JPS6362939B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an answering machine, and provides an answering machine that can detect whether there is an abnormality in a response message and reliably and easily perform the re-recording that should be performed after detecting the abnormality. The purpose is to

The length of a response message of an answering machine may be limited by the standards of each country. On the other hand, if a long period of silence continues during a response message, the caller who calls the answering machine will feel uneasy. In addition, with an answering machine that can be operated remotely, if the remote signal is recorded in the answering message, such as when the owner of the device accidentally records the remote signal while recording the answering message, When sending a response message to the line, the erroneously recorded remote signal is reproduced, that is, the remote control operation is started even though there is no remote signal from the remote control operator that should have come through the line. There was an inconvenience that malfunctions occurred.

Conventional devices deal with the above problems without any management, or when recording response messages,
Even if there was a function to detect an abnormality, it would simply shut down the system or issue an alarm. However, an inappropriate response message that contains a remote signal must of course be re-recorded, but with conventional answering machines, the answering message may not be noticed at all that the response message is inappropriate. In addition, even if it is noticed due to an alarm, etc., it is necessary to restore the device for re-recording the response message to a state in which it can record a predetermined response message, which is a complicated operation and may cause inappropriate re-recording of the response message. There were times when it was not possible to do so with certainty.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and detects an abnormality such as a long period of silence or an erroneous recording of a remote signal when recording a response message. The system notifies the user that there is an abnormality by displaying an abnormality or generating an alarm, and also prompts the user to re-record the response message by automatically restoring to the initial state in which response message recording is possible. To provide an answering machine that can immediately start recording. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the main parts. When recording a response message, the user presses a predetermined key (recording key) using the key operation unit 1. When the control unit 2 consisting of a microcomputer recognizes the recording instruction of the response message, it operates the motor 3, operates the recording/reproducing plunger 4 to bring the recording/reproducing head 5a into close contact with the recording/reproducing tape 5b, and switches the signal switching unit 6 to switch the microphone. The signal No. 7 passes through a recording amplifier 5c and a recording/reproducing head 5a, and is recorded onto a recording/reproducing tape 5b. At the same time, the silence timer section 8 measures the duration of no signal in the signal from the microphone 7, and the remote signal detection section 9 detects whether a predetermined remote signal has been mixed into the signal from the microphone 7. , the timer unit 10 measures the entire recording time. The display section 11 displays a timer such as the recording time, a tape counter display, and the like indicating the remaining amount of tape.

When the silence timer section 8 detects an interruption in the signal from the microphone 7 for a predetermined period of time or more during the recording of a response message, or the timer section 10 records for a maximum period of time or more or a minimum period of time or less. or when the remote signal detection unit 9 detects the presence of a predetermined remote signal in the signal from the microphone 7, the control unit 2 sends an inappropriate response message. Certify. The output of the control section 2 switches the signal switching section 6 to prevent the signal from the microphone 7 from reaching the recording/reproducing tape 5b via the recording amplifier 5c and the recording/reproducing head 5a. At the same time, the recording/reproducing plunger 4 is stopped and the recording/reproducing head 5a is removed from the recording/reproducing tape 5b. Furthermore, the display unit 11 is caused to display a symbol or character indicating an abnormality, such as "E", which is not displayed during normal operation. At the same time, the reproduction amplifier 12a is driven to emit an alarm sound from the speaker 12b to notify the user that the response message is inappropriate. Furthermore, the rewinding plunger 13 is operated to rewind the recording/reproducing tape 5b, for example, to the tape starting point, and after the rewinding is completed, the rewinding plunger 13 is stopped, and the motor 3 is stopped, that is, the initial state where a predetermined response message can be recorded is returned. restore it. Thereafter, the user performs the recording operation again to update the response message. Reference numeral 14a denotes a recording/reproducing amplifier which records a message from an incoming caller onto a recording/reproducing tape 14c via a recording head 14b.

In addition, in a device that automatically checks in advance whether a response message is appropriate or not when the answering machine is on standby for an incoming signal, the silence timer section 8 and the remote signal are set as described above while the response message is being recorded. When an abnormality is detected by the detection unit 9 and the timer unit 10, an abnormality reporting operation may be performed, such as automatically recording a predetermined signal on the audio tape of the response message so that the above-mentioned automatic inspection reliably makes a determination of non-conformity. .

As described above, the present invention has a remote signal detection section, a timer section, and a silent timer section, and detects that there is a remote signal in a response message while recording the response message, or when the response message itself is detected. When it is detected that the time is longer or shorter than the predetermined time, or that a period of silence that exceeds a certain level continues during a response message, a predetermined display or alarm will be displayed, and the response message tape can be rewound and recorded. Since it is configured to automatically recover to the correct state, it is possible to not only notify the user that the response message is inappropriate, but also to re-record the response message by a series of actions such as rewinding the response message tape. The system can be automatically returned to a possible state, and the user only has to input a response message immediately, greatly improving operability.
In other words, it is possible to eliminate the complication of having to follow the conventional procedure for re-recording a response message, which is very convenient for the user, and therefore prevents inappropriate response messages from being recorded. This reduces the amount of remaining residue and prevents malfunctions.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the main part. 2...Control unit, 4...Recording/reproduction plunger, 5a...
...Recording/reproducing head, 5b...Recording/reproducing tape, 6... Signal switching section, 8... Silence timer section, 9... Remote signal detection section, 10... Timer section, 14... Rewinding plunger.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A remote signal detection section that detects a remote signal, a timer section that measures the recording time of a response message, a silence timer section that measures the silent time when recording a response message, and a display section that notifies the user of a predetermined state. or a sounding section, a response message recording section for driving a response message tape to record the response message, and a recovery section for restoring the response message tape to an initial state in which the response message can be recorded, and recording the response message. Sometimes,
When the remote signal detection section detects that there is a remote signal in the response message, or when the timer section detects that the response message time is too long or too short, or when the silence timer section detects that there is a certain amount of silence or more. If any of the following is detected, the display unit or sounding unit will notify that the response message is incorrect, and the recovery unit will drive the response message recording unit to return to the initial state where the response message can be recorded. An answering machine characterized by automatic recovery.