MAGNETIC RECORDING AND REPRODUCING APPARATUS

Abstract: The present invention relates to a magnetic tape driving device of a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus designed to cause an idler gear (1) to be in rotating contact with a take-up reel (5) or a feed reel (4) according to a rotational direction related to operation of a driving gear (2) when a magnetic tape is driven forward or rewound quickly, thereby selectively to transmit the driving force of the driving gear (2) to the take-up reel (5) or feed reel (4) through the idler gear (1). When the idler gear (1) is in rotating contact with the take-up reel (5) or feed reel (4) a control portion (8) detects that FG pulses of both the take-up reel and feed reel are generated from FG pulse generating portions (7, 6) provided at both the take-up reel and feed reel, that is, the control portion (8) detects that both reels are rotating, and confirms that the rotating contact of the idler gear (1) with take-up reel (5) or feed reel (4) has been completed normally. If an FG pulse of only one reel is generated, that is, when only one reel is rotating, or when FG pulses of neither reel are generated, that is, when neither reel is rotating, the control portion (8) judges that faulty rotating contact of the idler gear with the take-up reel or feed reel has occured and issues a command to the idler gear driving portion (11) to return the idler gear (1) to a position where it does not contact the driving gear (2) so that the operation of rotating contact of the idler gear (1) with the take-up reel (5) or feed reel (4) is attempted again. According to the above arrangement, it is made possible to prevent irregular movement caused by the occurrence of reverse rotating contact or mechanical lock when the idler gear (1) is being brought into rotating contact with the reel.

Description: The present invention relates to a magnetic tape driving portion of a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus. A block diagram of a tape driving system of a conventional magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus is hereunder shown in Fig. 4. There is an idler gear wheel 14, a driving gear wheel 15, a capstan motor 16, a feed gear wheel 17, a take-up gear wheel 18, an FG pulse generating portion 19 of the feed gear wheel, a first pulse generator 20 for generating, a pulse signal of a period according to the rotational speed of said take-up gear wheel, a controller 21, a servo-mechanism 22, an idler gear actuating means 23, and a second pulse generator 24 for generating a pulse signal of a period according to the rotational speed of said capstan motor 16. Operation of a driving system of the above constitution such as shown in Fig. 4 will now be described. When the driving system is being shifted from a state of stop of a tape to a state of quick forward driving or rewinding of a tape, the idler gear wheel 14 is caused to be in contact with the driving gear wheel 15 which is driven by the capstan motor 16. When the driving system is being shifted from a state of stop of a tape to a state of quick forward driving of a tape by the rotational direction of the driving gear wheel 15, the idler gear wheel 14 rotates in contact with the take-up gear wheel 18. When it is being shifted from a state of stop of a tape to a state of rewinding of a tape by the rotational direction of the driving gear wheel 15, the idler gear wheel 14 rotates in contact with the feed gear wheel 17 so as to feed the tape into rewinding direction. However, in a system such as the above, the time required to change the rotational direction of the capstan motor 16 is undefined and it is necessary to allow for a sufficiently long waiting period to ensure that the rotational direction is changed completely. This in turn results in a long time being taken to shift from a state of stop of a tape to a state of quick forward driving or rewinding of a tape. If an attempt is made in this system to reduce this shifting time by shortening the waiting time necessary to complete changing the rotational direction of the capstan motor 16, the idler gear wheel 14 comes into contact with the driving gear wheel 15 before the rotational direction of the capstan motor 16 has completely changed, causing the idler gear wheel 14 to come into rotating contact with a reel on the opposite side of a desired reel (this state is hereafter referred to as the reverse rotating contact). Alternatively, even if the rotational direction of the capstan motor 16 is correct, there is the inconvenience that sometimes defective operation of a mechanical portion causes locking of the idler gear wheel 14 and the driving gear wheel 15 or reverse rotating contacting. US patent 4494712 (Godwin et al) discloses monitoring tape travel by using detectors associated with the tape reels and the capstan, however it does not use this for controlling an idler gear wheel. Embodiments of the present invention overcome the problems of the above conventional apparatus and provide a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus which is capable of preventing reverse rotating contact or mechanical locking while an idler gear is being brought into rotating contact with a reel. The present invention provides a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus comprising: a feed gear wheel and a take-up gear wheel each of which drives a hub of a reel in a cassette; a capstan motor which generates a driving force; a driving gear wheel which is driven by said capstan motor; an idler gear wheel which assumes two positions, in one of which the idler gear wheel is in contact with said driving gear wheel and in the other of which the idler gear wheel is not in contact with said driving gear wheel, wherein when the idler gear wheel is in contact with the driving gear wheel, the idler gear wheel is in rotating contact with either the feed gear wheel or the