Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Masahiko Kajitani

Soichi Kimura

Kiyoshi Takeda

Tadashi Yoshikawa

Kouji Matsubara

Etsuji Shuda

Yasukata Iyama

Koji Isono

Shuji Sakamoto

Masumi Hirose

A disc changer for sequentially playing back a plurality of discs such as compact discs has a circular tray rotatably mounted on a base for supporting a plurality of discs replacably mounted on a horizontal surface. A drive mechanism rotates the tray and stops the tray to position one of the discs in a playback position. A recorded signal is reproduced from the disc in the playback position by a pickup. The pickup is vertically moved and stopped in a predetermined vertical position by a lifting/lowering mechanism. A pickup cover is disposed over the tray in covering relation to the pickup and the disc in the playback position. The disc changer also has a dust cover hinged to the base, for covering at least the tray, the dust cover having a transparent window extending over the tray.

Disc changer with dust cover

The desired program information are read by an optical bar code reading section from a program medium containing program information for automatic broadcast program recording, such as, channels, dates, start times and end times in bar code form. After the program information thus read have been temporarily stored in a program memory section, a transfer switch is operated so that the program information stored in the program memory section are converted to infrared remote control signals and are then transmitted in a wireless manner to an electronic equipment (e.g., a video tape recorder) to be controlled, thereby recording the program for the recording of the desired broadcast program.

Program recording scheduling apparatus using an optical reader

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Masahiko Kajitani