JP2001195866A - Recording medium cartridge and recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need for the work to form and stick a label for displaying the contents of an MD cartridge. SOLUTION: A control section 102 stores the characteristic information, such as a disk name, inputted from a recording and reproducing device 200 via an external input/output terminal 108 into an internal memory in the state that the MD cartridge 100 is mounted in the recording and reproducing device 200. The control section 102 displays the character information of the stored first line on an LCD display 101 when a display instruction switch 107 is operated even in the state that the MD cartridge 100 is not mounted at the recording and reproducing device 200. The control section progresses the line of the character information to be displayed on the LCD display 101 when a feed instruction switch 106 is operated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for displaying recorded contents of a recording medium in a recording medium cartridge containing the recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FD (Floppy Disk), MO (Magneto-Optical Disk), MD (Mini Disk), DVD (Digital) Versati
le Disc) -RAM and the like are known.

Conventionally, the display of the recorded contents of the recording medium in these recording medium cartridges has been performed by attaching a label on which the characters representing the recorded contents of the recording medium are written, to the outer surface of the recording medium cartridge.

Here, as a technique for producing such a label, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 11 (1999) discloses a method of producing a label on which characters representing the recorded contents of a recording medium are printed using information recorded on the recording medium.
A technique described in JP-A-86504 is known.

[0005]

According to the technique of displaying the recorded contents of the recording medium by attaching a label on which characters representing the recorded contents of the recording medium are written to the outer surface of the recording medium cartridge, In addition, it is necessary to write and attach characters to the labels one by one. Further, for a rewritable recording medium, every time the recorded content of the recording medium is changed, it is necessary to rewrite the characters of the label and re-attach the label.
Similarly, the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-86504 also requires a label printing or sticking operation.

[0006] In such an operation, it is always guaranteed that the writing or sticking of the label is performed so that the recorded contents of the recording medium are displayed in an orderly manner according to the dexterity and the tendency of the operator. It was not something to be done. For example, by drawing a deletion line on the already-written character string of the label already attached to the recording medium cartridge and writing a new character string in a blank portion, the label according to the change in the recorded content of the recording medium can be obtained. For example, when a change is made, the display becomes unsightly.

On the other hand, in a recording medium cartridge, a user has to perform a complicated operation to display the recorded contents of the recording medium.

According to the technique of displaying the recorded contents of the recording medium by attaching a label on which the characters representing the recorded contents of the recording medium are written to the outer surface of the recording medium cartridge, the characters cannot be visually recognized in darkness. Therefore, there is a problem that the user cannot confirm the recorded contents of the recording medium.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium cartridge in which the recorded contents of a recording medium are always displayed in an orderly manner.

[0010] Further, the present invention provides a recording medium cartridge which does not require a complicated operation of a user.
It is an object to display recorded contents of a recording medium.

Another object of the present invention is to display the recorded contents of a recording medium in such a recording medium cartridge so that a user can check even in darkness.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object,
The present invention relates to, for example, a recording medium cartridge for accommodating a recording medium, wherein an input unit for receiving input of character information representing a character string from outside, a storage unit, and a display in which a display surface is disposed so as to be visible from outside. And a control unit that stores character information input to the input unit in the storage unit and displays a character string represented by the character information stored in the storage unit on the display unit, and at least the control unit A recording medium cartridge having a display unit and a storage unit, and a power supply unit for supplying power required for the operation thereof is provided.

According to such a recording medium cartridge, character information representing a character string indicating the recording content of the recording medium can be input from the outside, stored in the storage unit, and displayed on the display unit. In addition, since the character information stored in the storage unit is changed according to the change of the character information input from the outside, the character information stored in the storage unit is newly stored without leaving a trace of the character information previously stored in the storage unit. The displayed character information can be displayed on the display unit. Therefore, the recorded contents of the recording medium can always be displayed neatly regardless of the number of times of changing the character information to be displayed.

In the recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing such a recording medium cartridge, the information on the recording content of the recording medium recorded on the recording medium of the recording medium cartridge mounted on the mounting portion is provided. If the character information representing the corresponding character string is to be output to the recording medium cartridge, recording of information on the recording medium,
In accordance with the update of the recorded contents, the character information displayed on the display unit is automatically updated appropriately.

Therefore, the user does not need to perform any special operation such as creating a label or attaching a label in order to display the recorded contents of the recording medium in the recording medium cartridge.

