JPH0773302B2 - Answering machine - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an answering machine.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an inexpensive answering machine, only one recording tape is used, a response message is recorded at the beginning of the recording tape, and subsequently a received message is sequentially recorded. there were. In such a device, an incoming call is waited at the start point of the recording tape, and when an incoming call is received, a response message is first sent out, and then a received message from the caller is recorded. Fast-forward the recording tape to a position where you can do it, then record the message received from the caller, rewind the recording tape to the starting point after recording the received message, and wait for the next incoming call. I was doing a series of operations.

Also, as another answering machine, it waits for an incoming call at the end point of the received message that was recorded last, rewinds the recording tape to the beginning when there is an incoming call, closes the telephone line, and records after sending a response message. Fast forward the tape to the above-mentioned standby position, that is, the end point of the last recorded received message, then record the message from the caller, and after the recording is completed, it enters the standby state at the message recording end point, It has been proposed to perform a series of operations of waiting for an incoming call.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, the former one of the above-mentioned conventional answering machine has been recorded at the beginning when the incoming call is recorded at the beginning of the recording tape and the caller's message is recorded. In order to fast forward the recording tape to the end position of the message, the end position of the last recorded message is stored in the memory. Therefore, if there is a power failure during standby, the data in the memory that indicates the position on the tape where the received message is recorded disappears, and if there is an incoming call after the power is restored, there will be no received message recorded up to that point. Since the message from the caller is regarded as being recorded from the first position of the part where the received message is recorded, there is a fear that the previously recorded important received message may be erased.

In addition, in order to solve this problem, a means for mounting a battery and retaining the data in the memory at the time of power failure has been proposed, but this means that the product is expensive due to the battery, battery case, etc. It is not suitable for answering machine.

On the other hand, in the latter case, when the number of received messages recorded becomes very large, it takes a very long time to rewind the recording tape to the beginning in response to an incoming call, and during that time, a call signal is sent to call the caller. You will have to wait. Therefore, the caller sometimes misunderstands that the called party is absent and that there is no answering machine, and sometimes the call is canceled.The original mission of the answering machine is to record the message from the caller. There was a fear that it could not function. Moreover, this problem can be solved to some extent by providing a tape running means capable of rewinding the recording tape at an extremely high speed, but this means not only the product becomes expensive, but the recording tape may be damaged in some cases. In the worst case, the recording tape may be cut.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the answering machine of the present invention has a recording tape, which is in the middle of a portion where a received message is recorded and which is the end position of the portion where the received message is recorded. For waiting at a standby position that has a predetermined specific relationship with, rewinding from the standby position in response to an incoming call to the beginning of the portion where the response message was recorded, playing back and sending the response message, and then recording To record the received message, run the tape from the standby position to the beginning of the part where the received message was recorded and run from the beginning of the part where the received message was recorded by the distance determined by the predetermined specific relationship. It is composed of control means for controlling.

With this configuration, the recording tape can be returned from the standby position closer to the start end than the end end of the received message to the start end at the time of incoming, and the response message can be sent to the end of the received message after being reproduced.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an embodiment of an answering machine of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a tape running means for running the recording tape 2, which is composed of a motor, a flywheel, a reel drive shaft and the like.
Reference numeral 3 is a recording / reproducing head, 4 is rotation detecting means for detecting rotation of the reel drive shaft of the tape running means 1, and outputting a pulse signal, 5 is a microphone for recording a response message,
6 to 10 are analog switches, which are recording switches,
Play switch, microphone switch, line-in switch,
It is a line-out switch. 1 is a recording / playback amplifier,
12 is an amplifier for driving the speaker 13, 14 is VOX detection means for detecting the silent state of the audio signal, 15 is a telephone line 17
A telephone line monitoring means for detecting a calling signal and a disconnection signal from the telephone, 16 is a relay for closing the telephone line 17, and is composed of a relay driving means 16-1 and a relay contact 16-2. Further, 18 is an interface circuit between the telephone line 17 and this device, 19 is a response message button operated when recording a response message, and 20 is a control means for controlling this device, which is constituted by a microcomputer. It

FIG. 2 shows a recording format of the recording tape 2.
Incidentally, "OGM" indicates a response message, and "ICM (N)" indicates the Nth received message.

