Disk changer with memory means for memorizing error information

Abstract: There is disclosed an electronic equipment having a function to output history information of error. A microprocessor assembled in the electronic equipment stores, into a memory unit, every occurrence of error, error information indicating the contents of errors of various controlled units constituting a mechanical deck unit controlled by the microcomputer, and accepts or receives an operation of an operation unit to read out error information indicating those error contents from the memory unit to display history information of error on a display unit.

Description: This invention relates to a disk changer in which a microcomputers for system control is used. Microcomputers for control can be cheaply provided. Thus in various electronic equipment such as ordinary home audio equipment or video equipment, etc., a microcomputer for system control is used so that any complicated control operation can be carried out to realize multi-function or to improve ease of handling. Further, in electronic equipment in which a microcomputer for system control is used, in the case where any error occurs in various controlled units controlled by the microcomputer, recovery control for automatically recovering to a normal operating state, and/or an automatic stop control for preventing a serious fault or trouble from being induced, etc. are carried out by the microcomputer in accordance with a predetermined control program. Meanwhile in electronic equipment in which recovery control and/or automatic stop control, etc. are carried out, in the case where any error occurs, the equipment merely recovers from an error occurrence state by the recovery control, or simply recovers from an error state by a reset operation of the microcomputer in the operation stopped state under the automatic stop control. For this reason, there are many instances where it is difficult to clarify the type of error which has occurred in the equipment and the cause of occurrence thereof, making it difficult to take suitable measures for error prevention or cure. US-5,027,154 discloses a photographic printer-processor in which error messages are displayed and stored in a memory when an error occurs. In accordance with this invention, there is provided a disk changer for automatically exchanging recording media in a CD player, the disk changer comprising: - a microcomputer for controlling the disk changer; a mechanical deck unit for carrying out exchanges of recording media; and a memory unit; said mechanical deck unit and said memory unit being connected to said microcomputer; characterised in that: said memory unit includes a non-volatile memory and said microcomputer is adapted, when one of a plurality of possible error states occurs in an operation of said mechanical deck unit, to write in said memory unit corresponding error information indicating the nature of that error; and by output means for reading out said error information from said non-volatile memory under control of said microcomputer. In one embodiment, an error code is written into the memory means as error information indicating that an error occurs at the time of various operation controls of the controlled unit or units, and error codes previously written are sequentially written into the memory every occurrence of error with the memory addresses being incremented so that latest n number of error codes are stored thereinto as the history information. Further, when an error occurs in the mechanical check, after the recovery operation of a controlled unit where that error has occurred is carried out, in the case where the faulty controlled unit does not recover to a normal operating state, error information indicating the content of that error is written into the memory means in accordance with the control by the microcomputer. The disk changer may further comprise operation means connected to the microcomputer, and adapted to deliver, to the microcomputer, operation command information for carrying out operation controls of the respective controlled units and read-out command information for reading out history information stored in said memory means from said memory means. The above-mentioned output means may be comprised of display means connected to the microcomputer, and adapted to display history information read out from the memory means by an operation of the operation means. In the disk changer according to this invention thus constructed, every time any error occurs in various controlled units controlled by the microcomputer, error information indicating the content of that error is written into the non-volatile memory means, thereby to store history information of occurrence of error of the various controlled units into the memory means, and to read out, when needed, error information from the memory by the error information output means to output it. The invention will be further described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main part of a disk changer to which this invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the outline of the configuration of a mechanical deck unit of the abovementioned disk changer. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing, in a model form, the CBS operating state of the abovementioned mechanical deck unit. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing, in a model form, the DGS operating state of the above-mentioned mechanical deck unit. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing, in a model form, the LOAD operating state of the above-mentioned mechanical deck unit. Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing, in a model form, the SAVE operating state of the above-mentioned mechanical deck unit. Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing, in a model form, the LVO operating state of the above-mentioned mechanical deck unit. Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing, in a model form, the GTH operating state of the above-mentioned mechanical deck unit. Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing, in a model form, the EJECT operating state of the above-mentioned mechanical deck unit. Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing, in a model form, the PSET operating state of the above-mentioned mechanical deck unit. Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the above-mentioned mechanical deck unit by a microcomputer in the case where disk exchange is carried out by means of the disk changer. Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the CBS operation control of the mechanical deck unit by the above-mentioned microcomputer. Fig. 13 is a view showing, in a model form, an initial state of the memory content of a non-volatile memory of a memory unit of the above-mentioned disk changer. Fig. 14 is a view showing, in a model form, the memory content of history information of error by the non-volatile memory of the memory unit. A preferred embodiment of a disk changer according to this invention will now be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. In the embodiment shown in a block form in Fig. 1, this invention is applied to a disk changer adapted for automatically changing (exchanging) a recording medium in a CD player, i.e., a compact disk (CD) adapted to be mounted in a vehicle. This disk changer includes a microcomputer 1 for system control, and an operation unit 2, a display unit 3, a mechanical deck unit 4, and a memory unit 5 which are connected to the microcomputer 1. The operation unit 2 serves as operation command means for this disk changer, and delivers operation inputs by operations of various operation buttons (not shown) to the microcomputer 1 as operation command information. Moreover, in accordance with a predetermined control program written in advance in the memory unit 5, the microcomputer 1 carries out a display control for displaying an operation procedure, etc. on the display unit 3, and carries out an operation control of the mechanical deck unit 4 in dependency upon operation command information from the operation unit 2. Further, the memory unit 5 includes a Read Only Memory (ROM) in which a predetermined control program is written, and a Random Access Memory (RAM) for temporarily storing control data, etc., and further includes a non-volatile memory such as E 2 PROM, etc. adapted so that every time an error occurs in any controlled units of the mechanical deck unit 4 of which operation is controlled by the microcomputer 1, error information indicating the content of that error is written by the microcomputer 1. Furthermore, the mechanical deck unit 4 comprises, as shown in Fig. 2, a unit body 10, a magazine 11 in which a plurality of compact disks are accommodated, a magazine feed mechanism (not shown) adapted for taking in and out the magazine 11 for the unit body 10, a disk feed mechanism (not shown) adapted for taking in and out a compact disk for the magazine 11, an elevator 13 adapted to mount thereon a compact disk 12 sent out from the magazine 11 and to move it upwardly and downwardly, an elevator mechanism (not shown) for moving the elevator 13 upwardly and downwardly, and the like. This mechanical deck unit 4 is controlled by the microcomputer 1, and serves to carry out a CBS (Come Back Search) operation to move upwardly the elevator 13 to allow the compact disk 12 to come back to the position where the magazine 11 is accommodated as shown in Fig. 3, a DGS (Disk Get Search) operation to move upwardly and downwardly the elevator 13 to go for (get and search) a target or objective compact disk 12 as shown in Fig. 4, a LOAD operation to send out the compact disk 12 onto the elevator 13 as shown in Fig. 5, a SAVE operation to pull or draw the compact disk 12 on the elevator 13 into the magazine 11 as shown in Fig. 6, a LVD (Lever Out) operation to completely accommodate the compact disk 12 into the magazine 11 by allowing a lever (not shown) to be operated as shown in Fig. 7, a GTH (Go To Home ) operation to lower the elevator 13 on a pick-up of a player (not shown) as shown in Fig. 8, an EJECT operation to send out the magazine 11 from the unit body 10 as shown in Fig. 9, a PSET (Pack SET) operation to pull or draw the magazine 11 into the unit body 10 as shown in Fig. 10, and the like. Thus, the microcomputer 1 carries out the operation control of the mechanical deck unit 4 in order of the CBS operation control, the SAVE operation control, the LVO operation control, the DGS operation control, the LOAD operation control, and the GTH operation control in accordance with the procedure shown in the flowchart of Fig. 11, e.g., in the case where command information of disk exchange is delivered by the operation of the operation unit 2. More particularly, in the CBS operation control, as shown in the flowchart of Fig. 12, at first step, the CBS operation is carried out. At the subsequent second step, judgment as to whether or not the CBS operation is normally carried out is made. In the case where the judged result is "YES", i.e., the CBS operation is normally carried out, the CBS operation control is completed. The operation control shifts to the SAVE operation control. In contrast, in the case where the judged result at the second step is "NO", i.e., the CBS operation is not normally carried out, the operation control shifts to third step to carry out the CBS recovery control operation. At the subsequent fourth step, judgment as to whether or not the CBS recovery control operation is succeeded is made. In the case where the judged result is "YES", i.e., the CBS recovery control operation is succeeded, the CBS operation control is completed. Thus, the operation control shifts to the SAVE operation control. In contrast, in the case where the judged result at the fourth step is "NO", i.e., the CBS recovery control operation is not succeeded, the control operation shifts to fifth step to allow error information indicating that an error has occurred in the CBS operation to be indicated by "CBS" to write an error code "1" into the non-volatile memory of the memory unit 5 thereafter to stop the control as an operation disable state. Further, also in the control operations except for the above-mentioned CBS operation control, at the time of occurrence of error, the recovery control operation is carried out. In the case where the recovery control operation is not succeeded, an error code indicating that an error has occurred in that control operation is written into the non-volatile memory of the memory unit 5 thereafter to stop the control as an operation disable state. It is to be noted that assumption is made such that an error code in the CBS operation control is "1", an error code in the DGS operation control is "2", an error code in the LOAD operation control is "3", an error code in the SAVE operation control is "4", an