JPS63308777A - Counter device for tape recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively prevent the generation of a malfunction by outputting a control signal stopping suddenly a motor to 1st and 2nd terminals of a control circuit at the switching operation from the high speed driving state into the stop state in 1st and 2nd directions so as to activate 1st and 2nd counter control circuits for a prescribed time. CONSTITUTION:A switching signal applying the operation is outputted to a motor driving circuit 7 from a control circuit 1 in response to the recording/ reproduction fast forwarding, rewinding and stopping of a counter. Moreover, an output of the control circuit 1 is processed by a 1st switching circuit 24 and a 1st control signal output circuit 25 and the result is inputted to the 1st counter control circuit 55. Moreover, the output of the control circuit 1 processed by the 2nd switching circuit 39 and the 2nd control signal output circuit 40 is inputted to the 2nd counter control circuit 61. Then the output of the control circuits 55, 61 is inputted to the counter circuit 15 to keep the operating state of the counter 15 for a prescribed time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a tape recorder, and more particularly to a counter device that displays the running distance of a magnetic tape.

(b) Conventional technology Tape recorders are generally equipped with a counter device that displays the amount of travel of the magnetic tape, but such a counter device is configured to perform counting operations based on the rotation of the reel shaft. There are two types of such counter devices; one is mechanical and the other is monolithic. Electronic counter devices include, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 42680. In a tape recorder, the magnetic tape is driven to run in the same direction by a take-up reel shaft during playback (recording) and fast-forward operations, but is driven to run in the opposite direction by a rewind reel shaft during rewinding. Therefore, the counter device that displays the running distance of the magnetic tape is
It is configured to perform an up-count operation during recording) and fast-forward operation, and to perform a down-count operation during rewind operation, and the above-mentioned publication is provided with a switch to control the counting operation of the counter circuit. In addition, since the drive direction of the unwinding reel shaft is opposite to the drive direction of the take-up reel shaft, a mechanism for selectively transmitting the rotation of the electric motor according to each movement of each reel shaft is required and complicated. There is a problem with becoming. Therefore, recently,
A tape recorder has been developed that uses an electric motor that can rotate a reel shaft not only in a first direction but also in a second direction opposite to the first direction, that is, can rotate in forward and reverse directions.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In a tape recorder configured to drive a take-up reel shaft and a rewind reel shaft using an electric motor capable of forward and reverse rotation, when the take-up reel shaft is driven The polarity of the power supplied to the electric motor is opposite to that when the rewinding reel shaft is driven. Therefore, there is a counter circuit in which the above-mentioned up-counting operation and down-counting operation are selectively performed by utilizing the difference in polarity. In addition, in a tape recorder configured to rotate the reel shaft by switching the rotational direction of the electric motor, for example, when switching from a fast forward operating state to a stopped state, a voltage of opposite polarity is applied to the motor for a short period of time. There is a tape recorder that applies electrical braking to the motor, and if a counter circuit that takes advantage of the difference in polarity is incorporated into such a tape recorder, there is a problem that the counter circuit will malfunction. The present invention aims to provide a counter device that solves this problem.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The counter device of the present invention outputs a drive signal that causes the electric motor to rotate in the first direction when the motor is running at high speed in the first direction, and also outputs a drive signal to rotate the electric motor in the first direction when the motor is running at high speed in the second direction. a first output terminal that outputs a braking signal for a predetermined period of time during a switching operation from a state to a stopped state; and a drive signal that causes the motor to rotate in a second direction, which is the opposite direction to the first direction, when the motor is in a high-speed traveling state in a second direction. and a second output terminal that outputs a braking signal for a predetermined time when switching from a high-speed running state in the first direction to a stopped state, and generates a pulse signal in response to rotation of the reel shaft. a counter circuit that counts the number of pulse signals that can be outputted from the pulse signal generation circuit, and a counter circuit that counts the number of pulse signals that can be output from the pulse signal generation circuit; and a counter circuit that operates when a drive signal is output to a first output terminal of the control circuit. a first counter control circuit that causes the counter circuit to enter an up-count operation state when the counter circuit enters the state;
The second counter control circuit is activated when a drive signal is output to a second output terminal of the control circuit, and causes the counter circuit to enter a down-counting operation state.

