JPH0969263A - Reproducing apparatus for disc-like recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a disc-reproducing apparatus which can prevent the generation of a soundless period when a disc is being exchanged and can confirm that the disc is being exchanged when continuously reproducing a plurality of disc-like recording media. SOLUTION: A disc 1 is taken out from a disc magazine 21 by a disc exchange part 4. A data signal recorded in the disc 1 is read out together with address data. The read data signal is temporarily stored in a memory 73. The memory 73 is controlled by a system controller 51 of a control part 5 or the like so that a write speed is faster than a read speed. While the disc 1 is being exchanged, digital data written in the memory 73 are read out and supplied to an ADPCM decoder 74. Reproduced sound is attenuated or faded out. In this manner, reproduction output signals can be continuously reproduced without being interrupted during the exchange of discs, and moreover the change of the disc 1 can be confirmed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium reproducing apparatus having a recording medium exchange function, and more particularly to a disc-shaped recording medium having a memory for temporarily storing a signal read from the disc-shaped recording medium. And a reproducing device for a disc-shaped recording medium having the exchange function of

[0002]

2. Description of the Prior Art Having a magazine for storing a plurality of optical discs, a designated one optical disc is selected from the plurality of discs and mounted in a disc reproducing section.
A disc reproducing apparatus having a disc exchanging function for reproducing is known. That is, in such a disc reproducing device, the disc reproducing device side operates the disc exchanging mechanism to take out the desired optical disc from the loaded disc magazine. The optical disk taken out from the disk magazine is mounted on the disk reproducing section by the exchange mechanism. When the reproduction of the optical disc loaded in the disc reproducing unit is completed, the optical disc is taken out from the disc reproducing unit by the exchanging mechanism and returned to the original position of the disc magazine. Again, another optical disc designated by the key operation or the optical disc to be reproduced next based on the program information regarding the reproduction order of the optical disc is taken out from the disc magazine and mounted in the disc reproducing section, and the above-mentioned reproducing operation is repeated. Be done.

In the disc reproducing apparatus having the disc exchanging function, the output signal from the disc reproducing section is interrupted during the disc exchanging operation, resulting in a silent period. Further, even if the function of reproducing the information recorded on the optical disk for a certain period of time is added to the disk reproducing apparatus having the disk exchanging function, it is impossible to avoid the occurrence of the silent period during the disk exchanging operation.

Therefore, when performing a disc exchange operation in a disc reproducing apparatus having a disc exchanging function,
The applicant of the present application has previously proposed reproduction of digital data written in a memory so that reproduction can be performed without interruption.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention In a disc reproducing apparatus having such a disc exchanging function, when reproduction of one disc is completed and the disc is exchanged to reproduce the next disc, The digital data written in the memory is reproduced. For this reason, seamless reproduction is possible. However, even when playing multiple discs, the playback sound is not interrupted at all, so the user
It becomes difficult to recognize that the reproduction of one disc has ended. In particular, when a plurality of discs of the same performer or singer are continuously reproduced, it is very difficult to recognize that the reproduction of one disc is completed.

Further, as described above, the exchange of the disk is performed.
Not only when the reproduction of one disc is finished automatically, but also when the music of one disc is being reproduced, the disc may be replaced by a user operation. In this way, when the disc exchange occurs due to the user operation, if the digital data written in the memory is reproduced during the disc exchange, the reproduction is continued even during the disc exchange, and the user performs the disc exchange operation. You will not be able to instantly check whether or not it is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a disc reproducing apparatus having a disc exchanging function, which enables continuous reproduction even when discs are exchanged, and makes it possible to recognize that a disc has been exchanged. To provide.

[0008]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, an exchanging means for selectively taking out a recording medium from a recording medium accommodating portion accommodating a plurality of recording media on which digital signals are recorded, and reproduction from the ejected recording medium. From a reading means for reading a signal, a memory into which a reproduction signal from the reading means is once written at a writing speed higher than the reading speed, and a recording medium taken out by subjecting a digital signal read from the memory to predetermined signal processing. Recording medium reproducing section for outputting as a reproduction output signal, level changing means for changing the level of the reproduced signal, and exchanging operation of the recording medium by the exchanging means while the digital signal stored in the memory is being read. Control for controlling the recording medium reproducing unit and the exchanging means and changing the reproduction level by the level changing means. A reproducing apparatus for disc-shaped recording medium comprising a stage.

