Combination device having a magnetic recording and reproducing unit and an electronic tuning type receiver

A combination device having a magnetic recording and reproducing unit and an electronic tuning type receiver, where the channel presetting switches of the electronic tuning type receiver also can act as the operating switches of the magnetic recording and reproducing unit. The electronic tuning type receiver is of the type which is tuned by control signals provided to a tuning means by a plurality of channel selecting switches. A selection circuit is interposed between the tuning means and the plurality of channel selecting switches and provides the plurality of control signals to the tuning means when a selection switch is in a first binary state, and provides the plurality of control signals to a tape-control section when the selection switch is in a second binary state. The tape-control section, in response to the plurality of control signals, controls the mode of operation of the magnetic recording and reproducing unit, and also provides a signal indicating the mode of operation to a sensing circuit. The sensing circuit, in turn, provides mode signals to a digital display unit which can visually display the mode of operation when the magnetic recording and reproducing unit is being used, as well as can visually display the station frequency or the like of the selected station when the electronic tuning type receiver is being used.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a combination device having a magnetic recording 
and reproducing unit and an electronic tuning type receiver where the 
channel presetting switches of the electronic tuning type receiver also 
can act as the operating switches of the magnetic recording and 
reproducing unit. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Recently, as a result of the rapid progress in electronic technology, a 
receiver capable of electronically performing preset station selection has 
been proposed. In this preset type receiver, a memory is addressed by the 
outputs from band selecting and channel selecting switches, and band and 
channel signals stored in the selected address of the memory are read out 
and provided to an up-down counter. The up-down counter also provides to 
the user the capability of manually tuning of the receiver. 
In the present mode of operation, the digital output of the up-down counter 
is converted into an analog signal and is applied to an 
electronically-controlled variable capacitance diode (varactor diode). The 
variable capacitance diode is part of the tuning circuit of the receiver. 
Thus, the digital information read out from the selected address of the 
memory controls via the up-down counter the signal selected by the tuning 
circuit of the preset type receiver. 
The channel selecting switches mentioned above are, for example, non-lock 
type push-button switches, while the band selecting switch is, for 
example, a rotary switch. Whenever these channel selecting switches and 
the band selecting switch provide channel and band selecting address 
signals to the memory, the band and channel signals stored in the selected 
address are outputted and provided to the up-down counter. 
In the electronic tuning type receiver thus discussed, the tuning 
information for a desired station is stored for future retrieval when both 
the channel selecting switches and a presetting switch are selectively 
operated, e.g., closed, by the user. 
When such an electronic tuning type receiver is combined with a magnetic 
recording and reproducing unit, the number of required switches for both 
units is greatly increased. Specifically, the band selecting and the 
channel selecting switches for the electronic tuning type receiver must be 
provided as well as the switches for operating the magnetic recording and 
reproducing unit. The number of required switches inherently increases the 
size of the combined unit because of the panel area needed to accommodate 
the switches. In addition, the required switches substantially increase 
both manufacturing and maintenance costs, and also may have an undesired 
aesthetic effect due to panel crowding and to a cluttered appearance. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
combination device of an electronic tuning type receiver and a magnetic 
recording and reproducing unit where the channel presetting switches of 
the electronic tuning type receiver can also act as the operating switches 
of the magnetic recording and reproducing unit. 
In the first embodiment, the combination device of the present invention 
has a magnetic recording and reproducing unit and an electronic tuning 
type receiver, and the channel presetting switches of the electronic 
tuning type receiver also can act as the operating switches of the 
magnetic recording and reproducing unit. The electronic tuning type 
receiver is of the type which is tuned by control signals provided to a 
tuning means by a plurality of channel selecting switches. A selection 
circuit is interposed between the tuning means and the plurality of 
channel selecting switches and provides the plurality of control signals 
to the tuning means when a selection switch is in a first binary state, 
and provides the plurality of control signals to a tape-control section 
when the selection switch is in a second binary state. The tape-control 
section, in response to the plurality of control signals, controls the 
mode of operation of the magnetic recording and reproducing unit, and also 
provides a signal indicating the mode of operation to a sensing circuit. 
The sensing circuit, in turn, provides mode signals to a digital display 
unit which can visually display the mode of operation when the magnetic 
recording and reproducing unit is being used, as well as can visually 
display the station frequency or the like of the selected station when the 
electronic tuning type receiver is being used. 
