APPARATUS FOR RECORDING AND REPRODUCING OPTICAL RECORDING CARD

Abstract: An apparatus for recording and reproducing optical re­ cording card comprising an optical recording card (10) pro­ vided with an optical recording medium (11), a recording light source (5) for recording data signals onto said recording medium (11), a reproducing light source for reproducing data signals recorded in said recording medium (11), and a line sensor (15) for reading the data recorded in said recording medium (11) through the light reflected from said recording medium (11), wherein an incident light path from said record­ ing light source (5) to said optical recording medium (11), an incident light path from said reproducing light source to said optical recording medium (11), and a reflection light path from said recording medium (11), are established independently of each other.

Description: This invention relates to a recording/reproducing apparatus for an optical recording card as stated in the preamble of claim 1 and, more particularly, to an optical recording/ reproducing apparatus with a function for simultaneously monitoring an information signal at the time of recording into said card. An optical recording card such as a memory card using an optical recording medium has been usually used for recording and reproduction of information signals with an optical recording/reproducing apparatus having a construction as shown in Figs. 3A,3B and 4. Such apparatus is already known from US 4,642, 803. Fig. 3A schematically shows the construction of a recording system of a prior art optical recording/ reproducing apparatus. A laser beem emitted from a laser beam source 21 for recording is led through a collimator lens 22 to a rotary polygonal mirror 23. The laser beam reflected by the rotary polygonal mirror 23 is irradiated through an objective 24 to an optical recording medium 25 of an optical recording card 26. on the optical recording medium 25 of the optical recording card 26, an information signal is optically recorded in each of pits scanned by the laser beam which is reflected with the rotation of the rotary polygonal mirror 23 at a predetermined timing. Fig. 3B schematically shows the construction of a reproducing system of the prior art optical recording/ reproducing apparatus. A light beam emitted from a light source, i.e., a light-emitting diode 31, for reproduction is led through a condenser 32 to a half mirror 33. The light beam reflected by the half mirror 33 is incident through a focusing lens 34 on the optical recording medium 25 of the optical recording card 26. The light beam reflected by the recording medium 25 is transmitted through the half mirror 33 to be incident on a line sensor 35 consisting of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) for reading the information signal. The information signal recorded on the optical recording medium 25 of the optical recording card 26 is read out through conversion of the light beam emitted from the light-emitting diode 31 and reflected by the optical recording medium 25 into an electric signal corresponding to the amount of reflected light beam by the line sensor 35, on which the reflected light beam is incident through the half mirror 33. With the prior art optical recording/reproducing apparatus, recording and reproducing optical systems are arranged separately as shown in Fig. 4. In this case, the operations of recording and reproducing the information signal are effected at different positions. With the prior art optical recording/reproducing apparatus where the recording and reproducing systems are provided separately, simultaneous monitoring may not be obtained at the time of the recording operation because the operations of recording and reproducing the information signal are performed at different positions. Further, the light beam for reproducing the information signal is attenuated to one-fourth of the light beam emitted from the light source for reproduction even at the maximum by the half mirror provided in the reproducing system. Therefore, an output having a sufficient signal level may not be obtained from the CCD line sensor. To increase the signal level of the output it is necessary to extend the charge storage time of the CCD line sensor. In this case, a high speed operation may not be obtained. The present invention has been intended in the light of the foregoing problems, and its object is to provide a recording/reproducing apparatus for an optical recording card, which has a novel construction, permits increase of the reproduction output level to increase the operation speed and permits simultaneous monitoring at the time of recording of the information signal. The recording/reproducing apparatus for an optical recording card according to the present invention is characterized in that: a first light part of the light beam emitted from said reproduction light source and led to be incident on said recording medium and a second light path of the light beam emitted from said recording light source and led to be incident on said recording medium lie in planes, which are substantially perpendicular to each other, and in that the light pathes are selected such that the operations of recording and reproducing are performed simultaneously at a coincident position of the recording medium. With this recording/reproducing apparatus, the light beams emitted from the recording and reproduction light sources are led along independent light paths to illuminate the recording medium. Further, the light beam emitted from said reproduction light source and reflected by said recording medium is led along a reflection light path independent of the incidence light path to the line sensor, whereby the information signal recorded on said recording medium is read out by the line sensor. Figs. 1 and 2 are block diagrams showing an embodiment of the optical recording card recording/reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, in which Fig. 1 schematically shows the construction of the entire apparatus, and Fig. 2 schematically shows a reproducing system; and Figs. 3A,3B and 4 are block diagrams schematically showing the construction of a prior art optical recording card recording/reproducing apparatus, in which Fig. 3A shows a recording system, Fig. 3B shows a reproducing system, and Fig. 4 schematically shows the construction of the entire apparatus. An embodiment of the optical recording card recording/reproducing apparatus according to the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a laser beam source 1 is provided as a recording light source for recording an information signal on an optical recording medium 11 provided on an optical recording card 10. As shown in Fig. 2, a laser beam emitted from the laser beam source 1 is collimated through a collimator lens 2 into a parallel light beam. The parallel beam is then led to a rotary polygonal mirror 3. The light beam reflected by the rotary polygonal mirror 3 is incident through an objective 4 on the optical recording medium 11 of the optical recording card 10. The rotary polygonal mirror 3 reflects the laser beam as it is rotated at a predetermined timing. Thus, the optical recording medium 11 of the optical recording card 10 is scanned by the laser beam, whereby the information signal is successively optically recorded in individual pits. The rotary polygonal mirror 3 may be replaced with an optical scanner, e.g., a galvanomirror or a light modulator, for scanning the optical recording medium 11 of the optical card 10 with the laser beam. A light-emitting diode 5 is used as a reproduction light source for reproducing the information signal recorded on the optical recording medium 11 of the optical recording card 10. The light beam emitted from the light-emitting diode 5 is led through a condenser 6 and an objective 7 to a first reflecting mirror 8 to be reflected by the objective 7 of the first reflecting mirror 8 and then focused on the optical recording medium 11 of the optical recording card 10. The light beam reflected by the optical recording medium 11 of the optical recording card 10 is reflected by a second reflecting mirror 13 to illuminate a CCD line sensor 15 for reading the information signal through an auxiliary lens 14. The information signal recorded on the optical recording medium 11 of the optical recording card 10 is read out through conversion into an electric signal according to the amount of reflected light beam, which has been emitted from the light-emitting diode 5 and is reflected by the optical recording medium 11, by the line sensor 15, on which the reflected light beem is incident through the second reflecting mirror 13. In the above embodiment, the axis of the recording laser beam emitted from the laser beam source 1 and the axis of the reproduction light beam emitted from the light-emitting diode 5 lie in perpendicular planes, and a light path Lm, along which the light beam emitted from the recording light source 1 is led to be incident on the optical recording medium 11 of the optical recording card 10, a light path Lri, along which the light beam emitted from the light-emitting diode 5 is led to be incident on the optical recording medium 11, and a light path Lro, along which the light beam emitted from the light-emitting diode 5 is led after reflection by the optical recording medium 11 are provided independently of one another. In the above embodiment, the laser beam emitted from the laser beam source 1 and light beam emitted from the light-emitting diode 5 are led along the light incidence paths Lm and Lri, which are provided independently of each other, to illuminate the optical recording medium 11 of the optical recording card 10. The reflected light beam, which is emitted from the light-emitting diode 5 and is incident on the optical recording medium 11, is led along the reflected light path Lro, which is provided independently of the light paths Lm and Lri, to the line sensor 15. Thus, the operations of recording and reproducing the information signal are performed at a coincident position, and the recording and reproducing operations are performed simultaneously. That is, the information signal may be simultaneously monitored at the time of recording. In the reproducing system, the light beam of the light-emitting diode 5 may be efficiently led by the total reflecting mirrors 8 and 13 to the CCD line sensor 15 without using the half mirror having large loss of the light beam. Thus, it is possible to provide an increased level of the reproduction output of the CCD line sensor 15 for high speed operation. Further, it is possible to provide the light-emitting diode 5 and lenses 6 and 7 on an extension of the axis of the light path Lri, along which the reproducing light beam is led to be incident on the optical recording medium 11 of the optical recording card 10 and direct the light beam of the light-emitting diode 5 directly to the optical recording medium 11 of the optical recording card 10 without using the reflecting mirror 8. Similarly, the auxiliary lens 14 and CCD line sensor 15 may be provided on the extension of the axis of the light path Lro to omit the total reflecting mirror 13.

