WO2004034730A1

WO2004034730A1 - Remote controller

Info

Publication number: WO2004034730A1
Application number: PCT/KR2002/001904
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young-Geun Choi
Original assignee: Domotion Ltd.
Priority date: 2002-10-11
Filing date: 2002-10-11
Publication date: 2004-04-22
Also published as: AU2002349553A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a remote controller with a self-power supply unit that produces power for the remote controller and that produces power only during the operation of the remoter controller. The remote controller includes a panel having a plurality of push buttons; a controller unit for remotely controlling a nearby electrical appliance; at least one piezoelectric elements positioned inside of at least one push button among the plurality of push buttons; a striking means which moves along at least one push button, for producing a high voltage pulse having short discharge duration by hitting at least one piezoelectric element when at least one push button is pressed; and a voltage conversion circuit electrically connected to at least one piezoelectric element, for converting the high voltage pulse having short discharge duration into a low voltage pulse having a long discharge duration suitable for driving the controller unit.

Description

REMOTE CONTROLLER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a remote controller, and more particularly to a remoter controller with a self-power supply unit so that an external power such as batteries does not needed.

BACKGROUNDS OF THE INVENTION

Generally, a remote controller used for consulting user's convenience, is a device for controlling various electrical appliances such as a television set, a video recorder, an air conditioner, a camera or a lighting apparatus which are located within a stone's throw by wireless-transmitting infrared rays to a receiver that is mounted within the electrical appliances.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, an example of a conventional remote controller having batteries as a power supply unit is explained.

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional remote controller and Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the push buttons of the remote controller in Fig.1.

The remoter controller includes a housing part composed of an upper housing member 12 and a lower housing member 40. Inside of the housing part there are provided a body panel 26 having a plurality of push buttons 25 and a printed circuit board (PCB) 36 under the body panel 26. On the PCB 36, there are integrated a micro-controller unit (MCU) 42 and some light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The MCU 42 produces a command code corresponding to data representative of a position of each push button 25 according to operation of the push buttons 25, and the LED transmits infrared rays (IR) to an electrical appliance. The lower housing member 40 includes a compartment 45 for receiving the batteries, which is a power supply.

In detail, the upper housing member 12 is constructed by a base panel 14 and side parts 16 positioned at both sides of the base panel 12. Recesses 20 are formed both at one end of one of the side parts 16 of the upper housing member 12 and at one end of the lower housing member 40 so that IR from the LED mounted on the PCB 36 is transmitted through the infrared-transparent lens 21 covering the combined recesses 20 that are positioned in front of the body panel 26 and the LED.

The base panel 14 has a plurality of openings 18 therethrough for receiving the plurality of push buttons 25 prepared on the body panel 26. Switches 38 for delivering the operation information (pressure) of the push buttons 25 to the MCU 42 are mounted on the front side of the PCB 36 and the

MCU 42 is integrated on the backside 43 of the PCB 36.

As shown in Fig. 2, each push button 25 has a recessed area 48 and 49 in which a plunger 50 is formed. If the push button 25 is pressed, the plunger 50 moves down together with the push button 25 in the recessed area 48 and 49 so that the plunger 50 contacts the switch 38 formed on the front side 41 of the PCB 36. As a result, data showing position of the pressed push button 25 is transmitted to the PCB 36. In operation, when the batteries are inserted in the compartment 45, an operation power is supplied to the MCU 42 through a power supply terminal (not shown) that is formed in the backside of the PCB 36. Next, if a given push button 25 is pressed, data representing a position of the pressed push button is inputted through the switch 38 corresponding to the pressed push button to the MCU 42 on the PCB 36 and the inputted data is processed therein, thereby producing a code containing command signal corresponding to the pressed push button. The code is transmitted through the LED to the infrared receiver provided in the electrical appliances, thereby remotely controlling the electrical appliances.

