Intercom

Abstract

Intercom This intercom for a residence comprises a protective visor (110) comprising a canopy (112) capable of protecting an element to be protected against raindrops which fall vertically, this visor being mounted projecting from a front face of a metal wall and the canopy being located above the element to be protected. The visor (110) comprises at least one portion transparent to the electromagnetic waves emitted and received by an antenna, this transparent portion being made of a material whose relative permittivity is between 1 and 5. An antenna (43) is integrated inside this transparent portion of the visor so that the metal wall does not obstruct the reception of the waves. Fig. 6

Description

Title of the invention: Intercom

[0001] The invention relates to an intercom.

[0002] Known intercoms comprise a metal wall having a front face exposed to the outside. This metal wall is sufficiently thick to make the intercom robust against certain acts of vandalism. In particular, this metal wall is intended to prevent unauthorized access to the electronic circuits of the intercom which are located behind this metal wall.

[0003] This metal wall also has various through openings to accommodate the various elements of the intercom that must be accessible and usable from the outside. For example, a keypad and the lens of a camera can be accommodated in such through openings. Due to their integration in these through openings of the metal wall, these elements are directly exposed to the outside. They are therefore subject to the weather and often exposed to solar radiation. To protect them, in particular from the weather, a visor is fixed to the metal wall just above the opening through which the element to be protected is accessible from the outside.

[0004] These known intercoms also include an antenna for establishing an information transmission link with a resident's audiophone handset via a wireless telecommunications network. It is known to place this antenna outside the intercom housing. Indeed, when it is located inside the intercom, the metal wall of the intercom forms a screen which makes it difficult to receive electromagnetic waves. On the other hand, placing the antenna outside the intercom housing complicates its manufacture and / or installation. In addition, the antenna is then more vulnerable to acts of vandalism because it is easily identifiable and accessible from the outside.

[0005] For example, such a known intercom is disclosed in application CN217508756U. The applicant also knows a solution which consists of placing the antenna in a remote external housing mechanically independent of the intercom housing and connecting this external housing to that of the intercom by a wired connection. This has the advantage of allowing the antenna to be placed in a location that is difficult to access from the outside. On the other hand, the manufacture and installation of the intercom are complicated.

[0006] The invention aims to remedy this drawback by proposing an intercom that is simpler to manufacture or install.

[0007] The invention therefore relates to an intercom for a residence comprising:

[0008] - a human-machine interface allowing a visitor to select a resident of the residence and to communicate with the selected resident via a wireless telecommunications network, this human-machine interface comprising for this purpose the following elements:

[0009] - a screen and / or a keyboard to allow the selection of a resident by a visitor present in front of the intercom, and

[0010] - a speaker and a microphone for verbally communicating with the resident selected,

[0011] - an antenna for establishing a wireless connection between the intercom and an audio handset phonics of the selected resident,

[0012] - an electronic control unit comprising a transceiver connected to the antenna and the elements of the human-machine interface, this electronic control unit being configured to:

[0013] - using the screen and / or the keyboard, allow the selection of a resident by the visitor,

[0014] - using the transceiver, antenna, microphone and speaker, establish voice communication, through the wireless communication network, between the visitor and the audiophone handset of the selected resident,

[0015] - command the unlocking of a door in response to a unlock command rusting transmitted by the audiophone handset of the selected resident,

[0016] - a metal wall having a front face intended to be turned towards the visitor, the electronic control unit being located behind this metal wall to protect it from acts of vandalism, the front face of this metal wall extending mainly in a plane of the wall,

[0017] - at least one element to be protected against bad weather, this element to be protected being received in an opening passing through the metal wall or located immediately behind such a through opening to allow its use by a person present in front of the intercom,

[0018] - a protective visor comprising a canopy capable of protecting the element to be protected against raindrops falling vertically, this visor being mounted protruding from the front face of the metal wall and the awning being located above the element to be protected,

[0019] in which:

[0020] - the visor comprises at least one portion transparent to electromagnetic waves genetic signals emitted and received by the antenna, this transparent portion being made of a material whose relative permittivity is between 1 and 5, and

[0021] - the antenna is integrated inside this transparent portion of the visor so that the metal wall does not obstruct the reception of waves.

[0022] Embodiments of this intercom may include one or more of the following features:

[0023] 1) The microphone is also integrated inside this transparent portion of the visor.

[0024] 2) The microphone is received inside a cavity provided in the portion transparent part of the visor and the visor has a hole which fluidly connects this cavity to the exterior, this hole opening into a region of the exterior face of the visor which is sheltered from raindrops which fall vertically when the intercom is mounted on a vertical wall.

