EP1276122A2

EP1276122A2 - A remote control unit for electronic equipment

Info

Publication number: EP1276122A2
Application number: EP02425397A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Loris Meliconi; Andrea Brundisini
Original assignee: MELICONI SpA
Current assignee: MELICONI SpA
Priority date: 2001-06-26
Filing date: 2002-06-17
Publication date: 2003-01-15
Anticipated expiration: 2022-06-17
Also published as: ITBO20010402A1; EP1276122B1; ITBO20010402A0; ES2284806T3; DE60219723D1; DE60219723T2; ATE360877T1; EP1276122A3

Abstract

A remote control unit for electronic equipment comprises a basic enclosure (2) with a first plurality of main function control buttons (3) for the equipment, the buttons marked with a function symbol, and a second plurality of auxiliary or accessory function control buttons (4) for the same equipment. The enclosure (2) houses at least one control circuit (5) for the first and second plurality of buttons (3, 4) with a microprocessor unit (6) having a plurality of settings which refer to equipment corresponding to identification codes (7). The unit (1) also comprises code (7) activation means (8) inside the basic enclosure (2) and means (9) for identifying the equipment model, which can be attached to the basic enclosure (2) and act upon the activation means (8) in such a way as to activate one of the settings, allowing the microprocessor unit (6) to correlate a button with a dedicated function.

