JPS624675B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to an audio alarm clock with a snooze mechanism, and its first object is to tell the time without looking at the time display on the clock by uttering an appropriate alarm message depending on the number of times the snooze mechanism is activated. To provide an audio alarm clock that allows you to keep track of the progress and prevent you from oversleeping, and allows you to select an appropriate alarm message depending on the purpose. Examples will be described below using figures. 1st
The figure shows one embodiment of the present invention, in which T is a mechanical timepiece, and a time display section 6 with a needle-type analog display or a number board-type digital display is connected to a synchronous motor via a gear train 5 for deceleration, such as a gear. The synchronous motor 4 is driven by a frequency-divided output obtained by dividing the oscillation output output from the crystal oscillation circuit 1 by a frequency dividing circuit 2. 3 is a motor drive circuit. Although the embodiment shows a mechanical timepiece that is powered by a DC power source, it goes without saying that the synchronous motor 4 may be driven by a commercial power source. 26 is an input section;
Reference numeral 7 indicates an alarm time setting unit for setting the alarm time of an alarm mechanism incorporated in the wheel train 5; 11 indicates an alarm signal generation circuit that generates an alarm signal a using the operating output of the alarm mechanism; 8 indicates an alarm time setting unit incorporated in the wheel train 5 a snooze button that operates an integrated snooze mechanism (not shown);
12 is a snooze signal generation circuit that generates a snooze signal b with the snooze output output from the snooze mechanism, 9 is an alarm set switch, 24 is an alarm set signal generation circuit, and 10 is a switch for general use, for children, etc. A message changeover switch 13 for selecting a wake-up message is an input decoding circuit that shapes the waveform of each signal a, b, c, d, and m and decodes it into control data that can be input to the sound synthesis section SY. The sound synthesis unit SY is composed of an editing unit 27 and a synthesis unit 28,
It uses the PARCOR method (described later) speech synthesis method. The editing section 27 includes an editing circuit 14 made up of a microcomputer, a counter circuit 15 that counts the number of times the snooze mechanism is activated, and an address decoding ROM.
16 and a compression parameter ROM 17, it edits audio and can synthesize simple melodies. this
The feature parameters based on the PARCOR method are bit-compressed by taking into account the quantization method and repetition in each frame, and are stored in the compression parameter ROM in the memory unit 16.
17 stores compression parameters for a plurality of frames constituting one message element (melody syllable or word) as one parameter unit.
The compression parameters read from the compression parameter ROM 17 are reproduced into uncompressed characteristic parameters by the parameter reproduction section 20 of the synthesis section 28, and a speech waveform is synthesized by the waveform synthesis circuit 21 based on the characteristic parameters. By adopting this PARCOR speech synthesis method, the compression parameters
A voice synthesis unit SY is obtained which can store many message elements in the ROM 17 and can utter a variety of voice messages. The operation of the embodiment will be explained below. First, to outline the alarm operation, when you set the alarm time setting unit 7 to the alarm time and set the alarm set switch 9 to the set side, the voice synthesis unit SY operates.
It responds with a good night message: "(Melody) Good night." When the alarm time arrives, the alarm signal a is output from the alarm time signal generation circuit 11, and the speech synthesis unit SY operates to produce "(melody)".
Respond with the alarm message ``Good morning'' or ``Good morning'' (repeated hereafter). When the snooze button 8 is pressed here, the snooze signal b output from the snooze signal generation circuit 24 is turned on during the snooze time (approximately 5 minutes), making it quiet, but when the snooze signal b is turned off, "( Melody) It's time, it's time (repeat)" in response. If you press snooze button 8 again, it becomes quiet again, and when the snooze is turned off, it responds with a different wake-up message from the previous time: ``(Melody) I'll be late, I'll be late...''. From then on, while the alarm signal a is on (about 45 minutes), each time the snooze mechanism is activated, the user responds with "(Melody) I'll be late, I'll be late...". When the alarm set switch 9 is set to the reset side, the above alarm operation is reset. Message changeover switch 1
When 0 is switched to the general side, the above response is made, and when switched to the children's side, the response is made with a wake-up message in which the above ``Good morning'' part is replaced with ``Wake up early.'' The 1/16 second signal C is used as a clock for the input decoding circuit 13, but since the timing signal f from the synthesis control circuit 18 may also be used,
There is no problem even if it is an AC type clock that does not have a Next, the operation of the speech synthesis section SY will be explained using the time chart shown in FIG. At the rising edge of the alarm set signal d, the editing circuit 14 sends a signal to the synthesis control circuit 1.
8, the synthesis control circuit 18 returns a timing signal f (there are several types) to the editing control circuit 1. The editing control circuit 14 resets the counter circuit 15 and performs address decoding.
