JPS61236058A - Multi-cassette type tape player - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an automatic thread cassette tape player system.

[Background of the invention]

Automatic thread cassette tape players (commonly called ``cart machines'') are used by television stations to store recorded segments of commercial footage and retrieve and play them at appropriate times between television programs. , a cassette storage unit for storing a plurality of cassettes each containing a tape of a commercial recording fragment, a plurality of tape players, and a manipulator or cassette for moving each cassette between the storage unit and the tape player for playing it. It includes an operation unit.

Cart machines, speed, and reliability are most important, since most television stations' revenue losses come from selling airtime to air commercial programs. Velocity is the cycle time for moving a cassette into and out of a standby player for various playback sequences, such as two 5-second segments, three 10-second segments, and four 5-second segments during a 60-second broadcast interval, in that order. Necessary for performing operations such as broadcasting.

Current cart machines have a turntable or vertical storage shelf for 25 to 40 cassettes, which are moved from the cassette compartment to one of the two tape players by a single cassette handling unit. ing. Since the number of cassettes in this storage unit is relatively small, it is common for the contents of the storage unit to be updated at relatively short intervals, for example every 30 minutes, during operation time in order to be able to reproduce the appropriate program portion within a predetermined period of time.

However, if the cassette storage section of this cart machine is continuously updated, there will be considerable human error (ie, incorrect cassettes or incorrect storage positions), reducing the reliability of the cart system. Therefore, if the cart machine can accommodate enough cassettes (i.e., approximately 300) to store the commercial broadcast portion required for a television station's 8-hour program, the station's reliability regarding proper cassette scheduling and playback will increase. is expected to increase by 10 to 100 times.

One way to improve the reliability of a cart machine is to increase the number of cassettes in the compartment, but also by increasing the number of cassette storage positions (e.g., by increasing the carousel size or raising the vertical storage shelves). Even if it were possible to do so, the time required to remove the cassette operating unit from within the enlarged storage space would be long, making it impossible to accommodate long sequences of short commercial portions.

Therefore, although the bins are currently larger, there is a need for cart machines that maintain speeds capable of playing long sequences of relatively short commercial segments.

[Summary of the invention]

The above and other features are provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention in a cart machine that includes a plurality of vertical shelves arranged in a circle about a vertical central axis. the vertical shelf includes a plurality of cassette compartments and at least one cassette player compartment;
A plurality of cassette handling units are coupled to the vertical shaft and are movable both radially and axially relative to the shaft to move cassettes between the cassette compartment and the player. A relative rotational movement is provided between the cassette handling unit and the vertical shelf of the storage such that a selected handling unit is aligned with a selected storage.

Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Explanation of recommended examples]

The cart machine shown in FIG. 1 has a storage section 10 and a control/signal processing section 12.
It can be divided into The storage area lO is 8 around the vertical central axis 30.
It has eight stationary vertical shelves 14-28 arranged in a rectangular configuration. As seen in FIGS. 2a and 2b, which are sectional views of the storage compartments 1O, the shelves 14 and 18-28 have multiple storage compartments for storing television tape cassettes, and the shelves 16
has storage for vertical arrangement of tape cassette players and/or tape cassette recorders (denoted by decks 1-6). A manipulator assembly 32 is mounted for vertical movement along axis 30 and includes four cassette handling units 34 mounted to a base 36 for rotational movement about axis 30. The operating unit 34 is for moving each cassette between the storage section and the decks 1-6. Bar code reader 38 attached to base 36
reads the identification number from the encoded reflector on each cassette and sends that information to the control section 12.

Briefly, during operation, an electric motor is used to move the base 36 in the axial direction along the shaft 30 and in the rotational direction of its periphery according to the control signal from the control unit 12, and the base 36 is moved in one of the required directions of the operating unit 34. match the required storage cassette. At this time, the operating unit 34 moves radially outward from the shaft 30, grips the desired cassette, and then pulls it out. Next, the position of the base 36 is changed until the operating unit 34 positions the gripped cassette on a desired one of the decks 1 to 6. Once aligned, the operating unit 34 is again moved radially outward from the shaft 30 to insert and retract the cassette into the desired cassette deck. Before inserting a new cassette, the control 12 may cause the unused operating unit to remove the cassette currently in the desired deck to make room for the new cassette.