(e) Effect The present invention provides a method for rapidly controlling the rotation of the electric motor to the second output terminal and the first output terminal of the control circuit in accordance with the switching operation from the high-speed running state to the stopped state in the first and second directions. The first counter control circuit and the second counter control circuit are kept in an operating state for a predetermined period of time when a braking signal for stopping the motor is output.

Example) The illustrated circuit is an example of the counter device of the present invention. In the same figure, (1> is playback (recording), fast forward,
This is a control circuit that outputs switching signals for performing each operation in response to rewinding and stopping operations, and outputs a drive signal of H (high) level during fast forward operation, that is, when running at high speed in the first direction. At the same time, the first output terminal (2) and the second output terminal (2) output a braking signal at the H level for a predetermined period of time.
A second output terminal (3 (4) rotates the take-up reel shaft when it is rotating in the first direction to make the magnetic tape run at high speed in the first direction, and also rotates the magnetic tape in the second direction.
This is an electric motor that rotates the rewind reel shaft when the magnetic tape is in a state of rotation in the direction of rotation, causing the magnetic tape to run at high speed in the second direction.When a positive voltage is applied, the motor rotates in the first direction. ) and a second power terminal (6) that rotates in the second direction when a positive voltage is applied. (7) is the first output terminal (2) provided in the control circuit (1).
and a second output terminal (3), the motor drive circuit has a first input terminal (8) and a second input terminal (9) connected to the second output terminal (3), respectively, and rotates the electric motor (4). 4) has a first drive terminal (10) connected to the first power supply terminal (5) and a second drive terminal (11) connected to the second power supply terminal (6). In such a configuration, when an H level signal is output to the first output terminal (2) of the control circuit (1), a positive voltage is output to the first drive terminal (10>) of the motor drive circuit (7). When an H level signal is output to the second output terminal (3), positive pressure is output to the second drive terminal (11) of the motor drive circuit (7). Axis (13)
This is a pulse signal generation circuit that generates a pulse signal in response to the rotation of the motor, and is equipped with an output terminal (14). (15)
is a counter circuit that counts the number of pulses as soon as the pulse signal outputted from the pulse signal generation circuit (12) is input, and has a first control terminal (16> and a second control terminal (17) that control the counting operation. ).The counter circuit (15) performs a counting operation when an H level signal is applied to both the first control terminal (16) and the second control terminal (17). It is in a state where it does not perform any operations, and the value counted up to that point is held.Also, the first control terminal (16
) when an H level signal is applied only to the second control terminal (17).
The counter circuit (1) performs a down-count operation when an H level signal is applied only to
5) is configured. (18) has a base resistance (19)
) is connected to the second output terminal (3) of the control circuit (1), and its emitter is grounded, and its collector is connected to the power supply via a resistor (20). It is connected. (21) is a second switching transistor whose base is connected to the collector of the first switching transistor (18) via a resistor (22) and whose emitter is grounded; ), and the first switching transistor (18) and the second switching transistor (21) constitute a first switching circuit (deaf). This is a first control signal output circuit that outputs a control signal corresponding to the inversion operation of the first switching circuit (deaf) to an output terminal (26), and the output terminal (26) is connected to a diode (27), a resistor (28) and It is connected to the collector of the first switching transistor (18) through a resistor (29) and connected to the second switching transistor (18) through a diode (30) and a resistor (31).
21) is connected to the collector. (32) is a capacitor connected between the connection point of the resistor (28) and the resistor (29) and the ground, and the resistor (28) and the resistor (29) constitute a time constant circuit. . (3
3), the base is connected to the control circuit (1) via the resistor (34).
) is connected to the first output terminal (2) of the third switching transistor whose emitter is grounded, and whose collector is connected to the power supply via a resistor (35).

(36) is a fourth switching transistor whose base is connected to the collector of the third switching transistor (33) via a resistor (37) and whose emitter is grounded; )
Connected to power via. The third switching transistor (33) and the fourth switching transistor (36) constitute a second switching circuit (fall). (40) is an inversion operation of the second switching circuit (fall). output terminal (4
1), and the output terminal (41) is connected to the collector of the third switching transistor (33) via a diode (42), a resistor (43), and a resistor (44). t and is connected to the collector of the fourth switching transistor (36) via a diode (45) and a resistor (46).