During the exchange operation of the disc-shaped recording medium, the digital data written in the memory is read and supplied to the signal processing device. Then, during the exchange operation, the reproduction level is attenuated or faded out. As a result, the reproduction output signal is not interrupted during the exchange operation, the reproduction signal can be continuously output, and the user recognizes that the disc is being exchanged.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The structure of a disc reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an apparatus for reproducing information recorded on an optical disc by using a disc magazine loaded with a plurality of optical discs and exchanging the optical discs in a preset desired order will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of a disc reproducing apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an optical disc as a recording medium, and a digital signal is recorded on a spiral or concentric circular track in an optically readable manner along with address information such as absolute position information or absolute time information. . This optical disc 1 is a so-called compact disc TOC (Table Of Cont
An area in which table of contents information such as ents) is recorded is provided on the inner circumference side of the optical disc. In addition to the start address and end address of the program recorded on the optical disk 1, information such as the number of programs recorded on the optical disk is recorded as table of contents information.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a disc loading section, which is an optical disc 1.
A disc magazine 21 in which a plurality of sheets are stored is mounted. The disc magazine 21 is divided into a plurality of storage spaces, and one disc is provided in each of the storage spaces.
Is stored. In addition, in the disc magazine 21,
An opening is provided for each disk so that the disk stored in the disk exchange section, which will be described later, can be taken out and stored. As the disc magazine 21, those disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-19633 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-46637 can be used.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a disc reproducing unit, into which the optical disc 1 taken out from the disc magazine 21 by a disc exchanging unit described later is mounted. The disc reproducing unit 3 includes a disc rotation driving mechanism 31 and an optical head 33. The disc rotation drive mechanism 31 has a spindle motor 32 that rotationally drives the optical disc 1 at a constant angular velocity or a constant linear velocity. A disc table (not shown) is provided on the tip end side of the rotation shaft of the spindle motor 32, and the optical disc 1 taken out by the disc exchanging unit is placed on the disc table.

The optical head 33 includes a laser light source, a beam splitter, a detector, an objective lens and the like, and is fed in the radial direction of the optical disc 1 by a feeding mechanism (not shown).
The light beam emitted from the laser light source of the optical head 33 is applied to the optical disc 1 in a state of being focused by the objective lens. The light beam reflected by the optical disk 1 is separated from the light beam emitted from the light source by the beam splitter and is guided to the detector. The output signal from this detector is supplied to the RF circuit described later.

Further, the optical head 33 has an actuator for driving the objective lens in the focusing direction and the tracking direction. An electromagnetic drive type actuator can be used as this actuator, and a focusing servo signal and a tracking servo signal output from a servo circuit described later are supplied to the coil of the electromagnetic drive type actuator.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a disc exchanging unit, which has a disc changer mechanism 41 for taking out the optical disc 1 from the disc magazine 21 mounted in the disc loading unit and storing the reproduced optical disc 1 in the disc magazine 21. The changer mechanism 41 includes a pull-out mechanism (not shown) that pulls out the optical disc 1 stored in the disc magazine 21, and a transport mechanism (not shown) that transports the pull-out mechanism to the disc reproducing unit 3.

The optical disc 1 housed in the disc magazine 21 is pulled out through the opening of the disc magazine 21 by the pull-out mechanism, and then the optical disc 1 is transported to the disc reproducing unit 3 by the transport mechanism together with the pull-out mechanism. Optical disc 1 transported by this transport mechanism
Is placed on the disc table of the disc rotation drive mechanism 31 of the disc reproducing unit 3. After the reproducing operation by the disk reproducing section 3 is completed, the conveying mechanism conveys the whole of the pulling-out mechanism to the returning position of the disc magazine 21, and the pulling-out mechanism performs the operation opposite to the operation of taking out the optical disc from the disc magazine 21. The optical disc 1 is returned to the magazine 21. As these disk exchange units 4, Japanese Patent Publication No.
A mechanism as disclosed in No. 19633 can be used.

Reference numeral 5 is a control unit, which is a system controller 51.
And a servo circuit 52. System controller 51
Controls the operations of the disc exchanging unit 4 and the disc reproducing unit 3, and also controls the operation of a signal processing unit described later.
When one of the control signals from the system controller 51 is supplied to the spindle motor 32, the spindle motor 32 is driven and controlled so that the optical disk 1 has a constant linear velocity or a constant angular velocity.

The servo circuit 52 generates a focusing servo signal and a tracking servo signal based on the focusing error signal and the tracking error signal supplied from the RF circuit described later. The focusing servo signal and the tracking servo signal generated by the servo circuit 52 are supplied to the actuator of the optical head 33. Focusing servo and tracking servo are performed by driving the objective lens of the optical head 33 in the focusing direction and the tracking direction based on the focusing servo signal and the tracking servo signal supplied by the actuator.