Claims: A recording/reproducing apparatus for an optical recording card, comprising: an optical recording card (10) provided with an optical recording medium (11); a recording optical system including a recording light source (1) for recording an information signal on said recording medium (11), scanning means (3) for causing a light beam emitted from said recording light source (1) in directions substantially perpendicular to the direction of feed of said card (10) and a first focusing lens (4) for converting the scanning light beam from said scanning means (3) into a small diameter beam for recording on said recording medium (11): a reproducing optical system including a reproduction light source (5) for reproducing said information signal recorded on said recording medium (11), a line sensor (15) for reading out said information signal by the reflected light beam emitted from said reproduction light source (5) and reflected by said recording medium (11), and a second focusing lens (14) for focusing the reflected light beam emitted form said reproduction light source (5) and reflected by said recording medium (11) on said line sensor (15); characterized in that a first light path(Lri) of the light beam emitted from said reproduction light source (5) and led to be incident on said recording medium (11) and a second light path (Lm) of the light beam emitted from said recording light source (1) and led to be incident on said recording medium (11) lie in planes, which are substantially perpendicular to each other, and in that said light pathes (Lri, Lm) are selected such that the operations of recording and reproducing are performed simultaneously at a coincident position of the recording medium (11). A recording/reproducing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said recording light source (1) is a laser diode, and said reproduction light source (5) is a light-emitting diode. A recording/reproducing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said first light path (Lri) is deflected by an obtuse angle by a first reflecting mirror (8) to be led to said recording medium (11), and in that said first light path (Lri) after being reflected by the recording medium (11) is deflected by an obtuse angle by a second reflecting mirror (13) to be led through said focusing lens (14) to said line sensor (15). A recording/reproducing apparatus as claimed in one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said scanning means (3) is a rotary polygonal mirror rotatable about an axis extending parallel to the direction of feed of said card (10). A recording/reproducing apparatus as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that said second light path (Lm) is deflected by said rotary polygonal mirror (3) into a substantially perpendicular direction to be led through said first focusing lens (4) to be substantially perpendicular to said card (10). A recording/reproducing apparatus as claimed in one of the claims 3 to 5, characterized in that said second light path (Lm) is provided between said first and second reflecting mirrors (8,13).

Inventors: ISHII, TAMOTSU
Applicants: SONY CORPORATION
Application year: 1985
Main classification: G11B7
IPC codes: G06K7, G11B7, G06K17, G06K1