JPH04608Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a telephone answering device that can shorten the message cue time in a telephone answering device using an endless tape as a sound source.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, in a general telephone answering device using an endless tape as a sound source, the recording time of a message is one revolution of the endless tape, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 12041/1983. Therefore, the time required to locate the beginning of a message was the maximum time required for one round of the endless tape.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> However, in the case of a telephone answering device using such an endless tape as a sound source, when a call is received, when the tape starts feeding from the middle of the message to be sent, the maximum number of tape rotations is required until the beginning of the message. This has the problem of making the caller wait for a short period of time, resulting in a long station line hold dead time.

For this reason, conventionally, the same message was recorded on four channels set on four tracks of an endless tape, each with a shift of 1/4 of the message time, and a timing signal was generated at the start position of the message on each channel. A technique has been proposed in which a timing signal generation circuit is provided to reduce the access time for the message to be sent by selecting the channel closest to the starting position of the message when a call is received on the telephone line, and reproducing and transmitting it. (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 104358/1983).

However, with this conventional device, the same message is recorded on endless tape for four channels, that is, four times, so a wide and long tape is required, and the message recording time is four times longer than usual. It was hot. Also, with this device,
In addition to requiring four recording/playback heads, it also requires four detectors to detect the message start position on the tape and a circuit to generate a timing signal at the time of detection, increasing the number of parts and making the structure complex. There was a problem that was becoming more widespread.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention not only simplifies the structure of the telephone answering device, but also shortens the time it takes to cue a message. In a telephone answering device that sends a message pre-recorded on an endless tape to a caller in a closed loop, the entire message is divided into two from a predetermined reference position and recorded on an endless tape into two upper and lower channels. , a sensor for detecting the reference position, a first channel switching means for switching the reproduction channel whose reference position is detected by the sensor to another channel, a channel detection means for detecting the reproduction channel at the time of incoming call, and a channel detection means. and second channel switching means for switching the reproduction channel to the other channel when the channel detected by the means is the first channel.

<Operation> When a calling signal is received from the caller, a closed loop is formed on the telephone line and the telephone line is in a talking state. When this communication state is established, the endless tape begins to run due to the operation of the endless tape drive circuit. It also detects whether or not the endless tape is at the reference position when a call is entered, and whether or not the channel that is currently being reproduced is the first channel.

As a result of this detection, if the endless tape is at the reference position and the playback channel is the first channel, it remains as is, and if the other channel is 2 channels, the first
Switch to channel. Furthermore, if the playback channel at the time of incoming call is the first channel and there is an endless tape in the middle, the playback channel is switched to the other channel. Furthermore, if the playback channel is 2 channels when an incoming call is received and there is an endless tape in the middle, it is played back as is.

Therefore, the caller can listen to the message from the beginning by simply waiting a short time after receiving the call.

<Example> Next, a description will be given based on the illustrated embodiment.

First Embodiment (FIGS. 1-2) Reference numeral 1 denotes an endless tape, and the endless tape 1 is provided with a slit 20 at a reference position, as shown in FIG. A light source 2 and a phototransistor Tr ₁ are placed facing each other at predetermined positions in order to detect this slit 20, and serve as a sensor for detecting the reference position of the tape 1. The detection signal from this phototransistor Tr ₁ is input to the CPU 3.

On the other hand, relay Y ₁ is connected to one line L 1 of the central office line 4a _.
is connected. One end of the bell transformer _5a is connected to this relay _Y1 via a capacitor C1. The other end of the belt transformer 5a is connected to the other line _L2 of the central office line 4a. The CPU 3 is connected to the secondary side of the bell transformer 5a via a bell shaping circuit 6a.

In addition, the contact point of relay _Y1 is connected to the station line transformer 7.
One end of the station line transformer 7a is connected to the line _L2 of the station line 4a to the other end of the station line transformer 7a. Further, a message switching circuit 9a is connected to the secondary side of the office line transformer 7a via an office line amplifier 8a.
This message switching circuit 9a is configured to alternately switch according to commands from the CPU 3. Two reproduction heads 10 and 12 for reproducing the recorded contents of the endless tape are connected to this message switching circuit 9a via channel amplifiers 11 and 13.

The first channel switching means switches the reproduction channel to the other channel when the reference position is detected by the sensor, and the second channel switching means switches the reproduction channel to the other channel when the detected channel is the first channel. The channel switching means includes a message switching circuit 9a and a CPU.
Consists of 3.

In this way, one telephone line is constituted by the relay Y ₁ , the capacitor C ₁ , the bell transformer 5a, the bell shaping circuit 6a, the office line transformer 7a, the office line amplifier 8a, and the message switch 9a.

A plurality of circuits (n circuits) similar to those described above are provided, and these lines are managed by the CPU 3.

