Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Generic control system – apparatus or process – Having operator control interface
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-26
2004-06-22
Patel, Ramesh (Department: 2121)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Generic control system, apparatus or process
Having operator control interface
C710S072000, C710S052000, C345S950000, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06754544
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic equipment operating component function setting system, as applied to various electronic equipment, such as radio equipment, in which a microcomputer circuit is used to control input and output of operating signals, this system selectively setting assignments of control functions for operating components, in accordance with the operator of the equipment and the particular installation location.
2. Related Art
Electronic equipment such as radio equipment has many operating components located on a front panel, the placement of which thereon is done with consideration given to the ease of operation when performing control of the associated functions. For example, the scheme usually followed in the case of radio equipment is that operating components for changing the frequency, which are often operated are placed on the right side, operating components for audio volume adjustment are placed on the left side, and switches used to change the mode or select a frequency band and squelch level adjusting components are located in the center.
There are a variety of methods of mounting operating components to a front panel, the general method employed being that of pre-assembling operating components to a panel board, and then mounting the panel board to the rear surface of the front panel, so that operating parts of the operating components protrude through or are exposed via holes formed in the front panel, with knobs mounted to protruding shafts that form the operating parts of operating components.
The configuration shown in FIG.
4
and
FIG. 5
of the accompanying drawings is that of an example applied to a radio receiver, these drawings being an outer perspective view and an exploded view of the various constituent elements thereof.
In these drawings, the reference numeral
101
denotes a die-cast chassis,
102
is a PCB (printed circuit board), onto which is packaged an electronic circuit,
103
is a top cover,
104
is a bottom cover,
105
are operating components such as potentiometers, rotary encoders, and switches,
106
is a liquid-crystal display panel,
107
is a panel board,
108
is a front panel,
109
are knobs, and
110
is a transparent acrylic sheet, the radio receiver
100
being assembled by the following procedure.
First, the PCB
102
is mounted to the die-cast chassis
101
after the connector
102
a
is mounted to the PCB
102
.
The panel board
107
also is formed by a PCB, the various operating components
105
being soldered or brazed into place with the operating parts thereof passing through the holes pre-formed in the panel board
107
, the terminals of each being connected by soldering to the conductive pattern parts of the panel board
107
, and the LCD panel being mounted to a window formed in the panel board
107
.
A connector-terminated cable
107
a
is also connected to the panel board
107
, thereby completing the overall panel board assembly
107
b.
Next, holes and windows are formed also in the front panel
108
at positions corresponding to the holes and windows in the panel board
107
, the panel board assembly
107
b
, to which are mounted the various parts
105
,
106
, and
107
a
, being mounted to the rear surface of the front panel
108
, and the transparent acrylic sheet
110
being mounted to the window part formed at the front surface of the front panel
108
.
Then, the entire front panel
108
, to which is mounted the panel board assembly
107
b
, is mounted to the front surface of the die-cast chassis
101
, after which the connector-terminated cable
107
a
of the panel board assembly
107
b
is connected to a connector
102
a
on the PCB
102
, and, if there are connectors on the rear surface of the die-cast chassis
101
, these are also connected to the PCB
102
.
After the above is done, the top cover
103
and the bottom cover
104
are mounted to the die-cast chassis
101
, and finally knobs
109
are pressed from the front side onto shafts of operating parts of the operating components
105
passing through holes in the front panel
108
, thereby completing the assembly of the product (the radio receiver
100
).
Recently, to simplify the assembly process, a bracket or the like, to which individual components are mounted, is fixed to the PCB
102
, with the parts
105
and
106
being directly mounted to the PCB
102
, along with the electronic circuit, so as to simplify the assembly process.
Although the layout of the operating components on the front panel as described above is done with the assumption of a right-handed operator, the operator of the radio equipment or the like is naturally not necessarily right-handed, and might have lost the use of the right hand for reason of some disability or injury, making operation extremely difficult.
Additionally, in mobile radio equipment installed in a vehicle, with restrictions in the installation location, there are cases in which fixing the location of operating components results in a worsening of ease of operation.
In view of the above-noted situation, although there is a significant need for placement of operating components to accommodate individual operating conditions, with the operating components
105
assembled to the panel board
107
as noted above, it is not possible to freely change the layout positions of the operating components
105
on the front panel
108
. If an attempt is made to change the layout positions, it would be necessary to change the conductive path layout of the panel board
107
and the PCB
102
as well, the result being that only a made to order product could accommodate these changes, this product being highly costly.
In much recent electronic equipment, operating input signal are captured as digital information by a microcomputer circuit, which is caused to perform the prescribed control functions, so that operating components having the same attributes often have common specifications. In the case of the above-noted example of a radio receiver, rotary encoders are used to change the frequency or adjust audio volume, pushbutton switches are used to perform mode and band switching, and potentiometers are used for squelch level adjustments and the like, and if operating components with common specifications are used for these functions, parts procurement is facilitated, enabling purchase of a smaller number of parts having the same specifications at one time, thereby providing a reduction in the cost of parts.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention, in view of the above-noted problems, to provide a system for programmably assigning control functions to each operating component, thereby enabling selective placement of operating components for the function controls of a piece of electronic equipment, so as to achieve good ease of operation, adapted to the operation conditions of the equipment at all times.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a system for function settings of operating components in a piece of electronic equipment having a circuit configuration wherein an internal microcomputer circuit outputs control signals for functions to be controlled, based on input signals input from each operating component, and which includes groups of operating components of the same type and characteristics. In this system, a connector is provided for making connection between an external computer and the microcomputer circuit, the connection condition therebetween establishing whether a program for making settings of correspondence between input and output ports is to be downloaded from the external computer to the microcomputer circuit, or whether the above-noted program has been previously stored in the above-noted microcomputer circuit, with data that establishes a correspondence between input and output ports of the microcomputer being transferred from the external computer, so that the microcomputer circuit, based on this program, executes the establishment of settings of correspondence between input ports associated with gr
Fulwider Patton Lee & Utecht LLP
Pham Thomas
Westwood Co., Ltd.
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