JPS6156798B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a program timer device that is connected to electronic devices such as television receivers and radio receivers and controls these electronic devices to a desired state according to preset information. be.

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of power supply timer devices have been commercially available that have a function of turning on a television receiver or the like at a predetermined time every day and turning it off after a predetermined time has elapsed. This power timer device turns on and off the power.
Although off control is possible, it is not possible to perform other controls such as selecting a listening channel at the same time as controlling the power supply.

Recently, program timer devices that can not only control time but also select desired channels have begun to be commercially available.The present invention aims to make such program timer devices multifunctional, easy to use, and prevent malfunctions. It is something.

The outline of the multifunctional program timer device according to the present invention will be explained using FIG.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the operation and display panel of the program timer device. This program timer device has the following functions.

(1) Clock function: Operates as a digital display clock.

(2) Reception based on program reservation: By setting the program start time and desired channel, the desired channel can be received at the set time even if the television receiver is turned off. This reservation is automatically canceled after a certain period of time, for example, two hours after the start. This is a power-saving and safety feature that allows the television receiver to only operate for a certain period of time even if you forget to set it and go out.

(3) Sleep timer: By pressing the sleep timer button, the television receiver is automatically turned off after receiving reception for a certain period of time, for example, one hour.

An outline of the operation to obtain the above operation will be explained. The operation display panel shown in Figure 1 includes a fluorescent display tube and 12 push buttons for displaying the time and reserved channels.
It consists of 7 indicator lamps such as LEDs.

(1) Setting the clock: While pressing the clock/start button, press the hour button, 10 minute button, and minute button to set.

The reason why each time adjustment button is pressed while pressing the clock/start button is to prevent the clock from going out of order due to incorrect operation or children's mischief.

(2) Program reservation: It is possible to reserve five programs using buttons 1 to 5. For example, when you press the 1 button, the indicator lamp on the left shoulder of this button lights up, and after checking that it lights up, press the hour, 10 minute, and minute buttons to set the start time, and press the channel button to set the reception channel.

This setting content is displayed on the display tube.

Finally, by pressing the clock/start button, this reservation becomes executable and the reservation indicator lamp lights up.

The reserved channel is received at the reserved time.

(3) Confirmation and confirmation of reservation: By pressing buttons 1 to 5, the setting contents corresponding to each button will be displayed on the display tube, and the reservation can be confirmed. Further, by pressing the pop-up button after pressing the buttons 1 to 5, the setting contents corresponding to any of the buttons 1 to 5 are canceled.

(4) Sleep timer: By pressing the sleep timer button, the sleep timer is set, and the power can be automatically turned off after the TV has been receiving images for a certain period of time, for example, one hour.

The above is an outline of how to operate the multi-function program timer for television receivers.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the system configuration of the program timer device according to the present invention.

The power source for operating the electric circuit of the timer device 1 is connected to the power source side of the television receiver 2, and the timer device 1 is energized regardless of whether the television receiver 2 is on or off. ing. 17 is a power supply circuit of the timer device 1. This is because the timer device also operates as a clock, so it must be constantly energized. 16 is a relay built into the timer or directly driven by the timer, and the contacts of this relay are for turning on and off the power of the television receiver, and are connected in parallel with the power switch 22 of the television receiver. be done. Reference numeral 18 denotes a channel selection signal line for selecting a reception channel of the television receiver, and sends a signal corresponding to the reception channel reserved in the timer device to the selection block 24 of the television receiver 2. It is something.

The switch circuit 11 is provided with a plurality of switches for selecting or executing each of the above-mentioned functions, and the state of each switch is converted into an appropriate signal and input to the information processing circuit 12. The information processing circuit 12 consists of a microprocessor and its peripheral circuits, including a switch circuit 11, a memory 13, and a clock generation circuit 1.
Memory 13 and display circuit 1 according to the input from 4.
5. Output to relay 16 and channel selection circuit 24.

The memory 13 consists of a RAM, and is read and written by the information processing circuit 12.

The clock generation circuit 14 is a circuit that generates clock pulses of a constant frequency, and the clock pulses generated here are transmitted to the information processing circuit 12 and the memory 13.
Count the time by counting.

The display circuit 15 is composed of a display tube, a light emitting element, and a driving circuit thereof, and displays the current time, reserved time, reserved channel, reserved address, etc. in response to input from the information processing circuit 12. The timer power supply circuit 17 is a circuit that supplies necessary voltages to each circuit of the timer (in FIG. 2, power lines connected to each circuit are omitted to avoid complexity).

