Telephone communication device

• US 8,170,628 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2009
• Issued: 05/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Wakizaka, Masaaki, Akagi, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Rego, Dominic E
• Application Number:
  US12/646,900
• Publication Number:
  US 20100167800A1
• Time in Patent Office: 860 Days
• Field of Search: 455347-350, 455/550.1, 455/575.1, 455/67.7, 455/156.1, 379/31, 379/80, 379/85, 379/100.16, 379/282
• US Class Current: 455/575.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/605 involving control of the receiver volume to provide a dual operational mode at close or far distance from the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72502 with one base station connected to a single line
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10

Abstract

A telephone communication device having a sound generating portion, a sound receiving portion, a detecting portion for detecting a state of approach or contact of a region of a housing between sound output and input apertures of the sound generating and receiving portion, to or with the face of the user, a reference-state memory for storing a reference approach-contact state of the region detected in a standard position of the housing relative of the user'"'"'s face, a state-change obtaining portion for obtaining a change of the state of approach or contact, with respect to the reference approach-contact state, an adjustment-amount determining portion for determining amounts of adjustment of the sound output level and sound input level according to the obtained change, and a control portion for adjusting the sound output level and sound input level according to the determined amounts of adjustment.

Claims

1. A telephone communication device for telephone communication of a user thereof with the other party, comprising:

a housing;

a sound generating portion having a sound output aperture provided at the housing and configured to generate a voice received from the other party such that the voice is emitted from the sound output aperture with an adjustable sound output level;

a sound receiving portion having a sound input aperture provided at the housing and configured to receive through the sound input aperture a voice to be transmitted to the other party, such that the voice is received with an adjustable sound input level;

a detecting portion configured to detect a state of approach or contact of a region of the housing between said sound output aperture and said sound input aperture, to or with a face of the user, during the telephone communication of the user with the other party;

a reference-state memory, portion for storing a reference approach-contact state, which is the state of approach or contact of said region detected in a reference state of said approach or contact of the region of the housing, said reference state being one of the states of approach or contact of the region detected by said detecting portion;

a state-change obtaining portion configured to obtain a change of the state of approach or contact of said region detected by the detecting portion, with respect to said reference approach-contact state stored in the reference-state memory portion;

an adjustment-amount determining portion configured to determine an amount of adjustment of the sound output level of the sound generating portion and an amount of adjustment of the sound input level of the sound receiving portion, according to the change of said state obtained by the state-change obtaining portion; and

a control portion configured to command the adjustment-amount determining portion, when the change of said state is obtained by the state-change obtaining portion, to determine the amount of adjustment of the sound output level of the sound generating portion and the amount of adjustment of the sound input level of the sound receiving portion, said control portion adjusting said sound output level and said sound input level according to the determined amounts of adjustment.

2. The telephone communication device according to claim 1, wherein the state-change obtaining portion obtains, as said change of the state of approach or contact, a change of said region the approach or contact of which to or with the face of the user is detected by the detecting portion,

and wherein the adjustment-amount determining portion determines the amounts of adjustment of the sound output level and the sound input level, according to at least one of the following rules 1-8;

rule 1;

lowering the sound input level and raising the sound output level when the region detected by the detecting portion is moved toward the sound input aperture while a surface area of the region remains substantially constant;

rule 2;

raising the sound input level and lowering the sound output level when the region detected by the detecting portion is moved toward the sound output aperture while the surface area of the region remains substantially constant;

rule 3;

lowering the sound input level when the surface area of the region detected by the detecting portion is increased while an end of the region on the side of the sound input aperture is moved toward the sound input aperture;

rule 4;

lowering the sound output level when the surface area of the region detected by the detecting portion is increased while an end of the region on the side of the sound output aperture is moved toward the sound output aperture;

rule 5;

lowering the sound input level and raising the sound output level when the surface area of the region detected by the detecting portion is increased while the end of the region on the side of the sound input aperture is moved toward the sound input aperture and the end of the region on the side of the sound output aperture is moved away from the sound output aperture;

rule 6;

raising the sound input level and lowering the sound output level when aperture the surface area of the region detected by the detecting portion is increased while the end of the region on the side of the sound output aperture is moved toward the sound output aperture and the end of the region on the side of the sound input aperture is moved away from the sound input;

rule 7;

lowering the sound input level and raising the sound output level when the surface area of the region detected by the detecting portion is reduced while the end of the region on the side of the sound input aperture is moved toward the sound input aperture; and

rule 8;

raising the sound input level and lowering the sound output level when the surface area of the region detected by the detecting portion is reduced while the end of the region on the side of the sound output aperture is moved toward sound output aperture.