Description

The present invention relates to a remote control unit for electronic equipment.
As is known, many domestic appliances (such as televisions, hi-fi systems, video recorders, satellite systems, CD-ROM and DVD readers, etc.) and some industrial machinery can be controlled remotely using suitable remote control units or, put simply, remote controls.
Remote controls normally consist of a box-shaped enclosure containing all of the circuits necessary to generate signals to be sent to a receiver which converts the signals into commands. To allow the user to send different commands to the target device, the box-shaped enclosure has a plurality of buttons connected to the internal circuits. By pressing different buttons (sometimes in particular sequences) the user can obtain the desired operation from the target device.
The continuous and rapid increase in the models of equipment (in particular televisions) for each brand which produces such equipment has led to an increase in the remote control models available on the market, which are increasingly advanced and have an increasing variety of functions.
However, this situation has highlighted difficulties when the user needs to replace the remote control, if it is faulty or no longer works, with a new, similar remote control.
To overcome this problem, remote control manufacturers have developed two different operating philosophies. The first is to produce "dedicated" remote controls, substantially similar to the original models, with buttons arranged in a similar pattern and with the same icons and functions. The second is to produce so-called "universal" models, that is to say, remote controls with standardised electronic circuits and buttons which, thanks to a microprocessor unit programmed with a plurality of button command sequences referring to models available on the market, can be set by the end user according to the type and brand of remote control used.
The former solution (of particular interest in this text), on one hand is simpler and more preferable for the end user, who only has to purchase the product, and on the other hand has been shown, over time, to be extremely costly and impractical for manufacturers, given the large number of models, and for shops which cannot always keep such large stocks.
The aim of the present invention is, therefore, to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages by providing a remote control unit for electronic equipment, in particular of the dedicated type, with an extremely simple and rational physical architecture and programming, making it very economical, that is to say, less expensive than original models, thanks to the sale and use of a smaller number of basic remote control models, or even a single basic remote control model.
This aim is substantially fulfilled by a remote control unit for electronic equipment comprising a basic enclosure with a first plurality of main function control buttons for the equipment, the buttons marked with a function symbol, and a second plurality of auxiliary or accessory function control buttons for the same equipment. The basic enclosure houses a control circuit for the first and second pluralities of buttons, with a microprocessor unit which has a plurality of settings referring to equipment corresponding to identification codes. The unit also comprises code activation means, inside the basic enclosure, and equipment model identification means, which can be attached to the basic enclosure and acting upon the activation means in such a way as to activate one of the settings, allowing the memory unit to correlate a button with a dedicated function.
The technical features of the present invention, in accordance with the above-mentioned aims, are set out in the claims herein and the advantages more clearly illustrated in the detailed description which follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention without limiting the scope of the inventive concept, and in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a remote control unit for electronic equipment according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a partial exploded perspective view, with some parts cut away to better illustrate others, of the control unit illustrated in Figure 1;
Figures 3, 4 and 5 are schematic side views of a detail of the control unit illustrated in the previous figures;
Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram of the operation of the remote control unit illustrated in the previous figures.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, and in particular with reference to Figures 1 and 2, the remote control unit disclosed is used for electronic equipment, such as televisions, hi-fi systems, video recorders, satellite systems, CD-ROM and DVD readers, etc.
This unit, labelled 1 as a whole, comprises a basic enclosure 2 with a first plurality of main function control buttons 3 for the equipment, the buttons being marked with function symbols.
On a television remote control, this first plurality of buttons 3 may comprise the channel selection buttons 3a, the main function (volume, previous or next channel) up and down buttons 3b, the On-Off button 3c for the equipment, etc.
A limited area of the basic enclosure 2 contains a second plurality of auxiliary or accessory function control buttons 4 for the equipment, with functions that vary according to the equipment model.
As illustrated in Figure 2, the basic enclosure 2 houses a control circuit 5 for the first and second plurality of buttons 3 and 4.
This circuit 5 is a known printed electronic circuit, with contact paths for the buttons 3 and 4 and a microprocessor unit 6, that is to say, an integrated circuit, with a plurality of settings referring to equipment corresponding to identification codes 7.
The first and second plurality of buttons 3 and 4 are made on a surface 14 with a plate structure, for example consisting of a sheet of polymeric material in a single body, on which there are projections, forming the buttons 3 and 4 projecting from seats 15 in the basic enclosure 2.
In addition, the unit 1 comprises code 7 activation means 8, inside the basic enclosure 2 and means 9 for identifying the equipment model, which can be attached to the basic enclosure 2 and act upon the activation means 8 in such a way as to activate one of the settings saved, allowing the microprocessor unit 6 to correlate a button with a dedicated function.
More specifically, the identification means 9 can be removably attached to the basic enclosure 2, or permanently attached to the basic enclosure 2.
Again as illustrated in Figure 2, on a portion of the surface 14, forming the first and second plurality of buttons 3 and 4, there is a plurality of actuator elements 16 (for example, pins with a conducting portion 16a), forming the activation means 8.
These actuator elements 16 can be attached to a first, coding portion 10 of the identification means 9, comprising at least one hole 17 for connection to one of the actuator elements 16, closing a contact corresponding to a code 7 of a setting for relative equipment.
The contact is closed because each actuator element 16, that is to say, the conducting portion 16a, is in contact with a conducting surface 22 on the above-mentioned control circuit 5, which is in turn connected to the microprocessor unit 6.
As already indicated, the identification means 9 comprise a first coding portion 10 which can be attached to the activation means 8, that is to say, the actuator elements 16, and a second portion 11, forming a template with seats 12, which can be attached to a button 4, and function icon for at least the second plurality of auxiliary or accessory control buttons 4 for particular equipment corresponding to the code on the first portion 10.
Specifically, the first coding portion 10 has a plurality of holes 17 which can be connected to the actuator elements 16 and, by closing the contact, define the code 7 of a setting for equipment which can be activated by the microprocessor unit 6.
As illustrated again in Figure 2, the identification means 9 may be made from a flexible plate which can be, at least partially, inserted in a slit 18 in the basic enclosure 2, so as to connect the perforated code 7 on the first portion 10 and the actuator elements 16 on the surface 14 which form the buttons 3 and 4.
On the plate 9 there are also alphanumeric codes designed to identify the type of equipment model which can be activated and the relative code, to allow rapid visual identification of the plate to be applied to the basic enclosure 2.
As illustrated in Figure 3, simultaneously with the insertion of the first portion 10 in the slit 18, the second portion 11 forms a cover which can be attached to the outer surface of the basic enclosure 2 at the second plurality of accessory or auxiliary function buttons 4.
To allow the flexible plate to be secured to the basic enclosure 2, but above all to guarantee correct connection between the actuator elements 16 and the perforated code 7, there may be means 19 for locking the connection between the first coding portion 10 and the actuator elements 16.
These locking means 19 may be of the reversible type and, as illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5, may consist, by way of example and without limiting the scope of the inventive concept, of a panel 20 hinged to the basic enclosure 2.
This panel 20 may have a portion which partially protects the second plurality of accessory or auxiliary function buttons 4, and a lower projection 21 designed to press the actuator elements 16 into contact with the perforated code 7 when the panel 20 is in a lowered position (see Figure 5).
Therefore, basically to programme a remote control dedicated to a particular piece of equipment, such as a television, a single remote control model may be used, with the application on each occasion of the identification means 9 correlated with the equipment. This procedure is extremely simple since, when purchasing the control unit, the buyer can simply check which code corresponds to the equipment to be controlled and select the identification means which will be inserted in the basic enclosure of the new control unit.
The second portion of the identification means is marked with icons correlated with the accessory and auxiliary functions for that type of equipment and which will be activated by the microprocessor unit in the basic enclosure after activation of the perforated code.
In practice, see Figure 6, the perforated code 7 allows the microprocessor unit 6 to check the type of equipment model and to correlate the individual button 4 activated by the user with the function (whose icon usually appears on the plate) to be sent to the equipment.
Therefore, the remote control unit for electronic equipment fulfils the preset aims, thanks to an extremely simple structure, that is to say, using a single model as the basic enclosure, to which a code and identification cover are applied, designed to dedicate the remote control to the equipment to be controlled.
This allows a great reduction in the stock held by shops and the simple addition of a container with a plurality of removable pages indicating the codes of each model available on the market and the relative function icons for the code. This means that replacement remote controls can be obtained at a similar or even at lower cost than original spares.
The invention described can be subject to modifications and variations without thereby departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Moreover, all the details of the invention may be substituted by technically equivalent elements.

