Remote-control apparatus and image input apparatus

A remote-control apparatus for remotely controlling one or more controlled apparatuses includes a video camera capable of inputting an image of a controlled apparatus and outputting the input image to outside the remote-control apparatus, and a controller for controlling the controlled apparatus the image of which has been input by the video camera, by using a wireless signal. The video camera and the controller are disposed in one body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a remote-control apparatus for remotely 
controlling controlled apparatuses, such as electrical apparatuses, and an 
image input apparatus. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
Remote-control systems which remotely control electrical apparatuses, such 
as in-house electrical apparatuses, through communication lines such as 
telephone lines, are known. In a certain system, a wireless communication 
line (employing, for example, electromagnetic waves, or infrared rays) is 
disposed between a telephone set, specifically an automatic answering 
telephone set, and a controlled apparatus. A predetermined control signal 
(for example, a control signal in accordance with DTMF (Dual Tone Multi 
Frequency)) is transmitted to the telephone set from an outside place 
where the user is located, and a wireless control signal corresponding to 
the control signal received by the telephone set is transmitted to the 
controlled apparatus. As a result, it is possible to remotely control 
controlled apparatuses, such as in-house air conditioners or baths from 
the outside place where the user is located. 
Of course, by using the electromagnetic waves at an appropriate frequency 
band, it is possible to remotely control an arbitrary specific controlled 
apparatus from among a plurality of controlled apparatuses in which the 
receiver is at least within a fixed distance from the telephone set. 
A wired connection arrangement called a home bus rather than wireless 
connection is known. However, in the case of the wired connection method, 
a wiring work must be done beforehand, and there is also a drawback in 
that it is difficult to cope with the change in the position of the 
controlled apparatus and the expansion thereof. In contrast, the wireless 
method has no wiring requirement and has the advantage of being capable of 
flexibly coping with the change in the position of the controlled 
apparatus and the expansion thereof. 
However, in the conventional wireless method, if directivity is made wider, 
interference or electric wave disorder may occur, and a controlled 
apparatus in the house next door may be caused to operate depending on the 
intensity of the electric wave. 
To avoid the above problem, infrared rays or microwaves are usually used at 
a relatively sharp directivity. This, however, causes an inconvenience in 
that the position at which a controlled apparatus or a telephone set is 
installed is limited. Further, when a plurality of controlled apparatuses 
are to be controlled, the receivers of the respective controlled 
apparatuses must be disposed on the same line. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention aims to solve the above-described problems of the 
prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide an 
apparatus capable of monitoring one or more controlled apparatuses from a 
remote place in the form of a video image and which is capable of easily 
confirming the operation of the controlled apparatus before and after the 
remote operation at a remote place. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus 
capable of operating in such a way that the controlled apparatus to be 
remotely controlled can be intuitively known and can be operated as if a 
specific controlled apparatus was remotely controlled. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus in 
which there is no limitation on the position of a controlled apparatus and 
a plurality of controlled apparatuses can be controlled. 
To achieve the above-described object, according to one aspect of the 
present invention, there is provided a remote-control apparatus for 
remotely controlling one or more controlled apparatuses, comprising image 
input means for inputting an image of a controlled apparatus, control 
means for controlling the controlled apparatus the image of which has been 
input by the image input means, and image transmitting means for 
outputting the image input by the image input means to outside the 
remote-control apparatus. 
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 
remote-control apparatus for remotely controlling one or more controlled 
apparatuses by using a wireless signal, comprising transmitting means for 
transmitting a control signal to a controlled apparatus, transmission 
destination control means for controlling the direction of the control 
signal transmitted by the transmitting means, and control signal receiving 
means for receiving a control signal for the transmission destination 
control means through a communication line. 