When using the batteries so as to operate the remote controller, the battery charge decays with use and batteries must be replaced or rechargeable regularly. This is costly and inconvenient. Also, an environmental impact resulted from the discarded batteries is serious. Further, the batteries are always mounted in the remote controller. Thus, power of the battery is continuously being used up even when the remote controller is not operated, i.e., a standby state. Accordingly, the batteries that are inserted in the seasonal electrical appliances such as the air conditioner, the electric fan and the warm air circulators whose frequency of use is low, is naturally exhausted by a lapse under the standby state, in addition to a dissipation owing to the standard operation of the remote controller. Also, if several months lapse under the standby state of the remote controller, the highly toxic alkali solution is leaked from the batteries, so a part of the batteries which comes into contact with an external power supply terminal may be corroded. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a remote controller with a self-power supply unit that produces power required for an operation of the remote controller.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a remote controller with a power supply unit that produces power only during the operation of the remote controller.

The remote controller in accordance with the present invention comprises: a panel having a plurality of push buttons; a controller unit for producing a signal for remotely controlling a nearby electrical appliance according to an operation of a plurality of push buttons; at least one piezoelectric element positioned inside of at least one push button among the plurality of push buttons; a striking means which moves along at least one push button, for producing a high voltage pulse having short discharge duration by hitting at least one piezoelectric element when at least one push button is pressed and jumping into its original position when pressure applied on at least one push button is removed; and a voltage conversion means electrically connected to at least one piezoelectric element, for receiving the high voltage pulse generated from at least one piezoelectric element and then converting the high voltage pulse having short discharge duration into a low voltage pulse having a long discharge duration suitable for driving said controller unit.

In detail, at least one push button and said at least one piezoelectric element are respectively one in number and further comprising a signal extracting circuit button in electrically associated with the other push buttons excepting for at least one push button among the plurality of push buttons, for producing a data representing position of the pressed push and then for transmitting data to the controller unit. In another example, number of at least one push button and the at least one piezoelectric element corresponds to number of the plurality of push buttons by the ratio of 1 :1 and further comprising a signal extracting circuit for producing a data representing position of the pressed push and then for transmitting data to the controller unit.

And, the striking means comprises a hammer spring fixed on the inner side wall of at least one push button, a hammer attached on a surface of the hammer spring confronting at least one piezoelectric element and a supporting spring which moves along at least one push button, for supporting at least one push button when at least one push button is not pressed. In addition, the striking means further comprises a trigger that is fixed on at least one piezoelectric element so as to fix position of at least one piezoelectric element and has a projection part for storing a compressed force of at least one push button so as to effectively strike at least one piezoelectric element. More preferably, the controller unit, at least one piezoelectric element, the signal extracting circuit and the voltage conversion circuit are all integrated in a printed circuit board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a remote controller according to a conventional art;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the push buttons of the remote controller in Fig.1 ;

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a remote controller in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary circuit of the self-power supply unit of the remote controller in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the trigger button that strikes a blow against a piezoelectric element of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a remote controller in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A remote controller in accordance with the present invention will be explained with reference to the attached drawings.

Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of the remote controller in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary circuit of the self-power supply unit of the remote controller in Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the trigger button that strikes a blow against a piezoelectric element of Fig. 4. In the following description, same numerals are used for the same elements even in different drawings.

The remote controller according to one embodiment of the present invention, like the conventional remote controller in Fig. 1 , has a housing part including a upper housing member 12 and a lower housing member 40, a body panel 26 mounted inside of the housing part and having a plurality of push buttons 25 and a PCB 36 located under the body panel 26. Unlike the remote controller of Fig. 1 , the compartment 45 for receiving the batteries is not provided in the lower housing member 40 and the switches 38 confronting the push buttons 25 is not mounted on the front side of the PCB 36. And, in the present remote controller, a piezoelectric element 102 for producing power required for operation of the remote controller is mounted on the front side of the PCB 36. Further, a voltage conversion circuit 106 and a signal extracting circuit 104 are mounted on the back side of the PCB 36 wherein the voltage conversion circuit 106 is for obtaining the power for the operation of the MCU 42 from the voltage produced by the piezoelectric element 102 and the signal extracting circuit 104 generates data representing position of the pressed push buttons.