(47> is a capacitor connected between the connection point of the resistor (43) and the resistor (44) and the ground, and the resistor (43) and the resistor (44) constitute a time constant circuit. . (48) is a first control transistor whose collector is connected to the connection point between the diode (45) and the resistor (46) and whose emitter is grounded. It is connected to the output terminal (26) of the first control signal output circuit. (49) is connected to the diode (30) and the resistor (31).
), and its emitter is grounded, and its base is connected to the output terminal () of the second control signal output circuit (S) via a resistor (50). 41).(5
1> is the counter circuit (15) when in a conductive state.
The first transistor applies an H level signal to the first control terminal (16) provided in
The first control terminal (16) is connected to the first control terminal (16) via the first control terminal (16).

(53>) is a second transistor whose collector is connected to the base of the first transistor (51) via a resistor (54) and whose emitter is grounded in order to control the operation of the first transistor (51). , whose base is connected to the output terminal (26) of the first control signal output circuit (sub) via a resistor (54).The first transistor (51) and the second transistor (53) ) constitutes a first counter control circuit (subbase) that controls the operation of the counter circuit (15). (56) constitutes a first counter control circuit (subbase) that controls the operation of the counter circuit (15). H to 2 control terminal (17)
This is a third transistor to which a level signal is applied, and its emitter is connected to the power supply, and its collector is connected to the second control terminal (17>) via a resistor (57). (58) is the third transistor. 3 transistors (56
A fourth transistor whose collector is connected to the base of the third transistor (56) via a resistor (59) and whose emitter is grounded to control the operation of the third transistor (56), whose base is connected to the resistor (60) through the second
It is connected to the output terminal (41) of the control signal output circuit (40). The third transistor (56) and the fourth transistor (58) constitute a second counter control circuit (adhesive) that controls the operation of the counter circuit (15). Further, in such a configuration, the counter circuit (15) is reset when power is supplied. Furthermore, the time constant determined by the resistors (28), (29) and the capacitor (32) and the resistor (4)
3> The time constant determined by (44) and the capacitor (47) is set in consideration of the output time of the braking signal that can be output from the control circuit (1), the time delay of the drive mechanism, etc. The counter device of the present invention is configured such that the counter device is set to be longer than the output time, such as 0 or more, and its operation will be explained next.

When a power switch (not shown) is closed, power is supplied to each circuit and the counter circuit (15) is reset. When in the stopped state, the first output terminal (2) and the second output terminal (3) provided in the control circuit (1>
A level signal is output, and the drive signal is output to the first drive terminal (10) and second drive terminal (11) provided in the motor drive circuit (7) to which the signal is input. The electric motor (4) is in a stopped state. In this state, the first switching transistor (18) constituting the first switching circuit is in a non-conducting state, and the second switching transistor (21) is in a conducting state. Further, the third switching transistor (33) constituting the second switching circuit (η) is in a non-conducting state, and the fourth switching transistor (36)
> is in a conductive state. Therefore, when in such a stopped state, an H level signal is output to the output terminals (26) and (41) of the first control signal output circuit (transfer) and the second control signal output circuit (su). Therefore, the output terminal (
a second transistor (53) whose bases are connected to 26> and (41), respectively, and which constitutes a first counter control circuit (55) and a second counter control circuit (product);
and the fourth transistor (58) is biased and in a conductive state. Therefore, the first transistor (51) and the third transistor (56) are biased and become conductive, and the first control terminal (16) of the counter circuit (15)
) and the second control terminal (17) are in a state where an H level signal is applied. In addition, when in such a state, the first control transistor (26) whose base is connected to the output terminal (26) of the first control signal output circuit (μs) and the output terminal (41) of the second control signal output circuit (S) 48) and the second control transistor (49) are biased and conductive. In this way, when the tape recorder is in a stopped state, an H level signal is applied to both the first control terminal (16) and the second control terminal (17) of the counter circuit (15), and the counter circuit (15> is in a state where the counting operation is stopped.