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 
remote-control apparatus for remotely controlling one or more controlled 
apparatuses by using a wireless signal, comprising image input means for 
inputting an image of a controlled apparatus, image transmitting means for 
outputting the image input by the image input means to outside the 
remote-control apparatus, drive control means for driving and controlling 
the image input means, first receiving means for receiving a first control 
signal for the drive control means from outside the remote-control 
apparatus, second receiving means for receiving a second control signal 
for instructing a remote operation for the one or more controlled 
apparatuses from outside the remote-control apparatus, conversion means 
for converting the second control signal received by the second receiving 
means into a remote-control signal for the one or more controlled 
apparatuses, and output means for outputting the remote control signal 
converted by the conversion means in the form of a wireless signal. 
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, there is 
provided an image input apparatus, comprising image input means for 
inputting an image of an object, control means for controlling one or more 
controlled apparatuses by using a wireless signal, and image transmitting 
means for outputting the image input by the image input means to outside 
the image input apparatus. 
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, there is 
provided a remote-control apparatus for remotely controlling one or more 
controlled apparatuses by using a wireless signal, comprising orientation 
storing means for storing the orientation of each of the one or more 
controlled apparatuses, control signal output means for outputting a 
control signal for a controlled apparatus in the form of a wireless 
signal, and orientation change means for changing the orientation of an 
output of the control signal output means to the orientation of the 
controlled apparatus to be controlled, by referring to the orientation 
storing means in accordance with the selection of the controlled apparatus 
to be controlled. 
The above and further objects, aspects and novel features of the invention 
will more fully appear from the following detailed description when read 
in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly 
understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration 
only and are not intended to limit the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained below with 
reference to the accompanying drawings. 
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the schematic construction of a first 
embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, reference 
numeral 10 denotes a remote-control apparatus of the first embodiment of 
the present invention, reference numeral 12 denotes a video camera which, 
in addition to being used as a video telephone set to take an image of a 
user, is used as a monitor camera during a remote operation, reference 
numeral 14 denotes a video interface for converting video signals output 
from the video camera 12 into a predetermined internal format, and 
reference numeral 16 denotes a video processing circuit for performing 
filtering and encoding on the output of the video interface 14. 
Reference numeral 18 denotes a line control circuit for controlling 
communications over a communication line, which circuit comprises a video 
signal transmitting section 18a for transmitting the output from the video 
processing circuit 16 and a control signal receiving section 18b for 
receiving various control signals, such as DTMF, from the communication 
line. The line control circuit 18 is connected to a communication line 30 
via a line interface 20. 
Reference numeral 22 denotes a signal conversion circuit for converting the 
output of the control signal receiving section 18b into the signal format 
of a remote control signal for a specific electrical apparatus to be 
controlled, and reference numeral 24 denotes a drive circuit for driving a 
light emitting element 26 in accordance with the output from the signal 
conversion circuit 22. The light emitting element 26 outputs an infrared 
wireless control signal when the light emitting element 26 is driven by 
the drive circuit 24. In addition to the infrared ray, microwaves, radio 
waves or ultrasonic waves may be used. However, infrared rays are commonly 
used to remotely control in-house electrical apparatuses, and the degree 
of use is high. 
The light emitting element 26 is formed integrally with the video camera 
12, and always directs the same orientation as that of the video camera 
12. 
Reference numeral 28 denotes a camera drive control circuit for controlling 
the orientation, focus and zoom of the video camera 12 in accordance with 
the camera control signal received over the communication line 30. The 
camera control signal is separated from the received signal by the control 
signal receiving section 18b and supplied to the camera drive control 
circuit 28. 
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the exterior of the remote-control 
apparatus 10, particularly, the portion in which the video camera 12 and 
the light emitting element 26 are formed as one unit. 
In a body case 60A, the video camera 12 and the light emitting element 26 
are disposed. Also, the body case 60A is tiltably supported by a 
supporting member 60C so that the body case 60A can be tilted relative to 
a mount 60B, and a tilting drive mechanism is housed inside the body case 
60A. A panning drive mechanism is housed in the mount 60B so that the body 
case 60A can be panned via the supporting member 60C. 
