Abstract:
A video camera apparatus effects one of predetermined operations regarding a video camera, generates historic data indicative of one of predetermined operations and stores tie historic data in a non-volatile memory, and reads the historic data from the non-volatile memory and outputs the historic data in response to a data reading request. A counter responsive counts the number of times of the present operations which is also stored as the historic data every predetermined interval. As historic data, an interval of the present operation, accumulates times interval of present operation, the detected trouble data, a count of troubles, the latest trouble, communication data communicating with an external controller, a temperature or a humidity are stored. A video monitoring system includes the video camera.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a video camera apparatus for taking an image and generating a video signal from the image and a video monitor system including the same. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A video monitor system including a monitor site including a display monitor and a video camera site remote from the monitor site, the video camera site including a video camera unit for receiving an image around the video camera unit and generating transmitting the video signal to the video monitor site, is known. 
     On the other hand, Japanese patent application provisional publication No. 9-134216 discloses a camera including a shock detector, a clock, and a memory for storing data of the shock (damage) and the date data. Moreover, Japanese patent application provisional publication No. 9-297693 discloses a video camera which detects a trouble thereof and generates trouble analysis data and transmits it to a center where a monitoring person monitors the condition of the video camera, or home use electric apparatus such as an electric refrigerator. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The aim of the present invention is to provide a superior video camera apparatus and a superior video monitor system. 
     According to the present invention there is provided a video camera apparatus including: an imaging unit for imaging an image around the video camera apparatus and generating and outputting a video signal from the image; an operation portion responsive to a command signal for effecting one of predetermined operations regarding the imaging unit; a historic data generating portion responsive to the operation portion for generating historic data indicative of one of predetermined operations; a non-volatile memory; a memory control portion responsive to the historic data generating portion for storing the historic data in the non-volatile memory; and a data outputting portion for reading the historic data from the non-volatile memory and outputting the historic data in response to a data reading request. 
     The video camera apparatus may further include: a power-on detector for detecting turning on of a power supply for the video camera apparatus, wherein the historic data generating portion starts generating the historic data in response to the power on detector and the memory control portion stores the historic data in response to the power-on detector. 
     The video camera apparatus may further include: a preset operation data storing portion for storing preset operation data, the operation portion effects a preset operation in accordance with the preset operation data as one of predetermined operations; and a counter responsive to the operation portion for counting the number of times of the preset operations, wherein the memory control portion stores the result of the counter as the historic data. 
     The video camera apparatus may further include a timer, wherein the memory control portion stores the result of the counter every predetermined interval as a total in response to the timer. 
     The video camera apparatus may further include: a preset operation data storing portion for storing preset operation data, the operation portion effects a preset operation in accordance with the preset operation data as one of predetermined operations; and a time measuring circuit for measuring an interval of the preset operation, wherein the memory control portion stores the result of the time measuring circuit as the historic data. 
     The video camera apparatus may further include: a timer for measuring a predetermined interval, wherein the memory control portion stores the result of the time measuring circuit for every predetermined interval as a total. 
     The video camera apparatus may further include: a trouble item data storing portion for storing a plurality of trouble item data; a trouble detecting portion for detecting a trouble occurring with one of predetermined operations effected by the operation portion; a judging portion for Judging which one of the trouble item data corresponds to the trouble, wherein the memory control portion stores data of the trouble every trouble item data in accordance with the Judging result of judging portion. In this case, the video camera apparatus may further include a counter for counting the number of times of occurrence of the trouble and a latest trouble detecting portion responsive to the trouble detecting portion for detecting the latest trouble, wherein the memory control portion stores data of the number of times of the troubles and data of the latest trouble. 
     The video camera apparatus may further include a mechanical moving portion and a limit detection circuit for detecting when the mechanical moving portion reaches a limit; a counter for counting the number of times the mechanical moving portion reaches the limit; a timer for measuring a predetermined interval, wherein the memory control portion stores data of the number of times the predetermined interval occurs. 
     The video camera apparatus may further include a communicating circuit for communicating with an external controller, wherein the memory control portion stores data regarding communicating with the external controller as the historic data. 
     The video camera apparatus may further include a temperature measuring circuit for measuring a temperature inside the video camera apparatus and a humidity measuring circuit for measuring a humidity inside the video camera apparatus, wherein the memory control portion stores the temperature and humidity as the historic data. 
