KR20010081728A - The amplifier for car audio - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An amplifier for car audio is provided to control easily an amplifier for car audio in a driver seat by changing the structure of an amplifier for car audio. CONSTITUTION: A main body(6) has a connection terminal portion(8) and an operation portion(9). The connection terminal portion(8) is connected with external loud speakers. The operation portion(9) controls various functions of the main body(6). A controller(4) has an operation panel(10) to control the main body(6). The controller(4) is connected with the main body(6) by using a predetermined connection portion such as a cable(7) and a connecting terminal(15). The main body(6) has a remote terminal(12) to be connected with the controller(4).

Description

Amplifier for car audio {The amplifier for car audio}

The present invention relates to an amplifier, and more particularly, to a car audio amplifier which can be adjusted in the driver's seat of a vehicle.

A typical audio system installed in a car is often unsatisfactory for consumers because of its low output. The user can listen to music with satisfactory sound by installing a car audio amplifier called a 'power amplifier'. According to this, only preamplifiers such as FM / AM tuners, cassette decks or CDPs that provide sound sources are provided to the head unit mounted on the front of the driver's seat.

The above amplifiers are generally bulky and heavy, making it difficult to mount them in the driver's seat. As a result, amplifiers were usually connected to the trunk of a vehicle by connecting multiple cables. In addition, the amplifier itself is provided with one or more output acoustic controls for adjusting its various functions. For example, the most important and basic one is an adjustment that includes an equalizer.

The equalizer classifies signals by frequency band and individually amplifies or modulates several control switches. It is well known that the output sound quality is expressed quite differently depending on whether the output sound control unit such as an equalizer is provided, and accordingly, the user needs to be able to directly adjust it. The amplifier needs to be adjusted according to the individual taste or the type of music to be played. Recently, balance, treble & bass control, or mute functions are provided in addition to the equalizer according to various needs of consumers. Many control knobs or buttons must be provided to control these various functions.

Conventional car audio amplifiers have often been fixedly installed with their installation positions placed in the trunk, making it difficult to adjust the controller. In particular, it was not easy for a user to operate an amplifier having several analog control knobs or buttons and set them to a specific state.

An object of the present invention for the above problem is to provide a car audio amplifier that can be easily adjusted in the driver's seat of the vehicle. In addition, the operation function of the various amplifiers are to be able to operate more quickly and easily by digital method.

1 is a perspective view of a car audio amplifier 2 according to the present invention, which shows a state in which the controller 4 may be spaced apart from the outside of the amplifier main body 6.

2 shows a state in which the controller 4 may be built in the amplifier main body 6 as another embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a configuration diagram of an operation panel of the amplifier controller according to the present invention.

4 is a configuration diagram of an operation panel of a controller according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

2 ; Amplifier 4; controller

6; Amplifier body 10,10 '; Control panel

26,34; Selection buttons 28,38; Level adjustment button

30,40; Display

The above object is provided with a preamplifier for processing and outputting a sound source signal reproduced or received by an FM / AM tuner, a cassette deck, a CD player, or the like, which is connected to a car audio including a speaker.

An amplifier main body including at least one output sound control unit such as an equalizer (EQ), a balance or a tone, and amplifying a sound source signal applied from the preamplifier and outputting it to the speaker; A controller having at least one switch means for controlling the output sound control unit of the amplifier main body and spaced apart from the amplifier main body; The controller and the amplifier main body is achieved by a car audio amplifier, characterized in that it comprises a connection means for communicating in a state separated from each other.

Another feature of the invention is that the controller 4 can be adjusted by a remote controller.

Another feature of the invention is that the controller 4 further comprises a power switch for connecting or disconnecting the power source connected to the amplifier.

Another feature of the invention is that the adjustment button of the controller 4 is provided in the head unit mounted on the front of the driver's seat of the vehicle.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings in the specification will be described in more detail.

1 is a perspective view of a car audio amplifier 2 according to the present invention, showing a state in which the controller 4 can be individually installed in the vehicle's boarding space by being separated from the amplifier main body 6.

