U.S. patent application number 11/755285 was filed with the patent office on 2007-10-04 for signal recording/reproducing apparatus.
Invention is credited to Ko Kumagai, Kouji MINABE, Yukio Nakamura, Shoji Ohno, Kenji Sano.
Application Number | 20070230289 11/755285 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 17870891 |
Filed Date | 2007-10-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070230289 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MINABE; Kouji ; et
al. |
October 4, 2007 |
Signal Recording/Reproducing Apparatus
Abstract
A data recording/reproducing apparatus includes a first power
source unit which generates necessary electric power signals from a
commercial power source, and a second power source unit which
generates a necessary electric power signal from the commercial
power source. When a user issues an instruction to interrupt the
operation of the power source of the apparatus, the generation of
the electric power signal of the first power source unit is
stopped, and the electric power is supplied to at least two of a
control unit for controlling switching of operation states of the
apparatus, a reception unit for receiving a manipulation
instruction, and a display unit for displaying thereon data
relating to the operation state from the second power source
unit.
Inventors: |
MINABE; Kouji;
(Hitachiota-shi, JP) ; Nakamura; Yukio; (Mito-shi,
JP) ; Ohno; Shoji; (Hitachinaka-shi, JP) ;
Kumagai; Ko; (Hitachinaka-shi, JP) ; Sano; Kenji;
(Yokohama-shi, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ANTONELLI, TERRY, STOUT & KRAUS, LLP
1300 NORTH SEVENTEENTH STREET
SUITE 1800
ARLINGTON
VA
22209-3873
US
|
Family ID: |
17870891 |
Appl. No.: |
11/755285 |
Filed: |
May 30, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10755284 |
Jan 13, 2004 |
7227825 |
|
|
11755285 |
May 30, 2007 |
|
|
|
09422352 |
Oct 21, 1999 |
6680878 |
|
|
10755284 |
Jan 13, 2004 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
369/24.01 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B 27/34 20130101;
G11B 2220/90 20130101; G11B 15/023 20130101; H04N 5/782 20130101;
G11B 33/122 20130101; H04N 5/63 20130101; G11B 27/36 20130101; G11B
19/00 20130101; G11B 15/026 20130101; G11B 2220/20 20130101; G11B
33/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
369/024.01 |
International
Class: |
G11B 27/36 20060101
G11B027/36 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 21, 1998 |
JP |
10-299310 |
Claims
1. A data recording/reproducing apparatus including a recording
signal processing unit; a received signal processing unit; a unit
for driving a recording medium; a reception unit for receiving a
manipulation instruction issued from a user; a control unit for
controlling switching of operation states of said apparatus in
response to the instruction; and a display unit for displaying
thereon the data relating to the operation state of said apparatus,
said apparatus comprising: a first power source unit for generating
a necessary electric power signal from a commercial power source; a
first switching unit for switching start and stop of the generation
of the electric power signal of said first power source unit; a
second power source unit for generating a necessary electric power
signal from said commercial power source; and a second switching
unit for switching start and stop of the generation of the electric
power signal of said second power source; wherein when a user
issues an instruction to interrupt the operation of the power
source of said apparatus, the generation of the electric power
signal of said first power source unit is stopped, and the electric
power is supplied to at least two of said control unit for
controlling the switching of the operation states of said
apparatus, said reception unit for receiving a manipulation
instruction, and said display unit for displaying thereon the data
relating to the operation state from said second power source
unit.
2. A data recording/reproducing apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein said first power source unit is for a heavy load, while
said second power source unit is for a light load.
3. A data recording/reproducing apparatus including: a recording
signal processing unit; a received signal processing unit; a unit
for driving a recording medium; a reception unit for receiving a
manipulation instruction issued from a user; a control unit for
controlling switching of operation states of said apparatus in
response to the instruction; and a display unit for displaying
thereon the data relating to the operation state of the apparatus,
said apparatus comprising: a first power source unit for generating
a necessary electric power signal from a commercial power source; a
first switching unit for switching start and stop of the generation
of the electric power signal of said first power source unit; a
second power source unit for generating a necessary electric power
signal from said commercial power source; and a second switching
unit for switching start and stop of the generation of the electric
power signal of said second power source; wherein said recording
signal processing unit, said reproduced signal processing unit and
said unit for driving a recording medium are all supplied with the
electric power from said first power source unit; at least two of
said control unit for controlling the switching of the operation
states of said apparatus, said reception unit for receiving a
manipulation instruction, and said display unit for displaying
thereon the data relating to the operation state are all supplied
with the electric power from said second power source unit; and
when a user issues an instruction to interrupt the operation of the
power source of said apparatus, the generation of the electric
signal of said first power source unit is stopped.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser.
No. 10/755,284, filed Jan. 13, 2004, which is a continuation of
U.S. application Ser. No. 09/422,352, filed Oct. 21, 1999, now U.S.
Pat. No. 6,680,878, the subject matter of which is incorporated by
reference herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates in general to a power source
circuit (i.e. power supply circuit) for use in an apparatus for
recording/reproducing signal, and more particularly to the
technology of improving the power consumption while ensuring the
convenienceness which is required in the standby state.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] A conventional apparatus for recording/reproducing data
includes principally the following blocks. That is, the apparatus
includes: a power source circuit block for generating a D.C.
regulated power source voltage (i.e. power supply voltage) from an
A.C. commercial power source; a block for carrying out the record
and reproduction of data; and a system control block for
controlling, in response to an instruction issued from a user, each
of the circuit blocks.
[0006] Now, in a relatively old apparatus, in order to implement
the instruction, to supply the electric power to the apparatus,
which instruction has been issued from a user, a mechanical switch,
a relay circuit having physical contacts, or the like is inserted
into the power source circuit. For this reason, even when the power
feed cord of the apparatus is connected to a mains socket of the
commercial power source, if a user issues an instruction to stop
the supply of the electric power from the power source circuit to
the apparatus, the supply of the electric power to the apparatus is
substantially interrupted and hence the state of the apparatus
proceeds to the state in which no electric power is consumed
therein.
[0007] On the other hand, in a recent apparatus, there is adopted
the method wherein even when the apparatus is in the state in which
an instruction to stop the supply of the electric power from the
power supply to the apparatus has been issued from a user, an
instruction to turn ON the power supply which has been issued from
a user is received in the form of the instruction signal from a
remote controller, or in order to reduce the cost of the power
source switching circuit as described above, a small switch is
provided in the position different from that of the power source
circuit and the state of the switch is detected to control an
electrical switch provided within the power source circuit.
[0008] In addition, in a signal recording/reproducing apparatus
having a circuit for receiving the broadcasting signal which is
provided either within a recording circuit or in a stage before the
recording circuit, in order to carry out the reserved picture
recording or the sound recording of the broadcasting signals, a
clock circuit is provided either in a system controller or in the
periphery thereof to automatically control the start and the end of
the recording at the reserved time.
[0009] Therefore, in the recent data recording/reproducing
apparatus, even when the apparatus is in the state in which an
instruction to stop the supply of the electric power from the power
supply to the apparatus has been issued from a user, the electric
power needs to be supplied to at least the system control block.
For this reason, in the state in which the power feed cord of the
apparatus is connected to a mains socket of the commercial power
source, even in the state in which the instruction to stop the
supply of the electric power from the power supply to the apparatus
has been issued from a user, the apparatus is placed in the state
of consuming the electric power (hereinafter, this state is
referred to as "the standby state" for short, when applicable).
[0010] Now, one might perhaps think that since in the standby
state, the electric power does not need to be supplied to the data
recording/reproducing block which requires the electric power the
most, the load is reduced and hence the power consumption is less.
However, since the power source circuit is designed to operate
stably even in the case where the load is heaviest, in the case of
the light load the efficiency thereof is reduced so that the power
consumption of the power source circuit itself is not decreased so
much, or the power consumption of the current circuit itself may be
increased in some cases. As a result, it is conventionally
difficult to sufficiently reduce the power consumption of the
apparatus in the standby state.
[0011] Then in order to improve this disadvantage, in a apparatus
disclosed in JP-A-9-320142, there was devised the apparatus wherein
in addition to the generation of the D.C. power source voltage from
the commercial power source, an electric power supplying unit is
provided in the form of a battery. This apparatus is designed such
that a switch is provided in a power source circuit block, and upon
closing of this switch, the electric power is supplied from the
battery to a part of the system control block or a part of the
peripheral circuits thereof. As a result, since the power
consumption in the power source circuit is removed, the power
consumption of the apparatus in the standby state is improved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] In the prior art as described above, however, the following
points are not especially taken into consideration. First, the
point that there is the possibility that if the time period of the
standby state is long, then the battery will have been discharged
is not especially taken into consideration. In this case, a new
task, such as the task of exchanging an old battery for new one, is
required which task is not required for the conventional apparatus
in which the electric power is supplied to the power source circuit
even in the standby state, and hence there is the possibility that
the convenienceness for users is injured.
[0013] In addition, in the prior art as described above, a switch
for interrupting the electric power signal line from the commercial
power source is inserted as a means for interrupting the power
source circuit. As well known, the commercial power source has a
large driving ability and a large voltage amplitude. For this
reason, regardless of whether electrical or mechanical switch is
employed, a relatively large switch needs to be employed and also
since the attention needs to be sufficiently paid to the safety,
the cost involved is not especially taken into consideration.
[0014] In addition, the above-mentioned prior art refers, as the
destination of the supply of the electric power from the battery in
the standby state, to a part of the system control block for
carrying out the time management processing and for fetching in the
instruction information issued from a user or the peripheral
circuits thereof, and the supply of the electric power to the
circuit for the time display.
[0015] However, units required to operate in the standby state are
not limited thereto. For example, in a recent digital broadcasting,
subscription sign-up contract information made with a user is
superimposed on the broadcasting signal and transmitted. In this
case, the enable code of the program for which viewing is permitted
can be obtained on the basis of the contract information of
interest. Therefore, in terms of the apparatus, the contract
information needs to be received previously in the standby state
before a user begins to carry out the viewing. In addition, it is
assumed that the circuit for the time display is constituted by the
liquid crystal circuit for example. In this case, for the purpose
of recognizing more readily the display, a light source such as
back lights needs to be provided.
[0016] As described above, the number of functions which are wanted
to be driven even in the standby state is increased with the number
of functions which are added to the data recording/reproducing
apparatus. In this case, there is the possibility that covering all
of the standby state only with the drive by the battery may become
expensive in some cases.
[0017] In other words, in the above-mentioned prior art, there is
adopted the configuration wherein in the standby state, the power
source circuit is completely interrupted. However, even in the
standby state, the drive by the battery is advantageous in some
cases, and the drive by the power source circuit is advantageous in
some other cases. Hence, the switch for switching the drive of the
apparatus by the battery over to the drive by the power source
circuit even when there is no instruction, which has issued from a
user, to turn ON the power source is not especially taken into
consideration.
[0018] In the light of the foregoing, the present invention was
made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems associated with
the prior art, and it is therefore an object of the present
invention to provide a signal recording/reproducing apparatus
including an optimal control unit or a switching unit of a power
source circuit in the standby state without injuring the
convenienceness for users.
[0019] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems associated
with the prior art, a signal recording/reproducing apparatus
according to the present invention is designed in such a way as
will be described below.
[0020] First, for discharging of the battery when the time period
for the standby state is long, the following configuration is
adopted. That is, the apparatus includes a circuit for charging a
battery with an electric power signal which is generated by a power
source circuit (a power supply unit having the commercial power
source as a power source thereto), wherein for a time period when a
user uses the signal recording/reproducing apparatus, i.e., for a
time period when the power source circuit is being operated, the
battery is charged with the electric power signal. In addition, the
apparatus includes an hour measuring instrument or a time measuring
instrument, wherein even when there is provided the standby state
whenever a fixed time period has elapsed or it has become a fixed
time, the power source circuit is activated to charge the battery
with the electric charges.
