Patent ID: 7493085

Claim:
A remote control transmitter apparatus, comprising: a ROM configured to store a plurality of sets of control data for remotely controlling a plurality of types of electronic equipment; a nonvolatile memory having first and second storage areas; a set key configured to place the remote control transmitter apparatus into either a preset mode or a learning mode from a normal mode; a plurality of selection keys configured to select a specific type of electronic equipment to be remotely controlled; a learning key; a plurality of operation keys; transmitter; and a receiver configured to receive control data from another remote control transmitter apparatus, wherein with the preset mode in effect and with one of the plurality of selection keys operated, performing a predetermined key operation causes one of the plurality of sets of control data corresponding to the predetermined key operation to be copied into a storage region in the first storage area which corresponds to the operated selection key, with the learning mode in effect, operating one of the plurality of operation keys causes the control data received by the receiver to be stored into a storage region in the second storage area which corresponds to the operated operation key, one set of control data stored in the second storage area is compared with the plurality of sets of control data stored in the ROM, if the comparison reveals a mismatch between the one set of control data stored in the second storage area and the plurality of sets of control data stored in the ROM, the remote control transmitter apparatus is returned to the normal mode, if the comparison reveals a match between the one set of control data stored in the second storage area and one of the plurality of sets of control data stored in the ROM, the one set of control data stored in the second storage area is replaced by the matching set of control data stored in the ROM, the one set of control data stored in the second storage area is cleared from the second storage area and the remote control transmitter apparatus is returned to the normal mode, with the normal mode in effect, operating one of the plurality of operation keys causes the control data copied into the storage region in the first storage area and corresponding to the operated selection key and to the operated operation key to be retrieved, and the transmitter transmits the retrieved control data to the specific type of electronic equipment selected by the operated selection key.