HK1026965B

HK1026965B - Storage and reproducing apparatus

Info

Publication number: HK1026965B
Application number: HK00100254.1A
Authority: HK
Inventors: 钣田健一
Original assignee: Sony Corporation
Priority date: 1997-08-07
Filing date: 2000-01-14
Publication date: 2007-05-25

Description

Storage and reproduction apparatus

The present invention relates to a storage and reproduction apparatus, and more particularly, to a storage and reproduction apparatus using a semiconductor memory.

Now, there are various recording/reproducing apparatuses that can be easily used to record/reproduce sound, such recording/reproducing apparatuses storing sound signals in a predetermined number of files using a semiconductor memory as a recording medium as well as reproducing the sound signals to output sound, as if the contents of a lecture or a discussion manuscript were written on a memo paper. More specifically, these recording/reproducing apparatuses store sound data made up of a plurality of files in a semiconductor memory, and at the time of reproduction, sequentially reproduce the sound data starting with an earlier file.

When the contents of the discussion manuscript are written down on the memo notebook, the last contents thereof are written on the later page of the memo notebook. Therefore, when reading back these contents, it is necessary to turn a page to read the last contents.

There is also encountered an inconvenience that in a recording/reproducing apparatus which stores the last sound in the form of the last file in a semiconductor memory, it is necessary to search for a file containing the last sound before reproducing the last sound.

These files stored in memory can be deleted when not needed. However, when a file needs to be reproduced or when new files are stored sequentially without time to delete them, more important files are often recorded at the last written address or read address of the memory. Thus, as more and more files are recorded, the storage will contain more files that are rarely accessed. The less important of these files are read out of the memory first and reproduced, while the last file just recorded must be reproduced last.

That is, when the user wants to reproduce the sound data of the last important file, he/she needs to complete an operation for searching for the target last file from among the plurality of files stored in the storage. This requires a complicated operation procedure to read a desired file from the storage and reproduce it.

In order to read out and reproduce a target sound data from the memory in the aforementioned recording/reproducing apparatus using the semiconductor memory, a user needs to operate a number of operation buttons. Such as a reproduction button, a forward search button, and a backward search button, etc. More specifically, when a plurality of pieces of data are recorded in the semiconductor memory, the forward search button and the backward search button need to be pressed before reproduction to select a target piece of data to be reproduced so that the index number of the target piece of data is displayed on the display section of the apparatus. Then, a reproduction button is pressed to reproduce the target sound data. Here, if there are a plurality of index numbers, the user needs to continuously press the search button in order to display the target index number.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a storage and reproduction apparatus that solves the above-mentioned problems.

According to the present invention, there is provided a storage and reproduction apparatus including a memory, a reproduction section, an operation section, and a control section. The memory stores input data and auxiliary data for the input data. The reproducing section reproduces data that has been read out from the memory. The operation member is provided on an apparatus main body. The operation member includes a rotational operation member provided on the apparatus body in such a manner that the rotational operation member can rotate about a rotation center and move along a plane almost perpendicularly intersecting the rotation center. The control unit performs writing of data and auxiliary data into the memory and reading of data stored in the memory, based on input from the operation unit. The control means reads out auxiliary data from the memory in accordance with the rotational direction of the rotational operation means, and when the rotational operation means is moved in the direction of the plane, reads out data from the memory in accordance with the auxiliary data read out from the memory to be reproduced by the reproduction means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage and reproduction apparatus including a memory, a reproduction section, an operation section, and a control section. The memory stores input data and management data for the input data. The reproducing section reproduces data that has been read out from the memory. The operation member is provided on an apparatus main body. The control unit performs writing of data and management data into the memory and reading of data stored in the memory, based on input from the operation unit. The control section rewrites the management data so that the new data written in the memory is read out before the data already stored in the memory.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage and reproduction apparatus including a memory, a reproduction section, an operation section, and a control section. The memory stores input data and management data for the input data. The reproducing section reproduces data that has been read out from the memory. The operation member is provided on an apparatus main body. The control unit performs writing of data and management data into the memory and reading of data stored in the memory, based on input from the operation unit. The operation of the control unit is as follows. If a data write instruction is issued from the operation section during a reproduction operation performed by the reproduction section, the control section interrupts the reproduction operation performed by the reproduction section and starts writing data to the memory.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage and reproduction apparatus including a signal processing section, a memory, a reproduction section, an operation section, and a control section. The signal processing section converts an input sound signal into a digital signal, and the memory stores the digital signal output from the signal processing section and management data for the digital signal. The reproducing section reproduces the digital signal which has been read out from the memory. The operation member is provided on an apparatus main body and includes a rotation operation member provided on the apparatus main body in such a manner that the rotation operation member can rotate about a rotation center and move along a plane almost perpendicularly intersecting the rotation center. The control section performs writing of the digital signal and the management data into the memory and reading of the digital signal and the management data stored in the memory, based on an input from the operation section. The operation of the control unit is as follows. The control part reads out the management data according to the rotation direction of the rotational operation part, and reads out the digital data from the memory according to the management data read out from the memory when the rotational operation part moves along the aforementioned plane.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of an IC recorder according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the exterior of the IC recorder.

Fig. 3 shows the configuration of the semiconductor memory of the IC recorder.

Fig. 4 shows a configuration of a permanent block of the semiconductor memory.

Fig. 5 shows the configuration of an index-level block made up of file data of the semiconductor memory.

Fig. 6 shows the configuration of the ADR data block of the index level block.

Fig. 7 shows the configuration of the HDR data block of the index level block.

Fig. 8 shows the configuration of an index-level block made up of file data of the semiconductor memory.

Fig. 9 shows the arrangement of an operation block of the semiconductor memory.

Fig. 10 shows the arrangement of PCM data blocks of the semiconductor memory.

Fig. 11 illustrates a recording position of stored new sound data.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the CPU when additionally recording a new sound data at the ID number 02.