[0025] 3) The visor also comprises at least one lateral flank which extends along at least less than 50% of a lateral edge of the element to be protected, the lateral edges of the element to be protected corresponding to the vertical sides of the rectangle of smallest area, contained in the plane of the wall, which entirely contains the orthogonal projection of the element to be protected on the plane of the wall and whose vertical sides extend vertically when the intercom is mounted on a vertical wall.

[0026] 4) The position of the element to be protected relative to the visor satisfies the condition following: d < p * tan(a), where:

[0027] - d is equal to the shortest distance that separates the lower horizontal edge of the element to be protected from the orthogonal projection, on the plane of the wall, of the point of the awning most projecting from the plane of the wall, the horizontal lower edge of the element to be protected corresponding to the lower side of the rectangle of smallest surface area, contained in the plane of the wall, which entirely contains the orthogonal projection of the element to be protected on the plane of the wall and the lower side of which extends horizontally when the intercom is mounted on a vertical wall,

[0028] - p is equal to the shortest distance that separates the point of the awning the furthest projection, from the plane of the wall,

[0029] - a is an angle less than 87° and, preferably, less than 86° or 85° or 82°.

[0030] 5) The element to be protected is chosen from the group consisting of:

[0031] - of the screen and / or keyboard of the human-machine interface,

[0032] - from the speaker of the human-machine interface,

[0033] - of the microphone of the human-machine interface,

[0034] - the lens of a camera capable of filming the visitor present in front of the intercom,

[0035] - a device for illuminating the person present in front of the intercom, and

[0036] - a reader capable of reading access rights presented in front of the metal wall and transmit them to an access center to authorize and, alternately, prohibit the unlocking of the door.

[0037] 6) The element to be protected is chosen from the group consisting of the interface screen man-machine, man-machine interface keyboard, speaker the human-machine interface, the human-machine interface microphone and the camera lens capable of filming the visitor present in front of the intercom.

[0038] 7) The element to be protected is the screen and / or the keyboard of the human-machine interface.

[0039] 8) The width of the awning is greater than or equal to the width of the element to be protected, the width of an element of the intercom, such as the canopy or the element to be protected, being equal to the length of the horizontal side of the rectangle of smallest surface area, contained in the plane of the wall, which entirely contains the orthogonal projection of this element on the plane of the wall and whose horizontal side extends horizontally when the intercom is mounted on a vertical wall.

[0040] 9)

[0041] - the intercom includes the camera equipped with the lens capable of filming the visitor present in front of the intercom,

[0042] - the electronic control unit is capable of transmitting the images filmed by the camera to the audiophone handset of the selected resident.

[0043] The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of non-limiting example and made with reference to the drawings in which:

[0044] - [Fig.l] is a schematic illustration of an intercom system,

[0045] - [Fig.2] is a schematic illustration of the different elements of an intercom of the system of [Fig.l],

[0046] - [Fig.3] is an illustration, in perspective, of a front face of the intercom of the [Fig.2],

[0047] - [Fig.4] is an illustration of different physical quantities measurable on the intercom of [Fig.2],

[0048] - [Fig.5] is a partial and perspective illustration of the intercom of the [Fig.2],

[0049] - [Fig.6] is an illustration, in vertical section, of a visor of the intercom of the [Fig.2],

[0050] In these figures, the same references are used to designate the same elements. In the remainder of this description, the characteristics and functions well known to those skilled in the art are not described in detail.

[0051] In this description a detailed example of an embodiment is first described in a chapter I with reference to the figures. Then, in a chapter II, variants of this embodiment are introduced. Finally, the advantages of the different embodiments are specified in a chapter III.

[0052] Chapter I: Example of embodiment

[0053] [Fig.l] represents an intercom system 2 for a residence 4. For example, the Residence 4 is a collective housing complex comprising several apartments or dwellings. As an illustration, here, residence 4 has at least four apartments 6, 7, 8 and 9.

[0054] Residence 4 is equipped with an access door 12 to the residence.

[0055] System 2 allows access to residence 4 to be authorized and, alternately, prohibited. to a visitor.

[0056] For this purpose, each resident of the residence 4 is equipped with an audiophone handset connected, via an information transmission network 14, to an intercom 16 located near the door 12. Typically, the intercom 16 is located less than 10 m and, most often, less than 5 m or 3 m from the door 12.

[0057] To simplify the illustration, only two audiophone handsets 18, 19 have been shown. These handsets are, for example, mobile phones, such as smartphones, connected to the network 14 via a wireless link. Each audiophone handset comprises, in this embodiment, in particular a microphone, a loudspeaker and a screen.

