Abstract:
A table music system includes an enclosure having a top surface and a front surface free of manually mechanically actuable controls for controlling functions of the table music system. A radio receiver and powered speakers system are located within the enclosure. A display is located on the front surface of the enclosure for displaying at least time. An alarm in the enclosure is configured to be set by a user to produce an alarm signal at a user-selectable time. A touch-sensitive area on the enclosure allows the user to control a function of the take music system. A wireless remote control permits the user to control functions of the table music system.

Description:
The present disclosure relates in general to controlling a table music system and more particularly concerns a table music system including a clock radio and a touch-sensitive pad but no manually-operated, mechanically-actuated controls visible on prominent visual surfaces (e.g., the top and front surfaces of the system). 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     For background reference is made to published application U.S. 2005/0254669 A1 entitled REMOTELY CONTROLLING SOUND SYSTEM IN ENCLOSURE published Nov. 17, 2005, the full disclosure incorporated by reference herein, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,980 for TOUCH SENSITIVE SWITCH PADS dated Apr. 4, 1995. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one example of the invention, a table music system includes an enclosure comprising a top surface, side surfaces and a front surface, wherein the top surface and front surface are free of manually-operated, mechanically-actuated controls for controlling functions of the table music system. A radio receiver is located within the enclosure for receiving radio signals. A powered speaker system is located within the enclosure for reproducing audio signals in response to audio electrical signals, such as from the radio receiver or CD player. A display is located on the front surface of the enclosure for displaying at least time. An alarm is located in the enclosure for producing an alarm signal at a user-selectable time. A wireless remote control has a number of manual controls that permit the user to control functions of the table music system. A touch-sensitive area is located on the enclosure that permits the user to control at least on-off of the table music system. 
     The touch-sensitive area may be located on the top surface of the enclosure above the display and may activate a snooze function. The table music system may include a visible indicator of where the touch sensitive area is located that may be a removable sticker. The wireless remote control is preferably configured to control all user-controllable functions of the table music system. 
     The radio receiver includes an AM ferrite loop stick antenna in the enclosure along one side, and the touch-sensitive area includes a conductive strip secured to the underside of the top surface with a logical circuit connected to the conductive pad by an electrode. The conductive pad is of an area and separation from the AM antenna so as to insignificantly reduce the sensitivity of the AM antenna, typically spaced from the AM antenna by about 7.5 inches (19.1 cm) and of an area of about 1.05 square inches (or 675 square millimeters). 
     The logical circuitry is constructed and arranged to ordinarily allow the user to turn the table music system on and off, and when the alarm signal sounds, to allow the user to initiate a snooze interval with one touch on the touch-sensitive area and turn the alarm signal off with two touches. 
     Other features, objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in condition with the accompanying drawing in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a table music system; 
         FIGS. 1B-1G  are respective front, top, rear, bottom, right and left views of the table music system shown in  FIG. 1A ; 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of an associated remote controller; 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the table music system of  FIGS. 1A-1G ; 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view through section  4 - 4  of  FIG. 1B  illustrating the relationship of elements of the touch-sensitive system to the enclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     With reference now to the drawings and more particularly  FIGS. 1A-1G , there is a shown a table music system  10  with the location of an amplitude modulated (AM) radio antenna  11  indicated by broken lines and the location of a conductive pad  15  indicated by broken lines and cross-hatch. The system  10  includes an enclosure  13  having several prominent visual surfaces from a user&#39;s standpoint, namely top surface ( 13  T), left-side surface ( 13 LS), right-side surface ( 13 RS), and front surface ( 13 F). The system also includes a bottom surface ( 13 B) and rear surface ( 13 R) that are not as visually prominent as the other surfaces from a user standpoint. Note that in this particular example, all of the surfaces of the enclosure  13  are devoid of physical buttons, knobs, sliders, or other manually-operated, mechanically-actuated controls. 