Fig. 13 shows the configuration of ADR data of an index level block when a new sound data is recorded again at ID number 02.

Fig. 14 illustrates that a new sound data is recorded again in the storage location of the ID number 02.

Fig. 15A and 15B illustrate the structure of a steering wheel (jogdial): fig. 15A is an outer front view of the steering wheel, and fig. 15B is an outer rear view of the steering wheel.

Fig. 16 shows the rotation direction of a rotation operation member connected to an output signal as a result of the rotation operation of the steering wheel and the corresponding output waveform.

Fig. 17 illustrates an operation of a rotational operation member related to Cue/rewind (Cue/review) reproduction and reproduction state transition corresponding to the operation of the rotational operation member.

Fig. 18 shows a process completed when the rotation operation member is rotated or pressed in the stopped state.

Fig. 19 shows a process completed when the rotational operation member is pressed or rotated in the sound data reproduction state.

Hereinafter, a description will be made of a storage and reproduction apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings, and in the following embodiment, a recording/reproduction apparatus using a semiconductor memory (hereinafter, simply referred to as an IC recorder) for recording or reproducing a sound signal will be explained.

Referring to fig. 1, an IC recorder 1 thereof includes: a recording section 10 for converting an analog sound signal from the microphone 11 into a digital sound signal and storing the digital sound signal in the semiconductor memory 9; a reproduction section 20 for reading out the sound data stored in the semiconductor memory 9 and converting the read-out sound data into an analog sound signal for reproduction output from a speaker 24; a control section 30 for controlling the device elements including the recording section 10; a display part 40 for displaying an operation state and an operation process; and an operation section 50 through which a user inputs various operations.

The recording unit 10 includes: an amplifier 12 for amplifying the analog sound signal output from the microphone 11; an automatic gain controller (hereinafter referred to as AGC) circuit for adjusting the level of the sound signal amplified by the amplifier 12; an encoder 14 for converting the sound signal from the AGC13 into sound data; and a buffer memory 15 for temporarily accumulating the sound data from the encoder 14.

In the recording section 10, a microphone 11 converts the voice of a speaker into an analog signal for application to an amplifier 12. The amplifier 12 amplifies the analog signal for application to the AGC 13. The AGC13 amplifies the signal from the amplifier 12 so that the analog sound signal is at an appropriate level for application to the encoder 14.

Since the analog sound signal applied through the AGC13 has a strong time correlation, the encoder 14 encodes the analog sound signal having a small data amount using, for example, adaptive differential pulse code modulation (hereinafter referred to as ADPCM) to generate digital sound data and applies the generated sound data to the buffer memory 15. The encoder 14 can adjust the sound data encoding amount according to two modes. For example, in the SP mode, if in the SP mode, the sound signal is sampled with an 8KHz sampling frequency, and if in the LP mode, the sound signal is sampled with a 4KHz sampling frequency in order to adjust the sound signal encoding amount in the time axis direction.

The buffer memory 15 temporarily accumulates the sound data supplied from the encoder and supplies the accumulated data to the semiconductor memory 9.

The semiconductor memory 9 is constituted by, for example, an electrically erasable/programmable read only memory (hereinafter referred to as EEPROM), that is, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory capable of maintaining the memory contents of the memory cells even when the memory drive power is turned off. The semiconductor memory 9 stores audio data supplied from the buffer memory 15 and management information (hereinafter referred to as TOC information) for performing management such as which audio data is stored in which area. More specifically, the semiconductor memory 9 is, for example, a NAND-type flash memory having a storage capacity of 4 × 8 bits or 8 × 16M bits and capable of storing sound data corresponding to a sound signal of a predetermined frequency band for 30 minutes. For example, when the memory 9 has a storage capacity of 8 × 16M, the sound data corresponding to the sound signals of 200 to 3400Hz can be stored for 16 minutes in the aforementioned SP mode, and the sound data corresponding to the sound signals of 200 to 1700Hz can be stored for 24 minutes in the aforementioned LP mode.

On the other hand, as shown in fig. 1, the reproduction section 20 has a decoder 21 for converting the sound signal read from the semiconductor memory 9 into a sound signal, a filter 22, and an amplifier 23 for amplifying the sound data from the filter 22 to supply to a speaker 24.

The decoder 21 corresponds to the encoder 14 of the recording section 10, and decodes the sound data that has been encoded by the AD DCM method to generate a so-called PAM signal. The filter 22 filters high frequency components exceeding the sound frequency band from the PAM signal and outputs an analog sound signal. The amplifier 23 amplifies the analog sound signal supplied from the filter 22, and the speaker 24 is driven according to the signal from the amplifier 23. Accordingly, the sound recorded in the memory 9 is output from the speaker 24.

The control section 30 includes: a ROM31 containing a program for controlling the IC recorder; a microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as CPU)32 for executing a program stored in a ROM31 to control the respective components; a random access memory (hereinafter referred to as RAM)34 for temporarily storing the time of the timer 33, the program execution result, and the like, wherein the timer 33 is used for generating clock information; and a counter 35 for counting pulses supplied from a steering wheel, which will be described in detail later. The control section 30 performs operation control of each section of the apparatus 1 according to the operation setting of the operation section 50.

The display section 40 displays the operation state of the IC recorder 1 and the sound data storage state according to the control signal from the control section 30, and includes a liquid crystal display panel 41 and a back light source 42 for illuminating the liquid crystal display panel 41.

The operation section 50 supplies various input signals to the control section 30 when sound recording/reproduction is performed. As will be described later in detail, the operation member 50 has various operation buttons operated by the user. Operating switches and a steering wheel. In the IC recorder 1, various output signals from these operation buttons/switches and the steering wheel are supplied to the control section 30.

