U.S. patent number 6,633,231 [Application Number 09/589,017] was granted by the patent office on 2003-10-14 for communication device and auxiliary device for communication.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Horiba, Ltd.. Invention is credited to Hiroyuki Ebi, Noboru Hayakawa, Kazutaka Okamoto.
United States Patent |
6,633,231 |
Okamoto , et al. |
October 14, 2003 |
Communication device and auxiliary device for communication
Abstract
A surveillance system utilizing a plurality of communication
devices that are operative with portable telephones to permit an
easily reconfigurable remote surveillance area. The portable
telephones can have audio and imaging transmitting functions and at
least one has an audio and imaging receiving function. An image
sensor can sense images within a predetermined area and is
operatively connected to a portable telephone for providing an
output signal upon detection of a predetermined amount of change in
the image area. An auto-dialing section is connected to a first
telephone for calling a second remote telephone automatically based
on the output signal. Infrared detecting sensors can also image
within the surveillance area and be utilized to activate the
auto-dialing function. The portable telephones can further include
an image sensor for providing an image of the surveillance
area.
Inventors: |
Okamoto; Kazutaka
(Miyanohigashi-machi, JP), Hayakawa; Noboru
(Miyanohigashi-machi, JP), Ebi; Hiroyuki
(Miyanohigashi-machi, JP) |
Assignee: |
Horiba, Ltd. (Kyoto,
JP)
|
Family
ID: |
28795360 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/589,017 |
Filed: |
June 6, 2000 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Jun 7, 1999 [JP] |
|
|
11-159291 |
Jun 7, 1999 [JP] |
|
|
11-159321 |
Jul 26, 1999 [JP] |
|
|
11-210608 |
Jul 26, 1999 [JP] |
|
|
11-210635 |
Aug 27, 1999 [JP] |
|
|
11-242072 |
Aug 31, 1999 [JP] |
|
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11-244857 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
340/539.11;
340/539.25; 340/539.26; 348/14.01; 348/158; 379/38; 379/40; 379/43;
379/51; 455/575.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G08B
25/08 (20130101); H04M 1/725 (20130101); H04M
2250/12 (20130101); H04N 2007/145 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G08B
25/08 (20060101); H04M 1/725 (20060101); H04M
1/72 (20060101); G08B 001/08 (); H04M 011/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;340/539,531
;348/14.01,14.1,158,309 ;379/37-39,51,40,455,43,42 ;455/575 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Crosland; Donnie L.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A surveillance system comprising: a plurality of portable
telephones, at least a first telephone having audio and image
transmitting functions and a second telephone having audio and
image receiving functions; an image sensor assembly for sensing
images within a predetermined image area operatively connected to
the first telephone and providing a first output signal upon
detection of a predetermined amount of image change in the image
area; a target setting unit for setting a predetermined sub-area of
the predetermined image area as the area monitored for a
predetermined amount of image change in the image area; an infrared
detecting unit for detecting infrared rays from the monitored area
and separately identifying the presence of a human body and a flame
in the monitored area, and providing respective second and third
output signals; an auto-dialing instruction originating section
operatively connected to the first telephone for calling the second
telephone automatically based on the first output signal whereby
the second telephone is automatically sent an image of the image
area upon the occurrence of the predetermined change in the image
area; and a first judging unit for determining when the second and
third output signals of the infrared detecting unit indicate an
occurrence whereby the auto-dialing instruction originating section
is activated to call pre-set telephones.
2. The surveillance system of claim 1 wherein the image sensor
assembly is mounted on the first telephone.
3. The surveillance system of claim 1 wherein the first telephone
has a chargeable battery and further including a holder for
mounting the first telephone for charging the chargeable
battery.
4. The surveillance system of claim 3 wherein the holder further
includes an infrared sensor for mounting a second predetermined
area and for providing an output signal to activate the
auto-dialing instruction originating section.
5. The surveillance system of claim 4 wherein the infrared sensor
is one of a pyroelectric sensor and a thermopile sensor.
6. The surveillance system of claim 4 wherein the infrared sensor
senses infrared rays of at least 10 .mu.m in wavelength to detect a
human body.
7. The surveillance system of claim 1 wherein a third portable
telephone having audio and image transmitting functions is set to
provide a second predetermined image area whereby a network of
surveillance portable telephones is provided.
8. The surveillance system of claim 7 wherein the target settling
unit defines at least a straight line of pixels within the image
area.
9. The surveillance system of claim 1 wherein the image sensor is
mounted on a daughter device that is separate from and operatively
connected to the first telephone.
10. The surveillance system of claim 1 further including a holder
assembly for mounting the first telephone to provide a rotational
adjustment of the telephone to define the predetermined image
area.
11. The surveillance system of claim 1 wherein the image sensor is
pivotally mounted on the first telephone to enable the user to
subjectively define the predetermined image area.
12. The surveillance system of claim 11 further including an
adjustable holder for mounting the first telephone at different
positions relative to a supporting surface.
13. The surveillance system of claim 12 wherein the adjustable
holder includes a support base, a pivotal holder body that is
movably connected to the support base and a support link that can
adjustably fix the pivotal holder body above the support base
wherein the pivotal holder body can mount the first telephone.
14. The surveillance system of claim 1 wherein the image sensor
assembly includes a second judging unit for determining the
occurrence of the predetermined change in the image area.
15. A method of providing remote surveillance to a security object
space, comprising: providing a plurality of portable telephones
including a first telephone having audio and image transmitting
functions and a second telephone having audio and image receiving
functions, the first telephone having an image sensor for sensing
images within a predetermined area operatively connected to the
first telephone, an image target setting unit for defining less
than the entire pixels defining the predetermined area as a target
image area, a judging unit for determining when the image changes
within the target image area, and an auto dialing instruction
originating section for calling the second telephone automatically
based on an output signal from the judging unit; positioning the
portable first telephone to define a security area covered by the
predetermined area of the image sensor by adjusting the position of
the image sensor; setting the target image area to define a
threshold of image change, within the target area, necessary to
require surveillance; carrying the second telephone to a remote
location; automatically dialing the second telephone when the
threshold of image change is judged; and providing the image of the
predetermined area directly to the second portable telephone at the
remote location.
16. The method of claim 15 further including providing and
positioning a third portable telephone to provide a network of
surveillance portable telephones each capable of automatically
calling and providing images to the second telephone.
17. A communication device for monitoring an area, comprising: a
portable telephone having audio and image transmitting functions; a
support holder for positioning the portable telephone; an infrared
detecting unit for detecting infrared rays from the monitored area,
and separately identifying the presence of a human body and a flame
in the monitored area, and providing respective output signals; an
auto-dialing instruction originating section connected to the
portable telephone for calling a pre-set telephone having an image
display function; and a judging unit for determining when output
signals of the infrared detecting unit indicates an occurrence
whereby the auto-dialing instruction originating section is
activated to call the pre-set telephones.
18. The communication device of claim 17 wherein the infrared
detecting unit is mounted on the support holder.
19. The communication device of claim 17 wherein the infrared
detecting unit is remote from the portable telephone and the
support holder.
20. A communication device, which is equipped with a telephone
conversation function used on commercial electromagnetic waves,
comprising: an image sensor; transmitting means for transmitting an
image shot using the image sensor to a recipient; detecting means
for detecting infrared rays to particularly identify the presence
of either a human body or a flame; and dialing setting means for
calling a preset telephone with an image display function of the
recipient, wherein a predetermined output signal from the infrared
detecting means is entered into the dialing setting means, so that
the preset telephone with an image display function of the
recipient is automatically called.
21. A communication device according to claim 20 wherein an
infrared sensor mounted to the detecting means for detecting
infrared rays is a pyroelectric type or a thermopile type, and at
least one of a sensor sensing infrared rays of 10 .mu.m in
wavelength radiated from a human body and a sensor sensing infrared
rays in the vicinity of 4.3 .mu.m in wavelength radiated from a
flame equipped.
22. An auxiliary device for communication comprising: detecting
means for detecting infrared rays and particularly identifying at
least one of a human body and a fire equipped to a vessel connected
to an external connecting terminal of a portable telephone provided
with a speech and image transmitting function using commercial
electromagnetic waves; and an auto-dialing instruction originating
section for calling a specified telephone of the recipient based on
a predetermined output signal from the detecting means
automatically depending on whether a human body is identified or a
flame is identified while specifying the telephone equipped with an
image display function for the recipient is equipped to one of a
portable telephone, a holder for the portable telephone and the
vessel connected to the holder.
23. An auxiliary device for communication according to claim 22
wherein a sensor as a human body detecting means comprises at least
one of a pyroelectricity type or a thermopile type infrared
detector detecting infrared rays in the vicinity of 10 .mu.m in
wavelength, an ultrasonic wave type detector and a near infrared
detector detecting near infrared rays in the vicinity of 1 .mu.m in
wavelength.
24. An auxiliary device for communication according to claim 23
wherein the detecting means includes a fire sensor comprising at
least one of a pyroelectricity type or a thermopile type infrared
flame detector detecting infrared rays in the vicinity of 4.3 .mu.m
in wavelength, a thermal detector, a smoke detector and an
ultraviolet detector.
25. An auxiliary device for communication according to claim 22
further including an image means for providing shot image
information from a sender side to a specified telephone is
operatively connected to the portable telephones.
26. A method of providing remote surveillance to a security object
space, comprising: providing a portable telephone having a human
body detecting sensor for sensing infrared rays radiated by a human
body, a fire detecting sensor for sensing infrared rays radiated by
a flame, a judging unit for judging whether a human body or a flame
has been detected, and an auto dialing instruction originating
section for calling a predetermined location automatically based on
an output signal from the judging unit; positioning the portable
telephone to define a security area covered by the human body
detecting and fire detecting sensors; detecting the presence of at
least one of a human body and a flame in the security area; and
automatically dialing a respective predetermined location based on
whether a human body or a flame is detected in the security
area.
27. The method of claim 26 wherein said portable phone further
includes an image sensor for sensing image information within said
security area, the method further comprising: sensing image
information of said security area upon the detection of either a
human body or a flame in said security area; transmitting said
sensed image information of said security area to the respectively
dialed predetermined location.
28. A surveillance system comprising: a plurality of portable
telephones, at least a first telephone having audio and image
transmitting functions and a second telephone having audio and
image receiving functions; an image sensor assembly for sensing
images within a predetermined image area operatively connected to
the first telephone; a target setting unit for setting a first
predetermined sub-area of the predetermined image area as the area
monitored for a predetermined amount of image change in the image
area and providing a first output signal upon detection of a
predetermined amount of image change in the first predetermined
sub-area image area of the predetermined image area; an infrared
sensor unit for monitoring a second predetermined area including a
first infrared detector with a first filter for providing a pass
through of radiation of approximately 10 mm in wavelength to
receive radiation from a human body and a second infrared detector
with a second filter for providing a pass through of radiation of
approximately 4.3 mm in wavelength to receive radiation from a
flame; a judging unit connected to the infrared sensor unit for
receiving an input from the first infrared detector and determining
when a human body is within the second predetermined area and
providing a second output signal, and for receiving an input from
the second infrared detector and determining when a flame is within
the second predetermined area and providing a third output segment;
and an auto-dialing instruction originating section operatively
connected to the first telephone for calling the second telephone
automatically based on the receipt of one of the first output
signal, second output signal and third output signal.
