Abstract:
A hand free device is commonly shared by a plurality of communication devices, and more particularly to a hand free device which can be used by a plurality of communication devices simultaneously. Such a hand free device includes a microprocessor, more than one I/O interfaces, a multiplexer control unit, more than one multiplexers, a voice processing unit, a speaker amplifying and control unit, a microphone amplifying circuit, a dialing unit, a charging and power supply unit and an artificial interface. Such a hand free device can be simultaneously coupled to multiple communication devices and allows the same to be operable at the same time.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a hand free device which can be commonly shared by a plurality of communication devices, and more particularly to a hand free device which can be used by a plurality of communication devices simultaneously. Such a hand free device includes a microprocessor, more than one I/O interfaces, a multiplexer control unit, more than one multiplexers, a voice processing unit, a speaker amplifying and control unit, a microphone amplifying circuit, a dialing unit, a charging and power supply unit and an artificial interface. Such a hand free device can be simultaneously coupled to multiple communication devices and allows the same to be operable at the same time.  
           [0002]    As a result of fast advancement in communication technology, and the massive investment of private enterprises in this field, cellular phones become so popular that many people are equipped with more than one cellular phones or phone numbers. A conventional hand free device is only applicable to one cellular phone or communication device. If a person is equipped with more than one communication devices, only one communication device is coupled to the conventional hand free device and the rest communication devices are left uncoupled to the hand free device.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a hand free device which can commonly shared by a plurality of communication devices at the same time.  
           [0004]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a hand free device which can be operated in combination with a stereo system of a vehicle and are coupled to a plurality of communication devices simultaneously 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]    [0005]FIG. 1 is a systematic block diagram of the present invention;  
         [0006]    [0006]FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram showing the analog type I/O interface of the present invention;  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 3 is a the true value table of the present invention;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 4 is a second systematic block diagram of the present invention;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 5 is a simplified diagram of the digital type I/O interface of the present invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the application of the present invention to a vehicular stereo unit.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0011]    Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, the systematic block diagram of the hand free device  1  of the present invention is illustrated. It mainly comprises a micro processor  11 , more than one Input/Output or I/O interfaces  121 ,  122 , a multiplexer control unit  13 , at least two multiplexers  131 ,  132 , a voice processing circuit  14 , a speaker amplifying and control unit  15 , a microphone amplifying circuit  16 , a dialing unit  17 , a charging and power supply unit  18  and an artificial interface  19 , working in combination with a speaker S and a microphone M.  
         [0012]    The micro processor  11  is used to coordinate the operation of the individual circuit of all units of the hand free device  1 .  
         [0013]    The one or more than one I/O interfaces  121 ,  122  of communication equipment are controlled by the micro processor  11  to convert the input signals from communication devices of various types and brands into manageable signals for the use of end terminals. The connection between the I/O interfaces  121 ,  122  and the communication devices T 1 , T 2  can be effected by plug holes, signal cables or other means of proper form.  
         [0014]    The artificial interface  19  enables a user to input his or her settings, for instance, the control of volume of sound, switch control, switching control and etc. More than one multiplexers  131 ,  132  have at least one or more than one logic switch controlled by the flagpole signal of the multiplexer control unit  13  to judge that part or whole signals of the communication devices are input or output via the logic switch.  
         [0015]    The multiplexer control unit  13  is subject to the control of the microprocessor  11  to control by flag poles the operation of the multiplexers  131 ,  132 .  
         [0016]    The voice processing unit  14  subject to the control of the microprocessor  11  is used to regulate the input and output sound. In general, it relates to the acoustic adjustment including elimination of noise and echo, frequency increase or decrease and etc.  
         [0017]    The speaker amplifying and control unit  15  under the control of the microprocessor  11  receives and amplifies voice signals from the voice processing unit  14  and control the speaker S to broadcast the processed sound.  
         [0018]    The microphone amplifying circuit  16  is used to amplify acoustic signals input from the microphone M for the use of rear end.  
         [0019]    The speaker S activated by the speaker amplifying and control unit  15  can be the speaker of a vehicular stereo system or an externally connected speaker or an earphone.  
         [0020]    The charging and power supply unit  18  subject to the control of the microprocessor  11  supplies the electrical power to the communication devices T 1 , T 2  and charges the batteries thereof.  
         [0021]    The dialing unit  17  can cooperated with a matrix of press buttons, a voice controlled input device to permit a user to make direct dialing operation by way of the present invention without use of the original pressing buttons on the communication devices T 1 , T 2 .  
         [0022]    Moreover, the I/O interfaces  121 , 122  are coupled to the hand free device  1  and the I/O terminals T 11 , T 12  (i.e. the signal terminals of cellular phones) of the communication devices T 1 , T 2  by way of a number of electrical circuits. Those electrical circuits include:  
         [0023]    The voice signal output line L 11  outputs at one end from the hand free device  1  and is coupled at the other end to the input terminal a of the I/O terminals T 11 , T 12  of the communication devices T 1 , T 2 ; and elements like an amplifier OP 1  and capacitors C 1 , C 2  (or resistors) and etc. are mounted in serial to this line.  