If a fast forward operation is performed while in the above-mentioned stopped state, an H level signal is output to the first output terminal (2) provided in the control circuit (1), and the drive mechanism enters a state to perform the fast forward operation. A first drive terminal (10) provided in the motor drive circuit (7) to which when an H level signal is output to the first output terminal (2), the signal is applied to the first input terminal (8). A positive voltage is output to the motor (4), and the motor (4) is driven to rotate in the first direction, which is the direction for performing the fast forward operation. On the other hand, the first output terminal (
When an H level signal is output to 2), the third switching transistor (33) becomes conductive, and the fourth switching transistor (36) is inverted to non-conductive. When reversed to non-conducting state, its collector potential rises, but the first
Since the control transistor (48) is in a conductive state, no collector voltage is applied to the output terminal (41);
Further, when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the third switching transistor (33) is reversed to the conductive state, that is, the time required for the charge in the capacitor (47) to be discharged, the second switching transistor (33) is turned on.
The output signal of the output terminal (41) of the control signal output circuit (viewer) changes from H level to L level.As a result, the fourth transistor (58) and second control transistor (49), which were in a conductive state, become non-conductive. The state is reversed and the third
Transistor (56) is reversed to a non-conducting state. When the third transistor (56) is inverted to a non-conducting state, the level of the signal input to the second control terminal (17) of the counter circuit (15) becomes L level, so the counter circuit (15) starts counting up. Therefore, when it enters the fast-forward operation state, the take-up reel shaft (1
3), a pulse signal is output from the pulse signal generating circuit (12), and the pulse signal is input to the counter circuit (15), so that the number of pulses is incremented. In this way, the counting operation is performed by the counter circuit (15) in the fast forward operation state, but next we will explain the operation when the stop operation is performed in such a state. Then, the output signal of the first output terminal (2) of the control circuit (1) is inverted from the H level to the L level, and a braking signal of the H level is output from the second output terminal (3>) for a predetermined period of time. When the output signal of the first output terminal (2) becomes L level, the third switching transistor (
33) is reversed to a non-conducting state, and the fourth switching transistor (36) is reversed to a conductive state. When the third switching transistor (33) is inverted to a non-conductive state, its collector potential becomes high, but due to the time constant of the capacitor (47) and the resistor (44), the output terminal (41) of the second control signal output circuit (view) increases. ) is held at L level for a predetermined period of time. On the other hand, when the H level braking signal is output to the second output terminal (3), a positive voltage signal for braking is output to the second drive terminal (11) provided in the motor drive circuit (7>). As a result, a voltage is applied to the electric motor (4) to rotate it in the opposite direction, and the electric motor (4) rapidly stops rotating. Output terminal (3)
When the H level signal is output for a predetermined period of time, the first switching transistor (18) is inverted to a conductive state and the second switching transistor (21) is inverted to a non-conductive state. 21) is reversed to a non-conducting state, an H level signal is output from its collector to the output terminal (26) of the first control signal output circuit (sub) via the resistor (31) and the diode (30). When the switching transistor (18) is turned on, its collector potential drops, but the output voltage of the output terminal (26) can be maintained at H level by the charging voltage of the capacitor (32).Then, the control circuit ( When the H-level braking signal output to the second output terminal (3) of 1) disappears, the first switching transistor (18) becomes non-conductive and the second switching transistor (21) becomes conductive. When switching from the fast forward operation state to the stop state in this way, the output terminal (26) of the first control signal output circuit (translation) is connected to the second output terminal (3) of the control circuit (1).
Even though an H-level signal is output to the current state, an H-level signal is still being output. Further, the output signal of the output terminal (41) of the second control signal output circuit (viewer) is inverted from the H level to the L level by the stop operation of the output signal of the first output terminal (2) of the control circuit (1). However, as described above, the signal is held at the L level for a predetermined period of time, and becomes the H level after the predetermined period of time.

Therefore, even if the stop operation is performed while in the fast forward operation state, the counter circuit (15) can be maintained in the up-counting state for a predetermined period of time, so even if the take-up reel shaft (13) continues to rotate due to inertia, the pulse The pulse signal output from the signal generation circuit (14) is counted up by the counter circuit (15). Then, after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the second control signal output circuit (
Since the signal that can be output to the output terminal (41) of the counter circuit (15) becomes H level, the second control terminal (17) of the counter circuit (15) outputs an H level signal.
A level signal will be applied. Therefore, the counting operation of the counter circuit (15) is stopped, and the value counted by the counter circuit (15) is held.