In the second embodiment, the combination device has a magnetic recording 
and reproducing unit and an electronic tuning type receiver, and the 
channel presetting switches of the electronic tuning type receiver also 
can act as the operating switches of the magnetic recording and 
reproducing unit. A selection circuit provides the outputs from the 
channel presetting switches to the control section and read-write memory 
when a selection switch is in a first binary state, and provides the 
outputs to a tape-control section when the switch is in a second binary 
state. The tape-control section, in response to the outputs, controls the 
mode of operation of the magnetic recording and reproducing unit, and also 
provides a signal indicating the mode of operation to a sensing circuit. 
The sensing circuit converts the indicating signal into pulse signals, 
which are provided in modified form to a digital display unit by an 
up-down counter. The digital display unit thus can visually display the 
mode of operation when the magnetic recording and reproducing unit is 
being used, as well as can visually display the station frequency or the 
like of the selected station when the electronic tuning type receiver is 
being used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Turning now to FIG. 1, the electronic tuning type receiver of the 
combination device of the present invention includes the following. A 
pulse generator 1 selectively generates an up-pulse, designated by the 
reference letter U, or a down-pulse, designated by a reference letter D, 
together with a clock pulse, designated by the reference letters KC, when 
the user manually tunes the receiver to select a desired frequency or 
signal. The up-pulse/down-pulse information and the clock pulse 
information is provided via lines 40, 42, respectively, to a binary 
up/down counter 2. Counter 2 counts the clock pulse information from line 
40 in either an up or a down direction in accordance with the information 
present on the up/down pulse line 42. The output count information from 
counter 2 is in a parallel format and is provided to a bus 44. 
A digital display unit 3 is adapted to receive from bus 44 the several 
higher significant bits of the count output from counter 2. Digital 
display unit 3 provides a digital visual display of the frequency being 
selected by the tuning circuit (not shown), and also provides a digital 
visual display of the tape direction and speed of the magnetic recording 
and reproducing unit, as is discussed below in detail. 
A pulse synthesizer 4 is adapted to receive from bus 44 the count output 
from counter 2. An oscillation signal generated by an oscillator 20 is 
provided to pulse synthesizer 4 and is frequency-divided thereby in 
accordance with the count output from counter 2 so that a serial pulse 
train having a pulse number which corresponds to the output of the counter 
2 is provided at an output line 46 of pulse synthesizer 4. The serial 
pulse train on line 46 is provided to the input of a low-pass filter 5, 
which removes the high frequency components and provides on an output line 
48 a DC voltage signal whose amplitude corresponds to the count output 
from counter 2. In other words, low-pass filter 5 acts as a 
digital-to-analog converter of the serial pulse train on line 46. The DC 
voltage signal on line 48 is selectively applied via a band selecting 
switch 6, discussed in detail below, to the electronically-controlled 
variable capacitance diode (varactor diode) in the tuning circuit (not 
shown). Thus, the DC voltage signal on line 48 electronically controls the 
tuning of the receiver. 
The band selecting switch 6 allows the user to manually select the desired 
band of frequencies for which the receiver is tuned. As shown in FIG. 1, 
switch 6 has three stationary contacts a, b, c for selecting bands A, B or 
C, respectively. Of course, switch 6 can have any desired number of 
stationary contacts. Switch 6 is associated in ganged fashion with a band 
selecting switch 8 which also has three stationary contacts a, b, c for 
selecting bands A, B, or C, respectively. As is the case of switch 6, 
switch 8 can also have any desired number of stationary contacts. 
Separate channel selecting switches 7a to 7c of the non-lock or push button 
type are also provided. As is discussed in detail below, channel selecting 
switches 7a through 7e also correspond to the "fast forward (FF)" "rewind 
(R)", "eject (E)", "play (P1)" and "play (P2)" switches, respectively of 
the magnetic recording and reproducing unit. Hereinafter unless otherwise 
noted switches 7a through 7e are referred to as channel selecting 
switching unless they are used to control the magnetic recording and 
reproducing unit. In the second case, switches 7a to 7e are referred to a 
mode control switches 7a to 7e. 
