JP2002197834A - Method of identifying nature of recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of identifying nature of a recording medium which makes the kinds, specifications and other nature of the recording medium easily and exactly identifiable even by an operator's viewing and by the automatic detection of a recording and reproducing device as well without deteriorating the strength of the recording medium. SOLUTION: An accidental erasure preventive piece 40 is formed of light transparent material and is formed to a shape to permit insertion and removing of a bar member 51 and light emitting portion 52 of the recording and reproducing device 50 into the inside of a cassette even in either position of a recordable position where an opening 22 of a rear end wall 21 of an upper cassette half 20 is closed and a recording prohibition position where this opening 22 is opened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium provided with an erroneous erasure preventing piece for preventing erroneous erasure of recorded data. The present invention relates to a method for easily identifying the property of a recording medium and a recording medium used in the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, magnetic tape cassettes as recording media have the same shape but different uses, or have different specifications such as a method of applying a magnetic tape.
Therefore, in order to properly use the magnetic tape cassette, it is necessary to accurately identify the type, specification, and other properties of the magnetic tape cassette.

As a conventional technique for identifying the type and specification of a magnetic tape cassette, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No.
Japanese Patent No. 2979 discloses a tape cassette in which a detection hole into which a pin can be inserted is formed in a cassette housing, and the type and specification can be identified by detecting the insertion state of the pin into the detection hole. ing.

Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-212219 discloses that
A tape cassette in which a plurality of foldable detection pieces to be detected are formed integrally with a cassette housing, and the detection pieces are selectively cut off to enable identification of the type and specification, etc. Have been.

Further, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Sho 59-130282 discloses a magnetic tape cartridge in which the type and specification can be identified by providing a bar code indicating the quality of the magnetic tape at the beginning of the magnetic tape. Have been.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-164084 discloses that a memory element for storing index information of a magnetic tape is provided in a housing, and the type and specification can be identified by reading the information of the memory element on a tape deck side. Is disclosed.

[0007]

However, in the tape cassette described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Sho 59-142979, when the number of types and specifications that can be identified is increased, the number of detection holes provided in the cassette housing also increases. There is a need. When a large number of detection holes are provided in the cassette housing, there is a problem that the strength of the cassette housing is reduced and durability is reduced.

In the tape cassette described in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 8-21219, in order to increase the identifiable types and specifications, it is necessary to increase the number of detection pieces formed integrally with the cassette housing. If a large number of detection pieces are provided in the cassette case, there is a problem that the structure of the cassette case becomes complicated, molding becomes difficult, and cost increases.

Further, in the magnetic tape cartridge described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-130282, the type, specification, and the like are identified by a bar code indicating the quality of the magnetic tape. For this reason, there is a problem that it is extremely difficult for an operator to visually recognize the identification.

In the tape cassette described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-164084, the type, specification, and the like are identified based on information of a memory element. For this reason, the above-mentioned
As in the case of the magnetic tape cartridge described in JP-A-9-130282, there is a problem that it is extremely difficult for an operator to visually identify the cartridge.

According to the present invention, identification of the type, specification, and other properties of a recording medium can be performed without reducing the strength of the recording medium.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for identifying the properties of a recording medium, which can be easily and reliably performed by visual inspection of an operator and by automatic detection of a recording / reproducing apparatus, and a recording medium used in the method.

[0012]

The object of the present invention is attained by a method for identifying the characteristics of a recording medium by identifying the color of an erasure preventing piece provided on the recording medium to identify the characteristics of the recording medium. .

According to this method, the type, specification, and other properties of the recording medium are identified by changing the color of the erroneous erasure prevention piece, specifically, the color of the erroneous erasure prevention piece to red in accordance with the properties of each recording medium. , Yellow, black, etc., the type and specification of the recording medium are identified.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a recording / reproducing apparatus for optically discriminating the characteristics of a recording medium based on whether or not light from a light emitting section passes through an erroneous erasure prevention piece and enters a light receiving section. It is also achieved by a method for identifying the nature of the medium.

According to this method, the type, specification, and other properties of the recording medium can be identified by allowing light from the light emitting section of the recording / reproducing apparatus to enter the light receiving section of the recording / reproducing apparatus through the erroneous erasure prevention piece. The type and specification of the recording medium are identified by whether the recording medium is blocked by the erroneous erasure preventing piece and does not enter the light receiving section of the recording / reproducing apparatus.

