JPH0681201B2 - Telecontrol device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a telecontrol device for controlling an electric device in a home from a telephone outside the home by using a general telephone line.

[Prior Art] In recent years, a telecontrol device has been developed which controls an electric device in the home such as an air conditioner or a lighting from a telephone outside the home using a general telephone line. This means that when a telephone set outside the home makes a call to the telecontrol device installed inside the home, the telecontrol device automatically detects the calling signal for a certain fixed time (or a certain number of times), and then automatically. Since the line is closed in DC (off-hook state), if a predetermined control signal is sent from the telephone outside the home to the telecontrol device, the telecontrol device receives the control signal and the home signal is sent according to the control signal. It controls electrical equipment inside.

As a control signal, the so-called push-type telephone DTMF
A (Dial Tone Multi Frequency) signal is often used, and for example, the air conditioner is turned on for a "5 *" signal.

Incidentally, such a telecontrol device is described in detail in JP-A-61-43866.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned telecontrol device according to the related art, after continuously detecting a call signal for a certain period of time, the line is closed and a control signal reception waiting state is entered, but a telephone such as an answering machine is placed on the same telephone line. No consideration was given to the case where related equipment (also called a telephone terminal, etc.) was connected, the call signal arrived, and the answering machine on the same telephone line responded before the telecontrol device and the line was answered. There is a problem that the telecontrol device cannot start the telecontrol operation (that is, receiving a predetermined control signal and performing a predetermined device control) if it is closed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the problems of the above-mentioned conventional techniques,
When a telephone-related device other than the telecontrol device is simultaneously connected on the same line and a telephone call arrives, even if the latter telephone-related device answers first, it is possible to start the telecontrol operation regardless of that. It is to provide a tele-control device capable of performing.

[Means for solving problems]

In addition to the conventional telecontrol device, the above object is to prevent the case where another telephone-related device connected on the same line responds to the call signal in advance and closes the line by direct current. This is accomplished by providing a line termination detection circuit that detects.

[Action]

The line termination detection circuit detects, when another telephone-related device connected to the same line responds to the call signal first and closes the line in a direct current manner. Then, even when this is detected, the telecontrol device operates so as to start the telecontrol operation.

〔Example〕

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a telecontrol device according to the present invention.

In the figure, 101 is a general telephone line, 102 is a telecontrol device according to the present invention, 103 is a switch circuit for connecting the telephone line 101 and the telecontrol device 102, 104 is a terminating circuit for terminating the telephone line 101, 105 Is a receiving circuit for a control signal for telecontrol sent through the telephone line 101, and is a DTMF signal receiving circuit when the above-mentioned DTMF signal is used as a control signal.

Reference numeral 106 denotes a circuit that transmits a response signal for telecontrol, and uses voice or a simple tone signal as the response signal. 107 is an incoming call detection circuit that detects a call signal that notifies an incoming call, and 108 is an important element according to the present invention. When another telephone-related device connected to the same telephone line 101 closes the line by direct current, that is, When terminated, a line termination detection circuit for detecting this, and 109 is a main control circuit for controlling and managing the entire control device 102, which is composed of an arithmetic unit (CPU) and the like.

110 is a device interface circuit for controlling a controlled device (for example, an air conditioner) 112, 111 is a mode setting circuit for switching between a home mode and an out-of-home mode (also referred to as a teleconverter mode, an automatic reception mode, etc.), and 112 is Controlled device (for example, air conditioner, lighting, VTR, etc.) 113 controlled by a telephone outside the home by the telecontrol device 102
Is another telephone-related device connected to the telephone line 101,
Here, an answering machine, which is the representative device, is used.

Reference numeral 114 denotes an incoming call time setting circuit that sets the length of incoming call detection time (or the number of calls) required from the detection of the first incoming call tone (ringing sound) to the start of the telecontrol operation. The operation will be described.

First, when the mode setting switch 111 is in the home mode,
Switch 103 always open and telecontrol device 1
Make sure that 02 does not perform telecontrol operation.

Next, when the mode setting switch 111 is set to the out-of-office mode, there is an incoming call, and when a call signal appears on the telephone line 101, after a certain time, the answering machine 11
3 closes the line within the device and begins responding. The line termination detection line 108 of the telecontrol device 102 detects that the answering machine 113 has closed the line and notifies the main control circuit 109 of this.

When the main control circuit 109 receives this, the switch 103 is closed and the telephone line 101 is connected to the control signal receiving circuit 105 via the terminating circuit 104.
Connect to. That is, the answering machine 113 closes the line and responds to the call signal, and the telecontrol device 102 also enters the control signal waiting state and starts the telecontrol operation.

In this state, when the control signal receiving circuit 105 receives a predetermined control signal, the main control circuit 109 decodes it,
The controlled device 112 is controlled via the device interface circuit 110.

When the answering machine 113 is not connected to the same telephone line 101, that is, when it is not installed, the telecontrol device 102 set to the out-of-going mode has the incoming call detection circuit 107 set the call signal to the incoming call time. After continuing detection for the time set by the circuit 114, the main control circuit 109 notifies the main control circuit 109 that has detected an incoming call.
3 is closed, the line is closed by the termination circuit 104, and the telecontrol operation is started, but this is no different from the conventional case.