29. The surveillance system according to claim 28 wherein the first
telephone has a chargeable battery and further including a holder
assembly for removably mounting the first telephone for charging
the chargeable battery, the infrared sensor unit and judging unit
is mounted on the holder assembly and operatively connected to the
auto-dialing instruction originating section.
30. The surveillance system of claim 29 wherein the image sensor
assembly is mounted on a daughter device that is separate from and
operatively connected to the first telephone.
31. The surveillance system of claim 29 wherein the holder assembly
for mounting the first telephone provides a rotational adjustment
of the first telephone to define the predetermined image area.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication device and an
auxiliary device for communication and more particularly to a
surveillance system that employs remote communication devices that
can provide detection capabilities.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been available, for example, a communication device in
the fields of crime prevention and fire prevention, associated with
security systems each working under a contract with a security
company, in order to protect properties such as buildings,
warehouses and others. These devices can utilize surveillance
sensors such as a smoke sensor, a thermal sensor, and an infrared
sensor placed at predetermined sites in a building and establish an
on-line connection with a surveillance center of the security
company through indoor wiring.
A security contract fee relating to such a system, however, can be
highly expensive and therefore, there has been only a minor
proliferation of such security systems in the home management
field. In addition to such poor proliferation, there has been a
problem since, in a case where an abnormality is detected such as a
fire at the surveillance center, the fire may grow to a large scale
during the time period a guard or guards are on the way to the
scene. Further, in a case where the abnormality is an intrusion by
an unauthorized person, the intruder, could successfully complete
an intended crime and leave the site of the crime before a guard or
guards arrive at the site.
A more substantial security system to cope with such situations
requires installment of a crime/fire prevention camera, which
causes another problem in the home management field since the
security contract fee is further raised according to the camera or
cameras installed.
Furthermore, even if a security contract is concluded in home
management, usually only abnormality detection is conducted at a
surveillance center, but a subscriber on the move outside the home
may not have immediate knowledge of an abnormality in the home.
In the fields of welfare and medical care, there are cases which
require a constant care by a helper because of accompaniment of
dangers and insecurities if no helper is available, for example,
cases where an elderly person behaves abnormally, a condition where
a patient in bed changes rapidly, and a baby or an infant has woken
up. In such cases, however, there frequently arise a great burden
in said constant care and the daily life of the family members,
which limits the ability of the care providers to leave home. With
such circumstances as the background, realization of a low cost
security system has been strongly desired in the aspects of the
crime/fire prevention, and welfare and medical care.
As one of the communication devices to achieve such a desire, there
has been a proposal to provide a device which survey the outputs
from various kinds of sensors and transmits surveillance
information from the sensors to a portable terminal (PHS) for
receiving the surveillance information from a transmitting means,
so that information on abnormality occurrence can be sent to the
PHS (see Japanese Laid Open Application No. 97-54886 for
example).
In the above described system, a construction is adopted in which
the various kinds of sensors, output surveillance means and
transmitting means for surveillance information are online
connected with a telephone line and therefore, there has been still
another problem since not only is a placement work of the sensors
necessary, but the subscriber cannot change arbitrarily installment
sites of the sensors because surveillance by the sensors is
conducted at a surveillance center. In addition to this problem,
there has arisen a still further problem since all the pictures of
surveillance, shot by, for example, the cameras installed at many
different points, are watched collectively at the surveillance
center side and the occurrence of an abnormality may be difficult
among all the picture information. With such a prior art
background, in order to precisely detect various factors for an
abnormality occurrence, a necessity has arisen that various sensors
(a fire sensor, crime sensor and other sensors) serving as
suppliers of judgment standards are employed in an auxiliary manner
and thereby, a crime prevention facility has become more complex
according to the employment of such sensors, which causes an
inevitable increase in cost of a contract with the surveillance
center.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in light of such circumstances
and it is an object of the present invention to provide a
communication device enabling remote surveillance of any intruder
or a fire in order to protect a property and to provide remote
safety confirmation of human life, precisely in real time at a low
cost by individuals, singularly or in a small number, without
relying on a security company, a hired helper or the like.
A communication device to achieve the object, according to a first
aspect of the present invention comprises: infrared detecting unit
for detecting infrared rays, provided to a holder base for a
portable telephone equipped with speech and image transmitting
functions on commercial electromagnetic waves or to a vessel
connected to the holder; and an auto-dialing instruction
originating section for calling a preset telephone equipped with an
image display function as a recipient automatically based on a
predetermined output signal from an infrared detecting unit,
provided to one of the portable phone, the holder for the portable
telephone or to a vessel connected to the holder.
As a portable telephone equipped with an image transmitting
function as described above, there can be exemplified various types
of portable telephones: in which an image pick-up unit for an image
is included; in a holder for which the image pick-up unit is
included or in a vessel connected to the holder for which the image
pick-up unit is included; and to which the image pick-up unit is
connected by wired or wireless communication links so as to be
located at a remote site from the portable telephone and the holder
therefor.
In crime/fire prevention, for example, the communication devices
with the above described construction and arrangement are
preferably positioned at as many sites as possible in a building, a
warehouse and so on, while, on the other hand, a telephone with an
image display function (hereinafter referred to as a "telephone on
the recipient side", for convenience) which can be different from a
portable telephone that a communication device would comprise
(hereinafter referred to as a "telephone on the sender side", for
convenience) is made ready to use and the telephone on the
recipient side is set so as to be addressed by the auto-dialing
instruction originating section. It should be appreciated that the
telephone on the recipient side may be of either an installed type
or a portable type, and the portable type is preferable if a
recipient is frequently on the move outside the home or office.
With such an arrangement, in a case where a suspicious person
intrudes into a warehouse or the like, infrared rays radiated by
the intruder are caught by the infrared detecting unit when the
intruder enters the effective range of the communication device, or
in a case where a fire breaks out, infrared rays radiated by a
flame is caught by the infrared detecting unit, and a predetermined
output signal is generated from the infrared detecting unit and
thereby, the auto-dialing instruction originating section calls a
preset, specified telephone on the recipient side
automatically.
Since the telephone on the recipient side has a function of
displaying picked-up image information (which is a still image or a
dynamic image, but in the present specification, simply referred to
as an "image") sent from the sender side, a picture and voice of
the suspicious person are transmitted in a case of intrusion of the
suspicious person or a picture image of the fire and a series of
crackling sounds generated by the fire are transmitted in a case of
a fire, if the telephone on the recipient side is switched to a
communication session. Hence, if the telephone on the recipient
side is of a portable type, the recipient, wherever she or he is,
can recognize each of the actual situations with certainty in real
time. Further, a picture image obtained by shooting the person
under surveillance with certainty can be transmitted since infrared
rays radiated by a person under surveillance is detected and a
picture is transmitted based on a predetermined output from the
infrared detecting unit.
Therefore, when such an unwanted situation is recognized, the
recipient can request, using the telephone on the recipient side, a
rescue from selected, appropriate other people such as
acquaintances residing in the neighborhood in addition to a police
department or fire department, and especially when the telephone on
the recipient side is a portable type, the recipient can prepare
conditions of readiness to prevent crime or fire at an early time
period from wherever the recipient is located.
Further, when a communication device with the above described
construction on the sender side is placed, for example, at an
exit/entrance such as a front door, a rear door and so on, a person
who passes through each of the doors is caught by the infrared
detecting unit, or when the communication device with the above
described construction is placed, for example, around a patient in
a bed or a baby or an infant in a crib or the like, movements of a
human body (the patient in bed and the baby or infant in a crib)
are caught by the infrared detecting unit and based on the
particular outputs, the telephone on the recipient side is
automatically called. With such arrangement, detection of an
incoming visitor can be remotely detected in addition to cases
where an elderly person loiters or behaves abnormally, a condition
of a patient in bed changes rapidly, and a baby or infant has woken
up.
Still in addition to the above cases, when a communication device
with such a construction is placed adjacent an auto-bicycle or at
appropriate positions in the cabin of a car or the like, detection
and notification based thereon when robbery or theft occurs on a
car can be performed by a telephone on the recipient side and in
this case, it is preferable that an image recording device is
externally connected to the telephone on the recipient side and
picked-up image information from the communication device on the
sender side is recorded.
That is, when a person at the scene of a fire is recorded in an
image recording device, a fire could be revealed to be arson or
when theft occurs and a person is recorded in the image recording
device, then the recorded image can be a clue to specify a
criminal, and in the cases, the respective recorded images can be
evidence for arson and theft. A power supply to a holder for a
portable telephone in certain cases may be satisfactorily performed
through a cigarette lighter section or from batteries in the
cabin.
Furthermore, in the field of agriculture, when communication
devices with the above configuration are placed, for example, at
predetermined sites inside a structure such as a vinyl greenhouse,
offenses by wild animals can be detected.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the
telephone on the recipient side is equipped with an image display
unit, it can be confirmed visually in a remote manner whether a
calling information source of the telephone on the sender side is
an intrusion of a suspicious person or a breaking-out of a fire and
in addition to this, various worrisome events can be confirmed
visually in a remote manner, such as the presence of a visitor,
loitering of an elderly person, a rapid change in condition of a
patient in bed, waking up of a baby or an infant, a criminal in a
robbery or theft of a car, a burglar into a home and offenses of a
wild animal. Still in addition to these, since the telephone on the
recipient side is equipped with an image display function, there is
no need to externally connect an image display device, thereby
enabling the communication device to contribute to emergencies in
various situations.
Accordingly, measures for crime and fire prevention and medical
care can be performed with essentially no mistakes and since the
scene can be actually confirmed with an image even in
malfunctioning of an infrared sensor and on reception of false
information on small animals as well, immediate dispatch to the
scene to be otherwise caused by false information and fruitless
efforts associated therewith can be avoided.
A second aspect of the present invention is directed to a
communication device equipped with a telephone conversation
function used on commercial magnetic waves comprises, a
transmitting unit for transmitting an image shot using an image
pick-up unit to a recipient; and an infrared detecting unit and a
dialing setting unit for calling a preset telephone with a image
display function of the recipient, wherein a predetermined output
signal from the infrared detecting unit is entered into the dialing
setting unit, so that the preset telephone with a image display
function of the recipient is automatically called.
According to the above described construction and arrangement, on
one hand, in cases of crime and fire prevention, the communication
devices with the above construction are preferably placed at as
many predetermined sites as possible in a building using holders,
etc., warehouse and others, while on the other hand, a telephone
equipped with an image display function (hereinafter referred to as
a "portable telephone on the recipient side", for convenience)
which may be different from the communication devices (hereinafter
referred to as "portable telephones on the sender side", for
convenience) is made ready for use and a directory number of the
telephone on the recipient side is entered into a dialing setting
unit of the portable telephone on the sender side. With such an
arrangement and operation, in a case where a suspicious person
intrudes into a warehouse and other buildings, infrared rays
radiated by the intruder is caught by the infrared detecting unit
when the intruder moves around in the neighborhood of the portable
telephone, or in a case where a fire breaks out, infrared rays
radiated from a flame is caught by the infrared detecting unit, and
a predetermined output signal is entered into the dialing setting
unit, so that the dialing setting unit calls the telephone on the
recipient side automatically.
That is, since a communication device of the second aspect of the
present invention is equipped with a transmitting unit for
transmitting a shot image to a recipient, and since the telephone
on the recipient side is equipped with an image display unit for
displaying a shot image information, it can be visually confirmed
whether a call information of the portable telephone on the sender
side is an intrusion of a suspicious person or a breaking-out of a
fire and further which of the presence of a visitor, loitering of
an elderly person, a rapid change in condition of a patient in bed,
waking up of a baby and infant, criminal in robbery or theft on a
car, a burglar into the home and offenses of a wild animal
occur.
