Television – Two-way video and voice communication – Answering machine
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-03
2003-01-21
Chan, Wing (Department: 2643)
Television
Two-way video and voice communication
Answering machine
C379S093170, C379S088130
Reexamination Certificate
active
06509924
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video telephone which is capable of communicating with a calling side via images as well as audio signals, and has an automatic answering function of automatically responding to an incoming call.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, telephones provided with an automatic answering function are in widespread use among telephones for audio communication. With the automatic answering function, the telephone responds automatically to an incoming call, and records a message of the calling side on magnetic tape or the like. When it is possible to receive the caller number (that is, the telephone number of the calling side), the number of the caller can be stored together with the message of the calling side, and even if the calling side terminates the call without responding to the automatic answering function, it is possible to store the caller number only. The user of such a telephone having an automatic answering function can then reproduce (play back) recorded message that have been stored with the automatic answering function, at a later time. Some apparatuses are equipped with a display device, with which the recorded messages can be displayed as a list. Although it takes a long time to reproduce sequentially a plurality of messages stored on a magnetic tape, with such an apparatus it is possible to select a recorded message from the list to be quickly reproduced, for example, by fast-forwarding the magnetic tape. The display device can display the telephone number of the caller, and, in the case where the telephone is equipped with a telephone book function in addition to the automatic answering function, the name etc. recorded by the telephone book function in association with the telephone number. Thus, looking at the information displayed by the display device, the user of the telephone can select a recorded message to be reproduced.
Regarding a video telephone which allows telephone communication with images as well as audio signals, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 7-30873 (1995) discloses a conventional telephone provided with an automatic answering function, with which messages including images recorded in response to an automatic answering function can be reproduced. In this conventional video telephone, messages and images received from a calling side while the user is out can be stored on random access hard disk. A large amount of storage space is necessary to continuously store images, so that this conventional video telephone is equipped with a mode in which only audio signals are stored without storing images, a mode in which only the initial screen is recorded, a mode in which a specific screen associated with a command operation signal from the calling side is stored, a mode in which a screen is stored every predetermined period of time, and a mode in which only the final screen is stored. In this conventional video telephone, images and audio signals received from the calling side during automatic answering with the automatic answering function are stored, but the reproduction of the stored information is similar as with the automatic answering function in telephones for audio communication. That is to say, when the reproduction function is activated by a predetermined switching operation, a list of the recorded messages is displayed. This list displays, in a table, the telephone number and name of the caller, the time, and the storage mode indicating whether the stored message is audio only or audio and images. When the user selects a number from this list, the stored information corresponding to this number is reproduced. When images have been stored, then the stored images are reproduced. Although it is not explicitly mentioned in the above-noted publication, when there is a message recorded in response to a call with the automatic answering function in a regular telephone for audio that has an automatic answering function, then a lamp or the like provided on the telephone blinks. Thus, when the user comes home and sees the lamp, the user can easily determine whether messages have been recorded while he was out, and decide whether to perform the operation for reproducing the stored messages.
Furthermore, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 63-316966 (1988) discloses a conventional video telephone equipped with a telephone book function. This publication describes the partitioning of the display screen to display a plurality of images, in order to carry out selection among a plurality of registered entries.
As has been explained with regard to JP-A 7-30873, in conventional telephones having an automatic answering function, the user cannot check who the caller is or from which a call has been received while the user was out, unless reproduction of recorded messages is carried out. When the telephone is not a video telephone but a telephone with audio capability only, and when the caller's audio message is reproduced continuously after recording it, then, when the user knows the caller, the user can recognize the caller by his or her voice even without performing the reproduction operation. However, there is the disadvantage that, when the recorded message is repeatedly reproduced while the user is out, it can be heard and causes noise pollution to the neighborhood, so that this method has found no practical use.
In telephones capable of receiving the caller's telephone number, it is possible to identify the caller from the displayed telephone number, and, when the caller's name has been stored in association with the telephone number, to display the name matching the caller's telephone number. Therefore, when the user performs the reproduction operation with a regular automatic answering function, a list of the telephone calls received while the user was out is displayed. Still, the telephone number is only assigned to the caller's telephone, and is not associated with a specific person. In case of mobile phones or the like, the chances are high that a telephone number is related closely to a specific person, but when the user knows the caller, then the caller can be faster identified by his or her voice. However, in regular telephones, when one telephone line is installed for one household, for example, and when the telephone number of this telephone line is displayed, the possibility that the call is from this household is high, but in case of a three-member family of father, mother and child, it is not possible to specify the caller, even when the telephone number and a name associated with that number are displayed.
Furthermore, JP-A 63-316966 discloses that the screen is partitioned into a number of partitions as specified with the telephone book function, and the plurality of images stored in the memory are displayed simultaneously. However, this publication does not mention whether the number of partitions can be changed or not, and even assuming that it can be changed, it does not mention how it could be changed. Consequently, when the number of partitions is too large compared to the number of still images to be displayed, then the images have to be displayed in very small size and become difficult to recognize, even though there is empty space. On the other hand, when the number of partitions is small, then it may not be possible to display all images to be displayed, and the perspicuity of the display suffers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a video telephone having an automatic answering function, which makes efficient use of the video telephone's function and makes it easy to identify callers who have responded to the automatic answering function.
The invention provides a video telephone having an automatic answering function in which automatic answering is made in response to an incoming call and at least an image of a calling side is reproducibly stored, the video telephone comprising:
display storage means for storing image display information du
Honguu Naoaki
Toda Manabu
Chan Wing
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
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