JP2000251442A - Magnetic tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily identify a magnetic cassette tape by providing a detection to be made section, which is optically made detectable, to the portion, that is located opposite to an optical detecting means in a recording and reproducing device, when the tape is loaded into the device. SOLUTION: A color identifying sensor 9, which is made up with a light emitting element 9a and a photodetector 9b, is provided to a cassette loading section 7 so that the sensor 9 is positioned opposite to a lid 3 when it is opened. Then, the detection result by the sensor 9 and the identification result by an identifying circuit 11 are inputted to a control circuit 13. If a magnetic cassette tape 1 is loaded into a digital video recorder through a path indicated by an arrow mark A and the sensor 9 detects the fact that the lid 3 is yellow, the circuit 11 recognizes that the tape 1 is a low density recording digital video cassette. Then, a control circuit 13 controls a recording system circuit 15 and a driving system circuit 17 so as to execute a recording or a reproducing in a low density recording mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic tape cassette capable of easily identifying the type and specifications of the magnetic tape cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Magnetic tape cassettes have the same shape but different uses or different specifications such as a magnetic tape coating method.
It is necessary to accurately identify the magnetic tape cassette.

As a conventional technique for identifying a magnetic tape cassette, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No.
It is disclosed that a pin can be inserted into a hole formed in a magnetic tape cassette, and the state of insertion of the pin is detected to identify the magnetic tape cassette.

Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-212219 discloses that
It is disclosed that a magnetic tape cassette is provided with a bent piece serving as a detected portion, and the bent piece is broken off to be identifiable.

Further, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Sho 59-130282 discloses that a magnetic tape is provided with a bar code at the beginning thereof for identification.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-164084 discloses that a magnetic tape cassette is provided with an electric storage element and the storage element is electrically connected to the outside to identify the magnetic tape cassette. Have been.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the case of a configuration in which holes are formed in a cassette case as in JP-A-9-142979, if the types to be identified are large, the number of holes is also large. As a result, the cassette case has a problem that many holes are formed and strength is reduced.

Further, in the case of a configuration in which bent pieces are provided as in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-212219, if there are many types to be identified,
The configuration of the cassette case becomes complicated.

In the case of a configuration in which a bar code is provided on a magnetic tape as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 59-130282,
It is difficult for an operator to visually identify the barcode and identify the magnetic tape cassette.

Further, in the case of a configuration in which an electric storage element is provided in a magnetic tape cassette as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-164084, since the identification information is electrically held in the storage element, the operator also needs It is difficult to visually identify the magnetic tape cassette.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic tape cassette capable of easily and reliably identifying a cassette visually or by a recording / reproducing apparatus without lowering the strength of the cassette. Is to do.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a recording / reproducing apparatus in which a detected object which can be optically detected by the light detecting means is provided at a portion facing the light detecting means provided in the apparatus. The present invention is achieved by a magnetic tape cassette having a portion.

In the present invention, the recording / reproducing device includes an audio device for recording sound and images, and a server for backing up various data handled by a computer.

In the present invention, the detected portion which can be optically detected has a function of causing its reflected light or transmitted light to enter the light detecting means, and can be visually recognized. The detected portion may be provided with, for example, a portion that reflects only light of a specific wavelength by coloring or the like, a portion where the amount of reflected light is increased by smoothing or the like, or a reflected light amount by roughening or matting. Is provided by providing a portion where the number of components decreases. These processings may be performed directly on the constituent members of the magnetic tape cassette, or the members may be fixed to the magnetic tape cassette after performing the processings on another member.

The detected portion is preferably provided on the outer peripheral surface of the magnetic tape cassette, but may be provided at a position deeper than the outer peripheral surface. The detected portion may be configured so that conventional components of the magnetic tape cassette itself can be optically detected, or may be characters or symbols attached to the cassette half. , Symbols and the like, and the difference between the amount of reflected light and the amount of transmitted light can be used.

The detected portion may be detected in a state where the magnetic tape cassette has been loaded into the recording / reproducing apparatus, or may be detected in a process of loading the magnetic tape cassette into the recording / reproducing apparatus. For this purpose, the light detecting device in the recording / reproducing device may be provided at a position facing the detected portion when the magnetic tape cassette is loaded in the recording / reproducing device. It may be provided at a position facing the detected portion on the path to be loaded.