Channel selecting switches 7a to 7e selectively provide control voltages 
from power supply 50 to a selection circuit 13. A selection switch 14 also 
selectively provides the control voltage from power supply 50 to the 
selection circuit 13. A plurality of output lines corresponding to the 
channel selecting switches 7a to 7e are connected to a read-write memory 
9. Similarly, a plurality of output lines corresponding to the mode 
control switches 7a to 7e are connected to a tape-control section 12. When 
selection switch 14 is in the OFF state, the outputs of switches 7a to 7e 
are provided by the selection circuit 13 to the plurality of lines 
connected to read-write memory 9, whereas when selection switch 14 is in 
the ON state, the outputs of switches 7a to 7e are provided by the 
selection circuit 13 to the plurality of lines connected to the 
tape-control section 12. Of course, the electrical function of selection 
switch 14 could be reversed. 
Channel selecting switches 7a to 7e via selection circuit 13 together with 
the band selecting switch 8 provide control voltages from power supply 50 
to a read-write memory 9 when selection switch 14 is in the OFF state. 
These control voltages are the address signals for memory 9. As discussed 
below, read-write memory 9 on command operates to store the output of the 
up-down counter 2 on bus 44 in an address specified by the outputs of the 
channel selecting switches 7a through 7e and the band selecting switch 8, 
or to read and supply the tuning information stored in the specified 
address to the up-down counter 2 via bus 52. 
A control circuit 10 is also provided and is adapted to receive the address 
control voltages from the channel selecting switches 7a to 7e via 
selection circuit 13 and the band selecting switch 8. A presetting switch 
11 of the non-lock or push button type also provides a control voltage 
from power supply 50 to the control circuit 10. When the presetting switch 
11 is OFF, control circuit 10 provides a load signal L on a line 54 to the 
up-down counter 2 when the channel selecting switches 7a through 7e via 
selection circuit 13 provide their outputs. On the other hand, when the 
presetting switch 11 is ON, control circuit 10 provides a write pulse W on 
a line 56 to the read-write memory 9 when the channel selecting switches 
7a through 7e via selection circuit 13 provide their outputs. It should be 
noted that when one of the selecting switches 7a through 7e have been 
selected by the user when the selection switch 14 is in the ON state, 
control circuit 10 does not provide either a load signal L to line 54 or a 
write pulse W to line 56. 
As stated above, a plurality of output lines corresponding to the mode 
control switches 7a to 7e are connected to the tape-control section 12. 
The output of the tape-control section 12 is provided via a line 16 to the 
input of a sensing circuit 15. A first-output of sensing circuit 15 is 
connected via line 40 to the clock pulse input of binary up/down counter 
2, and the second output of sensing circuit 15 is connected via line 42 to 
the up-pulse/down-pulse input of binary up/down counter 2. 
When selection switch 14 is in the ON state, the outputs of switches 7a to 
7e are provided by the selection circuit 13 to the tape-control section 
12. Tape-control section 12, in turn, provides an output on line 16 to 
sensing circuit 15. Depending on the output signal on line 16, sensing 
circuit 15 provides on lines 40, 42 an up-pulse U or a down-pulse D 
corresponding to the running direction of the recording tape (not shown) 
and a clock pulse KC having a period corresponding to the running speed of 
the tape. It should be understood that the tape-control section 12 
controls the operation of the magnetic recording and reproducing unit (not 
shown). Thus, the outputs of switches 7a to 7e via selection circuit 13 
and the tape-control section 12 control the operation of the magnetic 
recording and reproducing unit. 
The user manually operates or tunes the receiver by operating, i.e., 
tuning, pulse generator 1, which provides clock pulses KC and up/down U/D 
pulses to counter 2, as described above. Counter 2, in turn, provides an 
output count signal in parallel format via bus 44 to pulse synthesizer 4. 
Pulse synthesizer 4, in turn, provides a serial pulse train via line 46 to 
the input of low-pass filter 5, whose output is a DC voltage signal whose 
amplitude corresponds to the count output from counter 2. The DC voltage 
signal is applied via band selecting switch 6 to the tuning circuit and 
electronically controls the tuning of the receiver. The user can manually 
tune the receiver in the above-described manner only when none of the 
selecting switches 7a through 7e have been selected. 
The method to preset the receiver to a desired station is now described. 