Here, the detail construction of the remote controller is not limited by that of Fig. 1 and various modified construction can be adopted so far as the compartment for receiving the batteries is not formed within the housing part and the piezoelectric element and the voltage conversion circuit are mounted inside of the housing part in which a plurality of push buttons are provided.

Firstly, referring to Figs 3 and 4, circuits mounted on the PCB will be explained. On the front side of the PCB there is mounted the piezoelectric element 102 shown in Fig. 5 and on the back side 43 of the PCB 36 there are mounted the voltage conversion circuit 106, the signal extracting circuit 104, the MCU 108 and IR driver 110. The voltage conversion circuit 106 is electrically connected to the piezoelectric element 102 so that a relatively high voltage of several hundreds having a discharge duration of several ms, which is generated from the piezoelectric element 102, is converted into a relatively low voltage suitable for driving the MCU 108, for example about 3 V having a relatively long discharge duration of 0.5 seconds and more, thereby supplying the low voltage to the MCU 108. The push button 25, the piezoelectric element 102 and the voltage conversion circuit 106 together generate the power needed for operating the remote controller. The number of the piezoelectric element 102 and the signal extracting circuit 104, as shown in Fig. 3, is matched to the number of the push buttons 25. So, in the embodiment, there are formed a plurality of button units (BU1 , BU2, , Bun) each of which is consisted of the push button 25 , the piezoelectric element 102 and the signal extracting circuit 104.

Example of the piezoelectric element 102 includes ceramics with piezo-electricity such as PZT. Typically, pulse generated from the commercially available PZT has about several hundreds of voltages with charging duration of several ms so that it cannot operate any electrical components. Therefore, in the present invention, pulse generated from the piezoelectric element is charged and discharged through condensers Ca and Cb of the voltage conversion circuit 106 so as to obtain pulse suitable for driving the MCU 108. Thus, the piezoelectric element 102 used in the present invention is not commercially available PZT. The piezoelectric element 12 of the present invention is fabricated by modifying the ratio of PbTiO3 and PbZrO3 and thickness thereof which are component of the commercial PZT, so as to produce pulse having discharging duration of 10ms and more under the 100V. The modification of the ratio and thickness of the PZT components in order to modify the electrical features thereof is well known to those skilled in the art pertinent to the manufacturing the PZT.

Thus, cooperation of the voltage conversion circuit 106 and the modified piezoelectric element 102 produces pulse having a relatively long charging duration than that in case of using only the commercial PZT so that the MCU 108 is more safely operated.

The signal extracting circuit 104 is connected in parallel with the piezoelectric elements 102. As one example, the signal extracting circuit 104 includes a plurality of condensers C1 ;C2;„,,; Cn for charging and discharging and a plurality of resistors R10, R11 ;R20, R21 ; ....; RnO, Rn1 , as shown in Fig. 4. In detail, serially connected resistors R10 and R11 are connected between one end of the piezoelectric element 102 and the other end thereof which is a ground terminal and the condenser C1 is parallel connected to the resistor R11 at a node na between the resistors R10 and R11 wherein the other end of the condenser C1 , the other end of the resistor RT1 and the other end of the piezoelectric element 102 are grounded.

The voltage conversion circuit 106 is parallel connected through the nodes r»1 ; n2;....;nn and the node nb to a plurality of piezoelectric elements

102. The voltage conversion circuit 106, for example, is composed of the resistor Ra, the condensers Ca and Cb parallel connected, the diode D1 , D2,

D3, D4 or Dn for obtaining direct current/voltage and a zener diode Z for obtaining a constant voltage. An anode of the diode D1 is connected to the piezoelectric element, a cathode of the diode D1 is connected to the condenser Ca, the resistor Ra is connected to the node nc between the diode D1 and the condenser Ca and to a cathode of the zener diode Z, and the condenser Cb is parallel connected to the zener diode Z at the nodes nd and ne. And the other ends of the condensers Ca and Cb and the other end of the zener diode Z are all grounded.