         [0024]    The voice signal input line L 12  inputs to the hand free device  1  at one end and is coupled to the output terminal B of the I/O terminals T 11 , T 12  of the communication device; and elements like an amplifier OP 2  and capacitors C 3 , C 4  (or resistors) and etc. are mounted in serial to this line.  
         [0025]    The charging line L 13  is coupled at one end to the hand free device  1 , and is connected at the other end to a charging terminal C of the I/O terminal of a communication device, and on the line is disposed a charging control circuit P which controls the activation of the charging Line  13  arid the output charging voltage.  
         [0026]    The charging control line L 14  for the transmission of an input signal of the charging control line L 14  to control the operation of a charging control circuit P which outputs different voltages according to the signals of the charging control line L 14  in match with the coupled communication devices T 1 , T 2 .  
         [0027]    The dialing control line L 15  for transmission of the control signals of the dialing unit to control the operator N 1  of the I/O interfaces  121 ,  122 .  
         [0028]    The common dialing signal line L 16  for transmission of dialing control signals has one end coupled to the dialing unit  17  and the other end connected to the operator N 1  of the I/O interfaces  121 ,  122 .  
         [0029]    The flag pole control line L 17  for transmission of flag pole signals to the multiplexers  131 ,  132  to advise if the I/O interfaces have been coupled to the communication devices T 1 , T 2 .  
         [0030]    The communication device working time pulse input line L 18  is used to transmit the working time pulse of the communication devices T 1 , T 2  so as to permit the hand free device  1  to operate in synchronism with the communication devices T 1 , T 2 . One end of the line L 18  is coupled to the communication devices T 1 , T 2  and the opposite end is connected to the operator N 1  of the I/O interfaces  121 ,  122 .  
         [0031]    The communication device analog signal input line L 19  is employed to transmit control signals between the communication devices T 1 , T 2  and the operator N 1  of the I/O interfaces  121 ,  122 .  
         [0032]    The operator N 1  is activated by the signals transmitted via the analog signal input line L 19  of the communication devices T 1 , T 2  and outputs control signal of if the I/O interfaces  121 ,  122  are in operation to the rear end of the hand free device  1  for use.  
         [0033]    By way of the assembly of the previously cited components, when a user is equipped with a single communication device T 1  with the present invention employed, the present invention is operated in the following manner:  
         [0034]    1. The user can operate the present invention as a hand free device by connecting the communication device to the hand free device  1  via the I/O interface  121 ; and after the connection is effected, the communication device T 1  inputs working time pulse via the communication device working time pulse input line L 18  of the I/O interface  121  from the signal output terminal of there so as to enable the present invention to operate in synchronism with the communication device T 1 . Besides, the operator N 1  is activated by a signal transmitted from the communication device analog signal input line L 19  and the operator N 1  outputs flagpole signals to the multiplexer control unit  13  and the microprocessor  11  so as to permit the microprocessor  11  and the multiplexer control unit  13  to detect the corresponding I/O interface  121  to be in connection to the communication device T 1 .  
         [0035]    2. The user can make use of the artificial interface  19  to set (or the present invention detects automatically) in such a manner that the artificial interface  19  activates the charging control circuit P. Then the charging and power supply unit  18  provides for the working and charging voltages to the communication device T 1  by way of the charging line L 13 .  
         [0036]    3. By way of the flagpole signals output from the operator  11 , the multiplexer control unit  13  and the microprocessor  11  can control the input and output of the multiplexer  131 . A user can transmit voice via the microphone M to the microphone amplifying circuit  16  and the voice processing unit  14  that process the transmitted sound. The voice is further distributed by the multiplexer  131  to a corresponding I/O interface  121 . Via the voice input line L 12  of the I/O interface  121 , the voice is further delivered to the communication device T 1  which transmits the voice to the person at the other end of communication. In contrast, the voice of the person at the other end delivered via the voice output line L 11  of the I/O interface  121 , the multiplexer  131  and voice processing unit  14 , speaker amplifying circuit  15  is broadcast by way of the speaker S. Thereby a user can speak with the other person on the line in the same manner as a hand free device.  
         [0037]    The proceeding example is basically applied to a single communication device. If a user has more than one communication devices to use, the multiplexer control unit  13  and the microprocessor  11  control the multiplxers  131 ,  132  and voice processing unit  12 . The multiplexers  131 ,  132  are assigned to the respective input output signals of the communication devices T 1 , T 2 . The control details of the multiplexers  131 ,  132  are given in FIG. 3. As the I/O interfaces  121 ,  122  are connected to the communication devices T 1 , T 2 , the interfaces  121 ,  122  will output flagpole control signals, i.e., 1 standing for connection to a communication device and 0 standing for non-connection to a communication device. The true value table for application to two interfaces  121 ,  122  that are used to control the inputs and outputs of the multiplexers is shown in FIG. 3.  
