JPH0132441Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an answering machine, and in particular, one magnetic recording tape (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "magnetic tape" or simply "tape") in one recording/playback machine. The present invention relates to an improvement in an answering machine capable of reproducing and recording messages for response to calls and the contents of received calls.

Conventionally, answering machines include those that are equipped with one dedicated recording and playback machine and automatically operate them alternately, and those that use only one recording and playback machine. In the former case, recording of the message can be started immediately after the response message has been played back to the speaker, and all that is required is to rewind the response message recording tape (however, if endless tape is used, this operation is not necessary). ) The tape for recording business matters does not need to be rewound, and only needs to be stopped when the business speech is completed, which is an advantage, but it has the disadvantage that the mechanism of the device becomes complicated.

On the other hand, in the latter case, although it has the advantage that the device mechanism can be configured relatively easily, it uses a tape (cassette) with a response message recorded only in one place at the beginning of the tape. The more times the message is recorded on the book tape, and the longer the message is recorded each time, the longer it will take to accept the message speech after the response message is played back. ,
This method has the disadvantage that it is not possible to record a message that is longer than a certain point because the caller is kept waiting.

The reason for this can be explained with reference to Figure 1. In the latter type of device, magnetic tape is first
The response message A is recorded almost at the beginning of T', and the message reception record portions R ₁ to _{R o} are set sequentially thereafter. Therefore, a response message is played in response to reception from the speaker, then the system enters fast-forward mode, skips the already recorded portion, switches to recording mode at the beginning of the unrecorded portion, and enters the message reception state. becomes. At this time, the fast forward speed of the tape is about ten times faster than normal recording or constant speed playback. Now, if the speed is set to 20 times the fixed speed, and the total time of the recorded call is about 5 minutes (300 seconds), the speaker will have to wait about 15 seconds for his or her speech to be accepted. become. As described above, the longer the recorded call time, the longer the speaker has to wait, and the higher the telephone bill, which is disadvantageous economically.

If we assume that the waiting time limit is 15 seconds, the tape fast-forward speed is 20 times the constant speed, and the time allotted for one reception is 30 seconds, including the separation band, then the number of times that can be recorded is the number of times that can be recorded per roll of magnetic tape. The limit was 11 times (15 x 20 ÷ 30 + 1 = 11), which created problems such as the owner of the answering machine not being able to leave the phone for long periods of time.

The present invention satisfactorily eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 shows a magnetic tape T used in the apparatus of the present invention. At the beginning and middle of this tape T, response messages A ₁ , A ₂ . . . are placed at approximately equal intervals in multiple places.
Record A _n (m is any integer). This interval is approximately the same as the reception recording space (that is, the portion R ₁ ' to _{R o} ') of the tape used in the conventional apparatus. Therefore, it is now possible to record m times as many phone calls on one roll of tape compared to conventional tapes of the same type. Although _M1 to _Mno are separation zones, they also serve as position detection markers, so these parts can be left unrecorded or recorded with specific signals, as long as they have the function of position detection. .

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the circuit configuration of one embodiment of the device of the present invention, and its operation will be explained below.

First, in the reception waiting state, the tape T is stopped at a position where the beginning (or just before) of the response message _A1 faces the recording/reproducing head 9. When the caller rings a predetermined number of times (approximately 4 times), the line is connected at the line connection part 1, and almost at the same time, a motor (not shown) starts rotating to run the tape T at a constant speed. . Further, the recording/reproducing head 9 is set to a reproduction mode by the switching circuit 3, and reproduces a response message to convey necessary comments to the caller. Response message recording location
Immediately after A ₁ is a separation band M ₁ , which also serves as a position detection marker, from which the signal is extracted, and immediately after the response message is played back, the position detection circuit 2 is activated, and the storage/control circuit 4 is activated. make it work. The memory/control circuit 4 stores the number of messages recorded up to that time (or the position of the last recorded location).
is stored, and a signal is output to the mechanism drive circuit 5 to fast-forward the tape by a length corresponding to the number of times (fast-forward is not performed at the 0th time).
Immediately after the fast-forwarding is completed, a signal sound reminding the user of the task (for example, a sound of "peets") is generated, the mode is switched to the recording mode, and the task is recorded. When this recording is completed, the tape T is rewound so as to be set at the beginning position (ie, initial state) of the response message recording section _A1 , and the state returns to the reception standby state. However, after the n-th recording is completed, the tape T is stopped and is set at the beginning position of the next response message recording section _A2 . In addition, 6 is a bias source, 7 is a recording amplifier, and 8 is a reproduction amplifier, which are used for recording and reproducing response messages in a satisfactory manner.