     According to this invention there is provided a video monitor system including: a video camera unit including an imaging unit for imaging an image around the video camera apparatus and generating and outputting a video signal from the image, an operation portion responsive to a command signal for effecting one of predetermined operations regarding the imaging unit, a historic data generating portion responsive to the operation portion for generating historic data indicative of one of predetermined operations, a non-volatile memory; a memory control portion responsive to the historic data generating portion for storing the historic data in the non-volatile memory, and a data outputting portion for reading the historic data from the non-volatile memory and transmitting the historic data in response to a data reading request; and a monitor site including a display monitor for displaying the image in response to the video signal, a data request portion for transmitting a request for transmitting the historic data, a data receiving portion for receiving the historic data from the video camera unit, and a data display for displaying the historic data from the data receiving portion. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The object and features of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram a video monitor system including a video camera apparatus of this invention; 
     FIG. 2 depicts a flow chart of the operation of the microprocessor shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of step s 4  shown in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart of a timer interruption for the microprocessor shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 depicts a flow chart of an event interruption for the microprocessor shown in FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart of a timer interruption for the microprocessor shown in FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     The same or corresponding elements or parts are designated with like references throughout the drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinbelow will be described an embodiment of this invention. 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video monitor system including a video camera apparatus. 
     The video monitor system includes a video camera apparatus  31  and a monitor site  32 . 
     The video camera apparatus includes a microprocessor  17  for controlling respective circuits of the video camera apparatus  31 , an EPROM (Electrically programmable read-only memory)  4  for storing programs for predetermined operations, an EEPROM (Electrically erasable programmable read-only memory)  5  for storing data, such as historic data, a data communication circuit  1  for communicating with the monitor site  32  through a cable or a network, a power supply  2  for supplying powers to respective circuits of the video camera apparatus  31 , a power-on reset circuit  28  for detecting turning on of the power to inform the microprocessor  17  of the power on, a video camera unit  33  for receiving an image around the video camera apparatus  31  and generates an image signal, a video signal processor  3  for processing the image signal from the imaging circuit  15  to generate a video signal from the image signal and transmitting the video signal to the monitor site  32 , a tilting unit  26  for tilting the video camera unit  33 , a panning unit  27  for panning the video camera  33 , a sensor unit  35  for detecting conditional data around the video camera apparatus  31  and sending the conditional data to the microprocessor  17 , a counter  16  for counting the number of times of preset operations, and a time measuring circuit  18  for a measuring time interval of the preset operation and generating a time clock signal indicative of the present time. 
     The video camera unit  33  includes a CCD control circuit  14 , an imaging circuit  15  including a CCD imager (not shown) which is driven by the CCD control circuit  14  in response to microprocessor  17 , a zoom mechanism  34  for forming the image around the video camera unit  33  on the CCD imager by a zoom lens included in the zoom mechanism  34 , a lens motor unit  13  for controlling a zoom ratio and a focus of the zoom lens, a lens motor control circuit  12  for controlling the lens motor unit  13  in response to microprocessor  17 , and a limit detector  25  for detecting a limit of the zoom mechanism  34 . 
     The tilting unit  26  includes a tilting mechanism  23  for supporting and tilting the video camera unit  33 , a tilt motor  11  for driving the tilting mechanism  23 , a tilt motor control circuit  10  for controlling the tilt motor  11  in response to the microprocessor  17 , a tilt detector  24  for detecting a tilt angle of the tilt mechanism  23  and sending the tilt angle data to the microprocessor  17 . 
     The panning unit  27  includes a panning mechanism  21  for supporting and panning the video camera unit  33 , a pan motor  9  for driving the panning mechanism  23 , a pan motor control circuit  8  for controlling the pan motor  9  in response to the microprocessor  17 , a pan detector  22  for detecting a pan angle of the pan mechanism  21  and sending the pan angle data to the microprocessor  17 . 
     The sensor unit  35  includes sensors  7  including a thermometer  7   a  for measuring a temperature inside of a case (not shown) of the video camera apparatus  31 , a hygrometer  7   b  for measuring a humidity inside the case of the video camera apparatus  31 , open/close sensors (not shown) for detecting an open/close condition of doors and windows, a human body sensors (not shown), and a sensor control circuit  6  for controlling the sensors  7 . 