[0017]

According to the present invention, when a magnetic tape cassette is loaded into a recording / reproducing apparatus, a portion which can be optically detected is provided at a portion opposed to a light detecting means provided in the apparatus. The magnetic tape cassette is easily identified visually by an operator, and is also reliably identified in the recording / reproducing apparatus.

Since the magnetic tape cassette has a portion to be detected which is optically detected, various types of identification can be performed by setting various colors and reflectances of the portion to be detected. Further, since the magnetic tape cassette does not need to form an identification hole, the strength is not reduced while enabling various types of identification.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a magnetic tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention. This magnetic tape cassette 1 is a commercial digital video cassette (D
VC), for example, there are two types of recording densities: low density recording (25 MBPS) and high density recording (50 MBPS).

In order to distinguish between the low-density recording cassette and the high-density recording cassette, in this embodiment, the color of the lid 3 that opens and closes the magnetic tape drawer is set according to the recording density. . For example, the lid 3 of the low-density recording cassette is yellow, and the lid 3 of the high-density recording cassette is blue. The magnetic tape cassette 1 can also be used for recording general data handled by a computer, other than sounds and images. When the magnetic tape cassette 1 is used for data recording, the lid 3 is, for example, white.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state where the magnetic tape cassette 1 is loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus 5. Recording / reproducing device 5
The cassette loading section 7 is provided with a color identification sensor 9 so as to face the lid 3 in an open state. The color identification sensor 9 includes a light emitting element 9a and a light receiving element 9b.

In this embodiment, the color identification sensor 9 is provided so as to face the lid 3 from above, but the color identification sensor 9 faces the lid 3 from the front side or the side of the magnetic tape cassette 1. It may be provided as follows. Also,
In the present embodiment, the color identification sensor 9 is provided at a portion facing the lid 3 of the magnetic tape cassette 1 in which loading is completed, but is provided at a portion facing the lid 3 in the loading path indicated by the arrow A. Is also good. Such a change of the installation site of the color identification sensor 9 can be similarly performed even if the detected portion is other than the lid 3.

An identification circuit 11 and a control circuit 13 are connected to the color identification sensor 9. The detection result by the color identification sensor 9 and the identification result by the identification circuit 11
Is input to The control circuit 13 is connected to a recording system circuit 15 for driving a recording head and the like, and a driving system circuit 17 for running the tape and moving the cassette. Control circuit 13
Controls the recording system circuit 15 and the drive system circuit 17 to control the operation of reading and writing on the magnetic tape.

The control in the case where the recording / reproducing device 5 is a digital video recorder will be described below. When the magnetic tape cassette 1 is a low-density recording cassette (lid is, for example, yellow), when the magnetic tape cassette 1 is loaded into the digital video recorder along the path indicated by the arrow A, the color identification sensor 9 first detects that the lid 3 is yellow. Detect that there is. Then
Since the detected color is yellow, the identification circuit 11 identifies this magnetic tape cassette 1 as a digital video cassette for low-density recording. Next, the control circuit 13
Performs recording or playback in low-density recording mode,
The recording system circuit 15 and the drive system circuit 17 are controlled.

When the loaded magnetic tape cassette 1 is a high-density recording cassette (lid is blue, for example),
As described above, the color identification sensor 9 detects that the lid 3 is blue. And since lid 3 is blue,
The magnetic tape cassette 1 is identified as a digital video cassette for high-density recording, and recording or reproduction is performed in a high-density recording mode.

Also, the loaded magnetic tape cassette 1
However, if it is a data recording cassette for recording general electronic data other than sound or image data, the lid 3 is set to another color (for example, white). When the data recording cassette is loaded into the digital video recorder,
The color detection sensor 9 detects that the color of the lid is neither yellow nor blue, or that it is white. Then
The identification circuit 11 identifies that the magnetic tape cassette 1 is not for image recording, and the control circuit 13 receives the identification result,
The drive circuit 17 is controlled so that the recording system circuit 15 is not operated, and the magnetic tape cassette 1 is ejected out of the digital video recorder.