3. The telephone communication device according to claim 2, wherein the amount of adjustment of lowering the sound input level according to said rule 5 is larger than the amount of adjustment of lowering the sound input level according to said rule 1.

4. The telephone communication device according to claim 2, wherein the amount of adjustment of raising the sound output level according to said rule 7 is larger than the amount of adjustment of raising the sound output level according to said rule 1.

5. The telephone communication device according to claim 2, wherein the amount of adjustment of lowering the sound output level according to said rule 6 is larger than the amount of adjustment of lowering the sound output level according to said rule 2.

6. The telephone communication device according to claim 2, wherein the amount of adjustment of raising the sound input level according to said rule 8 is larger than the amount of adjustment of raising the sound input level according to said rule 2.

7. The telephone communication device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a different-modes memory portion which stores different modes of said change of the state of approach or contact of said region with respect to said reference approach-contact state, and at least one of the amounts of adjustment of the sound input level and the sound output level which respectively correspond to said different modes of said change; and

a specifying portion configured to specify one of said different modes of said change of the state of approach or contact of the region stored in the sound-level-control-table memory portion, which one mode of change is identical with or similar to the change of the state of approach or contact of the region detected by said state-changing obtaining portion,

and wherein the adjustment-amount determining portion selects the at least one of the amounts of adjustment of the sound output level and the sound input level which corresponds to the mode of change specified by the specifying portion.

8. The telephone communication device according to claim 1, which has a normal telephone mode in which the telephone communication is implemented with said housing held by the user, and a hands-free telephone mode in which the telephone communication is implemented without the housing held by the user, and wherein said control portion changes a mode of operation of the telephone communication device from the normal telephone mode to the hands-free telephone mode when the detecting portion fails to detect the state of approach or contact of the region of the housing to or with the face of the user.

9. The telephone communication device according to claim 1, further comprising a display portion superposed on said region of the housing between the sound output aperture and the sound input aperture and configured to display images,

and wherein the detecting portion is configured to detect an approach or contact of a pointer to or with a selected one of the images displayed on the display portion.

10. The telephone communication device according to claim 1, further comprising a stable-state determining portion configured to determine whether the state of approach or contact of the region of the housing detected by the detecting portion is maintained for more than a predetermined time, and wherein said reference-state memory portion stores, as said reference approach-contact state, said state of approach or contact of the region of the housing which has been maintained for more than the predetermined time according to the determination by said stable-state determining portion.

11. The telephone communication device according to claim 1, wherein said reference-state memory portion includes a reference-approach-contact-state determining portion configured to determine, as said reference approach-contact state, a state of approach or contact of the region of the housing to or with the face of the user, which is detected by the detecting portion after the telephone communication of the user with the other party is initiated, the reference-state memory portion storing the state of approach or contact of the region of the housing determined by the reference-approach-contact-state determining portion.

12. The telephone communication device according to claim 11, wherein the reference-approach-contact-state determining portion determines said reference approach-contact state each time the telephone communication is implemented.

13. The telephone communication device according to claim 11, further comprising a candidate reference-state registration memory portion for storing a plurality of candidate reference approach-contact states, and wherein the reference-approach-contact-state determining potion includes a selecting portion configured to select one of the plurality of candidate reference approach-contact state which is identical with or similar to the state of approach or contact of the region of the housing,

and wherein the reference-approach-contact-state determining portion determines, as said reference approach-contact state, the candidate reference approach-contact state selected by the selecting portion.