The servo circuit 52 further extracts the low-frequency component of the tracking error signal, and generates the optical head feed signal based on the low-frequency component of the extracted tracking error signal. This optical head feed signal is supplied to the feed mechanism of the optical head 33 of the disc reproducing section 3, and the optical head 33 is fed in the radial direction of the optical disc 1 in accordance with the reproducing operation of the optical disc 1. An operation input section 61 and a display unit 62 are connected to the system controller 51. The operation input unit 61 is composed of a plurality of keys such as a play key, a stop key, and a numeric key for disc selection, and the result of the user operating these keys is supplied to the system controller 51. Data regarding the reproduction order of the optical discs 1 in the disc magazine 21 assembled by using the keys of the operation input unit 61 and the reproduction sequence of the plurality of programs recorded on each disc 1 are stored in the memory area in the system controller 51. To be done.

The display unit 62 is composed of a liquid crystal display or the like, and according to a control signal supplied from the system controller 51, the number of the optical disc being reproduced, the number of the program currently being reproduced, etc. Information is displayed. The system controller 51 generates a control signal based on the command input from the operation input unit 61 and supplies the generated control signal to the disc reproducing unit 3 to access the program of the optical disc currently being reproduced, A control signal is supplied to the disk exchanging section 4 to perform the disk exchanging operation by the disk exchanging section 4.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a signal processing unit, which is an RF circuit 71, a decoder 72, a memory 73, an ADPCM decoder 74, and a D / A.
A converter 75 and a low pass filter (LPF) 76 are included. The RF circuit 71 is supplied with the output signal from the detector of the optical head 33. The RF circuit 71 generates each error signal of a focusing error and a tracking error and a reproduction signal based on the supplied output signal from the detector. The focusing error signal and the tracking error signal are supplied to the servo circuit 52 described above.

The reproduction signal generated by the RF circuit 71 is supplied to the decoder 72. The reproduction signal is the decoder 72
Address data is extracted by EF
Signal processing such as M demodulation and error correction processing is performed. The address data extracted by the decoder 72 and the table-of-contents information of the optical disc 1 are supplied to the system controller 51, and are used to generate a control signal of the system controller 51 when performing an optical disc program access operation and an optical disc exchange operation. .

The table-of-contents information of the optical disk 1 is stored in a memory area in the system controller 51. Decoder 7
The digital data output from 2 is supplied to the memory 73, and this digital data is temporarily stored in the memory 73. The memory 73 is, for example, a random access memory (RAM) having a storage capacity of 4 bits. This memory 73 is, for example, 1.4 by the system controller 51.
Digital data from the decoder 72 is written at a transfer rate of 1 Mbit / sec, and the digital data is written from the memory 73 to, for example, 0.
The writing and reading operations are controlled so that the digital data once stored is read at a transfer rate of 3 Mbits / sec. In this case, the memory 73 has an LPF 76.
Digital data corresponding to about 12 seconds is stored by converting into the signal amount of the signal output from the output terminal via.

Since the reading speed from the memory 73 is slower than the writing speed of the digital data to the memory 73, a predetermined amount of digital data is always stored in the memory 73. As a result, even if a track jump occurs due to an external impact during the reproduction operation of the optical disk, the output signal is not interrupted by reading the data in the memory 73, and the optical head 33 is accessed during that time. Then, by reading the data from the optical disc, it is possible to realize a reproducing operation similar to a normal reproducing operation.

The digital data read from the memory 73 is supplied to the ADPCM decoder 74, and
M decoder processing is performed. The digital signal ADPCM-decoded by the ADPCM decoder 74 is supplied to the D / A converter 75, converted into an analog signal, and output from the output terminal via the LPF 76.
The gain of the LPF 76 can be changed by the system controller 51. ADPCM decoder 7
A control signal from the system controller 51 is supplied to 4.

The storage capacity of the memory 73 is required as a minimum storage capacity capable of storing a data amount such that digital data can be continuously read from the memory 73 during the time required for disk replacement. It

The reproducing operation of the disk reproducing apparatus having the disk exchanging function configured as described above is performed as follows.

First, the user loads the disc magazine 21 into the disc loading section 2. The system controller 51 generates a control signal based on the input signal from the operation input unit 61, and the generated control signal is sent to the disk exchanging unit 4
Supply to the changer mechanism 41.