In order to manually enter and exit cassettes into the storage section 10, an access door 40 that is aligned with the cassette storage shelf 22 is used. The control/signal processing unit 12 is coupled to the cassette decks 1 to 6 and the manipulator structure 32 via signal paths indicated by arrows 42, and controls the operation of the cassette machine and monitors the television signal being generated at the time. terminal and video/audio output terminal.

In this way, the cart machine can store a large number of cassettes, e.g.
7 rows of cassettes, or 280 cassettes, so that there are enough cassettes in storage compartment 1 for the entire 8-hour operation.
0, significantly reducing the opportunity for human error for cart machines that must be manually updated every 30 minutes. Additionally, the circular arrangement of cassette and deck storage shelves around the central cassette manipulator structure provides high enough speeds to retrieve and play cassettes during even the craziest of shows. Details of the manipulator assembly 32 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3 through 5.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the manipulator structure 32.

As shown, the base 36 includes a lower abutment 30 having a central aperture for passing a vertical angular shaft 306 corresponding to the shaft 30 of FIG.
2 and an upper support 304, and a hub 308 surrounding a shaft 306 is fixed between the supports 302 and 304. A toothed bell) 310 is attached to the upper side of the abutment 304,
It is pulled to the underside of the support 302 via a series of idlers 312-316 and a drive gear 318. For convenience of explanation below, the connection point between Bell) 310 and the support base 302 is shown horizontally shifted from the connection point with the support base 304, but it is better that they match. Although the vertical plates 14 to 28 in FIGS. 1, 2a, and 2b are not shown in FIG.
2 to 316, it can be seen that the belt 310 is arranged so as to extend along the upper surface, back surface, and lower surface of the storage shelf so as not to interfere with the operation of the cassette operating unit 34. A drive shaft 320 couples a step motor 322 to a gear 318 to drive the belt 310 in response to drive pulses supplied from the controller 12 to move the base 36 along the shaft 306 . As shown in the plan view of the structure 32 in FIG.
Four rollers 326 are attached to the interior 324 of the square shaft 306, and are adapted to roll along each side of the square shaft 306.

The exterior 328 of the abutment 304 is connected to the interior 3 by the restraint bearing 330.
24 such that the outer part 328 rotates relative to the non-rotatable inner part 324 via its bearing 330. Four cassette operating units 34 are mounted on the top surface of the exterior 328, spaced 90' apart from each other, but for the sake of clarity, only one operating unit 34 and one roller 326 are shown in FIG.

Each operating unit 34 includes a downwardly curved guide rail 332 that supports a moving case 334, and the case 7334 has a pair of grippers 336 at one end for gripping the cassette, and a tape cassette is completely inserted into the gripper 336. It has a nwitch 338 that closes when the case 334 is closed, and has a DC motor 340 at the other end that moves the case 334 along the guide rail /L/332 by means of wheels 342 provided on the side of the case 334. A DC motor 340 is mounted on the underside of the exterior 328 of the abutment 304 and engages a gear 348 around the hub 308 that rotates the exterior 328 relative to the interior 324.
46.

DC power for the electric motor 340.344 is supplied via a slip ring (not shown) from an electronics 346 provided on the exterior 328, and from the electronics 346 a control signal is supplied to the electric motor 340.344 via conductors. It is controlled to control the start, end and direction of rotation in response to signals.

(For clarity, only the conductor 345 connecting the electronic section 346 to the DC motor 340 is shown.) The electronic section 346 is connected to the base 36
The controller 12 is coiled so as to be able to move up and down.
Control signals are received by infrared coupling, indicated by arrow 348, from electronics 350 which receive control signals via conductors 352 connected to.

This infrared coupling 348 is actually the upper and lower supports 302.3.
Arranged at equal intervals around 04, both the inner and outer parts 324.32
It includes six infrared transceivers that ensure a continuous control path regardless of the relative positions of the eight, but only one coupling 348 is shown for clarity.

