Abstract:
A remote control unit that learns commands from associated remote control units associated with specific pieces of electronic equipment is described. The remote control unit stores commands that are learned and in addition stores time delays that are needed to provide the desired sequential operation of electronic equipment. The remote control unit, upon pressing a single button, sends a replica of signals and delays that a user would use when interacting with the pieces of electronic equipment. The remote control unit further has a prohibited operation window wherein a signal cannot be sent from the remote control unit.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is related to Williams et al., U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/544,448, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Remote Control of Electronic Equipment” filed on Feb. 13, 2004 and is incorporated by reference herein, with priority claimed for all commonly disclosed subject matter. 
     
    
       [0002]     A Utility Patent Application for Don P. Williams, a citizen of the United States, who resides at 4885 Highway  53 , Harvest, Ala. and Mark T. Bowers, a citizen of the United States, who resides at 5555 Bannergate Drive, Alpharetta, Ga.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The present invention generally relates to the remote control of electronic equipment such as television sets, video players, radios and similar equipment.  
       RELATED ART  
       [0004]     The use of a remote control for controlling a television set or other video equipment is based on transmitting an encoded infrared signal containing information. The encoded signal is then decoded by a receiver in the television set and the transmitted information is used to perform a desired function, such as turning the set on, changing channels, adjusting volume, switching to a different antenna connection or some other function. When several electronic devices are connected together, such as a television set and a video player, it may be necessary to use two control units. In some cases a single control unit may serve as a controller for both the television and the video player.  
         [0005]     A good source of entertainment and education for children is the plethora of programs available as broadcast programs, video tapes and DVDs. Because children learn quickly how to use remote control units for viewing a desired program, they are usually able to make the necessary equipment work for viewing a selected program. The age at which this skill is obtained may be 3 or 4 years old in some cases. However, a younger viewer, such as a 1 year old, may wish to watch a video and yet not have the ability to make the necessary equipment work together. It is therefore desirable to have a device, a new remote control unit, that would allow these younger viewers to watch a program at their convenience.  
         [0006]     It is also desirable to have parental supervision in order to prohibit children from using the remote control to watch programs at undesirable times, such as at night or sleep time. It is also desirable to have a lock-out feature that prevents the young user from repeatedly sending command sequences after the first sequence has been transmitted. In addition to having a convenient way for younger viewers to start video programs, the new remote control should be easy to program or reprogram by the parent.  
       SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE  
       [0007]     Generally, the present invention provides a new apparatus and method for controlling electronic equipment such as video equipment and audio equipment. The apparatus, a remote control unit, is directed to young users and allows such users to view programs at their convenience by pushing a button on the unit. The remote control also allows the authoritative figure with the ability to control the time periods the unit is functional. The ease of programming by sending the actual commands to achieve the desired result to associated electronic devices while the remote control unit stores the complex sequence, commands and delays between commands, is not available on conventional remote units. The ease of use provided by pushing the button and transmitting desired command signals merged with essential delays is not available on conventional control units. Furthermore, the apparatus will function with a plurality of electronic equipment from a variety of manufacturers. It is intended that all such features and advantages be included herein and that the scope of the present invention be protected by a set of claims. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention. Furthermore, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of a remote control viewed from within a crib and shows the front side of the control.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  illustrates the embodiment of  FIG. 1  seen from outside the crib and shows the backside of the remote control.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  illustrates the backside of the remote control of  FIG. 1  showing the infrared detector.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  illustrates the program and set buttons for the remote control of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the remote control of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a state diagram for the remote control of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is a continuation of the state diagram of  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 14 .  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is a timing diagram illustrating the sequence of steps for programming the remote control of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0017]      FIG. 9  illustrates a second embodiment of a remote control.  
         [0018]      FIG. 10  illustrates another view of the remote control of  FIG. 9 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 11  illustrates the backside of the remote control unit of  FIG. 9  showing the infrared detector.  
         [0020]      FIG. 12  illustrates the program and set buttons for the remote control of  FIG. 9 .  
         [0021]      FIG. 13  is a block diagram of the remote control of  FIG. 9 .  