The CPU32 of the control section 30 reads the ROM31 based on the signal supplied from the operation section 50, executes a corresponding program, and controls the sections based on the read program. For example, if a recording start button, which will be described later, is pressed, the CPU32 reads the ROM31 and executes a program corresponding to a recording operation, and controls the operations of the amplifier 12, AGC13, encoder 14, display section 40, and the like in accordance with the program that has been read out, so that sound data temporarily accumulated in the buffer memory 15 is written in an idle area of the semiconductor memory. For reproduction of sound data, the CPU32 reads the ROM31 and executes a program corresponding to the reproduction operation, and controls the operations of the decoder 21, the filter 22, the amplifier 23, the display section 40, and the like in accordance with the program that has been read out, so that sound data stored in a predetermined region of the semiconductor memory 9 is read out and converted into an analog sound signal to be output from the speaker 24.

Thus, the control section 30 controls writing/reading of sound data into/from the semiconductor memory 9, and for example, by adding an index number to identify each piece of sound data, 99 pieces of sound data can be written into the semiconductor memory 9 at maximum. The control section 30 controls to read out the target piece of sound data from the semiconductor memory 9 in accordance with the index number added to each piece of sound data.

Next, the operation section 50 of the IC recorder 1 will be explained with reference to fig. 1 and 2. Fig. 2 is an external view briefly showing the external configuration of the IC recorder 1. The IC recorder shown in fig. 2 is portable, having a housing 2 sized to be held by one hand. In the casing 2 is mounted a printed circuit board (not shown) on which the aforementioned electronic circuits, such as the recording section 10 and the reproducing section 20, and the like, are mounted. The aforementioned liquid crystal display panel 41 and speaker 24 are mounted on the main surface 2a of the housing 2.

On the main surface 2a and the side surfaces of the housing 2, the IC recorder 1 has various operation buttons/switches 51 to 57 constituting an operation member 50 and a steering wheel 60. The buttons and switches of the operating section 50 are mounted on the main surface 2a and the side surfaces of the case 2, and can be operated by the left finger while the entire IC recorder 1 is held in the left palm, so that the user can continue working with his/her right hand, such as writing or the like.

As shown in fig. 2, the operation buttons here include a FILE button 51, a MENU button 52, a PRIORITY button 53, a STOP button 54 for stopping recording or the like, an REC button 55 for starting recording, and an ERASE button for deleting sound data stored in the semiconductor memory 9. These operation buttons are mounted on the main surface 2a of the housing 2. A HOLD switch 57 of a slide type is provided in a lower half of the left side face 2b of the housing 2. Although not shown, the operating part 50 further includes a button for turning on the back light 42 of the liquid crystal display 41, a volume switch for adjusting the amount of reproduced sound, a headphone jack, and the like, which are mounted on the side of the housing 2.

Here, the FILE button 51 is used to switch between a plurality of FILEs in the IC recorder 1. The term file corresponds to a path or folder used in a personal computer. In this embodiment, five file types are set in advance. That is, in the IC recorder 1, a maximum of 99 pieces of sound data can be stored per file. The file type can be identified by displaying different icons on the liquid crystal display 41.

The MENU button 52 is used for operation during a stop state of recording/reproduction in order to modify the initial settings of the IC recorder 1, such as modification of data and time, modification of the frequency band of recorded sound data, modification of the output of beeps and warning sounds given upon pressing of the operation button, modification of the sensitivity of a microphone, and the like.

The PRIORITY button 53 is pressed during a stop state or a reproduction operation of the apparatus 1 to determine the reproduction PRIORITY of the sound stored in the memory 9, and when the PRIORITY button is pressed, the index number of the target sound data such as the data being reproduced is modified to a smaller number. In this file, sound data having the index number modified by the PRIORITY button 53 is reproduced with higher PRIORITY.

The HOLD switch 57 is used to maintain the operating state or the stop state of the IC recorder 1. When the HOLD switch 57 is in the ON state, the IC recorder 1 is in a state of not receiving the operations of the operation buttons 51 to 56 and the steering wheel 60. The structure of the steering wheel 60 and the reproduction operation using the steering wheel 60 will be described later in detail.

Here, as shown in fig. 3, when sound data and other data are stored in the semiconductor memory 9, these data are divided into 512 blocks, which are deletion units. These blocks are divided into the following six types: a persistent block (1 block), a 0 index level block (6 block), a 1 index level block (6 block), a backup block (1 block), a work block (15 block), and a PCM data block (469 block).

The TOC information is composed of a persistent block, a 0 index level block, a 1 index level block, a backup block, and a working block. The sound data is written into the PCM data block.

As shown in fig. 3, each block is composed of 16 pages (each page is composed of 528 bytes): page 0, page 1, …, page 14, page 15. Each page is composed of a 512-byte data area and a 16-byte redundant area. There are a maximum of ten blocks that cannot be used for data recording and/or reproduction (hereinafter referred to as invalid blocks).

The persistent blocks are located except for the first and last blocks of the memory 9, except for the start and end addresses of writing or reading by the memory. The persistent block contains the management information that is read out first from the memory 9. Based on the data of the persistent block, the 0 index level block and the 1 index level block are read out. Therefore, the persistent block is essential for reading out data stored in other blocks, and therefore the persistent block is located at a place other than the head and tail addresses of the memory 9, the storage areas of which have the greatest possibility of being damaged in the case of abnormal operation such as static electricity and abnormal voltage. For example, if a block containing sound data is damaged, the data in the damaged block can be erased so that new sound data can be recorded without any problem. However, if the persistent block is damaged, no data can be read from the other blocks. To avoid this, the persistent block is located at a position other than the start and end address blocks of the memory 9, as described above.

In the persistent block, only page 0 contains data, and pages 1 to 15 do not contain data, and more specifically, as shown in fig. 4, page 0 of the persistent block includes 4 bytes of persistent block identification data, 2 bytes of persistent block address, 2 bytes of 0 index level address, 2 bytes of 1 index level address, 2 bytes of work block start address, 4 bytes of dummy data, and 128 bytes of blank map. The blank map indicates the location of the aforementioned invalid blocks.

