Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~85iC~7
Description
"DICTATION DISPLAY DEVICE"
This applica-tion is a division of Canadian patent
application Serial No. 343,155 filed January 7, 1980.
Technical Field
The present invention relates to dictation recording
and transcription systems and to displays for use in connection
with dictate stations and transcribe stations which alert the
users thereof to the mode in which the equipment is currently
operating, and various parameters of dictation segments.
Background of the Invention
In dictation recording and transcribing equipment it
is desirable to alert both the dictator and the transcriber to
various states of machine operation and parameters of dictation
segments.
In dictation equipment using discrete
record members, such as tape cassettes, it is
desirable not only to provide information to the
transcriber as to the mode in which a transcribe unit
is operating, but also to provide a visual display
d~noting the end points of dictation segments and the
~ ~5~ ~
_ location of certain instructions which have been
recorded on the tape. It is known in the art to
provide ~echanical counters on dictation ~nits which
are coupled to a tape transport in ord~r to indicate
the amount of tape in a particular cassette whlch has
been transcribed. ~urthexmore, ~t is known to
provl~e a linear strip upon which visible indications
of the ends of dictatlon segment~ and the location of.
instructions are printed either by ink, u~e of heat
sensitive pa~er, or some other means.
~ore recent developments have provided a
plurality o~ light-emitting segments which are
maintained in a 1 it or unlit state ~s signals of a
particular characteristic are located during a rewind
operation. Such displays use a linear array of light
emi~tin~ segments, each vf which corresponds to a
certain ~osition on he tape in a discre e tape
carrier. Conventionally the right~hand side ~as the
user faces the display) represents the end of the
tape ana the le~t-hand side represents the beginning.
Regardless of which side of the array represents
which er.d of the tape, these displays have eQtered
the signal from tbe end of the display which
represents the end o tape. When ~ess than all o
the taoe in a discrete tape ~arrier has been used for
dictation the physical end of the recording tape is
reached prior to the end of the array. T~erefore,
this type of display requires that two steps be
carried out by the operator in order to make the
information in the display most useful. ~irst the
operator ~ust completely rewind the tape ~n the
discrete tape carrier in order to ~ill~ the display
wi~h the information available on the tape a~ to
location of ends of di~tation seg~ents and locations
3s of instruCtionS- 5econdly, when ehe physica1
3 ~8SV~7
beginning of the tape is reached the entire contents of the
display must be justified ~conventionally to the left) in order
that the beginning of the physical tape correspon~s to the portion
of the array which represents the beginning o~ the tape.
At a dictate station in a dictation recording and
transcribing system it has been known to provide a visible in-
dication that a dic~ate station is operating in a recording mode.
It has ~urther been known to provide indicia on a strip of paper
or the like which will indicate to the user the length o~ the
dictation segment currently being dictated.
Summar ~of the Invention
The invention to which the claims of this divisional
application are specifically directed pertains to a dictation
recording system including a dictate station which has means for
generating an end signal and means for recording the end signal
on a record medium to delimit the end of a segment of dictation,
and includes motion signal means for providing a motion signal
in response to an increment of the record medium moving past a
predetermined reference point. A transport provides for selective-
ly moving the record medium in a forward direction and a reverse
direction and an end mark detector is provided for detecting a
previously-recorded end signal and providing a detected end
signal. An improved display apparatus for the dictation station
is provided for maintaining a visual representation of the location
of the reference point within the present one of a plurality of
segments of dictation on the record medium. The apparatus includes
direction detecting means for providing a forward signal when the
record medium is moving in the forward direction and a reverse
signal when the record medium is moving in the reverse direction.
Up/down counting means is responsive to the motion signal~ the
forward signal, and the reverse signal, and is incremented upon
each concurrence of the motion signal and the forward signal and
decremented upon each concurrence of the motion signal, and the
reverse signal. Display means is connected to the counting means
for displaying the count maintained by the coun~ing means as the
visual representation of the location of the reference point
within the present dictation segment. Control means responsive to
the detected end signal and the reverse signal render the counting
means unresponsive to increment and decrement upon the exit from
3a
the present one of a plurality of segments of dictation when
moving the record medium in the reverse direction. The inhibit
means is further responsive to the detected end signal and the
forward signal for rendering the counting means responsive to
increment and decrement upon the reentry of the present one of
the plurality of segments of dictation when moving the record
medium in the forward direction. Thus, the display means is
rendered inoperative to display the loca-tion of the reference
point upon the exit in the reverse direction from the present
segment of dictation and until the return in the forward direction
to the present segment.
More particularly, the present invention as disclosed
provides a visual display unit for both a dictate station and a
~ranscribe station in a dictation recording and transcription
system. According to one aspect of the present invention, a
plurality of selectively actuable visible indicators, which pre-
ferably comprise lighted segments is provided, each of which
represents a location on the recording medium of a discrete record-
ing member such as a conventional tape cassette. The array of
lighted segments is preferably linear and one end of this array
(preferably the left-hand end as viewed by the user) always
represents the location of the farthest point reached when the
tape is winding in a predetermined direction.
According to a preferred form of the present invention
when an unrewound tape containing dictation is supplied to the
transcribe station and rewinding toward the beginning of the
tape is commenced, the leftmost segment of -the array
~ s~
represents the farthest point reached during rewind.
~his point is closest to the beginning o~ the tape
that has been reached. If the tape is subsequently
moved in a forward direction, the leftmost segment of
the array will still represent the poin~ nearest ~he
beginning of the tape that has been reached during
any previous rewinding of that tape.
According to another aspect of the present.
invention, control circuitry is prov;ded which i5
responsive to the detection of signals denoting the
end of a dictation segment and the location of
lnstruction~ or the transcriber. The control
circuitry is arranged so that the location of one
type of mark will be represented ~y a steadily
illuminated segment of the array, and the location of
the other type of mark will be represented by an
intermitt2ntly lighted segment of the array7
According to still another aspect of the
present invention, signals denotîng the location of
ends of dictation segments and locations o~
lnstruction signals are always entered from one end
of the array ~preferablv the left). Since the same
end of the array repre~ents the farthest position
reached on the tape by winding in a predetermined
direction (conventionally rewind), a display is
provided which re~uires no separate justification
operation in order to provide the user with a visual
display which accurately represents the tape within
the tape carrier.
When rewinding stops and forward tape
movemen~ begins a shutter is provided wh;ch comprises
a contiguous set of the lighted segments beginning at
the leftmos~ segment. As forward movement of the
tape progresses, the ri~ht hand end of the shutter
moves ~o the right. If rewinding is again commenced,
~s~
the sh~tter retreats toward the left hand side of the
array until it disappears when the farthest point
reached during a previous rewind is again reached.
I~ rewinding continues, the leftmost segment of the
S array continuously represents the new farthest point
reached during rewind and the lighted se~ments
indicatirg ends of dictation seginents a nd
instructions are shifted to the right.
According to another aspect of the present
invention, preferably used in a dictate station,
displays are provided which represent both the
cumulative amount of tape in the tape carrier which
has been used and the length of the present dictation
segment. The display representlng ~ength of the
present dictation segment m2y selectively be rendered
unresponsive eo tape ~ovement when t~e user r~winds
the tape into a previous dictation se~ment, or may be
made Fesponsive to tape movement upon entry into a
previously recorded dictation segment.
According to still another aspect o~ the
present invention, a lighted segment which indicates
to the dictator when a predetermined amount of ta~e
remains for the recording of dictation is provided
and also indicates when the end of t~pe ha~ been
reached.
Other new and useful aspects of the present
~nvention will be apparent to those skilled in the art
from the detailed description of the preferred
embodiment which follows.
3~
rief Description of the_Drawings
Pig. 1~ is a block diagram o~ an
environment of the present invention.
Pig. lB is a pictorial view of the
preferred display output for a transcribe st~tion in
5()~7
the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Pig. lC is a pictorial view of the
preferred display section for a dictation station in
` the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2A is a schematic diagr~m of a
preferred embodi~ent of the circuitry controlling the
transcription display array o Fig. lB.
FigO 2B ~s a schematic diagram of the
circuitry controlling the transcription display
function segments.
F~g. 3A is a p~rtially schematic and
partially block diagram of a prePerred e~bodiment of
the circuitry controllng the di~tation display as
shown in Fig. lC.
Fig. 3B is ~ schematis diagram of the
~ircuitry controlling the end zone segment of the
dictation display of Fig. lC~ appearing with Fig. 2B.
Detailed Descri~tion
Fig. lA shows an environment of the present
invention wherein a dictator 6 records dictation at a
d ictate station 4 on a tape cassette 7. Various
parameters of the dictation being recorded are
displayed on dictation display 8 which is a part of
the presen~ invention.
A cassette containing recorded dictation is
~hown ~s 7' and is supplied to transcribe station 5
~or transcription. ~he progress of a transcription
operation taking place at transcribe station ~ is
3~ monit~red on transcription display 9 which comprises
a part of the present invention.
~ig. lB shows the display outp~t for a
transcription station of the preferred embodiment of
~he present invention~ This display comprises an
array 10 of selectively actuable lighted segments
35V~7
which in the ~referred embodiment disclosed comprises
a linear array of sixty individual segments. The
array of the preferred embodiment is ~electèd to
acco~odate standard C-60 oassettes which will accept
thirty minutes o~ recorded dictation per side. ~ach
segment ~ n the pref erred e~bodiment represents
approxi~ately one-half minute of recordin~ tape ln a
C-60 cassette. It is of course possible to use a
greater or lesser nu~ber of seg~ents in the array and
the choice of sixty disclosed herein is an
implementation of the preferred embodiment and should
not be construed to limit the ~cope of the present
invention.
The pr~ferred embodiment of the
tran~cription display also lncludes selectively
actuable segments 11~ 12, 15 and 16 whlch ~re
llluminated when the transcription unit ~s ~n an
erase, fast forward, reverse, and listen mode
respectiYely. Throughout this description these
segments shall be referred to as ~ode segments.
