Sony Corporation

Masato Yokota

Nobuhiro Tsurumaki

Toru Yumine

Keiji Tadokoro

Shingo Yamauchi

Mamoru Ishiguro

Mitsutaka Enomoto

A cassette library ( ) is provided with a driving apparatus ( ), cassette housing shelves ( ) and a cassette carrier ( ). A library controller ( ) simulates as if driving apparatuses ( ) having continuous address numbers were apparently used in the host computer ( ) even when physically discontinuous address numbers are allocated to the driving apparatus ( ), thereby making it possible to set occupancy for a driving apparatus with an arbitrary address number. The library controller ( ) has the cassette carrier ( ) automatically carry, at a preset timing, a cleaning cassette from the cassette housing shelf ( ) to the driving apparatus ( ) to clean a recording reproduction head of the driving apparatus ( ) using the cleaning cassette which is then carried back to the housing section in the original cassette housing shelf ( ) after the cleaning work.

Recording medium library device and control method thereof

A recording medium library apparatus made up of a combination of units and capable of readily outputting information representing the configuration and readily collecting management information. A library controller of a recording medium library apparatus recognizes the configuration of a library. Based on the information on the recognized configuration, a status monitoring view showing the actual arrangement of consoles is provided on a display. Part of the statuses of the sections are displayed on the status monitoring view. The library controller collects system information as management information sorted according to the functions or structural part of the library for each function or structure block element and rearranges the collected system information into data in a form which can be outputted all at a time, and the data is recorded as a system information file on, for example, a hard disk.

Recording medium library apparatus and method for operating the same

A library device, that is able to remote-actuate a recording/reproducing apparatus. The library device includes a recording/reproducing unit for recording or reproducing the information using a removable recording medium, a plurality of housing unit that is able to accommodate the recording medium therein, a transporting unit for transporting the recording medium between an optional housing unit in the housing unit and the recording/reproducing unit, and a control unit for controlling the transporting unit and/or the recording/reproducing unit. The control unit selects an operating mode of setting a control operation of permitting external terminal unit to perform the same control as that performed by the control unit or an operating mode of permitting the external terminal unit to perform control limited with respect to the control operation of the control unit, when the transporting unit and/or the recording/reproducing unit is controlled by the external terminal unit. The transporting unit and/or the recording/reproducing unit is controlled by the external terminal unit based on the operational mode selected by the control unit.

Library device and logical number allocating method therefor

Library device, operating mode setting method therefor

A cassette library ( ) is provided with a driving apparatus ( ), cassette housing shelves ( ) and a cassette carrier ( ). A library controller ( ) simulates as if driving apparatuses ( ) having continuous address numbers were apparently used in the. host computer ( ) even when physically discontinuous address numbers are allocated to the driving apparatus ( ), thereby making it possible to set occupancy for a driving apparatus with an arbitrary address number. The library controller ( ) has the cassette carrier ( ) automatically carry, at a preset timing, a cleaning cassette from the cassette housing shelf ( ) to the driving apparatus ( ) to clean a recording reproduction head of the driving apparatus ( ) using the cleaning cassette which is then carried back to the housing section in the original cassette housing shelf ( ) after the cleaning work.

A system for distributing broadcasting material a source station transmits a material signal representing a series of broadcasting material segments, together with a segment data signal containing segment data, such as the absolute start frame number of each segment and the number of frames in each segment. Each of a number of branch stations receives the transmitted material segments and the segment data signal, records the broadcasting material segments, and then files away the broadcasting material segments, for example in a cart machine, in accordance with the received segment data. The transmission may be by way of an artificial satellite, and it is unnecessary for the transmission from the satellite to the branch stations to be synchronised with the transmission from the source station to the satellite.

System for distributing broadcasting material and identifying segment

A cassette autochanger for automatically supplying and selectively reproducing a plurality of cassettes (C) having programs recorded therein comprises a plurality of recording/reproducing devices (3), a plurality of cassette storage locations (5, 6), a cassette transporter (4, 9) for transporting the cassettes (C) between the locations (5, 6) and the devices (3), a first detector (23) for detecting any one of the programs that is recorded in one only of the cassettes (C) , a second detector (23) for detecting two of the devices (3) which are available for use, and a dubbing controller (24) for controlling the two detected devices (3) so that such one of the programs is automatically dubbed on to another cassette (C) using the two detected devices (3). A cassette autochanger system may comprise two cassette autochangers (41A, 41B), the second autochanger (41B) forming a back-up which takes over reproduction using an up-dated reproduction list derived from the first autochanger (41A) in the event of the first autochanger (41A) becoming out of order.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Masato Yokota