[0058] The network 14 is a wireless telecommunications network such as a public telephone network. More specifically, typically, the network 14 is a wireless wide area network better known as a cellular network or by the acronym WWAN ("Wireless Wide Area Network").

[0059] The intercom 16 allows a visitor, present in front of this intercom, to establish an audiophonic conversation with the resident called. For this purpose, the intercom 16 is connected to the network 14 via an information transmission link 22. This link 22 is also a wireless information transmission link.

[0060] The system 2 comprises a mechanism 30 for locking and, alternately, unlocking the door 12. This mechanism 30 is controlled by the intercom 16 in response to the reception of a command to unlock the door 12 transmitted by one of the handsets 18 and 19. Thus, in this embodiment, the intercom 16 also fulfills the functions of an electric doorphone.

[0061] The system 2 also comprises a server 32 connected to the intercom 16 via the network 14. For example, this server 32 makes it possible to configure and remotely control certain functionalities of the intercom 16. For this purpose, the server 32 is associated with a memory 34 in which various configuration parameters of the intercom 16 are recorded, such as an identifier for each resident associated with the telephone number of the audiophone handset of this resident.

[0062] [Fig.2] shows in more detail an example of an embodiment of the intercom 16.

[0063] The intercom 16 comprises:

[0064] - a human-machine interface 40,

[0065] - an access center 44 capable of authorizing and, alternately, prohibiting access to the residence 4,

[0066] - a control unit 50 capable of controlling the various elements of intercom 16,

[0067] - a memory 52, and

[0068] - a local bus 54 for transmitting information to connect the different elements of the intercom 16.

[0069] The interface 40 allows:

[0070] - voice communication between a visitor and a resident,

[0071] - the selection of any one of the residents of residence 4, and

[0072] - the acquisition of alphanumeric characters.

[0073] For example, the interface 40 is formed of a screen 56, microphones 58, speakers 60, a camera 62 and a keyboard 64.

[0074] The access center 44 is connected to an access rights reader 70. In this exemplary embodiment, the reader 70 is a transponder key reader. More specifically, the reader 70 is able to read the access rights recorded in a transponder key 72 and the central unit 44 is configured to compare the access rights read by the reader 70 with access rights 74 pre-recorded in the memory 52. ​​If the access rights read by the reader 70 correspond to the access rights 74, the central unit 44 authorizes access to the residence 4 and, for this, controls the mechanism 30 to unlock the door 12. The door 12 can then be moved into an open position and the person who presented the key can enter the interior of the residence 4. Conversely, if the access rights read by the reader 70 do not correspond to the access rights 74, then the central unit 44 does not control the unlocking of the door 12 and the latter remains locked in its closed position.For example, the access rights 74 comprise a list of identifiers of keys authorized to access the interior of the residence 4. The control unit 44 unlocks the door 12 only if the key identifier read by the reader 70 belongs to this list of identifiers of authorized keys.

[0075] The memory 52, in addition to the access rights 74, also includes call parameters 76 associated with each resident. These call parameters 76 are used to select the resident and to call this selected resident via the link 22. For example, the call parameters associated with each resident are:

[0076] - the name of the resident,

[0077] - the phone number of his handset.

[0078] Many other call parameters are possible. For example, for each resident, it is possible to specify a second telephone number to dial if the first number corresponds to a busy line or does not answer. These call parameters are programmable parameters.

[0079] The unit 50 controls the operation of each of the elements of the intercom 16. The unit 50 also establishes the link 22 with the handsets 18, 19 and the server 32. For this, the unit 50 comprises a transceiver 42 connected to an antenna 43 to establish the link 22 with the network 14. By means of this link 22, the unit 50 establishes the audiophonic communication between the visitor and the handset of the selected resident. In addition, the unit 50 also manages the interactions with the server 32, in particular, to update the access rights 74 and the programmable parameters 76 recorded in the memory 52.

[0080] The transceiver 42 is here a transceiver, for example, conforming to at least one of the following standards: the LTE-M standard ("Long-Term Evolution for Machine"), one of the third generation (3G) standards such as the UMTS standard ("Universal Mobile Telecommunications System"), one of the fourth generation (4G) standards such as the LTE-Advanced standard ("Long-Term Evolution -Advanced") and one of the fifth generation (5G) standards.

[0081] The antenna 43 is connected to the transceiver 42 by a wired connection not shown in [Fig.2].

[0082] Most of the elements of the intercom 16 such as the control unit 50 and the central unit 44 are made from programmable electronic microprocessors.