The abutments 304 and 302 each have a light sensor 354 and 356.
has. Photosensor 354 constitutes a bar code reader that reads the bar code identification plate on the cassette in the housing and sends the information to electronic section 346 via a conductor (not shown).

Electronics 346 sends the information to controller 12 via infrared coupling 348. Photosensor 356 senses the closest of the plurality of reflectors 358 aligned with the cassette receptacles in vertical plates 14-28 of FIG. 1 to precisely align the axial position of base 36 along axis 306. . The sensor 356 actually includes five sensing elements 360 that transmit information regarding the position of the representative reflector 358 to the controller 12 via the electronics 350, as shown in detail in FIG. The controller 12 accordingly adjusts the base 3 so that the closest reflector 358 is correctly positioned with respect to the central sensing element of the sensor 356.
To position 6, additional pulses of appropriate polarity are provided to motor 322.

When the apparatus is started, the initial setting will properly raise the manipulator assembly 32 to properly align the operating unit 34 with each cassette position on the vertical shelves 14-28. That is, during initialization, the control unit 12 moves the base 36 to its lowest position determined by a nuit (not shown) at the base of the shaft 306 contacting and closing the lower abutment 302. After that, the step motor 322 is driven until the first (lowest) reflecting plate 358 is in the center of the sensor 356, and then the step motor 322 is driven so that the sensor 356 is successively aligned with each of the upper reflecting plates 358. do. The exact number of pulses of the stepper motor to reach each reflector 358 is stored in a temporary storage device (not shown) associated with the controller 12. Thereafter, the control unit 12 simply reads the required number of pulses from the storage device and issues a command to move the base 36 to the required height.

In order to precisely control the rotation of the external part 328 of the abutment 304,
On the lower side of the exterior 328, eight openings are provided at equal intervals around the shaft 30, coinciding with the center of each storage shelf 14 to 28 in FIG. 1, and mounted on the lower support 30H. A wire ring assembly (not shown) is energized to allow a pin to drop into the aperture when the exterior 328 reaches the desired position.

FIG. 6 shows television signal processing by the control section 12. Deck L is a recording deck, which can be used to record the Yl, Q components and audio (Al, A2) signal components of the television signal onto a cassette tape. If the television signal is not in component format, the decoder 602
supplies each component of the television signal to the input of deck 1. Deck 1 also includes means for recording a time code from a TC generator 604.Decoder 602
, To generator 604 and deck 1 are all indicated by the broken line 606
For example, RCA Corp. or Lahoki (H.
It can also be constructed from a television tape recorder sold under the trade name AW-KEY. deck 2
~6 is a reproduction-only deck, such as Glass Paris Gu)v
The component television signals are supplied to a component video/audio signal switch 608, such as one manufactured and sold by Grass Valley Group. The switch 608 supplies the video/audio signal from one of the decks 1 to 6 to its output in response to a control signal from the control section 12. The video component of the selected television signal is processed by a time base corrector (TBC) 61
0 to generate a broadcast quality video output signal. T
BC! 610 has a monitor output for monitoring the operation of the device. Switch 608 also couples the output to the input of recording deck 606 so that sound effects can be applied from one of decks 2-6.

Next, the process diagram of the operation of the device shown in FIG.
The operation sequence consisting of procedure setting and performance will be explained. This process diagram corresponds to a flowchart of a control program for a general purpose computer, such as an IBM PC-AT computer, which may include control unit 12. The functions of the device performed by the program-controlled computer are shown in broken lines, and in order to make it easier to understand the relationship to the structure shown in Figure 3 outside the computer, the signal paths used in some subroutines are shown in the subroutines. Appear to be functionally connected. This explanation refers to FIG. Playlists are prepared by the television station's "traffic" department and recorded on a floppy disk containing the name of each cassette (i.e., its par code identification number) and start and end times for all commercial periods during a given broadcast time. The performance list is inserted into a floppy disk reader 702, where the performance list information is read and stored in a performance list memory 704.

