Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Yukio Shimura

Nobutoshi Takayama

Shinichi Yamashita

A novel tracking control device and method is disclosed. In the tracking control device and method, digital information is reproduced from a recording medium by a reproducing head, an error contained in the reproduced digital information is detected, and the relative position between the recording medium and the reproducing head is controlled by using the detection result. In addition, an arrangement capable of realizing a high tracking capability with respect to the non-linearity of a track is also disclosed. The arrangement forms a plurality of tracking error signals indicative of positional deviations between the reproducing head and a plurality of divided areas into which each track formed on the recording medium is divided, and selectively uses the plurality of tracking error signals.

Tracking control device

A signal reproducing apparatus is arranged to have two reproduced signals reproduced from a plurality of tracks formed on a magnetic medium by two rotary heads arranged to rotate 180 degrees out of phase with each other and which trace positions shifted from each other, to extract, from the two reproduced signals, two signals having respective different levels used for tracking control, and to perform tracking control by using the two extracted signals to cause the heads to trace positions shifted from a predetermined track. The arrangement enables the heads to stably trace track positions shifted from positions to be traced in the normal reproduction.

Signal reproducing apparatus having rotary heads rotating 180.degree.

In a reproducing apparatus for reproducing an information signal from a recording medium on which a number of recording tracks are formed in parallel to each other and on which the information signal is recorded with a pilot signal component superimposed on the information signal periodically at intervals of a predetermined number of tracks, a pair of reproducing heads are arranged to reproduce signals by concurrently tracing mutually adjacent tracks, a switching part is arranged to selectively output the signals reproduced by the reproducing heads, and the pilot signal component included in the output of the switching part is used in controlling the positions of the reproducing heads relative to the recording medium.

Information signal reproducing apparatus with diverse mode tracking

A plurality of different pilot signal components are selectively superposed on an information signal, and mark signals which can indicate the types of pilot signals to be superposed are recorded, together with the information signal, on tracks on a recording medium, on which the pilot signals associated with the mark signals are recorded. The types of pilot signals can be quickly detected in a reproduction mode, and a satisfactory tracking control state is quickly achieved by modifying the tracking control signal.

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Gunma-ken, Japan

Yukio Shimura