JPH0126580B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a hands-free telephone that is equipped with a speaker and a microphone and that allows telephone calls to be made while the telephone is on-hook.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, some multi-function phones have a hands-free function like this, but this function is something that you set on your own phone when you use it, and it cannot be set by the other party. I stopped talking.

However, there may be cases where someone, such as a bedridden elderly person or an infant, is unable to pick up the handset and answer the call even if there is someone there.In such cases, it is recommended that the calling party set the called party's phone to hands-free mode. If this were possible, it would be convenient to make a call from a welfare office or other place, for example, and be able to freely converse and learn about the other person's condition without having to operate the handset on the called side.

[Object and structure of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a hands-free telephone that can automatically shift to hands-free operation on the called side in response to operations on the calling side. It's about doing.

In order to achieve such an object, the hands-free telephone of the present invention includes a circuit for detecting a specific remote control signal that arrives after capturing the telephone line in response to incoming call detection, and a detection output of this circuit. A circuit is provided to connect the speaker and microphone to a telephone line in an alternating current manner, and the connection is released when a timer times up. Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using examples shown in the drawings.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is an example used as a normal telephone, and in the figure, 1 is a control circuit equipped with a well-known CPU or microprocessor unit, and an incoming call detection circuit 2 detects an incoming call from the office line terminal L. If so, the following control operations are performed. Note that HS is a switch.
During on-hook, it is in the state shown.

Therefore, the control operation of the control circuit 1 will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. As described above, when the incoming call detection circuit 2 detects an incoming call (step 101), the control circuit 1 checks whether the automatic hands-free mode setting switch SW1 is closed (step 102). Setting switch SW1
When this is closed, the automatic hands-free mode is set and the calling side is allowed to set the hands-free function.If this is not closed, the hands-free mode will not be entered. Like a normal telephone, the ringing tone will continue to ring until the called party picks up the handset 3 or the calling party turns on-hook. When the called party lifts up the handset 3, the telephone switch HS is switched to the speech circuit 4 side, and a normal telephone conversation can be made via the handset 3. this is,
The same holds true even after entering the hands-free operation as described below, and if the handset 3 is lifted up, the state is unconditionally switched to the normal talking state.

If the automatic hands-free mode setting switch SW is closed, the control circuit 1 operates the line relay A after waiting for the ring tone to sound three times (step 103). This causes contact a to connect to station line terminal L.
the phone line is captured (step
104). Here, if a remote control signal instructing hands-free operation is not obtained after that, the control circuit 1
A first timer is activated to measure the time for disconnecting the line, for example 8 seconds (step 105). Although this first timer is omitted in the figure, it may be configured either in hardware or software, similar to the second timer described later.

In this state, if the remote control signal detection circuit 5 detects a signal from the calling party (step
106), the control circuit 1 determines whether or not it is a correct remote control signal instructing hands-free operation (step 107), and if the signal is correct, it operates the hands-free circuit 6 (step 108). For example, this may be done by turning on an analog switch inserted into a signal path that AC-connects the speaker 7 and microphone 8 to the telephone line, or by controlling the power supply of the amplifier. This makes it possible to make a hands-free call using the speaker 7 and microphone 8, but this hands-free operation is only possible for a certain period of time, for example, one minute, after which the line is disconnected unless the remote control signal is received again. The forcible disconnection prevents the line from remaining open, for example, in the case where a click sound indicating the caller's call is not detected.

That is, after operating the hands-free circuit 6, the control circuit 1 starts the second timer (step 109), and if the timer times out while no click sound is detected (step 110), the second timer starts the second timer (step 109).
111), a continuation request signal consisting of a specific audible sound is sent to the calling party from a continuation request signal generating circuit (not shown in the diagram) to prompt the calling party to express his or her intention to continue (step 111).
112). Therefore, if a remote control signal is received again during the 8 seconds during which the first timer is operating, the hands-free operation is continued. If 8 seconds pass without receiving the above remote control signal (step
113), control circuit 1 restores relay A to open the telephone line (step 114), and prepares for the next incoming call.
Also, if a click sound is detected during hands-free operation (step 110), the control circuit 1
opens the line (step 115), restores the hands-free circuit 6 (step 116), and prepares for the next call.

Note that the speaker 7 and the microphone 8 may not be operated at the same time, but may be operated separately using separate control signals, or one control signal may be used to operate one, for example, the microphone 8 first, so that a certain level of The other may be operated after a time delay.

Although an example in which the device is used as a regular telephone has been described above, it is also possible to use it as an answering machine. An example of the configuration in this case is shown in FIG. In the figure, TEL is this telephone. Further, SW2 is an answering mode setting switch, and when the automatic hands-free mode setting switch SW1 and this answering mode setting switch SW2 are closed, the control circuit 1 performs a control operation as shown in FIG. 4 in response to an incoming call. Let's do it.

