Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Kenjiro Nakamura

Naohisa Tanabe

Ryuichi Sakai

Kazuhide Yanase

Katsunori Mochida

A tape medium running device which can more correctly detect erroneous detection of a winding diameter, prevent an approach from being made to the end of the magnetic recording tape at high running speed and causing a damage on the tape, and can shorten fast forwarding/rewinding time. In this device, a winding diameter change detecting unit detects a change in winding diameter, and a ratio of a detected change in diameter and a maximum value of changes in winding diameter having been detected previously is compared with a predetermined winding diameter change comparison reference to detect abnormality. Thus, it is possible to prevent any approach from being made to the end of the magnetic recording tape at a high running speed based on an erroneous detection to causing a damage on the tape, and to shorten time for fast forwarding and rewinding.

Tape medium running device

A tape-like medium running device realizes a reduction of a fast-forwarding time and a rewinding time by running a tape-like medium at a high speed up to a marginal point near a leading end or a tail end of the tape-like medium during a fast-forward and a rewind operation. For this purpose, rotating speed of a motor is gradually slowed down with the lapse of time from a high target speed and then settled at a low target speed, if an irregularity detection unit determines there is an irregular condition based on an output of a wound-up diameter detector. The invention can thus allows a setting of a wound-up diameter comparison reference value at the marginal point near the leading end when rewinding (or, the marginal point near the tail end when fast-forwarding), and minimize a time during which the motor rotates at the low target speed.

Tape-like medium running device

A digital signal is recorded with resolutions maintained and the disturbance of reproduced video and/or audio associated with changes of a recording rate of the digital signal is suppressed to minimum. A digital signal recording apparatus for recording a digital signal having a variable recording rate representing a recording speed, said apparatus comprising a receiving section which receives the digital signal; a recording rate detecting section which detects the recording rate of the digital signal received at the receiving section; a storage section which stores a detected recording rate when said detected recording rate is greater than a previously stored recording rate, whereby said storage section stores a maximum recording rate; and a recording section which is operable to record the digital signal in a recording medium based on the maximum recording rate stored in the storage section.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Kenjiro Nakamura