KR100709138B1 - Vehicle hands-free device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a hands-free device using an audio system of a vehicle. The hands-free device comprises: an audio system of a vehicle having a connection end; A wireless communication module detachably mounted to the connection terminal, the wireless communication module enabling wireless communication between the mobile telephone and the audio system; A microphone connected to the connection terminal or provided separately to perform wireless or wired communication with the mobile telephone. The connection end is provided in the form of a port having an internal groove, and the wireless communication module is fitted into the groove. Preferably, the connection end is arranged on the inner surface of the vehicle. In the present invention, the wireless communication follows the Bluetooth standard.

Vehicle, Handsfree, Audio System, Bluetooth, Connection, Wireless

Description

Vehicle hands-free device {Vehicle hands-free device}

1 is a block diagram of a hands-free device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a mounting configuration of the Bluetooth module of FIG.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10. Hands free unit 11. Audio system

12. Bluetooth module 13. Microphone

14. Connections 24. Home

30. Mobile Phone

The present invention relates to a hands-free device for use in conjunction with a mobile telephone, and more particularly to a wireless hands-free device using an audio system of a vehicle.

Using a mobile phone in your hand while driving distracts you from driving and leads to accidents. Thus, the use of mobile phones while driving is regulated by law, and drivers have installed hands-free kits including a speaker and a microphone in a vehicle, and have connected mobile phones to them. However, in this case, there was a problem such as economic burden and hassle according to the purchase and installation of the hands free kit.

As a solution to this problem, a number of hands-free devices using an audio system of a vehicle have been proposed. Indeed, these hands-free devices are being provided to shipping vehicles in a state capable of a wired or wireless connection with a mobile telephone.

For example, Patent Publication No. 2004-55670 (October 20, 2004) discloses a wired connection. In this case, however, there are problems such as uncomfortable wiring and damage to the aesthetics of the inside of the vehicle. Accordingly, many examples have been proposed in which a mobile telephone and the hands-free device are connected in a short range wireless communication method. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-53811 (July 02, 2001) and Patent Publication No. 2004-6850 (January 24, 2004) and the like. Here, the hands-free device includes a Bluetooth module as a wireless communication module that is fixed to a shipping vehicle and enables wireless communication with a mobile telephone.

However, the wireless communication module, which is already fixed in the vehicle, is not optimally applied to virtually all mobile phones, and in some cases, the call quality is significantly degraded. This is because the characteristics of the wireless communication module including the Bluetooth module may vary depending on the manufacturer, the communication company or the production time, and actually differ slightly. Meanwhile, although the Bluetooth standard is generally applied as a short range wireless communication method, this standard may be changed again.

In this case, the radio communication module should be separated from the audio system and replaced, repaired, or upgraded with an optimal communication with the radio communication module of the mobile phone. Entails. Therefore, in general, even if the call quality is poor, it is common to endure the use or to give up the use of the hands-free device.

The present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art in the wireless hands-free device using the audio system of the vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a hands-free device capable of actively coping with a problem of quality of a call or a change of a wireless communication standard due to different characteristics of a module by allowing a wireless communication module to be detachable from the outside of the audio system. It is to provide.

A hands-free device according to the present invention using an audio system of a vehicle includes: an audio system of a vehicle having a connection end; A wireless communication module detachably mounted to the connection terminal, the wireless communication module enabling wireless communication between the mobile telephone and the audio system; A microphone connected to the connection terminal or provided separately to perform wireless or wired communication with the mobile telephone. The connection end is provided in the form of a port having an internal groove, and the wireless communication module is fitted into the groove. Preferably, the connection end is arranged on the inner surface of the vehicle. In the present invention, the wireless communication follows the Bluetooth standard.

In the hands free device, the wireless communication module is provided detachably. Therefore, repair and replacement can be made very easily. In addition, it can be safely kept from unnecessary contact by being inserted to a certain depth in the connection end arranged on the inner surface of the vehicle.

The above features of the present invention will become more apparent through the embodiments of the present invention described below with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, the hands-free device according to the present invention is indicated by reference numeral 10. The hands free device 10 uses the vehicle's audio system 11. The hands free device 10 includes a Bluetooth module 12 connected to the audio system 11 and a microphone 13 connected to the Bluetooth module 12. The hands-free device 10 performs short-range wireless communication with the mobile phone 30 according to the Bluetooth standard. The mobile phone 30 naturally includes a Bluetooth module.

However, the microphone 13 may be provided separately from the audio system 11 and may be directly connected to the mobile phone 30 by wire or wirelessly. In the case of a wireless connection method, the microphone 13 includes a separate Bluetooth module.

The Bluetooth module 13 is provided to be detachably mounted. For this mounting structure, the vehicle audio system 11 has one connection end 14.

Referring to FIG. 2, the connection end 14 is provided in the form of a port having an internal groove 24. The Bluetooth module 12 is fitted into the groove 24. Preferably, the connection end 14 is arranged on the inner surface of the vehicle and does not protrude from the surface. Thus, the Bluetooth module 13 may be inserted into a predetermined depth from the inner surface of the vehicle. Due to this removable mounting structure, the maintenance and replacement of the Bluetooth module 13 can be made very easy, and also can be safely maintained from unnecessary contact by allowing it to be inserted at a certain depth.