The changer mechanism 41 is the changer mechanism 4
The pull-out mechanism is the disc magazine 2 by the transport mechanism 1
The disc magazine 21 is moved to the position where the designated optical disc 1 is stored and the pull-out mechanism is operated.
The optical disc 1 specified by the player is pulled out. After that, the transport mechanism is operated to place the optical disc 1 on the disc table of the disc rotation drive mechanism 31 of the disc reproducing unit 3.

A control signal is supplied from the system controller 51 to the disc reproducing section 3, and the optical disc 1 placed on the disc table is rotationally driven by the spindle motor 32. When the spindle motor 32 starts rotating the optical disk 1, the focus servo pull-in operation is started, and when the focus servo pull-in is completed, the tracking servo is pulled in.

In the RF circuit 71, error signals of focusing error and tracking error are generated based on the output signal from the detector and are supplied to the servo circuit 52. In the servo circuit 52, a focusing servo signal and a tracking servo signal are generated, and the optical head 3
It is supplied to the actuator No. 3 to perform focus servo and tracking servo.

When the tracking servo pull-in is completed, the reproduction signal from the RF circuit 71 is supplied to the decoder 72, and the table of contents information of the optical disk 1 is extracted together with the address data, and these are reproduced by the system controller 5.
1 is supplied. The table of contents information of the optical disc 1 is stored in the memory area in the system controller 51.

On the other hand, the digital data output from the decoder 72 is temporarily written in the memory 73 at a transfer rate of 1.41 Mbit / sec. The digital data written in the memory 73 is read at a transfer rate of 0.3 Mbit / sec and supplied to the ADPCM decoder 74. The digital data is AD by the ADPCM decoder 74.
PCM decoding processing is performed.

ADPC by ADPCM decoder 74
The M-decoded digital signal is supplied to the D / A converter 75, converted into an analog signal, and converted into an LPF.
It is output from the output terminal via 76. The system controller 51 supplies a control signal to the display unit 62 to display the index information, the number of the program being reproduced, the disc number, and the elapsed playback time on the display unit 62. Further, the system controller 51 sends the optical head 33 in the radial direction of the optical disc based on the input signal as a result of the key operation of the operation input unit 61, and selectively reproduces the plurality of programs recorded on the optical disc.

Next, the disk exchange operation will be described with reference to FIG. In this example, when the user wants to exchange the disc, the disc exchange operation is performed by operating the operation unit 61. Also, when the reproduction of one disc is completed, the disc is automatically exchanged for the next disc.

First, during disc reproduction, it is judged whether or not there is a desire to exchange the disc (step S1). If the user does not desire to exchange the disc, it is determined whether or not the optical head 33 has reached the end address of the last program of the preset reproduction order among the plurality of programs recorded on the optical disc 1 (step). S2). If there is no desire to replace the disc and the end end has not been reached, the reproduction is continued (step S3).

When the user desires to exchange the disc, the controller 61 is operated, and it is determined in step S1 that the disc exchange is desired. If it is determined that there is a disc replacement request, the disc replacement operation is started. When the optical head 33 reaches the end address, the disc exchange operation is started (step S
4).

In the disc exchanging operation, the reproducing operation by the disc reproducing section 3 is stopped, and immediately thereafter, the changer mechanism 41 of the disc exchanging section 4 is operated to put the optical disc 1 on the disc reproducing section 3 into the disc magazine 21. Will be returned to. After that, the disc exchanging unit 4 pulls out the optical disc 1 to be reproduced next from the disc magazine 21 and mounts it in the disc reproducing unit 3. When the optical disc 1 newly drawn out from the disc magazine 21 is mounted on the disc reproducing unit 3, the disc reproducing unit 3 continues.
The rotation of the spindle motor 32 is started, and startup operations such as a focus servo pull-in operation and a tracking servo pull-in operation are performed. When these start-up operations are completed, the reproduction operation is possible.

During the disc exchange operation, the digital data stored in the memory 73 is supplied to the circuits under the ADPCM decoder 74, and the reproduction of the digital data in the memory is continued. And during this disk exchange operation,
The playback level is attenuated. The reproduction level attenuation can be performed in an analog manner by controlling the value of the element that determines the gain of the low-pass filter 76 by the output of the system controller 51. Further, by shifting the data of the decoder 72 by the output of the system controller 51, it can be performed digitally. in this way,
Since the digital data stored in the memory 73 is supplied to the circuits under the ADPCM decoder 74 during the disc exchange, the output signal from the output terminal is not interrupted and the reproduction level is attenuated. The user can be made aware that it is in progress.