When a communication device is equipped with one of a sensor
sensing infrared rays of 10 .mu.m in wavelength radiated from a
human body and a sensor sensing infrared rays in the vicinity of
4.3 .mu.m in wavelength radiated from a flame, both serving as an
infrared sensor included in an infrared detecting unit, it can be
precisely confirmed whether a command of auto-calling of a
specified telephone is issued by a human body detecting sensor, by
a fire detecting sensor, or by both.
A communication device of a third aspect of the present invention
is characterized by having a transmitting unit for transmitting a
shot image using an image pick-up unit to a recipient and line
setting unit for calling a preset communication device with an
image display function of the recipient, wherein a predetermined
output signal is entered into the line setting unit on a
predetermined change in the imaged pixels constituting a target
subject among pixels detectable by the image pick-up unit as the
timing of initiating a call, so that the preset communication
device with an image display function of the recipient is
automatically called.
A communication device of a fourth aspect of the present invention
is characterized by having a line setting unit for calling a preset
communication device with an image display function of the
recipient, wherein a predetermined output signal is entered into
the line setting unit when a change in a target straight line
constructed of a plurality of pixels constituting a target subject
among pixels detectable by the image pick-up unit as the timing of
a call operation, so that the preset communication device with an
image display function of the recipient is automatically
called.
Furthermore, a communication device of a fifth aspect of the
present invention having a transmitting unit for transmitting a
shot image using an image pick-up unit to a recipient and a line
setting unit for calling a preset communication device with an
image display function of the recipient, wherein a predetermined
output signal is entered into the line setting unit that would be
transmitted when a change in a plurality of straight line pixels or
a given area constructed of a plurality of pixels constituting a
subject among pixels detectable by the image pick-up unit occurs,
so that the preset communication device with an image display
function of the recipient is automatically called.
The image pick-up unit of the communication device with such a
construction and arrangement are preferably placed at as many
predetermined sites as possible in a building, warehouse and other
locations as necessary, while a communication device equipped with
an image display function (hereinafter referred to as
"communication device on the recipient side", for convenience)
which may be different from the communication devices (hereinafter
referred to as "communication devices on the sender side", for
convenience) is made ready for use. A transmission line of the
communication device on the recipient side is preset in the line
setting unit of the communication device on the sender side. With
such an arrangement and operations, crime and fire prevention can
be achieved.
That is, in a case where a suspicious person intrudes into a
warehouse or other buildings, the instant at which a part of a
subject shot by the image pick-up means changes by movement of an
intruder when the intruder moves around in the vicinity of the
image pick-up unit acts as a timing signal for calling, and a
predetermined output signal is entered into the line setting unit.
Alternately, in a case where a fire breaks out, the instant at
which a part of an image of the target subject changes by a swaying
of a flame acts as a timing signal for calling, and a predetermined
output signal is entered into the line setting unit. Thereby, the
line setting unit calls the communication device on the recipient
side automatically.
It should be appreciated that, in general, it is possible to use
any detectable change in the pixels of a shot image of a
surveillance objective as establishing a change in the subject
image. In this case, however, such a device may become too
expensive since a high performance image processing section and a
high performance arithmetic processing section are necessary to
detect such a change and in addition to this, the power consumption
increases, which in turn, requires a large capacity power supply
and limits the portability of the drives. Furthermore, even a
change in image that is not problematic, such as a change in image,
shot by the imaging unit, caused by movement of a small animal or
by sways of a lifeless object under the influence of a wind has a
possibility of being detected. Hence, a predetermined part of a
subject target from an image of a surveillance object shot by the
image pick-up unit is preset and only a change in that the part of
the target subject is preferably detected.
In such a way, since the transmitting unit for transmitting a shot
image to a recipient is equipped to the communication device on the
sender side and since the image display unit for displaying image
information is equipped to the communication device on the
recipient side, it can be visually confirmed whether a calling
information source of the portable communication device on the
sender side is an intrusion of a suspicious person or a breaking
out of a fire, and in addition to this, it can be visually
confirmed further which of the presence of a visitor, loitering of
an elderly person, a rapid change in condition of a patient in bed,
waking up of a baby or infant, criminal in robbery or theft on a
car, a burglar into the home and offenses of a wild animal occur,
etc. so that measures for crime and fire prevention, medical care
and so on can be performed with no mistakes, or alternately since
the scene can be actually confirmed even when there is a
malfunctioning of an infrared sensor, false information on small
animals and others, fruitless efforts such as immediate dispatch to
the scene otherwise caused by false information can also be
avoided.
When the image is formed from infrared rays, a conspicuous light
source for shooting is unnecessary, thereby enabling an installment
site for the communication device as a crime preventive device so
as not to be conspicuous. Further, an active light source is not
necessary in a case where far-infrared rays which a human body can
radiate are picked up by the imaging unit, thereby not only
enabling more certain crime prevention to be implemented, but
eliminating false recognition of a change in a subject such as
sways of a lifeless thing under the influence of air streams. On
the other hand, in a case where a picture is picked up using a
light source of near infrared rays, a person can be discerned with
more ease since a human image even in the dark can be picked up as
a picture image close to a visible light image.
Further, when a sender side and a recipient side have communication
devices, the recipient side can remotely communicate with a site of
occurrence of an abnormal situation in an interactive manner with
image and speech since the communication devices have an image
pick-up unit and a transmitting unit for transmitting shot image
information to a recipient. Further, when each of the sender side
and the recipient side has a proper, plural number of the devices
at hand, a surveillance area, for example, can be expanded
according to the number of rooms or the number of houses to be
surveyed or a further reinforcement in a surveillance system and a
cooperation in crime prevention and fire prevention can be expected
through a network of family members, relatives, friends,
acquaintances, people in the close neighborhood and others.
In a case where a daughter device to which at least an image
pick-up unit as described above can be connected so as to enable
wired or wireless communication to be provided, a location of the
image pick-up unit is not required to be near a communication
device but can be placed at a more useful site. As one example,
when a daughter device is located at the front door as an
interphone connected to the home communication system, not only can
preparation to receive a visitor be quickly conducted, but early
discovery can be achieved of a suspicious person at the front
door.
An auxiliary device for communication of a sixth aspect of the
present invention is characterized in that, on one hand, a
detecting unit for detecting at least one of a human body and a
fire is equipped to a vessel connected to a external connecting
terminal of a portable telephone provided with a speech and image
transmitting function using commercial electromagnetic waves, while
on the other hand, an auto-dialing instruction originating section
for calling a specified telephone of the recipient based on a
predetermined output signal from the detecting unit automatically
while specifying the telephone equipped with a image display
function of the recipient is equipped to a portable telephone or
the vessel.
A sensor such as a human body detecting unit comprises at least one
of a pyroelectricity type or a thermopile type infrared detector
detecting, for example, infrared rays in the vicinity of 10 .mu.m
in wavelength, a supersonic wave type detector and a near infrared
detector detecting near infrared rays in the vicinity of 1 .mu.m in
wavelength, and a sensor as a fire detecting unit comprises at
least one of a pyroelectricity type or a thermopile type infrared
flame detector detecting, for example, infrared rays in the
vicinity of 4.3 .mu.m in wavelength, a thermal detector, a smoke
detector and a ultraviolet detector.
In a case where crime prevention, welfare and others are the
objectives, an auxiliary device for communication equipped with a
human body detecting unit can be made ready for use, in a case of
fire prevention being an objective, an auxiliary device for
communication equipped with a fire detecting unit is made ready for
use and in a case of crime prevention, welfare and others, and fire
prevention being objectives, two kinds of auxiliary devices for
communication or an auxiliary device for communication equipped
with a human body detector and a fire detector can also be used.
Further, such auxiliary devices for communication are preferably
placed at as many predetermined sites as possible in a building, a
warehouse and other locations requiring monitoring.
On the other hand, a telephone with an image display function
(which may be of either an installed type or a portable type, is
preferably of a portable type when a recipient is frequently on the
move outside the home or office and hereinafter referred to as a
"telephone on the recipient side", for convenience) other than a
portable telephone equipped with this auxiliary device for
communication (hereinafter referred to as a "portable telephone on
the sender side", for convenience) is made ready to use and based
on a predetermined output signal from the detecting unit, the
telephone on the recipient side as previously specified can be
automatically called by an auto-dialing instruction originating
section.
With the above described construction and arrangement, for example,
in a case where a suspicious person intrudes into a warehouse or a
like building, the intruder is detected by the human body detector
when the intruder moves around in the vicinity of the human body
detector of the auxiliary device for communication, while in a case
where a fire breaks out, such a situation is detected by the fire
detector, a predetermined output signal is issued from the
detecting unit based on the detection and thereby, the telephone
previously specified on the recipient side is automatically called
by the auto-dialing instruction originating section.
Further, when plural kinds of human body detecting units with
different detecting functions or plural kinds of fire detecting
units with different detecting functions are provided, detecting
accuracy increases, thereby realizing an advantage of higher
reliability.
In brief, according to a sixth aspect of the present invention,
since the telephone on the recipient side is equipped with an image
display unit, it can be visually confirmed in a remote manner, with
the help of an auxiliary device for communication equipped with the
human body detecting unit, whether or not a calling information
source of the portable telephone on the sender side is an intrusion
of a suspicious person and in addition to this, other activities
such as a call from a handicapped person, the presence of a
visitor, movement of an elderly person, a rapid change in condition
of a patient in bed, waking up of a baby or infant, a criminal in
robbery or theft on a car, a burglar into the home, offenses of a
wild animal and others that may occur and in an auxiliary device
for communication equipped with the fire detecting unit, occurrence
of a fire can be recognized visually and in a remote manner.
Especially, in a case where a portable telephone equipped with an
auxiliary device for communication is further equipped with image
display unit for displaying shot image information from a sender
side in communication, the portable telephone can remotely
communicate with the scene of occurrence of an abnormal situation
using image and speech in an interactive manner. When an
appropriate, plural number of auxiliary devices for communication
with such a construction are made ready for use on each of the
sender and recipient sides, a surveillance area, for example, can
be expanded according to the number of rooms or the number of
houses, to be surveyed, or a further reinforcement in cooperation
in aspects of crime prevention, fire prevention, welfare and
medical care and a surveillance system can be expected through a
network of family members, relatives, friends, acquaintances,
people in the close neighborhood and others.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The exact nature of this invention, as well as its objects and
advantages, will become readily apparent from consideration of the
following specification as illustrated in the accompanying
drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like parts
throughout the figures thereof, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a communication device;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of various functional sections included
in a portable telephone;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing configuration of a connecting
circuit between a portable telephone and a holder;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing configuration of the
connecting circuit according to another embodiment;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing configuration of the
connecting circuit according to still another embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing configuration of the
connecting circuit according to another embodiment using pulsed
light;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of infrared detecting unit;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another example of the infrared
detecting unit;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a communication device according to
another embodiment;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a communication device according
to still another embodiment;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a communication device according
to a further embodiment;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a communication device according
to a still further embodiment;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a portable telephone set in a
charger;
FIG. 14 is a block diagram of various functional sections included
in the portable telephone;
FIG. 15 is a block diagram of infrared detecting unit;
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a modification of image pick-up
unit;
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of another modification of the image
pick-up unit;
FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a communication device including
an auxiliary device for communication;
FIG. 19 is a block diagram of various functional sections equipped
to a communication device;
FIG. 20 is a block diagram of human body and fire detecting
unit;
FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a communication device according
to a first other embodiment;
FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a communication device according
to a second other embodiment;
FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a communication device according
to a third other embodiment;
FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a communication device according
to a fourth other embodiment;
FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a portable telephone in a case
where a communication device is the portable telephone being set in
a charger;
FIG. 26 is a block diagram of various functional sections included
in a portable telephone in a case where a communication device is
the portable telephone;
FIGS. 27A-C is a pictorial illustration for description of setting
examples for shooting subjects each for detecting a change
therein;
FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a modification of image pick-up
unit;
FIG. 29 is a front view of another modification of the image
pick-up unit;
FIG. 30 is an illustration showing a system example in a case where
the present invention is a telephone; and
FIG. 31 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the
telephone.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The following description is provided to enable any person skilled
in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best
modes contemplated by the inventors of carrying out their
invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily
apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles
of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to
provide a compact and inexpensive surveillance system utilizing a
plurality of portable telephones.