[0021] In addition, as another method of solving the
above-mentioned problems associated with the prior art, the
following configuration is adopted. That is, a signal
recording/reproducing apparatus includes: a circuit for charging
the battery with an electric power signal which is generated by the
power source circuit; an hour measuring instrument or a time
measuring instrument; and a detection unit for detecting a voltage
level of the battery whenever a fixed hour or time period has
elapsed, wherein when the voltage level thus detected is equal to
or lower than a predetermined value, the power source circuit is
activated if necessary to charge the battery.
[0022] Next, in order to facilitate easy interrupt of the power
source circuit, the following configuration is adopted. The power
source circuit for generating the D.C. power source voltage from
the commercial power source adopts generally the following
configuration. That is, the power source circuit includes: a
circuit for rectifying an A.C. commercial power source signal; a
transformer for coupling the rectified signal to the primary side
thereof to obtain a secondary side signal for which the swing level
conversion has been made; and a circuit for smoothing the signal
which is obtained after completion of the swing level conversion
therefor and which appears on the secondary side of the
transformer. In the present invention, there is adopted the
configuration wherein an electrical switch is provided on the
secondary side, particularly in a stage after the smoothing circuit
of the above-mentioned power source circuit, and is controlled on
the basis of a signal outputted from a system control unit.
[0023] Next, in order to cope with the change in the load applied
to the power source circuit when the signal recording/reproducing
apparatus is in the standby state, the following configuration is
obtained.
[0024] First, as a first method, the signal recording/reproducing
apparatus includes a measuring unit for measuring a time and a
storage unit for storing therein the time information and also
includes means for setting in the above-mentioned storage unit the
data relating to a time zone in which the possibility that a user
uses the apparatus is low and the data relating to a time zone in
which the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is high, or
for automatically setting such data in the above-mentioned storage
unit, wherein in the standby state having the time zone in which
the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is low, the
operation of the power source circuit is stopped to drive the
system control unit and the peripheral circuits thereof by a
battery. On the other hand, in the state having the time zone in
which the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is high, after
having activated the power source circuit, the necessary circuit
blocks are driven.
[0025] In addition, as a second method, a single power source
circuit includes two kinds of operation modes, i.e., the operation
mode for a heavy load (first power source unit) and the operation
mode for a light load (second power source unit), or two kinds of
power source circuits for a heavy load and a light load are
provided independently of each other. Then, in the case where the
single power source circuit is provided with the two power source
operation modes, the exclusive use is adopted in which in the
standby state, the operation mode for the light load is used, while
in the operation state, the operation mode for the heavy load is
used.
[0026] In addition, in the case where the two kinds of power source
circuits are provided independently of each other, for the blocks
such as, typically, the system control unit, which are required to
operate even in the standby state, the power source circuit for the
light load is operated at all times, while the power source circuit
for the heavy load is used only in the operation state.
[0027] Further, as a third method, both of the battery and the
power source circuit are provided with two kinds of operation modes
for a heavy load and a light load, and a time measuring instrument
and a storage unit for storing therein the time information are
provided, and also there is provided means for setting clearly in
the storage unit the data relating to a time zone (first time zone)
in which the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is low and
the data relating to a time zone (second time zone) in which the
possibility that a user uses the apparatus is high, or for setting
automatically such data in the storage unit. In the time zone in
which the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is low in the
standby state, the operation of the power source circuit is stopped
to drive the system control unit and the peripheral circuits
thereof by the battery. On the other hand, in the time zone in
which the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is high in the
standby state, the power source circuit is driven in the operation
mode for the light load so as to drive the circuit blocks which are
required to be operated even in the standby state. In addition,
when an operation instruction is issued from a user, the power
source circuit is activated in the operation mode for the heavy
load. In such a way, the electric power is supplied to each of the
circuit blocks in accordance with the operation state.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] These and other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become more readily apparent from the
following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings wherein:
[0029] FIG. 1 is a block diagram useful in explaining the overall
configuration of a first embodiment according to the present
invention;
[0030] FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram useful in explaining a
configuration of a first concrete example of a power source circuit
block shown in the first embodiment;
[0031] FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram useful in explaining a
configuration of a second concrete example of the power source
circuit block in the first embodiment;
[0032] FIG. 4 is a block diagram useful in explaining a
configuration of a first concrete example of a data
recording/reproducing block in the first embodiment and a second
embodiment;
[0033] FIG. 5 is a block diagram useful in explaining a
configuration of a second concrete example of the data
recording/reproducing block in the first and second
embodiments;
[0034] FIG. 6A is a circuit diagram useful in explaining a
configuration of a concrete example of a reset signal generating
circuit of a system control block in the first embodiment, and FIG.
6B is a waveform chart useful in explaining a concrete example of
operation waveforms in the reset signal generating circuit shown in
FIG. 6A;
[0035] FIG. 7 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining the outline of
the overall processing in the system control block in the first
embodiment;
[0036] FIG. 8 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a first
concrete example relating to a processing of turning ON/OFF a power
source in the system control block of the first embodiment;
[0037] FIG. 9 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a timer processing for the first concrete example of a
processing of turning ON/OFF a power source in the system control
block of the first embodiment;
[0038] FIG. 10 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a terminal interrupt processing for the first concrete
example of a processing of turning ON/OFF a power source in the
system control block of the first embodiment;
[0039] FIG. 11 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a first to a
fifth concrete examples relating to a processing of turning ON/OFF
a power source in the system control block of the first
embodiment;
[0040] FIG. 12 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a timer processing for a second concrete example of a
processing of turning ON/OFF a power source in the system control
block of the first embodiment;
[0041] FIG. 13 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a terminal interrupt processing for the second concrete
example of a processing of turning ON/OFF a power source in the
system control block of the first embodiment;
[0042] FIG. 14 is a schematic view useful in explaining a concrete
example of the external appearance of a remote controller which is
required for the third to fifth concrete examples of a processing
of turning ON/OFF a power source in the system control block of the
first embodiment;
[0043] FIG. 15 is a schematic view useful in explaining a
structural example of a menu picture relating to the third to fifth
concrete examples of a processing of turning ON/OFF a power source
in the system control block of the first embodiment;
[0044] FIG. 16 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a timer processing for the third and fourth concrete
examples of a processing of turning ON/OFF a power source in the
system control block of the first embodiment;
[0045] FIG. 17 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a terminal interrupt processing for the third concrete
example of a processing of turning ON/OFF a power source in the
system control block of the first embodiment;
[0046] FIG. 18 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a terminal interrupt processing for the fourth and fifth
concrete examples of a processing of turning ON/OFF a power source
in the system control block of the first embodiment;
[0047] FIG. 19 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a processing of learning a time when a power source is
turned ON/OFF in the fourth and fifth concrete examples of a
processing of turning ON/OFF a power source in the system control
block of the first embodiment;
[0048] FIG. 20 is a PAD diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a timer processing for the fifth concrete example of a
processing of turning ON/OFF a power source in the system control
block of the first embodiment;
[0049] FIG. 21 is a block diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a display circuit in the first and second embodiments
according to the present invention;
[0050] FIG. 22 is a block diagram useful in explaining the overall
configuration of the second embodiment according to the present
invention; and
[0051] FIG. 23 is a circuit diagram useful in explaining a concrete
example of a power source circuit in the second embodiment
according to the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0052] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will
hereinafter be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 22.
First, the configuration of the present embodiment will hereinbelow
be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.
[0053] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration
of an apparatus for recording/reproducing a video signal to which
the present invention is applied. Roughly classifying, the overall
configuration of the apparatus is divided into a power source
circuit block, a system control block, a data recording/reproducing
block, and a reception block. The configuration will hereinbelow be
described in detail every block.
[0054] First, the configuration of the power source circuit block
is as follows. That is, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 designates a
commercial power source; reference numeral 2 designates a mains
socket through which the data recording/reproducing apparatus is
connected to the commercial power source; reference numeral 3
designates a power source circuit for generating a D.C. power
source voltage from the commercial power source; reference numeral
21 designates a battery; reference numeral 22 designates a diode
for preventing the electric power of the battery from influencing
upon the power source circuit 3 when charging the battery 21 with
an electric power signal which is generated in the commercial power
source 1; reference numeral 24 designates a switch for selecting,
when the power source circuit 3 generates the electric power
signal, the electric power signal from the power source circuit 3
and for selecting, when the power source circuit 3 generates no
electric power signal, the electric power signal from the battery
21; reference numeral 25, a voltage regulation circuit for
regulating the electric power signal which is selected by the
switch 24; and reference numeral 26, a reset pulse generator for
supplying a reset signal to the system control unit. In this
connection, reference numeral 23 designates an integrated circuit
into which the switch 24, the voltage regulation circuit 25 and the
reset pulse generator 26 are integrated.
[0055] Next, the configuration of the system control block is as
follows. In FIG. 1, reference numerals 5 and 6 designate
oscillators, respectively; reference numeral 7 designates a system
controller; reference numeral 8 designates a timer interrupt
circuit; reference numeral 9 designates a timing generator for
selecting between clock signals which are respectively generated by
the oscillators 5 and 6 or dividing them to supply the resultant
signal to the system controller 7; reference numeral 10 designates
an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter for converting an analog
signal into a digital signal; reference numeral 11 designates a
storage circuit; reference numeral 12 designates a remote
controller reception register for storing temporarily therein an
instruction signal which has been issued from a remote controller
(hereinafter, referred to as "a remocon" for short, when
applicable) 17; reference numerals 13 to 16 designate a switch
group through which a user issues an instruction to the system
controller; reference numeral 17, the remocon; reference numeral
18, a remocon reception sensor for receiving a signal which has
been transmitted from the remocon to shape the waveform of the
amplified signal; and 19, a human body sensor for detecting the
presence of the human body. In this connection, the system
controller 7 and the peripheral circuits thereof may be comprised
of a microprocessor 4 which is integrated on one chip in many
cases. Also, reference numeral 20 designates a schematic view of
the human body.
[0056] In addition, the configuration of the data
recording/reproducing block 28 is as follows. In the figure,
reference numeral 29 designates a recording medium and a mechanism
for driving the same; reference numeral 30 designates a circuit for
driving the driving mechanism for the recording medium; reference
numeral 31 designates a circuit for processing a recording signal;
reference numeral 32 designates a circuit for processing a
reproduced signal; reference numeral 33 designates a switch for
switching the recording signal which is directly inputted from the
outside and the a reception signal which is inputted from the
reception block 36 over to each other; reference numeral 34, a
switch for switching the reproduced signal and the recording signal
over to each other for an output terminal; and 34, an on screen
display (hereinafter, referred to as "an OSD" for short, when
applicable) for displaying on a monitor 40 the character
information in such a way as to be superimposed on the output
signal.
[0057] In addition, the configuration of the reception block 36 and
the peripheral units thereof is as follows. In the figure,
reference numeral 38 designates a reception circuit; reference
numeral 39 designates an antenna; and reference numeral 37
designates a switch for switching the supply and the interrupt of
the electric power signal to and for the reception circuit and the
antenna over to each other.
