Pioneer Electronic Corporation

Fumio Endo

Toshiyuki Kimura

Yoshio Aoyagi

Hitoshi Sato

Akira Hayama

Kiyoshi Furukawa

Junichi Nishida

Kenji Kaneko

Kazuhiro Kiyoura

Kazunari Nakamura

Yoshiya Nonaka

Kiyoshi Morikawa

Yoshinori Yamada

Yasunao Go

Youichi Yamazaki

Yoichi Yamazaki

Mitsuo Syoji

Hiroyuki Komata

An audio disk/memory disk player. At the time of playing a disk, TOC information in a lead-in area will be read out first after loading of the disk is complete. The player determines whether the disk to be played is an audio disk (CD) or a memory disk (CD-ROM) based on identifying information in the TOC information. If the disk is the memory disk, the operation goes directly to a pause mode so that upon reception of a read command transition to the searching for a designated address is promptly executed to quickly read out the desired data. Only when the disk being played is the audio disk, the audio system is changed to the audio disk from another source, thus permitting a user to view a map while listening to the previous source. When playing for an area having a series of group information recorded is complete in special play mode, the mode is quickly changed to the pause mode in the case of the memory disk to wait for the read command, thus ensuring quick reading of designated map data. If the disk discrimination result indicates the memory disk, a muting process is performed to inhibit a sound generation from a loudspeaker. If in this case there are operation commands originating from erroneous confirmation by the user, at least one of the commands is ignored.

Disk player having automatic control based upon audio disk or memory disk determination

A disk selection control device for a multidisk player, in which disk content identifying information and TOC information of the disks are preliminarily stored correspondingly with each other, and the disk content identifying information and disk holding position information of the disks are stored correspondingly with each other according to the TOC information when it is read-out. By inputting the disk content identifying information, the disk holding position information corresponding to the input disk content identifying information can be obtained from the above correspondency therebetween to thereby select a desired disk.

Disk selection control device for multidisk player

A decoder is provided for decoding a sub-code recorded in a predetermined area of each of a CD and a CD-ROM. The CD and CD-ROM are discriminated based on the decoded sub-code. When CD-ROM is discriminated, an output signal of a pickup is prevented from being reproduced.

Reproducing system of a multi-type CD player

A map display apparatus for displaying a wide area map and an enlarged map is disclosed. When a display mode is shifted from the mode of displaying the enlarged map to the mode of displaying the wide area map, a cursor frame is displayed on a position on a parent screen corresponding to the divided area which has been displayed in an enlarged manner just before the shift of the display mode, so that the position on the parent screen of the area which has been displayed in the enlarged manner so far can be easily discriminated.

Map display apparatus

A display apparatus for a multidisk player including a memory for storing data of titles and disk kinds for a plurality of disks, and a controller for reading all the stored data and displaying the title and the disk kind of each disk on a display in accordance with the read data. Accordingly, a user can acknowledge the content of each disk at a glance without actually playing the disks. Furthermore, the user can conveniently distinguish an audio disk from a ROM disk and select a desired one of these disks.

Multidisk player including a display that indicates titles and kinds of

A compact disk player for playing back data recorded on a compact disk. The compact disk has a surface on which a lead-in area, a program area and a lead-out area are distinctly provided. The program area contains data to be played back to which an address is allocated. The compact disk player includes a pickup and a servo mechanism for controlling the position of the pickup. The compact disk player further includes a controller for servo-locking the pickup to a position where the reading of the data contained in the program area is interrupted and controlling the servo mechanism so that the pickup is positioned in a predetermined position allocated with a predetermined address for the sake of subsequent resumption of the data reading if an address of the servo-locked position is outside the program area.

Compact disk player

An automatic loading disc player comprising a detection system for preventing mistaken insertion of a compact disc which is smaller than the conventional disc. The disc player comprises conveying rollers for conveying the disc to a disc playing position and returning the disc to a disc insertion position. The disc player further comprises a first detection means provided near the conveying rollers for detecting the presence or absence of a data recording disc, a second means for detecting when a data recording disc is loaded at the disc playing position, and a control means for controlling the driving of the conveying rollers in the forward or reverse direction, the control means operating to stop the driving of the conveying rollers in the forward direction when, in loading a data recording disc, the detection of the presence of the disc by the first detecting means is interrupted before the second detecting means detects the completion of loading of the disc.

Automatic loading disc player

In a disk player, upon the lock-in of the focus servo at the turn-on of the main power source, the information recorded on an information recording disk is read and the sub-code information such as frame numbers, time code, or the like which are obtained from the read output are set to fundamental information for generation of random numbers in the random play mode, so that the initial value for the random numbers is set at random. The programs can be played in accordance with the different sequences even for the same disk. A preferable random-play control can be performed.

Random-play control system in disk player

An electronic unit operable in conjunction with a body unit and used by mounting it on an automotive vehicle. The electronic unit includes first and second connectors which produces a coupled-status signal when the electronic unit is coupled to the body unit and a decoupled-status signal when the electronic unit is decoupled from the body unit. A microcomputer is coupled to the first connector and is selectively placed to a start mode when the coupled-status signal is received from the first connector and to a stop mode when the decoupled-status signal is received therefrom. The microcomputer produces clock pulses when it is in the start mode and a stop signal when it is in the stop mode. A timer is coupled to the microcomputer and outputs a reset signal to the microcomputer when the clock pulses are not received for more than a predetermined period of time. The timer further inhibits the reset signal from being outputted when the stop signal is received. In the electronic unit thus arranged, resetting of the microcomputer is ensured should the same be in a runaway condition.

Electronic unit operable in conjunction with body unit

A disk playing method for a compact disk player or the like in which the time before the start of the playback of designated portion of the disk is reduced. An accumulated total time code is read in the led-in area of the disk, and a predetermined code is detected during this reading operation. If though the predetermined code cannot be detected in reading the accumulated total time code, a frame calculation is carried out to jump the pickup of the disk player across tracks to read another accumulated total time code, whereupon, after the predetermined code has been read, necessary data is read from the lead-in region.

Disk playing method for disk player

The invention provides an improved playing method for a CD (compact disk) player whereby the same selection is inhibited from being played twice in a row. Also, disks and selections more in accordance with the user's preference are played more frequently. Volume and other playing characteristics are automatically adjusted for each disk in accordance with stored values corresponding to manual adjustments made the first time the disk was played.

Playing method for disk player

A tracking miss control system for a disk player can be used in which small track misses purposely are not detected. The allowable range of the returning operation is increased with the frequency of the tracking miss. Thus, when the frequency of the tracking miss is high, track misses will be detected with a larger tolerance than when the frequency of the tracking miss is low.

Disk player and disk playing method in which tracking miss tolerance is

A method for operating a disk player in which playing can be continued, even if the selected disk cannot be played for one reason or the other and in with which damage to disks, such as may be caused by vibration in a vehicle-based disk player system, is effectively prevented. When the presence of a magazine set in the disk player is initially detected, trays from the magazine are conveyed one by one to a playing position. When no disk is detected on the trays thus conveyed, the respective magazine is ejected.

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Kawagoe, Japan

Fumio Endo