A little supplementary explanation.

In FIG. 1, in the answering machine 113 and the telecontrol device 102 connected in parallel to the same telephone line 101, the answering machine 113 is always the telecontrol device when a call signal arrives at the telephone line 101. The incoming time setting circuit 114 in the telecontrol device 102 is set so that it responds before the 102.

Therefore, when an incoming call arrives, the answering machine 113 first starts the operation and terminates the telephone line 101. Then, the line termination detection circuit 108 in the telecontrol device 102 detects this and notifies the main control circuit 109, so that the telecontrol device 102 also starts operating and shifts to a control signal reception waiting state.

If there is an incoming call on the telephone line 101, it cannot be determined whether the incoming call is the incoming call for the answering machine 113 or the telecontrol device 102. The device operates and enters the standby state. Originally answering machine
If there is no 113, the line termination detection circuit 108 is not necessary, and the incoming call detection circuit 107 detects an incoming call on the telephone line 101 and starts the telecontrol operation as in the conventional case.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a specific example of the line termination detection circuit 108 in FIG. In this example, the line voltage of the line is 42 to 52V (generally 48V) when the line is open, and the line resistance inside the exchange is several hundreds to several KΩ. Since the voltage at the equipment connection end (between L ₁ and L ₂ of the telephone line 101) is several V to several tens of V, this is detected to detect the line end.

2, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, 201 to 204 are diodes, 205 are inductors, 206 and 207 are resistors, 208 is a comparator (voltage comparator), and 209 is It is the comparison reference power supply, and is set to 20V or the like in advance.

In such a circuit, when the answering machine 113 terminates the line 101 by direct current, the voltage between L ₁ and L ₂ drops, and the comparator 208 detects this.

Next, another circuit example of the line termination detection circuit 108 will be described, but before that, the state of the power supply line at the time of incoming call will be described with reference to FIG. The telephone line has two lines in normal condition, as shown in Fig. 3 (1).
A voltage of 48V is normally applied between L ₁ and L ₂ , and the polarity of this voltage is inverted when a call arrives, as shown in Fig. 3 (2), and a call signal is sent. Then, when the receiving side closes the line by direct current as seen in FIG. 3 (3), the exchange detects it and inverts the polarity again.

Therefore, in order for the line termination detection circuit 108 to detect that another device connected to the same line has closed (terminated) the line, polarity reversal of the telephone line may be detected twice.

FIG. 4 shows a specific circuit example of the line termination detection circuit 108 utilizing such a principle. 4, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. 401 and 402
Are photocouplers, 403-406 are resistors, and 407 and 408 are inverter circuits.

First, in a normal state, the potential of the line L ₁ of the telephone line 101 is higher than that of L ₂ , so that the photocoupler 403 is turned on, and the output a is high “H” and the output b is low “L”.

Next, when there is an incoming call, the polarity is inverted and the potential of the line L ₂ of the telephone line 101 becomes higher than L ₁ , so the photocoupler 401 is turned off and the photocoupler 402 is turned on. Therefore, the output a becomes low "L" and the output b becomes high "H". When the called side closes the line, the polarity of the telephone line 101 is inverted again, and the output a becomes high "H" and the output b becomes low "L".

By detecting such changes in the outputs a and b, it is possible to detect that another device on the same line has closed the line.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing still another specific example of the line termination detection circuit 108. In this example, a current flows when the line is DC-closed (terminated). Therefore, by detecting this current, it is detected whether or not the line is terminated.

5, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. 501 to 505 are resistors, 506 and 507 are photocouplers, and 508 and 509 are inverter circuits. In this case, it is necessary to connect the answering machine 113 between the switch 103 and the line termination detection circuit 108, and when the answering machine 113 responds to the incoming call and closes the line, a current flows through the resistor 501. As a result, a potential difference is generated at both ends. Therefore, depending on the polarity of the line 101, the photo coupler 506 or
The 507 turns on.

For example, if the potential of line L ₁ is higher than L ₂ , the photocoupler 50
6 turns on and output c goes high “H”. Similarly, when the potential of the line L ₂ is higher than L ₁ , the photocoupler 507 turns on and the output d becomes high “H”. That is, it is possible to detect whether or not the answering machine 113 has closed the line from the "c" of the output c or the output d.

By the way, for incoming call detection, the incoming signal (that is,
The calling signal) has a normal frequency as shown in FIG.
It is an AC signal of 75 Vrms at 16 Hz. Therefore, when telephone-related devices such as an answering machine and a telecontrol device are set to the out-of-office mode, basically, after detecting this 16Hz signal by connecting it for a certain period of time (or a certain number of times), the line is automatically Is closed (on-hook state), that is, automatic reception is performed, and operation of the device is started.