In the multifunctional timer device described above, the relay 16 is connected in parallel with the power switch 22. The reason for this is that if no reservation is made to the multi-function timer device, the television receiver 2 can be used in exactly the same way as an ordinary television receiver that does not use a timer device (i.e., by turning the power switch 22 on and off). This is to enable the television receiver 2 to turn on and off.

Therefore, even if the relay 16 is turned off, the television receiver 2 will not be turned off if the power switch 22 of the television receiver 2 remains on.

This limits the function of the timer device 1, and for example, the function as the sleep timer described above becomes uncontrollable when the power switch 22 is turned on. Especially power switch 2
If the user forgets that the television receiver 2 is on and falls asleep after setting the sleep timer, the television receiver 2 will remain on all night, wasting power.

An object of the present invention is to provide a timer device that reduces the possibility of wasting power due to the use of a sleep timer among the functions of the timer device.

The main points of the present invention will be explained using FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a timer device focusing on the sleep timer function and a schematic connection of its surroundings.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the function as a sleep timer was set as follows.

(1) When the sleep button 110 is pressed, the relay 16 is turned on and the sleep lamp 151 is lit.

(2) When a certain period of time elapses after pressing the sleep button 110, the relay 16 turns off and the sleep lamp 151 goes out.

(3) If the power switch 22 is turned on within a certain period of time after pressing the sleep button 110, the sleep lamp 151 flashes to warn you.

Of the functions (1) above, the reason why "the relay 16 turns on when the sleep button 110 is pressed" is that when the relay 16 is off, the power switch 22 is turned on and the television receiver 2 is watched. The purpose is to allow you to set a sleep timer even when you are asleep. In this case, even if you press the sleep button 110 and then turn off the power switch 22, you can turn off the power switch 22 and then press the sleep button 110.
You can also set the sleep timer by pressing .

Among the functions (2) above, "the relay 16 turns off after a certain period of time" is the most basic function of the sleep timer.

The function (3) above will be activated after a certain period of time has elapsed.
Even if the television receiver 6 is turned off, if the power switch 22 is turned on, the television receiver 2 continues to be turned on.
Therefore, a warning is issued by flashing the sleep lamp 151 in response to this, to alert the viewer. The reason why the sleep lamp 151 lights up during the sleep timer reservation using the functions (1) and (2) above is to confirm that the sleep timer is being reserved. If the sleep lamp 151, which normally lights up when the sleep button 110 is pressed, flashes, it will obviously attract the user's attention, and this will make the viewer realize that the power switch 22 is on. The power switch 22 can then be turned off.

It is optimal that the sleep button 110 and the sleep lamp 151 are provided close to each other, thereby reducing the possibility that the sleep timer will be set while the power switch 22 is turned on.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

First, turn on the power switch 22 of the television receiver 2.
The operation when is off is explained below.

When the good night button 110 is pressed, the discrimination circuit 120
The information is transmitted to the device, and the predetermined time A until bedtime is stored in the time memory 131 through the memory write circuit 126. At the same time, the good night memory 1 is passed through the memory writing circuit 127.
It remembers that a sleep reservation is being made for 32.

The determination circuit 122 determines through the memory readout circuit 125 that a sleep reservation is in progress, and applies a signal to the relay drive circuit 160 to turn on the relay 16 . The determination circuit 123 determines through the memory readout circuit 125 that a sleep reservation is being made, and the lamp drive circuit 152 outputs the sleep lamp 15.
Apply a signal that turns on 1.

Counters 128 and 129 are clock generation circuit 1
Count the clock pulses input from 4,
After counting a certain number, the discrimination circuits 121 and 1 respectively
23, and sends the information of the end of counting to counter 1.
28 and 129 themselves are reset and start counting again.

The discrimination circuit 121 reads the memory read circuit 12 every time it receives information from the counter 128 that the count has ended.
The time until bedtime is read through 4, subtracted by 1, and stored in the time memory 131 through the memory write circuit 126. In this way, the time until bedtime stored in the time memory 131 decreases moment by moment, and finally reaches 0 after a certain period of time has elapsed.

The determination circuit 122 determines through the memory read circuit 124 that the time until bedtime is 0, and applies a signal to the relay drive circuit 160 to turn off the relay 16. At the same time, memory write circuit 1
27, it is stored in the sleep memory 132 that the sleep reservation is not in progress.

When the counter 128 finishes counting, the determination circuit 121 determines through the memory read circuit 124 that the time until bedtime is 0, and stores a certain value B in the time memory 131 through the memory write circuit 126. next counter 12
At the end of the count of 8, the memory read circuit 124
It is determined that the time until bedtime read out is B and stops changing the contents of the time memory. This specific value B may be any value as long as it is greater than the predetermined time A until bedtime.

