JPS63185262A - Automatic answering telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize an automatic answering telephone system which responds to a correct remote control signal by judging the correct remote control signal when all components of the remote control signal are detected. CONSTITUTION:A control circuit 17 monitors an incoming detection signal from an incoming detection circuit 2 at all times and controls the relay A of a line closing circuit 3 when a call signal arrives to close the line. A detection signal from a marker signal detection circuit 8 is monitored at all times after a response message begins to be sent out, and signal components from a remote control signal component detecting means 8 are monitored at all times. when a user makes a call in automatic response mode to send out the remote control signal, remote control processing is performed on the detection of the remote control signal. When the remote control signal is recorded on a magnetic tape 11 for the response message by mistake, the response message is muted, so the remote control signal is not detected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an answering machine that can be controlled from the outside via a telephone line.

2. Description of the Related Art In general, when an answering machine is in an answering mode, it plays a prerecorded response message and sends it to the caller, and in response to the response message, a message sent by the caller is recorded. furthermore, a predetermined remote control signal (D
A circuit for detecting the TMF' signal is connected to the common line with the audio signal, and by detecting this remote control signal, the message is cued and played back, and sent to the user. has been done.

However, in this type of answering machine, when the user sends a remote control signal from outside, the user is in the answering mode, so the remote control signal may be mistakenly sent as a response message or message. It may be recorded in the sound/playback section.

Therefore, if a remote control signal is mistakenly recorded in the response message recording/playback section, the message may be played back while the response message is being sent, resulting in a malfunction, and the remote control signal sent while the response message is being recorded. If the signal is recorded by mistake, playing back the message will cause a malfunction, so when a remote control signal component is detected, the playback status of the response message and message will be muted for a predetermined period of time.
The remote control signal is determined to be correct only when the remote control signal is detected continuously during this predetermined period of time.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-mentioned conventional answering machine, in order to keep the playback state of the response message and the business message in the meet state for a predetermined period of time after the start of detection of the remote control signal component,
If the remote control signal is sent at quick intervals, it is difficult to detect this, and if the same signal component as the remote control signal is present in the response message or message being played, it will be muted for a predetermined period of time, resulting in malfunction. There is a problem with that.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an answering machine that responds to correct remote control signals.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has an objective of solving the above-mentioned problems. controlling the muting means to mute the muting means; controlling the muting means to release the mute state when no remote control signal components are detected; correct remote control when all components of the remote control signal are detected; It is characterized by being configured to be determined as a signal.

According to the above-mentioned structure, the present invention has the following features: 5.1. The remote control signal component in the response message or message message is no longer judged as a correct remote control signal.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the answering machine according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the answering machine shown in FIG. 1, particularly the control circuit 17, and FIG. , is a timing chart of the main signals in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, ■ is a central office line connection terminal connected to a telephone line (office line), 2 is an incoming signal detection circuit that detects an incoming signal sent from the telephone line via the central office line connection terminal 1;
3 is a line closing circuit consisting of relay A and its contact a; 4
is a marker signal generation circuit that generates a marker signal indicating the end of the response message in order to send the message to the caller, and this marker signal is recorded in advance on the magnetic tape 11, which will be described later, after the response message. be done.

5 is a muting circuit that turns off the line L in order to keep the reproduction state of the response message or business message in a silent (me-) state for a predetermined period of time;
A marker signal detection circuit 7 detects a marker signal on the line and shifts to the message recording mode, and 7 is an end call detection circuit that detects the end of a call on the line and prepares for the next incoming call.

8 is a remote control signal component detection circuit that outputs a signal component when detecting a component of the remote control signal (DTMF signal) on line L; 9 is a signal from the remote control signal component detection circuit 8; This is a remote control signal receiving circuit that passes the signal component and converts the signal component into a remote control code, and an amplifying circuit that amplifies the marker signal from the marker signal generating circuit 4 and records it on a magnetic tape 11, which will be described later. .

11 is a magnetic tape on which a response message and a marker signal have been recorded in advance; 12 is a magnetic head for recording a response message on the magnetic tape 11 and reproducing the response message; 3 is a magnetic head for recording a response message on the magnetic tape 11 and reproducing the response message; A magnetic tape 14 for recording a business message is a magnetic head 7 for recording a business message on the magnetic tape 13 and for reproducing the business message.

15 is an amplification circuit for amplifying the response message and message message respectively reproduced by the magnetic heads 12 and 14; 16 is a magnetic tape 11 and 13, and the magnetic head 12;
．． 14.

B is a relay that switches the contact C to the amplifier circuit 10 or 15, C is a relay that switches the contact C to the magnetic head 12 or 14, and the contacts 2 and 3 are connected in the absence mode as shown in FIG. A magnetic head 12 for response messages and an amplifier circuit 15 are connected.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a control circuit composed of a microcomputer, and this control circuit 17 includes an arithmetic circuit 17a that operates as shown in FIG. 2, and an area where predetermined remote control signal components and remote control codes are stored. It has a RAM (random access memory) 17b having a work area etc. for the arithmetic circuit 17a, a ROM (read-on memory) 17c storing an execution program etc. for the arithmetic circuit 17a, and an input section 17d and an output section 17e which will be described later.

Various detection signals from the incoming call detection circuit 2, marker signal detection circuit 6, end of call detection circuit 7, remote control signal component detection circuit 8, and remote control signal reception circuit 9 are input to the control circuit 170 input section 17d, and outputted. The section 17e outputs various control signals as described later to the relay A of the line connection circuit 3, the muting circuit 5, the relay BSO, the marker signal generation circuit 4, and the tape drive means 16.