     The power supply  2  receives a power from the monitor site when the monitor site  32  is connected to the video camera apparatus  31  with special cables and receives a power under remote control by the monitor site  32  when the monitor site  32  is connected to the video camera apparatus  31  with a network. 
     The monitor site  32  includes a control terminal  42  for generating and transmitting control data and receives historic data or the like, a data display monitor  43  for displaying historic data and data for monitor controlling operation, and a video display monitor  41  for displaying the video signal from the video signal processing circuit  3 . 
     The EEPROM  5  stores data, such as the historic data and is erasable, so that the data can be rewritten. 
     A user operates the control terminal  42  to operate the video camera apparatus  31  to effect a preset operation. The preset operation specifies a sequential operation of the video camera apparatus  31 . For example, the preset operation specifies that the video camera unit  33  is directed to which angle, or that video camera unit  33  is successively directed to respective doors and windows in a room. The control terminal  42  transmits command data indicative of the preset operation to the microprocessor  17  in communication data. The microprocessor  17  receives the command data indicative of the preset operation through the data communication circuit  1  and stores the command data in the EEPROM  5  at an operation data area. 
     When the operation by the video camera apparatus  31  is started, the microprocessor  17  measures a running time for an hour or for a day. The running time is stored in the EEPROM  5  as historic data at a data area. 
     Moreover, if the preset operation is commanded, the microprocessor  17  reads the preset data and controls respective portions of the video camera unit  33  in accordance with the preset data and counts the number of times of the preset operation for an hour or a day, an interval of the preset operation for an hour or a day, and stores the counts and data of the interval in the EEPROM  5  as historic data. Moreover, the number of times and the total interval of the preset operation from the resetting are stored a historic data in the EEPROM  5 . 
     The historic data, such as the number of times and the total interval of the present operation is read and outputted in response to command data indicative of outputting historic data from the control terminal  42 . The historic data is displayed on the data display monitor  43  of the monitor site  32 . Accordingly, the user can immediately analyze the historic data when a trouble occurs, so that the system can be quickly restored. 
     FIG. 2 depicts a flow chart of the operation of the microprocessor  17  of the embodiment. 
     The operation is started in response to the power-on. The microprocessor  17  detects whether there is communication with the monitor site  31  in step s 1 . When there is communication, the microprocessor  17  stores the communication data as historic data together with time data from the time measuring circuit  18  in the EEPROM  5  in step s 2 . In step s 3 , if the communication data includes command data, the microprocessor  17  effects one of predetermined operations stored in the EPROM  4  in step s 4 . In the following step s 5 , the microprocessor  17  generates historic data indicative of the operation effected in step s 4  and stores the historic data in the EEPROM  5  in step s 6 . Then, processing returns to step S 1 . When the communication data does not include the command data in step s 3 , processing returns to step S 1 . 
     In steps s 5  and s 6 , the historic data may be selectively generated and stored in response to a command from the monitor site  32 . 
     FIG. 3 depicts a flow chart of step s 4  shown in FIG.  2 . 
     The microprocessor  17  checks whether there is preset data storing command data in step s 13 . If there is a preset data storing command in step s 13 , the microprocessor  17  stores the preset data in the EEPROM  5  in step s 14  as mentioned above and processing returns to the main routine, that is, returns to step s 5  in FIG.  2 . 
     In step s 15 , the microprocessor  17  checks whether there is preset operation command data in step s 15 . If there is a preset operation command data in step s 15 , the microprocessor  17  checks the preset operation command data indicates start of the preset operation. If the preset operation command data indicates start of the preset operation, the microprocessor  17  effects the preset operation in accordance with the preset data stored in the EEPROM  5 . Then, the microprocessor  17  starts the counter  16  to count the number of times of effected preset operations for a predetermined time interval, such as an hour or a day, that is, a preset operation count POC and a total preset operation count TPOC which is a count of the preset operation from resetting. In the following step s 18 , the microprocessor  17  starts the time measuring circuit  18  in step s 18  to measure the time interval of the preset operation for an hour or a day, that is, a time interval PTI and a total preset operation time interval TPTI. In the flow chart shown in FIG. 3, measuring running time interval mentioned above is omitted. However, the running time interval is also measured as similar to the preset operation. After step s 18 , processing returns to the main routine. 