The recording medium used in the method of the present invention preferably has the following constitution. A claw exposed from the outside of the housing through the opening provided in the housing is manually operated from the outside of the housing, so that the erroneous erasure preventing piece that can be displaced to a position for closing the opening or a position for opening the opening is formed. A recording medium comprising: a recording medium, wherein at least a portion of the erroneous erasure prevention piece located at a position to close the opening, the portion facing the opening is formed of a light transmissive material.

According to this configuration, the type, specification, and other characteristics of the recording medium are identified by, for example, the automatic detection of the recording / reproducing apparatus, for example, between the recording medium and the magnetic tape cassette in which the erroneous erasure preventing piece is opaque. That is, the light from the light emitting unit of the recording / reproducing device passes through the erroneous erasure prevention piece and enters the light receiving unit of the recording / reproducing device, or is blocked by the erroneous erasure prevention piece and does not enter the light receiving unit of the recording / reproducing device. Thus, the type and specification of the recording medium are identified.

The identification of the type and specification of the recording medium by the automatic detection of the recording / reproducing apparatus will be described in detail. The recording medium is placed in a state where the erroneous erasure preventing piece is in a position to close the opening.
The light-emitting unit of the recording / reproducing device is inserted into the housing while being loaded into the recording / reproducing device.

At this time, if the light emitted from the light emitting portion of the recording / reproducing device passes through the portion of the erroneous erasure preventing piece facing the opening and enters the light receiving portion of the recording / reproducing device via the opening, the erroneous light is prevented. It is determined that the erasure prevention piece is a light-transmissive recording medium that is transparent or translucent. On the other hand, when the light emitted from the light emitting unit of the recording / reproducing device is blocked by the portion of the erroneous erasure preventing piece facing the opening and does not enter the light receiving unit of the recording / reproducing device, the erroneous erasing preventing piece becomes opaque. Is determined. Thereby, the type and specification of the recording medium are identified.

The type, specification, and other characteristics of the recording medium are visually identified by an operator, for example, between the recording medium and the erasure prevention piece that is opaque. That is, the operator visually recognizes whether the erroneous erasure prevention piece is transparent, translucent, or opaque through the opening of the housing. Thereby, the type, specification, and the like of the recording medium are identified.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a magnetic tape cassette according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an essential part of the magnetic tape cassette of FIG. 1 (an ID board is omitted). FIG. 3 is a perspective view (an ID board is omitted) showing the lower cassette half and the erroneous erasure prevention piece of the magnetic tape cassette of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the part shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the erroneous erasure prevention piece alone, and FIG. 6 is a view schematically showing a state in which the magnetic tape cassette is loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 1, a magnetic tape cassette 10, which is a recording medium, comprises a pair of tape reels (not shown) wound with a magnetic tape (not shown) and a lower cassette half paired with an upper cassette half 20. 30 and is rotatably supported. The upper cassette half 20 and the lower cassette half 30 are configured as housings,
It is integrally molded with a synthetic resin such as a BS resin.

An ID board 1 for identifying the type or use of the magnetic tape is provided on the front side of the lower cassette half 30 in FIG.
1 is provided. The ID board 11 includes a plurality of (four in FIG. 1) contacts 11a to 11d,
The recording / reproducing apparatus 5 is exposed from the board opening 32 provided in the rear end wall 31 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 5 through the contacts 11a to 11d.
0 (see FIG. 6), signals such as the type or use of the magnetic tape are exchanged.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, on the front side of the upper cassette half 20 and the lower cassette half 30 in FIG.
It is provided so that it may straddle. The erroneous erasure prevention piece 40 is manually operated from the outside of the cassette by the claw portion 41 exposed to the outside of the cassette through the opening 22 provided in the rear end wall 21 of the upper cassette half 20. Thereby, the erroneous erasure prevention piece 40 is slid in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 along the rear end walls 21 and 31 to a predetermined recordable position for closing the opening 22 (the state shown in FIG. 1, the solid line in FIG. 4). The position can be displaced to a position (indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 4) or a predetermined recording prohibition (error erasure prevention) position in which the opening 22 is opened.

The erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 includes a bottom 42 and a bottom 4.
It is composed of a side portion 43 orthogonal to 2 and is integrally formed of a transparent or opaque resin or the like into a substantially L shape in a side view. Here, as the transparent resin, for example, PS (polystyrene), PP
(Polypropylene) and the like, and opaque resins include those containing a predetermined amount of a pigment (eg, carbon black, titanium oxide, etc.) based on these resins.

