In a radio-integrated video tape recorder (VTR) which comprises a radio tuner section for receiving radio broadcast programs and for outputting an audio signal corresponding to a selected one of the received programs, a character generator for producing a video signal, a VTR section for recording the output audio signal from the radio tuner section and the video signal from the character generator in related portions of a recording tape, and a microprocessor for controlling the radio tuner section, character generator and VTR; such microprocessor is operative, in a radio broadcast program recording mode, to provide situation data to the character generator which determines the video signal recorded by the VTR section and which includes time data and receiving data identifying the selected one of the radio broadcast programs to which the audio signal recorded in the related portion of the tape corresponds.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a radio-integrated video tape recorded 
(VTR) comprising a function for receiving radio broadcast programs. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
A video tape recorder (VTR) can record both video signal and audio signal 
for a longer period, for example, six (6) hours when these signals are 
recorded on a 120-minute video tape in the triple speed recording mode. 
Therefore, such recording method is often employed for recording an FM 
broadcast program for a longer time or a daily English conversation 
program of 15 minutes a day for a month all on the same tape. Usually, as 
shown in FIG. 4, a radio broadcast program has been recorded by connecting 
an audio output of a radio receiver 30 to an audio input terminal of a VTR 
31 and then setting the VTR 31 to the recording mode. Even in the case of 
a radio-integrated VTR, recording has been realized by only supplying an 
audio output of a radio tuner section to the VTR and then setting the VTR 
to the recording mode. 
However, according to the related art as explained above, since only an 
audio signal is recorded, it is not easy to retrieve the desired programs 
or recording points after the recording. That is, in the case of 
retrieving TV broadcast programs, cuing of a program can be realized 
through observation of a program displayed on the display screen using the 
cue or review function, but in the case of retrieving the radio broadcast 
programs not accompanied by a video signal, no video signal is displayed 
when the cue or review function is activated. Therefore, the only way to 
effect retrieval is to reproduce an audio signal in the normal speed 
reproducing mode even when the recording time is very long. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a radio-integrated 
VTR which ensures easier retrieval of the recorded radio broadcast 
programs. 
According to one aspect of the present invention, for achieving the 
above-mentioned object, a radio-integrated VTR comprises a radio tuner 
section for receiving a radio broadcast program and which outputs a 
corresponding received audio signal, a character generator for producing a 
video signal based on received situation data and then outputting such 
video signal, a VTR section for recording the output audio signal from the 
radio tuner section and the output video signal from the character 
generator, and a microprocessor for controlling respective operations of 
the radio tuner, character generator and VTR section and to output the 
situation data from the character generator for recording on the video 
signal in the radio broadcast recording mode. 
According to another aspect of the present invention, the situation data 
outputted during the recording operation includes time data and receiving 
data. Such receiving data includes a receiving frequency and/or a 
broadcasting station name. 
According to another aspect of the present invention, the character 
generator comprises means for designating a background color of characters 
and numerals represented by the video signal and means for superimposing a 
synchronous signal on the video signal designating the characters and 
numerals and the background color so as to provide a composite video 
signal for recording. 
According to still another aspect of the present invention, when the radio 
broadcast program recording mode is selected, the VTR section is set in a 
condition waiting for the recording operation, the radio tuner section is 
set to the receiving condition and the VTR section is set to the recording 
condition after a composite video signal is outputted from the synchronous 
signal superimposing means of the character generator. 
In the reproducing mode, since the situation data (for example, time data 
and receiving data) outputted by the microprocessor and included in the 
recorded video signal during the recording operation is displayed on the 
screen, the desired program or recording point can be retrieved by 
observing such situation data. Moreover, the more effective retrieval can 
also be realized by utilizing the cue and review functions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be explained with 
reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B and 3 of the accompanying drawings. In 
FIG. 1A, a radio tuner section 1 inputs broadcast signals received by an 
antenna not illustrated and then picks up a signal of a selected frequency 
from the received signals. The selected frequency is varied on the basis 
of a selection control signal of a microprocessor 4. An audio signal thus 
received is supplied to an audio input terminal t.sub.1 of a VTR section 
3. 
A character generator 2 receives a display control signal from the 
microprocessor 4 and generates a composite video display signal 
corresponding to the display control signal from the microprocessor 4. 
This composite video display signal is supplied to the video input 
terminal t.sub.2 of the VTR section 3. A particular arrangement of the 
character generator 2 will be explained hereunder. 
The VTR section 3, in a recording mode, converts an input audio signal and 
an input composite video display signal to signals for recording and 
records these converted signals on related portions of a video tape. In a 
reproducing mode, the VTR section 3 reproduces the signals recorded on the 
video tape to recover the signals of the original signal bands and then 
outputs the audio signal from the audio output terminal t.sub.3 and the 
video signal from the video output terminal t.sub.4, respectively. The 
audio output terminal t.sub.3 and the video output terminal t.sub.4 are 
connected respectively to audio and video input terminals, respectively, 
of a monitor TV 5. Moreover, the VTR section 3 is controlled by drive 
control signals from the microprocessor 4 to execute various operations 
for reproduction, recording, fast feeding and rewinding, etc. 