error code in the LVD operation control is "5", an error code in the GTH operation control is "6", an error code in the EJECT operation control is "7", and an error code in the PSET operation control is "8". Here, in the non-volatile memory of the memory unit 5, in an initial state, a code "0" indicating that no error takes place is written as shown in Fig. 13. Further, in the non-volatile memory of the memory unit 5, as shown at A to F of Fig. 14, every occurrence of error, error codes previously written are sequentially written with their memory addresses being incremented. Respective latest error codes are sequentially written into a first memory address. Thus, latest n number of error codes are stored as history information of errors occurred in the past. In the case where command information of a service mode is delivered to the microcomputer 1 by an operation of the operation unit 2, the microcomputer 1 carries out a control to arbitrarily designate, by means of a readout pointer, any one of memory addresses where error codes are written in the non-volatile memory of the memory unit 5 in a manner stated above to read out that error code, and carries out a display control for displaying the error code read out from the non-volatile memory on the display unit 3. As stated above, in the disk changer of this embodiment, every time any error takes place in the operation of the mechanical deck unit 4 where the recovery control and/or the automatic stop control, etc. are carried out in accordance with a predetermined control program by the microcomputer 1, an error code indicating the content of that error is written into the non-volatile memory of the memory unit 5, and history information of errors occurred in the past is stored into the non-volatile memory. Further, since it is possible to read out history information of error from the non-volatile memory to display it on the display unit 3, a suitable measure for error can be implemented on the basis of the history information of error. It is to be noted that while this invention is applied to a disk changer system in the above-described embodiment, this invention is not limited to only the above-described embodiment. While, e.g., in the above-described embodiment, E 2 PROM was used as a non-volatile memory for storing history information of error, a SRAM with a battery may be used. Further, as the content of an error written into the non-volatile memory, not only the content of the state at the time when the operation is unsatisfactory as described above, but also the contents of all errors which can take place in respective equipments, such as, for example, a focus error or a tracking error in the disk servo control, an error in communication, or the like may be stored. As is clear from the foregoing description, in the disk changer according to this invention, every time any error takes place in the operations of various controlled units where the recovery control and/or the automatic stop control, etc. are carried out in accordance with a predetermined control program by the microcomputer, an error code indicating the content of that error is written into the non-volatile memory, and history information of errors occurred in the past is stored into the non-volatile memory. Further, it is possible to read out such history information of error form the non-volatile memory to display it. Thus, a suitable measure for error can be implemented on the basis of the history information of error.

Claims: A disk changer for automatically exchanging recording media in a CD player, the disk changer comprising:- a microcomputer (1) for controlling the disk changer; a mechanical deck unit (4) for carrying out exchanges of recording media; and a memory unit (5); said mechanical deck unit (4) and said memory unit (4) being connected to said microcomputer (1); characterised in that: said memory unit (5) includes a non-volatile memory and said microcomputer is adapted, when one of a plurality of possible error states occurs in an operation of said mechanical deck unit, to write in said memory unit corresponding error information indicating the nature of that error; and by output means (3) for reading out said error information from said non-volatile memory under control of said microcomputer. A disk changer according to claim 1, wherein said non-volatile memory is an E 2 PROM. A disk changer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said microcomputer is adapted, when an error occurs in an operation of said mechanical deck, to control said mechanical deck to perform a recovery control operation and said error information is written into said non-volatile memory only if the recovery control operation does not succeed. A disk changer according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said microcomputer is adapted, when an error code is written into said memory means (5) as error information indicating that an error has occurred, to rewrite sequentially into said non-volatile memory error codes previously written into said non-volatile memory means, with the memory addresses being incremented so that the latest n number of error codes are stored therein as history information. A disk changer according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising operation means (2) connected to said microcomputer (1), and adapted to deliver, to said microcomputer (1), operation command information for directing control of said mechanical deck unit (4) and read-out command information for reading out error information stored in said non-volatile memory. A disk changer according to claim 5, wherein said output means (3) comprises display means connected to said microcomputer (1), and adapted to display error information read out from said memory means (5) by an operation of said operation means (2). A disk changer according to any one of the preceding claims comprising a plurality of mechanical deck units (4) and adapted to store error information for all of the mechanical decks (4). A disk changer according to claim 6 wherein the error information comprises a code indicative of which mechanical deck unit (4) is in error.

Inventors: TABE RIKIZO, TANAKA TAMIYA, YAMAMOTO HIROTAKA, YAMAMOTO TAKESHI, TABE, RIKIZO, TANAKA, TAMIYA, YAMAMOTO, HIROTAKA, YAMAMOTO, TAKESHI
Applicants: SONY CORP, SONY CORPORATION
Application year: 1992
Main classification: G11B19
IPC codes: G11B27, G06F11, G11C7, G11B19, G11B20, G11B33