A bar member insertion / removal groove 44 is provided in the bottom 42 of the erroneous erasure prevention piece 40. Bar member insertion / removal groove 44
Is connected to the bar member insertion / removal through hole 33 at a position where the opening 22 is closed, and has a space area equal to or larger than the area in the cross section of the light emitting section 52 (the upper end in FIG. 2). On the other hand, at the position where the opening 22 is opened, the width of the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 is set so as to have a space area equal to or larger than the area in the cross section of the light emitting section 52, that is, not to interfere with the light emitting section 52. I have. With such a shape, the light emitting section 52 provided at the tip of the bar member 51 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 can be inserted and removed in the vertical direction in FIG. In other words, the erroneous erasure prevention piece 40 allows the bar member 51 of the recording / reproducing device 50 to be inserted into and removed from the cassette at any of the recordable position and the record prohibition position.

At the upper right end in FIG. 3 of the outer surface of the side portion 43 of the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40, a claw portion 41 which is long in the vertical direction in FIG. The claw portion 41 is provided on the rear end wall 21 of the upper cassette half 20.
The opening 22 is always exposed outside the cassette, and is manually operated from outside the cassette.

At an upper right end in FIG. 5 of the inner surface of the side portion 43 of the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40, a flat plate portion 45 substantially parallel to the bottom portion 42 is provided. A hemispherical projection 46 is provided on the top surface of the flat plate portion 45 at the front end portion in FIG.

When the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 is manually operated, the hemispherical projection 46 is formed on the inner surface of the upper cassette half 20 along the arrow A direction in FIGS. 1 and 4 (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2). Guided by the provided guide groove 23 (FIG. 2), the guide groove 23 slides in the guide groove 23, and guides the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 in the direction of arrow A in FIGS. The hemispherical projections 46 are used to position the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 at a recordable position or a record prohibiting position by a shallow fitting with concave portions (not shown) provided at both ends of the guide groove 23, respectively, and to perform manual operation. Click feeling. In addition, the erroneous erasure prevention piece 4
The shapes and positions of the flat plate portion 45 and the hemispherical projection 46 are not limited to those described above, but may be in various forms, for example, those described in the conventional example of Japanese Patent Application No. 10-12788.

In the magnetic tape cassette 10 of the present embodiment, the bar member 51 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 is in a state where the magnetic tape cassette 10 is loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 because the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 is transparent. When inserted into the cassette from the bar member insertion / removal hole 33 of the lower cassette half 30 through the bar member insertion / recess groove 44 of the erroneous erasure prevention piece 40, the tip of the bar member 51 (upper end in FIG. 2). The light emitted from the light emitting section 52 (light emitting diode or the like) of the recording / reproducing device 50
(FIG. 6).

Referring to FIG. 6, a light detection signal from the light receiving section 53 is input to a control circuit 54. Control circuit 54
Are a recording system circuit 55 for driving the recording head and the like, and a driving system circuit 56 for driving the tape and moving the cassette.
To control the recording operation on the magnetic tape.

The operation of the present embodiment will be described. The type, specifications, and other properties of the magnetic tape cassette 10 of the present embodiment are performed, for example, with a magnetic tape cassette (not shown) in which the erroneous erasure preventing piece is opaque when the recording / reproducing device 50 automatically detects it. That is, the recording / reproducing device 50
The light from the light emitting section 52 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 passes through the erroneous erasure prevention piece 40 and enters the light receiving section 53 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50, or is blocked by the opaque erasure prevention piece (not shown). The type, specification, and other properties of the magnetic tape cassette are identified depending on whether or not the light is incident on the light receiving section 53.

When the magnetic tape cassette 10 is loaded into the recording / reproducing device 50, the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 closes the opening 22 of the rear end wall 21 of the upper cassette half 20, and opens the opening 22. The light-emitting unit 52 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 can be inserted into and removed from the cassette in any position of the recording prohibition position.

The identification of the type and specification of the magnetic tape cassette by the automatic detection of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 will be described in detail below. The magnetic tape cassette is mounted on the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 with the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 at the recordable position. The light emitting unit 52 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 is inserted into the cassette.

At this time, the light emitted from the light emitting section 52 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 is transmitted to the rear end wall 21 of the upper cassette half 20.
When the light passes through the erroneous erasure prevention piece 40 closing the opening 22 and enters the light receiving portion 53 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 through the opening 22, the erroneous erasure prevention piece 40 is moved to the transparent magnetic tape cassette 10.
Is determined. On the other hand, when the light emitted from the light emitting unit 52 of the recording / reproducing device 50 is blocked by the opaque erroneous erasure preventing piece closing the opening 22 and does not enter the light receiving unit 53 of the recording / reproducing device 50, the erroneous erasing preventing piece is It is determined that the cassette is an opaque magnetic tape cassette. As a result, the type and specification of the magnetic tape cassette are identified.