[0058] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
a concrete example of the configuration of the power source circuit
3 with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. First, the configuration shown
in FIG. 2 will be described. In this connection, the description of
the constituent elements which are designated by the same reference
numerals as those in FIG. 1 is omitted here for the sake of
simplicity. In the figures, reference numeral 41 designates a fuse
for preventing the serious failure or accident from occurring due
to the over-current resulting from that some abnormality or failure
occurs in the apparatus; reference numeral 42 designates a diode
bridge circuit for rectifying an A.C. electric power signal from
the commercial power source; reference numeral 43 designates a
transformer for converting the swing level of the rectified signal;
reference numerals 44 and 45 designate a diode detection circuit
for smoothing a signal which is generated in one of the secondary
windings of the transformer 43; reference numeral 46 designates a
switching device for switching the conduction and the nonconduction
of the rectified signal which is coupled to the primary winding of
the transformer; reference numeral 48 designates a voltage
regulation circuit for regulating the power source signal which is
obtained by the smoothing made in the diode detection circuit 44,
45; reference numeral 49 designates a voltage controlled oscillator
for generating a switching signal of the switching device 46 in
response to the electric power supplied from the voltage regulation
circuit 48; reference numeral 47 designates a driver circuit
including principally the voltage regulation circuit 48 and the
voltage controlled oscillator 49 for carrying out the switching
control; reference numerals 50 and 51 designate a diode detection
circuit for smoothing a signal which is generated in one of the
secondary windings; reference numerals 52 and 53 designate a diode
detection circuit for smoothing a signal which is generated in the
other of the secondary windings; reference numeral 54 designates a
photo-coupler for feeding the smoothed signal which is obtained in
the diode detection circuit 50, 51 back to the voltage controlled
oscillator 49 with the smoothed signal electrically insulated;
reference numerals 55 and 56 designate a filter circuit for
smoothing the signal which is outputted from the photo-coupler 54;
reference numerals 57 and 58 designates respectively transistor
switches each of which interrupts or passes therethrough the
electric power signal which is obtained by the smoothing in
accordance with an instruction issued from the system controller 7;
reference numeral 59, a transistor for transmitting the electric
power signal which is inputted from the system controller 7 and
which is passed or interrupted to the switch 57 or 58; and 60, a
voltage regulation circuit.
[0059] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
the operation of the power source circuit shown in FIG. 2. First,
the A.C. electric power signal which is supplied from the
commercial power source 1 through the mains socket 2 and the fuse
41 is subjected to the full wave rectification in the diode bridge
42. The signal obtained through the full wave rectification is then
coupled to one terminal of the primary winding of the transformer
43. In addition, the other terminal of the primary winding has the
switching device 46 connected thereto by which the conduction and
the nonconduction are switched over to each other on the basis of
the signal generated by the voltage controlled oscillator 49 at a
high frequency.
[0060] As a result, the full-wave rectified signal coupled to the
primary winding of the transformer 43 is converted into the signal
which has the much higher frequency component as compared with the
frequency of the A.C. signal of the commercial power source so that
the electric power on the secondary winding side can be transferred
with the relatively small transformer 43. But, since the driver
circuit 47 requires the electric power before the switching
operation is carried out, the turn ratio of the secondary winding,
to which the smoothing circuit 44, 45 is connected, to the primary
winding needs to be ensured to some degree.
[0061] In such a way, the electric power signal transferred to the
secondary winding is converted into the D.C. electric power signal
by the smoothing circuit 50, 51 or 52, 53. Now, the electric power
signal from the smoothing circuit 50, 51 is fed back to the voltage
controlled oscillator 49 through the photo-coupler 54 and the
filter circuit 55, 50. As a result, if the output signal of the
smoothing circuit 50, 51 intends to fluctuate due to the
fluctuation of the load, then the voltage controlled oscillator 49
operates so as to make variable the switching frequency or the duty
ratio of the conduction to the nonconduction in order to regulate
the output signal of the smoothing circuit 50, 51 at the desired
voltage level.
[0062] In addition, while not illustrated in FIG. 2, in the case
where there are a plurality of D.C. voltage levels which are to be
generated, in the same manner as described above, the voltage level
of the smoothed signal is transmitted through the photo-coupler
which is specially prepared, and the output signals thereof are
added to each other in the stage before the above-mentioned filter
circuit 55, 56, whereby several smoothed signal outputs can be
regulated at the same time. However, in the case where the changes
in the loads which are driven by those smoothing signals are
independent of each other and have no correlation, the voltage
controlled oscillator can not properly operate since for which load
fluctuation the control should be carried out is not clear for the
voltage controlled oscillator.
[0063] Then, in the case where the D.C. electric power signals by
which the loads are driven the changes of which have not the
correlation so much is generated through another system, as
illustrated in the stage after the smoothing circuit 52, 53 shown
in FIG. 2, the voltage regulation circuit 60 is provided therein.
In this connection, the turn ratio of the primary winding to the
secondary winding is selected such that after having been
regulated, the voltage level of the smoothed signal should become
higher than the necessary desired voltage level. As a result, since
even if the smoothed electric potential is fluctuated due to the
load fluctuation of the D.C. power source of this system or another
system, the voltage regulation circuit absorbs that change, it is
possible to obtain the desired voltage level.
[0064] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
the operation of interrupting the power source circuit 3 which
operation is provided in accordance with the instruction issued
from the system controller 7. The transistor switches 57 and 58 are
respectively provided in the stage after the smoothing circuits 50,
51 and 52, 53 and are switched over to each other on the basis of
the switching signal outputted from the system controller 7. But,
since the swing level of the output signal from the system
controller 7 is limited to the level of the power source voltage
signal which is supplied to the system controller 7, the D.C.
electric power signal the level of which is higher than that level
can not be switched. Then, the transistors 57 and 58 are switched
over to each other through the operation of the transistor 59. In
this connection, since in the present concrete example, the
interrupt/conduction of all of the D.C. electric power signals
(except the signal which is required by the driver circuit 47) is
controlled on the basis of one switching signal, the transistor 59
is commonly connected to the transistors for switching the D.C.
electric power signals. However, in the case where the independent
interrupt/conduction is to be carried out, the two transistors 59
need to be independently provided together with the two switching
control signals from the system controller. In this connection,
while the order of providing the transistor switch 58 and the
voltage regulation circuit 60 does not particularly become a
problem, since the voltage level of the D.C. electric power signal
generates the slight dispersion due to even the passage thereof
through the transistor switch, in the present concrete example, in
order to cope with this problem, the transistor switch 58 is
provided in the stage before the voltage regulation circuit 60.
[0065] In addition, in the present concrete example, description
has been given until now with respect to the concrete example of
the two systems for the D.C. electric power signals which are
supplied to the circuit blocks. However, how many systems the
desired D.C. electric power signals require is different depending
on the function and the specification of the apparatus. Therefore,
in the following description, it is assumed that the smoothing
circuit 52, 53, the voltage regulation circuit 60 and the secondary
winding for supplying the switched electric power signal to the
smoothing circuit 52, 53 and the voltage regulation circuit 60, and
also if necessary, the interrupt/conduction switch are prepared for
the number of necessary systems. In addition, this is also applied
to the description of other examples of the power source
circuit.
[0066] In the concrete example of the power source circuit shown in
FIG. 2, the control of the interrupt and the conduction of the D.C.
electric power signals to the circuit blocks is realized by
providing the transistor switches on the lines, on the secondary
side, through which the smoothed D.C. electric power signals are
transmitted. In this case, the transistor switches need to be
provided on the D.C. electric power signal lines of all of the
systems (except the system for the driver circuit 47). In addition,
even in the state in which the operation of the electric power
source is interrupted, the driver circuit 47 is in the operation
state at all times. Therefore, this configuration of the power
source circuit 3 shown in FIG. 2 is not perfect in terms of the
cost and the power consumption of the power source circuit.
[0067] Then, a concrete example of a second power source circuit 3
will. hereinbelow be described with reference to FIG. 3. First, the
configuration of the power source circuit 3 shown in FIG. 3 will
now be described. But, since most of the configuration of the power
source circuit 3 shown in FIG. 3 is the same as that of the power
source circuit 3 shown in FIG. 3, description will be given with
respect to only the different constituent elements. In. FIG. 3,
reference numeral 61 designates a transistor switch for switching
the interrupt and the conduction of the D.C. electric power signal
from the battery over to each other, and reference numeral 63
designates a transistor switch for interrupting/conducting the D.C.
electric power signal from the smoothing circuit 44, 45. In this
connection, in this concrete example, both of the transistor
switches 57 and 58 are removed which are provided in the stage
after the smoothing circuits 50, 51 and 52, 53 of FIG. 2,
respectively.
[0068] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
the operation of the power source circuit shown in FIG. 3. But,
since most of the operation of the power source circuit shown in
FIG. 3 is the same as that of the power source circuit shown in
FIG. 2, description will now be given with respect to only the
different portions. First, in order to stop the operation of the
power source circuit 3, the transistor switch 63 is provided in the
stage after the smoothing circuit 44, 45, and the interrupt and
conduction thereof are switched over to each other on the basis of
the switching control signal from the system controller 7. As a
result, since the supply of the electric power to the driver
circuit 47 is interrupted, the oscillation of the switching signal
generated by the voltage controlled oscillator 49 is stopped. Then,
the switching device 46 constitutes the output circuit of the
voltage controlled oscillator in order to be the nonconducting
state as a result of stopping the oscillation of the voltage
controlled oscillator 49 (conversely, in the power source circuit
shown in FIG. 2, in the state of stopping the oscillation, it is
necessary to provide the state in which the primary winding
conducts at all times. As a result, in the power source circuit of
FIG. 2, upon connection of the power feed cord to the mains socket,
the oscillation is started). As a result, the primary winding of
the transformer 43 becomes the nonconducting state, no rectified
signal is transmitted to the secondary winding side and also no
D.C. electric power signal is generated on the secondary side.
Therefore, no electric power is supplied to any of the circuit
blocks.
[0069] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
the operation of activating the power source circuit 3. First, the
electric power signal from the battery 21 shown in FIG. 1 is
coupled to the driver circuit 47 through the transistor switch 61.
For a time period in which the power source circuit 3 is to be left
stopped, the operation of the transistor switch 61 is interrupted
on the basis of the switching control signal from the system
controller 7. Then, the instruction issued from the system
controller 7 causes the transistor switch 61 to conduct when the
power source circuit 3 needs to be activated. As a result, since
the electric power is supplied to the driver circuit 47, the
voltage controlled oscillator 49 starts to oscillate. Thus, since
the switching signal for the rectified signal is supplied to the
primary winding side of the transformer 43, the electric power is
also supplied to the secondary winding side for supplying the
electric power to the circuit blocks. As a result, there is
provided the state in which the D.C. electric power signal is
generated in the smoothing circuit 44, 45 as well. Then, the
transistor switch 61 is made the nonconducting state and also the
transistor switch 63 is caused to conduct, thereby completing the
activation of the power source circuit.
[0070] In this connection, while in the present concrete example,
there is adopted the configuration wherein the electric power is
supplied from the battery 21 to the driver circuit 47, the electric
power from the battery 21 may be supplied in the stage after the
voltage regulation circuit 48. In addition, in order that the
transistor switches 61 and 63 may be switched on the basis of the
output signal from the system controller 7, there may be the
possibility that as in the transistor 59 shown in FIG. 2, the
transistor for converting the swing level is required. However,
that transistor is not shown in FIG. 3 for the sake of
simplicity.
[0071] As described above, by configuring the power source circuit
as shown in FIG. 3, there is obtained the effect that since the
number of transistor switches for stopping/activating the power
source circuit 3 can be reduced and also the power consumption in
the driver circuit 47 can be suppressed, the cost and the power
consumption can be reduced.
[0072] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
a concrete example of a configuration of the data
recording/reproducing block with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4
is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of an example of a
herical scan type video tape recorder (hereinafter, referred to as
"a VTR" for short, when applicable) in which a magnetic tape is
utilized as a recording medium.
[0073] First, the configuration of the VTR will now be described.