Description will be given of an embodiment of the first aspect of
the present invention below with reference to accompanying
drawings. FIG. 1 shows a communication device of one embodiment
relating to a first aspect of the present invention and the
communication device is constructed such that a portable telephone
3 is set in a charging holder 2 connected to an AC adapter (a
stabilized power source) 1 assuming a charging posture.
The portable telephone 3 comprises an image pick-up unit 4 and an
image display unit 5 and has a transmit/receive function for image
and speech using commercial bandwidth electromagnetic waves (for
example, a commercial wave used by NTT within Japan). The telephone
3 further comprises conventional dial buttons 6, execute/terminate
buttons for conversation 7 and 8, a menu button 9 presenting
contents of various functions (a list of directory numbers or
abbreviated numbers of the recipients and so on) provided to the
portable telephone 3 on the image display means 5, and an antenna
10 of a telescopic type. As shown in a block diagram of FIG. 2, the
telephone 3 further comprises a battery, B, 11 electrically
connected to the AC adapter 1 in a state when the portable
telephone 3 is set in the holder 2, communication circuitry 12, and
dialing setting unit 13 for calling a specified telephone on the
recipient side as internal constituents.
On the other hand, the holder 2 is of a desk top type (alternately,
it may be a wall-hung type, in which case the holder 2 is hung on a
hook, etc.) and has infrared detecting unit 14 which detects
infrared rays radiated around the front surface section of the
holder 2, an abnormality judging unit 15 judging the occurrence of
an abnormality based on a predetermined output signal from the
infrared detecting unit 14 and an auto-dialing instruction
originating section 16 calling at least one telephone number preset
by the dialing setting unit 13 automatically, by entering an
operation signal into the dial setting unit 13 based on the result
of a judgment determination of an abnormality occurring.
Further, an auto-dialing instruction receiving section 17 on the
side of the portable telephone 3 for entering a dial command into
the dialing setting unit 13 and the auto-dialing instruction
originating section 16 on the holder 2 side are constructed such
that the sections 16 and 17 are put into an electrical connection
state when the portable telephone 3 is set in the holder 2. That
is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the connection between the
portable telephone 3 and the holder 2 is effected by a circuit 19
similar to a battery connection circuit 18 in which an output
terminal a of a leaf spring and an input terminal b is put into
contact with each other.
It should be appreciated that the connection between the
instruction originating/receiving sections 16 and 17 is not limited
to the above described circuit configuration, since either of the
modified embodiments such as a connecting circuit 19 including a
lead line c and a plug d as shown in FIG. 4 and a connecting
circuit 19 including female and male sockets e as shown in FIG. 5
can be selected. Alternatively, a communication circuit 19 using
pulsed light including light receiving and emitting elements f and
h can also be selected. The connecting and communication circuits
can be used, singularly or in combination.
The above described infrared detecting unit 14, as shown in a block
diagram of FIG. 7, is equipped with two infrared sensors 20A and 20
B constituted of detectors of a pyroelectricity type or a
thermopile type. More particularly, the infrared detecting unit 14
comprises a sensor 20A for detecting a human body, equipped with a
10 .mu.m band pass filter 21 so as to sense infrared rays in the
vicinity of 10 .mu.m in wavelength radiated from the human body and
a sensor 20B for detecting a combustion flame, equipped with a 4.3
.mu.m band pass filter 22 so as to sense infrared rays in the
vicinity of 4.3 .mu.m in wavelength radiated from the flame,
wherein a collective lens 23 is placed at the front surface section
of the sensor 20A and an infrared transmission cover 24 is placed
at the front surface section of the sensor 20B.
To each of the sensors 20A and 20B, an amplifier 25, a comparator
26 and a judging section 27 are connected in series such that a
dial command is output to the auto-dialing instruction originating
section 16 from the abnormality judging unit 15 based on a
predetermined output signal generated in response to detection
either of a human body and a fire.
According to the communication device with the above construction,
when a person intrudes into a predetermined detection area of
infrared rays under surveillance by the infrared detecting unit 14,
infrared rays radiated by the human body are caught by one infrared
sensor 20A. Then, intrusion of the person into the infrared
detection area is judged to be an abnormality by the abnormality
judging unit 15 and the judgment result is entered into the
auto-dialing instruction receiving section 17 from the auto-dialing
instruction originating section 16 through the connecting circuit
19. With the inputting of the judgment result, the dialing setting
unit 13 initiates a call to at least one preset telephone on the
recipient side.
On the other hand, when a fire breaks out in the infrared detection
area of the infrared detecting unit 14, infrared rays radiated from
a flame are received by the other infrared sensor 20B. Then, the
abnormality judging section 15 enters the judgment result of a fire
occurrence into the auto-dialing instruction receiving section 17
from the auto-dialing instruction originating section 16 and
thereby, the dialing setting unit 13 calls at least one preset
telephone on the recipient side as well. At this time, one or more
of specified other parties on the recipient side may selectively be
called according to whether there is an intrusion of a person or
the breaking out of a fire.
Therefore, a plurality of communication devices having the above
construction can be placed at predetermined sites in, for example,
a warehouse and so on, and portable telephones 3 are also provided
to the communication devices which can be used as conventional
portable telephones on the sender side, while separately from the
arrangement of the communication devices on the sender side, a
receiving telephone unit with a speech/image transmit/receive
function is made ready for use on the recipient side. With such a
construction and arrangement, if a directory number of the
telephone on the recipient side is previously entered into the
dialing setting unit 13 of a portable telephone on the sender side,
the intrusion of a suspicious person into a warehouse can be caught
by the infrared detecting unit 14 when the suspicious person,
intruding into the warehouse, enters the infrared detection area of
the infrared detecting unit 14, while a flame of a fire in the
warehouse is detected by the infrared detecting unit 14 when the
fire breaks out in the warehouse.
At this time, a predetermined output signal from the infrared
detecting unit 14 is entered into the dialing setting unit 13
through the auto-dialing instruction originating section 16 and
thereby, the dialing setting unit 13 calls a preset telephone on
the recipient side automatically. When the telephone on the
recipient side is switched over into a communication session based
on the particular calling, a picture around the portable telephone
3 on the sender side (that is a picture of the intruder or the
fire) is presented on the image display means of the telephone
3.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a modification example of the
infrared detecting unit 14. Sensors 20A and 20B constituting part
of the infrared detecting unit 14 in FIG. 8 are provided in a
vessel 21 which is connected to the holder 2 by means of hard-wired
communication or wireless communication. With such a construction
as in this example, the sensors 20A and 20B can be placed in a
remotely spaced manner from the holder 2, thereby enabling
placement of the sensors 20A and 20B at not conspicuous sites which
ensure the system performances.
An image buffer for storing image information separately at a
recorded timing at which the detection energy of infrared rays by
the infrared sensor 20A changes is also provided in the portable
telephone 3, in the holder 2 or in the vessel 2' connected to the
holder 2. With such a provision of the image buffer, a situation
can be avoided in which an initial status of the abnormality may
become impossible to confirm due to a time loss till communication
with the portable telephone on the recipient side becomes
established from a time when an output signal from the infrared
detecting unit 14 is received on the recipient side.
Furthermore, when a telephone on the recipient side is portable, a
recipient, wherever he or she is located, can instantly recognize
by a visual indicator or an auditory indicator in a remote manner
occurrence of the above described situations and further whether
the calling by an automatic dialing is caused by detection of a
human body or a fire. Based on such information, rescue can
selectively be requested from a police department, a fire
department, or acquaintances in the close neighborhood with a
appropriate result using the portable telephone on the recipient
side, so that an early measure against crime prevention and fire
prevention can be established. In this situation, since
malfunctioning of the infrared sensors 20A and 20B or even false
information caused by intrusion of small animals such as a pet can
be confirmed by using a picture of the scene, fruitless response
efforts such as immediate dispatch to the scene otherwise caused by
false information can also be avoided.
When communication devices with the above described construction
are placed around a patient in bed, around a baby or infant in a
crib and in addition to these, at an exit/entrance position such as
the front door, movements of the patient in the bed, of the baby or
infant, or a person when passing the exit/entrance are caught by
the infrared detecting unit 14 and a telephone on the recipient
side is automatically called, so that for example, loitering and
abnormal behaviors of an elderly person, a rapid change in
condition of a patient in bed, waking up of a baby or infant or
others can instantly be recognized in a visual and remote
manner.
With communication devices having the above described construction
and arrangement, a portable telephone 3 equipped to such a
communication device can remotely communicate with a telephone on
the recipient side using image and speech in an interactive manner.
Therefore, when a appropriate, plural number of communication
devices with the above described construction are preferably
provided ready to use on each of the sender and recipient sides, a
surveillance area, for example, can be expanded according to the
number of rooms or the number of houses, to be surveyed, or a
further reinforcement in cooperation in aspects of crime
prevention, fire prevention and so on and a surveillance system can
be created through a network of family members, relatives, friends,
acquaintances, people in the close neighborhood and others.
Still in addition to the above cases, in those cases where
communication devices with the above construction and arrangement
are placed on an auto-bicycle or at appropriate places in the cabin
of a car or the like, visual detection of a criminal and
notification thereof, when robbery or theft occurs on an
auto-bicycle or a car, can be effected by a telephone on the
recipient side and in this case, when an image recording device is
externally connected to the telephone on the recipient side and
picked-up image information from the portable telephone on the
sender side is recorded, the recorded images can be a clue for
specifying the criminal. Furthermore, in the field of agriculture,
when communication devices with the above configuration are placed,
for example, at predetermined sites in a vinyl greenhouse, offenses
by wild animals therein can visually be detected with the help of
information on the kinds of animals.
It should be appreciated that while in the above described
embodiment, the image display unit 5 is equipped to the portable
telephone 3 in a communication device on the sender side, the
embodiment can satisfactorily be carried out without the image
display unit 5 on the sender side in the cases of crime prevention
and fire prevention since image information from the telephone on
the recipient side is not necessary to be displayed on the portable
telephone 3 on the sender side.
Further, when a communication device on the sender side is set to
surveillance states for crime and fire prevention and others, the
infrared detecting unit could detect an authorized person herself
or himself and regard the authorized person as an intruder by
mistake and wrongly call a specified telephone on the recipient
side, as a preventive measure against such inconveniences, a timer
(dead time) for several seconds is preferably set after a
surveillance state is armed, that is the surveillance state is
preferably set by a command from, for example, a telephone on the
recipient side. This command may arbitrarily be transmitted to the
auto-dialing instruction originating section 16, the auto-dialing
instruction receiving section 17 or the like sections.