[0016] Further, if the display section of such a recording medium cartridge performs display by light emission or transmitted light, the user can display the display section even if it is dark.
It becomes possible to recognize the recorded contents of the recording medium.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a recording medium cartridge and a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to an application to a disk cartridge containing an MD.

FIG. 1A shows the external appearance of the disk cartridge according to the embodiment, and FIG. 1B shows the configuration of the disk cartridge according to the embodiment.

In FIG. 1, an MD disk 105 is housed inside a disk cartridge 100. Here, the MD disk 105 is a disk-shaped recording medium having a track with a track pitch of 1.6 μm and a diameter of 64 mm on which information is recorded by a magnetic field modulation method capable of overwriting.

The disk cartridge 100 has a shutter 103 which is opened when the disk cartridge 100 is mounted on the recording / reproducing apparatus, and which allows the recording / reproducing apparatus to enter a laser beam for recording / reproducing on the MD disk 105. ing.

The disc cartridge 100 has an LC with a backlight in which a display surface is arranged so as to be visible from the outside.
D (liquid Crystal Device) display 101, control unit (microcomputer) 102 with internal memory, disk cartridge 1
00, a display instruction switch 107 operable from the outside, a feed instruction switch 106 operable from the outside of the disk cartridge 100, an external input / output terminal 108 whose contacts are exposed on the outer surface of the disk cartridge 100, a rechargeable battery 104, a disk cartridge It has an external power supply terminal 110 whose contact is exposed on the outer surface of 100, and a charge control circuit 109.

In such a configuration, the charge control circuit 10
9 charges the battery 104 using power supplied from outside via the external power supply terminal 110, and the control unit 102 and the LCD display 101 operate with the power supplied from the battery 104.

The control unit 102 stores character information input from the external input / output terminal 108 in an internal memory. When the display instruction switch 107 is operated, the stored character information of the first line is displayed on the LCD display 101 in a predetermined character font. Further, when the feed instruction switch 106 is operated, the line of character information to be displayed on the LCD display 101 is advanced.

When the control unit 102 receives designation of character information to be displayed via the external input / output terminal 108, the control unit 102 displays the designated character information on the LCD display 101.

The external power supply terminal 110 is, for example, a set of a DC anode terminal and a ground terminal.
The external input / output terminal 108 is, for example, a set of a serial data output terminal, a serial data input terminal, and a serial clock terminal.

Next, FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to this embodiment.

In the figure, when the disc cartridge 100 is mounted on the recording / reproducing apparatus 200, the mounting guide 201 is opened,
This is completed by inserting the disk cartridge 100 and closing the mounting guide 201. A display window 202 is provided in the mounting guide 201. The display surface of the LCD display 101 of the mounted disk cartridge 100 can be visually recognized from the outside via the display window 202. Also, in the mounting guide 201,
A display instruction assisting unit 204 is provided. Display instruction auxiliary unit 2
04 is configured such that the display instruction switch 107 of the mounted disk cartridge 100 is operated in mechanical linkage with an operation performed on the recording / reproducing apparatus 200 from outside.

Next, FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment.

When the shutter 103 is opened, the MD cartridge 105 mounted on the recording / reproducing apparatus 200 is loaded on the spindle motor 313 and is driven to rotate at a linear velocity of 1.2 to 1.4 m / s. Then, information is recorded on the MD disk 105 by the optical head 302 below the MD disk 105 and the magnetic head 301 above the MD disk 101. In addition, the MD head 1
Reading of information from 05 is performed.

Here, a spindle motor 313 is controlled by a spindle control circuit 314 into a CLV (Constant Linear Velocity).
city) is controlled and the MD disk 105 is rotated at a constant linear velocity of 1.2 to 1.4 m / s. The servo control circuit 303 performs control of the spindle control circuit 314, focus control and tracking control of the optical head 302, control of a semiconductor laser in the optical head 302, and the like.

In such a configuration, when recording,
The input analog signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 307, and the signal processing unit 306 uses the memory 308 to convert the digital signal into an ATRAC (Advanced Cross Interleave Read-S) signal.
olomon Code) compression. Then, the compressed signal is subjected to EFM (Eight to Fourteen Modulati
on) Modulates the signal into a recording signal, and irradiates a high-power laser beam from the optical head 302 to the MD disk 105 via the magnetic head 301 to apply a magnetic field corresponding to the recording signal to the MD signal. To record.

On the other hand, at the time of reproduction, signal processing reverse to that at the time of recording is performed. That is, the recording signal read from the MD disk 105 by the optical head 302 is subjected to EFM by the demodulation circuit 305.
Demodulates the signal, decompresses it in the ATRAC by the signal processing unit 306, and
At 09, the signal is converted to an analog signal and output.