Next, the operation of the control circuit 17 in the absence mode will be explained with reference to FIG.

As shown in step (hereinafter referred to as ST) 1, the control circuit 17 constantly monitors the incoming call detection signal from the incoming call detection circuit 2, and when a call signal arrives at the line connection terminal 1, it proceeds to ST2 and disconnects the line. The line is closed by controlling relay A of the closing circuit 3.

In the subsequent ST3, the tape drive means 16 is controlled to start reproducing the response message on the magnetic tape 11 into an audio signal via the magnetic head 12. This reproduced audio signal is sent to the office line via contacts c and b, the amplifier circuit 15, the muting circuit 5, the line closing circuit 3, and the line connection terminal 1.

After starting to send this response message, the detection signal from the marker signal detection circuit 6 is constantly monitored as shown in ST4, and the signal component from the remote control signal component detection means 8 is constantly monitored as shown in ST5.

If the marker signal is not detected in ST4 and the remote control signal component is not detected in ST5, ST6
Then, a control signal is outputted so that the muting circuit 5 does not operate, and the response message continues to be sent in a loop of ST4→ST5→ST6→ST4.

When the sending of the response message is completed, the marker signal detection circuit 6 branches from ST4 to ST7 to execute the business message recording mode in order to detect the marker signal recorded after the response message.

In this message recording mode, tape drive means 1
6 and relay O's contact C, the message 10--... sent from the caller via the central office line is recorded on the magnetic tape 13, and the end-of-call detection circuit 7 detects it. Then, the magnetic tape 11 for the response message
Rewind and prepare for the next call. This message is
It is played back after the user returns home or by remote control as described below.

On the other hand, when a remote control signal component is input in ST5 during playback of the response message, the process branches to ST8, operates the muting circuit 5, mutes the response message being sent, and proceeds to ST9.

In ST9, it is determined whether or not a valid signal component is input from the remote control signal receiving circuit 9. If it is input, the process proceeds to 5TIO, and if it is not input, the process returns to ST4.

5TIO reads the encoded data from the remote control signal receiving circuit 9 and compares it with the reference data in the RAM 17b. If it is not valid, the process returns to ST4; if it is valid, the process proceeds to 5T12 to perform remote control processing, that is, tape drive. By controlling the means 16, the magnetic tape 13 of the business message is located and reproduced, and by switching the contact C of the relay C, the audio signal is sent to the central office line.

In other words, when the user calls and sends a remote control signal while in the away mode, the remote control process executes the loop of ST4→ST5→ST6→S'r4 from the time the call arrives, and the remote control When a signal is detected, ST5 to S
Proceed to T8-5T12 to execute remote control processing.

On the other hand, if a remote control signal is erroneously recorded on the magnetic tape 11 of the response message, this remote control signal component is detected and the process proceeds from ST5 to ST8 and ST9. The signal is no longer detected, and the process returns to the loop of ST4→ST5→ST6→ST4.

Then, in ST5, before the remote control signal is detected again, S 'I' 4 → ST5 → ST8 → ST 9->
S T 4. (f) Loop processing and 5T4-+5T5-
+ST6→ST4 loop processing is executed alternately.

Therefore, it is possible to distinguish between a remote control signal that is erroneously recorded on the magnetic tape 11 of the response message and a remote control signal that is called by the user and sent out via the central office line.

In addition, the magnetic tape 11 of the response message
If the remote control signal S on the call line L is incorrectly recorded, there will be an inconvenience that the response message to the caller will be interrupted, but as shown in FIG.
When the time t2 from the end of the remote control signal S1 to the end of the detection signal of the remote control signal detection circuit 8 is sufficiently shorter than the time t1 from the start of S1 to the start of the output signal of the remote control signal detection circuit 8. In this case, the time required for the response message to enter the meet state is shortened, and the above-mentioned inconvenience can be alleviated.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which a remote control signal is erroneously recorded on the magnetic tape 11 of the response message.
Of course, the same operation can be performed even if the remote control signal is erroneously recorded in No. 3.

As described in detail, the present invention provides a method for controlling the muting means to be in a mute state when a remote control signal component is detected when the recording and reproducing means is reproducing a response message or a business message. and is configured to control the meeting means to release the mute state when no remote control signal components are detected, and to determine that the remote control signal is correct when all components of the remote control signal are detected. Therefore, if a remote control signal component is recorded in the response message or message, the mute state of the response message or message that is played becomes intermittent, so If the remote control signal component is not judged as the correct remote control signal,
This has the effect of responding only to correct remote control signals.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of the answering machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the answering machine shown in FIG. 3 is a timing chart of the main signals in FIG. 1. 5... Muting circuit, 8... Remote control signal component detection circuit, 9... Remote control signal receiving circuit, 1]...
- Magnetic tape for response message, 12... Magnetic head for response message, 13... Magnetic tape for message message, 14... Magnetic head for message message, 16... Tape driving means, 17... Control circuit. Name of agent: Patent attorney Satoshi Nakao and one other person Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A recording/playback means for recording and reproducing a response message to be sent to the caller during the absence mode and a message to be sent from the caller in response to the response message; a remote control reproduction means for cueing and reproducing a message; a muting means for muting a line connected to the recording and reproduction means; a detection means for detecting a component of a remote control signal; When a response message or a business message is being reproduced, when the detection means detects a remote control signal component, the muting means is controlled to be in a mute state, and the detection means detects the remote control signal component. An answering machine comprising means for controlling the muting means to release the mute state when the muting means is not in use, and driving the remote control reproduction means when the detection means detects all components of the remote control signal.