[0083] [Fig. 3] represents the intercom 16 fixed, without any degree of freedom, on a vertical wall 80 of the residence 4. In this exemplary embodiment, the intercom 16 is mounted on the wall 80. Figures 3 to 6 are oriented relative to an orthogonal reference frame XYZ, where the Z direction is the vertical direction and the horizontal X direction is parallel to the face of the wall 80. Subsequently, the terms “above”, “below”, “bottom”, “top”, “lower” and “upper” are defined relative to the Z direction. The terms “front” and “back” are defined relative to the Y direction. The terms “left” and “right” are defined relative to the X direction.

[0084] The intercom 16 comprises a substantially parallelepipedal housing 82. In particular, the housing 82 comprises a front face 84 directly exposed and accessible from the outside of the residence 4. This front face 84 extends mainly in a vertical plane P. The front face 84 is the front face of a front wall 86 of the housing 82. This wall 86 forms the front facade of the intercom 16 which is directly exposed to the outside of the residence. Such a wall 86 is made of metal so as to resist acts of vandalism. For example, this wall 86 is a metal plate more than 2 mm or 3 mm thick. The metal used to make the wall 86 is typically stainless steel, brass, aluminum or zamak. Here, the entire housing 82 is made of the same metal as that of the wall 86 and the housing 82 forms only a single block of material.

[0085] Inaccessible elements of the intercom 16 are housed inside the housing 82 of so as to be protected, in particular, by the wall 86. The inaccessible elements are the elements of the intercom 16 which do not need to be accessible from outside the housing 82 to be used correctly. In particular, these inaccessible elements are not directly accessible from outside the housing 82 via through openings made in the wall 86. Access to the inaccessible elements of the intercom 16 is only possible by opening the housing 82 using special tools. Such access to the interior of the housing 82 is only provided for maintenance operations of the intercom 16. This access is therefore deliberately made difficult for persons not authorized to work on the intercom 16. Here, the inaccessible elements of the intercom 16 are the transceiver 42, the access center 44, the control unit 50, the memory 52 and the bus 54.

[0086] Conversely, the intercom 16 also comprises accessible elements, i.e. elements which must remain accessible from the outside of the housing 2 in order to be able to be used correctly. For this purpose, the wall 86 comprises through openings, i.e. openings which pass through the entire thickness of the wall 86, and the accessible elements of the intercom 16 are received in these through openings or located immediately behind these through openings. Here, the accessible elements of the intercom 16 are the elements of the human-machine interface 40 and the reader 70. More precisely, the screen 56 and the various keys of the keyboard 64 are received in respective through openings of the wall 86. More precisely, the keyboard 64 comprises:

[0087] - navigation keys 90, 91 usable by a visitor to scroll through the names of residents,

[0088] - a call key 92 to trigger a call to the audiophone handset of the resident whose name was selected using keys 90, 91, and

[0089] - the keys of a numeric keypad 94 allowing, for example, a blind person to dial a call code from a resident's handset.

[0090] On either side of the numeric keypad 94, the wall 86 comprises through openings 100 behind which the loudspeakers 60 are located. Here, each of these openings 100 is in the form of a series of through holes contiguous to each other.

[0091] To the right of the numeric keypad 94, the wall 86 also has a through opening 102 in which the lens of the camera 62 is housed.

[0092] The accessible elements of the intercom 16 are likely to be exposed to the weather and, in particular, to rain. They are also likely to be exposed to high intensity solar radiation. Here, the accessible elements of the intercom 16 are therefore designed to be resistant to rain and, if necessary, to solar radiation. However, rain or high intensity solar radiation may hinder the use of some of these accessible elements by a visitor. This or these accessible elements are then referred to in this text as “elements to be protected”. Subsequently, the description is made in the particular case where the element to be protected is the screen 56. The screen 56 is waterproof so that the presence of water drops on its surface does not damage it. On the other hand, the presence of these water drops on the surface of the screen 56 hinders its use because they make the information displayed more difficult to read. Similarly, strong solar radiation does not damage the screen 56. On the other hand, it may make the information displayed more difficult to read.

[0093] To limit these drawbacks, the intercom 16 comprises a visor 110 mounted projecting from the front face 84. This visor 110 is shaped to protect the screen 56, at a minimum, against raindrops which fall vertically. To this end, in this embodiment, the visor 110 comprises a canopy 112 and two lateral flanks 114 and 116.

[0094] The awning 112 is located above the screen 56 and its width Ln2 is greater than the width L56 of the screen 56 and, preferably, greater than 1.05*L56 or 1.1*L56.