The operation of the first embodiment will be explained with reference to 
FIGS. 1 and 3 by using as an example a case in which an in-house 
electrical apparatus is remotely controlled at the outside place where the 
user is located. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation thereof. 
The user originates a call from a video telephone set 32 at the outside 
place where the user is located to the in-house remote-control apparatus 
10 (S1) via the communication line 30. The remote-control apparatus 10 
inside the user's house responds to this call, and a mutual communication 
is established. An image taken by the video camera 12 of the 
remote-control apparatus 10 is displayed on a monitor screen 32a of the 
video telephone set 32 at the outside place where the user is located. The 
video camera 12 is remotely controlled while the user is watching the 
displayed image (S2). 
To explain specifically, the video signal output from the video camera 12 
is converted in a format by the video interface 14, after which a 
filtering and an encoding operation are performed on the signal by the 
video processing circuit 16. The video signal transmitting section 18a 
outputs the output of the video processing circuit 16 to the communication 
line 30 via the line interface 20. As a result, the situation inside the 
user's house is displayed on the monitor screen 32a of the video telephone 
set 32 at the outside place where the user is located. 
At this point, a control signal, such as DTMF, for driving and controlling 
the video camera 12, i.e., a camera control signal, is transmitted from 
the video telephone set 32 at the outside place where the user is located 
to the remote-control apparatus 10 via the communication line 30 while the 
user is watching the monitor screen 32a. This camera control signal is 
supplied to the camera drive control circuit 28 via the line interface 20 
and the control signal receiving section 18b. The camera drive control 
circuit 28 controls the orientation, zoom and focus of the video camera 
12. Since the light emitting element 26 is formed integrally with the 
video camera 12, the camera drive control circuit 28 also controls the 
orientation of the light emitting element 26. 
When an in-house electrical apparatus 100 to be remotely controlled is 
displayed on the video telephone set 32 at the outside place where the 
user is located (S3), the desired in-house electrical apparatus 100 is 
remotely controlled. To be specific, a remote control signal for the 
in-house electrical apparatus 100 to be controlled is transmitted to the 
remote-control apparatus 10 via the communication line 30 from the video 
telephone set 32 at the outside place where the user is located (S4). The 
remote control signal is supplied to the control signal receiving section 
18b via the line interface 20. The signal conversion circuit 22 converts 
the remote control signal which is input from the control signal receiving 
section 18b into a control signal for the in-house electrical apparatus 
100 to be controlled, and the control signal is applied to the light 
emitting element 26 via the drive circuit 24. The light emitting element 
26 emanates an infrared control signal toward the in-house electrical 
apparatus 100 to be controlled. 
The first embodiment, in addition to the arrangement of the dedicated 
apparatus for remote control, can be realized by various apparatus 
arrangements, such as an automatic answering video telephone set or an 
automatic answering telephone set having a video camera. Also, the first 
embodiment can be realized by adding a remote control function to an image 
input apparatus. 
It is clear that various communication media, such as an analog public 
switched telephone network (PSTN), ISDN or LAN, can be used as a 
communication line. 
Although in the first embodiment the video processing circuit 16 for 
performing filtering or encoding on video signals is provided, the video 
processing circuit 16 is not an indispensable component of the present 
invention. Although the control signal receiving section 18b receives both 
the camera control signal and the control signal for remotely controlling 
a controlled apparatus, control signal receiving sections for receiving 
the respective signals separately may be provided. In addition, although 
the video camera 12 and the light emitting element 26 are formed as one 
unit in the first embodiment, they may be driven and controlled 
separately. 
In the first embodiment, the camera drive control signal and the control 
signal for instructing a remote operation of the controlled apparatus are 
not limited to DTMF, but other formats, such as ISDN user-to-user 
information, may be used. The signal transmission medium through which the 
signals are transmitted from the remote-control apparatus 10 to the 
in-house electrical apparatus 100 in the first embodiment is not limited 
to an infrared ray, but visible light, an electromagnetic wave or an 
ultrasonic wave may be used. 