         [0022]      FIG. 14  is a state diagram of the remote control of  FIG. 9 .  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0023]     The present invention generally pertains to a remote control unit for turning video equipment on and off and for selecting actions of such equipment. Although there are conventional remote control devices, referred to hereafter as “associated remote control units” available for controlling video equipment, none of these associated remote control units have the features and characteristics of the remote control unit of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is directed to device for providing young users, generally around one to three years old, a method to turn on several pieces of video equipment with one press of a single push button. Further, the remote control unit of the present disclosure has an input feature available for programming by a parent or other adult. The term remote control user or “user” refers to anyone using the remote control unit and the term “programmer” refers to the person programming the remote control unit. The remote control unit of the present disclosure allows a user, a young person or perhaps another person not willing or able to use one or more associated remote control units, to control several electronic devices such as a television, a DVD player, a radio tuner, an amplifier or similar equipment.  
         [0024]     Referring to  FIG. 1  there is illustrated a remote control unit  100  as seen from a typical user&#39;s viewpoint. In the illustrated embodiment, the remote control unit  100  is mounted on the rail  110  of a crib and the remote control unit has a large push button  120  on the front side, the user side, of the control that is available to activate a transmitter for transmitting an infrared (“IR”) signal sequence to one or more pieces of electronic equipment. On the top of the remote control unit  100  are two light-emitting diodes (“LEDS”)  130  that serve as a source for the IR signals for the unit. The two LEDS  130  are selected and positioned to provide a range of angular coverage, such as 180 degrees or more. Because of the range of angular coverage, the remote control unit  100  may be positioned so that it transmits IR signals to any equipment within a room.  
         [0025]      FIG. 2  shows the back side (the programmer&#39;s side) of the remote control unit  100  as seen from outside the crib. The remote control unit  100  in one embodiment has a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) that provides status, feedback and other information to the person (“programmer”) programming the remote control unit. Examples of information on the LCD include the current time and start times and stop times for a prohibited use interval. Attachment straps  136  secure the remote control unit  100  to the crib rail  110 . Behind one of the vertical slats of the crib rail, partially shown, is a removable interface cover  140 .  
         [0026]      FIG. 3  shows the programmer&#39;s side of the remote control unit  100  of  FIG. 1  with attachment straps  136  removed. An interface cover  140  is removed by the programmer to access controls and other elements for programming the remote control unit  100 . An IR detector  146  located on the programmer&#39;s side of the remote control unit  100  is shown in  FIG. 3 . The IR detector  146  serves as a receiver for IR signals transmitted from associated remote control units (units that typically come with televisions, DVD players, and other such equipment) and the detector is typically used during the learning mode of the remote control unit  100  as will be seen.  
         [0027]     When the interface cover  140  is removed, as seen in  FIG. 4 , a battery compartment for installing/removing batteries  144  is available and a control interface is available for the programmer. The control interface has a status LED  152 , three push buttons, and a switch. One of the buttons, a program push button  150  is used in combination with the status LED  152  during the learning mode of the remote control unit  100 . The other buttons, a mode button  154  and a set button  156  are used to set the clock, set the start time for a prohibited time, and set the stop time for the prohibited time. Prohibited time or inactive time is a period of time when the remote control unit  100  is prohibited from transmitting IR signals. An auto-off switch  158  is used to turn off equipment at a preset time when desired.  
         [0028]     A block diagram of the functional components of the remote control unit  100  is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . A microcontroller  160  interfaces with various input and output components of the remote control unit  100 . The microcontroller  160  preferably has interfaces the functional components and memory and logic to provide the control as described in the state diagram of  FIGS. 6 and 7 . Those skilled in the art could provide a variety of interface, logic and memory devices to provide the functions of the block diagram of  FIG. 5  and such variations would fall within the scope of the present invention.  
         [0029]     When the remote control unit is in the learning mode, the IR detector  152  receives signals from video or other associated remote control units and decodes the signals and then forwards the decoded signals to the microcontroller  160 . When the program button  150  is pushed the microcontroller  160  receives a signal and responds in accordance with control logic. The control logic preferably illuminates the status LED  152  for a given period of time in response to the push of the program button  150 . The status LED  152  and the program button  150  operate together for allowing a programmer to implement an IR learning process as will be described in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . The mode button  154  and set button  156  are used to set the clock and a prohibited activity timer as will be seen when viewing  FIG. 6 . The result of setting the clock is viewed on the LCD  134 . When the remote control unit  100  is in a run mode and a user presses the push button  120 , IR signals are transmitted by the IR LEDS  130 . After the push button is pressed once, a lock-out timer is started that causes the microcontroller  160  to ignore subsequent inputs from the push button  120  for a preset period of time, such as several minutes or up to an hour or so in order to prevent a user from repeatedly sending a command sequence. An auto-off feature of the remote control unit  100  causes the IR LEDS  130  to transmit signals for turning off video equipment at preset time or after a preset period of time. An auto-off switch  158  is available to activate or deactivate the auto-off feature. The transmitted IR signals contain information that is received and stored during the learning mode of the remote control unit  100 .  