         [0038]    The input/output interfaces in the proceeding example are applied only to analog type communication devices T 1 , T 2 . In case the communication devices are using digital signals in another embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, the hand free device  2  is mainly comprised of a microprocessor  21 , more than one I/O interfaces  221 ,  222 , a multiplexer control unit  23  and more than one multiplexers  231 ,  232 , a voice processing unit  24 , a speaker amplifying and control unit  25 , a microphone amplifying circuit  26 , a dialing unit  27 , a charging and power supply unit  28  and an artificial interface  29  in addition to a speaker S and a microphone M. The above components are related to one another in the same manner as illustrated in the first embodiment as shown in FIG. 1, the only difference is that the I/O interfaces  221 ,  222  are replaced by a voice signal output line L 121 , a voice signal input line L 22 , a charging line L 23 , a charging control line L 24 , a dialing control line L 25 , a common dialing signal line L 26 , a flagpole control line L 27 , communication device signal input line L 29 , a programmable logic IC IC 29 , a shift temporary register BF, an AD converter Q, a shift control line L 28 .  
         [0039]    The voice signal output line L 21  is connected to the hand free device  2  at one end for input and is coupled to the output terminals of the I/O terminals T 31 , T 41  of the communication devices T 3 , T 4  at the other end, and on the line are serially connected to one another an amplifier OP 3 , capacitors C 23 , C 24  (or resistors) and etc.  
         [0040]    The voice signal input line L 22  is connected to the hand free device  2  at one end for output and is coupled to the input terminals of the I/O terminals T 31 , T 41  of the communication devices T 3 , T 4  at the other end, and on the line are serially connected to one another an amplifier OP 4 , capacitors C 22 , C 21  (or resistors) and etc.  
         [0041]    The charging line L 23  has one end coupled to the hand free device  2  and another end connected to the charging terminal D of the I/O terminals T 31 , T 41  of the communication devices T 3 , T 4 . On the charging line L 23  is disposed a charging control circuit P 2  which control the activation of the line and the output charging voltage thereof.  
         [0042]    The charging control line L 24  is used to transmit the input signal of the charging and power supply unit  28  to control the operation of the charging control circuit P 2 .  
         [0043]    The dialing control line L 25  transmits the control signals of the dialing unit  27  to control the operator N 2  of the I/O interfaces  221 ,  222 .  
         [0044]    The common dialing signal line L 26  serving to transmit the signals of the dialing unit  27  has one end coupled to the dialing unit  27  and the other end connected to the operator N 2  of the I/O interfaces  221 ,  222 .  
         [0045]    The flagpole control line L 27  is used to transmit flagpole signals to the multiplexer control unit  13  to advise the same if the I/O interfaces  221 ,  222  have been connected to the communication devices T 3 , T 4 .  
         [0046]    The communication device signal input line L 29  is used to transmit the control signals between the communication devices T 3 , T 4  and the operator N 2  of the I/O interfaces and the input and output message signals in communication. In addition on the line is disposed a programmable logic IC IC 29 .  
         [0047]    The operator N 2  is activated by the signals transmitted via the communication devices T 3 , T 4  signal input line L 29  to output a control signal to the rear end of the hand free device  2  to advise if the 10 interfaces  221 ,  222  are in operation or not.  
         [0048]    The programmable logic IC IC 29  is used to code the input and output data.  
         [0049]    The shift temporary register BF serves to permit the AD converter Q and the programmable IC IC 29  to temporarily store the corresponding code data therein.  
         [0050]    The AD converter Q is used to convert the input/output signals into another operation mode applicable to the rear end of the next components; for instance, to convert the digital signals into analog signals or analog signals into digital signals  
         [0051]    The shift control line L 28  permits the communication devices T 3 , T 4  to input control signals.  
         [0052]    By way of the I/O interfaces  221 ,  222  adopted in the second embodiment, it can be easily applied to digital type communication devices T 3 , T 4 , and all the structural components of the present invention are identical and are not described in details.  
         [0053]    Referring to FIG. 6, the hand free device  3  of the present invention is combined with a vehicle&#39;s stereo system CR in this example wherein the speaker S of the invention is coupled to an output multiplexer CR 1  of the stereo system CR; and the microprocessor  31  of the hand free device  3  outputs a control signal to the output multiplexer CR 1  of the vehicle&#39;s stereo system CR so that when the user is receiving an incoming call, the stereo system CR is set mute or temporarily turned off. Thereby the incoming signals are coded into signals accepted by the hand free device  3  by means of the I/O interfaces  321 ,  322 , and further processed by a voice processing unit  34  and a speaker control and amplifying circuit  35  and broadcast by the speaker S 1  of the stereo system CR. In a reverse manner, the user can use the microphone M 1  to input voice signals, serving as a hand free device.  
         [0054]    In summary, the present invention is simple in structure and easy in operation and is effective in the solution of a convention hand free device being applicable to a single purpose. It offers users a more convenient and practical hand free device to use.