Amplifier main body 6 is a connection terminal for connecting to an external loudspeaker (not shown)

(8) and the operation part 9 for adjusting a function by itself. According to the gist of the present invention, the operation unit 9 for adjusting the function of the amplifier main body may be provided selectively.

The amplifier body 6 is firmly manufactured for the reason that the amplifier of the present invention is generally installed outside a vehicle's boarding space, particularly in a place where it is easy to neglect, such as a trunk.

The terminal portion 8 is usually provided in different shapes so as to be connected to a battery, a speaker installed in the front, rear, left and right sides of the vehicle, and a so-called head unit detachably mounted in front of the driver's seat. The head unit is provided with a sound source generating means including a cassette deck, FM / AM tuner, CDP or VDP.

The controller 4 is for adjusting the amplifier main body. The type of the controller 4 may be different according to the specifications of the product, and has a control panel 10 provided with several adjustment buttons.

According to the car audio amplifier according to the present invention, the controller 4 and the amplifier main body 6 are connected so as to be communicable at positions spaced apart from each other by a predetermined connection means. For this purpose, the amplifier body 6 has a remote terminal 12. The controller 4, which is provided in the form of a small case, is connected to the amplifier main body 6 by a cable 7 and a connecting terminal 15, which are one type of connecting means.

As described above, the amplifier main body 6 is installed in the trunk of the vehicle, and the controller 4 is installed near the transmission housing or the head unit provided at the right side of the dashboard of the vehicle and the driver's seat. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the operation panel of the controller may be provided in the head unit itself.

2 shows a state in which the controller 4 may be built in the amplifier main body 6 as another embodiment of the present invention.

According to another aspect of the invention, the controller 4 has an amplifier body as shown.

(6) It is provided to be fixed inwardly. To this end, the amplifier main body 6 has a passage 18 having a width greater than or equal to the size of the controller 4 on its upper surface, and has a seating portion 20 on which the controller 4 is seated, the controller 4 and It has an internal space of a size that can accommodate the cable (7).

The amplifier main body 6 also has an internal connection terminal 22 for connecting with the controller 4 therein. That is, the controller 4 may be seated therein and connected and fixed by screws in a state in which the controller 4 is connected to the amplifier main body 6. The controller 4 is screwed back cover member

Protected by 24.

Thereby, the selection range of the system in which the amplifier 2 is provided is expanded. That is, the user can connect the controller 4 to the internal connection terminal 22 to be incorporated in the amplifier main body 6, and also by using the remote terminal 12, the user can be installed in a place separated from the driver's seat or the like.

This is provided in consideration of personal situations where the controller is not easy to install in the driver's seat or when the amplifier needs to be adjusted frequently. The advantages of this method are as follows. The user can operate the controller 10 by removing only the cover member 24 even when the amplifier is installed at the bottom of the trunk. The cover member 24 is a solid plate material, and if the trademark or logo of the product is formed on the surface thereof, it is possible to further improve the appearance of the product, such as to have multiple effects.

In addition, there may be a change in the manner in which the controller 4 is inherent in the amplifier main body 6. The cover member 24 coupled to the upper surface of the amplifier main body 6 may allow itself to be coupled or separated by the screw body and the amplifier main body. This allows the user to more easily access the controller 10. Furthermore, the cover member 24 may be provided so that one end is easily opened or closed by being hinged to both sides in the passage of the amplifier main body.

3 is a configuration diagram of the operation panel 10 of the amplifier controller according to the present invention.

The amplifier has an output sound signal control circuit (hereinafter referred to as an output sound control section) for amplifying, classifying, or modulating a sound source signal applied from the preamplifier therein. The sound signal controller of the conventional general amplifier is generally controlled in an analog manner, but according to an embodiment of the present invention disclosed below, a digital method is employed.

For this purpose, the digital signal generated by the controller is a digital to analog converter.