The operation of the answering machine having the above structure will be described below.

First, the operation of recording a response message will be described. Operate the response message button 19 to control
The control means 20 is read from the input terminal P14 of 20 and outputs the control signal to the output terminal P2 in response to this, thereby controlling the tape running means 1 to the rewinding state and rewinding the recording tape 2 to the starting point. . In this rewinding state, the rotation detection means 4 outputs a pulse signal according to the rotation of the reel shaft, and the signal is applied to the input terminal P0 of the control means 20. When the recording tape 2 is rewound to the starting point, the reel shaft does not rotate and the pulse signal is not applied to the input terminal P0. Therefore, the control means 20 detects that the recording tape 2 has been rewound to the starting point, stops outputting the rewinding control signal from the output terminal P2, and outputs the control signal to the output terminals P4 and P9. By microphone switch 8
The recording switch 6 is turned on and a control signal is output to the output terminal P1 to control the tape running means 1 to the constant speed running state. In this case, the line-in switch 9 and the reproduction switch 7 which will be described later are in a non-conductive state. As a result, the device enters the response message recording state, and the microphone 5 records the response message. The voice signal is converted into an electric signal by the microphone 5, and the microphone switch 8,
Recording / playback amplifier 11, recording switch 6 and recording / reproducing head 3 record on recording tape 2. When the reproduction response message button is operated during the recording of this response message, the recording is terminated, and the constant speed traveling state is released by outputting a control signal to the output terminal P1, and the tape traveling means 1 is stopped. Further, in the recording state of the response message, the rotation detecting means 4 outputs a pulse signal corresponding to the rotation of the reel shaft, and the signal is applied to the input terminal P0 of the control means 20. The control means 20 counts the pulse signals, and when it detects that the recording tape 2 has run for a predetermined length, it outputs the output terminals P4 and P9.
The recording switch 6 and the microphone switch 8 are controlled in a non-conductive state by outputting a control signal to, and the constant speed traveling state is canceled by outputting a control signal to the output terminal P1.
The tape running means 1 is stopped. In this embodiment, in order to determine the end of the response message, the VOX detecting means monitors the silence for a predetermined time or more in parallel with the rotation pulse. The output of the VOX detection means 14 is applied to the input terminal P8, and the control means 20 outputs the output terminal when the silence continues for a predetermined time or longer.
The recording switch 6 and the microphone switch 8 are controlled to be non-conductive by outputting a control signal to P4 and P9, and the output terminal
By outputting a control signal to P1, the constant speed running state is released and the tape running means 1 is stopped. In this embodiment, 10 seconds after the recording tape 2 is stopped, the recording tape 2 automatically shifts to the standby state. In this embodiment, the first received message is the second
It is predetermined to record from the B0 point shown in the figure. Therefore, the control means 20 controls the tape running means 1 in the rewinding and fast-forwarding states, runs the recording tape 2 to the position A0 point corresponding to 1/4 of the running amount L0 from the starting point S to the B0 point, and then stops. Then it becomes a standby state.

Next, the first incoming call will be described. When an incoming call signal arrives from the telephone line, the incoming call detection signal is applied to the input terminal P12 from the detection means 15, and the control means 20 detects the incoming call. Upon detecting one incoming call, the control means 20 immediately outputs a control signal to the output terminal P2 to control the tape running means 1 in the rewinding state to start the recording tape at the tape starting point (point S in FIG. 3). Rewind until. In this rewinding state, the rotation detection means 4 outputs a pulse signal according to the rotation of the relay shaft, and the signal is the input terminal P0 of the control means 20.
Applied to. At this time, the control means 20 is counting the number of this pulse. At the same time, if there is a bell during this rewinding, the incoming signal is applied from the detection means 15 to the input terminal P12, and the control means 20 counts the number of incoming signals. Recording tape 2
When is rewound to the starting point, the reel shaft does not rotate and the pulse signal is not applied to the input terminal P0.
Therefore, the control means 20 detects that the recording tape 2 has been rewound to the tape starting point, stops the output of the rewinding control signal from the output terminal P2, and brings the tape running means 1 into a stopped state.

