"A multimedia electronic device for audiovisual entertainment, particularly of the home entertainment type" DESCRIPTION Technical field The present invention relates to a multimedia electronic device having the features stated in the preamble of the main claim. Technological background

The preferred application of the device here described and claimed is in multimedia electronic equipment commonly known in the market as media centres and designed to meet all the requirements associated with the home audio/video entertainment field.

Therefore in media centres, all (or most of) the features which enable television or radio signals to be received, via cable or over the air, digital or otherwise, or digital optical media such as CDs or DVDs to be played, for the reproduction of music, pictures, videos or television programmes in a household context, are provided for.

In spite of the indisputable advantage of concentrating into a single electronic device features which are normally fulfilled by separate household appliances, the known media centres nevertheless exhibit some drawbacks.

A first of these drawbacks is due to the fact that media centres are often designed and styled more like computers than household appliances. It then follows that such devices can hardly blend into an appropriate household furniture setting, due to both their overall shape and the presence of control buttons or audio/video media entry points or cables

for connecting to other peripheral equipment that interface with the media centre.

Furthermore, using such devices in practice is not very intuitive and often very complicated for the average user. Description of the invention

The aim of the present invention is to realise a multimedia electronic device for audiovisual entertainment that is structurally and functionally designed to overcome the limits mentioned above with reference to the cited prior art. This aim is achieved by the present invention by means of a multimedia electronic device realised in accordance with the claims that follow.

Brief description of the drawings

The features and advantages of the invention will become clear from the detailed description of one of its preferred embodiments, illustrated by way of indication and in a non-limiting manner with reference to the appended drawings in which :

- Figure 1 is a view in perspective from above of a multimedia electronic device realisedd according to the present invention,

- Figure 2 is a partly cutaway view in perspective of the device of Figure 1.

Preferred embodiment of the invention

In the drawings, the reference 1 indicates, as a whole, a multimedia electronic device produced in accordance with the present invention. The device 1 comprises a base 2 on the edge of which is rested an outer casing 3 to define a generally prismatic box shape. The box shape of the

device 1 is extended along a dominant longitudinal direction X and has opposite first and second ends 4a and 4b, of rounded shape, joined by sides 5 which also have a curvilinear profile. In particular, at a middle region of both the sides 5 there are defined respective, externally concave, recesses 6 on which are arranged masking elements 7. The top part of the casing 3, opposite the base 2, is formed by a pierced grille- type covering 3a.

Inside the casing 3 there is housed a plurality of electronic units able to make the multimedia device 1 operate as a media centre. By way of example only, in the device 1 a playback/recording unit 8 is fitted for CD or DVD type optical media that can be inserted in the unit 8 via an open entry point 9 on one side of the base 2, a unit 10 comprising a pair of PCI cards for receiving and managing analogue television signals, satellite signals, and simple digital terrestrial signals, and a unit 11, equipped with a suitable entry point for inserting a prepaid services card, for receiving digital terrestrial signals in interactive mode.

Moreover, units for receiving radio signals and for browsing the Internet, including email and Internet telephony (Voice over IP) management, are provided. Optionally, electronic units assigned to functions of home automation management, IP video surveillance or IP videophony can been provided and fitted.

Other electronic units can be represented by units for reading external mass storage units, such as solid-state memory cards, like the memory cards for digital photographic equipment or camcorders, or the common

"pen drive", each of which can have its own suitably shaped open entry point on the casing 3.

Connections can also be provided on the device 1 for cable connections to external peripheral equipment, such as monitors, televisions, loudspeakers or decoders, or for connecting telephone cables, camcorders or cameras.

Preferably, however, connections to external peripheral equipment are achieved, as much as possible, by wireless connection means, using infrared radiation, Bluetooth or other available technologies that are suitable for data transmission.

The abovementioned electronic units are purely indicative and can be integrated with or replaced by other units that perform different or complementary functions, without thereby changing the subject of the present patent. All the abovementioned electronic units are managed by an integrated circuit on a motherboard 15 and are powered by a power supply unit 16 connected to the mains network via a cable 17.

