Hands-free device

• US 6,965,787 B2
• Filed: 10/03/2002
• Issued: 11/15/2005
• 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
• Primary Examiner(s): Gesesse, Tilahun
• Application Number:
  US10/262,862
• Publication Number:
  US 20030069000A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,139 Days
• Field of Search: 455/569.2, 455/569.1, 455/575.9, 455/90.3, 455/550.1, 455/575.1, 455/575.6, 455/556.1, 455/90.2, 455/345, 455/351, 370/420, 379/455
• US Class Current: 455/569.2
• 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 includes a cellular phone of a driver, driver'"'"'s speakers that output sounds to the driver, front speakers and rear speakers that output sounds widely in a car, a detection unit that outputs a detection signal to indicate whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not, and control equipment that communicates with the cellular phone. In the case that the control equipment receives a telephone communication voice signal indicating telephone conversation voice of another party of the telephone conversation from the cellular phone, based on the detection signal outputted from the detection unit, when the control equipment judges that there is no fellow passenger, the control equipment has the telephone conversation voice outputted mainly from the front speakers and the rear speakers, 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.

Claims

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

a first speaker operable to output sound to the driver;

a second speaker operable to output sound 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 operable to judge whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not based on the detection signal outputted from said detection unit,

wherein, when said control unit judges that there is no fellow passenger in the car, upon receiving a telephone conversation voice signal indicating a telephone conversation voice of an other party of the telephone conversation, said control unit is operable to have the telephone conversation voice outputted in a wide range in the car mainly from said second speaker, and restrain the telephone conversation voice to be outputted from said first speaker, and

wherein, when said control unit judges that there is a fellow passenger in the car, upon receiving the telephone conversation voice signal indicating the telephone conversation voice of the other party of the telephone conversation, said control unit is operable to have the telephone conversation voice outputted toward the driver mainly from said first speaker, and restrain the telephone conversation voice to be outputted from said second speaker.

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

wherein said control unit prohibits the telephone conversation 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 in the car, and

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. The hands-free device according to claim 1, wherein said detection unit outputs the detection signal based on a result of detecting a presence of infrared radiation.

8. The hands-free device according to claim 1, wherein said detection unit outputs the detection signal based on a result of acquiring a voice in the car, and judging whether the voice is the driver'"'"'s voice or another person'"'"'s voice.

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

wherein said detection unit is operable to judge whether there is one cellular phone or a plurality of cellular phones located in the car, and

wherein said detection unit outputs the detection signal indicating that there is a fellow passenger in the car when it is detected that a plurality of cellular phones are located in the car.

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

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

12. The hands-free device according to claim 10, comprising a plurality of said second speakers,

wherein said control unit prohibits a first one of said second speakers that is nearest to the driver'"'"'s seat from outputting the audio sound and outputs the audio sound from a second one of said second speakers when the audio signal is outputted in the car in a case that said control unit receives the telephone conversation voice signals.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

wherein said 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 said 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, has said fellow passenger'"'"'s speaker output telephone conversation voice of an other party of a telephone conversation of the fellow passenger based on a signal received from the fellow passenger'"'"'s cellular phone.

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

a speaker operable to output sound widely in the car;

a display unit operable to display a plurality of letters 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, and operable to judge whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not based on the detection signal outputted from said detection unit,

wherein, when said control unit judges that there is no fellow passenger in the car, upon receiving telephone conversation voice signals indicating a telephone conversation voice of an other party of the telephone conversation, said control unit is operable to have the telephone conversation voice outputted in a wide range in the car from said speaker, and prohibit said display unit from displaying contents of the telephone conversation voice, and

wherein, when said control unit judges that there is a fellow passenger in the car, upon receiving telephone conversation voice signals indicating a telephone conversation voice of the other party of the telephone conversation, said control unit is operable to output the telephone conversation voice signals to said display unit so as to have said display unit display, the telephone conversation voice in letters, and restrain the telephone conversation voice to be outputted from said speaker.

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 of the driver,

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

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

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

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

wherein said 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 enabling a driver to have a hands-free telephone conversation using a cellular phone in a car,

wherein the hands-free system comprises:

a first speaker operable to output sound to the driver;

a second speaker operable to output sound 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,

wherein the control unit is operable to execute said method for outputting telephone conversation contents, said method comprising;

receiving a telephone conversation voice signal indicating a telephone conversation voice from an other party of the telephone conversation;

acquiring the detection signal;

judging whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not based on the acquired detection signal;

outputting the telephone conversation voice in a wide range in the car mainly from the second speaker, and restraining the telephone conversation voice to be outputted from the first speaker, when it is judged that there is no fellow passenger in the car; and

outputting the telephone conversation voice toward the driver mainly from the first speaker, and restraining the telephone conversation voice to be outputted from the second speaker, when it is judged that there is a fellow passenger in the car.

23. The method for outputting telephone conversation contents according to claim 22,

wherein, when it is judged that there is no fellow passenger in the car, the telephone conversation voice is prohibited from being outputted from the first speaker and is outputted from the second speaker, and

wherein, when it is judged that there is a fellow passenger in the car, the telephone conversation voice is prohibited from being outputted from the second speaker and is outputted from the first speaker.