As described above, the fast-forward operation and the operation when the fast-forward operation state is switched to the stop state are performed.Next, the rewind operation and the operation when the rewind operation state is switched to the stop state will be explained. If the rewind operation is performed while in the above-mentioned stopped state, the second
An H level signal is output to the output terminal (3), and the drive mechanism enters a state in which it performs a rewinding operation. A second drive terminal (11) provided in the motor drive circuit (7) where when an H level signal is output to the second output terminal (3), the signal is applied to the second input terminal (9). When the positive voltage is output, the motor (4) is driven to rotate in the second direction, which is the direction for performing the rewinding operation. On the other hand, the control circuit (
When an H level signal is output to the second output terminal (3) of 1), the first switching transistor (18) becomes conductive and the second switching transistor (21) becomes conductive.
) is reversed to non-conducting state. When the second switching transistor (21) is reversed to a non-conducting state, its collector potential rises, but since the second control transistor (49) is in a conducting state, no collector voltage is applied to the output terminal (26). .

Further, when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the first switching transistor (18) is inverted to the conductive state, that is, the time required for the charge in the capacitor (32) to be discharged, the first switching transistor (18) is turned on.
The output signal of the output terminal (26) of the control signal output circuit (E) changes from H level to L level.

As a result, the second transistor (53) was in a conductive state.
The first control transistor (48) is inverted to a non-conducting state, and the first transistor (51) is inverted to a non-conducting state. When the first transistor (51) is inverted to a non-conducting state, the level of the signal input to the first control terminal (16) of the counter circuit (15) becomes L level, so the counter circuit (15) starts counting down. Become ready to perform an action. Therefore, when the rewinding operation is started, a pulse signal is output from the pulse signal generation circuit (12) as the take-up reel shaft (13) rotates, and as a result, the pulse signal is input to the counter circuit (15). The number of pulses can be counted down.In this way, the counter circuit (15) performs the counting operation in the rewind operation state, but next we will explain the operation when the stop operation is performed in such a state. do.

When a stop operation is performed while in the rewind operation state, the output signal of the second output terminal (3) of the control circuit (1) is inverted from the H level to the L level, and the output signal of the first output terminal (2) is kept at the H level for a predetermined period of time. A braking signal is output. When the output signal of the second output terminal (3) becomes L level, the first switching transistor (18) is inverted to a non-conducting state, and the second switching transistor (21) is inverted to a conducting state. The first switching transistor (1
8) becomes non-conductive, its collector potential becomes high, but due to the time constant of the capacitor (32) and resistor (29), the output terminal (25) of the first control signal output circuit (25) becomes high.
The output level of 26) is held at L level for a predetermined time.

On the other hand, when an H-level braking signal is output to the first output terminal (2), the first
A positive voltage signal for braking is output to the drive terminal (10). As a result, a voltage is applied to the motor (4) to rotate it in the opposite direction, causing the motor (4) to rotate rapidly. In addition, the control circuit (1)
When an H level signal is output to the first output terminal (2) for a predetermined period of time, the third switching transistor (33)
) is reversed to a conductive state, and the fourth switching transistor 36) is reversed to a non-conductive state. When the fourth switching transistor (36) is inverted to a non-conducting state, the resistor (46) and the diode (
An H-level signal is output to the output terminal (41) of the second control signal output circuit (45) through the third switching transistor (33), and when the third switching transistor (33) is turned on, its collector potential decreases. Suga condenser (47)
The output voltage of the output terminal (41) is held at H level by the charging voltage. Then, when the H level braking signal that had been output to the first output terminal (2) of the control circuit (1) disappears, the third switching transistor (33
) is reversed to a non-conducting state, and the fourth switching transistor (36) is reversed to a conductive state. When switching from the rewind operation state to the stop state in this way, the control circuit (1) is connected to the output terminal (41) of the second control signal output circuit (view).
Even though the H level signal is output to the first output terminal (2) of the device, the H level signal is still being output.