Next, ten cassettes identified by the traffic department as requested in the performance list are inserted into designated storage areas on the shelf 22 of the cart machine. When a sensor such as a micro switch (not shown) indicates that a cassette has been inserted into the storage compartment, the control section 12 reads the bar code of the cassette in the first storage compartment. Square axis 306 to reading position
move it along.

The identification information is sent to storage memo U 706 and stored along with the location where the identified cassette is placed.

Next, one of the operating units 34 is aligned with the first of the ten cassettes and the control unit 12 instructs its motorized 113
40 is started and moves the cake 334 downward to the guide rail 33.
Move along 2. When the cassette in the first storage section pushes against the nuit 338, the gripper 336 lifts the cassette. Motor 340 is then reversed, returning cake 334 along guide rail 332 to its initial position. Storage section 706
The position assigned to the selected cassette is used by the manipulator computer subroutine to determine the most efficient rotation necessary for the manipulator assembly 32 to align the operating unit 34 holding the selected cassette with the assigned position. and calculate the vertical displacement. The manipulator computer subroutine 708 is a temporary V of the electronic section 350.
A vertical position computer subroutine 710 representing the current vertical position of the base 36 stored in advance in the GINUTA is started, and a vertical position control signal is applied to the step motor 322. Manipulator computer subroutine 708 also similarly starts a rotational position computer subroutine 712 that represents a feedback signal indicating the rotational position of base 36 previously stored in electronic section 350, and provides a rotation control signal to DC motor 344. Control signals from the vertical position computer subroutine 710 and the rotational position computer subroutine 712 move the operating unit 34 holding the cassette to a position corresponding to the assigned storage location. Thereafter, the cake 334 of the operating unit 34 moves down the guide rail/l/332 to eject the cassette to its assigned position and then returns to its original position. Manipulator computer subroutine 708 then causes vertical position computer subroutine 710 and rotational position computer subroutine 712 to match one of the operating units 34 to the second receptacle. After that, repeat the above steps to 10 of storage compartments 1 to 10.
All cassettes are stored in memory computer subroutine 7
Repeat until it is stored in the storage section specified in 06.

By this time, the cassette identification information of all the cassettes required for the performance list has been stored in the memory 704, and the comparator subroutine 7
14 compares this information with information stored in storage memory 706 and provides missing list memory 716 with identification information for cassettes requested according to performance list memory 704 but not in storage memory 706. Missing table printer 718 prints the front of the cassette that is still to be loaded. This allows the operator to insert the missing cassette into the loading section of the storage section 10 of the machine,
It is possible to ensure that each cassette required by the performance list is stored in the cart machine.

When the comparator subroutine 714 indicates that there is no shortage of cassettes, the assigned positions of the required cassettes for each event (interruption period) in the playbook are sent sequentially from the storage memory 706 to the event sequence computer subroutine 710. The event sequence computer subroutine 720 is also provided with the start and end times for each cassette from the performance table memory 704. For example, the playlist includes ten events, each consisting of a sequence of four commercial segments during one interruption period. Thereafter, the sequence of positions for the first event is written to event memory 722 and called one by one to manipulator computer subroutine 708 in chronological order. The position of each cassette in the permutation applied from event memory 722 is determined by manipulator computer subroutine 708.
The cassettes for that event are sequentially taken out and inserted into decks 1 to 6 in sequence.

Once the full power cassette has been loaded, each section can be played back at any time according to instructions from the broadcasting station director.

A ``Start Sequence Command'' signal is generated in response to a command from the broadcast station director, and in response, the event ready subroutine 724 provides a ``tape wind'' command to deck 1. However, manpulator computer subroutine 7
It will be seen that the tape wind command will not be provided until 08 indicates by the "Event Sequence Ready" signal that the cassettes required for that event have been loaded into its assigned deck. As the first tape nears its end, the signal on its control track generates a "next" signal in response to which the event ready subroutine 724 issues the next tape wind command (for deck 2).

