Hands-free device

• US 20030069000A1
• Filed: 10/03/2002
• Published: 04/10/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kindo, Tsuyoshi, Tomoda, Masaaki, Kurosaki, Toshihiko
• Granted Patent: US 6,965,787 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/345
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3877 Arrangements for enabling portable transceivers to be used in a fixed position, e.g. cradles or boosters
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6041 Portable telephones adapted for handsfree use
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6075 adapted for handsfree use in a vehicle H04M1/6058 takes precedence; arrangements for holding telephones in a vehicle B60R11/0241
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface

Abstract

A hands-free device 1 comprises a cellular phone 90 of a driver, driver'"'"'s speakers 11e that output sounds to the driver, front speakers 11a and 11b and rear speakers 11c and 11d that output sounds widely in a car, a detection unit 13 that outputs a detection signal to indicate whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not, and control equipment 10 that communicate with the cellular phone 90, in the case that the control equipment 10 receives telephone communication voice signal indicating telephone conversation voice of other party of the telephone conversation from the cellular phone 90, based on the detection signal outputted from the detection unit 13, when the control equipment 10 judges that there is no fellow passenger, the control equipment has the telephone conversation voice outputted mainly from the front speakers 11a and 11b and the rear speakers 11c and 11d, and when the control equipment judges that there is a fellow passenger, the control equipment has the telephone conversation voice outputted mainly from the driver'"'"'s speakers 11e.

Claims

1. A hands-free device for a driver to make a hands-free telephone conversation using a cellular phone in a car comprising:

a first speaker to output sound to the driver;

a second speaker to output sound widely in the car;

a detection unit operable to output a detection signal indicating whether there is a fellow passenger or not; and

a control unit operable to communicate with the cellular phone, judge whether there is a fellow passenger or not based on the detection signal outputted from the detection unit, upon receiving a telephone conversation voice signal indicating the telephone conversation voice of the other party of the telephone conversation, have the telephone conversation voice outputted mainly from the second speaker when the control unit judges that there is no fellow passenger, and have the telephone conversation voice outputted mainly from the first speaker when the control unit judges that there is a fellow passenger.

2. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the control unit prohibits the telephone conversation voice from being outputted from the first speaker and outputs the telephone conversation voice from the second speaker when the control unit judges that there is no fellow passenger, and

prohibits the telephone conversation voice from being outputted from the second speaker and outputs the telephone conversation voice from the first speaker when the control unit judges that there is a fellow passenger.

3. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the control unit has the telephone conversation voice outputted from the first and second speakers in the condition that the sound volume of the second speaker is larger than the sound volume of the first speaker when the control unit judges that there is no fellow passenger, and

has the telephone conversation voice outputted from the first and second speakers in the condition that the sound volume of the first speaker is larger than the sound volume of the second speaker when the control unit judges that there is a fellow passenger.

4. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the first speaker has directional characteristic that aims output direction of sound at ears of a driver.

5. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the second speaker is a group of plural speakers that are installed at plural places in the car and do not have directional characteristic of output sound.

6. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the detection unit outputs the detection signal in response to sitting pressure of the fellow passenger.

7. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the detection unit outputs the detection signal by detecting presence of infrared radiation and in response to the detection result.

8. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the detection unit outputs the detection signal by acquiring voice in the car, judging whether the voice is driver'"'"'s voice or another person'"'"'s voice, and in response to the judgment result.

9. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the detection unit outputs the detection signal that there is a fellow passenger when the number of the cellular phones brought in the car is plural by detecting the cellular phones and judging whether the number of the cellular phones is one or plural.

10. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the control unit further has the audio sound outputted from the second speaker when an audio signal indicating the audio sound including at least one of music, radio sound, and TV sound is outputted in the car in the case that the telephone conversation voice signals are not received from the cellular phone.

11. The hands-free device according to claim 10′

, further comprising;

a third speaker that has the directional characteristic of output sound, and is installed on a seat in which the fellow passenger sits with the output direction of sound of the third speaker aimed at ears of the fellow passenger,

wherein the control unit has the audio sound outputted from the second and third speakers when the audio signal is outputted in the car in the case that the control unit does not receive the telephone conversation signal from the cellular phone.

12. The hands-free device according to claim 10 comprising the plural second speakers,

wherein the control unit prohibits the second speaker that is nearest to the driver'"'"'s seat among the plural second speakers from outputting the audio sound and outputs the audio sound from other second speaker when the audio signal is outputted in the car in the case that the control unit receives the telephone conversation voice signals.

13. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the control unit communicates with the cellular phone through a wireless communication medium.

14. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the first speaker has an output characteristic of sound that is almost flat at a frequency from 300 Hz to 3.4 kHz.

15. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the control unit has the second speaker output an incoming call sound that announces an incoming call when the control unit is informed of the incoming call from the cellular phone.

16. The hands-free device according to claim 1,

wherein the first speaker is a thin speaker that is equipped with a diaphragm made of a piezoelectric element and outputs sound by vibrating the diaphragm.