This tele-control device also basically has this function, so if there is an answering machine on the same line, as described above, this tele-control device will have more time than the incoming signal detection time. It is necessary to set the incoming signal detection time of the device long or to stop the incoming call detection function.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a specific circuit example of the incoming call detection line 107. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. 701 to 704 are diodes,
705 is a photo coupler, 706 and 707 are capacitors, 708 to 710
Is a resistor and 711 is an inverter circuit.

When this circuit detects an incoming signal, the output e becomes low "L" only during the duration of the 16 Hz signal. Therefore, by observing this low "L" signal for a predetermined time by main controller 109, an incoming call can be detected.

Now, the termination circuit 104 will be described. When using a line, the equipment connected to the telephone line must close (terminate) the line in a direct current manner, and the resistance value of this termination is usually defined as 50 to 300Ω by technical standards.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing a specific example of the termination circuit 104 used in the telecontrol device of the present invention. In the figure,
The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. 801, 805 and 808 are inductors, 802, 806 and 807 and 809
Is a resistor, 803 is a so-called line transformer, and 804 and 810 are switches.

In the example of FIG. 8 (1), the line is simply DC-terminated, and AC-terminated by the impedance of the entire termination circuit 104 and the input impedance of the control signal receiving circuit 105. Figure 8 (2) shows the line transformer 80.
Is terminated by both DC and AC,
Normally, the impedance of the primary side and the secondary side is 600Ω, 1
Use a winding resistance of about 100Ω on the secondary side.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, the telecontrol device 102 and the answering machine 113 are connected to the same line, and after the incoming call, both of them are terminated as shown in FIG. 8 (1) or (2). If the line is terminated by, the impedance to the line will drop to about 1/2, and in some cases the technical standards may not be met and normal communication may not be possible.

Therefore, when it is detected that another telephone-related device on the same line has terminated the line in this way and the device is operated at the same time, the terminating impedance of the telecontrol device 102 may be made sufficiently large. Termination circuit 104 in this case
A concrete example of the circuit is shown in (3) or (4) of FIG.

In the example of FIG. 8 (3), the terminating circuit 104 is provided with the switch 804, and when it is detected that the line is terminated by another device, the switch 804 is released (that is, infinite to the line). It becomes the impedance of). In the example of FIG. 8 (4), two resistors (807 and 809) are connected in series, the resistance value of the resistor 807 is set sufficiently large, and the switch 810 that opens and closes both ends is connected to another line. When it is terminated by the device, it is released.

In the case of the terminating circuit of FIG. 8 (3) or (4), when the answering machine 113 finishes its operation and opens the line (off-hook state) before the end of the telecontrol operation. Even if it is a line termination detection line 10
8, the line is closed immediately by the termination circuit 104 of the telecontrol device 102 (off-hook state),
It is also possible to continue the telecontrol operation.

By the way, the controlled equipment controlled by the telecontrol device is usually considered to be an air conditioner, a lighting, a VTR, a bath or the like, but other than this, an answering machine or a facsimile machine may be used. Further, in FIG. 1, the telecontrol device 102 and the controlled device 112 are shown separately, but the telecontrol device may be built in the controlled device.

Further, when two or more telecontrol devices according to the present invention are connected to the same line, the present invention can be implemented if the incoming call times used by the respective devices for incoming call detection are set to different times by the incoming call setting circuit. it can.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, even if a telephone-related device such as an answering machine connected in parallel on the same line starts an operation first and responds, the telecontrol device performs a telecontrol operation. There is an effect that this device and other telephone-related equipment can be connected to the same line and used without any modification to telephone-related equipment other than this equipment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a concrete example of a line termination detection circuit, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a telephone line at the time of incoming call, and FIG. And the fifth
FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing another specific example of the line termination detection circuit, FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing a ringing signal, FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing a specific example of the incoming call detection circuit, and FIG. It is a circuit diagram which shows a specific example. Reference numeral 101 ... telephone line, 102 ... telecontrol device, 103 ... switch circuit, 104 ... termination circuit, 105 ... control signal receiving circuit,
106 ... Response signal transmission circuit, 107 ... Incoming call detection circuit, 108 ... Line termination detection circuit, 113 ... Answering machine

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A telecontrol device comprising an incoming call detection circuit for detecting an incoming call from a telephone line, which starts a telecontrol operation when the incoming call detection circuit detects an incoming call. When terminated by the device,
A telecontrol device comprising a line termination detection circuit for detecting such a situation, and starting the telecontrol operation even when the line termination is detected by the line termination detection circuit. 2. An incoming call detection circuit for detecting an incoming call from a telephone line. When an incoming call is detected by the incoming call detection circuit, a telecontrol operation is started. On the other hand, there is an incoming call, and the line is called by another device. A line control circuit for terminating a telephone line in a telecontrol device that has a line termination detection circuit for detecting the termination when it is terminated and that starts a telecontrol operation even when the line termination detection circuit detects the termination. When a termination circuit is provided and the incoming call detection circuit detects an incoming call to start the telecontrol operation, the line termination circuit terminates the line of the telephone line, and the line termination detection circuit detects the line termination. When starting the telecontrol operation, the line termination circuit does not terminate the line of the telephone line. Control device.