In the above embodiment, the recording of the business is recorded in the part after each response message, but the recording is _not limited to this.
R _o ) is divided into about half, the first half (i.e. R ₁ to _{R 2/1o} ) is done as in the previous example, and the second half is played back by the next response message (i.e. A ₂ ) and then rewinds the tape T. It may be configured such that the business is recorded, and after the tape is finished, the tape is fast-forwarded (or run at a constant speed) and stopped at the beginning of _A2 . In this case, the mechanism (configuration) is a little more complicated than in the previous embodiment, but the maximum time the caller is forced to wait for message acceptance is approximately halved (from a different perspective, the number of times a response message is recorded is halved). It has the advantage of

In addition, if the system is configured to detect a signal when the phone is hung up and disconnect the line at the end of a business call, and use this signal to stop the tape running and recording mode, if the caller's call is short, the tape It also has the added advantage of being able to record long calls (for example, long calls ranging from several tens of seconds to more than ten minutes, including two or more response message recording sections) as long as the tape lasts.

Since the answering machine of the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to record messages without making the caller wait too long and without cutting off the caller's message. It has the excellent feature of being able to effectively utilize tape, having a relatively simple structure, and being able to record several times as many phone calls on a single roll of tape as compared to conventional tapes of the same type.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a magnetic tape used in a conventional device of the same type as the present invention, Fig. 2 is a magnetic tape used in the present invention device, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention device. shows. 1...Line connection section, 2...Position detection circuit, 3...
...Switching circuit, 4...Storage/control circuit, 5...Mechanism drive circuit, 6...Bias source, 7...Record amplifier, 8...Reproduction amplifier, 9...Upper track reproduction head, 10...Lower track recording/playback head,
11...head switching circuit, T...magnetic tape,
A ₁ ~ _{A n} ...Response message (recorded part), R ₁
~R _no ...Medium reception record part, _M1 ~ _{M no} ...Separation band (position detection marker record part).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A magnetic recording tape in which a response message is recorded on one track using a single recording/playback machine capable of recording and playing back independently on two tracks on the magnetic recording tape. An answering machine that records the contents of incoming calls on the other track of the telephone, and includes a line connection section that connects the line in response to a ringing tone from a caller, and a telephone answering machine that records and plays the answering message and the contents of the received calls, respectively. a two or two channel recording/playback head for reproducing the response message, a head switching circuit for switching from the recording/playback head for reproducing the response message to the recording/playback head for recording received calls after the response message has been reproduced; A memory/control circuit that stores the position of the final recording point of the message recording and outputs a signal for fast forwarding or rewinding the tape at the last recorded location, and a memory/control circuit that outputs a signal for fast forwarding or rewinding the tape at the last recorded location, and a memory/control circuit that outputs a signal to fast forward or rewind the tape, and a signal that is recorded immediately after the response message. a position detection circuit which extracts a position detection signal from the camera and supplies an operation signal to the memory/control circuit; It is equipped with a mechanism drive circuit for fast forwarding or rewinding in response to a signal from the circuit, and the response message can be recorded multiple times at multiple locations using the recording/playback head for the response message as the magnetic tape. When an external signal is received, after the response message has been played back, a tape for recording the received call is placed at the rear end of the recording location on the tape where the previously received external signal was recorded. An answering machine characterized in that the magnetic tape is rewound or fast-forwarded to a position where the recording/reproducing head comes into contact with it, and then the contents received from the outside are recorded. (2) The utility model registration claim 1 is characterized in that the recording/playback device is capable of setting each of the two tracks to a recording mode or a playback mode independently.
Answering machine as described in Section 1. (3) The magnetic head of the recording/playback device has two magnetic heads for recording and playing on two tracks, respectively.
The answering machine according to claim 1, which is a utility model registration device, characterized in that it is one magnetic head with two magnetic gaps. (4) The utility model registration claim set forth in claim 1, characterized in that the magnetic head of the recording/playback device is two magnetic heads that respectively record and play back to different tracks of the magnetic recording tape. Answering machine. (5) When an external signal is received, the magnetic recording tape is fast-forwarded or rewound after the answering message has been played back to the beginning of the unrecorded part on the received call content recording track of the magnetic recording tape to enter the received call content recording mode. An answering machine according to claim 1, which records the contents of received calls. (6) A utility model registration request characterized in that after the recording of the contents of the received call is completed, the magnetic tape is fast-forwarded or rewound to the beginning of the recording portion closest to the plurality of response message recording portions, and then stopped. The answering machine set forth in item 1.