The 0 index level block and the 1 index level block have the same data structure and these blocks are alternately rewritten for rewriting of each sound data. That is, for example, when sound data is written in the memory 9, data in the 0-index-level block is rewritten, and when another sound data is written in the memory 9, data in the 1-index-level block is rewritten, and thereafter, these blocks will be collectively referred to as index-level blocks.

As described above, there are 6 index level blocks for levels 0 and 1, respectively: five blocks containing file data and one block containing stage data.

Fig. 5 shows a configuration of an index level block having file data including ADR data blocks of pages 0 to 11 and HDR blocks of pages 12 to 15.

Fig. 6 shows the configuration of an ADR data block having, for example, ID numbers 01 to 06; an SP for indicating a recording mode SP or LP based on the amount of encoding generated by the aforementioned encoder 14 for each file containing sound data; STH, which indicates a high starting address of the file; STM, it points out the low starting address of the file; ENH, which indicates the high ending address of the file; ENM, which indicates the low ending address of the file.

For example, when 6 pieces of sound data are recorded, as shown in fig. 7, in the ADR data block, index numbers 01 to 06 are recorded in correspondence with six pieces of sound data. The index number is data indicating a reproduction order of the recorded six pieces of sound data. For each index number, a recording pattern (SP) and start addresses (STH, STM) and end addresses (ENH, ENM) of areas containing sound data are recorded. For example, as shown in fig. 6, since the sound data of the index number 01 and the index number 03 have a large capacity, the index number 01 includes two files, and the index number 03 includes four files. In this case, for each file, a recording mode and start and end addresses are recorded.

Fig. 7 shows the structure of an HDR block. The following is recorded for each file; PRI indicating the file PRIORITY set by the operation of the PRIORITY button 53 of the operation section 50; ALM indicating alarm ON/OFF set by operation of MENU button 52; AMO, ADA, AHO, AMI, AOW, representing the month, day, hour, minute, week when the alarm was initiated. Here, as described above, the priority indicates a reproduction priority of sound data when the sound data is reproduced. When the PRIORITY or alarm setting is modified by the operation of the PRIORITY button 53 and the MENU button 52, the HDR data block is modified even if the sound data is not modified.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, the index level block containing level data has a valid flag on page 0, a mode interrupt flag on page 1, a blank map on page 2, a permanent block blank map on page 3.

The backup block is a backup for the aforementioned persistent block and is a copy of the persistent block. Thus, when a persistent block is rewritten, the backing block is also rewritten. There may be more than one backup block.

The work block is an area for temporarily recording index data during sound data recording. As shown in fig. 9, the work area has almost the same data structure as the index-level block. The work block includes an index number, SP/LP information indicating a recording mode, a sound data high start address, a sound data low start address, a sound data high end address, a sound data low end address, each of which is composed of 1 byte. In this work block, while reading data from the work block, the index-level block is rewritten, and data such as the start address is directly written as is.

The PCM data block is an area where sound data is mainly recorded. As shown in fig. 10, in the PCM data block, in addition to the sound data, the year, month, day, hour, minute, second, and week generated by the timer 33 are recorded for each page. More specifically, 512-byte sound data, 1-byte year data, 1-byte month data, 1-byte day data, 1-byte minute data, 1-byte second data, 1-byte clock set flag are recorded on one page.

In the IC recorder having the above-described structure, if the REC button 56 is pressed when there is a setting to perform recording or reproduction, the CPU32 controls writing of sound data into the semiconductor memory 9. It is assumed that six pieces of sound data have been recorded in the semiconductor memory 9 as shown in fig. 6.

More specifically, when the REC button 56 is pressed, the CPU32 reads the ROM31 and executes a program corresponding to the recording operation, so that the amplifier 12, the AGC13, and the encoder 14 are activated, and sound data delayed by a predetermined time via the buffer memory 15 is stored into the PCM data block of the semiconductor memory 9.

For each block, the CPU32 stores 512 bytes of sound data and generates data of the recorded year, month, day, hour, and minute to be recorded in the PCM block together with the sound data. Until the STOP button is pressed, the CPU32 controls writing of sound data in the form of a piece of sound data into the PCM block of the semiconductor memory 9.

When the STOP button is pressed, the CPU32 finishes controlling recording of sound data in the PCM data block and rewriting of TOC information of the memory 9. More specifically, the index level block is overwritten.

In the ADR data block containing the index level block of the file data, the CPU32 assigns an index number 01 to the 7 th sound data piece and writes in the mode setting, the start address, the end address data. The CPU32 changes the previous index numbers 01-06 to index numbers 02-07, respectively, and writes in the start address, end address, mode setting data of each index number.

This process is illustrated in fig. 11. The CPU32 assigns an index number 01 to the 7 th sound data piece recorded last, shifts the previous index numbers 01-06 by 1 to become index numbers 02-07, respectively, and rewrites the TOC information. That is, the last piece of sound data is recorded in the memory 9 with the index number 01.

Next, reproduction of sound data will be explained.

When the apparatus 1 is in a stopped state, if the user presses the steering wheel shown in fig. 2 in the direction of arrow X, the CPU32 restarts reproduction. I.e. based on the persistent block identification data of the persistent blocks from the memory 9. The CPU32 recognizes the persistent block and reads out data in the persistent block. It should be noted that if the CPU32 cannot identify the persistent block shown in fig. 3, the CPU32 identifies a backup block and reads data from the backup block.

Based on the 0-index-level address or the 1-index-level address in the persistent block or the backup block, the CPU32 reads out the data of the index-level block.