[0095] In this text, the width of an element of the intercom 16, such as the awning 112 or the screen 56, is equal to the length of the horizontal side of the rectangle of smaller surface area, contained in the plane P, which entirely contains the orthogonal projection of this element on the plane P and whose horizontal side extends parallel to the direction X. The lower and upper edges of this element of the intercom 16 correspond to the sides, respectively, lower and upper of this rectangle of smaller surface area. The right and left lateral edges of this element correspond to the sides, respectively, right and left of this rectangle of smaller surface area.

[0096] Here, to maximize the efficiency of the awning 112, its position relative to the screen 56 is such that the following condition (1) is satisfied: d < p*tan(a), where:

[0097] - d is equal to the shortest distance which separates the lower edge of the screen 56 from the orthogonal projection, on plane P, of point PS ([Fig.4]) of canopy 112 most projecting from plane P,

[0098] - p is equal to the maximum depth of the awning 112, i.e. equal to the distance the shortest which separates point PS from plane P,

[0099] - a is an angle less than 87° and, preferably, less than 86° or 85° or 82° or 80° or 78°, and

[0100] - the symbol “*” denotes scalar multiplication.

[0101] The relationship between the distances d, p and the angle a is illustrated in [Fig.4].

[0102] Generally, the angle a is also greater than 45° or 55°.

[0103] Here, the distance p is equal to 25 mm and the angle a is chosen equal to 75°. Thus, the screen 56 is located just below awning 112.

[0104] In this embodiment, the canopy 112 is formed from a parallelepiped plate which is inclined downwards to evacuate the water which flows over this canopy 112 towards the front, that is to say on the side furthest from the front face 84. Here, the depth p of the canopy 56 is therefore constant over its entire width Ln2. Typically, the maximum depth p is between 3 mm and 100 mm and, preferably, between 15 mm and 70 mm. The inclination between the upper face of the canopy 112 and a horizontal plane is, for example, greater than 5° or 10°. This inclination is also generally less than 45°.

[0105] The lateral flanks 114 and 116 extend mainly along the lateral edges, respectively left and right, of the screen 56. Preferably, the orthogonal projections of the flanks 114 and 116 on the plane P, extend, starting from the awning 112 and going downwards, to a lower limit which is located below the upper edge of the screen 56. The distance between this lower limit and the upper edge of the screen 56 is greater than 0.5*H56, where H56 is the height of the screen 56. The height H56 is equal to the length of the lateral edge of the screen 56. Here, this distance is located between 0.8*H56 and H56.

[0106] In this embodiment, the depth of the flanks 114 and 116 in the Y direction gradually decreases going from the awning 112 towards their lower limit.

[0107] A cavity, not visible in the figures, is arranged inside each of the sides 114, 116. One example of each of the microphones 58 is housed inside each of these cavities. Each microphone 58 is connected to the control unit 50 by means of a wired connection which passes through the wall 86. For this purpose, the wall 86 has through holes masked by the visor 110. In addition, each of these cavities is in fluid communication with the outside by means of a hole. In [Fig. 3], these holes bear the references 120 and 122 and are oblong. These holes 120, 122 open into the outer faces of the sides 114, 116 in regions sheltered from raindrops by the visor 110. For this purpose, here, the orthogonal projections, on a horizontal plane, of these regions where the holes 120, 122 open are located inside the orthogonal projection, in the same horizontal plane, of the awning 112.

[0108] The visor 110 also includes a cavity 130 ([Fig.6]) for receiving a printed circuit board 132 (Figures 5 and 6) on which the various components of the antenna 43 are mounted.

[0109] The visor 110 is attached to the front face 84. Here, it is fixed without any degree of freedom on this front face 84, for example, using screws.

[0110] The visor 110 comprises at least one portion transparent to the electromagnetic waves emitted and received by the antenna 43. This transparent portion is made of a material transparent to the electromagnetic waves used to establish the connection. 22. The relative permittivity of this transparent material is between 1 and 5 at the frequencies of the waves emitted and received by the antenna 43. This transparent material is also, generally, an electrically insulating material, that is to say a material whose electrical conductivity, at 20°C, is less than 105 S / m and, preferably, less than 108 S / m. Here, the transparent material is plastic and the visor 110 is made entirely of plastic.

[0111] [Fig.5] represents the upper part of the intercom 16 in the absence of the visor 110. [Fig.6] represents this same upper part of the intercom 16 in the presence of the visor 110.

[0112] As visible in [Fig.6], the cavity 132 is essentially parallelepipedal and extends mainly in the X direction inside the awning 112. The visor 110 is devoid of a hole allowing the cavity 132 to be connected to the outside.

