# US 5,502,700 A · Power saving method and apparatus for intermittently reading reproduction apparatus

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- Number: US 5,502,700 A
- Document ID: US5502700A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 08/314,064
- Filed: 1994-09-28
- Granted: 1996-03-26
- Earliest claimed: 1992-07-09
- Assignees: Sony Corporation
- Inventors: Akira Shinada
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5502700A

## CPC

- G11B 20/10527: {Audio or video recording; Data buffering arrangements (G11B20/12 - G11B20/18 take precedence)}
- G11B 19/00: Driving, starting, stopping record carriers not specifically of filamentary or web form, or of supports therefor; Control thereof; Control of operating function {; Driving both disc and head}
- G11B 19/02: Control of operating function, e.g. switching from recording to reproducing
- G11B 19/20: Driving; Starting; Stopping; Control thereof
- G11B 27/005: {Reproducing at a different information rate from the information rate of recording (for television signals H04N5/783)}
- G11B 27/11: by using information not detectable on the record carrier
- G11B 27/36: Monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing {(for digital recording G11B20/00 and s.gr.; for monitoring, testing or measuring of TV recorders of the type covered by H04N5/76 and subgroups, see H04N17/06)}
- G11B 2020/10685: {input interface, i.e. the way data enter the buffer, e.g. by informing the sender that the buffer is busy}
- G11B 2020/10731: {wherein the buffer I/O can be temporarily suspended, e.g. by refusing to accept further data to be buffered}
- G11B 2020/1074: {involving a specific threshold value}
- G11B 2220/20: Disc-shaped record carriers
- G11B 2220/2525: Magneto-optical [MO] discs
- G11B 2220/2545: CDs
- G11B 2220/65: wherein solid state memory is used for storing indexing information or metadata
- G11B 2220/90: Tape-like record carriers
- G11B 2220/913: Digital audio tape [DAT] format
- G11B: INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER (recording measured values in a way that does not require playback through a transducer G01D9/00; recording or playback apparatus using mechanically marked tape, e.g. punched paper tape, or using unit records, e.g. punched or magnetically marked cards G06K; transferring data from one type of record carrier to another G06K1/18; circuits for coupling output of reproducer to radio receiver H04B1/20; gramophone pick-ups or like acoustic electromechanical transducers or circuits therefor H04R)

## Abstract

A reproducing or recording/reproducing apparatus having a constitution in which produced data read from a recording medium is stored in memory at a first transfer rate in a unit time and the stored data is read at a second transfer rate lower than the first transfer rate in the unit time. An operation of means for reading the reproduced data from the recording medium is stopped when an mount of the data accumulated in the storage means gets larger than a predetermined amount, allowing to save the power for driving the apparatus.

## Claims

### Claim 1

Any one of a reproducing apparatus and a recording/reproducing apparatus comprising:
data reading means for reading data from a recording medium;
driven means, supplied with a drive signal from a driving means, for driving the recording medium with respect to the data reading means;
buffer memory means into which reproduced data read from the recording medium by the data reading means is written at a first transfer rate and from which the stored reproduced data is read at a second transfer rate, the second transfer rate being lower than the first transfer rate;
switching means for selectively switching off power to the driving means such that the driving means does not provide the drive signal to the driven means; and
control means for controlling an on/off switching operation of the switching means according to an amount of the reproduced data accumulated in the storage means.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

Any one of a reproducing apparatus and a recording/reproducing apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein.
when the amount of the reproduced data accumulated in the storage means is smaller than a predetermined amount, the control means controls the switching means to supply power to the drive means, such that the drive means supplies the drive signal to the driving means, and
when the amount of the reproduced data accumulated in the storage means is greater than the predetermined amount, the control means controls the switching means to shut off power to the drive means, such that the drive means does not supply the drive signal to the driving means.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

Any one of a reproducing apparatus and a recording/reproducing apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the predetermined amount is greater than an amount of the reproduced data read from the storage means, at the second transfer rate, between a time when the control means controls the switching means to shut off power to the driving means, such that the driving means does not provide the drive signal to the driven means, and a time when the control means controls the switching means to supply power to the driving means, such that the driving means provides the drive signal to the driven means.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

Any one of a reproducing apparatus and a recording/reproducing apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the driven means comprises at least any one or more of a focus coil, a tracking coil, a spindle motor, and a feed motor.