The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.
The term “appliance” as used herein may refer to any electronic equipment operated by a user interface. An appliance may include a television, VCR, DVD player/recorder, surround sound system, digital cable systems, a digital television recorder, a video recorder, a television set-top box and the like.
The term “user interface” (UI) as used herein may refer to an interface between an appliance and the user in which the user may select and/or adjust certain features of the appliance. A hospital pillow speaker, as described below, may be one example of a user interface.
Broadly, the present invention provides apparatus and methods for allowing a user interface, such as a hospital pillow speaker, to be usable with a variety of brands of televisions, without requiring reprogramming of the user interface when changing television brands. Unlike conventional pillow speakers that must be matched with a particular brand of replacement television, the present invention allows a variety of brands of televisions to be used with the original hospital pillow speaker.
Referring to
One embodiment of the present invention may include software 22 having a code sequence for receiving IR codes from a user interface. The software 22 may have a further code sequence for interpreting branded IR codes from a variety of brands of user interface. Finally, the software 22 may have a code sequence for controlling the television based on the interpreted IR codes. For example, if a Zenith pillow speaker is used to control an RCA television, the RCA television, equipped according to the present invention, may have software for interpreting a user selected function from the pillow speaker, such as a command to increase the volume of the television.
Referring to
For example, a user may press a button on a user interface for increasing the volume of the television. If the user has a Brand X user interface and a Brand Y television, typically the Brand Y television would not recognize the IR codes from the Brand X user interface. However, using the apparatus and methods of the present invention, the Brand Y television may be able to interpret the IR codes of the Brand X user interface, thereby allowing the volume of the television to be increased.
It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.
This application claims foreign priority under 35 USC 119(a)-(d) to Chinese Patent Application 2007xxxxxxx, filed on Sep. 5, 2007, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. This application further claims the benefit under 36 USC 119(e) to U.S. provisional patent application 60/825,312, filed Sep. 12, 2006, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60825312 | Sep 2006 | US |