         [0030]     In order to implement the functions and features of the remote control unit  100 , the programmer provides information to the unit and a sequence of IR signals are sent from associated remote units to the remote control unit. The preferred steps for providing the information and the IR signals as inputs are now described in conjunction with  FIGS. 6 and 7 . Variation in the steps would be apparent to nearly anyone and particularly to someone skilled in the art.  
         [0031]     When batteries  144  are installed in the remote control unit  100 , the LCD  134  will show an hour and minute value and a colon between the values will be blinking. Further, when the remote control unit  100  first receives power, the unit initially is put in a main loop state  202  as shown in a state diagram  200  of  FIG. 6 . When in the main loop state  202 , transitions may be made to either a set clock state  210 , a send IR commands state  204  or a learning idle state  216  as seen in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0032]     In one embodiment of the remote control unit  100  a transition from the main loop state  202  to a set clock state  210  occurs when the programmer pushes the mode button  154 . When in the set clock state  210 , pushing and holding the set button  156  causes the clock to rapidly change time, as is observed on the LCD  134 . When the clock reaches the desired time value then the set button  156  is released. In one embodiment for setting the clock there is no reverse time direction for setting the clock. The method of setting the clock on the remote control unit  100  is similar to methods used on conventional electronic clocks that are found on variety of appliances and electronic equipment and such embodiments would fall within the scope of the disclosure. The method of clock setting for the remote control unit  100  as herein described is preferred in order to simplify programming and minimize cost. When the programmer has determined that the clock is set to a desired time, a push of the mode button  154  causes a transition from the set clock state  210  to the start inactive-time state  212 . While in the start inactive-time state  212  the desired start time is set by pushing and holding the set button  156  as previously described. Next, the mode button  154  is pushed again and a transition is made to the stop inactive-time state  214 . A desired stop-time is set by pushing and releasing the set button  156 . A final push, the fourth push, of the mode button  154  causes a transition from the stop-time state  214  back to the main loop state  202 .  
         [0033]     The time interval between the start time and the stop time defines an inactive period for the remote control unit  100 , during that interval time the push button  120  cannot activate the IR LEDs  130  that transmit control signals to the video equipment. Hence, during the inactive period, a time window, the user is unable to turn on or turn off the video equipment by pressing the push button  120 . The time window provides a prohibited use interval in which a user cannot control any of the video or other electronic equipment. When the programmer has set all the timing values, the user is provided with a time window for using the remote control unit  100 .  
         [0034]     In order to provide a signal for controlling the video equipment it is necessary to gather video and other associated remote control units. The remote control unit  100  is placed in the learning mode and the IR detector  152  is aligned for receiving signals from the associated remote control units. The IR outputs of the associated remote control units then becomes inputs to the remote control unit  100  during the learning process. The remote control unit  100  must transition from the main loop state  202  to the learning idle state  216 , shown in  FIG. 7 , in order for the desired control information to be received and stored in the remote control unit  100 . While in the learning idle state  216 , a first associated remote control unit is aimed towards the IR detector  152  and microprocessor  160  detects the presence of an IR signal from the first associated control unit. Upon detection of the IR signal, a transition is made from the learning idle state  216  to the collecting commands state  218 . The first command signals transmitted from the first associated remote control unit are received and replicas are stored in memory of the microprocessor  160 . Typically the IR signals sent from the first associated remote control unit (and subsequent units) and received by the IR detector  152  are of a short duration and after they have been received a transition is made to the command collected state  219 . After the programmer is notified of the change of state by a single blink of the status LED  15  a transition is made from the command collected state  219  to the user delay collected state  220 . In state  220  the elapsed time between commands is recorded. When a second associated remote control unit, if necessary, is aligned with the IR detector  152  and a second IR signal is sent then a transition again occurs to the collecting commands state  218  and a the second IR signal is detected and stored along with delays between commands. When a transition is again made to the commanded collected state  219 , the programmer is notified by a blink of the status LED  152 . Additional sets of IR signals may be detected and stored in the manner described above. After all commands have been collected a transition is made from the user delay state  220  to the main loop state  202 . The inventor has determined that the preferred storage capacity for IR signals is five. However it may be necessary for the remote control unit  100  to have a storage capacity greater than five in order for some systems to obtain the full benefit of the remote control unit  100  disclosed herein. Compression techniques may be used to improve the memory efficiency in another embodiment of the present disclosure. Such compression techniques are well-known by those skilled in the art.  