In such a recording / reproducing apparatus 200, when the disc cartridge 100 is loaded, the external input / output terminal 108 and the external power supply terminal 110 of the disc cartridge 100 correspond to the recording / reproducing apparatus 200 respectively. A recording / reproducing device side terminal provided on the side,
Each is electrically connected.

The operation unit 311 receives a user operation and notifies the system controller 310 of the operation. The system controller 310 controls the above-described recording and reproduction operations and the like in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 311. Further, the system controller 310 inputs and outputs information to and from the control unit 102 of the disk cartridge 100 via the external input / output terminal 108 of the disk cartridge 100 and the corresponding recording / reproducing device side terminal.

The power supply unit 312 supplies necessary power to each of the above units,
The power is supplied to the disk cartridge 100 via the external power supply terminal 110 of 0 and the corresponding recording / reproducing apparatus side terminal. Thereby, the charging control circuit 109 of the disk cartridge 100 charges the battery 104.

Hereinafter, such a disk cartridge 10 will be described.
The operation for displaying the recorded content of the MD disk 105, which is performed by the recording / reproducing apparatus 200 with 0 is described.

First, character information used to display the recorded contents of the MD disk 105 in the disk cartridge 100 in this embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, TOC (Table Of Contents) and UTC, which are management information areas of the MD disk 105, are used as character information for displaying the recorded contents of the MD disk 105.
(UserTable Of Contents) disk name area,
The disc name and track name recorded in the track name area are used. The disc name is character information indicating the title of a series of information recorded on the disc cartridge 100. For example, disk cartridge 100
In the case where a music album is recorded on the CD, the album title can be used as the disc name. The track name is character information indicating a title of information of each track recorded on the disk cartridge 100. For example, for a track on which one piece of music is recorded, the name of the song can be used as the track name. The registration, change, and addition of the disc name and the track name are performed by the system controller 310 appropriately controlling each unit according to the operation of the user of the operation unit 311 and the like.

The disc name area and the track name area in the TOC and the UTC are identified by their addresses. The configuration of both areas is basically the same.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4 for the track name area, each area has a total of 8 bytes including a 7-byte track name and a 1-byte pointer.
When a track name having a length exceeding 7 bytes is used, the pointer indicates the address of the next area in which the track name portion following the track name portion of the track recorded in the pointer area is recorded. If there is no track name or a track name part following the track name part of the track recorded in the area of the pointer, the pointer is set to null (blank character).

Next, in the disk cartridge 100, M
Recording / playback device for displaying the recorded contents of D disk 105
Operations performed by the 200 system controllers 310 will be described.

FIG. 5 shows the procedure of this operation performed by the system controller 310.

As shown, the system controller 31
When the disc cartridge 100 is mounted (step S31), the respective parts are controlled and the MD of the disc cartridge 100 is set to 0.
The disk name and track name recorded in the TOC and UTOC of the disk 105 are read (step S32). Then, a transfer command (step) is sent to the control unit 102 of the disc cartridge 100 via the external input / output terminal 108 of the disc cartridge 100 and the corresponding recording / reproducing device side terminal.
S33), disc name and track name (step S
34) is sent.

In addition to the above operations, the system controller 310 once transmits the transfer command, the disc name and the track name, and then changes the disc name and the track name recorded in the TOC and UTC of the MD disc 105. When there is an addition or an addition, an operation of performing the processing of step S32 to step S34 again is performed.

Next, in the disk cartridge 100, M
An operation performed by the control unit 102 of the disk cartridge 100 to display the recorded content of the D disk 105 will be described.

First, the controller 1 of the disk cartridge 100
02, when a transfer command, a disc name and a track name are received from the system controller 310 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 200 via the external input / output terminal 108, the received disc name and track name are stored in an internal memory. . At this time, if the disc name and the track name are already stored in the internal memory, the disc name and the track name are updated to the received disc name and the track name.

Then, the procedure shown in FIG. 6 is executed.

That is, it is monitored that the display instruction switch 107 is operated (step S51).
Performs display operation start processing of the LCD display 101 including backlight lighting, and displays the first line of the disc name recorded in the internal memory, that is, the character information of the disc name on the LCD display 101 from the beginning. LCD for possible digits
It is displayed on the display 101 (step S53). Then, if the feed instruction switch 106 is operated (step S55),
The character information of the next line is displayed on the LCD display 101 (step S56). After the display instruction switch 107 is operated once (step S51), the display instruction switch 1 is again operated.
When 07 is operated (step S57), the display operation stop processing of the LCD display 101 including turning off the backlight is performed (step S58), and the process returns to step S51.