Alternatively, while the battery 11 for the portable telephone 3 is
charged in cases other than a surveillance mode such as a crime
prevention or fire prevention, a specified telephone could also be
called by detection of a person that is effected by the infrared
detecting unit 14. As a preventive measure against occurrence of
this situation, for example, a change-over switch between a
surveillance mode and a charge mode may be provided in the infrared
detection system, and a timer (dead time) for several seconds is
set after the charge mode is changed over to the surveillance mode,
whereby human body detection by the infrared sensor 20A is disabled
in the charge mode.
Description will now be given of a communication device according
to another embodiment with reference to FIG. 9. This embodiment is
characterized in that a communication device is constructed as a
wall-hung type. A horizontal bracket member 28 is formed on the top
side of the holder 2. An insert hole i formed in the bracket member
28, and a hook 30 is provided on a horizontal portion 29a of an
angle member 29. The angle member 29 is mounted on a wall surface
(not shown) to hang the bracket member 28 on the hook 30, so that
an effective aiming range of the image pick-up unit 4 equipped to
the holder 2 that is, to the portable telephone 3 can be adjustable
by rotation around the supporting hook 30.
Furthermore, description will be made of a communication device
according to still another embodiment with reference to FIG. 10. In
this embodiment, not only is an image pick-up unit 4 of a portable
telephone 3 constructed so as to enable head oscillation in a
direction, forward or backward, but the holder 2 is constructed so
as to be of a desktop type, which will be described below.
That is, the holder 2 is constructed of a support base or plate
member 31 and a pivotal holder body 32 coupled with one end of the
plate member 31 through a hinge structure 32a on a lateral axis,
wherein not only is a support link 33 in which a engage groove j
formed in a branched manner is pivotally fixed on the plate member
31, but a pin m selectively engaging in the engage groove j is
provided to the holder body 32, so that a shooting range of the
image pick-up unit 4 can be adjusted about the lateral axis.
FIG. 11 is a view showing a further embodiment of image pick-up
unit. The imaging unit 4' shown in this example is a camera
picking-up a picture including wavelengths of the near infrared
rays and this camera 4' is, for example, a camera with which a
picture including wavelengths of near infrared rays (for example,
in the s range of from 0.7 .mu.m to 1.5 .mu.m) is shot. An
alphanumerical mark 4a indicates a light emitting diode as an
example of a near infrared light source for illuminating the target
area and an alphanumerical mark 4b indicates a transmission window
behind which the light emitting diode 4a and the camera 41 are
positioned in the portable telephone 3.
In this example, since shooting by the camera 4' is conducted such
that wavelengths used in the shooting include the above described
near infrared rays, a picture shot by the camera 4' can provide an
image close to a visible image as viewed with the naked eye even in
the dark, thereby making the picture suitable for identifying a
person to be surveyed. Near infrared light rays radiated from the
light source 4a are not conspicuous since the light rays cannot be
seen directly by the naked eye and a person under surveillance is
not conscious of the presence of the camera 4' owing to light rays
from the light source 4a, which is advantageous from the viewpoint
of crime prevention.
In addition, with the transmission window 4b provided as in this
example, the camera can be further less conspicuous. It should be
appreciated that the present invention is not limited to the use of
rays ranging from visible light rays to near infrared rays. That
is, infrared light rays in an intermediate range (of 1.5 .mu.m to 5
.mu.m in wavelength) and far infrared light rays (of 5 .mu.m to 100
.mu.m in wavelength) may be used for the shooting. Further, the
present invention is not limited to shooting an intensity
distribution of infrared light rays as an infrared ray image, but
could shoot a wavelength distribution of infrared light rays as an
infrared ray image.
In a case where wavelengths of light rays used in shooting are
those of the infrared rays in the intermediate range and the far
infrared rays, a light source such as the light emitting diode 4a
is omitted and the infrared light rays radiated from a human body
can be picked up as a target image, as they are. That is, a person
under surveillance cannot find out the camera 4' using the light
source 4a as a clue.
FIG. 12 is a view showing a still further embodiment of the first
aspect of the present invention shown in FIG. 1. In this example, a
surveillance camera 34 is provided separately from the holder 2 of
a portable telephone equipped with an image transmission function.
The surveillance camera 34 comprises the image pick-up unit 4', a
light source 4a thereof, and infrared sensors 20A and 20B. The
surveillance camera 34 can communicate with the holder 2, for
example, through a communication cable C and is placed at a site
not conspicuous but desirable for surveillance. On the other hand,
the holder 2 and the portable telephone 3 are placed at sites under
good electromagnetic wave conditions but cannot be seen from a
location of a surveillance objective.
With the above described construction and arrangement, a person
under surveillance is harder to find out a communication device of
the present invention and thereby, performance as a crime
preventive device can be improved.
It should be appreciated that in this example as well, light rays
used by the image pick-up unit 4' loaded on the surveillance camera
34 is not limited to only light rays ranging from the visible light
rays to the near infrared light rays, but far infrared light rays
and infrared light rays in the intermediate range may also be used.
In cases where the latter infrared rays are used, it is unnecessary
to use a light source 4a as detailed above.
Furthermore, while in this example, the surveillance camera 34 and
the image pick-up unit are connected by the communication cable C,
the present invention is not limited to the communication cable C
as connecting means, but may be connected by way of cordless
communication such as electromagnetic waves or optical
communication. In addition, in this example, the surveillance
camera 34 is equipped with the infrared sensors 20A and 20B, so
that imaging can get started when a person under surveillance comes
close to the surveillance camera 34 or a still image can be stored
in an image buffer not shown, but the present invention is not
limited to mounting positions of the infrared sensors 20A and 20B
inside the surveillance camera 34.
Further, in this example, the image display section 5 is not
provided to the portable telephone 3s on the sender side but an
image data is transmitted using a portable telephone having a
communication port, whereby the portable telephone can be used as a
portable telephone equipped with an image transmission function.
Besides, the portable telephone 3r on the recipient side is not
equipped with image pick-up units 4 and 4'. That is, in order to
implement the present invention, there is neither a need to equip
the image display section 5 to the portable telephone 3s on the
sender side, nor a need to equip the image pick-up unit 4 to the
portable telephone 3r on the recipient side either. Therefore, it
goes without saying that in any of the examples detailed using
FIGS. 1 to 11 as well, the image display section 5 is not required
in the portable telephone 3 loaded in the holder 2.
It should be appreciated that while in any of the above described
embodiments, the auto-dialing instruction originating section 16
originating an auto-dial command is loaded on the holder 2, the
auto-dialing instruction originating section 16 can be included in
the portable telephone 3 side and further, needless to say that in
any of the communication devices shown in FIGS. 1 to 9, 11 and 12,
the portable telephone 3 can all be the portable telephone 3 of a
head oscillating type shown in FIG. 10.
Further, while the holder 2 for charge is integrally used for a
communication device, a holder for use in resting the portable
telephone 3 in an inclined manner on the desk, for example, can be
used or alternately, a dedicated holder may be provided
separately.
In the present invention, as described above, a portable telephone
equipped with a speech and image transmission function using
commercial electromagnetic waves is employed to construct a
communication device enabling monitoring occurrence of an
abnormality and therefore, a so-called security system can be
constructed at a low cost without requiring significant
installation wiring work on a large scale.
Furthermore, since a portable telephone is used, not only can
surveillance sites be changed with great ease, but interactive
communication using speech and an image can be conducted and
further, a portable telephone can satisfactorily be used in a
normal mode as well. As a whole, according to the present
invention, communication devices enable remote surveillance on an
intruder and/or an occurrence of a fire to protect a property by
individuals, singularly or in a small number as a unit without
relying on a security company or a helper and further enables
remote safety confirmation of human life precisely in real time at
a low cost.
Further, in a case where the picture is of infrared rays, there
arises no need to provide a conspicuous light source for shooting
an image, thereby enabling sites for placement of a communication
devices functioning as a crime preventive device, not to be
conspicuous.
Description will now be given of an embodiment of a second aspect
of the present invention below with reference to accompanying
drawings. FIG. 13 shows a perspective view of a portable telephone
set in a charger 41 connectable to an AC/DC converter 1 and this
portable telephone has a conversation function on commercial
electromagnetic waves and comprises dial buttons 42,
execute/terminate buttons for conversation 43 and 44, a menu button
46 presenting contents of various functions (a list of directory
numbers or abbreviated numbers of the recipients and so on)
provided to the portable telephone on an image display unit 45, and
an antenna 47 of a telescopic type and in addition to these, as
shown in a block diagram of FIG. 14, further comprises a portable
telephone function section 48, a battery 49 and a speech processing
section 50 as internal constituents.
While the above described construction is nothing more than a
portable telephone generally widespread as a communication device,
a communication device of the present invention is constructed such
that the device comprises an image pickup unit 51 for shooting
around the front surface section of the portable telephone, a
transmitting unit 52 for transmitting shot image information to the
recipient side in communication, an image display unit 53 for
presenting shot image information (a picture) from the sender side
in communication on the image display section 45, infrared
detecting unit 54 for detecting infrared rays radiated around the
front surface section of the portable telephone, dialing setting
unit 55 for calling a preset telephone with an image display
function on the recipient side in communication and an auto-dialing
function section 56, wherein an operating signal is entered into
the dialing setting unit 55 from the auto dialing function section
56 based on a predetermined output signal from the infrared
detecting unit 54 and then at least one preset telephone with an
image display function is automatically called by the dialing
setting unit 55.
The above described infrared detecting unit 54 is provided with two
infrared sensors 57A and 57B each constituted of a pyroelectricity
type or a thermopile type detector, and the system is constructed
such that an amplifier 58, a comparator 59 and a judging section 60
are connected to each of the sensors 57A and 57B, wherein a
judgment result from the judging section 60 is entered into the
auto-dialing function section 56, and one infrared sensor 57A is
provided with a 10 .mu.m band pass filter 61 so that infrared rays
in the vicinity of 10 .mu.m in wavelength radiated from a human
body is sensed, and a collective lens 62 is placed at the front
surface section.
The other infrared sensor 57B is provided with a 4.3 .mu.m band
pass filter 63 so that infrared rays in the vicinity of 4.3 um in
wavelength radiated from a flame is sensed and an infrared
transmission cover 64 is placed at the front surface section.
According to the above described construction, infrared rays
radiated from a person in an infrared detection area under
influence of the infrared detecting unit 54 are caught by the one
infrared sensor 57A when she or he intrudes into the infrared
detection area. Then, a judgment result of intrusion by a person
into the infrared detection area is entered into the auto-dialing
function section 56 through the judging section 60 to operate the
dialing setting unit 55 and thereby, the portable telephone
function section 48 calls at least one preset telephone with an
image display function on the recipient side in communication.
On the other hand, when a fire breaks out in the infrared detection
area under influence of the infrared detecting unit 54, not only is
infrared rays radiated from a lame thereof caught by the other
infrared sensor 57B but a judgment result of fire breaking out is
entered into the auto-dialing function section 56 by the judging
section 60 to operate the dialing setting unit 55, so that the
portable telephone function section 48 this time as well calls at
least one preset telephone with an image display function on the
recipient side in communication. At this time, one of specified
recipients to be called may be selected according to whether a
person intrudes or a fire breaks out.
