JPS6327510Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a remote control mechanism for remotely controlling electrical equipment such as a television receiver.

In general remote control of electrical equipment, infrared rays, near infrared rays, or ultrasonic waves are used as the medium for operating commands, and the transmitter modulates and transmits a pulse train to the keyboard, while the receiver uses a narrowband amplifier. After amplifying the modulated wave, it is tuned and detected,
A system in which the signal is then shaped into a transmission pulse train code and then subjected to signal decoding processing is widely used.

For example, in general remote control of a television receiver, operation functions include opening/closing a power supply circuit, adjusting volume, and switching channels. Conventional means for remote control are as follows.

First, the structure of the transmitter T that is in the operator's hand and that oscillates a command signal includes a reference oscillator 1 for generating a transmission pulse train, a keyboard switch 2 for instructing a transmission code, and a generator for generating a transmission pulse train. Or a pulse generator 3 for preventing chattering of the keyboard switch section 2, etc.
, a modulator 4 for superimposing a carrier wave on a transmission pulse train, a driver 5 for driving an infrared light emitting diode, and an infrared light emitting diode 6 for converting a transmission code into infrared light. (See Figure 1) The receiver R also includes a photodiode 7 for converting received infrared rays into a current, a narrowband amplifier 8 for amplifying the minute output signal of the photodiode, and a command signal wave for detecting a command signal wave from a carrier wave. A tuned detector 9, a Schmitt trigger circuit 10 that shapes the waveform of a signal corresponding to the transmitted pulse train, and a signal processing circuit 1 that decodes the pulse train and transmits the signal to each processing circuit.
1. (See Figure 2) Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3, the keyboard switch 2 includes an operation switch 2A for channel switching, a volume switch 2B, and a power OFF/ON switch.
Switches 2C are provided, and a predetermined operation command signal, for example, a pulse code P as shown in FIG. 4, is transmitted to each of these switches.

The pulse code P has a leader bit A indicating that it is a code transmitted from a transmitter T, and a data bit B indicating the contents of the transmitted operation.

These blocks are arranged in a television receiver as shown in FIG.

That is, the transmitter T is provided independently, and the receiver R is installed toward the television receiver 12.
The output terminal includes a power supply switching control circuit 13 that drives a power supply circuit switching relay, a volume adjustment circuit 14 that controls the audio output signal level according to the supplied signal, and a channel selection circuit 15 that includes a tuner for a television receiver.
are connected to each other.

In the remote control with the above configuration, when each switch 2A, 2B, 2C of the keyboard switch 2 is operated, a circuit corresponding to the operation is activated, but it is difficult to command the volume adjustment using the pulse code P.

Conventionally, since the volume for adjusting the volume in the television receiver 12 is variably operated in an analog manner, the volume change characteristic has been linear.

However, in the case of remote control, it is carried out according to the program of the processing procedure shown in FIG. On the other hand, this code is checked at appropriate intervals and the duty of the voice control pulses is increased step by step while the switches 2A, 2B, 2C are pressed.

Of course, if the number of pulse duty steps is made smaller and the volume adjustment circuit has a sufficient time constant, the volume change will be linear to the auditory sense and will not feel too unnatural. According to the report, there were the following problems:

(1) The key switch of transmitter T must be held down until the volume reaches the desired value.

(2) Since the volume adjustment circuit has a time constant in order to make the volume change linear perceptually, the responsiveness when operating the key switch is poor and fine adjustment is difficult.

(3) If the volume change speed is slowed down to improve responsiveness, the adjustment time becomes extremely long.

(4) When the television receiver is turned off and then turned on again, the volume returns to the designed initial value, so it is necessary to readjust the volume each time.

(5) It is difficult to increase or decrease the volume intuitively because the duration of the switch operation is longer or shorter than the volume rotation operation.

The present invention was developed in view of the above-mentioned problems, and when remotely controlling an analog value such as the volume adjustment of a television receiver, the remote control transmitter is equipped with a digital switch for adjustment, and the digital The switch selects a transmission code based on the rotation angle, and the remote control receiver is equipped with a pulse train generation circuit and a digital-to-analog converter corresponding to the transmission code, and outputs an analog amount proportional to the rotation angle of the digital switch of the transmitter. Try to get
It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control mechanism capable of increasing response speed when varying an analog quantity by remote control and greatly improving operability.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on FIG. 7 and subsequent figures.

This embodiment is applied to remote control of a television receiver, and the keyboard switch 21 is provided with a channel changeover switch 21A, a power on/off switch 21B, and a volume adjustment dial 21C. (See FIG. 7) This dial 21C is associated with the digital switch circuit 22 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

The digital switch circuit 22 is connected to the printed circuit board 2
A conductor pattern 23 with an end printed in concentric circles on the top of the conductor pattern 23, and a slider 25 that can slide on the surface of the conductor pattern 23, and by rotating the slider 25, a 4-bit It is designed to generate a binary code signal. To be more specific, the conductor pattern 23 is composed of n rows (for example, 4 rows) of concentric circular patterns, and each pattern has wide portions 23A and narrow portions 23B formed at predetermined angular intervals from the center of the concentric circles. The electrical connection portions 23A are appropriately arranged radially in the pattern of each row. Further, the slider 25 has its sliding end at each wide portion 23A.
It has four contact points so that it can come into contact with the rotor 26, and is rotatably attached to the rotor 26 about the center point of the concentric center. This rotor 26 is configured to rotate together with the dial 21c.

_The electrical connection of this digital switch circuit 22 is as _shown in _FIG .
₂₃₄ is connected to the voltage source _VDD via a pull-up resistor 27, and the slider 25 is grounded.