17. The hands-free device according to claim 1 further comprising:

a microphone for the fellow passenger that captures the fellow passenger'"'"'s voice and outputs a voice signal; and

a speaker for the fellow passenger that outputs sound only to the fellow passenger,

wherein the control unit further communicates with a fellow passenger'"'"'s cellular phone, transmits the voice signal to the fellow passenger'"'"'s cellular phone, and at the same time, have the fellow passenger'"'"'s speaker output telephone conversation voice of the other party of telephone conversation of the fellow passenger based on a signal received from the fellow passenger'"'"'s cellular phone.

18. A hands-free device for a driver to make a hands-free telephone conversation using a cellular phone in a car comprising:

a speaker that outputs sounds widely in a car;

a display unit operable to display a letter on a display surface aimed at the driver in response to an inputted signal;

a detection unit operable to output a detection signal indicating whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not; and

a control unit operable to communicate with the cellular phone, judge whether there is the fellow passenger or not based on the detection signal outputted from the detection unit, upon receiving telephone conversation voice signals indicating the telephone conversation voice of the other party of the telephone conversation, output the telephone conversation voice from the speaker when the control unit judges that there is no fellow passenger, and output the telephone conversation voice signals to the display unit, which displays the telephone conversation voice in letters when the control unit judges that there is the fellow passenger.

19. The hands-free device according to claim 18 further comprising,

a microphone that captures a voice of the driver and outputs a voice signal indicating the voice,

wherein the control unit transmits the voice signal to the cellular phone when the control unit receives the voice signal from the microphone and, at the same time, erases past letters indicating contents of telephone conversation voice of the other party of the telephone conversation displayed on the display unit.

20. The hands-free device according to claim 18,

wherein the detection unit outputs the detection signal in response to the sitting pressure of the fellow passenger.

21. The hands-free device according to claim 18,

wherein the control unit communicates with the cellular phone through a wireless communication medium.

22. A method for outputting telephone conversation contents in a hands-free system for a driver to make a hands-free telephone conversation using a cellular phone in a car,

wherein the hands-free system comprises:

a cellular phone of a driver of a car;

a first speaker to output sound to the driver;

a second speaker to output sounds widely in the car;

a detection unit operable to output a detection signal indicating whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not; and

a control unit operable to communicate with the cellular phone and to control the first and second speakers based on the detection signal outputted from the detection unit, and

the method is executed in the control unit and includes;

a reception step for receiving a telephone conversation voice signal indicating telephone conversation voice from other party of the telephone conversation;

a detection signal acquisition step for acquiring the detection signal;

a judgment step for judging whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not based on the detection signal acquired by the detection signal acquisition step;

a first voice output step for outputting the telephone conversation voice mainly from the second speaker when it is judged in the judgment step that there is no fellow passenger; and

a second voice output step for outputting the telephone conversation voice mainly from the first speaker when it is judged in the judgment step that there is the fellow passenger.

23. The output method of the telephone conversation contents according to claim 22,

wherein in the first voice step, the telephone conversation voice is prohibited from being outputted from the first speaker and is outputted from the second speaker, and

in the second voice output step, the telephone conversation voice is prohibited from being outputted from the second speaker and is outputted from the first speaker.

24. The output method of the telephone conversation contents according to claim 22,

wherein in the first voice output step, the telephone conversation voice from the first and second speakers is outputted in the condition that the sound volume of the second speaker is larger than the sound volume of the first speaker and

in the second voice output step, the telephone conversation voice from the first and second speakers is outputted in the condition that the sound volume of the first speaker is larger than the sound volume of the second speaker.

25. The output method of telephone conversation contents according to claim 22,

wherein the control unit further includes:

an audio signal detection step for detecting that an audio signal indicating the audio sound including at least one of music, radio sound, and TV sound is outputted in the car in the case that telephone conversation voice signal are not received from the cellular phone, and

a first audio sound output step for outputting the audio sound from the second speaker based on the audio signal.

26. The output method of the telephone conversation contents according to claim 25,

wherein the hands-free system comprises the plural second speakers, and

the control unit further includes,

a second audio sound output step for prohibiting the second speaker that is nearest to the driver'"'"'s seat among the plural second speakers from outputting the audio sound and outputting audio sound from the other second speaker when the control unit detects that the audio signal is outputted at the reception step.

27. A method for outputting telephone conversation contents in a hands-free system for a driver to make a hands-free telephone conversation in a car using a cellular phone,

wherein the hands-free system comprises:

a cellular phone of driver;

a speaker to output sound widely in the car;

a display unit operable to display letters in response to inputted signals on a display surface aimed at a driver,

a detection unit operable to output a detection signal indicating whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not; and

a control unit operable to communicate with the cellular phone and control the speaker and the display unit based on the detection signal outputted from the detection unit, and

the method is executed in the control unit and includes;

a reception step for receiving telephone conversation voice signal indicating telephone conversation voice from other party of the telephone conversation;

a reception step for receiving a telephone conversation voice signal indicating telephone conversation voice from other party of the telephone conversation;

a detection signal acquisition step for acquiring the detection signal;

a judgment step for judging whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not based on the detection signal acquired by the detection signal acquisition step;

a voice output step for outputting the telephone conversation voice from the speaker when it is judged in the judgment step that there is no fellow passenger; and

a letter output step for outputting the telephone conversation voice to the display unit and having the display unit display the contents of the telephone conversation in letters when it is judged in the judgment step that there is the fellow passenger.