The ``melody'' unit address (the starting address of the area storing the audio waveform parameter unit of the message element) is set in the compression parameter ROM 17 via the ROM 16, and the synthesis control circuit 18
sends a ready signal h to. The synthesis control circuit 18 reproduces the data in the compressed parameter ROM 17 with the parameter reproduction circuit 20 in accordance with the timing sent from the timing circuit 19, operates the waveform synthesis circuit 21, and reproduces the "melody" through the amplifier circuit 22 and the speaker 23. Output. Parameter playback circuit 2 at the end of the “Melody” parameter unit
When 0 is detected, the synthesis control circuit 18 returns a stop signal i to the editing circuit 14. The editing circuit 14 turns off the ready signal h, advances the sequence to output the parameter unit "Good night," sets the address of the compression parameter ROM 17, and outputs the ready signal h. When the synthesis of "Goodnight" is completed, the editing circuit 14 sends an enable signal g.
Turn off. When the alarm time comes and the alarm signal a turns on, the editing circuit 14 turns on the enable signal g, and the synthesis control circuit 18 and the handshake signal e
(including the enable signal g, ready signal h, and stop signal i mentioned above) and the timing signal f, the handshaking performs the operation, and the synthesis section 28 produces "(Melody) Good morning, Good morning..." alarm message is synthesized.
When the snooze button 8 is pressed here, the snooze signal b is turned on, and upon receiving the next stop signal i, the editing circuit 14 turns off the ready signal h and causes the counter circuit 15 to count up. The editing circuit 14 does not notify while the snooze signal b is on, and when the snooze signal b turns off, the editing circuit 14 executes a sequence of notifying the next wake-up message according to the value of the counter circuit 15. When the wake-up signal a is turned off by the wake-up set switch 9, the wake-up operation is reset (Table 1).The sequence control of the editing circuit 14 is masked by the sequence ROM.
An example of converting to ROM is shown below. The address of the sequence ROM is set to address 0000 by the rise of the wake-up set signal d.

[Table] As shown in Fig. 2, when the synthesis of "Melody" (Somido Somido~) at address 0000 is completed, the sequence is advanced by the stop signal i from the synthesis control circuit 18, and "Good night" at address 0001 is completed. are synthesized, the sequence advances with the next stop signal i, and the synthesis ends with the end code. The unit address of the "good night" parameter unit may be data A written in the edit address of the sequence ROM, or data B output from the snooze counter circuit 15. The editing address of the sequence ROM in the case of data B is blank or editing data, and the unit address is determined by the editing data and the output of the counter circuit 15. Next, when the alarm signal a is input, the address of the sequence ROM for data A advances at the rising edge of the signal a, and continues to say "good morning", "good morning"... (continuous utterance), and for data B, the address of the sequence ROM is reset. Then, the counter circuit 15 counts up, and the ping-pong ``Good morning'', ``Good morning''... (continuous utterance) is produced.During the continuous utterance, the stop signal i is output.
When the next snooze signal b is input, the continuous utterance is canceled, and the stop signal i advances the address of the sequence ROM and the synthesis is stopped by the end code. Next, when the snooze signal b is cut off, in the case of data A, the address of the sequence ROM is advanced at the falling edge of the signal b, and the sequence ROM's address is advanced and becomes "Domiso domiso~", "It's time", "It's time"... (continuous utterance). In the case of data B, the sequence ROM address is reset and a ping-pong message becomes "It's time""It'stime"... (continuous utterance). In the case of children, the gate circuit is controlled so that a wake-up message such as ``Get up early'' instead of ``It's time'' is synthesized. The snooze mechanism is activated repeatedly, and once the sequence progresses and reaches the synthesis of "Okakuremasu yo," the words do not change even if the snooze mechanism is activated. When the alarm set signal a is turned off, the alarm operation is reset and the synthesis ends. In the embodiment, two types of wake-up messages are uttered depending on the number of times the snooze mechanism is activated, but it goes without saying that three or more types of wake-up messages may be used. Also, when the enable signal g is on, the synthesis unit 28, compression parameter ROM 17 and address decoding
By turning on the power of the ROM 16, the power consumption of the speech synthesis unit SY is reduced. The present invention is configured as described above, and a wake-up message corresponding to the number of times the snooze mechanism is activated is uttered, and the number of times the snooze mechanism is activated, that is, the elapsed time, can be grasped from the wake-up message. , it has the advantage of preventing oversleeping, and is also equipped with a message changeover switch that changes the wake-up message according to the purpose, allowing you to select the appropriate wake-up message according to the purpose, such as for general use or for children. There is an advantage.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a time chart showing the operation of the same. T is a clock with a snooze mechanism, SY is a sound synthesis unit,
14 is an editing circuit, 15 is a counter circuit, and 10 is a message changeover switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An alarm clock with a snooze mechanism, a counter circuit that counts the number of times the snooze mechanism is activated, a memory section that stores message elements such as melodies or words in advance, and an alarm clock that is controlled by the output of the counter circuit to activate the snooze mechanism. a voice synthesis unit that has an editing circuit that edits the message elements to create a suitable wake-up message corresponding to the number of times the alarm clock has been activated, and that operates based on the wake-up signal and snooze signal output from the alarm clock to synthesize the wake-up message; A voice alarm clock comprising a voice generating means for generating voice outputted from the voice synthesis section,
A voice synthesis alarm clock characterized in that it is provided with a message changeover switch that stores message elements corresponding to the plurality of uses in the memory section and provides a selection changeover signal to the editing circuit for editing the alarm message according to the use. .