Claims

A remote control unit for electronic equipment, the unit (1) comprising a basic enclosure (2) with a first plurality of main function control buttons (3) for the equipment, being marked with a function symbol, and a second plurality of auxiliary or accessory function control buttons (4) for the equipment; the basic enclosure (2) housing at least a control circuit (5) for the first and second plurality of buttons (3, 4) and a microprocessor unit (6) with a plurality of settings referring to the equipment corresponding to identification codes (7), the remote control unit being characterised in that it comprises:

code (7) activation means (8) inside the basic enclosure (2);

means (9) for identifying the equipment model, which can be attached to the basic enclosure (2) and acting upon the activation means (8) in such a way as to activate one of the settings, allowing the microprocessor unit (6) to correlate a button with a dedicated function.
The unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the identification means (9) can be removably attached to the basic enclosure (2).
The unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the identification means (9) can be permanently attached to the basic enclosure (2).
The unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the identification means (9) comprise a first coding portion (10) which can be attached to the activation means (8) and a second portion (11) forming a cover with seats (12), which can be attached to a button and function icon for at least the second plurality of auxiliary or accessory function control buttons (4) for the equipment coded on the first portion.
The unit according claim 4, in which the first and second pluralities of buttons (3, 4) are made from a surface (14) in a single body on which there are projections forming the buttons projecting from the seats (15) in the basic enclosure (2), the unit being characterised in that on a portion of the surface (14) there is a plurality of actuator elements (16), forming the activation means (8), which can be connected to the first coding portion (10) comprising at least one hole (17) for connection to one of the actuator elements (16), closing a contact corresponding to a code (7) of a setting for a relative item of equipment.
The unit according to claim 5, characterised in that the first coding portion (10) has a plurality of holes (17) which can be connected to the actuator elements (16) to define, by the closure of a contact, a code (7) of a setting for an item of equipment which can be activated by the microprocessor unit (6).
The unit according to claims 5 and 6, characterised in that the identification means (9) consist of a flexible plate which can be at least partially inserted in a slit (18) in the basic enclosure (2), connecting the perforated code (7) to the actuator elements (16) on the surface (14) forming the buttons (3, 4); the second portion (11) forming the cover which can be attached to the outer surface of the basic enclosure (2) at a second plurality of accessory or auxiliary function buttons (4).
The unit according to claim 7, characterised in that it comprises means (19) for locking the connection between the first coding portion (10) and the actuator elements (16) acting between them and located on the basic enclosure (2).
The unit according to claim 8, characterised in that the locking means (19) are reversible.
The unit according to claim 8, characterised in that the locking means (19) consist of a panel (20) hinged to the basic enclosure (2) and having a portion which protects a second plurality of accessory or auxiliary function buttons (4) and a lower projection (21) which presses the actuator elements (16) into contact with the perforated code (7) when the panel (20) is in a lowered position.
The unit according to claim 5, characterised in that each actuator element (16) is connected to a conducting surface (22) on a control circuit (5) which is in turn connected to a microprocessor unit (6).
The unit according to claim 11, characterised in that each actuator element (16) consists of a pin with a conducting portion (16a) opposite and in contact with the conducting surface (22).