As a matter of course, the electrical apparatuses which are remotely 
controlled, in addition to household electrical apparatuses and audio 
products, include various apparatuses such as OA apparatuses. 
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained. FIG. 
4 is a block diagram illustrating the schematic construction of the second 
embodiment of the present invention. 
Referring to FIG. 4, reference numeral 40 denotes a remote-control 
apparatus of the second embodiment, reference numeral 42 denotes a light 
emitting element for transmitting an infrared control signal to the 
electrical apparatus 100 which is a controlled apparatus, reference 
numeral 44 denotes a scanning circuit 44 for rotationally scanning the 
light emitting element 42 and changing the radiation direction of its 
output light, and reference numeral 46 denotes a storage circuit for 
storing the orientation of each electrical apparatus together with the 
identifier of the electrical apparatus. 
Reference numeral 48 denotes a line interface through which a connection is 
made with the communication line 30, reference numeral 50 denotes a line 
control circuit for controlling communications over the communication line 
30, which circuit comprises a control signal receiving section 50a for 
receiving various control signals, such as DTMF, from the communication 
line 30, reference numeral 52 denotes a signal conversion circuit for 
converting control signals from the communication line 30, specifically, 
control signals output from the control signal receiving section 50a, into 
a control signal format for the electrical apparatus 100 to be controlled, 
and reference numeral 54 denotes a drive circuit for driving the light 
emitting element 42 in accordance with the output from the signal 
conversion circuit 52. 
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the operation in which the user registers the 
orientation of one or more in-house electrical apparatuses (controlled 
apparatuses) 100 or the remote-control apparatus 40. A scanning device 42a 
scans the radiation direction of the light emitting element 42 and sets 
the orientation of the in-house electrical apparatus to be controlled 
(S11). For example, the user manually instructs the orientation of the 
electrical apparatus 100 to be remotely controlled via an input device 58 
of the remote-control apparatus 40, and the scanning device 42a directs 
the light emitting element 42 toward the instructed orientation. The user 
himself determines if the orientation is appropriate or not. 
The determined orientation of the in-house electrical apparatus 100 to be 
controlled is registered in the storage circuit 46 together with the 
identifier of the in-house electrical apparatus 100 (S12). The identifier 
of the in-house electrical apparatus 100 may be mere consecutive numerals 
input, for example, via the input device 58. 
When there are a plurality of electrical apparatuses 100 to be remotely 
controlled inside the user's house, the above-described operation is 
performed for each electrical apparatus. As a result, the identifiers of 
the plurality of in-house electrical apparatuses and the orientations of 
the in-house electrical apparatuses are registered in the storage circuit 
46. 
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a case in which an in-house electrical apparatus 
is remotely controlled from an outside place where the user is located. 
The user originates a call to the remote-control apparatus 40 inside the 
user's house from a telephone set 56 at the outside place where the user 
is located (S21). When the remote-control apparatus 40 responds to this 
call, the user selects the in-house electrical apparatus 100 to be 
remotely controlled from the telephone set 56 at the outside place where 
the user is located (S22), and the remote-control apparatus 40, in 
response to this selection, directs the light emitting element 42 toward 
the selected in-house electrical apparatus 100 (S23). 
Specifically, a control signal, such as DTMF, indicating the identifier of 
the in-house electrical apparatus 100 to be remotely controlled, is 
transmitted over the communication line 30 from the telephone set 56 at 
the outside place where the user is located. The control signal is applied 
to the scanning circuit 44 via the line interface 48 and the control 
signal receiving section 50a. The scanning circuit 44 reads out the 
orientation of the electrical apparatus 100 specified by the input control 
signal from the storage circuit 46, and the scanning device 42a is 
operated to cause the light emitting element 42 to rotate toward that 
orientation. 