The "next" signal from deck 1 is also recognized by manipulator computer subroutine 708 as indicating that the cassette in deck 1 is finished and can be pulled out and returned to its assigned position in storage 10. . If you need to load another tape into deck 1 but do not have time to return the cassette from deck 1 to its original assigned position, temporarily park the cassette from deck 1 in the groove next to deck 1. The ninth order cassette that has already been removed by the operating unit 34 can be inserted into the deck 1 under control from the manipulator computer subroutine 708. A cart machine according to the invention having two cassette handling units is particularly suited to handle this type of "emergency" interruption time, as will be explained in more detail below. All cassettes of the first event are played, taken out, and returned to their original assigned positions in the storage section 10.

Next, the event sequence computer subroutine 720 stores in the event memory 722 the positions assigned to the cassettes required for the next event, and repeats the above steps in response to another "sequence start command" from the station director. Play the event cassette.

The above operation sequence represents a case where time conditions are relatively flexible. As mentioned above, there are also urgent cases where a long sequence of cassettes with a relatively short playback time is required. The start and end times for each portion of an event are stored in event memory 722, as described above, from which time manipulator computer subroutine 708 recognizes an "urgent" event and operates manipulator assembly 32 as follows: Handle the emergency event. Since the manipulator structure 32 has four cassette operating units 34, the first scheduled cassette group is loaded into decks 1 to 6, and the next three cassettes are loaded into decks 1 to 6 of the operating units 34.
can be temporarily put on hold. Once the cassette has finished playing on deck 1, the manipulator computer subroutine 708 causes the free operating unit to remove the cassette from deck 1 and the exterior of the upper abutment 304 rotates to grip the next assigned cassette. The operating unit operates to insert it into the deck lVc. This procedure can be repeated after each deck has played its assigned cassette. Furthermore, since the last cassette removed from a deck can be placed in a temporary storage area at the same level as the deck, the abutment 304
simply rotate to insert the next cassette into the deck.

In this preferred embodiment, there is an integer relationship between the number of operating units and the number of vertical storage shelves. That is, the number of vertical shelves (i.e. 8) is an integral multiple (i.e. 2) of the number of operating units (i.e. 4).
times), and each shelf and operating unit is uniformly distributed around the axis 3060.

Accordingly, several cassettes can be removed simultaneously from storage positions at the same height along the vertical axis 306.

Performance list memo! Since J 704 remembers the start and end times for each cassette, storage memory subroutine 706 recognizes "urgent" events and places the cassettes at the same height along axis 306 K as required for these events. can be assigned. Moreover, this assigned location can be close to the deck on which the cassette is intended to be played. Thus, the complete effect is that there are multiple operating units 34, each aligned with a vertical storage shelf, so that several cassettes can be moved in and out simultaneously (i.e., two without having to rotate or raise or lower the manipulator assembly 32). However, even if there is no integer relationship between the number of operating units and the number of vertical storage shelves, a manipulator assembly containing multiple operating units may still have only one operating unit or only one operating unit. It should be appreciated that the relationship between the number of storage shelves and the number of vertical storage shelves can provide significant advantages over manipulator structures that are not integral.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cart machine constructed according to the principles of the present invention, FIGS. 2a and 2b are cross-sectional views of the plan view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 includes the cassette operating unit shown in FIG. 1. 4 is a plan view of the central part of the manipulator shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a front view of the height sensor of the manipulator structure shown in FIG. 3; and FIG. 6 is a detailed side view of the manipulator structure.
This figure is a block diagram of the cart machine control device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is a detailed block diagram of the control device shown in FIG. 6. 34...Cassette operation unit, 14.16.18.
22... Vertical shelf, 22.26... Cassette storage section,
306---Vertical axis, 36.332.320.310.
318.312.314.316...first means, 3
34.340.332.342...second means, 33
4.346.348.308...Third means. Patent Applicant: RCSNY Corporation Representative: Tetsu Shimizu and 2 others No. 3 O61 Sword

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) a vertical axis; a plurality of cassette operating units provided around the vertical axis; a first means for moving the operating units in the axial direction of the vertical axis; second means for moving radially relative to the axis of the tape cassette player; A multi-cassette tape player comprising a vertical shelf and third means for providing relative rotational movement between the plurality of vertical shelves and the plurality of operating units.