First, the configuration of the recording medium and the mechanism
for driving the same is as follows. That is, in FIG. 4, reference
numeral 64 designates a magnetic tape; reference numeral 65
designates a head drum having magnetic heads 60 and 67 provided on
the cylindrical and peripheral surface thereof; reference numeral
68 designates a drum motor for rotating the head drum 65; reference
numeral 69 designates a capstan shaft for making the magnetic tape
64 travel with the magnetic tape 64 held between the capstan shaft
69 and a pinch roller 70; and reference numeral 71 designates a
capstan motor for rotating the capstan shaft 69.
[0074] Next, the system for processing the recording
signal/reproduced signal is configured as follows. In FIG. 4,
reference numeral 72 designates a recording signal processing
circuit for carrying out the modulation processing which is
required when recording an inputted recording video signal on the
magnetic tape 64; reference numeral 73 designates a recording
amplifier for amplifying the recording signal which has been
modulated; reference numeral 74 designates a switch for switching
the modulated recording signal and the modulated and reproduced
signal over to each other; reference numeral 75 designates a switch
for selecting between the two magnetic heads 66 and 67; and
reference numeral 77 designates a reproduced signal processing
circuit for demodulating the modulated and reproduced signal which
has been amplified by a reproducing amplifier 76.
[0075] Next, description will now be given with respect to the
configuration of the driving circuit system of the recording medium
driving mechanism. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 78 designates a
synchronous signal separation circuit for separating the
synchronous signal from the recording video signal; reference
numeral 79 designates a switch for synchronizing the recording
video signal and the reference signal with each other; reference
numeral 81 designates a circuit for generating a signal
representing the phase of the recording track (hereinafter,
referred to as "a CTL signal" for short, when applicable);
reference numeral 82 designates a circuit for generating a
switching signal for the two magnetic heads (hereinafter, referred
to as "an HSW signal" for short, when applicable); reference
numeral 83 designates a circuit for controlling the rotating speed
and the phase of the drum motor; reference numeral 84 designates a
motor driver amplifier; reference numeral 85 designates a switch
for switching the reference signal and the reproduced CTL signal
over to each other; reference numeral 86 designates a circuit for
controlling the speed and the phase of the capstan motor; reference
numeral 87 designates a motor driver amplifier; reference numeral
88, a recording amplifier for the CTL signal; reference numeral 89,
a switch for switching the recording CTL signal and the reproduced
CTL signal over to each other; and 90, a CTL head for recording or
reproducing the CTL signal on or from the magnetic tape. The
foregoing is the configuration of the data recording/reproducing
block of the VTR.
[0076] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
the operation of the data recording/reproducing block of the VTR.
First, the description will now be given with respect to the
operation of processing the signals for the data
recording/reproducing. The recording video signal is subjected to
the modulation processing for recording/reproducing the data
on/from the magnetic tape 64 in the recording signal processing
circuit 72. For example, in the case of the VTR for the analog
recording, the luminance signal is subjected to the frequency
modulation, so that the carrier color chrominance signal is
converted into the signal having the low frequency. On the other
hand, in the case of the VTR for the digital recording, the bit
stream of an inputted digital signal is packetized and then is
subjected to the phase shift keying modulation and the like. The
modulated recording signal thus generated is amplified by the
recording amplifier so as to have the proper recording amplitude,
and then is supplied to the magnetic heads 66 and 67 through the
switches 74 and 75 to be recorded on the magnetic tape 64.
[0077] On the other hand, in the reproducing operation, the
modulated and reproduced signal reproduced by the magnetic heads 66
and 67 is transmitted to the reproducing amplifier 76 through the
switches 75 and 74. The modulated and reproduced signal is
amplified by the reproducing amplifier 76 so as to have the proper
level, and then is subjected to the demodulation processing
corresponding to the modulation method as described above in the
recording operation to reproduce the reproduced signal.
[0078] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
the operation of the driving circuit for the recording medium. The
herical scan type video tape recorder records the data in the
inclined tracks on the magnetic tape. In this case, for example, in
the case of the VTR for the analog recording, it is established by
the related standards that the vertical synchronous signal of the
recording video signal should be recorded at the predetermined
height in the direction of the tape height. For this reason, the
phase of the recording signal and the rotational phase of the drum
motor need to be synchronized with each other. For this reason, the
vertical synchronous signal is separated from the recording video
signal in the synchronous signal separation circuit 78. On the
other hand, in the case of the VTR for the digital recording, too,
the recording bit stream is packetized and recorded in the inclined
track. In this case as well, since one packet needs to be written
to one track with the phase which is established by the related
standards, the synchronous signal of the packet needs to be
generated from the recording bit stream (not shown). In any case,
the signal synchronized with the recording signal is extracted from
the recording signal to be supplied to the reference signal
generating circuit 80 through the switch 79.
[0079] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
the operation of controlling the rotation of the drum motor 68.
Firstly, a sensor (not shown) which generates the signal having the
frequency which is in proportion to the rotating speed
(hereinafter, referred to as "a DFG signal" for short, when
applicable) is mounted to the drum motor. Then, the drum motor
controlling circuit 83 compares the frequency or the period of the
DFG signal with a predetermined frequency or period instructed by
the system controller 7 to generate a speed control signal. In
addition, a sensor (not shown) which detects the rotational phase
(hereinafter, a rotational phase detection signal of the drum motor
will be referred to as "a DPG signal" for short when applicable) is
mounted to the drum motor. On the basis of the phase of the DPG
signal or the DFG signal which is specified by the DPG signal, the
HSW signal generating circuit 82 generates a timing signal (HSW
signal) with which the magnetic heads 66 and 67 are switched over
to each other for the magnetic tape 64. Then, the drum motor
control circuit 83 compares the phase difference between the HSW
signal and the reference signal generated by the reference signal
generating circuit 80 with a predetermined phase difference
instructed by the system controller 7 to generate a phase control
signal. The drum motor controlling circuit 83 supplies a motor
control signal which is obtained by adding the above-mentioned
speed control signal and the phase control signal to each other to
the motor driver amplifier 84. As a result, the control for the
rotating speed and the phase of the drum motor is realized.
[0080] In this connection, the control for the drum motor in the
reproducing operation is as follows. In the case of the analog
signal recording, since the video signal to be reproduced contains
therein the synchronous signal, in particular, there is no need of
synchronizing that video signal with the signal which is supplied
from outside. For this reason, the switch 79 is released in
accordance with the instruction issued from the system controller
7, and the drum motor is rotated synchronously with the internal
reference signal generated by the reference signal generating
circuit 80. On the other hand, in the case of the digital signal
recording, since the reproduced signal processing circuit 77 needs
to grasp the phase of the packet to be reproduced, some synchronous
signal is generated (not shown) by the reproduced signal processing
circuit 77 to be supplied (not shown) to the reference signal
generating circuit 80.
[0081] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
the operation of controlling the rotation of the capstan motor 71.
A sensor (not shown) which generates a signal having the frequency
which is in proportion to the rotating speed (hereinafter, referred
to as "a CFG signal" for short, when applicable) is mounted to the
capstan motor 71. The capstan motor controlling circuit 86 compares
the frequency or the period of the CFG signal with a predetermined
frequency or period instructed by the system controller 7 to
generate the speed control signal.
[0082] In addition, in the recording operation, the capstan motor
controlling circuit 80 compares the phase difference between the
reference signal generated by the reference signal generating
circuit 80 and the dividing signal of the CFG signal with a
predetermined phase difference supplied from the system controller
7 to generate a phase control signal. The capstan motor controlling
circuit 86 supplies a motor control signal obtained by adding the
above-mentioned speed control signal and the phase control signal
to each other to the motor driver amplifier 87. As a result, the
speed and the phase in the recording operation of the capstan motor
71 are controlled.
[0083] In this connection, the reference signal in the recording
operation is recorded in the linear track on the magnetic tape by
the CTL head 90 through the recording CTL generating circuit 81,
the recording CTL amplifier 88 and the switch 89. In the
reproducing operation, the capstan motor controlling circuit 86
reads out the CTL signal from the linear track to control the phase
difference between the CTL signal thus read out and the HSW signal
so as to obtain the phase difference therefrom which is prescribed
by the standards. As a result, even if the magnetic tape is
expanded and contracted due to the change in the environment for a
time period ranging from a time point of the recording to a time
point of the reproducing, the fixed relation is established between
the rotation of the drum motor and the travelling amount of track.
The foregoing is the configuration and the operation of the
concrete example of the data recording/reproducing block of the
video tape recorder.
[0084] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
another concrete example of the data recording/reproducing block
with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a block diagram, partly in
perspective view, showing a configuration of the apparatus wherein
an optical disc is utilized as the recording medium. First,
description will now be given with respect to the construction of
the mechanism system. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 92 designates an
optical disc; reference numeral 93 designates a spindle motor for
rotating the optical disc 93; reference numeral 100 designates a
lens for focusing the recording light or the reproducing light on
the surface of the optical disc; reference numeral 101 designates a
focus actuator for controlling the focusing position against
flapping or deflection of the disc surface; reference numeral 102
designates a tracking actuator for making the recording light or
the reproducing light follow the fluctuation of the track position
due to the decentering of the disc center; reference numeral 103, a
thread which serves to support the lens 100 and to move on a shaft
107 along with the rotation of the shaft 107 to change the access
position of the disc; and 106, a thread motor for moving the
thread.
[0085] Next, description will now be given with respect to a
configuration of the circuit system for driving the mechanism. In
FIG. 5, reference numeral 94 designates a circuit for controlling
the rotating speed of the spindle motor 93; reference numeral 104
designates a control circuit, for the thread motor, for controlling
the rotation angle of the thread motor; reference numerals 95 and
105 designate respectively motor driver amplifiers; reference
numeral 108 designates a control circuit for carrying out the
position control for the focus actuator 101; reference numeral 110,
a control circuit for carrying out the position control for the
tracking actuator 102; and reference numerals 109 and 111, actuator
driver amplifiers.
[0086] In addition, a configuration of the signal processing system
is as follows. In the figure, reference numeral 96 designates a
recording signal processing circuit for subjecting the digital bit
stream inputted to the modulation; reference numeral 97 designates
a recording amplifier; reference numeral 98 designates a
reproducing amplifier; and reference numeral 99 designates a
reproduced signal processing circuit for demodulating the modulated
signal reproduced and for decoding the digital bit stream into the
analog signal. In this connection, the reproduced signal processing
circuit 99 generates, when having moved the thread, a track jump
signal on the basis of the difference between the reproduced signal
level in the track in which the signal is present and the
reproduced signal level in the off track in which no signal is
present, and also reproduces the data clock signal which is
synchronized with the demodulated bit stream.
[0087] Next, description will now be given with respect to the
operation of recording/reproducing the data of the optical disc.
Firstly, a sensor for generating the pulses (the encoder pulses)
the number of which is in proportion to the rotating speed is
provided in the spindle motor 93 for rotating the optical disc. In
the recording operation, the spindle motor controlling circuit 94
compares the number of encoder pulses with the predetermined number
of pulses instructed by the system controller 7 in order to control
the speed of the motor. On the other hand, in the reproducing
operation, in addition to the control based on the encoder pulses,
the spindle motor controlling circuit 94 carries out the control so
that the frequency of the data clock signal synchronized with the
bit stream of the reproduced signal obtained in the reproduced
signal processing circuit 99 becomes to have the fixed period.
[0088] In addition, when the request of changing the access
position is made from the system controller 7, the thread motor
controlling circuit 104 activates the thread motor 106 and then
counts the track jump pulses which are sent to the reproduced
signal processing circuit 99, and when the thread motor 106 has
moved to the desired position, stops the rotation of the thread
motor 106.