Each of the segments shown in Fig. lB,
whe~her mode segment~ or segments of linear array 1~,
may comprise any selectlvely actuatable light source.
As shown herein, each ~egment compr~ses a
light em~tt~ng d~ode ~LED), The eeonomics of
manufacturin~ lndica~e that production of a large
number of identical displays ~ould be economically
lmplemented by making each segment an ~ndividual
segment o~ a single liqu~d crystal display. ~t will
be under~tood that any actuatable li~ht oul~ce
~ncluding light butb~, may be used to construct an
embodi~ent o the transc~iption display of the
present invention.
~ig. lC ~hows the preferred embodiment of
the display unit for a dictate 5tation. The
~51~
dictation display also includes mode segments 17,
16', 15', 12' and 1~ which are illuQinated when the
dictate station is in a record, listen/ reverser fast
forward, and telephone mode respectively. The
telephone mode which illuminates mode se~ment 18,
lndicates that the source of the ~nput signal to the
dictate station is a telephone interf ace . Such
telephone interfaces are available as part of.
conventional PBX equipment and the interf ace per se
forms no part of the present lnventlon.
End zone segment 22 is another s21ectively
actuatable light segment, the function of which will
be described in greater detail below"
Total length segment 20 shows a numerical
readout indica'f:ing the total aMount of tape upon
which dictation has been recorded. In the preferred
embodiment shown in Fig. lC, total len~th segment 20
coFlprises a three digit numerical display, two for
- representing minutes, and the th ird d igit
2~ representing tenth5 of minutes. Each numeral in
total length display 20 is for~ed by a eonventional
~even segment device and may be embodiea by a seven
~egment LED displays, liquid crystal displays, ~ixie
tubes, or the like.
Letter length se~ment 21 indicates the
length of the present dictation segment~ Dictation
segments in the environment of the present invention
are defined as segments falling between ~end marks~
recorde~ on the tape. The operation of letter length
segmen~ 21 and its response to ce~tain function
control com~ands will be described in greater detail
below .
The preferred e~bo~iment of the di~tation
display also includes 3 conventional rea~ ti~e clock
19 which per ~e forms no part of the present
,,
~85~
.
invention but is included for the convenience vf the
user.
Transcription Dis~lay OUtDut
The output of the transcription display
shown in ~ig~ lB as it relates to operation of a
transcription station by a user will now be
explained. This sec:tion of the disclosure will
indioate the functioning o the output display as it
relates to operations performed by a transcrlber and
the circuitry controlling the operation of ~his
display will be descrihed in the section immediately
following the present section.
In the transcri~tion display of the present
invention each segment of linear array 10 represen~s
certain location on the tape in a cassette ~eing
transcribed. It ~ s consid2red desirable in a
transcription display to have a particular e~d o the
display represent the farthest point to which the
tape has been wound in a given d~rection~
Conventiorlally, dictated cassettes provided to a
transcriber are left in an unrewound configuration.
Xn most western countries, ~he conventlon of rea~ing
from left to right i~3 preYalent. Ther~fore~ in the
preferred embodiment, the left-hand end of linear
array 10 is chosen as representin~ the farthest point
to which the cassette being transoribed ha~s been
rewound durinq all prevlous rewind operations~, It is
of course possible to use a configuration of lighted
3~ ~egmenes other than a linear ~rray and to select
another polnt on the array to represent the farthest
point to w~i~h the tape has been rewound. Howevert
it is considered preferable to use a llnear array and
urthermore considered preferable that the left-hand
end of the array represent the farthest rewound
1~5~7
position~
~ ~he environment o~ the present invention
contem~lates that the tape provided to ~he
transcriotionist will contain both recorded dictation
and recorded end marks (E ~arks) and instruction
marks ( I marks ) ~ ~he E marks recorded on tbe ~ape
denote the end of a segment o~ dictation such ~3s a
letter or a memorandum. The I marks recorded on the
tape are used to alert the tran~criptionist to the
loca~cion of instructions recorded orl the t~pe by the
dictator~ ~ system for recording 1: marks and I marks
o the type described above is disclosed in 11. S ~
Patent 4~024,354 assigned to the same assignee as ~he
present invention.
~pon placing a cassette upon which
dictationd E marks, ana I marks have been recorde~ ln
a transoription unit, 'che transcr~ber ~7ill
conventionally first begin to rew~nd the tape. The
first mark to be encountered wlll be the last E ~ark
on the tape denoting ~he end of the last d~ctation
segment. This end mark will appear by light~ng 'che
farthest left-hand seg~ent of linear array 10 and
maintaining lt in a con-~tantly lit state~ As the
rewinding of the tape proceed~, the f arthest
2~ left-hana element of linear array 10 wlll be
extinguished and the next contiguous element of
1 inear zrray 10 to th~ right will become i-llumin~ed.
Since the spacing betwe~n each element of linear
array 10 represents a~proximately thirty secon~s of
recording tape, ea~h time thirty second3 of ap~
~approximately fity-~ix inches for convent~onal
cassettes) ls rewound, the lighted se~ment
representin~ the last end marX will be shifted to the
right ~ne segment.
If the last dictation s2gment reoorded on
~s~
the tape was five minutes long, the next to last end
mark will appear at the farthest left-hand element of
the array 10 when the lighted segment representing
the last end ~arX is at the tenth segment fro~ the
S left-hand end of array 10, i.e., under the numeral ~~
which appears in Fig~ lB~ The illuminated segments
representing end mark~ will contin~e to ~bift to the
right so long as the tape is being rewound. ~ssu~e
the next mark encountered on ~he tape being rewound
is an instruction mark. Instruction marks appear at
the left-hand end of the display as an intermittently
lit se~ments o array 10 and thus the segment
representing the location of an I mark wlll flash or
blinX in the display. As the tape continues to be
rewound, the flashing segment representing locativn
of instruction marX will be shifted to the right in
the same manner as the constantly lit segments
representlng end marXs.
If at any time the rewinding procedure
terminates, and the transcriptionist begins listening
~o the rewound portion of the tape~ a second mode o
display for array 10 i9 initiated. ~s the
transcriptionist winds the tape forward, as will be
done when listening to tape while transcribing it,
the farthest left-hand segment of the array 10 will
continue to represent the segment of tape nearest the
beginning of dictation that has been reached during
rewtnd~ This will be referred to a~ the farthest
rewound position of the tapeO As listening
3~ continues~ each se~ment rom the left-hand en~ of
array 10 proceeding to the ri~ht wlll beco~e
con~inuously lit and remain continuously lit. It may
therefore be seen that a ~shutter~ is provided which
indicate~ to the transcriber how far from the
3S farthest rewound position the tape has been advanced
~5~
12
in ~ for~ar~ direction.
Thus, if the transcriber has listened to
five ~.inutes of dictation ~or wound through fl~e
minutes of tape in a fast forward mode) from the
farthest rewound po.qition, the ten segments at the
left-hand end of array lO will remain constantly lit
indicating that the transcriber has advanced in a
forward directlon through five ~inutes o dlctation.-
from th~ farthest rewound position. It may therefore
be seen that the shutter which appears on array 10
comprises a Dlurality of continuously illuminated
contigu~us seg~ents. As the shutter advances over a
blinking segment indicating the presence o~ an I mar~
or a constantly lit segment indicating the presence
of an E ~arX, the segment will rema~n continuously
lit since it is then lncluded in the shutter.
Continuing with ~he example, assume that
the transcriber listene~ to five minute^ vf tape from
the far~hest re~ound position thus illuminating the
~en left-handmost segments of array lO. Assume
urther that the transcriber then recommences
rewinding of the tape. As the tape is rewound, the
shutter will retreat back toward the. left-hand end of
array lO. Any s~gments which have been in the
shutter that represent locations of E marks or I
marks ~ill continue to represent E marks or I marks
as the shutter retreats and thus, E mark seg~ents
remain continuously lit and I mark segments will
blink cn and off once the shutter has retreated to
the leCt past these locations.
Assume that the tape is rewound past the
previous ~arthest rewind position and rewindin~
con~inues. When the farthest rewound pos~tion is
reached, the shutter disa~pears since it will have
retreated,all the way to the left-hand end of array
13
10. As rewlnding eontinues~ a new arthest rewound
position is established, and all E ~arks and I marks
located in the display will aga1n proceed to be
shifted to the right for each thirty seconds of tape
rewound. As additional E marks or I marks are
encountered on the tape during this r2wind operation,
such mar~s will be entered from the left-hand end of
array 10 as described aboYe~
Agaln, l at any point the transcriber
- 10 proceeds to advance the tape in a forward direction,
the left-hand end of array 10 will represent the new
farthest rewound po~ition a~ld the shutter wlll
proceed to advance to the right a~ t~pe is adYanced
in a forward direction.
Therefore it may be seen that the farthest
left-hand segment of array 10 always repr~sents the
farthest rewound po5ition and the presence ~r absence
of the shutter will always indicat~ to the user
whether he or she has advanced the tape in a forward
d~rection from the farthest rewound posltionO
Purthermore, consider that only twenty
minutes of dictation was recorded on the tape within
the transcr~be un~tO If the tape is completely
res~ound~ the fart:hest right-hand end ~ark
~representing ~he end of dictation on the tape) will
~ppear at the fortieth segment from ~he left under
the numeral 20 when the tape ~s co~pletely ~ewound.
Therefore, upon complete rewinding o the tape, the
display whi~h appears in array lO will al~7ays be
properly ~ustiied.
It will be further a~parent that ~P the
tape s on~y partially rewound before tran~crlption
- begins~ the display which appears in array 10 will
al~o be properly ju~tified since the left-hana end of
array lO will represent the point at which lorward
.
S~
14
advance of the tape began. This feature represents a
significanc2 advance over prior lighted segment
displays for transcribe units in that the dlsplay
which apoears in the array is constantly justified
5 and requires no separate step of j~sti~ication after
a rewinding operation. It furthermore allows the
display to always remain properly justified ~hether
the tape being transcribed has been completely
rewound or only partially rewound.