[0113] In this embodiment, a part, called "external", of the card 132 is received inside the cavity 130 and another part, called "internal", is received inside the housing 82. The antenna 43 is only mounted on the external part of the card 132. Thus, the antenna 43 is able to receive the electromagnetic waves much more efficiently than if it were housed inside the housing 82 and therefore behind the wall 86.

[0114] The inner portion of the card 132 includes a wired connection 134 for connecting the antenna 43 to the transceiver 42.

[0115] To house the card 132 partly outside the housing 82 and partly inside, the wall 86 comprises a through slot located opposite the cavity 130 when the visor 110 is mounted on the wall 86.

[0116] Chapter II: Variants:

[0117] Visor variations:

[0118] The description was made in the particular case where the element to be protected is the screen 56. However, what is described in this text applies to any other accessible element to be protected from the intercom 16. Thus, the accessible element to be protected may in particular be any one of the elements of the following group:

[0119] - screen 56,

[0120] - keyboard 64,

[0121] - the loudspeakers 60,

[0122] - microphones 58,

[0123] - the lens of the camera 62,

[0124] - a device for illuminating the person present in front of the intercom,

[0125] - the access rights reader 70.

[0126] Indeed, the use of each of these elements can be hindered or degraded by the presence, for example, of drops of water on this element or drops of water which obstructs, at least partially, the through opening behind which it is located.

[0127] The visor may also be shaped to protect not just one accessible element of the intercom but several of the accessible elements of the intercom 16. For example, the visor may be shaped to protect both the screen 56 and the lens of the camera 62 or both the screen 56 and the loudspeakers 60. In this case, the awning of the visor extends over several elements to be protected chosen from the group above.

[0128] Alternatively, the antenna 43 is housed inside the lateral flanks 114, 116 of the visor and not inside the cowl 112. Correspondingly, the microphones 58 can be housed inside the cowl 112 instead of being housed in the flanks 114, 116.

[0129] In another embodiment, the visor comprises not a single antenna but several antennas. For example, in addition to the antenna 43, the visor also comprises an antenna for establishing a short-distance wireless connection such as a connection conforming to the WiFi, Bluetooth or NFC (“Near Field Communication”) standard.

[0130] Alternatively, the lateral flanks of the visor are shortened and extend along less than 50% of the lateral edges of the element to be protected.

[0131] In another variant, the visor has a single lateral flank.

[0132] In a simplified variant, the lateral flanks are omitted.

[0133] The angle a can be greater than 87°. For example, the angle a is chosen to be equal to 88°.

[0134] The visor 110 is not necessarily made entirely of plastic. For for example, as a variant, it comprises a portion made of plastic and other portions made of other materials. For example, if the antenna 43 and the microphones 58 are housed inside the canopy 112, the lateral flanks 114 and 116 may be made of a different material which is not necessarily transparent to electromagnetic waves. Conversely, if the antenna 43 and the microphones 58 are housed in the lateral flanks 114, 116, it is the canopy 112 which may be made of another material which is not necessarily transparent to electromagnetic waves.

[0135] Alternatively, the plastic is replaced by another material transparent to the electromagnetic waves emitted and received by the antenna 43. For example, the material used instead of the plastic is thermosetting resin or dry wood.

[0136] Intercom variants:

[0137] Other embodiments of the antenna 43 are possible. For example, alternatively, the interior portion of the card 132 is omitted so that the card 132 is entirely received within the cavity 130.

[0138] The intercom may have several screens instead of just one.

[0139] Alternatively, the screen 56 is a touch screen. In this case, at least part of the The keyboard keys correspond to sensitive contact areas displayed on the touch screen. If all the keyboard keys are formed by sensitive areas of the touch screen, then the screen and the keyboard are combined and correspond to a single element of the intercom.

[0140] In a simplified embodiment, the screen 56 is omitted. In this case, typically, a label holder is integrated into the front face 84 and the keypad includes, associated with each label, a call key. When one of these call keys is pressed, this triggers a call to the resident's audiophone handset identified by the inscription appearing on the label associated with this call key. In this case, the keypad includes the call keys and does not include the keys 90 to 92.

[0141] The number of speakers and microphones used may be different. For example, the human-machine interface has a single speaker and a single microphone.

[0142] Alternatively, the microphones 58 are not integrated into the visor 110. Typically, the microphones are then housed immediately behind respective through openings provided in the metal wall 86. In this case, the element to be protected may also be this or these microphones.

[0143] In a simplified embodiment, the camera is omitted.

[0144] Alternatively, the numeric keypad 94 is omitted. In this case, the keypad only includes keys 90 to 92 for selecting a particular resident using the screen 56.