While the reproduction of the digital data in the memory 73 is continued, it is monitored whether or not the data remains in the memory 73 (step S6). While the data is present in the memory 73, it is judged whether or not the disk exchange operation is completed (step S7). If the disk exchange operation is not completed, the reproduction of the digital data in the memory is continued. If there is no reproduction data of the digital data in the memory 73, it is judged whether or not the disc exchange operation is completed (step S8). If the disc exchange operation is not completed, the reproduction sound is muted (step S8). S9).

When it is determined in step S7 or step S8 that the disc exchange operation has been completed, reproduction of the next disc is started (step S10). When the reproduction of the next disc is started, the reproduction data of this disc is accumulated in the memory 73. Even if the reproduction of the next disc is started, if the data of the previous disc remains in the memory 73, the data of the previous disc is reproduced. When the reproduction of the next disc is started, the data of the previous disc disappears in the memory 73, and only the reproduction data of the next disc remains.

It is judged whether or not the previous disk data is lost in the memory 73 (step S11), and when the previous disk data is lost in the memory 73,
The reproduced sound is returned to the normal level (step S12).
Then, the data is read from the memory 73, and the reproduction of the data of the new exchanged disc is continued (step S13).

As described above, in this example, since the data from the memory 73 is continuously reproduced during the disc exchange, the silence does not occur during the disc exchange. And
Since the reproduction level is attenuated during the disc exchange, the user can recognize that the disc is being exchanged.

In the above example, the reproduction level is set both when the disk is exchanged by the user and when the reproduction of the disk is ended and the disk is automatically exchanged for the next disk. Although it is attenuated, the process may be switched depending on whether the disc exchange operation is performed by the user operation or the disc reproduction is finished and the disc is automatically exchanged to the next disc. . For example, when a disc exchange operation is performed by a user operation, it is desired to immediately recognize that the disc exchange operation is being performed, the reproduction of the disc is finished, and the disc is automatically exchanged for the next disc. In some cases, it is conceivable that the disc exchange should be ignored. Therefore, when a disc replacement operation is performed by a user operation, the playback level is increased during the disc replacement, and when the disc playback is completed and the disc is automatically replaced with the next disc, the disc replacement is performed. Among them, it is possible to keep the playback level as normal.

Further, in the above example, the reproduction level is attenuated during the disc exchange, but the reproduction level may be gradually lowered. That is, the reproduction level may be faded out during the disc exchange.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the optical disc 1 is used.
Although the description has been given by taking the case where the disc is stored in the disc magazine 21 as an example, the optical disc 1 may be stored in the disc cartridge. In this case, the above-described operation can be performed by using a disc magazine accommodating a plurality of disc cartridges or by making the disc cartridge of the disc loading portion 2 capable of storing the disc cartridges. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to a disc-shaped recording medium such as an optical disc, and may be applied to a reproducing device in which a plurality of tape cassettes containing tape-shaped recording media are accommodated in a magazine. The present application can be partially modified within the scope of the invention.

[0048]

According to the present invention, the digital data written in the memory is read and supplied to the signal processing device during the exchange operation of the disk-shaped recording medium. Then, during the exchange operation, the reproduction level is attenuated or faded out. As a result, the reproduction output signal is not interrupted during the exchange operation, the reproduction signal can be continuously output, and the user recognizes that the disc is being exchanged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a disc reproducing apparatus having a disc exchanging function according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a disk exchange operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 optical disk 2 disk mounting section 3 disk reproducing section 4 disk replacing section 5 control section 7 signal processing section 51 system controller 73 memory

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A replacement means for selectively taking out a recording medium from a recording medium housing portion accommodating a plurality of recording media on which digital signals are recorded, a reading means for reading a reproduction signal from the taken recording medium, and a reading means. A memory to which the reproduction signal from the reading means is once written at a writing speed higher than the speed, and a reproduction output signal from the recording medium taken out after subjecting the digital signal read from the memory to predetermined signal processing. A recording medium reproducing section, level changing means for changing the level of the reproduced signal, and the exchanging means for exchanging the recording medium while the digital signal stored in the memory is being read. Controls the recording medium reproducing section and the exchanging means, and controls the reproduction level to be changed by the level changing means. Reproducing apparatus of the disc-shaped recording medium comprising a that the control means. 2. An operation means is further provided, and the exchange operation is
The reproducing apparatus for a disc-shaped recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the reproducing apparatus is performed according to a user's operation. 3. The reproducing apparatus for a disk-shaped recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the level changing means attenuates the reproduction signal level. 4. The reproducing apparatus for a disk-shaped recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the level changing means gradually attenuates the reproduction signal level.