JPH0823987B2 - Cassette tape device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cassette tape device used for magnetic recording and reproduction.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, cassette tapes have been remarkably popular because of their small size, easy handling, and high performance and low price. For example, there are a video cassette for recording a video signal, a compact cassette and a micro cassette for recording an audio signal, and a cassette tape for a digital audio tape recorder (DAT) in a recent example.

Cassette tapes have a high recording capacity in spite of their low price, which is considered to be one of the reasons for their high popularity. However, they also have some problems peculiar to tapes. One of them is the confirmation of the contents recorded on the magnetic tape. Normally, in the case of video and audio cassettes, when the recording on the tape is completed, the person who recorded the contents will have a proper title and contents. 、 I attached the table of contents and wrote it on the surface label of the cassette case and the attached memo. However, in this case, there are problems in long-term storage and rewriting when used frequently, and electrical reading and writing are also difficult.

As a conventional technique for solving this problem, for example,
There is a cassette tape device as shown in JP-A-60-32177.

The conventional cassette tape device as described above will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of a conventional cassette tape device. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 is a cassette tape housing, 302 is a magnetic tape, 303 is a tape guide running system including a reel hub and a tape guide, 304 is a nonvolatile memory circuit using semiconductor elements, and 305 is a nonvolatile memory circuit 304 as an external line. An external storage connector for connecting with the external storage connector 306, a connection conductor for connecting the non-volatile storage circuit 304 and the external storage connector 305, and a window 307 for contacting the magnetic tape 302 and an external recording / reproducing magnetic head. is there.

The operation of the conventional cassette tape device configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, 401 is an input terminal of a signal to be recorded, 4
02 is a recording signal control circuit, 403 is a recording amplifier, 404 is a recording head, 405 is a conventional cassette tape device, 406 is a reproducing head, 407 is a reproducing amplifier, 408 is a reproducing signal control circuit, 409 is an output terminal, and 410 is a connector. , 411 is a tape running mechanism, 412 is a system control circuit, 413 is an input device such as a keyboard, and 414 is a display device.

First, at the time of recording, the signal from the input terminal 401 is recorded on the magnetic tape 302 in the conventional cassette tape device 405 via the recording signal control circuit 402, the recording amplifier 403, and the recording head 404. In addition, input device 41
3, via the system control circuit 412, conventional cassette tape 4
The data is stored in the non-volatile memory circuit 304 in 05. At the time of reproduction, first, the information stored in the non-volatile storage circuit 304 in the conventional cassette tape device 405 is read out, and the system control circuit 412 controls the tape running mechanism 411 and the reproduction signal control circuit 408, and at the same time, the cassette. From the magnetic tape 302 in the tape device 405, an output signal is obtained from the output terminal 409 via the reproducing head 406 and the reproducing amplifier 407. Then, the information stored in the non-volatile storage circuit 304 in the cassette tape device 405 is displayed on the display device 414 as needed.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-mentioned configuration, only the information storage portion of the magnetic tape and the non-volatile storage circuit is provided in the cassette tape device, and the contents of a large amount of data recorded on the magnetic tape are stored. It has been difficult to execute a process involving a high-level judgment function such as a judgment process regarding content protection and content protection for each individual cassette tape.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and makes it possible to execute, for each individual cassette tape, a determination process regarding the content of information written on a magnetic tape and a process with a determination function such as content protection. The present invention provides a cassette tape device that can be used.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, a cassette tape device according to the present invention comprises a magnetic tape, reel hub means for winding the magnetic tape, and stable running of the magnetic tape in a cassette tape housing. A tape guide unit, a storage unit that includes a semiconductor element and stores at least a predetermined program to be executed when the magnetic tape is reproduced; a calculation unit that executes the program stored in the storage unit; And a microprocessor unit having an input / output unit, and an input / output connector unit connected to the input / output unit of the microprocessor unit is provided on the surface of the cassette tape housing, and recording of the magnetic tape is performed. In this case, in conjunction with the recording operation, and in reproducing the magnetic tape, in conjunction with the reproducing operation, the storage unit And / or the predetermined program is transferred between the arithmetic unit and a predetermined external circuit via the input / output connector unit.