28. The output method of the telephone conversation contents according to claim 27,

wherein the hands-free system further comprises,

a microphone that captures a voice of the driver and outputs a voice signal indicating the voice, and

the control unit further includes:

a voice signal reception step for receiving the voice signal from the microphone;

a voice signal transmission step for transmitting the voice signal received by the voice signal reception step to the cellular phone;

an erasure step for erasing past letters indicating contents of telephone conversation voice of the other party of the telephone conversation displayed on the display unit.

29. A program in a hands-free system for a driver to make a hands-free telephone conversation in a car using a cellular phone,

wherein the hands-free system comprises:

a cellular phone of a driver of a car;

a first speaker to output sound to the driver;

a second speaker to output sounds widely in the car;

a detection unit operable to output a detection signal indicating whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not; and

a control unit operable to communicate with the cellular phone and to control the first and second speakers based on the detection signal outputted from the detection unit,

the program is executed in the control unit and includes;

a reception step for receiving a telephone conversation voice signal indicating telephone conversation voice from other party of the telephone conversation;

a detection signal acquisition step for acquiring the detection signal;

a judgment step for judging whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not based on the detection signal acquired by the detection signal acquisition step;

a first voice output step for outputting the telephone conversation voice mainly from the second speaker when it is judged in the judgment step that there is no fellow passenger; and

a second voice output step for outputting the telephone conversation voice mainly from the first speaker when it is judged in the judgment step that there is the fellow passenger.

30. The program according to claim 29,

wherein in the first voice output step, the telephone conversation voice is prohibited from being outputted from the first speaker and is outputted from the second speaker, and

in the second voice output step, the telephone conversation voice is prohibited from being outputted from the second speaker and is outputted from the first speaker.

31. The program according to claim 29,

wherein in the first voice output step, the telephone conversation voice from the first and second speakers is outputted in the condition that the sound volume of the second speaker is larger than the sound volume of the first speaker and

in the second voice output step, the telephone conversation voice from the first and second speakers is outputted in the condition that the sound volume of the first speaker is larger than the sound volume of the second speaker.

32. The program according to claim 29,

wherein the control unit further includes:

an audio signal detection step for detecting that an audio signal indicating the audio sound including at least one of music, radio sound, and TV sound is outputted in the car in the case that telephone conversation voice signal are not received from the cellular phone, and

a first audio sound output step for outputting the audio sound from the second speaker based on the audio signal.

33. The program according to claim 32,

wherein the hands-free system comprises the plural second speakers, and

the control unit further includes,

a second audio sound output step for prohibiting the second speaker that is nearest to the driver'"'"'s seat among the plural second speakers from outputting audio sound and outputting audio sound from the other second speaker when the control unit detects that the audio signal is outputted at the reception step.

34. A program in a hands-free system for a driver to make a hands-free telephone conversation in a car using a cellular phone,

wherein the hands-free system comprises:

a cellular phone of driver;

a speaker to output sound widely in the car;

a display unit operable to display letters in response to inputted signals on a display surface aimed at a driver,

a detection unit operable to output a detection signal indicating whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not; and

a control unit operable to communicate with the cellular phone and control the speaker and the display unit based on the detection signal outputted from the detection unit, and

the method is executed in the control unit and includes;

a reception step for receiving telephone conversation voice signal indicating telephone conversation voice from other party of the telephone conversation;

a reception step for receiving a telephone conversation voice signal indicating telephone conversation voice from other party of the telephone conversation;

a detection signal acquisition step for acquiring the detection signal;

a judgment step for judging whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not based on the detection signal acquired by the detection signal acquisition step;

a voice output step for outputting the telephone conversation voice from the speaker when it is judged in the judgment step that there is no fellow passenger; and

a letter output step for outputting the telephone conversation voice to the display unit and having the display unit display the contents of the telephone conversation in letters when it is judged in the judgment step that there is the fellow passenger.

35. The program according to claim 34,

wherein the hands-free system further comprises,

wherein the hands-free system further comprises,

a microphone that captures a voice of the driver and outputs a voice signal indicating the voice, and

the control unit further includes:

a voice signal reception step for receiving the voice signal from the microphone;

a voice signal transmission step for transmitting the voice signal received by the voice signal reception step to the cellular phone;

an erasure step for erasing past letters indicating contents of telephone conversation voice of the other party of the telephone conversation displayed on the display unit.