     In step s 19 , if the preset operation command data indicates stop of preset operation, the microprocessor  17  stops the preset operation in step s 24  and stops the counter  16  and the time measuring circuit  18  to stop time measuring the time interval PTI and the total preset operation time interval TPTI in step s 25 . After step s 25 , processing returns to the main routine. 
     FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart of a timer interruption TINT 1  for the microprocessor  17  of this embodiment. 
     The microprocessor  17  executes the timer interruption TINT 1  every an hour and a day. In response to the timer interruption TINT 1 , the microprocessor  17  stores the counted preset operation count POC and the total preset count TPOC from the counter  16  as historic data in step s 31 . In step s 32 , the microprocessor  17  stores the measured preset time interval PTI, the total preset time interval TPTI in the EEPROM  5  as the historic data from the time measuring circuit  18  in step s 32 . Moreover, the microprocessor  17  stores the temperature data TMP from the thermometer  7   a  and humidity data HU from hygrometer  7   b  in step s 32  and processing returns to the main routine. Therefore, historic data every hour and every day is stored in the EEPROM  5 . 
     In FIG. 3, if there is output command data in the communication data in step s 11 , the microprocessor  17  reads the historic data in the EEPROM  5  and transmits the historic data to the control terminal  42  and the data display monitor  43  in the monitor site  32  through the data communication circuit  1 . Moreover, if there is other operation command, such as a manual operation to control the zoom lens mechanism  34 , the pan mechanism  21 , and the tilt mechanism  23 , the microprocessor  17  operates other operations in step s 23 . 
     FIG. 5 depicts a flow chart of an event interruption EINT for the microprocessor  17  of this embodiment. 
     The microprocessor  17  executes the event interruption EINT in response to detecting the limit signal from the zoom lens mechanism  34 . That is, the microprocessor  17  counts the number of times of occurrence of the limit signal in step s 33 . In step s 32  in FIG.  4 . The microprocessor  17  further stores the count CL in the EEPROM  5 . 
     In step s 20  in FIG. 3, if the communication data includes trouble type data storing command data, the microprocessor  17  stores trouble type data in the EEPROM  5  in step s 21 . 
     FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart of a timer interruption TINT 2  for the microprocessor  17  of this embodiment. 
     The microprocessor  17  effects the timer interruption processing every predetermined interval to detect a trouble in the video camera apparatus  31 . 
     In response to the timer interruption TINT 2 , the microprocessor  17  detects a trouble in the video camera apparatus  31  in step s 41  by checking outputs of the limit detection circuit  25 , a tilt detector  24 , the pan detector  21 , and the sensors  7 . For example, if the limit detector  25  continuously detects the limit condition though the zoom mechanism  34  is controlled to the opposite limit direction, the tilt detector  24  does not detect variation in the tilt though the tilt motor  11  is driven, or the pan detector  22  does not detect variation in the pan angle though the pan motor  9  is driven. Moreover, if the thermometer  7   a  detects a not-usual temperature or if the hygrometer  7   b  detects a not-usual humidity, the microprocessor  17  detects the trouble. 
     In step s 42 , if there is no trouble, processing returns to the main routine. In step s 42 , if there is a trouble, the microprocessor  17  collates (Judges) data of the trouble with the trouble type data for checking correspondence therebetween. In the following step s 43 , the microprocessor  17  counts the number of times of occurrence of trouble (trouble count) TC in step s 43  and stores the trouble count TC and the trouble data every the trouble type data in accordance with the collation result as historic data in the EEPROM  5  in step s 44 . In the following step s 45 , the microprocessor  17  stores the latest trouble data in step s 45 . 
     The microprocessor  17  stores the trouble count TC every trouble type data, so that the trouble counts TC of every trouble type can be stored and transmitted to the monitoring site  32 . 
     In step s 45  in FIG. 6, the video camera apparatus  31  may inform the monitor site  32  of occurrence of the trouble. Moreover, the video camera apparatus  31  may inform the monitor site  32  of the result of the sensor unit  35  in response to the sensor unit  35 .