On the endless tape 1, one transmission message is recorded in advance in two parts, one for channel 1 (CH1) and one for channel 2 (CH2). That is, when CH1 to CH2 are reproduced in sequence, one message is constructed. As described above, the position of the slit 20, which is the reference position, is the beginning of the message.

Now, when there is a bell call on central line 4a, the relay is activated.
Y ₁ → Capacitor C ₁ → Bell is received by the transformer 5a circuit. This bell reception signal undergoes waveform shaping in the bell shaping circuit 6a and is sent to the CPU 3. When this CPU3 detects the bell signal,
By operating the relay _Y1 , the contacts are switched from the illustrated position, and the line _L1 and the central line transformer 7a are brought into conduction. As a result, the telephone line is connected to direct current and becomes ready for communication.

Next, the CPU 3 operates the tape drive circuit 15 to cause the endless tape 1 to run. As the endless tape 1 runs, the message pre-recorded on the endless tape 1 is sequentially played back from the channel 1 playback head 10 and the channel 2 playback head 12, and the CH1 amplifier 1
1, CH2 amplifier 13 amplifies the signal and sends it to the calling party.

Further, the CPU 3 determines whether the current position of the endless tape 1 is at the reference position based on the output of the phototransistor Tr ₁ , and if it is at the reference position, the connection state of the message switching circuit 9a is changed to the connection state shown in FIG. Control.

In this way, the message on channel 1 (CH1) of the endless tape 1 is first sent to the central office line 4a.

Next, this endless tape 1 goes around once and the slit 20 is connected to the phototransistor Tr ₁ again.
When detected, the CPU 3 sends a command signal to the message switching circuit 9a, switches the contacts, and sends the message of channel 2 (CH2) of the endless tape 1 to the central office line 4a. Furthermore, the endless tape 1 goes around once and finishes reproducing the message of the channel 2. When the phototransistor Tr ₁ detects the slit 20 again, the relay Y ₁ is turned off and the central line 4a is placed in an open loop state.

In addition, after receiving a call, if the other party cancels the call while sending a message on channel 1 of endless tape 1, endless tape 1 continues to run through slit 20 to the sensor position, and the sensor moves to slit 2.
When 0 is detected, relay _Y1 is turned off and the station line 4a is placed in an open loop state.

If a call is received again while the slit 20 of the endless tape 1 is traveling to the sensor position in this state, the leading position is not detected from the phototransistor Tr ₁ , so the message switching circuit 9a
It sends a command to and controls the connection to the channel 2 playback side.

Therefore, when a message is to be reproduced from the middle of endless tape 1, the message must be reproduced from channel 2. After the reproduction of the message on channel 2 is completed, the message is transmitted from the beginning to the central office line.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, when an incoming call is received while the endless tape is stopped midway, the cueing time can be reduced to less than half the sending message time, and the calling party can receive a call. You can quickly hear the message from your head.

Second Embodiment (FIG. 3) In this embodiment, the detection point of the reference position of the tape 1 and the message reproduction point are changed to two locations instead of one in the first embodiment.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, a phototransistor _Tr2 forming a second sensor is provided on the opposite side of _the phototransistor Tr1. The output of this phototransistor Tr ₁ is sent to the CPU 3 as a switch circuit 3.
5.

Furthermore, the output of the phototransistor Tr ₁ is also configured to be input to the CPU 3 via the switch circuit 34 . Further, a channel 1 reproducing head 30 and a channel 2 reproducing head 31 are provided at positions facing the channel 1 reproducing head 10 and the channel 2 reproducing head 12 of the endless tape 1. The output end of this head 30 is connected to one terminal of a head switching circuit 33.

Further, the output end of the head 31 is connected to one terminal of a head switching circuit 32. The output terminal of the head 10 is connected to the other terminal of the head switching circuit 32, and the output terminal of the head 12 is connected to the other terminal of the head switching circuit 33. Channel 1 is connected to the output terminal of this head switching circuit 32.
A CH1 amplifier 11 for amplifying the channel 2 signal is connected to the output terminal of the head switching circuit 33, and a CH2 amplifier 13 for amplifying the channel 2 signal is connected to the output terminal of the head switching circuit 33, respectively. The rest is the same as in FIG.

Now, when there is a bell call on central line 4a, the relay is activated.
Y ₁ → Capacitor C ₁ → Bell is received by the transformer 5a circuit. This bell reception signal is waveform-shaped in the bell shaping circuit 6a and sent to the CPU 3. When this CPU3 detects the bell signal,
By operating the relay _Y1 , the contact is switched from the illustrated position, and the station line _L1 and the station line transformer 7a are brought into conduction. As a result, the telephone line is connected to direct current and becomes ready for communication.