Preferably, the operating system which manages the various electronic units is of the embedded type and is loaded in a solid-state memory so as to minimize the possibility of mechanical breakages and to provide for a permanent standby mode.

Furthermore, the operating system is preferably not directly accessible or programmable by the user such that correct operation of the device 1 cannot be compromised by a careless user. Operating system updates or the installation of additional features may be

carried out by self-installation CDs or, more preferably, remotely via Internet, on demand.

The functionalities of the device 1 are controlled and managed by the user by means of remote control means, comprising preferably only one remote control unit, preferably equipped with a monitor. In an even more preferred way, such remote control means comprise a small hand-held computer, equipped with a monitor, such that the management of the device 1 is facilitated and made possible even without connection to an external monitor. The use of a hand-held computer can also advantageously enable information to be exchanged not only between the remote control means and the device 1, but also in the reverse direction between the device 1 and the remote control means, assisting the user in some operations, for example informing the user about the title of a possible music file reproduced at that moment by the device 1. The latter feature is also particularly important when the device 1 is also set up with the home automation management function.

Also arranged in the device 1 is a pair of fans 18, activated, if necessary, when the temperature inside the device reaches a determined limit threshold. The fans 18 are positioned and configured so as to reduce to the minimum the noise associated with their operation, which turns out in fact to be substantially imperceptible.

According to the present invention, it is envisaged that an extensive part, and preferably all, of the outer casing 3 is made of a material that is at least partially transparent to visible light and that inside the casing there is provided at least one light source 20 capable of illuminating the casing

3 from the inside, like a lamp. Preferably a plurality of light sources, of the LED type, is provided, which are fitted to respective support arms 21 placed against the casing 3 and extended vertically at respective middle regions of the sides 5 of the casing. The arms 21 are therefore placed on the recesses 6, and when viewed from the inside of the device 1 actually become projections, and the LEDs are fitted at intervals along the arms 21 and are turned towards the opposite longitudinal ends 4a, 4b. This arrangement advantageously provides for obtaining a more graduated lighting effect and one that is uniformly distributed inside the casing 3. The material from which the casing 3 is made is a material having the desired proprieties of transparency or semi-transparency, glass or polymeric resin, and it will have a thickness due to the material employed according to the mechanical and optical proprieties required. The device 1 also comprises means for controlling the light source which are accessible from outside the casing 3, in order to enable the user to control the light source. Preferably, the light sources 20 are managed directly by the remote control means mentioned previously, and also independently of the functionalities of the electronic units that the device 1 is equipped with, and their power supply is also separate and independent.

This means that the device 1 can advantageously be used as a lamp, in addition or as an alternative to its use as a media centre. Again to this end, it is envisaged that the light sources 20 are capable of emitting light of different colours, which can be selected by the user via the remote control means. In the same way, the user can set the

preferred brightness level.

It will be appreciated that the multimedia device 1 produced according to the present invention can easily be placed in a household environment just like a piece of furniture, such as a common lamp. To emphasize this characteristic, it is envisaged that most connections and entry points arranged on the casing 3, to enable mass storage units and/or external peripheral equipment to be connected to the device 1, are normally hidden from view. In particular it is envisaged that one or both masking elements 7 are fitted in a sliding manner on the casing 3 such that they can be moved by the user between a first position in which they hide from view the abovementioned connections and/or entry points and a second position in which these connections and/or entry points are exposed and therefore accessible from the outside. As already anticipated above, the possibility of peripheral equipment being connected wirelessly, such that the number of cables emerging from the device 1 is limited as far as possible, contributes to an improved characterization of the device 1 as a furniture lamp. The present invention therefore achieves the proposed aim, while at the same time providing a number of other advantages. A first of these advantages arises from the option of the multimedia device having fast startup times, owing to the possibility of keeping the device in a permanent standby mode.