1~ .
Transcription Displa~ Circuitry
Figs. 2A and ~B show a preXerred embodiment
of the circuitry controllin~ the transcription
display o the present lnvention. It will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art from the
description to follow of the circuitry o~ Figs. 2A
and 28 that this circuitry will implement the
functions of the kranscription di3play described in
th2 previous section~
The circultry of ~ig. 2A controls array 10
shown in Fig. lB. ~he preferred embo~iment disclosed
~erein i s constructed using a plurality of ~ ty bit
shlft registers, 25, 25, and 27. ~s wlll be known to
those skilled in the art, shift registers are memory
devices which may be clocked to move the contents of
~ particular memory location to the next contiguous
memory location in a given direction. It ~1 be
apparent to those skllled in the art that sixty bit
shift regmsters may be constructed using large scale
integration~ or a combination o~ smaller medium ~cale
~ntegrated ~;rcuits. As u~ed throughout thi~
specifica~ion~ the oo~cep~ of con~iguvu~ memory
locations comprises memory locatior3s which a~e
contiguous in address, withou~c regard to the physical
proximity of ~he memory locations. It w~ll therefore
.
~85~7
be apparent, that embodiments of the present
invention may be constructed using rand~m access
memories which are controlled by a ~ic~oprocessor and
that in such an embodiment, contiguous memory
S locations comprise me.~ory locations with contiguous
ad~resses according to ehe addressing scheme of the
microprocessor being used. Without regard to whether
a sixty bit shift r gister is oonstructed as a
unitary pack~ge, or a combination of smaller medium
scale i~tegrated circuit shift registers, registers
25, 26 and 27 have be2n ~hown as ~ingle dev~ces for
the sake o~ clarity.
As ~ill become apparent from the
descri~tion below; ~hift register 25 contains ~ignals
~presenting the location of E marks, shit register
2h con'cains signals ~orresponding to the location of
I mar~cs and shift re~ister 27 contains signals
e~ontrolling the location of the shutter. Shif'c
registers 25 and 26 are unidirectional and ~ill be
referrea to as the E ~hlft register and the I sh~f~
register, respeeti-rely, while shift register 27 is
bidirectional and will be referrea to as the shu~ter
O shif t reg ister O
As is known to those skilled in the art,
the contents of ~uch shift registers may be set to
z~ro either through the use of a direct clear input
or through ~he parallel loading of zeros into all
memory locations. Such an operation is des~r~ble
UpOQ the ejection of a tape from the tranScription
un~t. Implementation of this f~nction will be
~pparent ~o those skil led in the art, and such
implementation ha~ been omitted from the circuitry of
Fig. 2A for the sake of clariey.
The outputs of 5hift reqisters 25, 26 and
27 are coupled through driver NOR gates Dl, D2,
16
D3 -D59, and D60. Driver NOR gates Dl--D60 control
light emitting diodes Ll, L2, L3- LS9, and L60. As
shown on ~i9o 2A, light emitting diodes Ll--L60
comprise an array 10' of selectively actuatable light
sources corresponding to array 10 shown in Fig. lA.
It will be understood that NO~ gate drivers
D1--D60 represent 60 NOR gate drivers and that
drivers D4--D58 have been omitted from ~ig. ~A for
clarity .
E mark deteceor 28 is responsive to ~he
detection of E mark signals recorded on the tape in
~he transcribe unit. ~t will be understood that E
mark detector 28 responds to the presence of recorded
~ ~ar~s when the tape is runnin~ in a fast wind mode.
S;milarly, I mark detector 29 responds to the
presenoe of I mark signals reoorded on the tape in
the tr~nscription unit during fast winding. Sucb
detectors may he i~lemented in a ~nown manner by
using t~o filters which respond to the frequencie-c o
the resp ctive 5ignaîs over the range of possible
fast wind s~eeds. ~urthernore, such a detector for
che fas'c wind mod~ is disclosed in U.S. Patent
3,882,S45 assigned to the assignee o the present
i nvent ion r
It will be understood that E mark detector
28 provides a logical one output upon detection of an
E mark recorded on the tape as the recorded E mark
signal passes o~er the playbacX head of the
transcription unit~ Similarly I mark detector 29
will provide a logical one output upon detection of a
signal corresponding to a recorded Y mark.
The preferred embod~ment of the presen~
~nvention is also responsive to the presence of
motion si9nals indicating that the tape is in motion~
gloc~ 30 of Fig. ~A shows a means for providin~
~s~
motion signals. This means comprises a motion sensor
31 which provides outpu~ pulses alon~ line 32 when
the tape is in mo~ion. Such motion sensors are
constructed by forming a mechanical linkage between
either the supply or take-up spi~dles of the tape
transpor~ and providing a ~ransducer such as a 1 ight
chopper or a switch to provide pulses when the tape
is in ~otion. An example of such a motion sensor is.
disclc)sed in U..S~ Pa~ent 3,820,101 assigned to the
same assignee as the present invention.
~he pulses which appear on line 32 are
scaled by coun~er 35 which provides a pulse output on
llne 36 ~hen a prede'cermined number o~ pulses have
appeared on 1 ine 3 ~ . Cs~lnter 3 5 is an up/down
~ounter that ~s respons;ve to the d irection of tape
travel as shown by the conne~tion along 1ine ~3 to
d irection sensor 39. It will be understs:~od by those
skllled in 'che ar'c that counter 35 produces a pulse
upon an overflow or an under1Ow condition. Since in
the preferred embodiment, each segment of array 10
correspond~ to ~pproximately thirty seconds of
recorded dictation and conventional cassette
recordin~ speed is usedJ counter 35 is selected so
that it provides an output pulse on line 36 in
response to a number of pulses present on line 32
which correspond to approximately fifty-six inches of
tape (1-7/8 inches per second times 30 seconds e~uals
5~-1/4 in~hes). Of course other embodiments us~ng a
greater or lesser numb2r of s~gment~ in array 10 or
3~ difEerent tape speeds are poss~ble. In such other
embod iments the prope r s c a 1 i n~ o f coun t e r 3 5 i s
with~n the ordinary level of skill in the art. A
pulse appearing on line 36 trig~ers one shot 37 which
provides a motlon signal pulse at point 38.
The present is~ventisn is also sensitive to
50C)7
lR
the direction of tape movement. This is shown as
block 39 which indicates a conventional direction
sensor which provides a logic~l zero on line 40 when
~ape is moving in a forward direction and a log~cal
one on line 40 when tape ls moving in a reverse
direc~ion. Shown in Fig. 2s is ta~>e present sensor
41 which provides a logical one output when the
presence of a cassette is detected in the transcribe
station and a fast motion sensor 42 which provides a
logical one output to point 45 when pulses appearing
s:n line 32 appear ~t a sufficient rat~ to indicate
that the transcribe station is moving the tape in a
îas~ wind mode,. Implementation of element~ 39, 40,
41 and 42 to provide 'che described outputs is within
the level o ordinary skill in the art.
Erase latch 46 is a conventional ~ndication
that the transcribe station i~ in an erase mode and
provides a logical one on its Q ~sutpu'c when the
~ranscribe station ~s in an erase mode, and a logical
2û zero on ~t~ Q output when the transcribe station is
not in an erase mode. The ~IOT Q output of erase
latch 46 has a lo~ical ~tate that is opposite of tha'c
o E the Q ou ~pu t .
To relate the circuitry shown in ~ig. 2~ 'co
the display shown ~ n Fig . lA, it should be
understood that LED Ll corresponds to, the lef tmQst
segment of array 10. Simil arly LED L2 corresponds to
the second segment from the left-hand end of array 10
an~ LEO L60 corresponds to the rightmost segment of
array 10. From inspection of Fi~. 2A, it will be
~pparen'c ~hat NOR ga~e driver Dl controls LED Ll, NOR
gate driver D~ controls LED L2, and so forth un'cll
NO~ gate driver D60 control3 l.ED I.60~ It may ~urther
be seen ~hat the inpu~s to NOR gate driver Dl
comprise the Ql outputs of shif~ registers 2S, 26 and
~S~7
19
27, which appear on 1 ines El, Il ', and Sl
respectively. It will therefore be appre~iated, that
in the schematic of Fig. 2A, the left-~and end of
~hift registers 25, 26 and 27 represent memory
locations which corres~ond to the lef~-hand end of-
array 10 shown in Fig. lB.
Turning on~e again to ~ig. lA~ it will be
recalled 'chat in the ~onventional enYironment o f the
present invention, tape 7 is removed rom dictate
~tation 4 with recorded dictation wound onto the
taXe-up reel. The first operation at ~ranscribe
station 5 is to rewind ta~e 7 ' in w~ole or in part,.
It is during this rew~nd operation in which the
circu;try shown in Pig. 2A is Pirst activated.
:Rewlnding a portion of the tape 7 ~n elrder to
genera~e a display indicating the location of E marks
and ~ marks is referred to as a scan or scanning
operation. During rewind, the tape, or a track of
he 'cape devoted to E marks and I marks, is scanned
for the preserlce of ~ignals indicating an E mark or
an I markO As the~e are located ~ the circultry of
Fig. 2P. g~nerates a d~ splay which indicates the
positions of E marlcs and S marXs on the tap~.
Note Shat shift registers 25 and 26 are
each provided with a shift inputJ 47 ~nd 48
res3?ect~vely. When a pulse is pro~ided to such a
~hift input, the data stored in memory location 1 is
sh~fted to memory locaeion 2, the da~a ~Q T~emory
location 2 ~s ~hifted to memory location 3 and so
~orth. It will therefore be ~een that wh~ a pulse
appears at shift input 47, the data in the meMory
locations of shift regi~ter 25 all shift to the next
s:oratiguous memory location. In the convention set
~orth h erein, this data may be considered a5 shifting
to the r{gh~ as the circuit ls viewed in Fi~. ~A.
s~
Similarly data is shifted to the right in shift
register 26 when a pulse a~pears at shift input 48.