24. The method for outputting telephone conversation contents according to claim 22,

wherein when it is judged that there is no fellow passenger in the car, 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

wherein, when it is judged that there is a fellow passenger in the car, 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 method for outputting telephone conversation contents according to claim 22,

wherein the method executed by the control unit further comprises:

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 a case that the telephone conversation voice signal is not received from the cellular phone, and

outputting the audio sound from the second speaker based on the audio signal.

26. The method for outputting telephone conversation contents according to claim 25,

wherein the hands-free system comprises a plurality of the second speakers, and

wherein the method executed by the control unit further comprises:

prohibiting a first one of the second speakers that is nearest to the driver'"'"'s seat from outputting the audio sound, and outputting audio sound from a second one of the second speakers when the control unit detects that the audio signal is being output when the telephone conversation voice signal is received.

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

wherein the hands-free system comprises:

a speaker operable 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 the 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,

wherein the control unit is operable to execute the method for outputting telephone conversation contents, said method comprising;

receiving a telephone conversation voice signal indicating telephone conversation voice from an other party of the telephone conversation;

acquiring the detection signal;

judging whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not based on the acquired detection signal;

outputting the telephone conversation voice in a wide range in the car from the speaker, and prohibiting the display unit to display the contents of the telephone conversation voice, when it is judged that there is no fellow passenger in the car; and

outputting the telephone conversation voice to the display unit so as to have the display unit display the contents of the telephone conversation voice in letters, and restraining the telephone conversation voice to be outputted from the speaker, when it is judged that there is a fellow passenger in the car.

28. The method for outputting 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 of the driver, and

wherein the method executed by the control unit further comprises:

receiving the voice signal from the microphone;

transmitting the received voice signal to the cellular phone;

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

29. A program stored on a computer-readable medium in a hands-free system for enabling a driver to have a hands-free telephone conversation in a car using a cellular phone,

wherein the hands-free system comprises:

a first speaker operable to output sound to the driver;

a second speaker operable to output sound 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,

wherein the program is executed so as to instruct in the control unit to perform a method comprising;

receiving a telephone conversation voice signal indicating a telephone conversation voice from an other party of the telephone conversation;

acquiring the detection signal;

judging whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not based on the acquired detection signal ;

outputting the telephone conversation voice in a wide range in the car mainly from the second speaker, and restraining the telephone conversation voice to be outputted from the first speaker, when it is judged in that there is no fellow passenger in the car; and

outputting the telephone conversation voice toward the driver mainly from the first speaker, and restraining the telephone conversation voice to be outputted from the second speaker, when it is judged that there is a fellow passenger in the car.

30. The program according to claim 29,

wherein, when it is judged that there is no fellow passenger in the car, the telephone conversation voice is prohibited from being outputted from the first speaker and is outputted from the second speaker, and

wherein, when it is judged that there is a fellow passenger in the car, 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, when it is judged that there is no fellow passenger in the car, the telephone conversation voice from the first and second speakers is outputted in a condition that a sound volume of the second speaker is larger than a sound volume of the first speaker, and

wherein when it is judged that there is a fellow passenger in the car, the telephone conversation voice from the first and second speakers is outputted in a 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 method executed by the control unit further comprises:

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 a case that the telephone conversation voice signal is not received from the cellular phone, and

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 a plurality of the second speakers, and wherein the method executed by the control unit further comprises:

prohibiting a first one of the second speakers that is nearest to the driver'"'"'s seat from outputting audio sound and outputting audio sound from a second one of the second speakers when the control unit detects that the audio signal is being output when the telephone conversation voice signal is received.

34. A program stored on a computer-readable medium in a hands-free system for enabling a driver to have a hands-free telephone conversation in a car using a cellular phone,

wherein the hands-free system comprises:

a speaker operable 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 the 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,

wherein the program is executed so as to instruct the control unit to perform a method comprising;

receiving a telephone conversation voice signal indicating telephone conversation voice from an other party of the telephone conversation;

receiving the telephone conversation voice signal indicating the telephone conversation voice from the other party of the telephone conversation;

acquiring the detection signal;

judging whether there is a fellow passenger in the car or not based on the acquired detection signal;

outputting the telephone conversation voice in a wide range in the car from the speaker, and prohibiting the display unit to display the contents of the telephone conversation voice, when it is judged that there is no fellow passenger in the car; and

outputting the telephone conversation voice to the display unit so as to have the display unit display the contents of the telephone conversation voice in letters, and restraining the telephone conversation voice to be outputted from the speaker, when it is judged that there is a fellow passenger in the car.

35. The program according to claim 34,

wherein the hands-free system further comprises a microphone that captures a voice of the driver and outputs a voice signal indicating the voice of the driver, and

wherein the method executed by the control unit further comprises:

receiving the voice signal from the microphone;

transmitting the received voice signal to the cellular phone;

erasing past letters indicating a contents of the telephone conversation voice of the other party of the telephone conversation displayed on the display unit.