That is, for example, an erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 of the magnetic tape cassette 10 of the present embodiment is attached to an A type cassette.
When an opaque erroneous erasure preventing piece is incorporated in the B-type cassette and the light from the light emitting section 52 is detected by the light receiving section 53 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50, the magnetic loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 is read. The tape cassette is identified as an A type cassette, and if not detected, as a B type cassette.

The type and specification of the magnetic tape cassette are visually recognized by an operator, for example, between the magnetic tape cassette and the magnetic tape cassette in which the erroneous erasure preventing piece is opaque. That is, the operator visually recognizes whether the erroneous erasure prevention piece is transparent or opaque through the opening 22 in the rear end wall 21 of the upper cassette half 20. As a result, the type and specification of the magnetic tape cassette are identified.

Next, a known mechanism may be used as a mechanism for determining whether the erroneous erasure prevention piece 40 is at a recordable position or a record prohibition position.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 is formed of a light-transmitting material, and can record on the rear end wall 21 of the upper cassette half 20 by closing the opening 22. The bar member 51 and the light emitting unit 52 of the recording / reproducing device 50 can be inserted into and removed from the cassette at any position, i.e., at the recording prohibition position where the opening 22 is opened. Therefore, identification of the type and specification of the cassette can be performed without lowering the strength of the cassette.
This can be performed easily and reliably both visually by the operator and automatically by the recording / reproducing device 50.

In the above embodiment, the erroneous erasure preventing piece 4
0 is located at a position (recordable position) that closes the opening 22 of the rear end wall 21 of the upper cassette half 20, the type and specification of the magnetic tape cassette are identified, and whether or not recording is possible is performed. The determination of prohibition (prevention of erroneous erasure) is performed by a known mechanism, but is not limited to such a configuration.

That is, the resin serving as the base of the transparent erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 is colored by containing a chromatic dye (so-called translucent state), and is incident on the light receiving section 53 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50. It has a function of identifying the color of light, and the erroneous erasure preventing piece 40 is in a position (recordable position) at which the opening 22 of the rear end wall 21 of the upper cassette half 20 is closed, and a position at which the opening 22 is opened. The color of the light incident on the light receiving unit 53 of the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 may be configured to change between the state where the recording / reproducing apparatus 50 is at the (recording prohibited position). According to this, it is possible to determine whether the erroneous erasure prevention piece 40 is at the recordable position or the record inhibition position based on the color of the light incident on the light receiving unit 53 of the recording / reproducing device 50. In addition to determining whether recording is prohibited, the properties of the cassette can be identified at the recordable position in accordance with the color of the erroneous erasure prevention piece.

The present invention is not limited to the magnetic tape cassette described above, but may be applied to other recording media, for example, MD.
(Mini disk), FD (floppy (registered trademark) disk) and the like.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, the type, specification, and other properties of the recording medium are identified by determining the color of the erroneous erasure prevention piece, or automatically detected by the recording / reproducing apparatus. In the case of, for example, performed between the erasure prevention piece and the opaque recording medium, the light from the light emitting unit of the recording / reproducing device passes through the erroneous erasure prevention piece and enters the light receiving unit of the recording / reproducing device, Alternatively, the type and specification of the recording medium are identified by whether the recording medium is blocked by the erroneous erasure preventing piece and does not enter the light receiving section of the recording / reproducing apparatus. Therefore, without deteriorating the strength of the recording medium, it is possible to easily and reliably identify the type and specification of the recording medium visually or by automatic detection of the recording / reproducing apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view (I) of a main part of the magnetic tape cassette of FIG. 1;
D board is omitted).

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a lower cassette half and an erroneous erasure preventing piece of the magnetic tape cassette of FIG. 1 (an ID board is omitted);

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the part shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the erroneous erasure prevention piece alone.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing a state where a magnetic tape cassette is loaded in a recording / reproducing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Magnetic tape cassette 11 ID board 20 Upper cassette half 21 Rear end wall 22 Opening 30 Lower cassette half 31 Rear end wall 33 Bar member insertion / removal hole 40 Erroneous erasure prevention piece 41 Claw part 44 Bar member insertion / removal groove 50 Recording Reproduction device 51 Bar member 52 Light emitting unit 53 Light receiving unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium property identification method for discriminating a recording medium property by determining a color of an erroneous erasure prevention piece provided on the recording medium.