It is converted into an analog signal by the DAC and applied to the amplifier main body.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, a button for adjusting in a digital manner is provided instead of a conventional knob. The user can adjust the specific output sound control unit by pressing the selection button 26 for selecting various output sound control units of the amplifier. The output sound control unit basically includes a volume control unit for adjusting the volume and an equalizer control unit for classifying and amplifying the output sound for each frequency. The electronic device may further include a balance controller for adjusting the balance of the output front, rear, left, and right, and a tone controller for adjusting the sound quality according to the characteristics of each type of music (Pop, Rock, Classic, etc.). Of course. In addition, treble and bass controllers for controlling high and low frequencies, which are other types of equalizers, may be provided.

In addition, the controller may further include a power switch for connecting or disconnecting a power source connected to the auxiliary amplifier. This is caused by the amplifier when the vehicle is stopped.

It can be a useful means to save battery power consumed.

A level adjustment button 28 is provided on the front of the controller. By selectively pressing the level adjustment button 28 constituted by the positive (+) or negative (-) button, the user can gradually adjust the control level of the selected amplifier. The display unit 30 is a liquid crystal display device or

Display means, such as a visual fluorescent display device (VFD), may be used to display menus and / or levels in the current state.

In certain cases, the level adjustment button includes the concept of a switching switch for ON / OFF only, not step-by-step adjustment of a particular output sound control.

Car audio amplifier according to the present invention for the operation as described above has a microcomputer to control the output sound control unit in conjunction with the controller. The microcomputer can optionally be installed in the controller or amplifier body.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the controller of the amplifier is provided to be adjustable by a remote controller (not shown). According to this, the controller 4 may be installed at more various positions, and the user may operate the amplifier more conveniently. To this end, there is provided a remote signal receiving means including a remote controller operated by a user and an infrared sensor 32 for detecting a remote control signal generated by the remote controller and adjusting the amplifier.

4 is a configuration diagram of an operation panel 10 'of a controller showing another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment allows the user to adjust the amplifier by connecting several of the amplifier's various output acoustic controls that are frequently used or necessary to the controller. Such a connection method may be a direct connection method by a code, and further, may be a method of selectively connecting a few by a predetermined software in a fully connected state. That is, the user combines some of all the output sound control units of the amplifier, stores them in several memory rooms, and selects one of them to adjust. This is particularly useful for high end amplifiers with multiple controls.

One of several modes (eg, MODE 1) formed by the above-described method using a memory room (for example, MODE 1) may be composed of several frequency bands and a volume control unit among the equalizer controllers. The other one (eg, MODE 2) may be composed of a tone control unit, a volume control unit, and treble & bass. Or the BASS, ECHO, or volume control may be stored in one mode. To this end, the selection button 34 of the controller is provided as a mode selection button 35 and a controller selection button 36. The mode selection button 35 may use an ON / OFF switch in combination and allow one of several modes (for example, MODE 1) to be combined with several control units.

The user may select one of the controllers of the amplifier belonging to the selected specific mode by using the controller selection button 36. The user can adjust the specific control unit selected by the control unit selection button 36 using the level adjustment button 38 and displayed on the display unit 40 in the positive (+) direction or the negative (-) direction. The specific state of this selective tuned amplifier is stored in the storage of the microcomputer using nonvolatile memory.

This makes the adjustment of the amplifier faster and easier with the size of the controller 10 'minimized.

Here, the microcomputer operating the system may further have a program having the following functions. That is, the above program stores the adjustment state of the specific amplifier stored and adjusted by the user in the specific mode MODE X, and when the specific mode MODE X is selected again, the current amplifier state corresponds to the above-mentioned. It automatically returns to the adjustment state of.

As such, the manner of operating the amplifier according to the present invention may be variously changed based on the disclosed embodiments.

In the conventional car audio provided to be controlled by the remote controller, if the car audio and the amplifier can be temporarily adjusted by the remote controller, the user can more easily adjust the car audio system and listen to music. It becomes possible. For this purpose, an operation panel of the controller for adjusting the amplifier may be provided in the head unit itself.