[0089] In addition, the tracking actuator controlling circuit 110
detects the reflected light of the recording light or the
reproducing light from the surface of the optical disc using a
plurality of sensors (not shown) and then detects whether the
tracking position is on the disc center side or on the opposite
side with respect to the track direction on the basis of the
detection time difference between the reflected light detected on
the disc center side and the reflected light detected on the
opposite side in order to control the actuator. The focus actuator
controlling circuit 108 detects the reflected light passing through
the lens (not shown), which is obtained by piling the several
deformed lens elements up to one another, using a plurality of
sensors (not shown). As a result, when the focusing is inperfect,
the dispersion occurs between the output signals of the sensors,
and the actuator is controlled with this difference as the control
value.
[0090] The above description is directed to the two concrete
examples of the data recording/reproducing block. In addition to
the above-mentioned concrete examples, as another concrete example
of the recording/reproducing block, a semiconductor memory may be
employed as the recording medium. But, in the case of the
semiconductor memory, since accessing to the data
recording/reproducing location is made on the basis of an
electrical signal called an address, no mechanical system for
driving the recording medium is provided.
[0091] The above description has been given with respect to the
configuration of the apparatus of the first embodiment according to
the present invention, and the configurations and the operation of
the concrete examples of the power source circuit and the data
recording/reproducing block which are employed in the same. Now,
returning back to FIG. 1 again, the operation of the present
embodiment will hereinbelow be described in detail with reference
to FIGS. 6A and 6B to 22.
[0092] First, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
the operation of supplying the electric power signal to the circuit
blocks of the data recording/reproducing apparatus of the present
embodiment with reference to FIG. 1. First, the D.C. electric power
signals for the necessary number of systems are generated from the
commercial power source in the power source circuit 3. When, of the
D.C. electric power signals, the D.C. electric power signal which
is required by the microprocessor 4 is generated, the switch 24 is
switched by that D.C. electric power signal itself to select that
D.C. electric power signal. Conversely, when in accordance with the
instruction issued from the system controller 7, the operation of
the commercial power source 3 is stopped so that no D.C. electric
power signal is generated, the switch 24 selects the D.C. electric
power signal generated by the battery 21. As a result, as long as
the necessary electric power is stored in the battery 21, the D.C.
electric power signal is obtained in the output of the switch 24
irrespective of whether or not the power source circuit 3 is
generating the electric power signal. The D.C. electric power
signal thus obtained is supplied to the display circuit 27 and if
necessary, to the power source circuit (i.e., the power source
circuit shown in FIG. 3). In addition, for the circuit system which
requires the lower voltage than each of those voltages, the voltage
regulation circuit 25 is provided in the stage after the switch 24
to drop stably the voltage level. Then, the resultant D.C. voltage
is supplied to the microprocessor 4 including the system controller
7 and the peripheral circuits thereof, the block of the sensor
system for the remocon reception 18 and the human body detection
19, and the display circuit 27.
[0093] From the foregoing, even if the operation of the power
source circuit 3 is stopped in accordance with the instruction
issued from the system controller 7, each of the above-mentioned
circuits is in operable state. In addition, when the power source
circuit 3 is in operation, the battery 21 is charged with the D.C.
electric power signal generated by the power source circuit 3
through the diode 22. Therefore, as long as the apparatus is
operated at a suitable time interval, the electric charge
accumulated in the battery 21 is not discharged at all.
[0094] However, if the standby time becomes long, then the electric
charge accumulated in the battery 21 will have been discharged
sooner or later. In this case, since any of the stored values in
the volatile recording area of the storage circuit 11 in which the
data relating to the control state of the system controller 3, the
time and the like is stored are also lost, there is the possibility
that even if the supply of the electric power is simply restarted,
the apparatus can not be properly operated. In order to cope with
this problem, at the time when the D.C. signal is outputted to the
output terminal of the voltage regulation circuit 25, the reset
circuit 26 generates the reset pulse for the microprocessor 4 to
initialize the state of the system controller 7.
[0095] FIG. 6A shows a concrete example of this reset circuit 6,
and FIG. 6B shows the operational waveforms thereof. Even if the
supply of the D.C. electric power signal from one of the power
source circuit 3 or the battery 21 is stopped, the output of the
switch 24 is not substantially changed (the level difference
between the two D.C. electric power signals may appear thereat or
so forth). However, if the output signals of both of the power
sources are interrupted at the same time, then the large signal
change will appear at the output terminal of a differentiating
circuit 112, 113. Then, this differential signal is waveform-shaped
on the basis of a suitable threshold, which enables the reset
signal to be obtained. Therefore, if after the electric power
signals of both of the power source circuit 3 and the battery 21
have been interrupted (or discharged), the supply of the electric
power signal from one of them is restarted, then the reset pulse is
generated.
[0096] In response to the reset signal, the microprocessor 7
executes the program which is stored in a predetermined location of
the volatile area of the storage circuit 11. FIG. 7 is a PAD
(Program Algorithm Diagram) showing an example of the program.
First, in the reset program, the initialization of the processor is
carried out. As for the contents of the initialoization, for
example, the general microprocessor is designed such that the
terminal circuit can be used as either the input or the output, and
hence the selection between the functions thereof needs to be
carried out. Or, the microprocessor 7 executes the processing of
setting the value in the volatile storage area of the storage
circuit 11 to the predetermined value. Next, the interrupt enable
to each of the interrupt processing circuits in the microprocessor
7 is carried out. For example, the 1 s timer interrupt circuit
subjects the signal which is oscillated by the oscillator 5 having
the frequency of 32.768 kHz to division by 32,768 (this value is 2
to the 15th power, and hence this unit can be constituted by the
simplest binary counter), whereby the interrupt processing request
at intervals of 1 sec (it is freely selected by changing the
dividing ratio. In this case and the following cases as well, it is
provisionally made 1 sec) is made to the system controller 7. In
addition, if the manipulation instruction data from a user is
stored in the reception register 12 on the basis of the
transmission signal from the remote controller 17, then the
reception register 12 requests the system controller 7 to carry out
the decoding of the received data and the interrupt processing of
the change processing of the operation mode therefor. In addition,
as in the switches 13 to 16, the interrupt processing can be
executed even on the basis of the signal which is coupled to any
one of the terminals of the microprocessor 4. For example, if it is
assumed that the switch 13 is the terminal through which the stop
and the start of the operation of the power source circuit is
switched over to each other, then the request of the interrupt
processing can be made to the system controller 7 on the basis of
the change in the level of the signal applied to the terminal.
Moreover, while as for the interrupt processing function of the
microprocessor, in addition to the above-mentioned function, in
general, there are various functions, those are not necessarily
related to the present embodiment.
[0097] Returning back to the description of the reset program
again, when the interrupt enable processing has been completed,
initialization is carried out next for each of the circuit blocks
of the overall apparatus. In this case, if the terminals of the
microprocessor 4 are assigned one by one to all of the setting
information, then the number of terminals is increased whenever the
number of functions to be set is increased. Then, the setting
information may be made in a serial bit stream data form to be
transmitted to the circuit blocks in many cases.
[0098] When the initialization of the microprocessor and the
overall apparatus has been completed in a manner as described
above, the processing of the reset program as the initialization
program is completed, and then the processing proceeds to the main
processing as in the system controller. In the main processing,
there is provided the state in which the above-mentioned interrupt
processing is accepted at all times. If no interrupt processing
request is made, then the main processing is repeatedly executed,
while if the interrupt processing request is made, then the main
processing is temporarily suspended in order to execute the
interrupt processing. If the interrupt processing has been
completed, then the main processing which has been suspended until
now is restarted.
[0099] With respect to the main contents of the main processing, if
the request of turning OFF the power source is made from each of
the interrupt processings, then the processing of turning OFF the
power source is executed. In addition, if the request of changing
the operation mode (recording, reproducing and stop) of the
apparatus is made through the remocon or any one of the terminals
(switches 14, 15 and 16), then the control signal therefor and the
serial data to the circuits are transmitted. Or, if the request of
setting various information of a user is made for the apparatus by
utilizing the OSD circuit 35, then the menu processing is executed.
While in addition thereto, there is the possibility that the
various processings corresponding to the functions, which is
provided in the apparatus, such as the request of changing the
reception channel made through the remocon may be executed in the
main processing, this is not necessarily related to the present
embodiment and hence the description thereof is omitted here for
the sake of simplicity.
[0100] Next, it was already stated in the above description that
when the interval with which the apparatus is operated by a user is
long, there is the possibility that the battery 21 may be
discharged. In the present embodiment, in order that the battery 21
may be prevented from being discharged irrespective of the use
interval of a user, the following method is adopted. FIGS. 8 to 10
show a first operation example therefor in the system controller 7,
and this example will hereinbelow be described.
[0101] FIG. 8 is a PAD diagram showing in more detail the
processing of turning OFF the power source in the main processing
shown in FIG. 7. In order to simplify the description, it is
assumed that the request of stopping the operation of the power
source is made by a user. Then, the processing of turning OFF the
power source is called from the main processing so that the
processing proceeds to the processing of turning OFF the power
source shown in FIG. 8. In the processing of turning OFF the power
source, first, the value of the power source OFF time of the timer
data which is prepared in the volatile area of the storage circuit
11 is cleared (zero is set thereto). Then, the processing of
turning OFF the power source which was already described with
reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 is executed. In this connection, while
not particularly described until now, in the microprocessor 4, the
signal (in this case, the frequency thereof is provisionally 10
MHz, and so forth) which is oscillated by the oscillator 6 is
selected by the timing generator to be made the operation clock for
system controller 7. By the operation clock is meant the time of a
minimum unit when decoding and executing the program, which is
stored in the non-volatile area of the storage circuit 11, by the
system controller 7. Therefore, the speed of executing the program
is increased as the operation clock is longer. But, the power
consumption in this case is also increased. Then, many
microprocessors have generally the function of switching the
operation clock. The microprocessor 4 of the present embodiment has
such a function, and switches the operation clock over to the clock
of 32.678 kHZ which is oscillated by the oscillator 5 so that the
operation mode thereof proceeds to the operation mode with the low
power consumption. Further, the mode of the microprocessor 4
proceeds to a sleep mode in which the execution of the program is
temporarily stopped.
[0102] The sleep mode is released when one of the processing
requests of the above-mentioned 1 s timer interrupt, power source
ON terminal interrupt or remocon reception register interrupt has
been made. If those requests contain the request of turning ON the
the power source, then the system clock of 32 kHZ proceeds to that
of 10 MHz and in addition to the processing of activating the power
source circuit 3, the processing of turning ON the power source a
part of which overlaps with the reset processing, such as the
processing of transmitting the serial data to the circuit blocks is
executed, and then the processing is returned back to the main
processing shown in FIG. 7. On the other hand, if any of such
interrupt processing requests contains no request of turning ON the
power source, the operation mode proceeds to the sleep mode again.
The foregoing is the processing of turning OFF the power source and
the processing until the operation mode is returned from the power
source OFF state back to the power source ON state which processing
is executed by the system controller 7.
[0103] Next, FIG. 9 is a PAD diagram showing a concrete example of
the 1 s timer interrupt processing and this example will
hereinbelow be described. In the 1 s timer interrupt processing, if
the power source circuit 3 is in the stop state, then the power
source OFF time timer data which was initially cleared in the
processing of turning OFF the power source is counted up by 1 sec.
Then, if for the power source OFF time timer data, a predetermined
time period has elapsed, then the request of turning ON the power
source is set and also the flag data which represents that the
power source ON is generated due to the time-up of the timer
interrupt is set in the volatile storage area of the storage
circuit 11. In addition, the power source ON time timer data which
is prepared in the volatile storage area of the storage circuit 11
is cleared to zero to complete the interrupt processing.
[0104] On the other hand, if the power source circuit 3 is in the
operation state, it is discriminated whether or not that state is
the state in which the power source has been turned ON on the basis
of the time-up resulting from the timer interrupt processing during
the power source OFF. If so, then the power source ON time timer
data is counted up by 1 sec, and if this time exceeds a
predetermined time, then the request of turning OFF the power
source is set to complete the interrupt processing.