On the basis of an operation command inputted by an operator, the 
microprocessor 4 outputs control signals to the radio tuner section 1, 
character generator 1 and VTR section 3, etc. as explained above. In 
addition, the microprocessor 4 comprises a timer and has an internal 
memory for storing font address data and correspondence table and color 
data, etc. The display control signal or situation data sent to the 
character generator 2 contains a display position address and display 
data. When the radio broadcast program recording mode is selected, time 
data and receiving data and also background color data are outputted as 
part of the situation data supplied to the character generator 2 during 
execution of the flowchart shown in FIG. 1B. In this embodiment, the time 
data include "Month", "Date", "Day" and "Time", while the receiving data 
includes "Receiving band" and "Receiving frequency", but these contents 
may be changed as required. For instance, "Year" may be displayed or "Day" 
may be deleted as the time data. Moreover, as the receiving data, 
"Receiving frequency" may be replaced by a "Broadcasting station name" and 
both "Receiving frequency" and "Broadcasting station name" can be 
displayed. 
FIGS. 2A and 2B together show a circuit block diagram of the character 
generator 2. In FIG. 2A, the display control signal from the 
microprocessor 4 is actually shown to comprise a chip select signal, a 
serial clock signal and a serial data signal. Such serial data signal 
includes display position data, display data and background color data as 
explained above. These chip select, serial clock and serial data signals 
are supplied to an input control circuit 10 through the input terminals 
t.sub.5 to t.sub.7. The input control circuit 10 fetches the data only 
during the L level period of the chip select signal and then outputs the 
display data and background color data to a data control circuit 11 and 
the display position address to an address control circuit 12, 
respectively. The display data is stored in an address of a display RAM 13 
based on a write address from the address control circuit 12. That is, the 
display data is stored in the address corresponding to the display 
position on the display screen. Moreover, the background color data is 
also stored in the display RAM 13. 
The display RAM 13 outputs the display data to a display character ROM 16 
based on a read address from a read address control circuit 15 (FIG. 2B). 
The display character ROM 16 (FIG. 2A) outputs the font data (video data 
of character and numeral) corresponding to the display data (font address) 
to a shift register 17 (FIG. 2B). The shift register 17 outputs the font 
data to a display control circuit 18 at the time for the display on the 
display screen, while the display RAM 13 outputs the background color data 
to a display control circuit 18 at the time for the display on the display 
screen. The display control circuit 18 generates a video signal by mixing 
the font data and background color data and then outputs this video signal 
to an NTSC video output circuit 19. 
On the other hand, an oscillation circuit 20 for generating a synchronous 
signal outputs an original clock signal to a timing generator 21 and the 
timing generator 21 generates internal synchronous signals (horizontal 
synchronous signal and vertical synchronous signal) from the original 
clock signal and outputs these synchronous signals to the NTSC video 
output circuit 19. The NTSC video output circuit 19 superimposes the 
internal synchronous signals on the video signal from the display control 
circuit 18 to generate a composite video signal. This composite video 
signal is supplied to the video input terminal t.sub.2 of the VTR section 
3 via an output terminal t.sub.8. 
Next, operations of the circuit arrangement described above with reference 
to FIG. 1A will be explained. When the radio broadcast program recording 
mode is selected, the microprocessor 4 executes the operations shown in 
the flowchart of FIG. 1B. Namely, the microprocessor 4 outputs a drive 
control signal to the VTR section 3 to set this section to the condition 
waiting for the start of recording operation. Next, the microprocessor 4 
outputs a band selection control signal to the radio tuner section 1 to 
set this section to the radio broadcast (frequency) receiving condition. 
The microprocessor 4 also outputs a display control signal to the 
character generator 2, causing it to output a composite video signal 
including the situation data during the recording operation as the display 
data. Next, the microprocessor 4 outputs a drive control signal to the VTR 
section 3 to set this section to the recording mode. Thereby, an audio 
signal of the radio broadcast program and a video signal representing the 
display data including the situation data during the recording operation 
are recorded on the video tape. The character generator 2 sequentially 
outputs data until the recording mode is cancelled or terminated and 
continuously updates the situation data (current time) during the 
recording operation. 
When the video tape which has been recorded as explained above is replayed, 
the situation data (time data, receiving data) during the recording 
operation as shown FIG. 3 are displayed on the screen while the recorded 
audio is reproduced. Therefore, the desired recorded program or recording 
point can easily be found by observing such situation data or listening to 
the reproduced voice or other audio by utilizing the fast feeding and 
rewinding functions. Moreover, retrieval can be achieved more effectively 
because it is possible to retrieve the video tape while observing the 
situation data during the recording operation displayed on the display 
screen by utilizing the cue and review functions. 
Here, since the character generator 2 can designate the background color 
during display of characters and numerals, it is possible to record radio 
programs by changing the background colors for the respective days of the 
week when the recording is effected. For instance, in the case where the 
English conversation program of 15 minutes a day is recorded continuously 
for a month, the quick cuing is possible by effecting the fast feeding and 
rewinding functions while the operator observes the colors displayed on 
the screen. 
As explained above, the present invention provides an excellent effect in 
that the recorded radio broadcast programs can be retrieved easily because 
the situation data (time and receiving data) during the recording 
operation are recorded as the video signal for the recording of a radio 
broadcast program.