JPH0256865B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention is directed to a wireless communication system that includes a transmitter for wirelessly remote controlling a device, and a receiver for controlling the device by receiving a signal transmitted from the transmitter. This relates to remote controllers.

Conventional configurations and their problems Conventionally, wireless remote controllers have been widely applied to televisions, video cameras, air conditioners, etc., and the operability of these home appliances has significantly improved. It can be said that this is extremely convenient, especially for items such as air conditioners that are originally installed in locations that are difficult to operate.
Recently, there has been a strong tendency to apply this convenience to other home appliances, and various attempts have been made.
For example, wall-mounted fans and ventilation fans are typical examples, and like the air conditioner mentioned earlier, they are originally installed in positions that are extremely difficult to operate, making the best use of the features of wireless remote controllers. However, in order to prevent the receiver from malfunctioning due to noise that exists in the natural world (hereinafter referred to as external noise), conventional wireless remote controllers use infrared rays and ultrasonic waves that do not often exist in the natural world, and also use special Currently, it is transmitted in the form of a signal (hereinafter simply referred to as a code). Therefore, special components are required to transmit and receive these infrared rays and ultrasonic waves (for example, in the case of infrared rays, infrared light emitting diodes and phototransistors, and in the case of ultrasonic waves, ceramic microphones, etc.). A circuit was needed to encode the ultrasonic waves. In other words, when a wireless remote controller is applied to a product that requires such special parts and circuits, the price of the product itself generally increases, and there is a strong tendency for the product to not take full advantage of its features. It was. This tendency is particularly strong for products with low unit prices, and it can be applied to some extent in products with high unit prices such as televisions, video cameras, and air conditioners.However, in products such as wall-mounted fans and ventilation fans, conventional It is not uncommon for the unit price of the product to become extremely high if the wireless remote controller is applied as is. Although products such as wall-mounted fans and ventilation fans can take full advantage of the features of wireless remote controllers, their commercialization may be abandoned due to basic reasons such as price, or products that are expensive and outweigh the added value. The current situation is that it has become a commodity.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention eliminates such conventional drawbacks, and uses a special signal transmission method adopted for the purpose of preventing malfunctions caused by external noise, which is a major factor in the price of conventional wireless remote controllers. The present invention aims to provide an inexpensive wireless remote controller that does not use infrared rays or ultrasonic waves, and does not use a complicated code to simplify the transmitting circuit, and is resistant to external noise. In particular, the present invention is a wireless remote controller that uses visible light as a signal transmission means.

Composition of the Invention The wireless remote controller of the present invention includes a transmitter that has a function of transmitting and stopping visible light, and a transmitter that tells how to transmit the visible light (for example, the timing of transmitting and stopping, etc.) by means such as a lamp or a buzzer. When a visible light beam is transmitted in accordance with the instruction, the receiver determines that it is a conscious signal from the sender and controls the device according to the type of control signal. Ru.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

Diagrams a, b, and c in FIG. 1 are diagrams explaining the operation of the wireless remote controller of the present invention, and a → b → c shows the order of signal exchange between the sender and receiver. . In the figure, 1 is a transmitter that transmits visible light, and 2 is a receiver, which here is a wall-mounted electric fan that is controlled by visible light. Reference numeral 3 indicates visible light, 4 indicates a sender, and 5 indicates an instruction signal light sent back from the receiver 2 to the sender 4 by a lamp. First, Figure a shows the sender 4 unconsciously sending a signal to the receiver 2 to request control. In other words, before this, receiver 2
is in a standby state, and the control signal is just a signal to bring it out of this standby state. Therefore, the signal used for the control signal does not have to be very complicated. Next, in Figure b, the receiver 2, which has exited the standby state, confirms with the sender 4 in a so-called dialogue format whether the control signal signal was sent with the correct consciousness of the sender 4. It shows the place. In the case of this figure, a dialogue is being carried out by light, and a signal is sent from receiver 2 to sender 4 according to one pattern, and sender 4 responds to transmitter 1 by sending a signal according to one pattern. I will respond with this. This interactive wireless remote control method is completely absent from conventional wireless remote controllers, and is a feature of the present invention. By the way, there are countless noises caused by visible light in the natural world, such as those caused by sunlight and various electric lights. In other words, the receiver 2, which is controlled by visible light, always has the risk of malfunctioning due to noise and visible light unless some signal recognition rules are established.