[0105] Next, FIG. 10 is a PAD diagram showing a concrete example of
the processing of the power source ON interrupt generated through
the terminal and this example will hereinbelow be described. In
this connection, since in the case as well where the interrupt
request has been made through the remocon reception register, the
same processing is executed, including the following description,
the description will be represented by the description of the
processing of the interrupt generated through the power source ON
terminal. In the processing of the power source OFF interrupt
request made through the terminal (or through the remocon), as
compared with the power source ON processing, the direction of the
control is opposite thereto, and the logic of the condition of
setting the information data flag is no more than opposite thereto.
For this reason, in all of the following description, the
description from the terminal (or from the remocon) will be
represented by the description of the processing of turning ON the
power source and also the supplementary description will be given
with respect to only the necessary portion.
[0106] In the interrupt processing based on the request of turning
ON the power source made through the terminal (or through the
remocon), the following processing is executed. That is, when the
power source circuit 3 is in the operation state, it is
discriminated whether or not the activation of the power source 3
has been made on the basis of the time-up in the 1 sec timer
interrupt processing during the power source OFF. If so, then the
flag data is cleared which represents that the power source has
been activated on the basis of the time-up. On the other hand, if
not, since the current operation of the power source circuit 3 is
the power source operation which is already provided in accordance
with the instruction issued from a user, particularly nothing is
made to complete the interrupt processing. On the other hand, when
the power source 3 is not operated, simply the request of turning
ON the power source is set to complete the interrupt
processing.
[0107] Now, when the processings shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 are
executed in conjunction with one another, the following operation
is provided as a whole. That is, if after the power source circuit
3 was stopped in accordance with the instruction issued from a
user, a fixed time period has elapsed, then the system controller 7
operates automatically the power source circuit 3 for a fixed time
period. Therefore, since the battery 21 is charged with the
electric charges for that fixed time period, the battery is
prevented from being discharged.
[0108] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
a second operation example of preventing the battery from being
discharged with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13. First, FIG. 11 is a
PAD diagram showing the processing of turning OFF the power source,
and most of the operation shown therein is the same as that shown
in FIG. 8. A point of difference from FIG. 8 is that the processing
of clearing the power source OFF time timer data is deleted.
[0109] Next, FIG. 12 is a PAD diagram showing the is timer
interrupt processing, and the operation thereof will hereinbelow be
described. Firstly, when the power source circuit 3 is in the stop
state, the system controller 7 fetches in the data relating to the
voltage level of the battery 21 through the A/D converter 10. While
not particularly illustrated in the figure, when the voltage level
of the battery is higher than that of the power source voltage of
the microprocessor 4, the measures of dividing suitably the voltage
of the battery 21 by utilizing resistors or the like may be taken.
Next, the average of the past mean voltage data and the current
voltage data of the battery 21 is taken. In such a way, when the
resultant mean voltage level of the battery 21 is lower than a
predetermined voltage level, the request of turning ON the power
source is made and also the flag data which represents that the
request of turning ON the power source has been made on the basis
of the detection of the over discharge level of the battery is set
in the volatile area of the storage circuit 11. Then, the power
source ON time timer data is cleared to complete the interrupt
processing.
[0110] On the other hand, when the power source circuit 3 is in
operation, it is discriminated whether or not the operation of the
power source circuit 3 is carried out on the basis of the detection
of the over discharge level of the battery. If so, then the power
source ON time timer data is counted up by 1 sec. If that time
exceeds a predetermined time, then the request of turning OFF the
power source is set to complete the interrupt processing.
[0111] Next, FIG. 13 is a PAD diagram showing the processing of the
interrupt generated through the power source ON terminal. When the
power source circuit 3 is in the operation state, it is
discriminated whether or not the activation of the power source
circuit 3 was carried out on the basis of the detection of the over
discharge level of the battery 21. If so, then the flag data is
cleared which represents that the power source was activated on the
basis of the detection of the over discharge level. On the other
hand, if not, since the current operation of the power source
circuit 3 is the power source operation which has already been
provided in accordance with the instruction issued from a user,
particularly nothing is made to complete the interrupt processing.
On the other hand, when the power source circuit 3 is not operated,
simply the request of turning ON the power source is made to
complete the interrupt processing.
[0112] When the processings of FIGS. 11 to 13 are executed in a
coordinated manner, the following operation is provided as a whole.
That is, after having stopped the operation of the power source
circuit 3 in accordance with the instruction issued from a user,
the system controller 7 monitors the voltage level of the battery
at all times. If it is judged that the voltage level of the battery
has become lower than a predetermined level, then the power source
circuit 3 is automatically operated for a fixed time period.
Therefore, since the battery 21 is charged with the electric charge
for that fixed time period, the battery is prevented from being
discharged at all. By taking such measures, since the number of
activating the power source circuit 3 is reduced as compared with
the first method of charging automatically the battery with the
electric charge, the great power saving effect is obtained. In this
connection, while in the second method of charging automatically
the battery 21 with the electric charges, there is adopted the
method of charging the battery 21 with the electric charges for a
fixed time period, similarly to the method of detecting the over
discharge level, the charging operation may be completed by
detecting the charge up level at which the charging operation has
been completed.
[0113] Until now, as a method of preventing the battery 21 from
being discharged, there has been described the method wherein in
the standby state in which the power source circuit 3 is being
stopped by a user, the system controller 7 activates automatically
the power source circuit 3. However, in the standby state, the
system controller 7 activates automatically the power source
circuit 3, whereby when a user does not really use the apparatus,
the operation of the power source circuit 3 is stopped without
injuring the convenienceness for users so that the great power
saving effect can be obtained. A concrete example thereof will
hereinbelow be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1, 7, 11
and 14 to 21.
[0114] First, in the description of FIG. 7, it was stated that in
order to set the various states of the apparatus, the menu
processing is prepared. The menu processing is requested by using
the remocon or a switch (not shown) on the apparatus and is called
within the main processing of the system controller 7. In FIG. 1,
the character information which is to be superimposed on the video
signal as the output is transmitted in the form of the serial data
signal data to the OSD circuit 35 of the data recording/reproducing
block from the system controller 7. As a result, a user views the
menu displayed on the monitor which is connected to the output
terminal. Then, in the case where there are the choices of the
menu, the selection is carried out using the remocon.
[0115] FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing a concrete example of
the remocon. First, the construction of the remocon will
hereinbelow be described. In the figure, reference numeral 115
designates a transmission circuit; reference numeral 116 designates
a button through which the switching of turning ON/OFF the power
source is instructed; reference numeral 117 designates a button
through which the reproduction is requested; reference numeral 118
designates a button through which in the case where the recording
medium is the magnetic tape, the rewind reproduction or the rewind
is requested, while in the case where the recording medium is the
optical disc, the jump of the chapter in the return direction is
requested; reference numeral 119 designates a button through which
in the case of the tape, the rapid traverse reproduction or the
rapid traverse is requested, while in the case of the disc, the
jump of the chapter in the advancing direction is requested;
reference numeral 120 designates a button through which the stop is
requested; reference numeral 121 designates a button through which
the recording is requested; reference numeral 122 designates a
button through which the slow motion reproduction is requested;
reference numeral 123, a button through which the still picture
reproduction or the recording temporary stop is requested;
reference numeral 124, a button through which the menu display is
requested; reference numeral 125, a button through which the
selection of the external signal which is supplied in the form of
the recording signal through the input terminal is requested; and
126 and 127, buttons through which the switching of the channel of
the reception circuit is requested. Switches (not shown) are
respectively provided on the back faces of the respective buttons.
Then, whenever the button is pressed down, the code signal
corresponding to the request associated with the button is
transmitted from the transmission circuit 115 to the remocon
reception sensor 18 on the apparatus.
[0116] Now, if the menu request has been sent to the system
controller 7 by pressing down the button 124, until the completion
of the menu processing from now on, when the transmission codes
corresponding to the four buttons 117 to 120 have been transmitted,
the system controller 7 judges that the requests (top, left, right
and bottom in the order of the buttons 117, 118, 119 and 120) for
the movement of the cursor which is moved for the choices on the
menu picture has been made.
[0117] Next, a concrete example of the menu picture will
hereinbelow be described with reference to FIG. 15. First, when the
menu button of the remocon is pressed down in the state in which no
menu processing is executed, the list of the contents of the
various settings are displayed on the monitor. In this connection,
since both of the setting of the reserved picture recording time
and the setting of the reception channel are not particularly
related to the contents of the present invention, the description
relating to the sub-menu thereof is omitted here for the sake of
simplicity.
[0118] First, when the menu button is pressed down in the state in
which the cursor is located at the number 3 for the time setting
(the cursor is moved by pressing down the top and bottom buttons,
and so forth), the sub-picture of the time setting appears. Then,
the current date and time are both set. The setting of the numeric
value is carried out one figure by one figure, and if the top or
bottom button is pressed down, then the numeric value is increased
or decreased. In addition, the setting is initially started with
the year section of the date, and whenever the left or right button
is pressed down, the figure is moved in the associated direction.
When the menu button is pressed down, the data relating to the time
which has been set is stored in the volatile storage area of the
storage circuit 11 to complete the sub-menu. In this connection,
the method of setting the numeric value is also applied to the
following description. In addition, when the data relating to the
date is stored, the system controller 7 computes automatically a
day of the week using Zeller's equation or the like and then
stored, in addition thereto, the data relating to a day of the week
in the storage circuit 11.
[0119] Next, when in the state in which the cursor is located at
the number 4 for the sub-power ON mode, the menu button is pressed
down, the sub-menu of Sub-power ON Mode is displayed. The sub-power
ON mode is, as described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10 or FIGS.
11 to 13, the provisional name which is assigned to the state in
which the system controller 7 operates automatically the power
source circuit 3 in the state in which a user stops the power
source circuit 3 to make the apparatus in the standby state. But, a
point of difference from the case shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 or FIGS.
11 to 13 is that the power source circuit 3 is not operated after a
lapse of the fixed time period after the power source 3 has been
stopped by a user, or at a time point when the over discharge level
of the battery 21 is detected, but is operated in a predetermined
time zone.
[0120] In the sub-menu of the sub-power ON mode, there are the
following selection items. The first selection is carried out with
respect to whether or not the sub-power ON mode itself is made
valid. Now, if it is selected that the sub-power ON mode itself is
made invalid, then even when a user issues the instruction to stop
the operation of the power source of the system, the system
controller 7 never issues the instruction to stop the operation of
the power source circuit 3. The second selection is carried out
with respect to whether a time to stop or start the operation of
the power source circuit 3 with the sub-power ON mode is set
automatically or manually. In addition, the third choice is such
that in the case where the automatical setting is selected for the
time setting in the second choice, the detection unit thereof is
selected. As for the detection unit, there are the method of
storing the data relating to a time when a user starts or stops the
operation of the apparatus to automatically set the time zone in
which there is the possibility that a user may use the apparatus,
and the method of detecting the time zone in which the human body
is in room by the human body detection sensor 19 shown in FIG. 1 to
automatically set the time zone in which there is the possibility
that a user may use the apparatus. Thus, when the setting has been
carried out which is required for the sub-menu of the sub-power ON
mode, and the menu button is pressed down, the system controller 3
stores the setting contents in the volatile storage area of the
storage circuit 11 to complete the sub-menu.
[0121] Next, when the menu button is pressed down in the state in
which the cursor is located at the number 5 of Sub-power ON
Function, the sub-menu of the choices of the various functions in
the sub-power ON state appears. The first choice is carried out
with respect to whether the clock display function in the display
circuit 27 shown in FIG. 1 is made valid or invalid in the
sub-power ON state. The second choice is carried out with respect
to whether the back lights of the display circuit 27 are turned ON
in the sub-power ON mode while reducing the electric power as
compared with the case where the apparatus is in operation, or is
turned OFF.