[0145] In a simplified version, the keypad has a single call button which, when pressed, allows a resident to be called. The intercom then allows a single resident to be called. For example, this resident is the caretaker of residence 4.

[0146] Other embodiments are possible for the access rights reader 70. For example, the access rights reader can be chosen from the group consisting of an RFID ("Radio Frequency IDentification") tag reader, a transceiver compliant with the Bluetooth standard, a near-field transceiver, a transceiver compliant with the Zigbee standard. A near-field transceiver is a transceiver using near-field communication better known by the acronym NFC ("Near Field Communication").

[0147] The access rights reader is not necessarily a contactless reader. For example, the reader 70 may be replaced by a card reader or the like.

[0148] The reader 70 can also be replaced by a biometric reader capable of acquiring biometric data from the person present in front of this reader. In this case, the access rights read correspond to the acquired biometric data. For example, the biometric reader is a fingerprint reader or an iris reader.

[0149] The intercom can also include several readers with different access rights. A conversely, in a simplified embodiment, the intercom is without an access rights reader.

[0150] The intercom can also be embedded in a wall. In this case, the inaccessible elements of the intercom are housed inside a niche dug into the wall. The front wall then completely obstructs the opening of this niche. In such a case, the intercom does not necessarily have a housing but only a front wall which obstructs the niche.

[0151] Other Variants:

[0152] Audiophone handsets are not necessarily mobile phones. In fact, an audiophone handset can be any equipment connected to the network 14 and equipped with a human-machine interface allowing voice communication to be established with the visitor. For example, an audiophone handset can also be a computer such as a laptop.

[0153] The intercom system 2 does not necessarily include a server such as the server 32. In this case the functionalities of the server 32 are directly integrated into the intercom 16.

[0154] Residence 4 may also be an individual dwelling such as a house or any other place to which access is controlled using an intercom.

[0155] Several of the variants described above can be combined in the same embodiment.

[0156] The fact of housing the microphone(s) of the intercom 16 inside a portion of the visor 110 can be implemented independently of the fact of housing the antenna 43 inside this same visor.

[0157] Chapter III: Advantages of the embodiments described:

[0158] The fact that the same visor is used both to protect one of the elements of the intercom against bad weather and to receive and protect the antenna 43 simplifies the production of the intercom. Indeed, it is then not necessary to provide on one of the external faces of the intercom, an additional projection to receive and protect the antenna. In addition, when the antenna 43 is integrated inside a portion of the visor 110, this facilitates the reception of electromagnetic waves and therefore simplifies and improves the operation of this antenna 43 compared to the case where it would be located behind the metal wall 86. This also makes it possible to use a greater diversity of antennas, which also facilitates the production of the intercom. Finally, although being located on the external side of the front face 84, the antenna 43 is particularly well concealed, which makes attempts at degradation more difficult.This is because a vandal cannot easily identify the antenna's position, making attempts to damage it more difficult.

[0159] Integrating the microphone into the visor allows it to be acoustically decoupled tically of the resonance box formed by the metal wall 86. This therefore improves its operation.

[0160] The fact that the visor also has side panels makes it possible to improve the protection of the element to be protected against bad weather and light.

[0161] The fact that the element to be protected is entirely located less than p*tan(a) from the most projecting point of the awning 112 makes it possible to protect it more effectively against, in particular, the presence of raindrops on its surface and / or the obstruction of the through opening behind which it is located by raindrops.

[0162] Choosing the element to be protected from among the screen 56, the keyboard 64, the microphones 58, the loudspeakers 60 and the camera lens 62 improves the use of the intercom 16 because these elements are those whose use is most likely to be degraded by the presence of water drops on their surface or by the presence of water drops which obstruct, at least partially, the through opening behind which they are located.

[0163] Choosing the element to be protected from the screen 56 and the keypad 64 makes it possible to increase the dimensions of the visor 110 and therefore to accommodate a larger antenna on the front face 84 of the intercom. Having the possibility of using a larger antenna without increasing the risk of it being damaged by acts of vandalism simplifies the production of the intercom because it limits the technical constraints on the possible dimensions for the antenna.