Sh i f t registers 25 and 26 are also provlded
with DAT~ IN ~DI~ inputs 49 and 50 respectively. Tbe
S data present at DATA I~l input 49 (a logical zero or a
logical one) will be shifted into memory location 1
when a pulse appears on shift input 47. Sim~larly
the data pre~ent at DATR IN input 50 will be shifted
into me~ory location 1 of shift register 26 when a
pulse appears on shift input 48.
The contents of each memory location of
shift registers 25 and 26 are available on parallel
outputs Ql--Q60 of each shift register. Therefore
the contents of me~ory location 1 of shift register
25 appea~ on line El which is connected to the Q1
output of shift register 25; the contents of memory
locati~n 2 of shift register 25 appear on line E2
which is con~ected to the Q2 output o 5hit register
25; and so forth through the contents of memory
location 60 of shift reglster 25 appearing on line
E60~ In a similar ~anner, the contents of memory
locations 1--60 of shift register 26 appear on lines
I60.
Shutter shift register 27 is a
bidirectional shift register which means that data
may be ~hifted in either direction within the
register. This ~hift register is provided with a
direction input 55 ~hich determines the direction in
which the data shlfts in the register when a pulse
~ppears on shift ~nput 560 As shown in FigO 2A, a
~ero pre~ent on direction input 5~ will c~ose data
within re~1ster 27 to shift right when a pul~e
appears on S~IFT input 56 ~nd a one on direction
input 55 will cause da~a to shift left when SHIFT
~nput 56 is pulsed. Some off-the-shelf bidirectional
lL~85~
21
shift registers have two direction inputs which must
be in opposite logical states for the data to shift
right or shift left~ but implementation of a single
line direction input such as direction input 55 shown
in Fig. 2A will be understood by one of ordinary-
s~ill in the art.
Shutter shift register ~7 is provided with
two serial data lnputs ~1 and 52. DATA INPUT RIG~T
~DIR) 51 provides data which is shifted into memory
location 1 when a shit right condition occurs. A
shift right condition is one in which a zero appears
on direction inp~t 55 and a pulse appears on S~IF~
inp~t 56. Similarly, DATA INPUT ~EFT (DIL) 52
provides data whi~h ls shifted into memory location
60 uhen a shift left condition (directis:>n input 55
equals 1, pulse on SRIFT input 56 ) occurs.. As may be
~een rom ~ig . 2A, DIR input 51 ~ s tied to a log ical
one data state and DIL input 52 is tied to a log ~ oal
~ero state. It may therefore be appreciat:ed that
2~ upon each occurrence of a shift right condition a
loyical one will be entered in memory locaJc{on 1 of
shift register 27 and that upon each o~currence of a
shift left condition a îogical zero will be entered
into memory location 60 of shift register 27.
Shift register 27 is also provided with a
2ERO output 57 which goes to a logical one state when
~11 Sixey memory locat~ons of 5hutter shift register
27 contain a zero. Such an output may be available
on an in egrated device, or may bè easily implemen~ed
by a plurality of ~OR gates ~onne~ted to lines
Sl--S60. As will be apparent from the description to
follow, ~h~ embodi~tent of the present ~n~ention
whi~h is disclosed i~ constructed in such a mann~r
that a logical zero at output Ql of shift register 27
nece~sarily implies that outputs ~2--Q60 al~e also
5~
~ero. Therefore t~e state of ZERO output 57 may be
treated simply as the logical inverse of line Sl in
the embodiment shown. In Fig. 2A, the ZERO output
has been shown as a single output 57 or the sake of
simplicity.
Si~ilarly, in an e~odiment of the present
invention using a microprocessor and six~y locations
of random access memory to embody sh~tter shift
re~ister 27, successive testing of all sixty
addresses of random access ~emory correspond ing to
shutter shift register 27 may be implemented by the
microprocessor ln order to determine if ZERO output
57 should be in a logical one state. Since all
- memory locations of shift register 27 to the lef t of
the rightmost location contai~ing a one will also
contain ones (because DIR is tied to log ical one ), a
microprocessor could be used to maintain a record of
the rightmost location containing a one and treat all
locations left of this as filled with ones. Thus it
may be seen that shift register 27 comprises a memory
~ith a plurality of memory locations which is
oharacteri2ed by a numerical order to the memory
locations. For location N, lc7cation N + 1 is the
next higher memory location and location N - 1 is the
next lower memory location. Shifting right as shown
in Fig. 2~ should be con~idered as shiftinq to the
next hig~er memory lo~ation.
Consider, that a tape such as tape 7' as
` shown in ~ig. lA bas been provided to the user of
3~ transcribe statlon 5. As shown in Fig. lA the first
operation ~s ~o rewind a portion of tape ~' or to
rewind it in its entirety. A5 noted above, the
re~indin9 of a portion of tape 7 ' in order to
generate a di~play denoting the location of E marks
and I marks on the tape is called ~ rewind scan
23
opera-tion. This opertion is implemented whenever a tape such
as 7' is being rewound in -transcribe station 5, and the tape
has been wound pas-t its previous farthest rewound position.
In the conventional environment of the present
invention described above, it was noted that an E mark should
be the first signal encountered upon rewinding of tape 7'.
When the E mark is encountered upon rewind, E mark detector
28 provides a pulse on line 68. Line 68 is connected to the
direct set (S) input of flip-flop 69 and therefore sets flip-
flop 69 placing a logical one on line 70 which is connectedto the Q output of flip-flop 69. As may be seen from inspection
of Fig. 2a, flip-flop 69 is a JK flip-flop which includes a
direct SET (S) input, a grounded J input, a K input which is
tied to a logical one, and a negative edge triggered clock
(CLK) input which is connected to line 71. As will be known
to those skilled in the art, when a positive pulse appears
at the direct set input of a JX flip-flop such as flip-flop
69, the flip-flop is set to its Q equals one state without
regard to the state of the other inputs. Therefore, when E
mark detector 28 detects the first E mark during a rewind scan
operation, flip-flop 69 is set providing a one on line 70 to
the data in input of shift register 25.
In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2A, ZERO
output 57 is the parameter by which the display
control circuitry determines whether it is at its
farthest rewound position. Consider for a moment
that a freshly dictated tape is placed in transcribe
station 5 and a rewind scan operation is begun. Under
these conditions, motion sensor 31 will begin to
provide pulses on line 32 which will be counted by
counter 35. When a predetermined number of pulses
~s~
2~
have been counted, a pulse appears on line 36 which
triggers one-shot 37 providing another pulse at point
38.
Note that under a rewind scan operationt
S the output of direction sensor 39 which appears on
line 40 is a logical one. The logical one on line 40
also appears on line 58 as the input to direc~ion
input 55 of shi~t register 27. Therefore~ shift
register 27 is conditioned to shif~ its contents ln a
left-han~ direction upon receipt of a pulse at shif t
input 55. I~ is assumed herein that when the rewind
scan operation begins, the contents of shit register
27 have been cleared to all 2eros in a ~anner
described above. Therefore, a logcal one appears at
l~ 2ER0 output 57 which is provided along line 59 as an
input to NA~ gate 60. NAND gate 60 now has t~o ones
as its inputs and a logical zero output o~ NAND gate
60 appears at point 61. The logical ~ero at point 61
is inverted by inverter 62 and therefore a logical
one appears on line ~5 as an input to AND gat~ 67.
Consider for a moment, that the
above-referenced E mark i5 the only mark located
prior to provision of the first mot~on signal at
- .point 38 by one shot 37. Recall that in the example
given, point 61 is at a logical zero ~tate. Since
point 51 is one input to NAND g~te 72, the lo~ical
zero at point 61 will maintain a logical one state on
line 75 preventing the shifting of data in shift
reglster 27.
The pulse that appears at point 38 is also
pro~ided ~long line 65 as an input to AN~ gat.e 67.
Since line 65 is in its lo~i~al one state, the
appearance of a pulse on line 66 oauses a
: corresponding pulse to appear on line 76, the outpu~
3~ of .WD gate 66. The pulse which appears on line 76
~8~'7
is provided along lines 77 and 78 to shift inputs 47
arld 48 respectively. ~he appearance of a pulse at
shi~t inputs 47 and 48, causes ~he data present at
~ATA It~ inputs 49 and ~0 to be shifted into the first
memory locations of shift registers 25 and 26
respectiYely. Since the example presumes that no I
mark has been detected when the first pulse appears
at point 38, a zero is present at the data in input
of shift register 26 and is shifted into the ~irst
memory location of this resister. Sinee a one is
present on line 70 as the input to DI input 4g of
shift re~ister 25~ a logical one is shifted into the
first memory location of shift register 25.
The pulse which appears on line ?6 ls also
provided as one lnput to OR gate ~9. Through the
action of OR gate 79 the pulse appears at poin~ 80
and is provided alon~ lines 71 and 81 to the clock
inputs of fliQ-flops 69 and 82 respectively.
As described above, flip-flops 69 and B2
~0 have clock inputs whlch are negative edge triggered,
Therefore, as will be known to thos~ skilled in the
axt, the outputs o flip-flops 69 and 82 are not
affected by the rising edge or the logical one state
of the pulses appearing on lines 71 and 81 but the
flip-flop is triggered on the falling ~dge of the
pulses. 5ince both flip-flops 69 and 82 have their J
inputs connected to a logical zero state and their ~
inputs connect~d to a logical one ~tate, the
appearance of a falling edge on their clock input~
will cause the flip-flops either to toggle or remain
in ~ Q equals zero state. It may therefore be
appreciated that, in the example given, flip-flop 82
will remai~ in its Q e~uals zero state, and flip-flop
69 will be ~leared from its Q equals one state to its
Q equals ~ero state~ It will further be appreciated
~s~
2~
that the clearing of f1ip-flop 69 occurs after the
logical one former~y presene on line 70 has been
shifted into the first me~ory location of shift
register 25.
As will be apparent from inspection of Fig.