     The table music system  10  includes an illuminated display  18  that displays a clock and other information associated with the system (e.g., volume level, tuning frequency, audio source selection, alarm setting, etc.). System  10  also includes a slot  14  for loading compact discs (CDs) into a CD-player (not shown), and left and right speakers positioned behind the grille  17  in the areas respectfully labeled  17 L and  17 R. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , there is shown a plan view of remote control  20  that is configured to operate the table music system  10 . Remote control  20  includes a set of buttons configured to provide a user control over the functions of the system. Since there are no manually-operated, mechanically-actuated controls on the enclosure  13  of the system  10 , the user primarily controls the system via the remote control  20 . The user may use the remote control to perform various user functions provided by the system including: (i) setting the time; (ii) setting the alarm times for a first or second alarm; (iii) setting the audio source for the alarm (e.g., a particular CD track, a particular radio station, a buzzer, etc.); (iii) turning the volume up, down or muting; (iv) selecting an audio source (e.g., AM radio, FM radio, CD, auxiliary input); (v) controlling the CD audio source (e.g., play, fast forward, fast reverse, next/previous track, pause, stop, eject); (vi) controlling the radio source (AM/FM band selection, tuning up/down; setting and selecting station presets); and (vii) powering the system on and off. 
     However, the system  10  is provided with a touch sensitive area  16  located on the enclosure  13  just above the conductive pad  12  (shown in  FIG. 1A ). Including a touch sensitive area  16  on the enclosure maintains a clean, visually-appealing top surface ( 13 T) of the enclosure, while also providing the user control over some user functions. In this particular example, the enclosure  13  does not include any permanent visual indications as to the existence or location of the touch sensitive area  16 . A temporary sticker (or other temporary visual indicator) may be included on the system (e.g., on top of the touch sensitive area  15 ) when it is initially sold to the user to provide a clear, but temporary indication of the location of the touch sensitive area. The user may remove the temporary sticker or other visual indicator if he or she wants to enjoy the system without any visual indication of the location of the touch sensitive area. In other implementations, the enclosure may include a permanent indicator of the location of the touch sensitive area such as markings molded into or printed on the enclosure (e.g., power on/off symbol, lines marking the touch sensitive area) or a discrete touch sensitive pad located on the enclosure. 
     In the example shown in  FIGS. 1A-1G , the touch sensitive area  16  is located on the top surface ( 13 T) of the enclosure centered above the illuminated display  18  (which typically illuminates a clock, even when the system is off) and towards the front surface ( 13 F). By aligning the touch sensitive area with the illuminated display  18 , the need for a permanent visual indicator of the touch sensor is lessened since the display provides a visual cue as to the location of the sensor. Using the illuminated display as the visual cue for the location of the touch sensor, a user can easily locate the touch sensitive area in the dark by finding the illuminated display. 
     Since the conductive pad  15  is conductive, it has a tendency to interfere with radio reception, particularly AM radio reception. Accordingly, the internal AM antenna  11  of system  10  is positioned away from the conductive pad  15  along a bottom periphery of the enclosure  13 . In this particular example, the conductive pad has a length of 1.77 inches (45 mm), width of 0.59 inches (15 mm) and an area of 1.05 square inches (675 square millimeters) and the center of the conductive pad and center of the AM radio antenna  11  are separated by a distance of 7.5 inches (19.1 cm). This arrangement has been found to provide a good sized touch sensitive area  16  without significantly interfering with radio reception. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a block diagram of the logical arrangement of the table music system  10  shown in  FIGS. 1A-1G . As shown, system  10  includes an audio subsystem  31  comprising an amplifier  31 A, low frequency element  31 L (e.g., an acoustic waveguide, ported box, passive radiators, etc.), and speakers  31 S. System  10  also includes audio sources  32  comprising a radio tuner  32 A and CD player  32 B. AM antenna  11  is connected to radio tuner  32 A to receive AM radio signals. The electrical audio signals from radio tuner  32 A and CD player  32 C are delivered to controller/DSP  34 . 
     Controller/DSP  34  performs audio signal processing (e.g., equalization, dynamic range compression, tone control, spatial processing, etc.) on the audio signals provided by the audio sources  32  delivers the processed signals to the audio subsystem  31 . In addition, controller/DSP controls the functions of the system  10 . More specifically, remote control commands issued by a user are received at an infrared (IR) sensor  36  and delivered to the controller/DSP to decode and execute. Controller/DSP  34  also controls what is shown on display  18  (e.g., current time, alarm time, current audio source, volume level, etc). Controller/DSP is also operably connected to the conductive pad  15  located just beneath the top surface of the enclosure  13 . The conductive pad  15  is charged with a voltage and when another conductive object (such as a user&#39;s finger) is placed near the conductive pad  15  (e.g., in the touch sensitive area marked as  16  in  FIG. 1 ), controller/DSP senses a change in the capacitance of the conductive pad  15 . When the controller/DSP senses such a change (thus indicating a user has touched the touch sensitive area  16 ), the controller/DSP performs the following actions depending on the state of system  10 : 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 State of 
                   