Next, the number of incoming signals is counted in the stopped state at the tape start point,
When the incoming signal is received a predetermined number of times, the control means 20
Outputs a control signal to the output terminal P7 to activate the relay driving means 16-1 and turn on the relay contact 16-2 to close the line. After that, the control means 20 brings the tape running means 1 into a constant speed running state by the output terminal P1 and outputs a control signal to the output terminals P6 and P11 so that the reproduction switch 7 and the line-out switch 10 are brought into conduction. The response message recorded on the recording tape 2 is sent from the recording head 3 to the line via the reproduction switch 7, the recording / reproduction amplifier 11, the line, the out switch 10 and the interface circuit 18. During the sending of the response message, the control means 20 counts the number of pulse signals output by the rotation detection means 4 and monitors the continuous silence by the VOX detection means 14, and the signal input to the input terminal P8 continues for a predetermined time or longer. If it becomes a silent state, it is determined that the response message has ended, the output of the constant speed running control signal from the output terminal P1 is stopped, and the control signal is output to the output terminals P6 and P11, whereby the playback switch 17 and the line out switch
10 is turned off. Next, the control means 20 outputs the control signal to the output terminal P3 to bring the tape running means 1 into the fast-forwarding state. The rotation pulse is counted even during this fast-forwarding, and when fast-forwarding to the point B0, the output of the fast-forwarding control signal from the output terminal P3 is stopped and the tape traveling means 1 is driven at a constant speed by outputting the control signal to the output terminal P1. By controlling the running state and outputting a control signal to the output terminals P10 and P4, the line-in switch 9 and the recording switch 6 are brought into conduction, and the received message is recorded. The voice signal from the caller is transmitted from the telephone line 17 to the interface circuit 18, the line-in switch 9, the recording / reproducing amplifier 11, the recording switch 6,
It is recorded on the recording tape 2 via the recording / reproducing head 3.
At this time, the amplifier 12 is controlled to be in the active state from the output terminal P5, and the received message is recorded and the speaker 13 is simultaneously activated.
Monitored by.

When the message recording is finished, the control means 20
The output of the constant speed running control signal from P1 is stopped, the outputs of P10, P4, and P5 are all turned off, and the tape running means 1 is stopped.

This completes the recording of the first received message, and the recording tape 2 is running to point B1 shown in FIG. 3 at this time. Here, the control means 20 controls the tape running means 1 to the rewinding state by outputting a control signal to the output terminal P2, and rewinds to the start point S of the recording tape. The amount of travel during this rewind is L1. After rewinding, the control means 20 fast-forwards from the starting point S to a position corresponding to 1/4 of the running amount L1 (A1 point in FIG. 3), and when the A1 point is reached, the tape running means 1 is stopped and output. The relay contact means 16-1 is turned off by outputting a control signal to the terminal P7.
-2 is turned off and the telephone line 17 is opened to wait for the next incoming call.

Similarly, when the received message is recorded N times, the received message is recorded up to the point Bn in FIG. 4, and the incoming call is waited for at the position An corresponding to 1/4 of the running amount Ln from the start point S to the point Bn. .