2A, I mark detector 29 and flip-flop 82 provide
inputs to DATA IN input of shift register 26 in a
fashion which duplicates the operation of E mark
detector ~8 and flip-flop 69 with respect to DA~A IN
input 49 of shift register 25. If during the period
between the ap~earance of the first motion pulse at
point 38 and the second ~otion pulse an I mark is
detected by I mark detector 29, then upsn the
appearance of the second motion pulse, a loglcal one
will be shifted into the first ~emory ~ocation of
shift regi~ter ~60 The fallins edge o th~ pulse
which appears on line 81 will clear flip-~lop e 2
after the aforementioned logical one has been shifted
into the first ~emory location.
Thus it may be seen that when an E ~ark is
detected by detector 28, flip~flop 69 will be set to
: enter a logical one into the first memory location of
shift register 25 upon the next occurrence of a tape
motion signal at point 38~ ~imilarly detection oE an
I mark by I mark detector 29 will assure that a
- logical one is shifted into the ~irst memory location
of shift reglster 26 upon the next occurrence of a
motion signal.
As will be known to those s~illed in the
art, if several motion pulses occur at point 3B, and
both E ~ar~ detector 28 and I mar~ detector 2g have
failed to detect the presence of the respective
signals, zeros will be shifted into the first memory
locations of shift registers 25 and 26 upon each
occurrence of a ~otion signal and the ones which
~s~
27
denote the location of previously detected marks will
be shifted from memory location N to memory location
N -~1 one upon each occurrence of a motion signal.
It may thus be seen that during a rewind
S scan operation, the ~ircuitry of FigO 2h will detect
the presence of E marks and I marks recorded on the
tape and will provide a logical one as the contents
of the first memory location of shi~t registers 25
and 26 whenever such a mark is detected and a motion
signal occurs at point 38. Upon ea~h occurrence of a
motion signal~ the contents of each memory location
of shift registers 25 and 26 will be shifted to the
next contiguous memory location and thereore the
con~ents of memory loczt ions representing the
posîtion of an E mark or an I mark will be shi~ted ~o
the right.
Consider for a moment that the circuitry of
Fiy. 2A is in a state in which a logical one is
present in the second ~emory location of shit
re~ister ~5 and all other locations o~ shift register
25 are equal to zero. Further assume that a logical
one is present in the first memory location of shift
register 26 and all other ~emory locations o shift
register 2~ are equal to zero. A~sume also that
~s during the period used in this example, no further E
mar~s or I marks are detected.
The logical one ~resent in the second
memory location of shlft register ~5 aDpears as a
logical one on line E2 which is provided as one input
to NOR gate driver D2. The logical one on line E2
causes the output of N0~ gate driver D2 to go to its
logical zero state and thus causes current to flow
through light-emit~ing diode L2 causing this diode to
light. Since light-emit~in~ diode L2 corresponds to
the second segment of array 10 shown in Fig. 1~, it
~t35~
28
may be s~en that the second segment from the
left-hand end of array 10 will remain constantly lit
indicating the presence of an E mark.
The I mark located ~n the first memory
location of shift register 26 is provided along line
Il as an inpu~ to AND gate Al. The other input to
AND gate Al is provided by blink clock 85 which is an
oscillator proYiding pulses at a predetermined
requency. Therefore pulses corresponding to the
output of blink clocX 85 will a~pear on line Il' and
therefore as an input to ~OR gate driver Dl. Since
one lnQut to NOR ~ate driYer Dl is continuously
pulsed, and the rema;ninq two inputs to NOR gate
driver Dl are zero, light-e~itting diode Ll will
intermittently conduct current and be cut off~ It
may therefore be seen that light-emitting diode Ll
~hich corresponas to the left~handmost segment o
array 10 in Fig. lB will blink intermittently
indicating the presence of an I mark.
l~pon the next occurrence of the motion
signal at point 3S, zeros will be present at DATA ~N
inputs 49 and 50. ~his will cause a zero to shift
~nto the firs'c memory location of both shift
registers 25 and 260 The logical one wbich was the
~ontents of the second memory location of shif t
re~ister 25 will be shifted to the third memory
location of shift register 25 while at the same time
the logical one which ~as the content~ of the f ~rst
memory location of shift register ~ will be shifted
to the second memory locat1on of shift register 26.-
It will ~hus ~e a~parent, that a logical one outp~t
~11 now ~e present on line E3 frQm shift register 25
and throuqh the action of NOR yate driver D3 will
continuously light lig~t-emitting diode L3 whioh
corresponds to the third se~ment from the lef~ of
~L~85~
29
array 10. The loyical one wh ich is now present in
the second memory location o~ sh i ft register 26 will
cause pulses corresponding to the pulses emitted by
blink clock 85 to appear on the line ~' and through
the action of NOR gate driver D2 will intermittently
light light-emitting diode L2. Therefore when the
aforementioned motion signal appears at point 38, the
continuously lighted segment representing lvcation of
an E mar~ and the intermittently l;ghted segment
representing the location of an I marX each shift one
posi~ion to the right in array 10 shown in ~ig. lB.
It will be further appreciated that if an E
mark and an I mar~ both occur in the same segment of
~ape between consecutive ~otion signals, that the E
lS mark will ~override~ the I mark and the segment
corresponding to that locatio~ will remain
continuously lit due to the characteris'cics of the
~OR gate drivers Dl--DS0.
: Next assume that the rewind scan operation
has stop~ed. This assumption should be made without
regard to whether the tape has been completely
rewound or only partially rewound. Assume that the
operator of transcribe stat ion S now begins to move
tape 7' in a forward direction ln order to begin
~ranscribing the recorded dictation contained on tape
7'. When the circuitry of Fig. 2A is in thls state~
direction sensor 39 is providing a logical zero on
line 40O Thus a logical zero is provided as one
input to N~ND gate 60 which maintains a logical one
a~L point 610 This logical one is inverted by
inverter 62 and maintains a logical zero orl line 65
as one input ~o AND gate S7. ~he presence of a
logical zero as one input to AND gate 67 assures that
a logical zero is maintained on line 76 and tha~ line
76 remains insen;itive to the presence of motion
:,
~L~85~
_ signals appearing at point 38. It ~ay therefore be
seen that when a logical zero is present on line 40,
line 76 will be ~.a~ntained in it3 logical zero state
and no pulses will apoear at the shift inputs 47 and
48 of shift registers 25 and 26. ThereEore, the
contents of shift registers 25 and 26 will remain in
the state in which they were left when forward motion
of the tape first began. It w~ll be appreciated that
as the contents of memory locations and shift
registers 25 and 26 have been shifted to the ri~ht
during th~ rewind scan operation, the contents of
these registers will remain constant when the
operator of transcribe station S moves tape 7' in a
: forward direction. It will further be appreciated
thae the contents of shift reyisters ~S and 26 have
been entered from the left-hand side of shift
registers 25 and 26 which corresponds to entry from
the left-hand end of array 10 and thus ~he display
appearing in array 10 will be left JUstified to the
farthest rewound position of the tape.
The logical zero on line 40 also appears on
line 58 as direction in~ut 55 and thus will condition
shutter shift register 27 to shift right upon the
occurrence of pulses at shift input 56. Recall that
point 61 is now at a logical one state. The logical
one at point 61 is provided as an input to N~ND yate
~2. N~ID gate 72 will then cause the state of line
75 to be at the lnve~se of the logical state at point
38. Thereore, line 75 will remaln in its logioal one
state until the occurrence of a motion signal at
: point 38, The occurrence of a positive going pulse
as a motion signal at point 38 will cause a negative
golng pulse to appear on line 7~ thdt wlll be
provided to shift input 56 of shutter shi~t register
27. The rising edge of the pulse appearing on line
~sv~
75 will cause the memory contents o~ shutter shift
register 27 to shift to the next contiguous memory
location to the rlght. Since the DATA IN RIGHT (DIR)
inpue 51 is tied to a logical one state, a logical
one will then become the contents of the first memory-
location of shutter shift register 27.
Similarly upon the next occurrence of a
motion signal at point 38, the logical one that was
previously the contents of the ~irs~ memory location
of shift register 27 wlll become the contents of the
second memory location, and another logical one from
DATA IN RIÇ~T input 51 will be shifted into the first
~emory location~ Recall that as long as a ~o~ical
zsro appears on line 40, the contents of shift
registers 25 and 26 will remain constant. Therefore,
~n the state described both lines Sl and S2 will b~
in their logl~al one states and since these lines
appear as inpu'cs to NOR gate drivers Dl and D2
respectively, light-emitting diodes Ll and L2 ~
remain constantly lit~ ~pon the next occurrence of a
motion signal at point 38 the first three ~emory
locations of shutter shift register ~ will contain
logical ones and light-emitting diodes Ll--L3 will
O remain constantly lit.
It will therefore be apparent that as tape
is moved in a forward direction, ~ band or shutter of
continuously lighted segments will appear from the
left-hand end of array 10 and proceed toward the
right-hand end o array 10. It will also be
3~ appreciated that the presence of a loglcal one ln
memory locatlon N of shutter shift register 2? (N
e~ual to,a positive integer less than or equal to
sixty~ necessarily impl ~es that the first N
1 ight-emitting dicdes Ll -LN will remain continuously
lit without regard to the contents of shift regis~ers
32
25 and 26.
~ext assume, that from the state described
lmmediately above, the operator of transcribe station
S again proceeds to rewin~ tape 7'. Under these
conditions, the output on line 40 w:Lll be a logical
one and this logical one will be provided along line
58 to direction input S5 conditioning shutter shift
register 27 to shift in a let-hand direction. Since
the contenes of some memory locations of shu~ter
shift re~ister 27 are equal to one, ~ero output 57
will be held to a logical zero stateO This lo~ical
zero will be provided along line S9 as the other
~nput to ~IAND gate 60. Since a logical zero is
provided along line 59, N~ND gate 60 assures that
point 61 remain~ in a logical one state without
regard to the state o~ line 4d. The logical zero on
line 61 again maintains a logical zero on line 65
through the action of inverter 62 and therefore
maintains a logical zero on line 76 preventing
shifting of the contents of ~emory location~ of shift
reqisters 25 and 26.