take-up gear wheel according to the rotational direction of the driving gear wheel; idler gear wheel actuating means which causes said idler gear wheel to be shifted; a first pulse generator for generating a pulse signal of a period according to the rotational speed of said capstan motor; and second and third pulse generator means for generating a feed reel pulse signal and a take-up reel pulse signal each having a period according to the rotational speed of said respective two reels; a servo-mechanism which uses said pulse signal to control the rotation of said capstan motor; a servo locking detector which detects the servo locking of said servo-mechanism; a capstan rotational direction detector which detects the rotational direction of said capstan motor; and a controller which receives as inputs said feed reel pulse signal, said take-up reel pulse signal, said servo locking signal and said capstan rotational direction signal for controlling said idler gear actuating means, whereby upon a fast forward (FF) or a rewind (REW) command and after monitoring the correct speed and rotational direction of the capstan the idler gear wheel is actuated towards a respective rotating contact position, said controller detects either whether the pulse signals of both reels are generated, that is, both reels are rotating, so as to confirm that the rotating contact has normally been completed, or whether within a predetermined time the pulse signal of only one reel is generated, that is, only one reel is rotating, or the pulse signal of neither reel is generated, that is, neither reel is rotating, in order to judge that faulty rotating contact of the idler gear has occurred, and a command is issued to the idler gear wheel actuating means to return the idler gear to a position where the idler gear does not contact the driving gear, and to restart the operation of the fast forward or rewind command. With the above construction, when the idler gear wheel is in rotating contact with either the feed gear wheel or the take-up gear wheel, the controller detects that pulse signals of both gear wheels are generated, that is, both gear wheels are rotating, so as to confirm that the rotating contact has normally been completed. In the case where the pulse signal of only one gear wheel is generated, that is, only one gear wheel is rotating, or in the case where the pulse signal of neither gear wheel is generated, that is, neither gear wheel is rotating, it is judged that the faulty rotating contact of the idler gear has occurred, and a command is issued to the idler gear wheel actuating means to return the idler gear wheel to a position where the idler gear wheel does not contact the driving gear wheel, so that the operation of achieving rotating contact is caused to be attempted again. An embodiment of the present invention will hereafter be explained with reference to the drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a block diagram of constituent parts of the magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus of the present invention, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are flowcharts showing operation of the magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a block diagram of constituent parts of a conventional apparatus. Fig. 1 is block diagram showing an embodiment of a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus of the present invention. An idler gear wheel 1 is shifted by means of an idler gear actuating means between a state wherein the idler gear wheel 1 contacts a driving gear wheel 2 and a state wherein the idler gear wheel does not contact the driving gear wheel 2, The driving gear wheel 2 is driven by a capstan motor 3. There is a feed gear wheel 4, a take-up gear wheel 5, a second pulse generator 6 for generating a feed reel pulse signal, a third pulse generator 7 for generating a take-up reel pulse signal, a controller 8, and a servo-mechanism 9 which receives a command from the controller 8 and controls the capstan motor 3. A servo locking detector 10 detects whether the capstan servo is effected. An idler gear actuating means portion 11 shifts the idler gear position according to the command given from the controller 8. There is a first pulse generator 12 for generating a capstan pulse signal and a capstan rotational direction detector 13. Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 and flowcharts showing operating steps of the magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing a shift from a state of stop of a tape to a state of fast forward, FF, and Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing a shift from a state of stop of a tape to a state of rewind REW. Looking first at Fig. 2, in step 1, the controller 8 instructs the servo-mechanism 9 to cause the capstan motor 3 to rotate at an optimum speed for rotating contact of the idler gear wheel 1 and instructs the rotational direction as well. In step 2, the controller 8 observes an output of the servo locking detector 10 and confirms that the speed agrees with an instruction given in step 1. Step 2 returns to step 1 if the servo is not locked and keeps giving instructions to the servo. In step 3, the controller 8 observes an output of the capstan rotational direction detector 13 and confirms that the capstan rotation is in FWD (forward) direction, and if the direction is not FWD direction, the step 3 returns to the step 1 and keeps giving directions to the servo-mechanism 9. If the output of the capstan locking is not given for over a certain length of time or if the rotational direction is not in FWD direction for over a certain length of time, such condition is judged by the step 4, which in turn processes such condition as a faulty servo operation of a faulty mechanical operation. In step 5, the controller 8 gives an instruction to the idler gear actuating means 11 to cause the idler gear wheel 1 to contact with the