The user inputs a control signal for the selected in-house electrical 
apparatus 100 to the telephone set 56 at the outside place where the user 
is located. This input signal is transmitted through the communication 
line 30 based on DTMF and input to the signal conversion circuit 52 via 
the line interface 48 and the control signal receiving section 50a. The 
signal conversion circuit 52 converts the signal for a control operation 
from the outside place where the user is located into a signal format of 
the infrared control signal of the in-house electrical apparatus 100 to be 
controlled. The drive circuit 54 drives the light emitting element 42 in 
accordance with the output from the signal conversion circuit 52, that is, 
causes the light emitting element 42 to emit light. As a result, the 
infrared control signal is applied to the selected in-house electrical 
apparatus 100, and the in-house electrical apparatus 100 is remotely 
controlled. 
In the second embodiment, the scanning device 42a is rotated to direct the 
light emitting element 42 toward the orientation of the specified 
electrical apparatus 100. However, a plurality of light emitting elements 
42 may be provided, and the orientations of the plurality of light 
emitting elements 42 are made different. The scanning circuit 44 may be 
used to switch the plurality of light emitting elements 42, and thus the 
same operation as in the second embodiment can be performed. 
The second embodiment, in addition to the arrangement of the dedicated 
apparatus for remote control, can be realized by various apparatus 
arrangements, such as an automatic answering video telephone set or an 
automatic answering telephone set having a video camera. It is clear that 
various communication media, such as an analog public switched telephone 
network (PSTN), ISDN or LAN, can be used as a communication line. The 
method of registering the orientation of a controlled apparatus, in 
addition to a manual setting in accordance with an orientation instruction 
by the user, may be other methods, such as automatic detection by which 
signals from each controlled apparatus are detected. 
Although in the second embodiment the orientation of the controlled 
apparatus is specified by specifying the identifier of the controlled 
apparatus to be remotely controlled, the orientation of the controlled 
apparatus to be remotely controlled may be specified directly. The 
identifier of the controlled apparatus, in addition to mere numerals, may 
be the name of the controlled apparatus. For example, a menu showing a 
list of the controlled apparatuses may be displayed on the apparatus at 
the outside place where the user is located so that a selection can be 
made from the list. Although the control signal receiving section 50a is 
designed to receive both the control signal for specifying the orientation 
or the identifier of the controlled apparatus and the control signal for 
remotely controlling the controlled apparatus, control signal receiving 
sections (50a) for separately receiving the respective signals may be 
disposed. 
In the second embodiment, the control signal for specifying the identifier 
and the orientation of the controlled apparatus and the control signal for 
instructing a remote operation of the controlled apparatus are not limited 
to DTMF, but other formats, such as ISDN user-to-user information, may be 
used. The signal transmission medium through which the signals are 
transmitted from the remote-control apparatus 40 to the controlled 
apparatus in the second embodiment is not limited to an infrared ray, but 
visible light, an electromagnetic wave or an ultrasonic wave may be used. 
As a matter of course, the electrical apparatuses which are remotely 
controlled, in addition to household electrical apparatuses and audio 
products, include various apparatuses such as OA apparatuses. 
In the foregoing, the embodiment in which a remote operation is performed 
is explained. As a prerequisite of the remote operation, means for knowing 
the operating state of the controlled apparatus is necessary occasionally. 
It is clear that the present invention can be applied to the apparatus for 
detecting or monitoring the operating state of the controlled apparatus. 
For this purpose, for example, state notification means for notifying the 
state from the controlled apparatus to the remote-control apparatus 10 or 
40 may be disposed. 
As can be easily understood from the above explanation, according to theses 
embodiments, it is possible to obtain the following advantages. Since the 
image input means and the image transmitting means for transmitting an 
image input by the image input means to the communication line are 
provided, it becomes possible to monitor the controlled apparatus in the 
form of a video image form a remote location. Thus, the operation of the 
controlled apparatus can be easily confirmed at the remote location before 
and after the remote operation. 