As motion signals appears at point 38,
negative ~oing pulses appear on line 75 as the output
O of ~AND gate 72 and upon each rising edge of these
pulses, the contents of shutter shift register ~7
shifts left~ Each time the contents of ~hift
register 27 shifts left, a zero is entered in memory
location 60 of shift reg~ster 27 since the ~ATA INP~T
LEFT (DIL) input 52 is tied to a loglcal zero state.
This state o~ ~vents persists until the
tape reaches the point where the last motion pulse
occurs a~ point 38 prior to reaching the actual
farthese rewound position. ~pon completion of thi~
pulse, tha ~isplay conerol circuitry again assumes a
ttate wherein it will execute a rewind rcanning
~
:
5~
operation. When the last logical one shifts out of
the first memory location of shutter shift register
27, ZERO output 57 goes from a lo~ical zero to a
logical one state.
Assume that the operator of transcribe
station 5 continues to rewind ater this point is
reached. The transition rom logical zero to logical
one whic~ a~pears at ZERO output 57 has two results.
The first result ~s to reestablish the conditions
described above wh~rein the circul try will be
responsive to perform a rewind scanning operation.
Note that a logical one now appears on line 59 and a
logical one also appears on line 40~ This provides
two ones as inputs to NA~D gate 60 which provides a
lS zero at point 61 and a logical one on line 65. As
explained abQve9 this state holds line 75 at its
logical one condition thus preventing shifting of the
contents of memo~y locations of shutter shift
register 27 and enabling AND gate 67 to pass pulses
which appear on line 6 6 onto ~ine 76 thereby
activating ~hift inputs 47 and ~8 of shit registers
25 and 26.
The second result of the transition f~om
zero to one at ZERO output 57 is that this transition
appears on line 86 and trig~ers a positive edge
triggered one shot multivibrator 87. One shot
multivibrator 87 produces a short p~lse on ~ine ~8
which, through the action of OR gate 79, appears at
point 80 and thus on lines 71 and 810 ~uring forward
movement of the tape~ it is also possible to move the
tape in a fas~ forward direction and have the shutter~
advance to the right. As was explained above, the
con~ents of shift regi~ters 25 and 26 do not shift
under these conditions. ~owever, it is possible for
the transcrlptionist to wind the tape in a orward
~4
direction past several recorded E ~arks. Upon
rewindin~ the tape again, E mark detector 28 and I
mark detector 29 would encounter recorded E marks and
I marks and such encounters would set flip-flop~ 69
and 82. It is therefore necessary to clear
flip-flops 69 and 82 once the segment of tape which
contains the previous farthest rewind position of the
tape is entered so that a spurious indication of an E
mark or an I mark will not be shifted into shift
reg~ster 25 or 26 upon the next occurrence of a
motion signal at point 38.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the
artJ the circuitry of ~ig. 2A will ~nam~iguously and
properly record all E mar~s and I marks unles~ the
detection of an E mark or an I mar~ occurs
simultaneousIy with a motion signal from point 38.
It is to be noted that the transition from zero to
one at ZER0 output 57 denotes that the partlcular
segment of ~ape containing the farthest rewound
position of the tape has been entered~ In the
preferred embodiment disclosed herein, the ~egments
of tape between motion pulses represen~ approxi~ately
thirty seconds of dictated material. However, the
provision of a greater number of memory locations in
:25 the shutter shift register, will lncrease the
resolution and thus it could be dekermined with more
accuracy when the farthest rewoun~ position of the
tape had been reached. Fro~ the foregoing it will be
apparent to those skilled in the art that shutter
shift register 27 not only provides contiguous memory
ocations for signals representin~ location o the
shutterr but also provides an advance position means
for determining when the tape has been wound to i~s
previous farthest rewound position.
After the clearing of flip-flops 69 and 82
~5Çal~7
_ by the pulsed output of one shot multivibrator 87, a
rewind scan operation will continue as described
bereinabove until the beginning of the tape (end of
the rewind) has been reached. At this point, the
S f arthest left-hand segment o~ array 10 shown in Fig.
lB (which corresponds to LED Ll of array 10 ' shown in
Fig. 2A~ will represent the beginning of dictation on
the tape 7' at transcri~e station 5.
From the foregoing it should also be
apparent that at any given point during operation of
trans~ribe station 5, light-emitting diode Ll will
correspond to the se~ment o~ tape containing the
arthest rewound position at that time. It will
furthermore be apparent that any se~uential
combination of orward movement of the tape and
reYerse movement of the tape may be performed by the
operator of transcribe station 5 and the display of
FigO lB will always be left justified, the leftmost
end representing the farthest rewound position. ~7hen
the tape is being moved within a segment of tape
~hich has been advanced forward of the farthest
rewound position, shutter shift register 27 will
shift its memory contents left and right and the
shutter ~11 appear in array 10 and corresponaingly
~ove left and right. When the farthest rewound
position has been reached, the entire contents of
shutter shift register 60 will be equal to ~ero, 2~R0
output 57 wlll go to its logical one state~ and shift
regis~ers 25 and ~6 will begin to accept newly
3~ detected E marks and I marksO
Turnin~ to F~g~ 2B, light-emi~cting diodes
111, 112, 115 and. 116, correspond to 5egments 11~ 12,
15 and 16 respect~vely c:f the display output shown in
Pig. lB. Since tape present sensor 41 provides a
logical one when a tape is present in transcribe
~8S~7
36
station 5, and fast motion sensor 42 provides a
logical one to point 45 when it detects that the tape
is in a ~ast rewind mode, it will be apparent to
those skilled in the art that the logic gates within
block 90 will turn off light-emitting diodes 111 J
112, 115 and 116 whenever a tape is not present in
transcribe station S; and that light~e~itting diode
111 will be ill~minated when the transcribe station.
is in an erase mode, LED 112 will be illuminated when
the transcribe station ~s in a fast forward mode, LED
1}5 will be illuminated when tape is b~ing reversed,
and LED 116 will be illuminated when the transcribe
station is in a listen or forward play ~oae.
The Dictation Display of the Present Invention
Figs~ 3A and 3~ show a preferred embodiment
oÇ the circultry controlling the dictation display
shown in Fig. lC ~f the present i~vention. To
interface with this control circuitry several logical
~0 sensors are provided in dictate station A ~hown in
Fig. lA. This is indicated by the block 4' on Fig.
3A. These sensors include reeord latch 120 which
provides a logical one output when the dictate
station is in a record ~ode, direction sensor 39
which is identical to direction sensor 39 sho~n in
Fig. 2A9 motion 5ensor and 5caler 30' which is
~dentical to block 30 shown in ~ig. 2A except that it
is scaled to provide approximately ten motion signals
per minute of tape rather than two as does block 30
ln Fig. ~A. Logical sensors also include telephone
~nterface sensor 121 which provides a log~cal one~
when the source ~ signals co~ing into the dictate
station ls a con~entional t~le~hone lnterfa~e, eject
sensor 122 which provides a logical one pulse when an
eject command is received by the dictate stationO and
37
E mark generator 125. E mark generator 125 as shown
in Fig. 3A provides a logical one pulse whenever t~e
E ~ark generator ls activated to record a signal
denot;ng an E mark on the tape. The signal path f.or
the actual E mark signal is not shown and it is to be
understood that E mark generator 125 as shown in ~ig.
3A only shows an output providing a pulse indicating
that an E m~rk is belng recorded. E mar~ detector
28' is identical to E mark detector 28 as shown in
~ig. 2A except that E mark detector 28' will also
dete~t E marks when tape is belng run at a normal
playbacX speed. The addition of a ilter ls~ parallel
with apparatus such as E mark detector 28 in order to
implement this function will be apparent to those of
ordinary skill in the art.
The Total Length Counter
.
Total length display indicator 20 ~ndicates
'che total distance between the beginning of the t2pe
in a cassette at d~ctate station 4 and the present
loca'cion of the tape wi'ch respect to the record head.
~his assumes the cassette was completely rewound when
placed in the dictate station. ~7hen an ~nrewound
cassette is placed in dictate station ~, the "~ero"
of the total length counter corresponds to the point
to which the tape was wound when placed in the
dictate station~ Total length display 20 is dri.ven
by up~down counter/display decoder 13û through 1 ines
126, It will be understood by those of ordlnary
3a ~k~ll in th~ ~rt, that while three lines are shown as
126, one for each segmen~ o~ display 20, each of
the~ line~ 126 may comprise a plurality of
individual conductors for the control of each segment
or lines carryin~ appropriate multiplexed signals.
Up~down counter/display decoder 130 is a
3~
_. combination up/dowrl counter and seven segment display
decoder (hereina~er ~counter 130"~. As will be
known by those of ordinary skill in the art ~ up/down
counter/display decoders such as counter 130, are
available on a single large scale integrated circuit.
An example of such an I.SI circuit ;s the current
MOSTER rlR 50398 or 50399. Co~nter 130 includes an
~P/NOT DOWN input 131 and clock input 129. As is
known to those of ordinary skill in the art, such a
counter will count up when input 129 is pulsed while
lnput 131 remains in its logical one state and will
count down when input 129 is pulsed when input 131
remains in its logical zero state. This counter also
includes a CLEAR input which is connected to 11ne
132. A positive going pulse on line 132 will set the
counter to zero.
Upon the ejection of a tape from dictaSe
station 4, eject sensor 122 ~rovides a logical one
pulse to point 137 which is provlded along line 132
to the clear input of counter 130. Thus it ~ay be
seen that upon each ejection of a cassette from
dictate station 4 counter 130 is cleared and total
length display ~0 will read all zeros.