Therefore, when not only are a plurality of portable telephones
with the above described construction as portable telephones on the
sender side placed at distributing predetermined sites in, for
example, in a warehouse and other buildings, but a telephone with
the above described construction is separately made ready for use
as a telephone on the recipient side and further, a directory
number of the telephone on the recipient side is entered into the
dialing setting unit 55 of the portable telephone on the sender
side, then when a suspicious person is caught by the infrared
detecting unit 54 when the suspicious person intrudes into the
infrared detection area under surveillance by the infrared
detecting unit 54 in a warehouse while a flame in the warehouse can
also be detected by the infrared detecting unit 54 when a fire
breaks out in the warehouse.
In such situations, a predetermined output signal from the infrared
detecting unit 54 is entered into the dialing setting unit 55
through the auto-dialing function section 56 and the dialing
setting unit 55, in turn, calls a preset telephone on the recipient
side automatically. When the telephone on the recipient side is
switched over to a communication session based on the calling, a
picture around the portable telephone on the sender side (that is a
picture of an intruder or a fire) is displayed on the image display
section 45 of the portable telephone based on information from the
image display unit 53.
FIG. 16 is a view showing a further embodiment of imaging unit.
Image pickup unit 51' shown in this example is a camera shooting a
picture including wavelengths of near infrared rays and this camera
51' picks up a picture of wavelengths including near infrared rays
(for example, in the range of from 0.7 .mu.m to 1.5 .mu.m) as one
example. Further, an alphanumerical mark 51a indicates a light
emitting diode as one example of a near infrared light source and
an alphanumerical mark 51b indicates a transmission window which
covers the light emitting diode 51 a and the camera 51 ' inside the
portable telephone 3.
In this example, since wavelengths that the camera 51' uses for
imaging includes the above described near infrared rays, a picture
picked up even in the dark by the camera 51' can be close to a
visible image seen by the naked eye and therefore, the shooting
with wavelengths including the above near infrared rays is suitable
for identifying a person under surveillance. Since near infrared
rays radiated from the light source 4a cannot be seen directly by
the naked eye, the rays are not conspicuous and a person under
surveillance cannot be conscious of the presence of the camera 51'
though being exposed to the rays from the light source 51a, which
is advantageous in crime prevention.
In addition, when the transmission window 51b is provided as in
this example, the camera 51' can be harder to be seen by the naked
eye. It should be appreciated that wavelengths of light that the
camera 51' uses for shooting are not limited in the range of from a
visible light range to near infrared rays. That is, infrared rays
in the intermediate range (of 1.5 .mu.m to 5 .mu.m in wavelength)
and far infrared rays (of 5 .mu.m to 100 .mu.m in wavelength) may
be used for shooting. Further, in the present invention, there is
no limitation to shooting an intensity distribution of infrared
rays as a picture, but the shooting may be of a wavelength
distribution of infrared light rays as an infrared ray image.
In a case where wavelengths of rays used in shooting an image are
infrared rays in the intermediate range and the far infrared rays,
a light source such as the light emitting diode 51a is omitted and
the infrared rays radiated from a human body can be picked up as a
shot image. That is, a person under surveillance is unlikely to
discover the camera 51' using the light source 51a.
FIG. 17 is a view showing an example different from the
communication device of the present invention shown in FIG. 16. In
this example, a portable telephone equipped with a transmission
function is provided with a surveillance camera 65 separately from
the body of the portable telephone and the surveillance camera 65
comprises the image pick-up unit 51', a light source 51a and
infrared detecting unit 54 including infrared sensors 57A and 57B.
The surveillance camera 65 can communicate with the body of the
portable telephone through a communication cable C connected to,
for example, a communication port P of the portable telephone, so
that the camera 65 can be freely placed at an inconspicuous site
where surveillance is desirably conducted. On the other hand, the
body of the portable telephone is placed at a site that is located
in good electromagnetic wave conditions but which cannot be seen
from a site of a surveillance objective.
With the above construction and arrangement, a person under
surveillance will find it further harder to discover the existence
of a communication device of the present invention and its
performance as a crime preventive device can be improved. It should
be appreciated that in this example as well, the image pick-up unit
51' loaded on the surveillance camera 65 not only uses only rays in
the range of from the visible rays to the near infrared rays in a
limiting manner but may also use the far infrared rays and the
infrared rays in the intermediate range. In a case where the latter
two kinds of infrared rays are used, the light source 51a is not
necessary to be provided as is detailed above.
Furthermore, while in this example, the surveillance camera 65 is
connected to the body of a portable telephone through the
communication cable C, the present invention is not limited to the
communication cable C as a connection link, but electromagnetic
waves may be used for cordless communication as a connection. In
addition, in this example, since the surveillance camera 65 is
provided with the infrared sensors 57A and 57B, shooting can get
started when a person to be surveyed comes close to the camera 65
or a still picture can be stored in an image buffer (not shown),
but in the present invention, mounting of the infrared sensors 57A
and 57B is not limited to the interior of the surveillance camera
65.
In this example, the portable telephone 1s on the sender side has
no image display section 45 and the portable telephone 1r on the
recipient side has neither of image pick-up units 51 and 51'. That
is, in carrying out the present invention, neither the image
display section 45 nor the image display unit 53 are not necessary
to be provided to the portable telephone 1s on the sender side, and
the image pick-up unit is not necessary to be provided to the
portable telephone 1r on the recipient side either. Hence, portable
telephones on the sender side detailed already using FIGS. 13 to 15
are not required to have the image display section 45 and the image
display unit 53 equipped thereto.
Description will be given of an embodiment of the sixth aspect of
the present invention with reference to accompanying drawings. FIG.
18 shows a communication device according to the embodiment of the
sixth aspect of the present invention and, as shown in a block
diagram of FIG. 19, this communication device is constructed such
that an auxiliary device 75 for communication is connected to an
external connection terminal 72 for connection of an optional part
of a portable telephone 71 through a lead line 73 and a plug 74 and
an AC adapter (stabilized power source) 76 is connected to the
auxiliary device 75 for communication. In this embodiment, a
battery 77 of the portable telephone 71 can be charged while power
is supplied to the auxiliary device 75 for communication.
The portable telephone 71 is equipped with an image pick-up unit 78
and image display unit 79 and has a transmit/receive function of
speech and image on commercial electromagnetic waves and further
comprises a dial buttons 80, an execute/terminate buttons for
conversation 81 and 82, a menu button 83 for presenting contents of
various functions (lists of directory numbers and abbreviated
numbers of the recipients and so on) provided to the portable
telephone on image display unit 79, and an antenna 84 of a
telescopic type.
Furthermore, the portable telephone 71 has a function that when a
telephone of the other party in communication is disconnected, a
conversation terminating operation is automatically performed (this
operation is to be ready for the next dialing, in which
conversation termination is established after a short time such as,
for example, 15 second or 30 second elapses, provided that a set
time is desirably adjustable) and in addition to this function,
communication circuitry 85 and a dialing setting unit 86 for
calling a specified telephone on the recipient side are included as
internal constituents. The portable telephone 71 is further
constructed such that the portable telephone 71 is equipped with a
folding stand 71a, thereby enabling an inclined posture in a
self-supported manner.
On the other hand, the auxiliary device for communication 75 is of
a desktop type and constructed such that detecting unit 91 for
detecting a human body and a fire around the front surface section
of a vessel 90, an abnormality judging unit 92 for judging
abnormality based on a predetermined output signal from the
detecting unit 91 and an auto-dialing instruction originating
section 93 are housed in the vessel 90 provided with a connection
terminal 87 for the lead line 73 and a connection terminal 89 for a
lead line 88 from the AC adapter 76, wherein the auto-dialing
instruction originating section 93 issues abnormality judgment
information from the abnormality judging unit 92 as an instruction
to the auto-dialing instruction receiving section 94 on the
portable telephone 71 side to call at least one telephone preset by
the dialing setting unit 86 automatically.
The above described detecting unit 91 for a human body and a fire,
as shown with a block diagram of FIG. 20, is equipped with two
sensors 95A and 95B for detection of a human body and detection of
a fire, respectively, and in this embodiment, as the sensors 95a
and 95B, infrared detectors of a pyroelectricity type or a
thermopile type are used.
To be more precise, the detecting unit 91 is equipped with the
infrared sensor 95A for detecting a human body mounted with a 10
.mu.m band pass filter 96 so as to detect infrared rays in the
vicinity of 10 .mu.m in wavelength radiated from the human body and
the infrared sensor 95B for detecting a flame mounted with a 4.3
.mu.m band pass filter 97 so as to detect infrared rays in the
vicinity of 4.3 .mu.m in wavelength radiated from the flame,
wherein a collective lens 98A is placed at the front surface
section of the sensor 95A, while an infrared transmission cover 98B
is placed at the front surface section of the sensor 95B.
An amplifier 99, a comparator 100 and a judging section 101 are
connected in series to each of the sensors 95a and 95B, a dial
command is output to an auto-dialing instruction originating
section 93 from an abnormality judging section 92 based on a
predetermined output signal of detection of a human body or/and a
fire, and the dial command signal is sent to an auto-dialing
instruction receiving section 94 by way of a lead line 73 from the
auto-dialing instruction originating section 93.
According to the auxiliary device for communication with the above
described construction, infrared rays radiated from a human body of
a person is detected by the infrared sensor 95A when the person
intrudes into the infrared detection area under influence of the
detecting unit 91 for a human body and a fire. An abnormality
judging section 92 judges abnormality based on the detection and
the judgment result is entered into the auto-dialing instruction
receiving section 94 though a lead line 73 from the auto-dialing
instruction originating section 93, whereby the dialing setting
unit 86 calls at least one preset telephone on the recipient side
automatically.
On the other hand, when a fire breaks out in the infrared detection
area under influence of the detecting unit 91 for a human body and
a fire, infrared rays radiated from the flame is detected by the
infrared sensor 95B for detecting a fire, the abnormality judging
section 92 judges abnormality based on the detection, the judgment
result of fire breaking out is entered into the auto-dialing
instruction receiving section 94 through the lead line 73 from the
auto-dialing instruction originating section 93, whereby the
dialing setting unit 86 calls at least one preset telephone on the
recipient side automatically this time as well. At this time, one
of specified recipients may selectively be called according to
whether a person intrudes or a fire breaks out.
Therefore, when a plurality of portable telephones 71 on the sender
side each with an auxiliary device 75 for communication with the
above described construction are placed at predetermined sites in a
warehouse and other buildings for example and a telephone on the
recipient side equipped with speech and image transmit/receive
functions is made ready to use and further a directory number of
the telephone on the recipient side is entered into the dialing
setting means 86 of a portable telephone on the sender side, then
intrusion of a suspicious person is detected by the sensor 95A for
a human body when the suspicious person intrudes into the infrared
detection under influence of the sensor 95A for a human body in a
warehouse, while a flame of a fire is detected by the sensor 95B
for a fire when the fire breaks out.
In such a situation, a predetermined output signal from the
detecting unit 91 is entered into the dialing setting unit 86
through the auto-dialing instruction originating section 93 and
further the dialing setting unit 86 calls a preset telephone on the
recipient side automatically. At this time, when the telephone on
the recipient side is switched over to a communication session
based on the calling, a picture around the portable telephone 71 on
the sender side (that is, a picture of an intruder or a fire) is
displayed on the image display unit of the telephone. It can
instantly recognized with the visual and auditory senses in a
remote manner whether a calling by auto-dialing is caused by
detection of a human body or detection of a fire.