In addition, since the drive control means for driving and controlling the 
image input means and the control signal receiving means for receiving the 
control signal for the drive control means over the communication line are 
provided, it becomes possible to monitor the plurality of controlled 
apparatuses to be remotely controlled in the form of a video image form 
the outside place where the user is located. Thus, the positions of the 
plurality of controlled apparatuses to be remotely controlled can be 
easily confirmed at the remote location. 
Since (1) the remote control signal transmitting means for transmitting a 
remote control signal to a controlled apparatus (2), the transmission 
destination control means for controlling the direction in which the 
remote control signal is transmitted, which signal is transmitted by the 
remote control signal transmitting means, and (3)control signal receiving 
means for receiving control signals for the transmission destination 
control means over a communication line are provided, it is possible to 
selectively transmit the control signals to an arbitrary controlled 
apparatus which is present in a predetermined range. 
Since (1) the image input means (2), the image transmitting means for 
transmitting an image input by the image input means to a communication 
line (3), the drive control means for deriving and controlling the image 
input means, (4) the first control signal receiving means for receiving a 
first control signal for the drive control means over the communication 
line, (5) the second control signals receiving means for receiving a 
second control signal for instructing a remote operation for the one or 
more controlled apparatuses over the communication line, (6) the signal 
conversion means for converting the second control signal received by the 
second control signal receiving means into a remote control signal for the 
one or more controlled apparatuses, and the (7) remote-control signal 
output means for outputting a remote control signal converted by the 
signal conversion means are provided, it is possible to remotely control a 
plurality of controlled apparatuses separately while monitoring the 
plurality of controlled apparatuses to be remotely controlled in the form 
of a video image. 
In addition, since the image input means and the remote-control signal 
output means are formed integrally and since the drive control means 
controls not only the image input means but also the direction in which 
the remote control signal is output by the remote control signal output 
means, it is possible to accurately select a controlled apparatus to be 
remotely controlled. 
Since the remote-control signal output method for outputting a wireless 
remote control signal for remotely controlling one or more controlled 
apparatuses is provided in the image input apparatus, it is possible to 
remotely control the controlled apparatuses while confirming the 
controlled apparatuses in the form of an input image. 
Since (1) the orientation storing means for storing the orientations of the 
one or more controlled apparatuses, (2) the remote-control signal output 
means for outputting a remote control signal for the controlled 
apparatuses, and (3) orientation change means for changing the orientation 
of the output of the remote-control signal output means to the orientation 
of the controlled apparatus to be controlled by referring to the 
orientation storing means in accordance with the selection of the 
controlled apparatus to be controlled are provided, it becomes possible to 
select as desired a plurality of controlled apparatuses which are 
arbitrarily oriented and to remotely control them. 
Further, since the orientation storing means stores information indicating 
the orientations of the controlled apparatuses together with the 
identifiers of the controlled apparatuses and since the direction change 
means changes the direction of the output of control signal output means 
to the orientation of the controlled apparatus, corresponding to the 
identifier of the identifier information, in accordance with the 
identifier information received over the communication line, the selection 
of the controlled apparatuses becomes easier. 
In addition, since the remote-control signal receiving means for receiving 
a remote control signal for specifying a controlled apparatus and the 
operation thereof over the communication line and the signal conversion 
means for converting a signal indicating at least the control contents of 
the remote control signal received by the remote control signal receiving 
means into a signal format corresponding to the controlled apparatus to be 
controlled and for applying the signal to the remote control signal output 
means are provided, it becomes possible to remotely control a plurality of 
controlled apparatuses as desired. 
Many different embodiments of the present invention may be constructed 
without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It 
should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the 
specific embodiments described in this specification. To the contrary, the 
present invention is intended to cover various modifications and 
equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the 
claims. The following claims are to be accorded the broadest 
interpretation, so as to encompass all such modifications, equivalent 
structures and functions.