[0122] In this connection, those functions are realized, in terms
of a circuit, as shown in FIG. 21. FIG. 21 is a circuit diagram,
partly in block diagram, showing a configuration of the display
circuit 27 shown in FIG. 1, and the configuration thereof is as
follows. In FIG. 21, reference numerals 128 and 129 designate
respectively switches which are configured in the form of
electrical circuits for interrupting/passing the two systems of
D.C. electric power signals to be applied to the display circuit;
reference numeral 130 designates an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
driver for displaying the display data sent from the system
controller 7 on a liquid crystal display panel 133; reference
numerals 131 and 132 designate respectively back lights; and
reference numeral 134 designates a switch for switching the current
which is caused to flow through the back lights 131 and 132.
[0123] First, when the clock display is made invalid as the
sub-power ON function, in the sub-power ON mode, the system
controller 7 interrupts the supply of the electric power to the LCD
driver 130 by closing the switch 129. In addition, when the
lights-out of the back lights is selected as the sub-power ON
function, in the sub-power ON mode, the system controller 7
interrupts the D.C. electric power signal for the back lights by
closing the switch 128. In addition, when the choice of turning ON
the back lights is selected in the power saving state, the switch
128 is opened, while the switch 134 is closed so that the current
which is caused to flow through the back lights is limited. In this
connection, in the operation, the switch 134 is opened and hence
the luminance energy of the back lights is increased.
[0124] Returning back to the description of the sub-menu of the
sub-power ON function shown in FIG. 15 again, the third choice is
carried out with respect to whether or not in the sub-power ON
mode, the D.C. electric power signal is supplied to the antenna
shown in FIG. 1. A collecting microphone (not shown) is mounted to
the parabola antenna for receiving the signal of the broadcasting
via a satellite and hence the D.C. electric power signal needs to
be supplied to this microphone (the electric power is supplied in
the opposite direction to the received signal by utilizing the line
of the received signal from the antenna). Therefore, as shown in
FIG. 1, in the case where the monitor has the circuit for receiving
the broadcasting signal, and one antenna is shared between the data
recording/reproducing apparatus and the monitor, one of the
apparatus and the monitor needs to supply the D.C. electric power
signal to the antenna. However, if the two apparatuses supply the
D.C. electric power signal at the same time, then there is the
possibility that the respective power source circuits may be
influenced to develop trouble. For this reason, such a
configuration is adopted that only any one of the two apparatuses
supplies the D.C. electric power signal to one antenna. Therefore,
for example, in the case where the D.C. electric power signal is
supplied from the data recording/reproducing apparatus to the
antenna, even when the data of the signal from the antenna is
viewed on the monitor side, the power source circuit of the data
recording/reproducing apparatus needs to be operated. However, it
is uneconomical that the power source circuit of the data
recording/reproducing apparatus is operated at all times in order
to fulfill that requirement. Then, the D.C. electric power signal
is supplied to the antenna only in the above-mentioned sub-power ON
mode, whereby the power saving can be realized without injuring the
convenienceness for users.
[0125] Returning back to the description of the sub-menu of the
sub-power ON function shown in FIG. 15 again, the fourth choice is
carried out with respect to whether or not in the sub-power ON
mode, the D.C. electric power signal is supplied to the reception
circuit 38 shown in FIG. 1. In the recent digital broadcasting,
there is adopted the method wherein the contract information with a
viewer is transmitted together with the broadcasting signal. The
viewing enable code for the channels or the programs which were
purchased by a user is contained in that information. Therefore, a
viewer needs to receive that enable code prior to the viewing of
any of the programs. For this reason, while the reception circuit
needs to be supplied with the electric power in order to receive
that enable code, in this case, the electric power will be supplied
thereto even in the time zone in which a user does not view any of
programs. This is unecomnomical. Then, in the above-mentioned
sub-power ON mode, the supply of the electric power to the
reception circuit is enabled only in the time zone in which there
is the possibility that a user views the broadcasting, whereby the
power saving can be realized without injuring the convenienceness
for users.
[0126] When the setting has been carried out which is necessary for
the sub-menu of the sub-power ON function, and the menu button is
pressed down, the system controller 7 stores the setting contents
in the volatile storage area of the storage circuit 11 to complete
the sub-menu. Next, when the menu button is pressed down in the
state in which the cursor is located at the number 6 of Sub-power
ON Time, the setting sub-menu of the sub-power ON time is
displayed. Only in the case where the choice of the time setting of
the sub-menu of the sub-power ON mode is set manually, the setting
of the menu can be changed. First, the setting is started with the
classification of days of the week into weekdays and holidays. The
classification of the setting 1 corresponds to weekdays and the
classification of the setting 2 corresponds to holidays. The cursor
is located at the section of days of the week of the setting 1 or 2
by pressing down the left and right buttons, and then the top and
bottom buttons are pressed down, thereby classifying the change of
the setting. Then, if the right button is further pressed down with
the section of Sunday selected, then the cursor is moved to the
setting area of a time. The setting area of a time is started with
the hour setting in the morning, and the left and right buttons are
pressed down to move the figure. For the hour setting on weekdays
as well as holidays, at least two time zones (i.e., the setting
mainly for the time zone from the early morning to the morning, and
the setting for the time zone from the afternoon to the midnight)
can be set. In addition, ON and OFF which are displayed on the left
side of the hour section mean the hour when the sub-power ON mode
is started and the hour when the sub-power ON mode is completed,
respectively.
[0127] When the menu button is pressed down at the stage when the
setting necessary for the sub-power ON time has been completed, the
system controller 7 stores the data relating to the setting in the
volatile storage area of the storage circuit 11 to complete the
sub-menu. The above description has been given with respect to the
operation of the sub-power ON mode and the method of setting the
same.
[0128] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
how the system controller 7 controls the power source circuit 3 and
the battery 21 using the functions which have been set. First, the
reset start and the main processing of the system controller 7 are
the same as the operation which was described with reference to
FIG. 7. In addition, the processing of turning OFF the power
source, the processing of the sleep and the processing of turning
ON the power source are the same as the operation which was
described with reference to FIG. 11. Thus, only the is timer
interrupt processing and the processing of the interrupt made
through the power source ON terminal (or the processing of the
interrupt of the request of turning ON the power source made
through the remocon) are different therefrom. An example of the
operation of these two interrupt processings will hereinbelow be
described with reference to FIGS. 16 to 20.
[0129] In the case where the time when the sub-power ON mode is
started/stopped is manually set, the 1 s timer interrupt processing
and the processing of the interrupt made through the power source
ON terminal are respectively shown in FIGS. 16 and 17. First, in
the 1 s timer interrupt processing, the current time the data of
which is stored in a predetermined location of the storage circuit
11 is counted up by 1 sec. Next, if necessary, the processing of
carrying a minute, an hour, a day (including a day of the week),
and a year is executed. Then, in the case where the operation of
the power source circuit 3 is stopped, if the time to start the
sub-power ON the data of which is stored in a predetermined
location of the storage circuit matches the current time, then the
flag data meaning that the power source circuit 3 has been
activated by the sub-power ON function is set in the volatile area
of the storage circuit 11, and also the setting of requesting the
activation of the power source circuit 3 is carried out.
[0130] On the other hand, in the case where the power source
circuit 3 is in operation, it is first descriminated whether the
power source circuit 3 is operated by the sub-power ON function or
in accordance with the operation instruction issued from a user. If
it is discriminated that the power source circuit 3 is operated by
the sub-power ON function, then the stop time of the sub-power ON
function the data of which is stored in a predetermined location of
the storage circuit 11 is compared with the current time. If it is
judged that the stop time matches the current time, then the
request of turning OFF the power source is made to complete the
interrupt processing.
[0131] Next, in the processing of the interrupt generated through
the power source ON terminal (or in the processing of the interrupt
for the request of turning ON the power source which interrupt has
been generated through the remocon), it is first discriminated
whether or not the power source circuit 3 has already been
operated. When it is discriminated that the power source circuit 3
has already been operated, if that operation is provided by the
sub-power ON function, then the data flag is cleared which
represents that effect and which is stored in the storage circuit
11. On the other hand, if it is discriminated that the power source
circuit 3 is not yet operated, simply, the request of activating
the power source circuit 3 is made to complete the interrupt
processing. The foregoing is the example of the operation in the 1
s timer interrupt processing and the processing of the interrupt
generated through the power source ON terminal in the case where
the time to start/complete the operation of the sub-power ON
function is already set.
[0132] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
an example of the operation in the case where the time to
start/stop the operation of the sub-power ON function is estimated
from the time to turn ON or OFF the power source. In this case, the
1 s timer interrupt processing may be the same as that shown in
FIG. 16, but the processing of the interrupt generated through the
power source ON terminal (or the processing of the interrupt for
the request of turning ON the power source which interrupt is
generated through the remocon) is changed as shown in FIG. 18.
[0133] First, when the power source circuit 3 is already in the
operation state, if this operation is provided by the sub-power ON
function, then the data flag is cleared which represents that
effect and which has been stored in the storage circuit 11 until
now. Up to this point, the processing is the same as that in the
case where the time to start/stop the operation of the sub-power ON
function is manually set.
[0134] On the other hand, when the power source circuit 3 is in the
stop state, after having made the request of turning ON the power
source, the data relating to the current time which is suitably
updated on the basis of the 1 s timer interrupt processing (i.e.,
the time when the request of turning ON the power source is made
from a user) is read out from the predetermined location of the
storage circuit 11. Then, the learning processing for the time to
turn ON the power source shown in FIG. 19 is executed, and then the
data relating to the resultant time is stored as the time to start
the operation of the sub-power ON function in a predetermined
location in the volatile area of the storage circuit 11.
[0135] The learning processing for the time to start the operation
of the sub-power ON function is, for example, executed as follows.
First, in the case where the time when the request of turning ON
the power source was made is the morning, the current time (it is
assumed to become the numeric value information which is expressed
by the standardized time unit such as a second or a minute) is
multiplied by a certain coefficient k (0<k<1). Then, the
resultant numeric data is added to the numeric data which is
obtained by multiplying the mean power source ON time in the
morning until the last time (it is similarly assumed to become the
numeric value data which is expressed by the standardized time unit
and which is stored in a predetermined location in the storage
circuit 11) by (1-k), and the resultant numeric value data is
stored as a new mean power source ON time in a predetermined
volatile area in the storage circuit 11. By taking such measures,
it is possible to grasp the mean power source ON time of a user.
Therefore, since the time zone ranging from about two hours, for
example, before that time is estimated as the time zone in which
the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is high (conversely,
when the time to turn OFF the power source by the sub-power OFF
function is estimated from the time to turn OFF the power source,
the time zone ranging up to about two hours, for example, after the
mean power source OFF time is made the time zone in which the
possibility that a user uses the apparatus is high), the time data
of interest may be stored as the time to start the operation of the
sub-power function in a predetermined volatile area of the storage
circuit 11. In this connection, the learning of the time to turn ON
the power source in the afternoon and the setting of the time to
start the operation of the sub-power ON function are both similarly
carried out. In addition, in order to cope with the situation, such
as the time zone right after the reset start, in which the mean
time for turning ON the power source until the last time is not yet
computed, the default mean time for turning ON the power source may
be set in the reset start processing. The foregoing is the example
of the operation in the case where the time zone in which the
possibility that a user uses the apparatus is high is estimated
from the time when a user issues the instruction to turn OFF the
power source to set automatically the time to start/stop the
operation of the sub-power ON function.