Claims

1. Claims Intercom for a residence including: - a human-machine interface (40) allowing a visitor to select a resident of the residence and to communicate with the selected resident via a wireless telecommunications network, this human-machine interface comprising for this purpose the following elements: - a screen (56) and / or a keyboard (64) to allow the selection of a resident by a visitor present in front of the intercom, and - a loudspeaker (60) and a microphone (58) for communicating verbally with the selected resident, - an antenna (43) for establishing a wireless link (22) between the intercom and an audiophone handset of the selected resident, - an electronic control unit (50) comprising a transceiver (42) connected to the antenna and to the elements of the human-machine interface, this electronic control unit being configured to: - using the screen and / or keyboard, allow the visitor to select a resident, - using the transceiver, antenna, microphone and loudspeaker, establish voice communication, through the wireless communication network, between the visitor and the audiophone handset of the selected resident, - order the unlocking of a door in response to an unlocking command transmitted by the audiophone handset of the selected resident, - a metal wall (86) having a front face (84) intended to be turned towards the visitor, the electronic control unit being located behind this metal wall to protect it from acts of vandalism, the front face of this metal wall extending mainly in a plane (P) of the wall, - at least one element (56) to be protected against bad weather, this element to be protected being received in an opening passing through the metal wall or located immediately behind such a passing opening to allow its use by a person present in front of the intercom, - a protective visor (110) comprising a canopy (112) capable of protect the element to be protected against raindrops falling vertically, this visor being mounted projecting from the front face of the metal wall and the awning being located above the element to be protected, characterized in that: - the visor (110) comprises at least one portion transparent to the electromagnetic waves emitted and received by the antenna, this transparent portion being made of a material whose relative permittivity is between 1 and 5, and - the antenna (43) is integrated inside this transparent portion of the visor so that the metal wall does not obstruct the reception of the waves.

2. An intercom according to claim 1, wherein the microphone (58) is also integrated within this transparent portion of the visor.

3. An intercom according to claim 2, wherein the microphone (58) is received inside a cavity provided in the transparent portion of the visor and the visor has a hole (120, 122) which fluidly connects this cavity to the exterior, this hole opening into a region of the exterior face of the visor which is sheltered from raindrops which fall vertically when the intercom is mounted on a vertical wall.

4. An intercom according to any preceding claim, wherein the visor (110) also comprises at least one lateral flank (114, 116) which extends along at least 50% of a lateral edge of the element (56) to be protected, the lateral edges of the element to be protected corresponding to the vertical sides of the rectangle of smaller surface area, contained in the plane of the wall, which entirely contains the orthogonal projection of the element to be protected on the plane of the wall and whose vertical sides extend vertically when the intercom is mounted on a vertical wall.

5. Intercom according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the position of the element (56) to be protected relative to the visor (110) satisfies the following condition: d < p * tan(a), where: - d is equal to the shortest distance which separates the horizontal lower edge of the element (56) to be protected from the orthogonal projection, on the plane of the wall, of the point (PS) of the awning (112) most projecting relative to the plane of the wall, the horizontal lower edge of the element to be protected corresponding to the lower side of the rectangle of smallest surface, contained in the plane of the wall, which entirely contains the orthogonal projection of the element to be protected on the plane of the wall and whose lower side extends horizontally when the intercom is mounted on a vertical wall, - p is equal to the shortest distance which separates the point (PS) of the most projecting canopy, from the plane of the wall, - a is an angle less than 87° and, preferably, less than 86° or 85° or 82°.

6. Intercom according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the element to be protected is chosen from the group consisting of: - the screen (56) and / or the keyboard (64) of the human-machine interface, - the speaker (60) of the human-machine interface, - the microphone (58) of the human-machine interface, - the lens of a camera (62) capable of filming the visitor present in front of the intercom, - a device for lighting the person present in front of the intercom, and - a reader (70) capable of reading access rights presented in front of the metal wall and transmitting them to an access control unit (44) to authorize and, alternately, prohibit the unlocking of the door.

7. Intercom according to claim 6, in which the element to be protected is chosen from the group consisting of the screen (56) of the human-machine interface, the keyboard (64) of the human-machine interface, the speaker (60) of the human-machine interface, the microphone (58) of the human-machine interface and the lens of the camera (62) capable of filming the visitor present in front of the intercom.

8. Intercom according to claim 7, in which the element to be protected is the screen (56) and / or the keyboard (64) of the human-machine interface.

9. An intercom according to any preceding claim, wherein the width of the canopy (112) is greater than or equal to the width of the element (56) to be protected, the width of an element of the intercom, such as the canopy or the element to be protected, being equal to the length of the horizontal side of the rectangle of smaller area, contained in the plane of the wall, which entirely contains the orthogonal projection of this element on the plane of the wall and the horizontal side of which extends horizontally when the intercom is mounted on a vertical wall.

10. An intercom according to any preceding claim, wherein: - the intercom includes the camera (62) equipped with the lens capable of filming the visitor present in front of the intercom, - the electronic control unit (50) is capable of transmitting the images filmed by the camera to the audiophone handset of the selected resident.

Images