The detailed construction of the signal extracting circuit 104 and the voltage conversion circuit 106 is not limited by the construction in Fig. 4. A circuit configuration capable of producing data by which information representing the press of a certain push button is transmitted to the MCU 108 can be adopted as the signal extracting circuit 104, and a circuit configuration capable of converting pulse of high voltage generated from the piezoelectric element 102 into pulse of low voltage suitable for the operation of the MCU 108 can be adopted as the voltage conversion circuit 106.

The circuit configurations of the MCU 108 and the IR driver 110 are well known, so the detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Referring to Fig. 5, structure and operation of a trigger button for achieving the electrical energy from the piezoelectric element will be explained. Between the PCB 36 and the inner side of the push button 25 that is provided in the body panel 26 (not shown in Fig. 5) and inserted in the opening 18 in the base panel 14 of the upper housing member 12, there are provided a hammer spring 121 , a supporting spring 124 and a trigger 123. The push button having the hammer spring 121 , the supporting spring 124 and the trigger 123 therein is referred to as a trigger button hereinafter. The hammer spring 121 of the trigger button 25 may be made of any elastic material and has a hammer 122 attached on the surface of the hammer spring 121 confronting the piezoelectric element 102. The supporting spring 124 of the trigger button 25 may be also made of any elastic material. The supporting spring 124 supports the trigger button 25 and makes the hammer 122 not contacted with the piezoelectric element 102 in case where the trigger button 25 is not pressed. The trigger 123 fixes the piezoelectric electrical element 102 mounted on the front side of the PCB 36, and has a projection part 123a on which the hammer spring 121 is laid when the trigger button 25 is little pressed so that a downward force of the trigger button 25 is stored at the projection part 123a. When the trigger button 25 is more pressed, the trigger button 25 passes the projection part 123a so that the hammer 122 of the hammer spring 121 can effectively hit the piezoelectric element 102. In Fig. 5, the hammer spring 121 is fixed on the inner side wall of the trigger button 25. However, since the supporting spring 124 supports the trigger button 25, the hammer for hitting the piezoelectric element may be mounted on the upper inside wall 25c of the trigger button 25 without the hammer spring 121. In this case, the modified trigger may be used or no trigger may be used.

In operation, the trigger button 25 is pressed for remotely controlling, the hammer spring 121 on the inner side wall 25a of the trigger button 25 falls down and the supporting spring 124 which supports the surface 25b of the trigger button 25 is also compressed. With the press of the trigger button 25, the trigger button 25 passes the projection part 123a of the trigger 123 to hit the piezoelectric element 102. Strike on the piezoelectric element 102 generates charges corresponding strike pressure and the charges is transmitted to the circuits 104 and 106 of Fig. 4 through wirings (not shown) in the PCB 36. And, the transmitted signal is charged in the condenser C1 of the signal extracting circuit 104 and also charged on the condensers Ca and Cb of the voltage conversion circuit 106. Thereafter the pressure applied on the trigger button 25 is removed, so the trigger button 25 jumps into original position thereof by the restoring force of the supporting spring 124 and, the hammer 122 is separated from the piezoelectric element 102 and thus the discharge is occurred at the condensers C1 , Ca and Cb. The diode D1 of the voltage conversion circuit 106 blocks a counter current of the discharge toward the piezoelectric element 102. Thus, the voltage from the discharge of the voltage conversion circuit 106 is used as a main power for driving the MCU 108. The voltage from the discharge of the signal extracting circuit 104 is used as a data (power) for indicating a position of the pressed trigger button 25. The discharge time of the voltage conversion circuit 106 must be more than 0.5 seconds so as to drive the MCU 108, which is accomplished by properly selecting values of the resistor Ra and the condensers Ca and Cb composing the voltage conversion circuit 106.

The output of the signal extracting circuit 104 is transmitted to the MCU 108 that is driven by the power provided from the voltage conversion circuit 106. The MCU 108 produces a code representing a position of the pressed trigger button. And the IR driver 110 amplifies the code to drive the LED of the IR lamp so that the IR is transmitted to the receiver installed in the nearby electrical appliances. The spirit of the present invention is not limited to a remote controller in which the trigger button 25 and the piezoelectric element 102 are arranged by the ratio of 1 :1 and but applied to various modifications. For example, the piezoelectric element 102 of the present invention may be designated to several trigger buttons among the plurality of push buttons, specially only one trigger button and piezoelectric element 102 is connected to the voltage conversion circuit 108 to drive the MCU and to produce power, which is illustrated in Fig. 6. In this case, the other push buttons may have the conventional configuration shown in Fig. 2 and data representing the position of the pressed push button is transmitted to the MCU 108 via the push buttons 25, the switches 38 and the signal extracting circuit 106.