That is, when the incoming call detection circuit 2 detects an incoming call (step 201), the control circuit 1 waits for the ring tone to sound three times (step 202), and then operates the line relay A to seize the line (step 201).
203). In other words, contact a is switched to the line transformer T side. Next, the control circuit 1 switches the analog switch 11
is turned on, and the response message (CGM) deck 13 is controlled via the deck controller 12 to play back the prerecorded OGM.
The OGM is sent from the head 14 to the calling party via the amplifier 15 and hybrid amplifier 16 (step 204). Here, the remote control signal detection circuit 5
If OGM ends without a remote control signal being detected (step 205),
206) The control circuit 1 continues the normal answering operation (step 207). That is, the control circuit 1 uses the analog switch 1 instead of the analog switch 11.
When you turn on 7, a message message (ICM) appears.
control the telephone deck 18 and record the ICM from the caller. The ICM is transmitted to the head 20 via the hybrid amplifier 16 and amplifier 19, and recording is performed. After finishing, disconnect the line, restore the OGM deck 13, and prepare for the next call.

On the other hand, if a remote control signal is detected (step 205), the control circuit 1 stops reproducing and transmitting the OGM (step 208), and the received remote control signal requests loudspeaker operation by the speaker 7. Whether the signal is a reception amplification request signal (step 209) and whether it is a babysitter signal requesting a transmission operation from the microphone 8 (step 210)
If both are negative, it is further determined whether the signal is a reproduction request signal requesting an ICM reproduction operation (step 211), and if it is a reproduction request signal,
Shift to ICM playback operation (step 212). That is, the control circuit 1 turns on the analog switch 21, controls the ICM deck 18, and reproduces the recorded ICM. The ICM is sent from the head 20 via the amplifier 22 and the hybrid amplifier 16 to the calling party. If the signal is not one of the above, that is, if it is not a regular remote control signal, it is ignored.

If the received remote control signal is an amplification request signal (step 210), the analog switch 23 is turned on to transmit the sound from the microphone 8 to the calling party (step 213). At this time, in order to confirm the caller's intention to continue calling for a limited period of time, a second timer with a timer time of, for example, 1 minute is started (step 214), and if no remote control signal is received again during that time (step 214), 215), if no click sound is detected (step 216), after a timeout (step 217), a continuation request signal is sent (step 218), a first timer of, for example, 8 seconds is started (step 219), and the remote control is activated. If 8 seconds pass without receiving a signal or detecting a click sound (steps 220, 221, 222), the control circuit 1 releases the line, restores the OGM deck 13, and cancels the mode setting. (Steps 223, 224,
225) Prepare for the next call. If a click sound is detected (steps 216, 221), immediately proceed to the step.
Move to 223.

On the other hand, if the reception amplification signal is received (step 209), the reception amplification mode is set (step 226). That is, the control circuit 1 turns on the analog switch 24. As a result, the received voice from the calling party is amplified and output from the speaker 7.

By applying the present invention to an answering machine in this way, the babysitter function has conventionally been limited to sending out audio in one direction, but bidirectional operation becomes possible. Additionally, when the answering machine mode was set in the past, even if there was someone there, the system would switch to the business recording mode and make it impossible to have a conversation unless the handset was picked up. According to the company, the audio in the room will be turned off, and if there are people present, it will be possible to have a conversation without leaving the room.

In the above-described embodiment, an example was explained in which a specific frequency signal (and code) emitted from a remote control device, such as that used for remote playback and listening in a conventional answering machine, was used as a remote control signal. The present invention is not limited to this, and the hands-free function may be activated by, for example, a DP or MF signal generated by a specific dial operation of the calling telephone.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when a specific remote control signal that arrives after capturing a telephone line in response to incoming call detection is detected, the speaker and microphone are connected to the telephone line by this detection output. By doing this, it is possible for the calling party to operate the called party's telephone hands-free, and since the line that has been captured by the timer time-up is released, the line can be reliably connected after use. Because it can be opened and is easy to use, it is very useful in the field of welfare, both as a regular telephone and as an answering machine.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of an execution program in the control circuit, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an execution program in the control circuit. 1...Control circuit, 2...Incoming call detection circuit, 5...
Remote control signal detection circuit, 6...Hands-free circuit, 7...Speaker, 8...Microphone, A...
...Line relay, L...Station line terminal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Detecting an incoming call signal coming from the telephone line in a hands-free telephone that is configured to amplify the received voice coming from the telephone line in an on-hook state through a speaker and transmitting the transmitted voice to the telephone line via the microphone. a line capture circuit that captures a telephone line using the detection output of the incoming signal detection circuit; a remote control signal detection circuit that individually detects a plurality of remote control signals that arrive after the line capture; A hands-free circuit that forms a hands-free communication path between the speaker and microphone and the telephone line by the first detection output of the remote control signal detection circuit; 1. A hands-free telephone set comprising a timer which restarts the line by a second detection output and releases a line captured when time-up occurs.