Furthermore, the transmitter 1 of the present invention does not transmit complicatedly coded signals like the transmitter of a conventional wireless remote controller, but a simple one that only transmits and stops manually. It is. In other words, it goes without saying that the visible light signal sent from the transmitter 1 and the visible light coming in as noise are completely indistinguishable from the receiver 2's point of view. In other words, this point is very different from the transmitter signal of a conventional wireless remote controller. The signal transmitted by the transmitter of a conventional wireless remote controller is a signal itself that can be easily distinguished from external noise, and creating this coded signal increases the price of the transmitter. What happened is as mentioned above. However, the interactive wireless remote controller of the present invention does not distinguish between external noise and the signal transmitted from the transmitter 1 by characterizing the signal itself, but by using a very common signal to distinguish between the transmitter 4 and the receiver 2. It attempts to distinguish between external noise and signals while exchanging signals. In other words, the reason why external noise can be removed in this method is largely due to the timing of signal transmission and reception. For example, if the receiver 2 instructs the sender 4 to send a limited number of signals at certain intervals, at this point the ordinary visible light signal is the same as the encoded one. ,
Because it is extremely irregular, external noise that does not follow the instructions of receiver 2 will naturally be distinguished during this dialog-style exchange, and the ordinary visible light that is consciously transmitted will be recognized as a signal by the receiver. It will be incorporated into 2. As a result of the interactive exchange, if the receiver 2 determines that the signal is the sender's 4 intentional signal, the sender 4 again sends a signal to control the device. This shows the situation. In other words, in this example, the signal exchange during the interactive format shown in Figure b is not for the purpose of controlling the equipment, but rather serves as a type of key.
Only after the signal exchange shown in the figure is OK, signals can be sent to control the equipment. Figure c shows this situation, and this signal causes the receiver 2 to
The new state of is determined. For example, a wall-mounted fan starts and stops at this signal. Figure 2 shows the sender 4 and receiver 2 in Figure 1.
Treating the exchange of visible light as a pulse of light,
This is converted into a time chart, where a is transmitter 1
b of the light pulses sent from the receiver 2 indicates temporal changes in the light pulses sent from the receiver 2. A pulse train 10 consisting of two pulses sent out from the transmitter 1 at times t ₁ and t ₂ is a signal for bringing the receiver 2 out of the standby state. Receiver 2, which has come out of the standby state, transmits pulse 11 at time _t3 . In response, a response pulse 12 is transmitted from the sender 4 to the receiver 2 at time _t4 . After this, until time _t5 , the receiver 2 confirms that no extra visible light is coming in, and then transmits the pulse 13 again at time _t5 . In response, the sender 4 transmits a response pulse 14 at time _t6 . Receiver 2 then monitors external noise in the same way as before until time _t7 . That is, time t ₃
Only when one response pulse is sent from the sender 4 from t ₅ to t ₅ and from t 5 to t ₇ , the received visible light is sent without the sender 4's consciousness. It is determined that the signal is present. From time _t7 to time _t8 , a signal is sent continuously instead of in pulses to inform the sender 4 that it is ready to receive a control signal that changes the state of the receiver 2. During this time, the sender 4 sends a control signal to the receiver 2, so the pulse train 1
6 shows an example of this control signal.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram showing an example of a transmitter used in the wireless remote controller of the present invention, in which 20 is an incandescent miniature light bulb, 21 is a light bulb socket, 2
2 is a dry battery, 23 is a battery holder, 24 is a pole spring, 25 is a transmitter case, 26 is an internal lead wire,
27 is a transmission button, 28 and 29 are electrical contacts having spring properties, and 30 is a condenser lens. There is no need to explain the operation, but only while the transmit button 27 is pressed, the electrical contacts 28 and 29 come into contact, the incandescent miniature light bulb lights up, and the light is focused through the lens 30 and transmitted as a signal. It is something. In other words, unlike conventional wireless remote controller transmitters, the present transmitter 1 does not require any complicated electronic circuitry, and has an extremely cost-effective structure. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the electric circuit of the receiver 2, and 40 is a CdS for detecting visible light.
41 is an amplifier circuit, 42 is a control circuit, 43 is a light display device such as a light emitting diode, 44 is an output circuit, and 45 is a fan motor of a wall-mounted electric fan, which is a receiver. Next, the operation will be briefly described. Changes in visible light that are converted into electrical signals by the sensor 40 are arranged into a signal with a waveform that can be determined by the amplifier circuit 41 and sent to the control circuit 42. Based on the received signal and the display device 43, the control circuit 42 determines whether the signal is a signal sent unconsciously by the sender 4 or just external noise, using the interactive procedure described earlier. Then, the operation of the fan motor 45 is controlled through the output circuit 44.

The example of the interactive wireless remote controller that has been explained so far consists of three states: departure from the standby state, dialog mode, and control signal transmission. Needless to say, there is nothing wrong with it being done.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, since visible light, which is common in general, is used as a signal transmission means, there is no need to use expensive special parts for transmission and reception.
In particular, the transmitting side may be something like an incandescent miniature light bulb as shown in the example. Furthermore, since it uses a method of removing external noise through an interactive method, there is no need to use special signals for the transmission signal, and there is no need for expensive ICs or electronic circuits that perform complex coding. In other words, even though conventional wireless remote controllers were expected to be effective, their introduction was abandoned due to their low price, and wall-mounted fans and ventilation fans were expensive products despite their added value. The effects are significant, such as the application of wireless remote controllers to low-priced products.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating the operation sequence of the interactive wireless remote controller according to the present invention according to the diagrams a→b→c, and Fig. 2 is an example of the interactive wireless remote controller shown in Fig. 1. A time chart of pulses sent from the sender and receiver, captured in the form of pulse exchange,
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of the structure of the transmitter of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electrical circuit of a receiver shown in the interactive wireless remote controller example of FIG. 1...Transmitter, 2...Receiver, 3...Visible light, 43...Display means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1.Equipped with a transmitter that transmits visible light, a receiver that receives this visible light and controls equipment, and a display device attached to this receiver, and this display device can receive signals such as a lamp or a buzzer sound. The reception conditions such as the time and the number of receivable signals are displayed, and the user of the transmitter transmits to the receiver according to the reception conditions, and the display on the display device, the transmitter's transmission, and the receiver's A wireless remote controller that distinguishes between external noise and conscious signals by repeating a series of reception operations multiple times.