As described above, when the recording / reproducing device 5 is a digital video recorder, when the loaded magnetic tape cassette 1 is a recording cassette, recording or reproduction is executed in an appropriate recording mode, and the loaded magnetic tape cassette 1 is used. When the tape cassette 1 is a data recording cassette, recording and reproduction are not executed.

Next, control when the recording / reproducing device 5 is a general data recording device will be described. When the magnetic tape cassette 1 for data recording is loaded into the data recording device 5,
First, the color identification sensor 9 detects that the lid 3 is white. Next, since the detected color is white, the identification circuit 11 identifies that the magnetic tape cassette 1 is for data recording. Next, the control circuit 13 controls the recording system circuit 15.
And the drive system circuit 17 to write or read data.

When the magnetic tape cassette 1 for recording is loaded in the data recording device, the color identification sensor 9 detects that the lid 3 is yellow, blue, or not white. Then, the identification circuit 11 identifies that the magnetic tape cassette 1 is not for data recording, and the control circuit 13 activates the drive system circuit 17 without activating the recording system circuit 15 and performs magnetic recording without executing the data recording operation. Control is performed so that the tape cassette 1 is ejected out of the data recording device.

As described above, when the data recording device is loaded with the data recording cassette, proper data recording is performed. When the data recording device is loaded with the recording cassette, the read / write operation is not performed. It has become.

In the above description, various kinds of magnetic tape cassettes 1 are identified by changing the color of the lid 3, but the part for setting the color is not limited to the lid 3. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, an ID board 21 for identifying the cassette is mounted on the back side of the digital video cassette, so that this may be used. The ID board 21 includes one having an electrical contact with the recording / reproducing device 5, one having a storage element, and one having no electrical contact. In addition to these differences in shape, optical identification is also possible by setting a plurality of colors. In this case, the ID board 2 in the recording / reproducing device
A color detection sensor 9 is provided at a portion facing 1. Further, the ID board 21 may be further modified in shape so as to be identified by a mechanical method such as contact.

As a part for setting the color, a window member can be used. As shown in FIG. 1, in the magnetic tape cassette 1 for recording, a transparent window member 23 is mounted by cutting out a part of the cassette half 25 so that the remaining amount of the tape can be visually checked. Therefore, the window member 23
By setting a plurality of colors, the magnetic tape cassette 1 can be optically identified.

On the other hand, in the data recording cassette, it is generally unnecessary to visually check the remaining amount of the tape, so that a transparent window member is not required. Therefore, when the magnetic tape cassette 1 having the window member 23 is used for data recording, the recording member and the data recording cassette can be distinguished by setting the window member 23 to a color other than transparent.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, characters 27 and symbols are printed on the cassette half 25. Therefore, colors for identification may be set on these characters 27 and symbols. Alternatively, the character 27 or the symbol may be identified by changing the reflectance of the character 27 or the symbol and the background thereof without setting the color to the character 27 or the symbol.

In this case, if the characters 27 and symbols are formed of a glossy paint and the background is frosted, the characters 27 and
The character 27 or the symbol can be identified by the difference in the amount of reflected light between the portion of the symbol or the symbol and the background.

[0036]

According to the present invention, when a magnetic tape cassette is loaded into a recording / reproducing apparatus, a portion which can be optically detected is provided at a portion opposed to light detecting means provided in the apparatus. Thus, the magnetic tape cassette can be easily identified visually by an operator, and also reliably identified in the recording / reproducing apparatus. In addition, the magnetic tape cassette does not cause a reduction in strength due to the formation of holes for identification, etc.
Various types of identification are possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a magnetic tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state where a magnetic tape cassette is loaded in a recording / reproducing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the magnetic tape cassette according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Magnetic tape cassette 3 Lid 5 Recording / reproducing device 7 Loading part 9 Color identification sensor 9a Light emitting element 9b Light receiving element 11 Identification circuit 13 Control circuit 15 Recording system circuit 17 Drive system circuit 21 ID board 23 Window member 25 Cassette half 27 Character

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic tape cassette having a detection part which can be optically detected by said light detecting means at a portion facing a light detecting means provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus at the time of loading into the apparatus. .