The CPU32 controls the reading of the sound data from the PCM data block using the ADR data block containing the index level block of the file data. Here, the CPU32 reads out the sound data in the order of index number 01, index number 02, and index numbers 03, …. More specifically, first, based on the start address (STH, STM) and the end address (ENH, ENM) of the index number 01 in the ADR data block, the CPU32 reads out the sound data of the index number 01. The sound data that has been read out is converted into a sound signal via the decoder 21 and the filter 22 to be applied to the speaker 24. Accordingly, the sound of index number 01 is output from the speaker 24.

The CPU32 continues reading the sound data from the memory 9 until the STOP button in fig. 2 is pressed. That is, after the audio of index 01 is output from the speaker 24, the CPU32 reads out the audio data of index 02, the audio data of index 03, and … in this order.

As described above, in the IC recorder, as shown in fig. 11, when new sound data is recorded, it is stored in the semiconductor memory 9 as the last sound data of index number 01, so that reproduction is performed in the order of index number 01, index number 02, index number 03, …, because sound data with a smaller index number tends to be more important than sound data with a larger index number, the aforementioned control allows the important pieces of sound data to be set with the earlier index number. Therefore, it is not necessary to search for an important latest sound piece, which enhances operability.

In the IC recorder 1, it is also possible to add another sound data as an additional record to a sound data that has been recorded. Here, the CPU32 executes the processing shown in step 1 and later in fig. 12.

For example, if the user presses the REC button 56 while the IC recorder reproduces the sound data of the index number 02 (step S1), the CPU32 starts the timer 3 and determines whether the REC button 56 is pressed for 1 second or more (step S2). If it is determined that the REC button 56 has been pressed for more than 1 second, the CPU32 interrupts the reproduction of the sound data of index number 02 (step S3), whereas if it is determined that the REC button 56 has not been pressed for more than 1 second, the CPU32 continues the reproduction.

After the reproduction is interrupted, the CPU32 controls to start recording the sound input from the microphone 11 and writing the sound data into the PCM data block of the memory 9. The CPU32 continues recording until the STOP button 55 is pressed or the memory capacity of the semiconductor memory 9 becomes full (step S5). When the STOP button 55 is pressed or the memory capacity of the semiconductor memory 9 becomes full, that is, there is no area for writing sound data, the CPU ends the recording (step S6).

After the reproduction is ended, the CPU32 performs writing of TOC information of the sound data (step S7), and more specifically, as shown in fig. 13, in an ADR data block containing an index-level block of file data, the CPU32 first writes the start address (STH, STM) and end address (ENH, ENM) of the index number 01 and index number 02 existing before the recording. Then, the CPU32 controls to write a start address and an end address indicating a recording position of new sound data additionally recorded as the index number 02, and then write a start address of index number 03 and subsequent sound data existing before recording, and so on. Therefore, the CPU32 assigns an index number 02 to the additionally recorded new sound data and writes the start address (STH, STM) and end address (ENH, ENM) thereof.

Therefore, in the IC recorder 1, when the steering wheel 60 is operated and reproduction is started, reproduction of sound data is performed in order of the index number 01, the index number 02, and the index number …. Here, as shown in fig. 14, the additionally recorded sound data piece is output in the shape of index number 02 immediately after the sound data portion of index number 02 that has been recorded previously.

That is, in the IC recorder 1, it is possible to select one piece from among already recorded multiple pieces and to re-record a new piece to be added to the selected piece, and therefore, the user can record a new piece of data to be added to the selected piece from among the already recorded multiple pieces with a desired index number. This can significantly enhance operability, eliminating the time required for searching for a desired piece, and such additional recording can be realized without changing the operating member 50, and therefore without increasing the product cost.

In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made based on a case where the additional recording is set, that is, the REC button 56 is pressed for 1 second or more while the predetermined file is read out and reproduced from the memory 9, but the additional recording mode is not limited to this case.

For example, if the REC button 56 is pressed for a predetermined period (e.g., 2 seconds) after the reproduction of the file of the index number 02 is interrupted by the user, the additional recording mode can be set by the CPU 32. When the additional recording mode is set, the CPU32 executes the processing of and after step S4 to record a new sound data in the semiconductor memory 9 with the index number 02.

Next, a reproduction operation with the steering wheel 60 and a configuration of the steering wheel 60 will be explained. In the IC recorder 1, a part of the steering wheel 60, that is, a part of a rotation operation member to be described later in detail is exposed from a cut-out portion 2C formed in an upper half of the left side face 26 of the housing 2. The steering wheel 60 includes a disk-shaped rotation operation member 61 having a rotation center shaft 62 and other members which will be described in detail later, and most of the components of the steering wheel are accommodated in the housing 2 while only a part of the rotation operation member 61 is exposed from the cut-out portion 2C. The rotation operation member 61 of the steering wheel 62 is rotatable about the rotation center shaft 62 in the direction A, B shown in fig. 2.

Further, the rotation operating member 61 of the steering wheel 60 is configured in such a manner that the rotation center shaft 62 can move in the X and Y directions shown in fig. 2 on the side of the housing 2. In a normal state, that is, when the steering wheel 60 is in a non-operating state, the member 61 is urged in the direction of the arrow Y by a spring (not shown) so that a part of the member 61 protrudes from the cut-out portion 2C. Therefore, the rotation operating member 61 of the steering wheel 60 can be operated by the user to rotate in the arrow a and B directions shown in fig. 2, and is moved by being pressed along a plane almost perpendicularly intersecting the rotation center axis 62, that is, in the direction indicated by the arrow X in fig. 2, which will position the rotation operating member 61 in the housing 2.

When the rotational operation member 61 is rotated in the direction of arrow a or B shown in fig. 2, the steering wheel 60 provides an output signal to the control member 30 according to the angle of rotation and the rotational speed. When the rotational operation member 61 is pressed in the direction of the arrow X shown in fig. 2, an output signal corresponding to the pressing time of the member 61 is supplied to the control member 30. More specifically, in the IC recorder 1, the control section 30 detects the rotational direction, the rotational angle, and the rotational speed of the rotational operation section 61, or detects whether the rotational operation section 61 is pressed and whether the pressing of the rotational operation section 61 exceeds a predetermined period. The control section 30 reads out a program from the ROM31 according to the detection result and executes the program to control the operations of the respective sections of the apparatus 1. It should be noted that the control operation of the control section will be described later in detail.

The user operates the steering wheel 60 in various cases including a case where various operations are performed in reproduction or a case where the initial setting of the aforementioned date and time is modified. That is, the steering wheel 60 has a high frequency of use. For this case, as shown in fig. 2, a steering wheel 60 is provided on the side of the housing 2 so that the user can hold the housing 2 with his/her left hand and can rotate and press a rotation operation member 61 partially protruding from the cutout portion 2C with his/her left thumb alone.

Referring to fig. 15A, 15B, and 16, the structure of the steering wheel 60 will be described in detail below. Fig. 15A is a front view of the steering wheel 60, i.e., an external view from the main surface 2a of the housing 2. Fig. 15B is an external view from the rear. As shown in fig. 15A and 15B, steering wheel 60 includes the aforementioned rotation operation member 61, a base member to which rotation operation member 61 is connected, a reed-shaped electrode 64, and four terminals a, B, c, and d attached to base member 63.

The base member 63 is made of an insulating material and has a main surface portion 63a installed inside the housing 2 so that the entire steering wheel 60 is fixed to the housing 2. As shown in fig. 15B, the base member 63 has an oval cut-out portion 65, and the portion 65 has a longer axis in the directions of arrows X and Y. A circular rotation center shaft 62 provided at the center of one main surface 61a of the rotation operation member 61 is mounted in the cutout portion 65 in such a manner that the shaft 62 can rotate and move in directions indicated by arrows X and Y of fig. 15B along a plane almost perpendicularly intersecting the rotation center shaft 62.

As shown in fig. 15A, the electrode 64 is constituted by a reed that has been bent. The electrode 64 has a base end fixed to the base member 63. A plurality of terminals a, b, c, and d fixed to the base member 63 are respectively connected to the control member 30 shown in fig. 1. Here, the terminals a and b serve to output an output signal in accordance with the rotation of the rotational operation member 61. The terminal d serves to supply an input signal in accordance with pressing of the rotational operation member in the direction of the arrow X, and the terminal c serves as a common ground for the terminals a, b, d.

When the rotational operation member 61 is pressed in the direction of the arrow X, the tip 64a of the electrode 64 moves in the direction indicated by the arrow X and comes into contact with another electrode (not shown). When the electrode 64 is in contact with the other electrode (not shown), the steering wheel 60 supplies an output signal from the terminal d to the control section 30, which indicates that the rotational operation section 61 is pressed by the user. When the pressing of the rotational operation member 61 is stopped, the connection between the electrode 64 and another electrode (not shown) is released, and the supply of the output signal from the terminal d to the control member 30 is terminated. The control section 30 detects an output signal supplied from the terminal d indicating that the rotational operation section 61 is pressed, and detects whether the supply of this signal from the terminal d has continued for a predetermined period. According to the result of the detection, the control section 30 reads out a program corresponding to the detection result from the ROM31 and performs operation or control according to the read-out program.

As shown in fig. 16, when the rotational operation member 61 is rotated in the direction of arrow a or B, the steering wheel 60 outputs a 2-phase pulse signal. That is, if the rotational operation member 61 is rotated clockwise, i.e., in the direction of the arrow B, i.e., the signal α is output from between the terminals a-c, and the signal β is output from between the terminals B-c, the signals α and β are different in phase from each other. Likewise, if the rotational operation member 61 is rotated counterclockwise, i.e., in the direction of arrow a, a signal α is output from between the terminals a-c, and a signal β is output from between the terminals b-c, the phases between the signals α and β being different. As shown in fig. 16, the pulse signal is output in such a manner that the signal β slightly lags behind the signal α when the rotational operation member 61 is rotated clockwise, and the signal α slightly lags behind the signal β when the rotational operation member 61 is rotated counterclockwise. Therefore, the control section 30 can recognize the rotation direction of the rotation operation section 61 by detecting which of the signals α and β has the retarded phase.

The signals alpha and beta generate 15 pulses, respectively, while the steering wheel 60 is rotated 360 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise. That is, when the rotational operation member 61 rotates 1/15 revolutions (24 degrees), the signals α and β generate one pulse, respectively. Therefore, the control part 30 can detect the rotation angle of the rotational operation part 61 by counting the number of pulses with the counter 35, and further, the control part 30 can detect the rotation speed of the rotational operation part 61 by counting the number of pulses with the counter 35 within a predetermined period.

In the IC recorder 1 having the above-described configuration, if the FILE button 51 is pressed before recording is performed, the control section 30 controls reading out of data in the ROM31, and icons corresponding to respective FILEs are displayed on the liquid crystal display. One icon on the display screen 41 can be selected by rotating the rotation operation member 61 of the steering wheel 60 in the direction of the arrow a or B of fig. 2, and the selected icon is determined by pressing the rotation operation member 61 in the direction of the arrow X, so that new sound data will be stored in the determined file. If the MENU button 52 is pressed before recording is performed, the control section 30 reads out data on initial setting from the ROM31 and an initial setting state is displayed on the liquid crystal display 41. To modify the current initial setting, the rotational operation section 61 is rotated in the direction of arrow a or B to select a target item. When the selection is completed, the rotation operation part 61 is pressed in the direction of the arrow X so that the selected item can be modified. In this state, the rotational operation member 61 is rotated and pressed to modify the initial setting.