Operation According to the present invention, when the cassette tape is mounted on the recording / reproducing machine, the recording / reproducing execution, the recording format, the reproducing order, and other various judgments can be made by the program of the microprocessor means incorporated in the cassette tape.
The processing can be executed individually for each cassette tape.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a cassette tape device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is a cassette tape housing, 102 is a magnetic tape, 103 is a reel hub, 104 is a tape guide, 105 is a microprocessor circuit, 106 is a connector for connection with an external circuit, 107 is an external magnetic head. Is a contact window, 108 is an opening / closing lid provided on the contact window 107, and 109 is an electronic locking mechanism provided on the opening / closing lid 108.

The operation of the cassette tape device configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

First, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a recording / reproducing apparatus using the cassette tape device of the present embodiment.
The signal to be recorded from 1 is the central system processing circuit 2
In response to a command from 11, the encoder 202 converts it into a predetermined recording format, passes through the recording amplifier 203 and the recording head 204, and then the magnetic tape 102 in the cassette tape device of this embodiment.
Recorded in. At this time, an execution program including various determination processes to be executed at the time of reproducing the magnetic tape is input from the input device 212 and stored in the electrically writable and erasable read-only memory in the microprocessor circuit 105. At the time of reproduction, after mounting the cassette tape device of the present embodiment on the recording / reproducing device, the microprocessor circuit 105 is activated, the mounting of the cassette tape and other conditions are checked, and if the predetermined conditions are satisfied, the electronic locking mechanism Release 109, open the retractable lid 108, play head 205, playback amplifier 2
After 06, the reproduction decoder 207 receives the program stored in the microprocessor circuit 105, decodes it into a predetermined format, and outputs it to the output terminal 208.

Of course, the microprocessor circuit 105 may operate the tape running mechanism 210 to control the playback order and playback speed, and may output the execution contents of the program and other necessary information to the output device 213.

As described above, according to this embodiment, in addition to the microprocessor circuit of the recording / reproducing apparatus main body, a unique microprocessor is provided in the cassette tape device to form the dual microprocessor structure, and By providing an opening / closing lid 108 having an electronic locking mechanism 109 on the contact window 107 for contacting the magnetic head of the above, while keeping high confidentiality in the recorded contents on the magnetic tape 102 in the cassette tape device. In addition, it becomes possible to reproduce a recorded content by adding a high-level judgment function, and it is possible to realize a cassette tape device having a new function that has never been seen before.

In this embodiment, the fixed head type is used as the model of the cassette tape device, but the cassette head may be of the rotary head type.

The recording signal on the magnetic tape is not limited to an analog signal and may be digital data.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention is provided with a microprocessor means and a connecting connector inside a conventional cassette tape device, so that it can work in unison with the microprocessor means of the recording / reproducing apparatus main body to provide a high judgment function and a processing function which have not been found in the past. It is possible to realize a cassette tape device having

Further, by providing an opening / closing lid having an electronic locking mechanism in the contact window between the magnetic tape in the cassette tape and the external magnetic head, the contents recorded on the magnetic tape are
It is possible to realize an excellent cassette tape device that maintains high confidentiality.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the structure of a cassette tape device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a recording / reproducing device using the cassette tape device of FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the structure of a conventional cassette tape, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of a recording / reproducing device using the conventional cassette tape device shown in FIG. 101 …… cassette tape housing, 102 …… magnetic tape, 103
...... Reel hub, 104 …… Tape guide, 105 …… Microprocessor circuit, 106 …… Connector, 107 …… External magnetic head contact window, 108 …… Openable lid, 109 …… Electronic locking mechanism.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cassette tape housing, which comprises a magnetic tape, reel hub means for winding the magnetic tape, tape guide means for stably running the magnetic tape, and a semiconductor element, and at least during reproduction of the magnetic tape. The cassette tape housing surface includes a storage unit that stores a predetermined program to be executed, an arithmetic unit that executes the program stored in the storage unit, and a microprocessor unit that has a predetermined input / output unit. And an input / output connector section connected to the input / output section of the microprocessor means, and when recording on the magnetic tape, the magnetic tape is reproduced in conjunction with the recording operation. In this case, the input / output connector unit is connected between the storage unit and / or the arithmetic unit and a predetermined external circuit in conjunction with the reproduction operation. Through it, a cassette tape apparatus, characterized in that the transfer of the predetermined program. 2. A cassette tape housing has a window for contacting the magnetic tape with an external magnetic head, and an opening / closing lid is provided on the contact window, and an electronic device is provided for the opening / closing lid. The cassette tape device according to claim 1, further comprising a key-operated mechanism, which can be opened and closed only when receiving a signal from the microprocessor means. 3. The cassette tape device according to claim 1, wherein an electrically writable and erasable read-only memory is used as the memory portion of the microprocessor means.