Referring back to FIG. 1, in a state where the Bluetooth module 13 is mounted on the connection terminal 14, an audio signal output from the microphone 13 is wirelessly transmitted to the mobile phone 30 through the Bluetooth module 12. do. This audio signal is received at the mobile telephone 30 and transmitted to the base station. On the other hand, the audio signal transmitted from the base station in the call mode is received by the mobile telephone 30 and wirelessly transmitted to the hands-free device 10. The audio signal received by the hands-free device 10 is processed by the audio system 11 as an audible sound and output through the speaker 20. In the embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication is made according to the Bluetooth standard but can be replaced with another suitable one, and the Bluetooth module can also be replaced with another wireless communication module.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the audio system 11 of the vehicle and the operation of the hands-free device 10 using the configuration will be described in detail. However, the configuration or operation of the described audio system 11 is not peculiar to the present invention, and it should be understood that the present invention may be designed differently by those skilled in the art.

The audio system 11 includes a Bluetooth module 12 mounted on the connection end 14, a media player 15, a radio receiver 16, an audio switch 18, an audio amplifier 19, and a switching controller ( 21).

The Bluetooth module 12 receives an audio signal and a control signal transmitted from the mobile phone 30, outputs the audio signal to the audio switch 18, and outputs the control signal to the switching controller 21. The media reproducing unit 15 corresponds to a CDP, cassette tape recorder, etc. for reproducing audio signals recorded in various media, and outputs the reproduced audio signal to the audio switch 18 and outputs a signal informing the operation of the switching control unit ( 21) The radio receiver 16 outputs an audio signal according to radio broadcast reception to the audio switch 18, and outputs a signal informing the operation to the switching controller 21. The audio amplifier 19 amplifies the audio signal output from the audio switch 18 and outputs it through the speaker 20. The audio switch 18 selects one of the audio signals output from the Bluetooth module 12, the media player 15, and the radio receiver 16 under the control of the switching controller 21 and applies it to the audio amplifier 19. do.

In this state, the switching control unit 21 controls the audio switch 18 according to a control signal received from the mobile phone 30 through the Bluetooth module 12 to receive an output audio signal of the Bluetooth module 12. To the audio amplifier 19. On the other hand, when not making a telephone call, the audio switch 18 is switched to correspond to the portion used in the media player 15 and the radio receiver 16. That is, when the media player 15 is used, the audio signal output from the media player 15 is applied to the audio amplifier 19. Accordingly, audio corresponding to the audio signal reproduced by the media player 15 is output through the speaker 20. In contrast, when the radio receiver 16 is used, the audio signal output from the radio receiver 16 is applied to the audio amplifier 19. Accordingly, audio according to the audio signal broadcast received by the radio receiver 16 is output through the speaker 20.

When the control signal is input from the mobile phone 30 through the Bluetooth module 12, that is, when the telephone call is made, the switching control unit 21 outputs an audio signal output from the Bluetooth module 12. The control is applied to the amplifier 19.

If the mobile phone 30 receives a call or makes a phone call according to an outgoing call, the mobile phone 30 transmits a control signal for initiating and ending a phone call to the in-vehicle audio system 11 through the Bluetooth module 12. Send. Accordingly, the switching control unit 21 outputs the output audio signal of the Bluetooth module 12 to the speaker 20 via the audio amplifier 19 only during the telephone call. In this state, the audio signal input through the microphone 13 is wirelessly transmitted through the Bluetooth module 12 to be received by the Bluetooth module of the mobile phone 30, and the mobile phone 30 receives the audio signal received by the Bluetooth module. Transmit to base station. In addition, the mobile phone 30 wirelessly transmits the audio signal received from the base station through the Bluetooth module, and is received by the Bluetooth module 12 of the audio system 11. As such, the audio signal received by the Bluetooth module 12 is output through the speaker 20 via the audio switch 18 and the audio amplifier 19.

According to the present invention, in the hands-free device, the wireless communication module is detachably provided from a connection end arranged on the inner surface of the vehicle. Therefore, there is an effect that the maintenance and replacement of the module can be made very easily. In addition, the module can be inserted to a certain depth from the inner surface of the vehicle, thereby keeping the module safe from unnecessary contact.

Claims (4)

A hands-free device using an audio system of a vehicle, comprising: An audio system 11 of a vehicle having a connection end 14; A radio communication module (12) detachably mounted to the connection end (14) and enabling radio communication between the mobile telephone (30) and the audio system (11); A microphone 13 connected to the connection end 14 or provided separately to perform wireless or wired communication with the mobile telephone 30; The connection end (14) is provided in the form of a port having an inner groove (24), the vehicle hands-free device, characterized in that the wireless communication module 12 is fitted into the groove (24). delete The method of claim 1, The connection end (14) is a vehicle handsfree device, characterized in that arranged on the inner surface of the vehicle so as not to protrude. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The wireless communication device, characterized in that carried out according to the Bluetooth standard.

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