Here, if the character information on the next line has character information following the next line in the disc name or the track name being displayed at present, the character information following the next line is applicable. . If the currently displayed disc name or track name has no character information on the next line, if the currently displayed disc name is the disc name, the character information on the first line of the track name of track 1 is displayed. If the currently displayed track name is the track name, the character information of the first line of the track name of the next track is applicable, and if the currently displayed is the track name of the last track, The character information on the first line of the disc name corresponds.

The operation according to the operation of the display instruction switch 107 is performed irrespective of whether the disk cartridge 100 is mounted on the recording / reproducing apparatus 200 or not. Note that the disk cartridge 100 is
, The operation of the display instruction switch 107 is performed in conjunction with the operation of the display instruction auxiliary unit 204 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 200 by the user.

The LCD display 101 of the disc cartridge 100 indicates that the disc cartridge 100 is
0, the recording / reproducing device 20
It can also be used as a zero indicator.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, when the system controller 310 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 200 wants to display certain character information, for example, to display the track name of the track being reproduced, the system controller 310
0 via the external input / output terminal 108 and the corresponding recording / reproducing device side terminal.
Then, a character display command (step S41) and character information to be displayed (step S42) are transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the controller 102 of the disk cartridge 100 receives a character display command (step S52), the character information received together with the character display command is displayed on the LCD display 101. I do.

In this case, the disk cartridge 10
The control unit 102 determines whether or not the disc cartridge 100 is mounted on the recording / reproducing apparatus 200, whether or not power is supplied to the external power supply terminal 110, whether or not a serial clock is provided on the external input / output terminal 108, The determination is made by polling the system controller 310 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 200 via the input / output terminal 108 or the like. Own disk cartridge 100
Can be determined not to be attached to the recording and playback device 200,
At the time, if character information is displayed according to the character display command, the LCD including the backlight is turned off.
The display operation of the display 101 is stopped, and the process returns to step S51.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the recorded contents of the recording medium are displayed on the recording medium cartridge by displaying the character strings on the LCD display 101 which can change the displayed contents without leaving any trace. , The recorded contents of the recording medium,
It can always be displayed neatly.

Recording information on the MD disk 105,
In accordance with the update of the recorded contents, the character information displayed on the LCD display 101 of the disk cartridge 100 is automatically updated appropriately. Therefore, the user can use the disk cartridge 10
To display the recorded contents of the MD disk 105 at 0,
There is no need to perform any special work such as creating a label or attaching a label.

In the disk cartridge 100, M
LCD display 1 for displaying the recorded contents of D disk 105
Since the LCD display 101 with a backlight is used as 01, the recorded contents of the MD disk 105 can be visually recognized even in darkness.

Further, the battery 104 for supplying the electric power necessary for performing the above-mentioned operations by itself with the disk cartridge 100 is used by the disk cartridge 100 by the recording / reproducing apparatus 200.
Since the recording / reproducing device 200 automatically charges the battery 104 when the disc cartridge 100 is mounted on the device, the user is not required to charge the battery 104 unless the disc cartridge 100 is not mounted on the recording / reproducing device 200 for an excessively long time. No special attention is required.

Further, the LCD display 101 of the disc cartridge 100 can be visually recognized from the outside of the recording / reproducing device 200 when the disc cartridge 100 is mounted, and character information is displayed on the LCD display 101 in accordance with an instruction from the recording / reproducing device 200 side. Therefore, the LCD display 101 of the disk cartridge 100 can be used as a display of the recording / reproducing device 200.

In the above embodiment, the disk name and the track name are used as character information for displaying the recorded contents of the MD disk 105 stored in the memory inside the control unit 102 of the disk cartridge 100 and displayed. However, this may be either a disc name or a track name. Further, other character information, for example, character information instructed by the user via the operation unit 311, TOC, character information indicating the total recording time of the track or disk obtained from the UTOC and the remaining recordable time of the disk, The information may be stored in a memory inside the control unit 102 of the disk cartridge 100 and used as character information for displaying the recorded contents of the MD disk 105.

Further, the disk cartridge 100 may be configured so that the MD disk 105 to be housed therein can be replaced. Further, instead of the external input / output terminal 108, a non-contact type input / output unit for inputting / outputting information using an electromagnetic wave or light as a medium may be provided.