On the other hand, a predetermined program can be provided that can be adjusted even by the amplifier by the several adjustment buttons provided on the existing head unit. The microcomputer incorporating the various programs described above may be selectively installed and provided in the controller or the amplifier main body.

According to the digital method employed, the physical state of the amplifier may be displayed through the display unit. In other words, if the amplifier is overheated, the alarm is notified to the user, thereby preventing damage to the amplifier due to thermal runaway.

According to the above configuration, the user can more easily operate the car audio main amplifier, so that the user can enjoy the music of the required sound quality.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the user can adjust the amplifier as required in the state in which only a few control units which are necessary or frequently used are connected to the controller. This creates a useful effect that eliminates the hassle of having to adjust the controller each time to adjust a particular amplifier's specific condition.

According to another embodiment of the present invention using a remote controller, the user can operate the amplifier more easily, and the installation cost can be reduced by extending the range in which the controller can be installed.

Claims (9)

It is connected to a car audio including a preamplifier and a speaker which processes and outputs a sound source signal reproduced or received by an FM / AM tuner, a cassette deck, or a CD player. An amplifier main body having at least one output sound control unit such as an equalizer (EQ) control unit, a balance control unit or a tone control unit, amplifying a sound source signal applied from the preamplifier and outputting the amplified sound source signal to the speaker; A controller having at least one switch means for controlling the output sound control unit of the amplifier main body and spaced apart from the amplifier main body; Car audio amplifier, characterized in that it comprises a connection means for the communication between the controller and the amplifier main body spaced apart from each other. The amplifier for car audio according to claim 1, wherein the connection means is wired by a cable. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the connection means comprises: a remote signal transmitter provided to the controller; Car audio amplifier, characterized in that for receiving and processing a remote signal transmitted from the controller by a remote signal receiving unit provided to the amplifier body. The method of claim 1, wherein the amplifier body is formed in the passage 18 and the internal space so that a part or all of the body of the controller can be retracted, the internal connection so that the communication is possible even when the controller is retracted into the internal space Car audio amplifier, characterized in that it further comprises a terminal (22). The method of claim 1, wherein the control method of the amplifier main body is a digital method, wherein the amplifier main body is provided with a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and the switching means of the controller is one of the output sound control unit of the amplifier main body. Car audio amplifier comprising at least one level adjustment button for adjusting the level in the positive (+) or negative (-) direction by specifying a. The method of claim 1, wherein the amplifier body adjustment method is a digital method, the amplifier body having a digital-to-analog converter (DAC); The switch means of the controller includes: a selection button for arbitrarily designating one of the output sound control units of the amplifier main body; A pair of level adjustment buttons for adjusting a level of a specific output sound control unit selected through the selection button in a positive (+) direction or a negative (-) direction; And a microcomputer connected to the controller for controlling each of the output sound controllers according to a selection signal of a user's manipulation. The method of claim 5, wherein the controller further comprises a digital display for displaying a specific state of the amplifier main body selected or adjusted by the selection button or the level adjustment button. Car audio amplifier. The method of claim 1, wherein the amplifier body adjustment method is a digital method, the amplifier body having a digital-to-analog converter (DAC); The switch means of the controller is a mode for selecting one of two phase modes (MODE) formed by allowing the user to individually store two or more of the output sound control units of the amplifier main body separately in two or more allocated memory rooms. A selection button; A selection button for selecting one of the output sound controllers selected by the mode selection button; A level adjustment button for adjusting the level of the output sound control unit selected by the selection button in the positive (+) or negative (-) direction; A microcomputer connected to the controller to control the respective output sound control units according to a selection signal of a user's operation; And a digital display unit for displaying a specific state of the amplifier main body selected or adjusted by the mode selection button, the selection button or the level adjustment button. 9. A car audio amplifier according to any one of claims 5, 6 and 8, wherein the controller further comprises a remote signal receiving means to be adjusted by a remote controller which is a remote control means. .