For example, if the slider 25 is rotated in the X direction in FIG. Terminal 23 ₁ through contact
~23 All ₄ fall to earth. Therefore, at this time, signals of 0, 0, 0, 0 are obtained at the terminals 23 ₁ to 23 ₄ . Further, when the slider 25 is located on the dashed line Z, the wide portions 23A are not formed in any of the conductor patterns, so the terminals 23 ₁ to 2
3 and ₄ are all connected to the voltage source V _DD without being grounded, and a signal of 1, 1, 1, 1 is obtained. Thus, by rotating the slider 25, a 4-bit binary code signal that changes stepwise from 0, 0, 0, 0 to 1, 1, 1, 1 is obtained, and in the example of FIG.
You will get 16 different codes. FIG. 12 shows the binary code from 0 to 15 thus obtained. It goes without saying that if the number of rows of conductive patterns 23 is four or more, even more stepwise changes can be obtained.

The block configurations of the remote control transmitter and receiver used in this embodiment, the pulse code, and the block configuration of the television receiver are the same as those of the previously described known example, but the receiver side has the transmission code A digital-to-analog converter is provided to integrate the pulse train generated after reading the .

The operation of this embodiment will be explained based on the above configuration.

First, the program of the pulse generator of the remote control transmitter in this embodiment is as shown in the chart shown in FIG.

That is, this program first detects whether or not the power ON key switch 21B is pressed, and then turns the power ON.
When the status is confirmed, the transmitter sends out a power ON code and a volume code corresponding to the position of the volume adjustment digital switch 22 set at that time.

Further, until the power OFF key switch 21B is pressed, the code of the digital switch 22 is constantly identified, and the volume control data is sent out only when the code changes as the dial 21C is rotated.

As mentioned above, when updating the volume control data, time is counted to ensure a constant interval that allows sufficient transmission of the transmission pulse train.

Therefore, if the digital switch 22 is switched rapidly, only the code corresponding to the last stopped position may be sent out.

On the other hand, the receiver side decodes the volume data every time it is sent from the transmitter side and generates a volume adjustment pulse corresponding to the data.

The flowchart of the operation of the receiver is as shown in Fig. 11. When the reception code is read, it outputs a "0" bit data output, and then, after counting the time _T1 , it outputs a "1" bit data output. Then, repeat this step by step.

Furthermore, since the volume adjustment pulse is set to 16 types from "0" to "15" as shown in FIG. A duty pulse is formed.

This receiver reads the transmission code, converts it into 4-bit data, and then stores it in the memory, but outputs the data from LSB to MSB at time intervals with a duty of 1, 2, 4, and 8, respectively. A 16-stage pulse train is generated.

The above pulses are integrated by a digital-to-analog converter attached to the receiver, and the output level of the audio output circuit is adjusted as a control voltage that changes linearly in 16 steps of pulses.

Therefore, when the dial 21C of the keyboard switch 21 of the remote control transmitter is operated, the digital switch circuit 22 transmits a transmission pulse code corresponding to the rotation angle of the dial 21C, and the receiver side transmits a duty pulse corresponding to the transmission code. By forming this and converting it from digital to analog, a control voltage that varies linearly with the rotation angle of the rotor 25 of the digital switch circuit of the transmitter can be obtained.

In addition, the power circuit can be temporarily disconnected by remote control of the transmitter.
After turning on, the code of the digital switch circuit 22 of the transmitter is constantly checked, so there is no need to design and set the initial value of the control voltage on the receiver side.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but is also applicable to remote control of electrical equipment other than television receivers.

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a control voltage whose characteristics change linearly in response to the rotation angle of the dial attached to the digital switch circuit of the transmitter, and it is extremely easy to operate even when the target is operated with analog quantity changes. In addition to this, it does not require design setting of the initial value of the control voltage on the receiver side, so the control voltage can be initialized to any value, and the response speed during remote control is also extremely fast.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 6 relate to known examples of remote control of television receivers. Figure 1 is a block diagram of a transmitter, Figure 2 is a block diagram of a receiver, and Figure 3 is a block diagram of a keyboard switch. 4 is a waveform diagram showing a transmission pulse code, FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a remote control circuit of a television receiver, and FIG.
The figure is a chart of the volume adjustment processing program. 7 to 12 relate to an embodiment of the remote control mechanism of the present invention, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the same keyboard switch, and FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the digital switch circuit. Figure 9 is a connection diagram of the same circuit as above, Figure 10 is a chart diagram of the program for transmitting code processing on the remote control transmitter side, Figure 11 is a chart diagram of the pulse train output processing of the receiver, and Figure 12 is a chart diagram of the receiver's pulse train output processing. It shows the control pulse output obtained by pulse train output processing. 21...Keyboard switch, 21C...Dial, 21B...Power circuit on/off switch, 22...
...Digital switch circuit, 23...Fixed side pattern, 25...Slider, 26...Rotor.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A remote control transmitter having digital code signal generation means, and a remote control transmitter having digital code signal generation means;
and a remote control receiver having means for analog conversion, wherein the digital code signal generating means concentrically wires n rows (n is a plurality) of terminated conductor patterns, and the concentric circles a substrate with connecting parts formed at arbitrary locations of each conductor pattern located on lines extending radially at predetermined angular intervals from the center of the board, and n contacts facing each of the conductor patterns and capable of contacting each connection part. a slider rotatable around the center of the concentric circles; and means for connecting each end of each of the conductor patterns to a first potential point and connecting the slider to a reference potential point. A remote control mechanism characterized in that an n-bit binary digital code signal is obtained from each end of each of the conductor patterns in accordance with rotation of the slider.