Here, the case where the power is restored is described. As described above, the reception message is waiting at the An point after N times of recording, but when a power failure occurs here, the control means 20 loses all memory. When the incoming signal arrives after the power failure is recovered, the incoming signal is sent from the bell signal detecting means 15 to the input terminal P1.
2 is applied, and the control means 20 detects that there is an incoming call. When one incoming call is detected, the control means 20 outputs
By outputting a control signal to P2, the tape running means 4 is controlled in the rewinding state, and the recording tape 1 is rewound to the starting point S. During this rewinding, the control means 20 measures the running amount by counting the number of output pulses of the rotation detection means 4. When the recording tape 1 is rewound to the starting point S, the tape running means 4 is stopped, the incoming signal is counted, and when the incoming signal is received a predetermined number of times, the control means 20 outputs the control signal to the output terminal P7. The relay driving means 16-1 is activated and the relay contact 16-2 is turned on to close the line. After that, the control means 20 outputs the control signal to the output terminal P1 to bring the tape running means 1 into the constant speed running state, and outputs the control signal to the output terminals P6 and P11 to reproduce the switch 7 and the line-out switch 10. The response message previously recorded on the recording tape 2 is sent to the line from the recording head 3 through the reproduction switch 7, the recording / reproduction amplifier 11, the line-out switch 10 and the interface circuit 18. It During transmission of the response message, the control means 20 counts the number of pulse signals output by the rotation detection means 4, monitors the continuous silence by the VOX detection means 14, and the signal input to the input terminal P8 is silent for a predetermined time or longer. If it is in the state, it is determined that the response message has ended, the output of the constant speed traveling control signal from the output terminal P1 is stopped, and the reproduction switch 17 and the line-out switch 10 are output by outputting the control signal to the output terminals P6 and P11. Make it non-conductive. Next, the control means 20 outputs the control signal to the output terminal P3 to bring the tape running means 1 into the fast-forwarding state. Even during this fast-forwarding, the number of rotation pulses is counted, and the running amount during sending of the response message and during fast-forwarding corresponds to four times the running amount during rewinding from the power failure recovery position to the tape start point S point. If you fast forward until counting,
The output of the fast-forward control signal from the output terminal P3 is stopped, and the reception message is recorded.

After that, similar to the recording of the received message, after recording, rewind to the starting point S of the recording tape, and fast-forward from the starting point S to the position equivalent to 1/4 of the total running distance during rewinding, and stop, and control signal to the output terminal P7. By outputting the relay drive means 16
-1 is turned off and the relay contact 16-2 is turned off to open the telephone line 17 and wait for the next incoming call.

As described above, even if there is a power failure during standby, you can save the received messages recorded up to that point without deleting them.

In this embodiment, the recording tape 2 is waited at a position 1/4 from the starting point S to the end recording position of the last received message. However, if the 1/5, 1/8 equal ratio is increased, It is possible to further reduce the time required to rewind the recording tape 2 in response to an incoming call. Further, in the present embodiment, the traveling distance from the standby position to the beginning of the recording tape is multiplied by a predetermined number to drive the recording tape to a position where the next received message can be recorded. Next, the received message may be run to a position where it can be recorded, and after the recording is completed, the running amount to the recording end position may be converted by a logarithmic function to run to the standby position.

As described above, according to the present invention, the recording tape is in the middle of the portion where the received message is recorded and the standby position defined by a predetermined function with respect to the end position of the portion where the received message is recorded. To the beginning of the part where the received message was recorded from the standby position after replaying / sending the response message. By the distance from the beginning of the portion where the received message is recorded by the distance converted by the inverse function of the predetermined function, and the control means for controlling to record the received message, Even if there is a power failure while waiting, the position on the recording tape where the received message should be recorded next is accurately detected, and it has already been recorded at the time of the subsequent incoming call. It is possible to answer an incoming call in an extremely short time even if the amount of recorded received messages is large, without accidentally deleting important received messages.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part in an embodiment of an answering machine of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are plan views showing a recording format of the recording tape. 1-tape running means 2-recording tape 3-recording / playback head 4-rotation detecting means 5-microphone 6-recording switch 7-playback switch 8-microphone switch 9-line-in switch 10 ...... Line-out switch 11 …… Record / playback amplifier 12 …… Amplifier 13 …… Speaker 14 …… VOX detection means 15 …… Telephone line monitoring means 16 …… Relay 16-1 …… Relay driving means 16-2 …… Relay contact 17 …… Telephone line 18 …… Interface circuit 19 …… Response message button 20 …… Control means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A response message transmitting means for reproducing / transmitting a response message recorded on a recording tape, and a reception message recording means for recording a message from a calling party on a recording tape reproduced by the response message transmitting means. , The tape running means for feeding and rewinding the recording tape, and the recording tape to the rewinding side of the recording tape from the end of the portion where the received message is recorded and the end position of the portion where the received message is recorded. Then, in response to an incoming call, it is run from the standby position to the beginning of the part where the response message was recorded, and after playing / sending the response message, the recording tape is played. The received message calculated from the predetermined specific relationship is made to travel to the end position of the recorded portion, and the received message is received. Telephone answering device, characterized in that a control means for controlling so as to record the di.