In addition, the output terminal (26) of the first control signal output circuit (translation)
Even if the output signal of the second output terminal (3) of the control circuit (1) is reversed from the H level to the L level due to the stop operation, the output signal is maintained at the level for a predetermined time as described above, and after the predetermined time Becomes H level. Therefore, even if the stop operation is performed while the rewinding operation is in progress, the counter circuit (15) remains in the down-counting state for a predetermined period of time, so the take-up reel shaft (13) continues to rotate due to inertia. The pulse signal output from the pulse signal generation circuit (12) is counted down by the counter circuit (15).Then, after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the output terminal (26) of the first control signal output circuit (translation) is
) is at the H level, so the first counter control circuit (Rui) works to apply the H level signal to the first control terminal (16) of the counter circuit 15). Therefore, the counting operation of the counter circuit (15) is stopped, and the value counted by the counter circuit (15) is held.

Each operation in this embodiment is performed as described above, but next, the second switching transistor (21) and the resistor (3
1> and the function of the diode (3o) will be explained.

As mentioned above, when a stop operation is performed from a fast forward state, this circuit outputs the second output terminal of the control circuit (1).
output terminal (2) while the H level braking signal is output.
6> has the function of outputting an H level signal. When such a circuit performs various operations such as fast forwarding, rewinding, and stopping repeatedly in a short period of time, the capacitor (32)
There are cases where the charging operation is not performed sufficiently, and this is to prevent malfunction of the counter circuit (15) in such cases. In addition, the fourth switching transistor (36)
, a resistor (46), and a diode (45) have similar functions.

In this embodiment, the fast-forwarding operation and the rewinding operation have been described, but the counting operation during the playback operation can be performed in the same way. Furthermore, although the pulse signal generation circuit (12) generates a pulse signal in response to the rotation of the take-up reel shaft, it is also possible to generate a pulse signal based on the rotation of the unwind reel shaft. and,
It is of course possible to make various changes to the circuit configurations of the switching circuits (24), (39), output signal control circuits (25), (40), counter control circuits (55), (61), etc.

(G) Effects of the Invention The counter device of the present invention has an electric motor connected to the second output terminal and the first output terminal of the control circuit in accordance with the switching operation from the high-speed running state to the stopped state in the first direction and the second direction. When a braking signal for rapidly stopping the rotation of the counter circuit is outputted, the first counter control circuit and the second counter control circuit are maintained in an operating state for a predetermined period of time, thereby maintaining the counter circuit in an up-count operation and a down-count operation state. This invention has the advantage that the number of pulse signals generated due to the inertia of the reel shaft can be accurately counted.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The illustrated circuit is one embodiment of the counter device of the present invention. Explanation of main drawing numbers (1)...Control circuit, (4)...Electric motor, (7
)...Motor drive circuit, (12)...Pulse signal generation circuit, (15)...Counter circuit, (2A
)...First switching circuit, (Translation)...First control signal output circuit, (Excerpt)...Second switching circuit, <Rice>...Second control signal output circuit, (55)
・・First counter control circuit, ・・・Second counter control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a tape recorder configured to run a magnetic tape in a first direction and a second direction opposite to the first direction by switching the rotational direction of an electric motor, high-speed running in the first direction is possible. a first output terminal that outputs a drive signal that causes the motor to rotate in the first direction when the motor is in the first direction, and outputs a braking signal for a predetermined period of time when switching from a high-speed running state to a stopped state in the second direction; outputs a drive signal to rotate the electric motor in a second direction, which is the opposite direction to the first direction, when the motor is in a high-speed running state; and outputs a braking signal for a predetermined period of time when switching from a high-speed running state in the first direction to a stopped state. a control circuit equipped with a second output terminal for output; a pulse signal generation circuit that generates a pulse signal in response to rotation of the reel shaft; and a pulse signal output from the pulse signal generation circuit is inputted and a first counter control circuit that is in an operating state when a drive signal is output to a first output terminal of the control circuit and causes the counter circuit to be in an up-count operating state; a second counter control circuit that becomes operational when a drive signal is output to a second output terminal of the circuit and causes the counter circuit to enter a down-counting operation state; The second counter control circuit and the first counter control circuit are held in an operating state for a predetermined period of time when a braking signal accompanying a switching operation from each high-speed running state to a stopped state is output to the output terminal. A counter device for a tape recorder.