driving gear wheel 2. In step 6, it is confirmed by monitoring the take up reel pulse signal whether or not the take-up gear wheel 5 starts rotating, that is whether or not a shift to a state of FF causes the reel with which the idler gear wheel 1 is to come into rotating contact to start rotating. If the take-up gear wheel 5 does not rotate, for over a certain length of time, the step 7 detects such condition and advances to step 10. In step 8, it is confirmed whether or not the feed gear wheel 4 has started rotation by virtue of the idler gear wheel 1 coming into rotating contact with the take-up gear wheel 5 so that a tape is wound up by the take-up gear wheel 5, and if the feed gear wheel 4 does not start rotating within a certain length of time, the step 8 detects such condition and advances to step 10. In step 10, the controller 8 gives a command to the idle gear actuating means to shift into a direction so as to cause the idler gear wheel 1 to be kept away from the driving gear wheel 2, so that the step 10 returns to the step 1 thereby to try the operation of rotating contact again. If both reels have been rotated, the speed of FF (about 50 to 500 times the optimum speed of rotating contact) is instructed in step 11. In a similar way, the shift to REW is performed according to the flow of the flowchart shown in Fig. 3. As stated above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, when shifting from a state of stop of a tape to a state of FF or REW, it is possible to detect faulty rotating contact caused by reverse rotating contact or mechanical locking of the idler gear 1 and to try the shifting operation again. Furthermore, since there is no waiting period after a command for optimum speed of rotating contact and direction are issued because the servo locking and rotational direction are checked, it is possible to absorb variation of the capstan and mechanism of driving system so that it becomes possible to reduce the shifting time. If the tape is slack when shifted to FF or REW, because the tape will be wound up until both reels start rotating at an optimum speed (at low speed) of rotating contact (ie. until the tape slackness is eliminated) the advantageous effect is obtained that the tape is not damaged.

Claims: A magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus comprising: a feed gear wheel (5) and a take-up gear wheel (4) each of which drives a hub of a reel in a cassette; a capstan motor (3) which generates a driving force; a driving gear wheel (2) which is driven by said capstan motor; an idler gear wheel (1) which assumes two positions, in one of which the idler gear wheel (1) is in contact with said driving gear wheel (2) and in the other of which the idler gear wheel (1) is not in contact with said driving gear wheel (2), wherein when the idler gear wheel is in contact with the driving gear wheel, the idler gear wheel is in rotating contact with either the feed gear wheel (4) or the take-up gear wheel (5) according to the rotational direction of the driving gear wheel (2); idler gear wheel actuating means (11) which causes said idler gear wheel to be shifted; a first pulse generator (12) for generating a pulse signal of a period according to the rotational speed of said capstan motor (3); and second and third pulse generator means (6, 7) for generating a feed reel pulse signal and a take-up reel pulse signal each having a period according to the rotational speed of said respective two reels; a servo-mechanism (9) which uses said pulse signal to control the rotation of said capstan motor; a servo locking detector (10) which detects the servo locking of said servo-mechanism (9); a capstan rotational direction detector (13) which detects the rotational direction of said capstan motor (3); and a controller (8) which receives as inputs said feed reel pulse signal, said take-up reel pulse signal, said servo locking signal and said capstan rotational direction signal for controlling said idler gear actuating means, whereby upon a fast forward (FF) or a rewind (REW) command and after monitoring the correct speed and rotational direction of the capstan (steps 2, 3,; 13, 14) the idler gear wheel is actuated towards a respective rotating contact position (step 5; 16), said controller detects either whether the pulse signals of both reels are generated (steps 6,8; 17,19), that is, both reels are rotating, so as to confirm that the rotating contact has normally been completed, or whether within a predetermined time the pulse signal of only one reel is generated, that is, only one reel is rotating, or the pulse signal of neither reel is generated, that is, neither reel is rotating, in order to judge that faulty rotating contact of the idler gear (1) has occurred, and a command is issued (step 21) to the idler gear wheel actuating means portion (11) to return the idler gear (1) to a position where the idler gear (1) does not contact the driving gear (2), and to restart the operation of the fast forward or rewind command. A magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller (8) instructs the servo-mechanism (9) of an optimum capstan motor rotational speed for the rotating contact of the idler gear wheel (1), said controller (8) confirms by the output of the servo locking detector (10) that the capstan servo has locked and that the rotational speed of the capstan motor (3) has become optimum, and further confirms by the output of the capstan rotational direction detector (13) that the rotational direction of the capstan motor (3) is in FWD (forward) direction when shifting to PLAY or FF (fast feeding), and in the REV (reverse) direction when shifting to REW (rewinding), and then gives instruction to cause the idler gear wheel (1) to contact with the driving gear wheel (2).

Inventors: ISHIWATA, TETSUO, TAGUCHI, KATSUYUKI
Applicants: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: G11B27
IPC codes: G11B15