Next, the CPU 3 operates the tape drive circuit 15 to cause the endless tape 1 to run. As the endless tape 1 runs, messages pre-recorded on the endless tape 1 are sequentially reproduced from the channel 1 playback head 10, the channel 2 playback head 12, and the CH1 amplifier 11,
The signal is amplified by the CH2 amplifier 12 and sent to the calling party.

Further, the CPU 3 determines whether the reference position of the endless tape 1 is at the sensor position based on the output of the phototransistor Tr ₁ , and if it is at the sensor position, the connection state of the message switching circuit 9a is changed to the connection state shown in FIG. At the same time, the head switching circuits 32 and 33 are controlled to the head 10 and 12 selection positions, and the switch circuit 3
Turn on 4 and 35. In this way, the message on channel 1 (CH1) of the endless tape 1 is first sent to the central office line 4a.

Next, when the endless tape 1 goes around once and the phototransistor Tr ₁ detects the slit 20 at the reference position again, the CPU 3 sends a command signal to the message switching circuit 9a to switch the contacts.
A message on channel 2 (CH2) of endless tape 1 is sent to central office line 4a.

Furthermore, endless tape 1 has gone around once,
When the message on channel 2 is reproduced and the phototransistor Tr ₁ detects the slit 20 again, the relay Y ₁ is turned off and the central line 4a is placed in an open loop state.

In addition, after receiving a call, if the other party cancels the call while sending a message on channel 1 of endless tape 1, endless tape 1 continues to run through slit 20 to the sensor position, and the sensor moves to slit 2.
When 0 is detected, relay _Y1 is turned off and the station line 4a is placed in an open loop state.

If a call arrives again in this state, that is, while the endless tape 1 is sending its reference position to the sensor, the leading position is not detected from the phototransistor Tr ₁ , so a command is sent to the message switching circuit 9a. , controls the connection to the channel 2 playback side.

Also, the head switching circuits 32 and 33 are connected to head 1.
CPU3 controls to connect to 0 and 12 sides,
The phototransistor is activated by commands from CPU3.
The switch circuits 34 and 35 of Tr ₁ and Tr ₂ are both controlled to be in the ON state.

In this state, the tape drive circuit 15 is activated and the endless tape 1 begins to run. As a result, the playback sound from the channel 2 playback head 12 is transmitted to the central office line 4.
It is sent out through a to 4n.

Next, depending on the stop position of the endless tape 1, either phototransistor Tr ₁ or Tr ₂ detects the slit 20 . This transistor Tr ₁ ,
The detection of the slit in Tr ₂ is determined by the CPU 3.

If the phototransistor Tr ₁ is detected first, the CPU 3 issues a command to connect the heads 10 and 12 to select the heads 10 and 12 to the head switching circuits 32 and 33, and also outputs a command to turn off the switch circuit 35. Further, if the phototransistor Tr ₂ is detected first, the CPU 3 issues a command to the head switching circuits 32 and 33 to connect the heads 30 and 31 to select them, and also switches the switch circuit 34
Outputs a command to turn OFF.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to locate the beginning of a message in half the time of the first embodiment.

<Effects of the invention> As is clear from the above explanation, according to the invention, since the entire message is divided into two parts from a predetermined reference position and recorded in two upper and lower channels, an endless tape is used. Compared to conventional endless tapes that record messages of the same length, the length of the tape can be made shorter.
Furthermore, since the reproduction channel is switched, it is possible to locate the beginning of a message in a short time.

Furthermore, compared to conventional devices that record the same message on multiple channels, the present invention only records a message once, uses a minimum of two recording/playback heads, and detects the reference position on the tape. This type of telephone answering device can be easily constructed with a smaller number of parts than conventional telephone answering devices.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 and 2 show the first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 1 is a block diagram, Figure 2 is a partially enlarged view of the endless tape, and Figure 3 is the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1...Endless tape, 2...Light source, 3...
CPU, 4a to 4n... Office line, 9a to 9n... Message switching circuit, 10, 12, 30, 31...
Head, 11, 13...Amplifier, 20...Slit, _Tr1 , _Tr2 ...Phototransistor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A predetermined reference position in a telephone answering device that closes the telephone line upon receipt of a call signal and sends a message prerecorded on an endless tape to the caller. an endless tape on which the entire message is divided into two channels and recorded in upper and lower channels; a sensor for detecting the reference position; and when the reference position is detected by the sensor, the playback channel is switched to the other channel. a first channel switching means for switching; a channel detecting means for detecting a playback channel when an incoming call is received; and a second channel switching means for switching the playback channel to the other channel when the channel detected by the channel detecting means is the first channel. A telephone answering device characterized by comprising: means;