At this point, in a case of crime prevention, the lead line 73
connected to an external connection terminal 72 of the portable
telephone 71 is extended and the auxiliary device for communication
75 is desirably placed at a site not conspicuous on a shelf or some
place like that. When a plug socket is not available in the
vicinity of an inconspicuous site, the lead line 88 from the AC
adapter 76 connected to the auxiliary device for communication 75
may also be extended.
It should be appreciated that, while, in this embodiment, infrared
detectors of a pyroalectricity type or a thermopile type are used
as the sensors 95A and 95B for detecting a human body and a fire,
effects similar to that of the auxiliary device for communication
75 can be obtained if, as a sensor 95A for a human body, any of an
ultrasonic detector and a near infrared detector detecting near
infrared rays in the vicinity of 1 .mu.m in wavelength is selected,
or if, as a sensor for a fire 95B, any of a thermal sensor, a smoke
sensor, and a ultraviolet sensor is selected, or further if plural
kinds of sensors with different detecting functions is combined,
though detailed descriptions thereof are omitted here.
Communication devices according to other embodiments are shown in
FIGS. 21 to 24. A communication device shown in FIG. 21 is
constructed such that the lead line 73 in the communication device
shown in FIG. 18 is eliminated, the auxiliary device for
communication 75 connected to the AC adapter 76 in the
communication device shown in FIG. 18 is connected directly to an
external connection terminal 72 of a portable telephone 71.
A communication device shown in FIG. 22 is constructed such that an
external connection terminal 72 and a charge terminal 102 are
separately provided to portable telephone 71 and not only is the AC
adapter 76 connected to the portable telephone 71 through a lead
line 88 but an auxiliary device for communication 75 is connected
to the portable telephone 71 through a lead line 103 to supply
power to the auxiliary device for communication 75 from the AC
adapter 76.
A communication device shown in FIG. 23 is constructed such that
the lead line 103 in the communication device shown in FIG. 22 is
eliminated and the auxiliary device for communication 75 is
connected directly to an external connection terminal 72 of the
portable telephone 71.
A communication device shown in FIG. 24 is constructed such that
the lead line 73 in the communication device shown in FIG. 18 is
eliminated, the auxiliary device for communication 75 connected to
the AC adapter 76 in the communication device shown in FIG. 18 is
connected directly to an external connection terminal 72 of the
portable telephone 71, on one hand, so as to omit battery charge by
way of the auxiliary device for communication 75 from the AC
adapter 76 and on the other hand, so as to perform charging of the
portable telephone 71 by inserting the portable telephone 71 into a
charge stand 105 connected to the adapter 104.
In the above described various embodiments, communication devices
may alternatively be constructed such that the AC adapter 76 is
omitted and power is supplied to the auxiliary device for
communication 75 from a battery 77 of the portable telephone 71, or
a vessel 90 of the auxiliary device for communication 75 has a
dedicated battery as an internal constituent and power is supplied
to the auxiliary device for communication 75 from the battery.
Further, while an auto-dialing instruction originating section 93
is included in the vessel 90 as an internal constituent, needless
to say that the auto-dialing instruction originating section 93 can
be included in the portable telephone 71.
It should be appreciated that in the above described embodiments,
since crime prevention, welfare and so on and fire prevention are
objectives, the detecting unit 91 for a human body and a fire is
equipped as the auxiliary device for communication 75, but if some
of the objectives are not necessary to be achieved, the auxiliary
device for communication 75 is constructed in other ways such that
in a case where crime prevention and welfare and so on are
objectives, a detection system for a fire is omitted, on the other
hand, in a case where a fire prevention is an objective, a
detection system for a human body is omitted and in addition, in
both cases, these two kinds of auxiliary devices for communication
may be combined so as to concurrently realize crime prevention,
welfare and so on and fire prevention.
Description will be given of cases where a communication device in
any of the third to fifth aspect of the present invention is a
portable telephone below with reference to accompanying drawings.
FIG. 25 shows a perspective view of a portable telephone set in a
charger 111 connectable to an AC/DC converter 1 and the portable
telephone has a speech transmission function on commercial
electromagnetic wave and comprises dial buttons 112,
execute/terminate buttons for conversation 113 and 114, a menu
button 116 presenting contents of various functions (lists of
directory numbers and abbreviated numbers of the recipients and so
on) provided to the portable telephone on image display unit 115,
and an antenna 117 of a telescopic type and in addition to these,
as shown in a block diagram of FIG. 26, further comprises a
portable telephone function section 118, a battery 119 and speech
processing section 120 as internal constituents.
A communication device of the present invention is constructed such
that the device comprises an imaging unit 121 for capturing an
image around the front surface section of the portable telephone, a
transmitting unit 122 for transmitting captured image information
to the recipient side, image display unit 123 for presenting image
information (picture) from the sender side as a picture on an image
display section 115, subject change detecting unit 124 detecting a
change in the subject image, connected to the image pick-up unit
121, a dialing setting unit 125 for calling a preset telephone with
an image display function on the recipient side (one example of
line setting unit) and an auto-dialing function section 126,
wherein an operating signal is entered into the dialing setting
unit 125 from the auto-dialing function section 126 based on a
predetermined output signal from the subject change detecting unit
124, which signal is output as a timing of calling at a change in
subject which the image pick-up unit 121 awaits while shooting and
then at least one preset telephone with an image display function
is automatically called by the dialing setting unit 125.
FIGS. 27(A) to 27(C) each are pictorial illustrations showing a
setting example of a target subject in a picture picked up by the
image pick-up unit 121. FIG. 27(A) shows an image example when the
image pick-up unit 121 is set, for example, directing the imaging
outwardly from the front door of a user's home, FIG. 27(B) shows an
image example when the image pick-up unit is set so as to be
directed towards an entrance door from the inside of a room and
FIG. 27(C) shows an image example when the image pick-up unit 121
is set so as to be directed to a safe. FIGS. 27(A) to 27(C) each
includes three or four cases where one point P (pixels in a point
constituting a target subject) is set, one line L (pixels in a
straight line constituting a target subject) is set and an area A
(pixels in an area constituting a target subject) or a line L
enclosing an area (pixels in a plurality of straight lines
constituting a target subject) is determined.
In the case of FIG. 27(A), a gate at the front door is shot by the
image pick-up unit 121, wherein as subjects, designation are
performed of one point P in part of a look of the gate at the front
door, a straight line L in a horizontal direction, corresponding to
the boundary of a user's estate and an area A constituted of
surfaces of the estate and a fence. A setting method of a straight
line L is implemented, for example, by setting at least one of a
vertical and horizontal lines and setting methods for an area A can
be conceived in various ways in which, for example, all of the shot
picture is divided into several blocks and a subject is one block
selected from the groups consisting of the blocks as the area A for
more ease.
Therefore, a preset telephone with an image display function on the
recipient side is called at a time period when a change occurs in
part P, L and A of the subject, whereby it is detected that an
intruder in any sense is present in the premises and an image can
be transmitted. Further, even in a shooting area, passersby,
vehicles in traffic flow, movement of an animal and furthermore,
changes caused by natural phenomena such as by a wind cannot be
detected at any place except for part P, L and A of the subject
image.
In a case of FIG. 27(B), likewise, a point P on a knob for opening
and closing, of an entrance door as a subject, a straight line L in
a lateral direction delimiting the lower half of the door and an
area A of the lower half of the door are set, whereby not only is
detection of an intruder performed with sureness, but sways of a
curtain or a plant and the like movements are not detected.
In a case of FIG. 27(C), a point P on a dial of a safe and an area
A including all of the safe are set as a subject, thereby enabling
detection of a person who is introduced into the image area
adjacent the safe. Further when a line L constituting a rectangle
or boundary of an outer frame is set as a subject target, a change
in the subject can be caught by comparison with more ease of
simplicity, thereby enabling detection of movements of a person who
comes in or goes out of the shooting area with certainty.
It should be appreciated that, while image pick-up elements such as
CCD and CMOS can be conceived as the image pick-up unit, an image
pick-up unit of CMOS is preferable, because of low power
consumption, for use in a portable type communication device.
As described above, one point P, a straight line L and a limited
area A constituting important portions as a subject on a picture
image are set, thereby enabling capture of a change in the subject
with more simplicity and certainty. That is, not only are
simplification and cost saving of the subject change detecting unit
achieved but less occurrences of false recognition can be
assured.
It should be appreciated that there is no need that the entrance
area that is imaged to detect intrusion of a suspicious person need
include all of a target objective since only the specified parts P,
L and A can be imaged (detecting only specified pixels) and with
this target subject setting, all of the object area can be imaged,
for the first time, after a change in the target subject matter
image is detected, thereby resulting in less power consumption.
Furthermore, in FIG. 27(C), when subjects in two categories, that
is: a line L and the inside enclosed by L are shot independently of
each other, only a straight line region is dedicated for the
detecting target while the inside enclosed by L is used for
acquiring a two dimensional image and only the straight line is put
into operation so as to await a detection of a change in the target
subject image indicating an intruder, then image processing and
arithmetic processing sections for detecting the changes can be
simplified, thereby enabling a power saving.
Further, it should be appreciated that the above described ways of
setting of P, L and A of the subject image do not limit the scope
of the present invention thereto but simply discloses examples set
out in consideration of crime prevention as a main offset. That is,
there are many schemes available and many different image points
can be set as a subject P, a vertical line segment or freely drawn
curves determined by a user can be set as a subject L, an area
enclosed by an arbitrary line may be set as a subject A.
Furthermore, a subject P, L and A can be set in combination so that
a composite change is detected before an event is determined.
According to a portable telephone with the above construction, when
a person intrudes into an area set as a target subject image in a
shooting area of image pick-up unit 121, then a change in the
subject image is detected by the subject change detecting unit 124,
the change is further entered into the auto-dialing function
section 126 through the judging section 130 and the dialing setting
unit 125 is operated, whereby the portable telephone function
section 118 calls a specified, preset telephone with an image
display function on the recipient side.
On the other hand, when a fire breaks out in the shooting area of
the image pick-up unit 121, likewise, a change is entered into the
auto-dialing function section 126 and the dialing setting unit 125
is operated, whereby the portable telephone section 118 calls a
specified, preset portable telephone with an image display function
on the recipient side. At this time, one of the specified
individual recipients may selectively be selected according to
whether a person intrudes or a fire breaks out.
Therefore, not only are a plurality of portable telephones with the
above described construction on the sender side placed distributing
at predetermined sites in a warehouse and other buildings for
example, but a telephone with the above described construction is
made ready for use as a telephone on the recipient side, and
further a directory number of the telephone on the recipient side
is entered into the dialing setting unit 125 of a portable
telephone on the sender side, then a suspicious person is caught by
the subject change detecting unit 124 as a change in the subject
image that the image pick-up unit 121 awaits when the suspicious
person intrudes into the area set as a target subject image in the
shooting area of the image pick-up unit 121, while when a fire
breaks out, a flame of the fire is caught by the subject change
detecting unit 124 similar to the case of intrusion of a suspicious
person.
In such a situation, a predetermined output signal from the subject
change detecting unit 124 is entered into the dial setting unit 125
through the auto-dialing function section 126, whereby the dialing
setting unit 125 calls a preset telephone on the recipient side
automatically. When the telephone on the recipient side is switched
over to a communication session based on the call, a picture of the
area around the portable telephone on the sender side (that is a
picture of an intruder or a fire) is displayed on the image display
section 115 of the portable telephone based on information from the
image display unit 123.