After the user has manually selected the desired station in accordance 
with the above-described method, the presetting switch 11 is first turned, 
then the channel selecting switches 7a through 7e corresponding to the 
address of the channel to the preset is turned, and finally the selection 
switch 14 is turned to the OFF state. As a result, the write pulse W is 
applied to the read-write memory 9 by the control circuit 10, which causes 
the count output of the up-down counter 2 (i.e., the digital signal 
representative of the tuning frequency being received) to be stored in 
memory 9 in the address specified by the band selecting switch 8 and by 
the channel selecting switches 7a through 7e which have been turned as 
described above. Desired frequencies can be preset for other channels in a 
similar fashion. 
The method for automatically tuning the receiver to a frequency stored in 
memory 9 is now described. The address where a digital signal 
corresponding to a desired station is selected by the band selecting 
switch 8 and one of the channel selecting switches 7a through 7e via 
selection circuit 13 (which means selection switch 14 is in the OFF 
state). In this operation, because the presetting switch 11 is open or in 
the OFF state, the control circuit 10 applies the load signal L to the 
up-down counter 2. As a result, the read-write memory 9 reads out the 
information stored at the address indicated by the band selecting switch 8 
and the channel selecting switches 7a through 7e. The signal read out from 
read-write memory 9 is applied in a parallel format via bus 52 to up-down 
counter 2, the output of which is applied to the digital synthesizer 4. 
This results in a station being selected in a manner similarly to the case 
of manual operation. Thereafter, preset station selection in the same band 
can be accomplished by selectively turning only the channel selecting 
switches 7a through 7e. In addition, preset station selections in 
different bands can be accomplished by selectively operating the channel 
selecting switches 7a through 7e after the band selecting switch 8 has 
been changed. 
The method of operating the recording and reproducing unit is now 
described. The selection switch 14 is placed in the ON state, so that the 
output control voltages from the mode control switches 7a to 7e provided 
by the selection circuit 13 to the tape-control section 12. As stated 
above, mode control switches 7a through 7e correspond to "fast forward 
(FF)", "rewind (R)", "eject (E)", "play (P1)" and "play (P2)", 
respectively. Of course, mode control switches 7a to 7e could control 
other functions of the recording and reproducing unit. 
For purposes of explanation only, the case when mode control switch 7a is 
operated is now described. Because selection switch 14 is in the ON state, 
the control voltage output from mode control switch 7a, which is the "fast 
forward (FF)" command voltage, is applied through the selection circuit 13 
to the tape-control section 12. As a result, the tape-control section 12 
causes the tape drive mechanism (not shown) of the recording and 
reproducing unit to move the tape forward in the fast mode. In addition, 
tape-control section 12 provides a signal indicating the fast forward mode 
to the sensing circuit 15 via line 16. 
Sensing circuit 15, in turn, generates an up-pulse U or down-pulse D signal 
for line 42 corresponding to the direction of travel of the tape (not 
shown), and also generates a clock pulse KC for line 40 corresponding to 
the tape speed. These signals are provided by lines 40, 42 to the up-down 
counter 2. 
The up-down counter 2 counts the clock pulses KC successively in response 
to the up/down signals U/D. The output from up-down counter 2 is applied 
via bus 44 to the digital display unit 3. Digital display unit 3 visually 
displays, for example, by a light emitting diode (LED), the direction and 
speed of the tape as indicated by the output from up-down counter 2. For 
example, in the case of fast forward operation, a visual display unit 3a 
on the right-hand side of the digital display unit 3 (with respect to 
viewing the digital display unit 3 from the front panel) would be lighted. 
In similiar fashion, a lighted visual display unit 3b on the left-hand 
side would indicate reverse tape movement, and the distance from the 
center point would indicate tape speed. Of course, any suitable 
arrangement for visually displaying the selected control mode can be used 
for digital display unit 3. Accordingly, the operating condition of the 
magnetic recording and reproducing unit is known by the visual display of 
the digital display unit 3. 
The description above was made with reference to the fast forward mode of 
operation. It should be noted, however, that the other modes of operation 
of the magnetic recording and reproducing unit tape take place in a 
similar fashion. 
As is apparent from the above description, the present invention comprises 
a combination device having an electronic tuning type receiver and a 
magnetic recording and reproducing unit, where the channel presetting 
switches of the electronic tuning the receiver can also act as the 
operating switches of the magnetic recording and reproducing unit.