The structure for displaying each character information of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present embodiment can be similarly applied to a reproduction-only reproducing apparatus except for a part relating to recording.

Further, the present embodiment is not limited to the MD,
The present invention can be similarly applied to O, DVD-RAM, or other various recording medium cartridges in which recording media are housed in cartridges.

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to display the recorded contents of a recording medium in a recording medium cartridge without requiring a complicated operation of a user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing the appearance and configuration of an MD cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a recording / reproducing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a track name area.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a system controller of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a control unit of the MD cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a system controller of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 ... Disc cartridge 101 ... LCD (liquid Crystal Device) display 102 ... Control unit 103 ... Shutter 104 ... Battery 105 ... MD disc 106 ... Feed instruction switch 107 ... Display instruction switch 108 ... External input / output terminal 109 ... Charge control circuit 110 ... External power supply terminal 200 ... Recording / reproducing device 201 ... Mounting guide 202 ... Display window 204 ... Display instruction auxiliary unit 301 ... Magnetic head 302 ... Optical head 303 ... Servo control circuit 304 ... Modulation circuit 305 ... Demodulation circuit 306 ... Signal processing Unit 307 ... A / D converter 308 ... Memory 309 ... D / A converter 310 ... System controller 311 ... Operation unit 312 ... Power supply unit 313 ... Spindle motor 314 ... Spindle control circuit

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium cartridge accommodating a recording medium, comprising: an input unit for receiving input of character information representing a character string from outside; a storage unit; and a display unit having a display surface arranged so as to be visible from outside. A control unit for storing character information input to the input unit in the storage unit, and displaying a character string represented by the character information stored in the storage unit on the display unit; and at least the control unit and display A recording medium cartridge, comprising: a power supply unit for supplying power necessary for the operation of the unit and the storage unit. 2. The recording medium cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the display unit performs display by light emission or transmitted light. 3. The recording medium cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising an externally operable display switch, wherein said control unit is stored in said storage unit in response to an operation of said display switch. A character string represented by the character information is displayed on the display unit. 4. The recording medium cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a power supply unit for receiving power supply from outside, wherein said power supply unit is chargeable and supplied with power to said power supply unit. A recording medium cartridge for charging charged electric power. 5. The recording medium cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the input unit is configured to input character information for immediate display representing a character string from outside in addition to the character information. The recording medium cartridge, wherein the control unit displays a character string represented by the character information for immediate display input to the input unit on the display unit. 6. A recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing a recording medium contained in a recording medium cartridge according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein: a mounting section for mounting the recording medium cartridge; A recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: an output unit that outputs the character information to the input unit of the storage medium cartridge mounted on the mounting unit. 7. A recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing a recording medium contained in a recording medium cartridge according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein a display surface of said display section is visible from outside. Recording / reproducing apparatus, further comprising a mounting portion for mounting the recording medium cartridge. 8. A recording / reproducing apparatus for recording or reproducing a recording medium contained in a recording medium cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the recording medium cartridge is mounted so that a display surface of the display unit can be visually recognized from outside. A mounting unit, and an operation assisting mechanism operable from the outside, the operation assisting mechanism operating the display switch of the recording medium cartridge mounted on the mounting unit in conjunction with its own operation. Characteristic recording / reproducing device. 9. A recording / reproducing apparatus for recording or reproducing a recording medium contained in a recording medium cartridge according to claim 4, wherein: a mounting section for mounting the recording medium cartridge; and a storage mounted on the mounting section. And a power supply unit for supplying power to the power supply unit of the medium cartridge. 10. A recording / reproducing apparatus for recording or reproducing a recording medium accommodated in a recording medium cartridge according to claim 5, wherein: a mounting section for mounting the recording medium cartridge; and a storage mounted on the mounting section. A recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: an output unit configured to output the instant display character information representing a character string corresponding to an operation state of the recording / reproducing apparatus to the input unit of the medium cartridge. 11. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said output means is recorded as said character information on a recording medium of said recording medium cartridge mounted on said mounting section. A recording / reproducing apparatus for outputting character information representing a character string corresponding to the information on the recorded contents of the character string. 12. The recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the recording medium cartridge is an MD (Mini Disc), and the output means outputs, as the character information, a TOC of the MD mounted on the mounting section. (Table Of Contents) or UTOC (Us
recording / reproducing apparatus, which outputs character information representing a character string corresponding to the registered contents of an (er Table Of Contents) area. 13. The recording medium cartridge according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein the recording medium cartridge is an MD (Mini Disc).