Cordless apparatus

• US 20060183473A1
• Filed: 01/27/2006
• Published: 08/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Ukon, Tsutomu
• Application Number:
  US11/340,593
• Publication Number:
  US 20060183473A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/426.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0037 Inter-user or inter-terminal allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/10 Dynamic resource partitioning

Abstract

In a cordless apparatus, a main device and an additional device each has a communication unit that is capable of selecting a radio channel used for radio communication from a plurality of radio channels of which frequencies are different from each other. The main device has a transmittance control unit that transmits radio signals intermittently from the communication unit of the main device during standby of the additional device, and changes the radio channel on every transmittance of the radio signals. The additional device has a signal strength detection unit that detects a signal strength of the radio signal when the radio signal transmitted from the main device is received by the communication unit of the additional device during standby of the main device, and a notification unit that notifies the signal strength of the radio signal detected by the signal strength detection unit.

Claims

1. A cordless apparatus comprising:

a main device; and

an additional device that communicates with the main device by radio;

wherein the main device and the additional device each having a communication unit that is capable of selecting a radio channel used for radio communication from a plurality of radio channels of which frequencies are different from each other;

the main device comprises a transmittance control unit that transmits radio signals intermittently from the communication unit of the main device during standby of the additional device, and changes the radio channel on every transmittance of the radio signals; and

the additional device comprises a signal strength detection unit that detects a signal strength of the radio signal when the radio signal transmitted from the main device is received by the communication unit of the additional device during standby of the main device, and a notification unit that notifies the signal strength of the radio signal detected by the signal strength detection unit.

2. The cordless apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the radio signal transmitted from the main device is received by the communication unit of the additional device during standby, the additional device transmits a response signal from the communication unit;

and

after a passage of a predetermined time from a reception of the response signal by the communication unit of the main device, the transmittance control unit changes the radio channel used for transmitting the radio signal, and then transmits the radio signal through the communication unit.

3. The cordless apparatus according to claim 1, wherein based on the signal strength periodically detected for each radio channel by the signal strength detection unit, the notification unit determines whether the signal strength of all radio channels is a predetermined level or more, notifies the signal strength detected by the signal strength detection unit to inform that the additional device is on a condition able to communicate with the main device when the signal strength of all radio channels is the predetermined level or more, and notifies the user that the additional device is on a condition unable to communicate with the main device when the signal strength of at least one radio channel is not the predetermined level or more.

4. The cordless apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the signal strength detection unit detects the signal strength, and acquires an average value for the signal strength of a last plurality of times including the signal strength detected this time, and the notification unit notifies the average value of the signal strength acquired by the signal strength detection unit.

5. The cordless apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the radio channels changed by the transmittance control unit are two radio control channels used to transmit and receive commands between the main device and the additional device, and the transmittance control unit alternately selects one of the two radio control channels.

6. The cordless apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the additional device comprises a display unit that displays information, and the notification unit digitizes a detection result detected by the signal strength detection unit by stages by comparing the detection result with a predetermined plurality of threshold values and displays the digitized result on the display unit in a graphic.