Image data filing apparatus

• US 5,636,314 A
• Filed: 11/08/1994
• Issued: 06/03/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Murayama, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Thai
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HUY THANH
• Application Number:
  US08/335,668
• Time in Patent Office: 938 Days
• Field of Search: 358/335, 358/342, 358/311, 360/15, 360/35.1, 360/33.1, 360/91, 360/98.1, 360/78.03, 360/98.04, 360/98.03, 369/32, 369/34, 369/36, 386/46, 386/52, 386/66, 386/92, 386/106
• US Class Current: 386/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00912 Arrangements for controlling a still picture apparatus or components thereof not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/2179 Interfaces allowing access to a plurality of users, e.g. connection to electronic image libraries
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32358 using picture signal storage, e.g. at transmitter H04N1/17 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3288 Storage of two or more complete document pages or image frames

Abstract

An image data filing apparatus is provided with a main device which records and/or reproduces image data with respect to the recording medium being set therein, a terminal device which is connected to the main device by communication line and which records and/or reproduces image data with respect to the recording medium in the main device, a plurality of buffer memories for temporarily storing the image data to be recorded to the recording medium or the image data reproduced from the recording medium, and control device which performs a multi-processing of recording operation or reproducing operation of the buffer memories. When a request from the main device and a request from the terminal device are simultaneously generated, according to those requests, the multi-processing is performed by the control device, as a result, those requests can simultaneously be processed.

Claims

1. An image data filing apparatus, comprising:

a main device having a plurality of recording/reproducing units, each of said recording/reproducing units recording at least one of a plurality of image data of at least one of a plurality of documents to one of a plurality of recording media set therein and reproducing said image data from said one recording medium, said main device having media-changing means provided with a stack unit for stacking said recording media, and a carrier unit responsive to control means for performing a carrying operation of carrying one of the recording media between said stack unit and said recording/reproducing units;

a terminal device connected to said main device and communicating control data and said image data therebetween to cause said main device to perform at least one of recording said image data to a recording medium and reproducing said image data from a recording medium;

a plurality of buffer memories within said main device for temporarily storing said image data to be recorded in a recording medium or said image data reproduced from a recording medium;

said control means responsive to a first request from said main device and a second request from said terminal device within said main device for controlling the recording and reproducing of image data and simultaneously performing both of said first and second requests, said first and said second requests each causing said control means to perform one of transferring image data from said buffer memories to one of said recording/reproducing units and transferring image data from another of said recording/reproducing units to said buffer memories; and

means for inhibiting a carry operation with respect to one of the recording media associated with one of said first and second requests while the recording media is already in use in connection with the other of said first and second requests, whereby one of said first and second requests does not interrupt the other of said first and second requests, said means for inhibiting controlled by said control means.

2. An image data filing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

first filing means within the main device and controlled by the control means for filing both the stack condition of recording media in said stack unit and the setting condition of recording medium in said recording/reproducing unit.

3. An image data filing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

second filing means within the main device and controlled by the control means for filing both the use-state of recording media and the operation-state of each recording/reproducing unit.

4. An image data filing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said main device is provided with automatic media-changing means and one manual media-changer.

5. An image data filing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said main device further has

first filing means within the main device for filing the stack condition of recording media in said stack unit, and

second filing means within the main device for filing the setting condition of any recording media in said recording/reproducing units

whereby the control means will select the recording/reproducing unit in which one of said the recording media will next be set based on the conditions filed in the first and second filing means.

6. An image data filing apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said recording/reproducing units are responsive to said control means such that the transferring of image data with respect to one of said recording/reproducing units will be uninterrupted while a carry operation is performed with respect to another of said recording/reproducing units.

7. An image data filing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said main device further has

timer means within the main device for detecting a time interval since the completion of transfer of image data with respect to the one of said recording media set in a particular recording/reproducing unit, and

carrier control means within the main device and responsive to said timer means for controlling said carrier unit so that the one recording medium set in the particular recording/reproducing unit is returned to said stack unit, if said time interval exceeds a predetermined value.

8. An image data filing apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said control means is further responsive to said second filing means whereby when all of the recording/reproducing units contain one of said recording media and a recording/reproducing unit is needed for one of said recording media in said stack unit, a carry operation will be performed on the one of said recording media that has most formerly transferred image data with said buffer memories.