Remote control system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for controlling operation of a video tape recorder and an associated television receiver, comprising:
- switch means selectively operable to connect a reproduced video signal from said video tape recorder to an input of said television receiver or to connect an external video signal to said input of said television receiver, said switch means including first and second switch means operably arranged in said video tape recorder and said associated television receiver, respectively;
control means responsive to received command signals for controlling said switch means to connect either said reproduced video signal or said external video signal to said input of said television receiver, said control means including first and second control means, operably arranged in said video tape recorder and said associated television receiver, respectively, for responding to a plurality of different command signals, operation of said first switch means being controlled by said first control means and operation of said second switch means being controlled by said second control means; and
remote control means remotely located from said video tape recorder and associated television receiver and producing said plurality of different command signals in response to which said control means causes said switch means to connect either a reproduced video signal or an external video signal to said input of said television receiver for visual display thereby.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A single, hand held remote control unit produces command signals used to control all operational aspects of a video tape recorder and an associated television receiver, and the video tape recorder and television receiver include switches that upon actuation can provide various interconnections so that all operating modes of the two units are possible. Actuation of the switches is performed by controllers, arranged at the particular units, and which receive the coded command signals from the remote control unit to set the switches in accordance with any of several keys that can be actuated on the remote control unit. In one aspect, depressing a single playback key at the remote control unit will produce coded signals received by the controllers to set the television receiver to an unused channel frequency and cause the video tape recorder to reproduce a prerecorded video tape, with the reproduced signal fed to the television receiver over that unused channel for display.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus for controlling operation of a video tape recorder and an associated television receiver, comprising:
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switch means selectively operable to connect a reproduced video signal from said video tape recorder to an input of said television receiver or to connect an external video signal to said input of said television receiver, said switch means including first and second switch means operably arranged in said video tape recorder and said associated television receiver, respectively; control means responsive to received command signals for controlling said switch means to connect either said reproduced video signal or said external video signal to said input of said television receiver, said control means including first and second control means, operably arranged in said video tape recorder and said associated television receiver, respectively, for responding to a plurality of different command signals, operation of said first switch means being controlled by said first control means and operation of said second switch means being controlled by said second control means; and remote control means remotely located from said video tape recorder and associated television receiver and producing said plurality of different command signals in response to which said control means causes said switch means to connect either a reproduced video signal or an external video signal to said input of said television receiver for visual display thereby. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus for remotely controlling operation of a video tape recorder and an associated television receiver to display on said television receiver reproduced signals from said tape recorder or to display on said television receiver video signals from an external source, comprising:
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selector switch means operable to connect the reproduced video signal from said video tape recorder to an input of said television receiver for display thereon or to connect the video signals from an external source to said input of said television receiver for display thereon, said selector switch means including first and second selector switches arranged in said video tape recorder and said associated television receiver, respectively; control means operably connected to said switch means and responsive to command signals for controlling said switch means to connect either said reproduced video signal or said video signal from an external source to said input of said television receiver for display thereon, said control means including first and second control means operably arranged in said video tape recorder and said associated television receiver, respectively, for controlling said first and second switch means, respectively, in response to corresponding coded command signals; and unitary hand-held remote control means located remotely from said video tape recorder and associated television receiver and having a plurality of keys which are manually operable for producing a plurality of respective coded command signals, said control means responding to said command signals to control said switch means to connect said reproduced video signal or said video signal from an external source to said input of said television receiver for visual display thereon. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification