tiltable range is received from the sensor 4, a signal for stopping tilt is output.

At this time, since the camera 5 is at the lower limit of the tiltable range, the tilt signal from the base unit 1 is lowered until the camera 5 deviates from the lower limit of the tiltable range due to an upward tilt signal from the base unit 1 or the like. Disable.

The master unit controller 8 monitors the image of the camera 5 on the monitor 1
When not outputting from 0, a power supply stop signal is output to the slave unit power supply circuit 7 to stop the power supply to the slave unit control unit 2.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the tilt function of the camera of the slave unit, but the same effect can be obtained by applying the present invention to the pan function of the camera of the slave unit.

[0022]

As is apparent from the above description, the TV interphone according to the present invention requires only one sensor to detect the angle adjustable range, and needs to supply power to the slave unit control unit when no image is output to the monitor. As a result, power consumption can be reduced, the size of the device can be reduced, and the cost of one sensor can be reduced, so that an inexpensive TV intercom can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a television intercom apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional television intercom apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 slave unit 2 slave unit control unit 3 angle adjustment drive unit 4 sensor 5 camera 6 master unit 7 slave unit power supply circuit 8 master unit control unit 9 angle adjustment switch 10 monitor 11 child Phone talk section 12 ... Master phone talk section

Claims (1)

[Claims] A camera (5) for outputting an image, and a handset (1) having a handset communication unit (11) for making a call.
And a monitor (1) for outputting an image from the camera.
0), a master unit (6) having a master unit communication unit (12) for making a call with the slave unit communication unit, wherein the master unit is connected to the camera when an image is output from the camera. An angle adjustment switch (9) for adjusting the angle of the camera, a master unit controller (8) for outputting an angle adjustment signal when the angle adjustment switch is operated, and the master unit for outputting an image from the camera. A slave power supply circuit (7) for supplying power to the slave under the control of the slave controller, wherein the slave is configured to adjust an angle of the camera by the angle adjustment signal; (3) one sensor (4) for detecting whether the camera is within the angle adjustable range or out of the range, and controlling the angle adjustment drive unit based on the output of the sensor to adjust the angle of the camera. When adjusting To detect that the camera is out of the angle adjustable range, adjust the angle of the camera in the opposite direction until the angle is detected in the angle adjustable range, and always maintain the camera within the angle adjustable range. (2) A television intercom apparatus.