The determination circuit 123 determines through the memory reading circuit 125 that the user is not sleeping, and applies a signal to the lamp drive circuit 152 to turn off the sleep lamp 151. The determination circuit 122 determines through the memory readout circuit 125 that a sleep reservation is not in progress, and does not apply a signal to the relay drive circuit 160.

Next, the operation when the power switch 22 is on will be explained. Discrimination circuit 123, lamp drive circuit 1
52. Operations other than the sleep lamp 151 are exactly the same as those when the power switch 22 is off.

If the power switch 22 is turned on during the sleep reservation, the switch 2 will be linked to the power switch 22.
20 transmits information that the power switch 22 is on to the discrimination circuit 123, and the discrimination circuit 123
determines that a sleep reservation is being made and that the power switch 22 is on, and changes the signal applied to the lamp drive circuit 152 every time a count end signal is input from the counter 129. In other words, the good night lamp 151 is the counter 1.
Each time 29 finishes counting, the on/off state changes and blinks.

As explained above, the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 has the three functions of a sleep timer, which are the main points of the present invention. Reduces the possibility of using the sleep timer while it is on.

In addition to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, there is an embodiment in which the instant the sleep button is pressed, the current time is advanced by a certain amount of time and is stored as the sleep time, and it is determined whether the current time and the sleep time match and the relay 16 is turned off. However, it is clear that the three sleep timer functions described above can be provided using similar means.

Next, we will explain how to use the more convenient sleep timer function.

As described above, when the viewer is watching the television receiver regardless of the timer, that is, when the relay 16 is off and the power switch 22 is on,
If you want to use the sleep timer function, you can either press the sleep switch 110 and then turn off the power switch 16, or turn off the power switch 16 and then press the sleep switch 110.

However, in the latter case, the power to the television receiver is turned off once, so there is a risk that the receiving channel may change in a television receiver using an electronic tuner. To prevent this, the channel selection circuit 24 (second
It is preferable that the power source of FIG. 1 is taken from the same location as the power source of the timer device 1, and that the channel selection circuit 24 is constantly energized to provide a so-called channel memory function.

By providing the channel memory function in this manner, even if the viewer methodically turns off the power switch 22 and then presses the sleep switch 110, the channel is conveniently retained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of the operation display panel of the program timer device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the system of the program timer device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is the program timer device according to the present invention and its peripheral connections. Block diagram showing 4th
The figure is a block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of the program timer device of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Program timer device, 2... Television receiver, 16... Relay, 17... Timer device power supply circuit, 22... Power switch, 23... Television receiver power supply circuit, 24... Channel selection circuit, 160... Relay drive circuit, 120 ~123...Discrimination circuit, 151...Lamp, 152...Lamp drive circuit, 220...Switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a timer device that is supplied with power from a power source side rather than a power switch of an electronic device to be controlled,
A relay is provided in parallel with the power switch, a button and a lamp are provided close to each other, means for detecting that the button is pressed, means for counting a certain period of time after the button is pressed, and a means for counting a certain period of time after the button is pressed; means for detecting that the count is in progress and closing the relay; means for detecting that the count for the predetermined time period has ended and opening the relay; and means for detecting that the predetermined time period is not counting. means for detecting and turning off the lamp; means for detecting that the power switch is closed; and means for detecting that the power switch is not closed and that the predetermined time is being counted and turns on the lamp. and means for detecting that the power switch is closed and that the predetermined time is being counted and causing the lamp to flash, and when the predetermined time has elapsed after the button is pressed. A timer device characterized in that a warning that the power of the electronic device is not turned off even when the electronic device is turned off is given by flashing the lamp. 2. In a timer device that is supplied with power from the power source side rather than the power switch of the television receiver to be controlled, a relay is provided in parallel with the above power switch, a button and a lamp are provided close to each other, and a timer device is provided in which the above button is pressed. means for detecting, means for counting a predetermined time after the button is pressed, means for detecting that the predetermined time is being counted and closing the relay, and counting for the predetermined time ends. means for detecting that the relay has been opened and opening the relay;
means for detecting that the predetermined time is not counting and turning off the lamp; means for detecting that the power switch is closed; and detecting that the power switch is not closed and that the predetermined time is being counted; means for detecting that the power switch is closed and that the predetermined time is being counted and causing the lamp to blink; A means is provided to constantly energize the channel selection circuit, and a warning that the power to the television receiver will not be turned off even after the predetermined period of time has elapsed after pressing the button is provided by flashing the lamp. A timer device characterized by: