JP3240688B2 - Automatic cassette changer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for automatically recording and reproducing a material used in a broadcasting station. The material is recorded once on a tape and is repeatedly reproduced for broadcasting. The present invention relates to an automatic cassette exchange apparatus having a function (hereinafter, referred to as a library management function) capable of recording a new material again at the element position when it becomes unnecessary.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional cassette automatic exchange apparatus having a library management function will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 6, a tape having a tape length of 20 is divided into ten blocks each having a fixed length of 2 minutes. Each block includes (1) a block that has never been recorded (hereinafter, referred to as an unused block), (2) a block that is being used for recording and reproduction (hereinafter, referred to as a KNOWN block),
(3) Since the number of reproductions is large, the tape is damaged and the tape cannot be used for broadcasting again, so a block that is not re-recorded (hereinafter referred to as a DEAD block). (4) Since the number of reproductions is small and the tape damage is small, Blocks that can be re-recorded because they can be used for broadcasting again (hereinafter DEL
ETE block). Also, since the number of blocks used for element recording was not held, the element recording was limited to less than two minutes (one element is recorded using only one block). Assuming that only one block is used for one element recording, in order to perform recording for two minutes or more, the fixed length of the block must be, for example, three minutes. FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the element record on the tape and the block in this case.
Shown in In this case, a material shorter than 3 minutes can be recorded, but even a short material uses one block, so that the number of elements that can be recorded in one cassette is reduced to seven.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart for selecting a cassette to be recorded from a conventional cassette housing shelf.

[0004]

In a cassette exchanging apparatus having such a library management function, if the length of a block is set short, the length of a recordable material is limited, and the length of the block is increased. When set, the number of materials that can be recorded on one cassette is limited.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention divides a tape into blocks of a specific length, and records using a plurality of blocks according to the length of the material to be recorded. Holds the number of blocks used for recording and manages the number of elements of each DELETE block for each cassette according to the number of blocks and the number of used blocks for each block type, so that the length of the material to be recorded is limited unless the tape length is exceeded. There is no, and it is possible to use the tape of the recording cassette effectively and manage the library.

[0006]

According to the above-mentioned means, materials having different recording times can be recorded on one cassette, and a library management function can be realized by effectively using a tape.

[0007]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an external view of an automatic cassette changing apparatus, and FIG. 2 shows a relationship between a material recorded on a tape and blocks.

A cassette tape to be managed has a length of 20 minutes, and a block unit to be divided is 1 minute. Each block has the following four types: (1) unused block (2) KN
OWN block (3) DEAD block (4) DELE
It is classified into one of the TE blocks.

[0009] DE from the used KNOWN block
The AD / DELETE block is changed to a DEAD block if the number of times of reproduction is equal to or more than a certain value when the data of the element held by the computer 5 is deleted, and a DELET block if the number is less than the certain value.
Let it be an E block. In the data deletion process, the data in the KNOWN block is changed so that the data is not actually deleted, but can be recognized as a DEAD or DELETE block. This flowchart is shown in FIG.
By doing so, even if the deletion processing of the element data and the recording in the DELETE block are repeated, the number of times of reproduction of the block position is maintained.

[0010] In order to keep the number of reproductions for each block, it is assumed that only recording using the same number of blocks as the number of blocks used in the previous recording can be performed in the DELETE block.

The computer 5 keeps track of the number of elements for each DELETE block number and the number of used blocks for each block type of all cassettes in the cassette housing shelf 4. The number of blocks used for recording is obtained based on the length of the material to be recorded. If there is a cassette having unused blocks that can be recorded on the cassette storage shelf, recording is performed on the cassette. If recording cannot be performed with unused blocks, a cassette having DELETE blocks equal to the number of blocks necessary for recording is selected. FIG. 4 shows a flowchart for selecting an optimum cassette for recording from a plurality of cassettes on the cassette storage shelf.

As described above, by performing the block management of the cassette tape, the tape can be used effectively and the library can be managed.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, the length of the material to be recorded is not limited as long as the length of the material does not exceed the tape length, and materials having different recording times can be recorded on a single tape. Use and library management becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an automatic cassette changing device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between a material recorded on a tape and blocks.

FIG. 3 shows that the KNOWN block has DEAD and DELETE.
Flowchart of the process changed to a block

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for selecting a cassette to be recorded according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for selecting a cassette to be recorded according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between a material and blocks recorded on a tape by a conventional technique.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a material and blocks recorded on a tape by a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e Magnetic recording / reproducing device 2 Robot 3 Controller 4 Cassette storage shelf 5 Computer 6 Material recorded using one block 7 Material recorded using two blocks 8 One block used Material recorded as 9 9 Material recorded using 3 blocks 10 Leader 11 Message 12 Runout 13 Guard 14, 15, 16 Material recorded in a fixed block of 2 minutes 17, 18 Recorded in a fixed block of 3 minutes Material

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A plurality of magnetic recording / reproducing devices; a robot for moving a cassette from a cassette housing shelf to the magnetic recording / reproducing device; a controller for controlling the magnetic recording / reproducing device; Hold and
The computer includes a determination unit for determining whether re-recording is possible based on the number of reproductions for each tape position, and a unit for selecting an appropriate cassette from a plurality of cassettes on the cassette storage shelf according to the length of the material. Automatic cassette changer.