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Remote control system for electrical apparatus
Patent 7027781 Issued on April 11, 2006 . Estimated Expiration Date: March 27, 2022. Abstract Claims Description Full Text
Patent References
Television remote control system for selectively controlling a plurality of external apparatus
Portable telephone handset with remote control
Radio telephone apparatus with microphone mounted in battery case
Remote-control telephone answering system and method
Apparatus for unfolding and activatinga portable telephone
Telephone handset with remote controller for transferring information to a wireless messaging device
Portable communications device with wireless transmitter and detachable earpiece including a wireless receiver
Speaker unit with boom microphone
Inventor
Ko, Siu Ling
Application No. 10108829 filed on 03/27/2002
US Classes: 455/92 , 455/128 , 455/575.1 , 348/552 , 455/420 , 455/572 , 379/74 , 455/575.3 , 379/433.02 , 379/420.02 , 455/556.1
Examiners Primary: Trost, William
Assistant: Doan, Kiet
Attorney, Agent or Firm
Darby & Darby
Foreign Patent References
34 16 830 DE 11/01/1985
199 18 356 DE 10/01/2000
0 913 979 EP 05/01/1999
WO-94/01963 WO 01/01/1994
International Classes H04B 1/02
H04B 1/00
Description
The present invention relates to a remote control system for controlling the operation of electrical apparatus such as a toy or an appliance.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A typical remote control system for controlling the operation of electrical apparatus has two parts. The first partis a receiver provided at the apparatusunder control, and the second part is a transmitter for generating and transmitting a control signal for receipt by the receiver to control the apparatus. The transmitter invariably includes keys, buttons and/or switches for operation, which increasethe production cost of the overall transmitter and their design cannot be changed.
The invention seeks to mitigate or at least alleviate such shortcomings by providing an improved remote controlsystem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided a remote control system for controlling the operation of electrical apparatus, comprising a receiver provided in use at said apparatus and a transmitter having a casing and adapted for use as an add-on module in conjunction with a telephone capable of dialling based on DTMF (Dual-Tone-Multi-Frequency). The transmitter comprises an input device for receiving a DTMF dialling signal from said telephone, and a transmittercircuit housed in the casing for subsequently processing the signal and then transmitting it as a remote control signal for receipt by the receiver. The receiver comprises a receiver circuit for receiving the remote control signal transmitted by the transmitter, and a control circuit for subsequently processing the control signal and then controlling theoperation of said apparatus accordingto the control signal.
It is preferred that the remote control system further comprises a decoder which is provided at one of the transmitter and receiver for decoding the relevant signal from an analogue DTMF format into a specific digital format compatible with the control circuit.
In a first preferred embodiment, the decoder forms a part of the transmitter and is connected betweenthe input device and the transmitter circuit for decoding the signal receivedby the input device into a corresponding control signal in digital format for subsequent processing andtransmission by the transmitter circuit.
In a second preferred embodiment, the decoder forms a part of the receiver and is connected between the receiver circuit and the control circuit for decoding the signal receivedby the receiver circuit into a corresponding control signal in digital format for