         [0035]     A timing diagram  300 , shown in  FIG. 8 , illustrates the receive and store process described in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . During a first time interval  302 , the program button  150  is pushed as shown by a positive pulse on the program button graph  310 . When the program button is released the status LED turns on as shown by a first pulse on the LED graph  314 . When the first command signal from the first IR signal, a command signal, is detected by the microcontroller  160  the status LED  152  turns off. A series of IR pulses, shown in on IR Input graph  312 , is then received, detected and stored by the microcontroller  160 . When no more IR pulses are detected in the first IR signal then a single blink is emitted from the status LED, shown as the second pulse shown on the LED graph  314 . The status LED  152  emits a continuous light until a second IR signal, shown as the second group of pulses on the IR input graph  312 , is detected by microprocessor  160 . Once the second IR signal is recorded, the status LED blinks once as seen on the LED graph  314  and then emits continuous light. If the learning process is complete, the program button  150  is preferably is pressed by the programmer and the status LED  152  is turned off.  
         [0036]     The control unit  100  stores an entire sequence of signals and delays needed to turn-on video equipment. For example, the delays that occur when a DVD player is activated and started are contained in the sequence provide by control unit  100 .  
         [0037]     To understand the capability of the remote control unit  100 , consider the steps required for viewing a program using a television/DVD-player combination. First a user turns on the television and then selects the input terminals on the television for receiving video and audio signals from the DVD player. Next the DVD player is turned on (it is assumed that a DVD disk is in the unit) and a play command is sent to the player. Because of previews and an FBI warning it is generally necessary to push the menu button and the play/enter button several times. The number of pushes and the amount of time between each push of the play button varies with the equipment manufacturer and the content supplier (the maker of the DVD disk). Hence it is necessary to store not only commands, but to store time delays that occur between and within the commands. The remote control unit  100  learns not only the commands emitted by the associated remote control units, but learns and stores the delays so that pushing the push button  120  will replicate the sequence generated by a person using each associated remote unit and waiting out time delays so the DVD disk will furnish the desired program.  
         [0038]     In another embodiment of the remote control unit  100 , a photo detector  138 , as shown in  FIG. 9 , is used to select an prohibited period of use, such as for night time or sleep time. When the photo detector  138  provides a signal to the microcontroller  170  that is indicative of a low light level the microcontroller  170  prohibits the IR LEDS  130  from transmitting signals. In this embodiment there is no clock and hence the programmer is not required to set a clock or a start time and a stop time. However it is still necessary for the remote control unit  100  to learn the IR sequence to turn on the video equipment used to display a program. The photo detector embodiment of the remote control unit  100  is shown mounted on a crib in  FIG. 10  and has the interface cover  140 .  
         [0039]     When the interface cover  140  as shown  FIG. 11  is removed, the controls and battery compartment as shown in  FIG. 12  are visible. The status LED  152  and program button  150  function as previously described with respect to  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The auto-off switch  158  is preferably available in the photo detector embodiment of the remote control unit and functions as early described. The differences in the features of the first embodiment are best illustrated by comparing  FIG. 5  to  FIG. 13 .  
         [0040]     A state diagram illustrating the implementation of the photo detector controlled remote control unit is illustrated in  FIG. 14 . When power is first applied to the remote control unit  100 , the unit goes to a main loop state  402 . When the push button  120  is pushed and the photo detector  138  indicates the daytime condition, the remote control unit  100  transitions from the send IR command state to the disable state  406  and back to the main loop state  402 . The remote control unit  100  transitions to the learning mode ( FIG. 7 ) when the program button  150  is pushed.  
         [0041]     It should be further emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention are merely possible examples of implementations and set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims.