Data recording apparatus

The present invention relates to a digital data recording device such as an IC recorder or a digital camera.

Conventionally, this type of data recording device is equipped with an internal memory and can be connected to a removable external memory such as a memory card, so that the capacity of the internal memory becomes full during data recording. When this happens, data recording will automatically stop. Therefore, when the external memory is connected, the user can perform an operation for recording the data in the external memory and switch the data recording destination from the internal memory to the external memory.

However, when the data recording destination is switched from the internal memory to the external memory by the user's operation, the recorded data is missing during the period from when the data recording to the internal memory is stopped until the data recording to the external memory is started. There is a problem that the amount of data is increased according to the operation time of the user. Therefore, a digital camera that automatically switches between the internal memory and the external memory has been proposed (Patent Document 1).<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-348392 [H04N5 / 225]</text></patcit><patcit num="2"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-5496 [G10L19 / 00]</text></patcit>

<p> However, even with a data recording device that automatically switches between the internal memory and the external memory, it is inevitable that some data will be lost at the time of switching, and the data recorded in the internal memory will still be the same. Since the data is managed as a separate file from the data recorded in the external memory, there is a problem that the handling of the data is inconvenient. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a data recording device capable of recording a series of data across a plurality of storage media without losing the data, and still facilitating the handling of these data. Is.</p>

<p> The data recording device according to the present invention can incorporate or connect a plurality of storage media for digitally recording video data and / or audio data, and commands the start and stop of data recording. It includes an input device and a control circuit that controls the recording of data on the plurality of storage media. The control circuit includes means for starting data recording on one storage medium A from the first time point when the start of data recording is commanded, and the one storage during data recording on the one storage medium A. The first determination means for determining whether the remaining capacity of the medium A is equal to or less than the predetermined capacity value x, and the second time point when it is determined that the remaining capacity of the one storage medium A is equal to or less than the predetermined capacity value x. In parallel with the data recording for the one storage medium A the first control means for starting the recording of the data on the other storage medium B and the capacity of the one storage medium A are full or a predetermined capacity. A second control means for ending the recording of data on the one storage medium A at the third time point, which is as follows. At the fourth time point when the stop of data recording for the other one storage medium B is ordered or the data recording is automatically stopped, the free space of the other one storage medium B becomes the second from the first time point. A second determination means for determining whether or not the amount of data recorded in the one storage medium A by a time point is larger than the amount of data recorded in the one storage medium A, and the free space of the other storage medium B is recorded in the one storage medium A. When it is determined that the amount of data is larger than the amount of data, the data recorded in the one storage medium A from the first time point to the second time point is automatically or in response to a user command. It is provided with a third control means for copying to one storage medium B and managing a series of data from the first time point to the fourth time point as one file.</p><p> According to the data recording apparatus of the present invention, when the capacity of one storage medium A during data recording is full, the data recording destination is automatically switched to the other storage medium B. At this time, the data from the second time point to the third time point are duplicatedly recorded in the two storage media A and the storage medium B, and the data recorded in one storage medium A is stored in the other storage medium. When copying to B, the duplicated data recorded on one of the storage media is erased, and the series of data from the first time point to the fourth time point is not duplicated and is not lost at all. It is stored in one storage medium B, and these data are managed as one file.</p><p> Specifically, the third control means copies the data to the other storage medium B, and then transfers the data recorded in the one storage medium A from the first time point to the third time point. to erase. As a result, the storage capacity of the one storage medium A is expanded.</p><p> Specifically, when it is determined that the free space of the other storage medium B is larger than the amount of data recorded in the one storage medium A, the third control means is determined by the user. When a command is issued not to combine the data into one file, the data recorded in the one storage medium A from the first time point to the third time point is managed as one file, and the other data is managed as one file. The data recorded in one storage medium B from the second time point to the third time point is erased, and the data from the third time point to the fourth time point is managed as one file. According to the specific configuration, it is possible to record data across two storage media as in the conventional case, if necessary.</p><p> In a more specific configuration, when the first control means is instructed to stop data recording during the recording of data on the other storage medium B within the period from the second time point to the third time point. Erases the data recorded on the other storage medium B from the second time point, and stops the data recording on the two storage media A and B. According to the specific configuration, when the amount of data to be recorded is small and the entire series of data can be recorded on the one storage medium A, it is useless with respect to the other storage medium B. Data recording can be avoided.</p>

<p> According to the data recording apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to record a series of data across a plurality of storage media without losing the data, and the data can be easily handled as one file. ..</p>

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the data recording device (1) according to the present invention includes a control circuit (2) composed of a microcomputer, and for the control circuit (2), for example, a flash memory A (3) which is a built-in memory. ) And, for example, a flash memory B (4) which is an external memory. A microphone and a camera (5) are provided in the data recording device (1), and audio signals and video signals input from the microphone and the camera (5) are supplied to the modulation / demodulation circuit (6) to provide digital audio data. And converted to video data. Further, the data recording device (1) is provided with a liquid crystal display (8) for displaying an image and a key input device (7) for a user to command data recording.

