JPS634743B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an answering machine that uses cassette tapes of the same shape as a response tape and a message recording tape, and it is possible to protect privacy even if the two cassette tapes are mistakenly installed. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an answering machine that can perform the following functions.

In conventional answering machines that use cassette tapes of the same shape for the response tape and the message recording tape, the track (channel) for recording voice on both tapes is the same.
If you accidentally attach a message recording tape that has already recorded a message from another person to the mechanism that should be attached to the answering tape, when a call is received from the caller, the recorded message will not be heard. The problem was that the data would be played back and transmitted, leaking the privacy of the owner or others.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and provides an answering machine that can prevent leakage of privacy even if a cassette tape is inserted incorrectly. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

The drawing shows the main circuitry of the answering machine of this embodiment. Reference numeral 1 denotes a recording/reproducing head for recording and reproducing a response tape, and here a stereo two-channel head consisting of 1R and 1L is used. 1R is a head for recording and reproducing a response audio signal, and 1L is a head for recording and reproducing a response control signal. 2 and 3 are recording/reproducing amplifiers connected to heads 1R and 1L, respectively. 4
1 is a recording/reproducing head for recording and reproducing information on a recording tape, and is a two-channel head having 4R and 4L as described above. 4R is a head for recording and reproducing a control signal for recording business matters, and 4L is a head for recording and reproducing a voice signal of a caller's business matters. 5,6
are recording/reproducing amplifiers connected to heads 4R and 4L, respectively. Reference numeral 7 denotes a control unit for controlling this apparatus, which has a built-in microcomputer and is capable of processing using a program. Only the main functions will be explained here.

8, 9, 10, and 11 are switch circuits that are connected or opened under the control of the control unit 7, and the switch circuit 8 connects the telephone line and the recording/reproducing amplifier 2.
The switch circuit 9 is interposed between the recording and reproducing amplifier 3.
and the oscillation circuit 12. Further, the switch circuit 10 includes the recording/reproducing amplifier 5 and the oscillation circuit 1.
The switch circuit 11 is interposed between the recording/reproducing amplifier 6 and the telephone line.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. When a call is received through the telephone line, the control section 7 drives the mechanism to which the response tape is attached according to a predetermined program, connects the switch circuit 8, and sends the response message recorded on the R channel track of the response tape. is reproduced by the head 1R and output to the telephone line via the recording/playback amplifier 2. After the response message has been sent, the response control signal played back by the head 1L is determined from the L channel track of the response tape, and the mechanism to which the message recording tape is attached is driven to switch the switch circuit 1.
1 to enable recording. At this point, the caller speaks the message, and this voice is recorded on the L channel track of the message recording tape via the recording/reproducing amplifier 6 and the head 4L. The control unit 7 determines that the caller's voice has been interrupted for a certain period of time or that the line has been disconnected due to the caller hanging up the receiver, and connects the switch circuit 10 to record the output signal of the oscillation circuit 12. It is re-amplified and recorded on the R channel track of the recording tape via head 4R. This signal is a message recording control signal having information for driving the message recording tape.

In the above configuration, the response tape has the voice of the response message recorded on its R channel track, and the response control signal recorded on its L channel track. On the other hand, the message recording control signal is recorded on the R channel track of the message recording tape, and the voice of the message from the caller is recorded on the L channel track. Therefore, even if a recorded message recording tape is accidentally attached to the answering tape mechanism, the audio signal from head 1R to be sent to the caller will be sent from the R channel track of the message recording tape. This is a reproduced control signal for recording business matters, and it is meaningless. Furthermore, the reproduced signal by the head 1L is the recorded voice of another person's business, but this is not connected to the telephone line.

In this embodiment, when the tape for recording a message is mistakenly attached to the mechanism on the answering tape side as described above, if there is an incoming call from the caller, this mechanism is activated in the same way as described above. Head 1
The playback signal from R is sent to the telephone line. As mentioned above, this reproduction signal is a control signal for recording business matters, and its meaning is unknown. Here, the output of the head 1R or the output of the head 1L is input to the control section 7 via the amplifier 2 or 3, and it is confirmed that the output of the head 1R is not a normal sound, and that the output of the head 1L is not a predetermined control signal. The control unit 7 determines whether this is the case. Then, a control signal based on this determination is used to immediately stop the operation of the mechanism on the response tape side. Therefore, it is possible to minimize the time during which meaningless signals are sent to the calling party.

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the message recording tape is mistakenly attached to the mechanism on the response tape side, the voice and control signals of the message recording tape and the response tape are different from each other. Since the messages that have already been recorded on the message recording tape are not sent out to the line when the call arrives, this system has an excellent feature of protecting privacy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing is a circuit diagram of a main part of an answering machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1R, 1L, 4R, 4L...Head, 7...Control unit, 8, 9, 10, 11...Switch circuit, 1
2...Oscillation circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Use cassette tapes of the same shape with two or more tracks in the same running direction as the response tape and the message recording tape, respectively, and use the track on which the voice of the response tape was recorded and the message recording tape. An answering machine characterized in that a track on which a message is recorded is a track that is incompatible with each other.