It should be appreciated that when an image buffer storing image
information at the time of a change of the subject image is
provided in the portable telephone, a situation can be avoided in
which a initial status of the fire or the intrusion becomes
impossible to confirm due to a time loss till communication is
established with the telephone on the recipient side from a time
when an output signal from the subject change detecting unit 124 is
received on the recipient side.
FIG. 28 is a view showing another example of an image pick-up unit
when a communication device is a portable telephone. The imaging
unit 121' shown in this example is a camera shooting an image
including wavelengths of near infrared rays and the camera 121' is
one to shoot an image of wavelengths including near infrared rays
(for example, in the range of from 0.7 .mu.m to 1.5 .mu.m) as one
example. An alphanumerical mark 121a indicates a light emitting
diode as one example of a light source of near infrared rays and an
alphanumerical mark 121b indicates a transmission window extending
over the light emitting diode 121a and the camera 121' which are
mounted inside the portable telephone.
In this example, since the camera 121' includes the near infrared
rays in addition to wavelengths in the visible light range as light
wavelengths for use in shooting an image, a picture picked up by
the camera 121', even in the dark, can be realized close to a
visible image seen by the naked eye and therefore, the shooting
with wavelengths including the above near infrared rays is suitable
for identifying a person under surveillance. Since near infrared
rays radiated from the light source 121a cannot be seen directly by
the naked eye, the rays are not conspicuous and a person under
surveillance should not be conscious of the presence of the camera
121' through being exposed to the rays from the light source 121a,
which is advantageous in crime prevention.
Besides, when a transmission window 121b is provided, the camera
121' can be less conspicuous. It should be appreciated that the
present invention is not limited to wavelengths of light rays for
the camera 121' to use in shooting an image to wavelengths of rays
in the visible range and the near infrared range. That is, infrared
rays in an intermediate range (1-5 .mu.m to 5 .mu.m in wavelength)
and in the far infrared range (5 .mu.m to 100 .mu.m in wavelength)
may be used for imaging. Further, in the present invention, there
is no limitation in shooting an intensity distribution of infrared
rays as an infrared ray image, but shooting may be made to achieve
a wavelength distribution of infrared rays as an infrared ray
image.
When wavelengths of rays for use in shooting are infrared rays in
the intermediate range or/and the far infrared range, a light
source like the light emitting diode 121a is omitted and infrared
rays radiated from a human body can be realized as an image. That
is, a person under surveillance cannot find out the camera 121' is
using the light source 121a as a clue since a passive image is
realized upon.
FIG. 29 is a view showing an example other than the communication
device of the present invention shown in FIG. 28. In this example,
a portable telephone with a transmission function is employed, a
surveillance camera 127 is provided separately from a body of the
portable telephone and the camera 127 has the image pick-up unit
121' and a light source 121a therefor. The surveillance camera 127
can be connected to the body of the portable telephone through the
communication cable C connected to, for example, a communication
port P of the portable telephone, which makes it possible for the
camera to be freely placed at a site that is desirably selected for
surveillance but is not conspicuous. On the other hand, the body of
the portable telephone is placed at a site, other than the site of
the camera, which site is in good electromagnetic wave conditions
and which site can not be seen by an objective under
surveillance.
With the above described construction and arrangement, a person
under surveillance would find it difficult to discover a
communication device of the present invention, thereby enabling its
performance as a crime preventive device to be increased. It should
be appreciated that, in this example as well, the image pick-up
unit 121' loaded on the surveillance camera 127 may be one shooting
a subject image using not only rays in the visible range or/and the
near infrared range but rays in the near infrared range or/and the
intermediate infrared range. The light source 121a is unnecessary
when infrared rays in the latter two ranges are employed, as
described above.
In addition, in this example, while the surveillance camera 127 is
connected to the body of a portable telephone through the
communication cable C, the present invention is not limited to this
arrangement but may be connected by electromagnetic waves in a
cordless manner. Furthermore, it is also possible in this example
that shooting gets started when a person under surveillance comes
close to the surveillance camera 127 or a still image is stored in
an image buffer.
Further, in this example, a portable telephone 111s on the sender
side is not provided with an image display section 115 while a
portable telephone 111r on the recipient side is not provided with
image pick-up units 121 and 121'. In other words, in carrying out
the present invention, there is neither a need to equip an image
display section 115 and image display unit 123 to the portable
telephone 111s on the sender side nor a need to equip an image pick
up unit to the portable telephone 111r on the recipient side
either. Therefore, a portable telephone on the sender side,
detailed already in any of FIGS. 25 to 28, is not required to be
equipped with the image display section 115 and the image display
unit 123.
FIG. 30 is a view showing an example further different from those
described above of the third to fifth aspects of the present
invention. In this example, a telephone 111s which is a
communication device on the sender side comprises a simple, easy
portable telephone (PHS or personal handy phone system) 111s', the
surveillance camera 127 detailed above, mounted to the PHS 111s'
and a parent telephone 111m with a home antenna 111h of the PHS
111s' as an internal constituent. Further, the parent telephone
111m is connected to an interphone 20 with a monitor constituted of
outdoor speech devices 128 and indoor speech devices 129.
The PHS 111s' is registered as a daughter telephone
receiving/transmitting electromagnetic waves with the home antenna
of the telephone 111m and can be placed any where the waves reach.
In this example, for example, two PHS 111s' are used to enable the
surveillance cameras 127 to be set at two sites of a user home.
Therefore, when a change arises in a target subject image preset in
a picture image picked up, a surveillance camera 127 calls a
portable telephone 111r on the recipient side through the parent
telephone 111m over a telephone line network T or a portable
telephone line network Tm, thereby notifying an abnormality
condition in the user's home immediately to the user.
It should be appreciated that while, in this example, when an image
display section 115 is equipped to the telephone 111m, the user can
recognize the abnormalities in sites inside the home, the present
invention is not limited to this application. That is, it is also
possible that the image display section 115 of the telephone 111m
is omitted and if the image display section 115 is equipped to the
telephone 111m, the image display section 115 is set so as not to
display when setting the parent telephone 111m to an automatic
unattended recording made of operation.
According to this example, as PHSs 111s' registered as daughter
telephones receiving/transmitting electromagnetic waves with the
home antenna of the telephone 111m increases in number, the
surveillance cameras 127 can be placed at more sites, which
contribute to improvement in crime preventive capability. It should
be appreciated that a surveillance camera 127 may be one connected
to PHS 111s' either through the charger 111, or through a
connector.
Furthermore, as shown in the FIG. 30, a surveillance camera 127 may
be connected directly to the telephone 111m. Further, in this
example, since the telephone 111m is connected to an interphone 130
at the front door, a change in a subject image occurring in the
vicinity of the front door of the user can be detected and a
picked-up image can be transmitted.
FIG. 31 is a block diagram describing the interphone 130. In FIG.
31, a numerical mark 131 indicates a speech processing section,
alphanumerical marks 131s and 131m a speaker and a microphone
connected to the speech processing section 131, a numerical mark
132 is an image pick-up unit shooting an infrared image of near
infrared rays, a numerical mark 133 is a subject change detecting
unit detecting a change in a subject from a shot image by the image
pick-up unit 132, and a numerical mark 134 a calling button.
Further, an alphanumerical mark 128p indicates a communication port
connecting the speech processing section 131, the image pick-up
unit 132 and the subject change detecting unit 133 to the indoor
speech device 129 through a cable Ci for an interphone.
On the other hand, a system including the indoor speech device 129
comprises a speech processing section 135, a speaker 135s and a
microphone 135m of the speech processing section 135, a hook switch
136 detecting that a receiver with the speaker 135s and the
microphone 135m is taken up, an image display section 137
displaying a picture shot by the image pick-up unit 132, a chime
sounding device 138 to be activated by pushing the calling button
134 and a communication port 129p connecting the above described
constituents to the cable Ci for an interphone.
While, in the construction of the interphone 130, constituents
except for the subject change detecting unit 133 are the same as
those of an interphone with a monitor already on the market, but an
arrangement associated with the subject change detecting unit 133
can be in many ways varied. In the present invention shown in this
example, when the interphone with a monitor already on the market
is equipped with the subject change detecting unit 133, the indoor
speech device 129 can be called immediately at the instant at which
a change occurs in the target subject image shot by the image
pick-up unit 132.
That is, when the outdoor speech device 128 of the interphone 130
as shown in FIG. 31 is attached near the front door and an
appropriate target subject image is set, not only can a visitor
near the front door be informed to a family member by means of the
chime sounding device 138 or like devices but the visitor can be
displayed on the image display section 137, even if the visitor
does not push the calling button 134. That is, when a guest visits
the home, the guest can be recognized at an earlier time
period.
Especially when the interphone 130 of this example is connected to
a telephone 111m, as shown in FIG. 30, the telephone 111r with an
image display function can be called when a change in the subject
is detected by the subject change detecting unit 133. Therefore,
when a portable telephone is set as a telephone 111r on the
recipient side, it can be possible that not only is a guest
visiting in a user's absence recognized but reasons the user cannot
see the guest in person are explained by the user through
conversation with the guest from a remote location.
Further, when a suspicious person approaches the front door, the
person can be put under surveillance and an appropriate measure can
be implemented. For example, it is possible that a user gets in
contact with a friend residing in the close neighborhood of the
user's home and asks the friend to check the conditions of the
home.
Especially when a picture covering a broad area is shot by the
image pick-up unit 132 as in the case of the interphone 130 of this
example, it is important to prevent useless communication from
occurring by presetting a subject properly to detect only a change
in a preset target subject. It should be appreciated that when the
interphone 130 is connected to a public communication network such
as the telephone 111m, the subject change detecting unit 133 can be
placed at not only a site in the outdoor speech device 128 side but
at a site in the indoor speech device 129 side.
Further, when the construction of the subject change detecting unit
133 does not require a simple format, changes in the subject image
may be detectable under a wide variety of combination of
conditions.
As described above, the present invention can survey the occurrence
of abnormalities using a communication device, whereby a security
system can be constructed at a low cost without a large scaled
wiring work.
Besides, especially in a case where a communication device is a
portable telephone, alterations of surveillance sites can be made
with great ease, interactive communication of speech and image can
further be conducted and a portable communication device can also
be satisfactorily used in the normal manner. In addition, according
to the present invention, an intruder and a property can be
remotely surveyed, in order to protect the property from a fire or
the intrusion, in real time in a precise, cost effective manner by
an individual or by a number of people with no help from a security
company or a helper and further remote safety confirmation of human
life can precisely be performed in real time at a low cost.
In a case where the image pick-up unit is to shoot an image of
infrared rays, needless to say that not only can imaging be
conducted even in the dark but a conspicuous light source is
unnecessary, which makes it further possible for a placement site
of a portable telephone as a crime preventive device to be not
conspicuous. When the image pick-up unit is a surveillance camera
that can be placed separately from a portable communication device,
the surveillance camera can be more freely placed so to be less
conspicuous.
It should be appreciated that, while, in this example, description
is made of the case of a communication device being a portable
telephone or an interphone, a communication device can be various
devices such as for use in business radio communication, or amateur
radio communication or fire prevention radio communications, or
wired communications, with effects similar to the above described
embodiments.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptions and
modifications of the just-described preferred embodiments can be
configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the
invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope
of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than
as specifically described herein.
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