When the REC start button of the IC recorder 1 is pressed, the IC recorder 1 enters a recording start state. When the user speaks toward the microphone 11, the sound data is written into one PCM data block of the semiconductor memory 9 determined by the aforementioned operation of the steering wheel 60. When the STOP button is pressed, the recording state is released. When the sound data is recorded in the semiconductor memory 9, the aforementioned TOC information and data on the file number and index number are generated as auxiliary data or management data by the control section 30 and written in the memory 9.

Next, reproduction of sound data recorded or stored in the IC recorder 1 will be described. In the same manner as the recording, for example, the FILE button 51 is pressed to read out data from the ROM31 by the control section 30 and icons corresponding to respective FILEs are displayed on the liquid crystal display 41. The rotation operation member 61 of the steering wheel 60 is rotated in the direction of arrow a or B to select one of the icons on the liquid crystal display 41. When the selection is completed, the rotational operation section 61 is pressed in the direction of the arrow X to determine the selected icon, as a result of which the sound data stored in the PCM data block of the designated file will be reproduced. On the liquid crystal display panel 41 of fig. 2, for convenience of explanation, only 02/37 related to the index number is displayed, and actually, various icons and times are displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 41. In the example of fig. 2, the denominator 37 represents the number of pieces of sound data stored in the memory 9, and the numerator 02 represents the index number currently reproduced or capable of being immediately reproduced. In this example, one file contains 37 pieces of sound data stored in the memory 9 and the sound data of index number 02 is being reproduced or is in a state of being immediately reproduced.

Here, when the IC recorder 1 is in a state of immediate reproduction, reproduction of the sound data of the selected index number is started by operating the rotating operation member 61 of the steering wheel 60 as follows.

When the rotational operation member 61 is rotated counterclockwise, i.e., in the direction of the arrow a, the control member 30 performs a forward search. More specifically, in accordance with the pulse number based on the signals α and β in fig. 16, the control section 30 reads out the following index numbers from the semiconductor memory 9 to be sequentially displayed on the liquid crystal panel 41 (in this example, 03/37, 04/37, 05/37| …). On the other hand, if the steering wheel 60 is rotated clockwise, i.e., in the direction of arrow B, the control section performs a backward search. More specifically, in accordance with the pulse number based on the signals α and β, the control section 30 reads out the preceding index numbers (01, 37, 36 … in this example) from the semiconductor memory 9 to be sequentially displayed on the liquid crystal panel 41.

When the user has found the index number of the sound data to be reproduced and presses the rotational operation section 61, the control section 30 detects the output signal supplied from the terminal d of the steering wheel 60, and controls reading out the sound data corresponding to the index number selected by the operation of the steering wheel 60 from the memory 9, and then starts reproduction of the sound data. In this reproduction state, if the rotational operation section 61 is pressed in the direction of the arrow X for a short period of time (hereinafter, this operation will be referred to as short pressing), the control section 30 controls to end the reproduction of the sound data. If the rotational operation section 61 is pressed in the direction of the arrow X for a period longer than a predetermined time in this reproduction state (hereinafter, this operation will be referred to as long pressing), the control section 30 performs repeated reproduction which will be described in detail later.

Next, various functions regarding reproduction in the IC recorder 1 will be explained. During reproduction, the IC recorder 1 has a tail/rewind reproduction function, a repeat reproduction function, and a scan reproduction function. These functions can be selected and executed by individually operating the rotation operating member 61 of the steering wheel 60.

Fig. 17 shows the operation of the rotational operation member 61 related to the cue/switchback reproduction in relation to the reproduction state transition. Note that in fig. 17, the rotational operation member 61 is simply denoted as JOG. For the tailing/slewing, when or after the reproduction is started, the rotational operation member 61 is continuously pressed in the arrow X direction while being rotated by a predetermined angle in the arrow a or B direction. As shown in fig. 7, in this embodiment, if the rotational operation member 61 is continuously pressed in the direction of the arrow X while being rotated counterclockwise, i.e., in the direction of the arrow a, the control member 30 controls to perform the cue reproduction, whereas if the rotational operation member is continuously pressed in the direction of the arrow X while being rotated clockwise, i.e., in the direction of the arrow B, control is generated to perform the wraparound reproduction. While the rotational operation member 61 is kept in the pressed state in the arrow X direction, this tailing/slewing reproduction operation is continued, assuming, for example, that sound data is reproduced at a speed ten times faster than this normal reproduction speed. On the other hand, if the pressing of the rotational operation member in the direction of the arrow X is released and the supply of the output signal from the terminal d of the steering wheel 60 is terminated, the control member 30 ends the tailing/slewing reproduction operation and shifts to the mode of normal speed reproduction. As shown in fig. 17, if the rotational operation member 61 is rotated clockwise, i.e., in the direction of arrow B, during the one-after reproduction, or if the rotational operation member 61 is rotated counterclockwise, i.e., in the direction of arrow a, during the one-turn reproduction, the control member 30 also controls to switch the mode to the normal speed reproduction.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the cue reproduction reaches the end of the sound data stored in the memory 9, control is made to interrupt the cue reproduction and set the mode to the head of the last sound data stored in the memory 9. On the other hand, when the swivel reproduction reaches the first sound data stored in the memory 9, control is made to interrupt the swivel reproduction and set a mode to the head of the sound data stored in the memory 9. Therefore, in the IC recorder 1, control is made in such a manner that the one-by-one reproduction or the swivel reproduction will not be terminated except at the start position and the last position of the sound data stored in the memory 9. For example, when storing the sound data of index numbers 01 to 10, the one-end reproduction or the swivel reproduction will not be terminated at the sound data of index number 03.

If the rotational operation section 61 is pressed long during the reproduction of the sound data, the control section 30 performs the repeated reproduction of the piece of sound data being reproduced. In the embodiment of the present invention, the pieces of sound data that have been reproduced are repeatedly reproduced by the repetitive reproduction. In this repeated reproduction process, if the rotational operation member 61 is pressed again in the direction of the arrow X or rotated in the direction of the arrow a or B, the repeated reproduction is released and the mode is switched to the normal reproduction. Also, if the STOP button 54 or the ERASE button 56 is pressed during the repeated reproduction, the repeated reproduction is released and the normal reproduction mode is set.

