Radio communication apparatus

A handy phone or similar radio communication apparatus of the present invention detects a calling apparatus, displays it for confirmation, displays a plurality of messages stored beforehand to allow the user of the apparatus to select an adequate message matching the calling apparatus, and then sends the message selected to the calling apparatus. This allows a person originating the call to take an adequate measure at the earliest possible time and keeps the third party from private messages or information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a handy phone or similar radio 
communication apparatus and, more particularly, to a radio communication 
apparatus having a function of sending, on receiving a call, a necessary 
message to a calling apparatus without the user of the apparatus answering 
the call. 
It is a common practice to allow the user of, e.g., a handy phone to set up 
a rejection mode when the user cannot answer an incoming call for one 
reason or another. To set up the rejection mode, the user operates a 
particular button provided on the phone on the receipt of the call or 
beforehand. A code representative of the rejection mode is sent from the 
phone to a calling phone via a base station. The code informs the calling 
person of the fact that the called person cannot answer the call. Such a 
conventional rejection system, however, cannot show the calling person why 
the called person cannot answer the call. Therefore, the calling person 
must repeat the call origination or is apt to wait more than a necessary 
period of time, failing to contact the called person at the earliest 
possible time. 
In light of the above, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4-258029 
proposes a system in which a message representative of the state of a 
mobile station is coded and sent over, e.g., a control channel included in 
a telephone channel. When the mobile station rejects the incoming call, 
the coded message allows the calling person to see, e.g., whether the 
called person is absent or whether the called person is busy. It is also 
proposed to display the rejection on a display panel provided on the 
calling station. 
However, the above coded message scheme has the following problems left 
unsolved. In a rejection mode, the system causes only a preselected 
message to be unconditionally sent on the receive of a call. This prevents 
a particular message adequate for a caller from being sent. Assume that a 
person prepares a private message with a substantial content and meant for 
a particular caller. Then, on the receipt of a call from the third party, 
the private message is sent to the third party. This is undesirable from 
the secrecy standpoint. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a radio 
communication apparatus capable of allowing the user of the apparatus to 
confirm a caller and then send a necessary message meant only for the 
caller. 
In accordance with the present invention, a radio communication apparatus 
having a rejecting function for informing a calling apparatus of the fact 
that a received call will not be answered has a first display for 
detecting the calling apparatus on the receipt of a call, and displaying 
the calling apparatus. A storage stores a plurality of answer messages 
beforehand. A second display displays the plurality of answer messages in 
a rejection mode. A selecting section allows any one of the plurality of 
answer messages to be selected on the second display. A transmitter 
section transmits the message selected via the selecting section to the 
calling apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a radio communication apparatus 
embodying the present invention is shown and implemented as a handy phone 
by way of example. As shown, the handy phone, generally labeled T, has a 
transmitter section 2 and a receiver section 3 which are connected to an 
antenna 1. The transmitter section 2 and receiver section 3 respectively 
sends and receives radio signals to and from a base station via the 
antenna 1. An input section 4 has various kinds of buttons and keys to be 
operated by the user of the phone T. A controller 5 controls the input 
section 4, transmitter section 2 and receiver section 3 as well as other 
sections which will be described. A storage 6 stores messages, phone 
numbers, names each corresponding to a particular phone number, and other 
necessary data. An alert section 7 alerts, when the phone T receives a 
call, the user to the call by sound, vibration or the like, as desired. A 
received speech signal is output via a speaker 8. The user's speech is 
input to the phone T via a microphone 9. A display 10 displays messages 
and other information. 
The input section 4 has numeral keys 41 ("0" through "9"), a reject button 
42 for rejecting the receipt of a call, a message key 43 for composing, 
displaying or deleting messages, an answer button 44 for answering an 
incoming call, a message select key 45 for selecting a message, a scroll 
key 46 for scrolling the display 10, and a message send key 47. 
A specific operation of the handy phone T will be described with reference 
to FIG. 2. Assume that while the phone T is in a stand-by state, a call 
meant for the phone T is originated on another phone. Then, the phone T 
receives a call incoming signal from a nearby base station (step S101). 
The incoming call signal includes an identification (ID) number assigned 
to the calling phone, and an ID number assigned to the called phone T. In 
the phone T, the controller 5 compares the ID number of the calling phone 
and that of the called phone T (step S102). If the two ID numbers compare 
equal (Y, step S102), the controller 5 drives the alert section 7 in order 
to alert the user to the receipt of a call by, e.g., sound or vibration 
(step S103). 
Subsequently, the controller 5 checks the storage 6 to see if the ID 
number, e.g., phone number of the calling station included in the received 
signal is stored therein (step S104). If the answer of the step S104 is 
positive (Y), the controller 5 displays the name corresponding to the ID 
number on the display 10 (step S105). If the answer of the step S104 is 
negative (N), the controller 5 displays the ID number of the calling 
station on the display 10 (step S106). If the user confirmed the caller on 
the display 10 desires to answer the call, the user operates the answer 
button 44 (step S107). As a result, a communication is held between the 
two phones. 