Since counter 130 is provided to indicate
^ 25 the present location of the tape relative to the
beginning of the tape, its count is independent o~
whether ~ictate station 4 is in a record mode, a
listen ~ode, or a fast wind mode. It will therefore
be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art
~hat the inpu~s controlling counter 130 will only be
motion signals provided by motion ~ensor and scaler
30' and direction signals provided by direction
~ensor 3~
Direction sensor 39 is the same as
direction sensor 39 shown in Fig. 2A and described
s~
39
above. It provides its output to point 138. The
logical state at point 138 is inverted by inver~er
139, the output of which appears at point 140n As
the tape proceeds to be wound in a forward direction
either by a fast forward opera~ion, a listen
operation or a record operation, motion sensor 30'
begins providing pulses which are referre~3 to as
motion signals herein to point 141~ Point 141 is
connected by line 142 to clock input 129. Therefore
when tape is moving forward UPjDOWN input 131 is held
to a logical one and counter 130 counts up when
pulses appear at CLOCR input 129. When tape is
moving in a reverse direction input 131 is at a
logical zero and counter 130 counts down when input
lS 129 is pulsed~ As counter 130 counts, it~ ~utputs
are provided along lines 126 to ~otal length display
20 .
Letter length display 21 which will also be
referred to as present se~ent display is con~rolled
by up/down counter display decoder 145 ~hereinafter
"counter 145~). Counter lq5 is of the same type as
counter 130 and normally responds to its i~puts in
the manner that counter 130 responds since the ~P~NOT
DOWN input of counter 145 is connected by line 147 to
point 140 and the clo~k input of counter 145 ~s
connected by line 157 to clocX input 129. Present
segment display 21 is driv~n by lines 146 fro~
counter 145.
The CLEAB input of counter 145 i~ connected
to line 149 which is the output o OR ~ate 15~. One
input to OR gate 150 is provided from poînt 151 which
will be at the same logic level as point 137.
There~ore whenever eject sensor 12~ provides a pulse
to poin~ 137 indicating that a tape ha~ been ejected
3S from dictate station 4, this pulse is also p~ovidQd
5V~
to point 151 and throu~h the action of OR gate 150
appears at point 149 thus clearing counter 1~5.
The other inputs to OR gate 150 are lines
152 and 186~ Line 152 is the output of E m~rk
generator l~S. As explained above~ the output of E
mark generator 125 is a pulse whenever an E mark is
being recorded on tape 7. Therefore whenev~r
dictator 6 provides a function control which records
an E mark on tape 7, a pulse appears on line 152
whlch passes through OR gate 150 to llne 149 an~
clears counter 145. It ~ay therefore be seen that
counter 145 will be cleared thus sett~ng presen~
length display seg~ent 21 to zero upon the occurrence
of an eje~tion of a cassette fro~ dictate station 4
or the recording of an E mar~ by dictator 6.
Therefore, whenever an E mark is recorded indicating
the end of the present segmPnt of dictation, presen~
segment display 21 clears to ~ero and i~ conditioned
to begin counting the length o~ the next segment of
dictation.
Counter 145 has a COUNT INHIBIT input
connected to line 156~ When a logical one appears on
line 156 , co~nter 145 will not respond to pulses on
line 157, Inverter 155 causes line 156 to c~rry the
logical i~nerse of line 160. It may therefore be
seen that when a logical one appears on line lSOg
counter 145 will count in exactly the same manner as
counter 139D Therefore it i the logic state o lin~
16 0 wh i ch may ~ nb i bi t cou n ter 14 5 f rc>m cou n t i ng
during times when counter 130 continues to count.
Line 160 is connected to a 2ERO output 16~
of upfdown counter 165~. ~lpfdown counter 165 is oE a
type similar to a TTL74190 counter which is wel 1
known to those o ordinary skill ln the artO This
counter includes a LOAD input 162 which will load the
'7
~1
contents of parallel inputs 166 into co~nter 16S when
a logical ~ero condition appears at LOAD input 162.
~he counter also has a CLOCK (CLK3 input 167 and an
UP/DO~ inp~t 168. Counters of this type will count
up when a logical one appears at UP/DOWN input 168
and CLOC~ input 167 is pulsed. These counters will
count down when a logical zero appears at input 168
and CLOC~ input 167 is pulsed. Note that parallel
inputs 16Ç are connected to ~round which is a logical
zero condition and therefore the appearance of a
loglcal zero at LOAD input 162 will be the equivalent
of a clear function to counter 165.
ZERO output 161 provides a logical one
output on line 1~0 when the count o~ co~nter 16S is
zero. It will be obvious to those o ordinary skill
in the art that such an input ~ay be derived ~y use
of a UOR gate having the same number o inputs as
counter 165 has bi'csD
Counter 165 as shown in Fig~ 3A is the
basic element which is responsive to a condition of
rewinding tape 7 out of the present dictation
segment. It is also responsive to rPen~ry into the
present segment and can be maae selectiYely
responsive to make counter ~45 count through
:25 previously dictated segments by the use of switch
169 .
Switch 169 is a single pole double throw
switch including a contact 170 which may be connected
to a logical 2ero condition at point 171 as shown or
3G to point 172 which will connect contact 170 to the
output of AND gate 175. Contact 1?0 is connected by
~ine 176 to one input o NOR gate 1770
~o make counter 145 responsive only to
movement w~ thin the present dictation segment, assume
that contact 170 is in the position ~hown in ~ig. 3
s~
42
wherein it contacts point 171 and thus provides a
logical zero on line 176. As will be known to those
of ordinary skill in the art, the maintenance of a
logical zero on line 176 will cause ~OR gate 177 to
prov~de the inverse of the logic state appear ng on
line 178 to load input 162~ Note that line 178 is
connected to point 137~ Under these conditions, the
log`ical zero which normally appears at point 137 is
provided to line 178, will be inverted by NOR gate
177 and a logical one will be maintained at LOAD
lnput 162~
When dictator 6 e~ects ~ape 7 from dlctate
station 4, ejection detector 122 provides a positive
pulse to point 137 which is again provided along line
178 and inverted b~ ~70~ gate 177. This provides a
: negative going pulse at LOAD ~nput lS2 which loads
; all zeros into counter 165 thus clearing the count~r.
It may therefore be seen that when swltch 16~ is in
~he state depicted in Fig. ~A, only a pulse from
e~ection detector ~22 will asynchronously clear
counter 165.
Under these sa~e conditions, assume that
dictator 6 ha5 completed a first dictation segment,
provided an E marX on tape 7 which provides a pulse
from E ~ark generator 125 clearing counter 145 and
proceeds to dictate a ~econd dicta~ion segment which
will be referred to as the present dictation segment.,
As the dictator proceeds into the present dictation
segment, counter 145 counts Ul?- Since E marlc
detector 28' has yet to detect an E ~arX the count o~
counter 165 has rema1ned zero throughout this
op~ration-. It is to be understood that E mark
detector 28 will not provide an output pulse when an
E mark is being recorded on the tape but only in
response to ~he detect ion of E ~arlcs prev iously
5(~63'7
~3
_ recorded on the tape~
Next assume that dictator 6 decides to
rewind the tape out o~ the present dictation segment
and into the previous or first dictation segment.
S Upon activation of rewind, counters 130 and 145 begin
counting down. When the E mark which denotes thc end
of the first segment of dictation and the beginning
of the present segment of dictation is detected by E
mark detector 23 a pulse i5 provided a~ point 179 and
~hereby provided to clocX input 167 of counter 165.
Since direction sensor 39 is providing a logical one
at point 138 this lo~ical one is provided to point
180 and thus counter 165 increments its count to one.
When ~ounter 165 counts to one, a logical
~5 zero appears at ZER0 output 161 and is provided along
line lbO to INVERTER 155 ~ausing a logical one to
appear on line 156 and thus counter 14~ ~eases
counting. It should also be apparent that counter
145 was cleared to zero when the E mark denotln~ ~he
end of the irst segment of dictation was recvrded
~nd therefore counter 145 will ~e at its zero coun~
when this E mark is again encountered on rewindO It
will therefore be apparent that as long as counter
165 contains a non-zero count, counter 145 will
remain in its zero count state since it is ~nhibited
by the presence of the logical one on line ~56~
Dictator 6 may then move ~he tape in any
desired fashion within the first dictation se~ment
without afecting the ~ount of ~ither counter 145 or
couneer 165. When the dictator advances the tape
past the E mark denoting the end o~ the first segment
and the beginning of the present and second segment,
E mark detector again pFovides a lo~ical one pulse at
point 179. Since the tape is movin~ in a forward
direction, direction sensor 39 will provide a lo~ical
~L8~
44
_ zero at po;nt 180 which in turn is provided to
~P~DO~ input 168 of counter 165 and causes counter
165 to decrement its count back to zero when a pulse
appears at C~OCR input 167. ~his reestablishes the
logical one at ZERO output 161 and a logical zero on
line 156 and counter 145 then proceeds to count
upward.
I the dictator had recorded several
previous dictation segments prior to rewinding the
10 tape out of the present dictation ~egment, counter
165 will count the number of ~ marks encountered
during rewind to a previous segment. As soon as the
f irst E mark is counted, counter 145 is inhibited
from counting and will remain at its zero coun~.
Upon advancing the tape back toward the present
dictation seg~ent, counter 165 ~ill be decre~en~ed
upon each E ~ark detected by detector ~8 and ~hen the
E marX which denotes the end of the ne~t to last
dictation segmPnt and the beginn~ng of the present
20 dictation segment is encountered, the logical one
appearing at zero output 161 will enable counter 145
to begin counting. It may therefore be s~en that
when a dictator rewind~ the tape out of the present
dictation segment, counter 145 and thereby present
segment display 21 will remain at a zero count until
the present segment of dictation ~s reentered by
winding the tape forward.