[0136] Next, description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
the method of estimating the time zone, in which the possibility
that a user uses the apparatus is high, by utilizing the human body
sensor. The processing of estimating the time by utilizing the
human body sensor is basically executed in the 1 s timer interrupt
processing. Therefore, the processing of the interrupt for the
request of turning ON the power source which interrupt is generated
through the terminal (or the romocon) may be the same as that shown
in FIG. 17. Description will hereinbelow be given with respect to
an example of the operation of the 1 s timer interrupt processing
with reference to FIG. 20. But, since the contents of the first
half thereof are the same as those which were described with
reference to FIG. 16, description will hereinbelow be given with
respect to only the operation of the second half which is added to
the operation shown in FIG. 16.
[0137] First, it is discriminated whether or not the human body is
continuously detected the predetermined number of times (in this
case, it is mentioned as X times) by the human body sensor. This
prevents the malfunction for the sensor due to the chattering which
is generated by the noises or the like. If it is discriminated that
the human body is continuously detected equal to or more than the
predetermined number of times, then the data relating to the
detection time is stored in a predetermined location of the storage
circuit 11. If the state is provided in which the human body has
already been detected, then nothing is made to complete the
processing. Conversely, if the state is provided in which the human
body has not been detected yet, then the data flag meaning that the
processing has entered into the human body detection state is
stored in a predetermined location of the storage circuit 11, and
at the human body detection time which is formerly measured, the
learning processing of the sub-power ON time is called. The
learning processing of the sub-power ON time can be realized with
the same processing as that described formerly with reference to
FIG. 19, and hence the time to turn ON the power source shown in
FIG. 19 is replaced with the human body detection time in order to
execute the associated processing.
[0138] Next, when the human body sensor does not detect a human
body any longer, if it is not that the state of detecting the human
body has already occurred, then nothing is made to complete the
processing. On the other hand, when the state of detecting the
human body is being provided, if a predetermined time (in this
case, it is mentioned as Y hours) has elapsed after the human body
was detected last time, the data relating to the time when the
human body is last detected must be left in the predetermined
location of the the storage circuit 11. Therefore, this time data
is read out to call the learning processing of the sub-power ON
time so that the time to stop the operation of the sub-power ON
function is set. Then, in order that the fact that the human body
detection state has been completed may be represented, the data
flag representing that the processing has entered into the human
body detection state is cleared. As a result, the operation of
setting automatically the sub-power ON time when the human body
detection sensor is utilized.
[0139] From the above-mentioned operation, it is possible to
discriminate automatically between the case where when the data
recording/reproducing apparatus is in the standby state, the
possibility that a user uses the apparatus is low and the case
where when the data recording/reproducing apparatus is in the
standby state, the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is
high. Thus, on the basis of the discrimination result, in the time
zone in which the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is
low, the apparatus is judged to be in the standby state, so that
only the necessary minimum circuits are operated by the battery 21
to enhance the power saving effect, while in the time zone in which
the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is high, the power
source circuit 3 is operated, thereby being able to prevent the
convenienceness for users from being injured.
[0140] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will
hereinafter be described in detail. In the description made until
now, the description has been given with respect to the method of
using the power source circuit 3 and the battery 21 appropriately
in order that in the standby state of the apparatus, the
convenienceness for users may be made compatible with the power
saving effect. In this connection, it has been mentioned that as
one of the causes in which the power saving effect becomes
insufficient when the standby state is continued with the power
source circuit 3 operated, the efficiency of the power source
circuit itself is reduced. Then, the power source circuit 3 is
given the mode of generating the D.C. electric power signal for the
light load and the mode of generating the D.C. electric power
signal for the heavy load, whereby the power saving effect can be
enhanced without injuring the convenienceness for users in the
standby state. The configuration and the operation of these data
recording/reproducing apparatus and power source circuit will
hereinbelow be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 22 and
23.
[0141] Firstly, FIG. 22 is a block diagram, partly in circuit
diagram, showing a configuration of the overall data
recording/reproducing apparatus. The configuration thereof is
practically the same as that shown in FIG. 1. Points of difference
are that both of the battery and the circuit system for switching
the D.C. electric power signals relating thereto are removed, and
that an electrical switching group 135 are inserted into the line
of the D.C. electric power signal group supplied to the data
recording/reproducing block (in the description as well made until
now, it was mentioned in the description of FIG. 2 that if
necessary, such a switching group may be inserted).
[0142] On the other hand, FIG. 23 is a circuit diagram showing a
concrete example of a configuration of the power source circuit 3
shown in FIG. 22. The configuration thereof is practically the same
as that shown in FIG. 2. Points of difference are that two
switching devices 46 and 136 for switching the primary side signals
of the transformer are provided, a plurality of taps are provided
in the primary coil and the two switching devices 46 and 136 are
respectively connected to the taps, and that which switching device
the voltage controlled oscillator 49 switches is switched by the
system controller 7 (in some case, such a configuration may be
adopted that the two systems of voltage controlled oscillators 49
are prepared, and which system of voltage controlled oscillator 49
is operated is switched by the system controller 7).
[0143] In this connection, the number of turns of the primary
winding of the transformer associated with the switching device 136
is made larger than that of the primary winding of the transformer
associated with the switching device 46. In this case, the voltage
swing level on the secondary side when employing the switching
device 136 becomes lower than that when employing the switching
device 46.
[0144] This means the following effect. When the circuit group for
the light load is intended to be operated by utilizing the
switching device 46, this can be realized by making short the time
period required to cause the primary winding conduct and by making
long the nonconduction time period. However, when the load applied
to the circuit to be driven is extremely different between the case
of the heavy load and the case of the light load (e.g., equal to or
larger than 10 times), and it is assumed that the circuit to be
driven is surely operated in the case of the heavy load, the
operation in the light load is as follows. That is, the operation
range of the transformer becomes lower than the range in which the
electric power is properly transferred with the current change
which is continuous from the primary side to the secondary side,
and hence the transfer of the electric power is carried out with
the current change which is discontinuous from the primary side to
the secondary side. As a result, the state in which no current is
temporarily caused to flow is present in the standby winding side
of the transformer, this results in that the smoothing circuit
becomes to be able to obtain the D.C. electric power signal at a
desired voltage level even in the light load.
[0145] However, in this case, of the currents which have been
caused to flow through the primary winding of the transformer, a
part of the currents which has not been transferred to the
secondary side is simply caused to flow through the resistance
component of the primary coil and hence is all consumed uselessly.
This state is the so-called the state in which the efficiency of
the power source circuit is reduced. Then, as has already been
described, the switching device 136 associated with the primary
winding the number of turns of which is large is switched. As a
result, since the ratio of the transformation for the secondary
side is high, the electric power can be transferred to the
secondary side without changing extremely the ratio of the
conduction time period to the nonconduction time period of the
switching device (i.e., with the continuous current change).
[0146] This thought might lead one to think that if the switching
device 136 side is always used, then the electric power transfer
with a high efficiency can always be carried out. However, since
the amount of primary winding is increased, the resistance
component thereof is also increased correspondingly, which is
disadvantageous when driving the heavy load. In view of such, the
switching device 46 side is used when driving the heavy load, while
the switching device 136 side is used when driving the light load,
whereby the D.C. electric power signal is generated with the
highest efficiency in the heavy load as well as in the light
load.
[0147] The data recording/reproducing apparatus of FIG. 22 to which
the power source circuit 3 having the two operation modes as
described above is applied is operated as follows. When a user
issues the instruction to make the state of the apparatus proceed
to the standby state using the terminal or the remocon, the system
controller 7 makes the mode of the power source circuit 3 proceed
to the operation mode for the light load, and also interrupts the
line group through which the D.C. electric power signal is supplied
to the data recording/reproducing block 28 by opening the switch
group 135. On the other hand, when a user issues the instruction to
make the state of the apparatus proceed to the operation state
using the terminal or the romocon, the system controller 7 switches
the current mode of the power source circuit 3 over to the
operation mode for the heavy load, and also if necessary, starts
the supply of the D.C. electric power signal to the data
recording/reproducing block 28 by closing the switch group 135. As
a result, since even in the standby state, the efficiency of the
power source circuit 3 is not reduced at all, it is possible to
enhance remarkably the power saving effect in the standby
state.
[0148] In this connection, the power saving means in the liquid
crystal display circuit, the reception circuit and the antenna in
the standby state can be realized in such a way that similarly to
the method as described in the first embodiment, whether the time
zone of interest is the time zone in which the possibility that a
user uses the apparatus is low in the standby state, or the time
zone in which the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is
high therein is clearly or automatically set to control the current
supply/current interrupt or the electric power to the circuits in
accordance with the respective time zones.
[0149] Finally, the efficiency of the power source circuit based on
the switching apparatus is greatly improved by preparing the
transformer corresponding to the load of interest as described
above. However, since the resistance component is necessarily
present in the winding of the transformer, the eddy current loss is
generated in the magnetic circuit of the transformer, and so forth,
the efficiency of the power source circuit does not reach 100%.
[0150] Therefore the power source circuit shown in FIG. 3 which is
adapted in the configuration to have two switching devices as in
the power source circuit shown in FIG. 23 is applied to the data
recording/reproducing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. Then, the
following operation is carried out by adopting this configuration.
That is, in the time zone in which the apparatus is in the standby
state and the possibility that a user uses the apparatus is low,
the electric power is supplied to the necessary portions of the
apparatus by the battery 21. In addition, in the time zone in which
the apparatus is in the standby state, and the possibility that a
user uses the apparatus is high, the power source circuit 3 is
operated in the operation mode for the light load to supply the
electric power to the necessary circuits. Also, when the apparatus
is in the operation state, the power source circuit 3 is operated
in the operation mode for the heavy load to supply the electric
power to each of the circuits. In accordance with this
configuration and the operation, there is obtained the effect that
the electric power in the standby state can be more efficiently
reduced without injuring the convenienceness for users.
[0151] As set forth hereinabove, according to the present
invention, the following effects can be obtained.
[0152] In the standby state in which a user issues the instruction
to stop the operation of the power source circuit of the apparatus,
the means for generating the electrical power signal is switched
from the switching power source circuit over to the battery.
Therefore, since the switching power source circuit the operation
of which is non-efficient for the light load can be stopped, the
power consumption in the standby state can be improved. On the
other hand, the switching power source is automatically activated
whenever a fixed time period has elapsed or whenever it has become
a fixed time to charge the battery with the electric charges.
Therefore, a user does not need to exchange the old battery for new
one as long as the charging/discharging ability of the battery is
not lost, and hence there is provided the effect that the
convenienceness which is substantially the same as that in the
conventional apparatus can be ensured.
[0153] In addition, according to the present invention, the time
zone in which a user uses the apparatus or whether a user is
present or absent is clearly set or automatically detected, whereby
the time zone in which a user does not really uses the apparatus
can be distinguished from the time zone in which there is the
possibility that a user uses the apparatus. As a result, in the
time zone in which a user does not really use the apparatus, the
state of the apparatus is made proceed to the state in which the
electric power is hardly consumed. On the other hand, in the time
zone in which there is the possibility that a user uses the
apparatus, the supply of the electric power to the antenna
requiring the electric power, the supply of the electric power to
the reception circuit for receiving the contract information, and
the supply of the electric power to each of the functions, such as
the time display, which may be utilized even when a user has issued
the instruction to stop the operation of the power source of the
apparatus are carried out while maintaining the power consumption
minimum. As a result, the generation of the electric power signal
which is optimal for each of the time zone in which a user does not
really use the apparatus, the time zone in which there is the
possibility that a user uses the apparatus, and the time zone in
which a user is using the apparatus can be carried out. Therefore,
there is obtained the effect that the efficient reduction of the
power consumption can be realized without injuring the
convenienceness for users.
[0154] The invention may be embodied in other specific forms
without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics
thereof. The above embodiments are therefore to be considered in
all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the
invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the
foregoing description and all changes which come within the meaning
and range of equivalency of the claims are therefor intended to be
embraced therein.
* * * * *