On the other hand, assume that the user received the call should reject the 
incoming call. Then, the user operates the reject button 42 (step S108). 
In response, all the messages stored in the storage 6 are read out (step 
S109) and displayed on the display 10 (step S110). FIG. 3 shows three 
exemplary messages appearing on the display 10. The user scrolls the 
display 10 up or down until a desired message appears, positions a cursor 
at the desired message, and then operates the message select key 45 to 
select the message to be sent (step S111). The user may select two or more 
messages by repeating the above manipulation, i.e., the positioning of the 
cursor and the operation of the message select key 45, if desired. 
Thereafter, the user operates the message send key 47 (step S112). As a 
result, the message or messages selected are sent to the calling station 
(step S113). 
While the phone T is not in communication, the user may operate the message 
key 43 in order to, e.g., compose or delete messages, as desired. Messages 
can be freely input on the numeral keys 41. For example, if the numeral 
keys 41 are respectively assigned to fixed words, phrases or sentences 
beforehand, the user can compose or delete desired messages on the keys 
41. Further, how frequently each message is used may be written to the 
storage 6 together with the message. In such a case, the messages will 
appear on the display 10 in the decrementing order with respect to the 
frequency of use at the time of message selection. If desired, a key may 
be operated to replace the decrementing order with an incrementing order. 
As stated above, the user of the phone T can confirm a caller originating a 
call without fail, and send an adequate message to the caller if the user 
rejects the call. This allows the caller to see why the called person has 
rejected the call, and to take an adequate measure for contacting the 
called person at the earliest possible time. Moreover, because only a 
particular message is sent to each caller, the third party is prevented 
from receiving an unexpected private message. This is desirable from the 
secrecy standpoint. 
Referring to FIG. 4, an alternative embodiment of the present invention 
will be described. In FIG. 4, the same or similar structural elements as 
or to the elements shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference 
numerals, and a detailed description thereof will not be made in order to 
avoid redundancy. As shown, this embodiment is identical with the previous 
embodiment except that a rejection set button 48 is substituted for the 
reject button 42. 
The operation of the illustrative embodiment will be described with 
reference to FIG. 5. Assume that while the phone T is in a stand-by state, 
the user presses the rejection set button 48. Then, the controller 5 sets 
up a rejection mode when the user presses the answer button 44 on the 
receipt of a call. In FIG. 5, steps S201-206 are identical with the steps 
101-106 shown in FIG. 2. After the step S205 or S206, the controller 5 
determines whether or not the rejection set button 48 has been pressed 
(step S207). If the answer of the step S207 is N, the controller 5 sets up 
a communication mode (step S212). If the answer of the step S207 is Y, the 
controller 5 sets up a rejection mode. In the rejection mode, when the 
user presses the answer button 44 (step S208), the controller 5 reads all 
the messages out of the storage 6 (step S209) and displays them on the 
display 10 (step S210). If the user again presses the answer button 44 (Y, 
step S211), the controller 5 replaces the rejection mode with the 
communication mode and allows the user to hold a communication with the 
caller. This communication mode can be used when the user has forgotten to 
reset the rejection mode or when the user must converse with the caller 
despite the rejection mode. 
If the answer of the step S211 is N, the controller 5 determines whether or 
not the user has selected a message on the display 10 by using the scroll 
key 46 and message select key 45 (step S213). If the answer of the step 
S213 is Y, the controller selects the desired message (step S214) and then 
sends it on the operation of the message send key 47 (step S215), as in 
the previous embodiment. 
If the answer of the step S213 is N, the controller 5 determines whether or 
not a preselected period of time has elapsed (step S216). If the answer of 
the step S216 is Y, the controller 5 automatically reads a preselected 
message out of the memory 6 (step S217) and then sends it to the calling 
station (step S215). This is also true when the user operates the message 
send key 47 without selecting any message (Y, step S218). 
Preferably, a particular message should be assigned to each phone which may 
call the phone T. Then, on the receipt of a call, a message matching a 
calling phone can be sent to the calling phone. 
This embodiment has the following advantage in addition to the advantages 
of the previous embodiment. When the user of the phone T does not select 
any message on the display 10, a particular message selected beforehand is 
automatically sent to the calling station. Therefore, when the received 
call is from, e.g., the third party, a common message not needling secrecy 
is automatically sent to the third party. 
In summary, it will be seen that the present invention provides a radio 
communication apparatus capable of sending a particular adequate message 
to each calling station and allowing the calling station to take an 
adequate measure, and insuring secrecy by keeping the third party from 
private messages. 
Various modifications will become possible for those skilled in the art 
after receiving the teachings of the present disclosure without departing 
from the scope thereof. For example, the present invention is applicable 
not only to a handy phone but also to any other radio communication 
apparatus having its own ID number and a rejecting function.