Recording and reproducing device

Details Recording and reproducing device Recording and reproducing device

1998-12-08

2002-04-16

Teska, Kevin J. (Department: 2123)

Data processing: structural design, modeling, simulation, and em

Emulation

Of peripheral device

C703S021000, C324S754090, C324S755090, C710S038000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06374206

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording and reproducing device mounted in a so-called personal computer. More particularly, the invention relates to a recording and reproducing device in which erroneous recording to a medium caused by erroneous connection of connectors for connecting the body of a personal computer and the recording and reproducing device is prevented.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional recording and reproducing device will be described with reference to
FIGS. 4 and 5
.
FIG. 4
is a perspective view showing a method for connecting the recording and reproducing device and the body of a personal computer (hereinbelow, simply called a computer). On a side face of a recording and reproducing device
41
, a male connector
42
through which a signal is transmitted and received to/from the body of a computer (not shown) is attached. The male connector
42
is constructed in such a manner that a plurality of pin-shaped contacts
42
b
(hereinbelow, when all of the contacts are referred to, they are shown as contacts
42
b
, and when each of the contacts is specified, a suffix is added like “contact
42
b
1
”) are vertically inserted in two rows into a rectangular-parallelepiped insulating stand
42
a
which is made of a resin material.
On the other hand, a flat cable
43
is led from the body of the computer and a female connector
44
is attached to the tip of the flat cable
43
. The female connector
44
is similarly constructed in such a manner that female contacts
44
b
(refer to
FIG. 5
, hereinbelow, the whole contacts are indicated as contacts
44
b
and each of the contacts is specified by adding a suffix like “contact
44
b
1
”) are inserted in two rows into a rectangular-parallelepiped insulating stand
44
a
which is made of a resin material.
In a state where the recording and reproducing device
41
is mounted in the computer body, the male connector
42
and the female connector
44
are fitted together, the contacts of the connectors are connected to each other, and signals are transmitted and received between the recording and reproducing device
41
and the computer body.
A recording head, a spindle motor, and the like (not shown) are assembled in the recording and reproducing device
41
. Data is recorded and reproduced to/from a medium such as a floppy disk (not shown) inserted into the recording and reproducing device
41
in response to signals from the computer body.
FIG. 5
shows the arrangement of the contacts
42
b
in the male connector
42
, the arrangement of the contacts
44
b
in the female connector
44
, and a gate circuit in the recording and reproducing device
41
which is connected to the contacts
42
b.
The contacts
42
b
are arranged in two rows each consisting of
17
contacts in the male connector
42
and the contacts
44
b
are arranged in two rows each consisting of
17
contacts in the female connector
44
. In the male connector
42
, odd-number contacts
42
b
1
,
42
b
3
, . . .
42
b
33
are disposed in one of the rows and even-number contacts
42
b
2
,
42
b
4
, . . .
42
b
34
are disposed in the other row. Similarly, in the female connector
44
, odd-number contacts
44
b
1
,
44
b
3
, . . .
44
b
33
are disposed in one of the rows and even-number contacts
44
b
2
,
44
b
4
, . . .
44
b
34
are disposed in the other row. In a state where the male connector
42
and the female connector
44
are fitted together, the odd-number contacts
42
b
1
,
42
b
3
, . . .
42
b
33
of the male connector
42
are correspondingly connected to the odd-number contacts
44
b
1
,
44
b
3
, . . .
44
b
33
of the female connector
44
, respectively and the even-number contacts
42
b
2
,
42
b
4
, . . .
42
b
34
of the male connector
42
are correspondingly connected to the even-number contacts
44
b
2
,
44
b
4
, . . .
44
b
34
of the female connector
44
, respectively.
The recording and reproducing apparatus
41
has therein a gate array
45
for receiving signals from the computer body. The contacts
42
b
of the male connector
42
and gate circuits
45
g
(hereinbelow, the whole gate circuits are indicated as the gate circuits
45
g
and each of the gate circuits is specified by adding a suffix like “gate circuit
45
g
2
”) in the gate array
45
are connected to each other. The gate circuits
45
g
are constructed by a plurality of logic circuits. The gate circuits
45
g
are connected to a circuit part (not shown) for controlling a recording operation provided in the recording and reproducing device
41
.
When signals are transmitted and received between the computer body and the recording and reproducing device
41
via the male connector
42
and the female connector
44
, signals allocated to the contacts
42
b
of the male connector
42
(similarly, signals allocated to the contacts
44
b
of the female connector
44
) are determined by the numbers of the contacts. In this case, all of the contacts
42
b
1
,
42
b
3
, . . .
42
b
33
(the contacts
44
b
1
,
44
b
3
, . . .
44
b
33
in the female connector
44
) arranged in odd-number positions are uniformly grounded and signals are allocated to the contacts
42
b
2
,
42
b
4
, . . .
42
b
34
(the contacts
44
b
2
,
44
b
4
, . . .
44
b
34
in the female connector
44
) which are arranged in even-number positions.
The odd-number contacts
42
b
1
,
42
b
3
. . .
42
b
33
of the male connector
42
are grounded in the recording and reproducing device
41
(for instance, in the gate array
45
) via an earthing conductor
46
. The odd-number contacts
44
b
1
,
44
b
3
, . . .
44
b
33
of the female connector
44
are grounded via an earthing conductor
47
on the computer body side.
The even-number contacts
42
b
2
,
42
b
4
,
42
b
8
,
42
b
10
, and
42
b
12
in the male connector
42
are connected to gate circuits
45
g
2
,
45
g
4
,
45
g
8
,
45
g
10
, and
45
g
12
, respectively. Since the contact
42
b
6
is redundant, it is not connected to the gate circuit and serves as a so-called dead terminal.
As signals transmitted and received between the recording and reproducing device
41
and the computer body, there are a signal such as a reproduction signal from a recording medium, which is transmitted from the recording and reproducing device
41
to the computer body and signals such as a motor-on signal M/O, a motor step signal M/S, a write gate signal W/G, a drive select signal D/S, and a write data signal W/D transmitted from the computer body to the recording and reproducing device
41
.
The motor-on signal M/O is a signal for rotating the spindle motor which rotates the recording medium. When the signal is at the low level (Lo), the spindle motor is rotated. When the signal is at the high level (Hi), the rotation is stopped. The motor step signal M/S is a signal for moving the recording head. When the motor step signal M/S changes from the low level (Lo) to the high level (Hi), the recording head is moved. The write gate signal W/G is used for providing a write instruction to write the write data signal W/D to the recording medium. When the write gate signal is at the low level (Lo), the writing instruction is provided. When the signal is at the high level (Hi), the write instruction is cancelled. The drive select signal D/S is a signal for controlling the whole recording operation. When the signal is at the low level (Lo), the whole circuit part (not shown) for controlling the recording operation in the recording and reproducing device
41
is made operative. When the signal is at the high level (Hi), the whole circuit part is made inoperative. When the drive select signal D/S is at the low level (Lo), therefore, the operation of the circuit part for controlling the recording operation to which the motor-on signal M/O, the motor step signal MIS, and the write gate signal W/G are supplied is controlled.
The write gate signal W/G is allocated to the contact
42
b
2
, the write data signal W/D is allocated to the contact
42
b
4
, the motor-on signal M/O is allocated to the contact
42
b

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