In the above data recording device (1), by operating the key input device (7), the audio signal or video signal input from the microphone or the camera (5) is used as digital data in the flash memory A (3) or the flash memory. It can be recorded in B (4).

2 and 3 show a data recording control procedure executed in response to a data recording command by the user. Further, FIG. 4 shows the data recording states of the flash memory A and the flash memory B. In FIG. 4, a series of data to be recorded is divided into data a, data x, and data b for convenience of explanation. First, in step S1 of FIG. 2, recording of data a in memory A is started, and then in step S2, it is determined whether or not the remaining capacity of memory A is a certain capacity (x) or less. Here, the constant capacity (x) is defined by the number of frames, which is a unit of data. For example, when the bit rate is high, the number of frames of the constant capacity (x) is reduced, and when the bit rate is low, the constant capacity (x) is constant. Increase the number of frames in capacity (x).

If no is determined in step S2, the process returns to step S1 and the data a is recorded. After that, when it is determined as yes in step S2, the process proceeds to step S3 to continue recording the data x in the memory A, and in parallel with this, start recording the data x in the memory B.

Next, in step S4, it is determined whether or not the user has issued a data x recording stop command, and if yes, in step S6, data recording for both memories A and B is stopped, and then the data recording is stopped. Erase the data x recorded in memory B. If no is determined in step S4, the process proceeds to step S5 to determine whether the capacity of memory A is full. If no, the process returns to step S3 and the data for both memories A and B are stored. Continue recording.

After that, when it is determined as yes in step S5, the process proceeds to step S7 to end the recording of the data in the memory A and continue the recording of the subsequent data b in the memory B. Subsequently, in step S8, it is determined whether or not the recording stop command for data x + b has been issued by the user, and if no, the process returns to step S7 to continue recording the data in the memory B.

After that, if yes is determined in step S8, the process proceeds to step S9 to determine whether the free space of memory B at that time is larger than the capacity of data a recorded in memory A. .. If yes is determined here, the process proceeds to step S10, and a menu display as to whether or not the data a, x, and b should be combined as one file is displayed on the liquid crystal display to prompt the user to select.

Then, in step S11 of FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not the data should be combined as one file, and if yes, the process proceeds to step S12 and the data a recorded in the memory A is stored. The data is copied to the memory B, and in step S13, the file system on the memory B side is rewritten to specify the data a, x, and b as a series of data. After that, in step S14, one file including the data a + x + b is created in the memory B, the data a + x recorded in the memory A is erased, and the procedure is completed.

On the other hand, if no is determined in step S9 of FIG. 2 or no is determined in step S11 of FIG. 3, the process proceeds to step S15, and the data x recorded in the memory B is erased. Create one file containing data a + x in memory A and one file containing data b in memory B to end the procedure.

According to the above procedure, as shown in FIGS. 4 (a), (b), and (c), the recording of the data a is started in the memory A from the first time point when the start of the data recording is instructed, and the recording of the data is performed. From the second time point when the remaining capacity of the memory A becomes a certain capacity value x or less, the data recording for the memory A and the data recording for the memory B proceed in parallel. Then, at the third time when the capacity of the memory A is full, the recording of the data x in the memory A is stopped, and the recording of the data b in the memory B is continued. After that, at the fourth time point when the stop of the data recording operation for the memory B is ordered, whether the free space of the memory B is larger than the amount of the data a recorded in the memory A from the first time point to the second time point. Is determined, and only when it is large, the data a recorded in the memory A from the first time point to the second time point is copied to the memory B. Then, a series of data a + x + b from the first time point to the fourth time point is managed as one file.

Therefore, according to the data recording apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to record a series of data a, x, and b across the flash memory A and the flash memory B without duplication and omission, and still these data. Is managed as one file, which makes it easier to handle data. Further, if the conventional data recording method straddling the two memories A and B is required, the user can select such a recording method by operation. Furthermore, if the amount of data to be recorded is small and the entire series of data can be recorded in the memory A, the data x recorded in the memory B is automatically deleted, which is useless. It is possible to avoid the consumption of a large amount of memory.

The configuration of each part of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the technical scope described in the claims. For example, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, only the data a recorded in the memory A is copied to the memory B, but after erasing the data x in the memory B, the data a + x in the memory A It is also possible to adopt the method of copying to memory B. It is also possible to record some additional information at the time of data combination, and in this case, it is necessary to consider the capacity required for recording the additional information.

<figref num="1">It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the data recording apparatus which concerns on this invention.</figref><figref num="2">It is a flowchart which shows the first half of the data recording control procedure of a data recording apparatus.</figref><figref num="3">It is a flowchart showing the latter half of the procedure as above.</figref><figref num="4">It is a figure explaining the data recording state with respect to two memory.</figref>

Code description

(1) Data recording device (2) Control circuit (3) Flash memory A (4) Flash memory B (5) Microphone / camera (6) Modulation / demodulation circuit (7) Key input device (8) Liquid crystal display