Counter 145 and thus present segment
display 21 may be made selectively responsive to
begin counting at the beginning of any previo~sly
recorded dictation segment~ Thi~ accomplished by
placing switch 169 in a state wherein contact 170 is
connected to po~nt 17~. In this configuration,
counters 165 and 145 w~ll respond as previously
described during rewind past the E marks denoting the
~185~
_ end of previous dictation seg.~ents. Note that during
rewind a loglcal one is provided at point 138 which
provides a logical zero at point 140. Point 140 is
connected to point 181 by line 182. Point 181 is
S also connected to line 185 which is one input to AND
gate 175. Therefore, when direction sensor 39
detects that the ta~e is being rewo~nd, a zero
appears on line 185 maintaining a logical zero at
point 172 thro~gh the ac~ion of AND ga~e 175~
When the dictator stops in a previously
recorded dictation segment and bP~ins to advance the
tape in a forward direction, point 140 and line 185
go to a logical one state. Upon the next encoun~er
of a recorded E mark, a pulse appears at point 1~9
and is provided as the other input to ~ND ~ate 175~
Therefore, a pulse will appear at point 172 whioh, in
the configuration described, will provide a negative
going pulse at load input 162 through the actiGn of
NOR gate 177. As previously described, this will
load all zeros into counter 165 which causes a
logical one to appear at zero output 161 thereby
enabling counter 145 to proceed to count opward.
Note that the ~ositi~e pulse provided by AND gate 17S
ls also proYided along line 186 as another input to
OR gate 150. The pulse appearing on line 186 will
therefore ap~ear on line 149 clearing counter 145 to
its zero count. Upon the first enco~nter of an ~
~ark going in the for~ard direction this operation
will be redundant since oounter 1~5 will already be
at its zero count. Rowever, when dietator 6 advanoes
the tape in a forward direction through another ~
mark, it is necessary to clear counter 145 in order
to indicate that another previously recorded
dic~ation segment has been entered.
.t will therefore be appreciated that when
.
46
_ swi~ch 169 is in a configuration where contact 170
con~acts point 172, counter 145 will remain at lts
zero count 25 the tape is rewo~nd through previous
dictation segments. It will urther be appreciated
that upon advancing the taDe (either in a fast
forward or a listen mode) counter 145 will be reset
to zero at the beginning of each dictation segment
and will perform as an up~do~n counter during tape
movement within that segment. Thus it may be seen
that in the second mode described herein, counter 145
will respond to detectlon of an E ~ar~ when tape is
moved in a forward direction so as to maXe the
dictation segment which be~ins with said E marX be
ereated as the present dictation segment.
As will be appreciated ~y those skilled in
the art, counter 165 provides a means for ~etecting
~he end of the last dictation segment prior to the
present dicta~ion segment and further provides a
mean~ for detecting reencounter of this particular
end mark durinq forward advance~ent of the tape. It
will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art
that counter 1~5 may be made respons~ve to motion
signals provided by motion sensor 30' rather than the
detection of recorded E marks and will still perform
an equivalent function.
Control of End Zone Se~nt
End zone segment 22 is provided to alert
dictator 6 that a predetermined amount o~ ta2e
remains for the recording of dictation. ~nd zone
segment 22 also alerts dictator 6 when the end of-
tape has been reached. The circuitry controlling
segment 22 is shown in ~i~. 3B. ~ig, 3B shows a
connection o positive logic controlling end zone
segment ~2. Therefore when a logical one appears on
47
line 198, segment 22 will be lighted. In the
prefer~ed embodiment of the present lnvention, three
minutes of recording time is the selec~.ed amount o
remaining tape which will activate end zone segment
22. Note that the total length counter 130 has
connected to its outputs 126 twenty-seven detector
187 Fig. 3Ao This detector provides a logical one on
line 188 whenever the count o~ counter 130 is equal
to or greater than a count ~hich corresponds to a
total length count of twenty-seven minutes.
I~plementation of such a detector by the use of
conventional gates and the o~tputs of counter 130
will be apparent to those sXilled in the art. The
output of ~27" detector 187 is provided along line
188 as one input to NAND gate 189. The circuitry
controlling end zone segment 22 is shown in block
191, The other input to NAND gate 189 is from blink
clock 85~ ~hich ls substantially similar to blinX
clocX 85 shown in Fig. 2A and described hereinabove.
Also included in block 191 is end of tape detector
19~ which proYides a logical one out~ut when the end
of recording tape 7 is detected~ For example, a
retrig~erable one shot may be repeatedly triggered by
motion of the suoply spindle and its output gated tG 25 provide a logical one when the dictate station is in
a mode of operation for causing tape movement and the
one shot is not triggered~ ~nd of tape detector 192
ls conventional in nature and per se fvrms no part of
the present invention. Tape present indicator 41' is
substantially similar to and provides the same outpu~
as tape present detector 41 shown in Fig. 2B.
When counter 130 is at a count which
represent~s le5s than ~7 ~inutes of tape r the æero
provided along line 188 causes ~AND aate 189 to
provide a logical one on line 193 as one input to
~35~
48
NAND gate 197. A logical one provided by tape
present detector 41' is provided on line 194 as
another input to NAND gate 197. End of tape detector
192 will provide a lo~ical zero output since the end
of tape has not been reached. This logic~al zero is
inverted by inverter 195 which provides a logical one
on line 196 as the third input to NAND gate 197.
Therefore, so long as counter 130 is in a state
indicating less than twenty-se~en ~inutes of tape
having been used, all three inputs to NAND gate 197
will be one and therefore a logical ~ero will be
maintained on line 198 keeping end zone segment 22
unllt~
If the tape 1~ removed from dictate station
~, tape present detector 41' will provide a logical
~ero along line 194 forcin~ line 198 to remain in its
logical one state thl~s constantly ~lluminating end
zone segment 22.
When counter 130 reaches a state indicating
that twenty-seven or more minutes of tape have been
used, a loyical one appears on line 188. ~his
logical one will cause NAND gate 189 to invert the
output of blink clock 85' thus providing pulses on
line 1930 During the negative portion of each pulse
appearin~ on line 193, a logical one will appear on
line 198. It may thus be seen that when line 188 is
in its logical one ~tate, the pulses comprising the
out~ut of blink clock 85' will be lnverted by NAND
gate 189 and again inverted by NAND gate 197 so that
the output appearing on line 198 will be identical to
the output of ~link clock 85'. This will cause end
zone segment 22 to be lighted intermitten~ly and thus
to flash whenever tape ? is in the zone containing
the last three minutes of tape available or
recordin~ dictation. The machine will persist ln
49
this state until tape 7 is rewound past a poi~t where
more than three minutes of tape are remaining or if
forward advancernent of the tape continues until end
o tape is reached. If the tape is rewound past the
s point where more than three minutes vf tape remain, a
logical zero is again established at output 187 thus
reestablishing three ones as the inputs to ~AND gate
197 and extinguish;ng end zone segment 22.
If the tape is advanced to end of tape, end
o tape detector 192 provides a logi~al one output
which is inverted by inverter 195 to a logical zero
on line 196. The logical zero on line 196 maintains
a logical one on line 198 thus maintaining end zone
segment ~2 in a constantly illuminated state.
~t may therefore be seen that end zone
segment 22 will be extinguished when more than a
predetermined amount of tape remains ~or the
recording of dictation in tape 7 ~three minutes in
the preferred embodiment). End zone ~egmen~ 22 ~
be lighted intermittently when an amount of tape
equal to or less than a predetermined a~ount remains
to be recorded; and end ~one se~ment 22 w~ll remain
constantly illuminated when end of tape is reached or
when no tape is present in dictate station 4.
Function Se~ments
The circu~try controlling function segments
1~', 15', 16', and 18 are sho~n in block l90 on Fig.
3~. It will be apparent to those skilled l n the art
that the circuitry in block l90 will illuminate the
proper function segment when the dictate staeion is
in a mode corresponding to that particular function.
The logic controlling the function segments is also
shown as positive logic and a logical one input to
segment will light that segment. Note that record
5~7
so
segment 17 is lighted whenever record latch 120 is
providing a logical one on line 200 which is in turn
provided to point 201. When the source of recorded
signals is telephone interface 121, a logical one is
provided along line 203 and ~hus when recording of
dictation from telephone interface 121 is in progress
both inputs to AND gate 204 will be ones causing
telephone segment 18 to be illuminated.
Fast forward segment 12 ' and reverse
lQ segment 15' both reguires a logical one output from
-fast motion sensor 42 to be provided to point 205 in
order to become illuminated. Fast forward segment 12
will be illuminated when line 208 provides another
logical one as the other input to AND gate 207.
Since line 208 is connected to point 181 t this
condition will prevail when direction sensor 39
detects that tape is being moved in a orward
direction. Thus when the t3~e is mov~d in a forward
direction line 208 will become a logical one ana when
~0 it is moved fast forward point 205 will go to a
logical one thus providing a one as the output of AND
gate 207.
Point 205 from fast motion sensor 42 is one
input to A~D gate 206 and the other input is from
line 209 which is connected to point 180. Thus it
may be seen that when the tape is moving in a reverse
direction (which is always a fast wind mode) reverse
seg~ent 15' will be illuminated. NOR ~ate ~10
controls listen segment 16~ In order for NOR gate
210 to provide a logical one output all three inputs
thereto must be zero. One input to NOR gate 210 is
from point 201 which is in a logical zero when record
latch 12Q indicates that no recording is taking
place. A second input to ~OR gat~ 210 is provided on
line 209 which provides a logical zero when the tape
350~
51
is movi~g in a forward direction. The remaining
input to ~OR gate 210 is from line 211 which provides
a logical ~ero when fast motion sensor 42 fails to
detect fast movement of the tape. Thus it may be
seen that listen segment 16' will be îlluminated when
the tape is ~oving in a forward direction, reeord
latch 120 is not set, and the tape ls not in a ~ast
wind mode.
It is to be understood that cireui try ( not
shown) is provided to blank the function seqments of
the display when the dictate station is in a stop
mode .
The fore~oing description of a preferred
embodiment has been exemplary and for illustrative
purposes. Other embodiments of the present invention
are possible and considering the disclosure of the
lnvention herein, suc~ embodiments will be apparent
to those of ordinary skill in the ~rtO Therefore the
scope of the present invention is to be llmitad only
by the claims appended hereto.