As described above, in the remote controller of the present invention, the piezoelectric element is located at lower part of the push buttons 25 which is used for supplying power only or for supplying power and signal extraction, elements for hitting the piezoelectric element 102 is arranged in the inside of the push button 25 and the voltage conversion circuit 106 for converting a high voltage pulse from the piezoelectric element 102 into a low voltage pulse suitable for operating the remote controller is built therein. Accordingly, power required for the operation of the remote controller is in itself supplied through the push buttons, the piezoelectric element and the voltage conversion circuit that are established therein. And the power supply is performed only when the trigger button is pressed so that waste of power during the non-use of the remote controller can be prevented. In addition, an operator or user becomes free from a change of batteries and a corrosion of the batteries, so resource waste and environmental pollution resulted from discarded batteries can be prevented.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A remote controller comprising: a panel having a plurality of push buttons; a controller unit for producing a signal for remotely controlling a nearby electrical appliance according to an operation of a plurality of push buttons; at least one piezoelectric element positioned inside of at least one push button among the plurality of push buttons; a striking means which moves along said at least one push button, for producing a high voltage pulse having short discharge duration by hitting said at least one piezoelectric element when said at least one push button is pressed and jumping into its original position when pressure applied on said at least one push button is removed; and a voltage conversion means electrically connected to said at least one piezoelectric element, for receiving the high voltage pulse generated from said at least one piezoelectric element and then converting the high voltage pulse having short discharge duration into a low voltage pulse having a long discharge duration suitable for driving said controller unit.

2. The remote controller of claim 1 , wherein said at least one push button and said at least one piezoelectric element are respectively one and further comprising a signal extracting circuit in electrically associated with the other push buttons excepting for said at least one push button among said plurality of push buttons, for producing a data representing position of the pressed push button and then for transmitting said data to the controller unit.

3. The remote controller of claim 1 , wherein number of said at least one push button and said at least one piezoelectric element corresponds to number of said plurality of push buttons by the ratio of 1 ;1 and further comprising a signal extracting circuit in electrically associated with the other push buttons excepting for said at least one push button among said plurality of push buttons, for producing a data representing position of the pressed push button and then for transmitting said data to the controller unit.

4. The remote controller of one from claim 1 through claim 3, wherein said striking means comprises a hammer spring fixed on the inner side wall of said at least one push button, a hammer attached on a surface of said hammer spring confronting said at least one piezoelectric element and a supporting spring which moves along said at least one push button and for supporting said at least one push button when said at least one push button is not pressed.

5. The remote controller of claim 4, wherein said striking means further comprises a trigger which is fixed on said at least one piezoelectric element so as to fix position of said at least one piezoelectric element and has a projection part for storing a compressed force of said at least one push button so as to effectively strike said at least one piezoelectric element.

6. The remote controller of claim 2, wherein said controller unit, said at least one piezoelectric element, said signal extracting circuit and said voltage conversion circuit are all integrated in a printed circuit board.

7. The remote controller of claim 3, wherein said voltage conversion circuit and said signal extracting circuit are connected in parallel with said at least one piezoelectric element, and wherein said signal extracting circuit comprises a first resistor and a second resistor serially connected between one end of said at least one piezoelectric element and the other end thereof and a first condenser parallel connected to said second resistor at a node between said first resistor and said second resistor, and said voltage conversion circuit comprises a diode having an anode connected to one end of said at least one piezoelectric element, a second condenser connected between to a cathode of said diode and the other end of said at least one piezoelectric element, a third resistor serially connected to the diode, a zener diode parallel connected to said second condenser and a third condenser parallel connected to said zener diode and said second condenser.