                   
               
               
                 system 10 
                 Type of touch sensed 
                 Action performed 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 Off 
                 Any touch sensed 
                 Turns system 10 on to last 
               
               
                   
                   
                 audio source at last volume 
               
               
                   
                   
                 level 
               
               
                 On 
                 Any touch sensed 
                 Saves last audio source and 
               
               
                   
                   
                 volume level information 
               
               
                   
                   
                 and turns system 10 off 
               
               
                 Alarm 
                 Touch sensed that lasts for 
                 Snooze (i.e., temporarily 
               
               
                 sounding 
                 less than 2.5 second 
                 stop) alarm for 10 minutes 
               
               
                 Alarm 
                 Touch sensed and held for 
                 Turns current alarm off and 
               
               
                 sounding 
                 2.5 seconds (or more) 
                 resets alarm for next day 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Controller/DSP may be configured such that it must sense a change in the capacitance of the conductive pad  15  for some small time period (e.g., 0.5 seconds) in order to minimize instances where the system falsely detects a user&#39;s touch in the touch sensitive area. In addition, the system  10  may be configured such that a user may be able to disable the touch sensitive area altogether in the even the user does not want an active touch sensor on the device. Disabling of the touch sensor may be accomplished, for example, by pressing a combination of buttons on the remote control  20 . 
     For simplicity,  FIG. 3  depicts controller/DSP as a single element, but actual implementations may perform audio signal processing and control functions via separate elements, such as some combination of microprocessors, microcontrollers, or discrete analog components located on one or more circuit boards. In one implementation, the controller for the touch sensor is a separate microcontroller such as touch controller AT42QT1010 manufactured by Atmel Corporation of San Jose, Calif., USA. Referring to  FIG. 4 , there is shown a view through section  4 - 4  of  FIG. 1  showing of the electrical coupling of the conductive pad  15  to the DSP/controller  34 . As shown, the conductive pad  15  is adhered to the underside of the top surface of enclosure  13 . The conductive pad may be a piece of felt impregnated with conductive elements (e.g., metal filings). A spring connector  41  electrically couples the conductive pad  15  to a circuit board  42  containing the controller/DSP  34 . In this particular example, the enclosure  13  is a two-piece design in which the bottom surface  13 B forms one piece of the enclosure and the other surfaces ( 13 T,  13 R,  13 LS,  13 RS) form the other piece of the enclosure and are attached together with screws (via the screw holes  19  shown in  FIG. 1E ). The circuit board  42  containing the controller/DSP  34 , spring connector  41 , and display board  18 B are mounted to the bottom piece of the enclosure ( 13 B) during manufacture. When the top piece of the enclosure  13  is not present, the spring connector  41  is in a relaxed position (shown by the dotted lines in  FIG. 4 ). The top piece of the enclosure  13  is added during manufacture, the spring connector  41  is compressed (shown by the solid lines in  FIG. 4 ) against the conductive pad  15 , thus forming an electrical connection between the conductive pad  15  and circuit board  42 . Note that while an electrical connection is formed, a mechanical connection is not. This permits for easy assembly and service of the system  10 . In the example shown in  FIG. 4 , the spring connector  41  is mechanically connected to the circuit board, but not mechanically connected to the conductive pad (only electrically connected to the pad after the two pieces of the enclosure are assembled). However, in other embodiments, the spring connection may be mechanically connected to the conductive pad (not the circuit board), and only electrically connected to the circuit board when the enclosure is assembled. 
     Also mounted to circuit board  42  is the display board  18 B that the controller/DSP controls to provide illuminated visual indicators of various items, such as time, alarm setting, audio source, volume level, etc. The front surface of the enclosure  13 F includes a semi-transparent lens  18 L that permits transmission of the illuminated portions of the display board  18 B to the user while making it difficult for the user to see through to the inside of the enclosure. Together the display board  18 B and lens  18 L form the illuminated display  18  of the system  10 . 
     The invention has a number of advantages. The user is motivated to listen away from the enclosure for better sound reproduction. When the enclosure is in the bedroom, the user can approach the enclosure to achieve a snooze function, turn the table music system alarm off and the table music system on and off. 
     It is evident that those skilled in the art may now make numerous uses and modifications of and departures from the specific apparatus and techniques disclosed herein without departing from the inventive concepts. Consequently, the invention is to be construed as to embracing each and every novel feature and a novel combination of features present in or possessed by the apparatus and techniques herein disclosed and limited solely by the spirit and scope of the independent claims.