As shown in fig. 18, if the long press of the rotational operation section 61 is performed in the immediate reproduction state or the stop state, the control section 30 performs the scan reproduction. That is, if the rotational operation member 61 is continuously pressed in the direction of the arrow X for a predetermined period in the immediate reproduction state, the control member 30 detects the period during which the rotational operation member 61 is pressed and controls to start a scan reproduction according to the output signal from the terminal d. Here, the scan reproduction is a reproduction method as described below. When a plurality of pieces of sound data are stored in the file of the memory 9, the beginning portion of each piece of sound data stored in the file is intermittently reproduced and each piece of sound data is continuously reproduced for a predetermined period of time (e.g., 5 seconds). Note that in fig. 18, the rotational operation member 61 is simply denoted by JOG.

Here, the control unit 30 determines whether or not to execute one scan reproduction by detecting, for example, whether or not the output signal from the terminal d of the steering wheel 60 based on the pressing of the rotation operation member 61 in the direction of the arrow X lasts for 3 seconds or more. That is, if it is detected that the output signal from the terminal d reaches 3 seconds or more from the start of pressing the rotational operation member 61, the control section 30 controls to perform a scan reproduction, and if less than 3 seconds from the start of pressing, the control section 30 performs a reproduction of a normal mode.

After the scan reproduction is started, the scan reproduction continues even if the pressing of the rotational operation member 30 in the direction of the arrow X is released. When the scanning reproduction of the last sound data piece of the file being scan-reproduced is completed, the control section 30 stops the IC recorder 1 at the head of the first sound data piece of the file that has been scan-reproduced.

During the scanning reproduction, if the rotational operation section 61 is rotated in the direction of the arrow a or B, the control section 30 controls switching to the scanning reproduction of the sound data of an earlier or later index number by the count value of the counter 35 determined by the number of pulse signals generated by the rotation of the rotational operation section 61. In this scanning reproduction process, if a target sound is heard from the speaker 24, the user presses the rotational operation member 61 in the direction of the arrow X while the target sound data is being reproduced. When the rotational operation section 61 is pressed, as shown in fig. 18, the control section 30 controls reproduction switched to the normal mode. Therefore, by pressing the member 61 while one-scan reproduction is in progress, the target sound data can be heard from the beginning to the end. If the STOP button 54 is pressed during the scan reproduction, the control section 30 cancels the scan reproduction and enters a STOP state according to an input signal from the operation section 50.

In this example, if the ERASE button 56, the FILE button 51, or the PRIORITY button 53 is pressed during one scan reproduction, the control section 30 will invalidate the input signals generated by pressing these buttons regardless of the ON/OFF state of the HOLD switch.

In the IC recorder 1, as described above, when the rotational operation member 61 is rotated in the direction of the arrow a or B, the control member 30 determines the rotational speed of the rotational operation member 61 based on the output detection signals α and β from the terminals a, B, c of the steering wheel 60, and performs processing corresponding to the detected speed.

Fig. 18 also shows processing performed when the rotational operation member 61 is rotated from the stopped state. As shown in fig. 18, when the rotational operation member 61 is rotated counterclockwise, i.e., in the direction of arrow a, from the stopped state, if the rotational speed of the rotational operation member 61 is slow, the control member 30 controls to perform a forward search piece by piece and increment the index number one by one on the liquid crystal panel 41 as the search proceeds. On the other hand, if the rotational speed of the rotational operation section 61 in the direction of the arrow a is fast, the control section 30 controls to perform forward search while skipping a plurality of sheets and to increase the index number on the liquid crystal display panel 41 by more than 1 at a time.

Similarly, when the rotational operation section 61 is rotated clockwise, i.e., in the direction of arrow B, from the STOP state at a slow rotational speed, the control section 30 controls to perform backward search piece by piece and to decrement the index number one by one on the liquid crystal display screen 41. On the other hand, if the rotational speed of the rotational operation section 61 in the direction of the arrow B is fast, the control section 30 controls to perform backward search while skipping a plurality of sheets and to decrease the index number on the liquid crystal display 41 by more than 1 at a time.

Therefore, in the IC recorder 1, even if a plurality of pieces of sound data are stored in the semiconductor memory 9 with corresponding index numbers, the quick rotation of the rotating operation section 61 is performed so as to skip a plurality of index numbers, thereby quickly finding the target index number, i.e., displaying the target index number on the liquid crystal display 41. Therefore, in this IC recorder 1, the index number search before reproduction is significantly improved, and the target sound data can be quickly reproduced with a simple operation.

Fig. 19 shows processing performed when the rotational operation member 61 is rotated in the direction of the arrow a or B in the sound data reproduction state. As shown in fig. 19, in the IC recorder 1, when the rotational operation section 61 rotates counterclockwise, i.e., in the direction of arrow a, at a slow rotational speed from the reproduction state, the control section 30 controls to perform the piece-by-piece forward search. More specifically, the control section 30 controls to increase the index number on the liquid crystal screen 41 one by one and start reproduction at the head of the sound data of the displayed index number. On the other hand, if the rotational operation section 61 rotates at a fast rotational speed, the control section controls to perform forward search while skipping many slices. More specifically, the control section 30 controls to increase the index number on the liquid crystal screen 41 by more than 1 at a time and start reproduction at the head of the sound data corresponding to the displayed index number.

Similarly, when the operation member 61 is rotated clockwise from the reproduction state. I.e., in the direction of B, if the rotational speed of the rotational operation section 61 is slow, the control section 30 controls to perform the piece-by-piece backward search. More specifically, the control section 30 controls to reduce the index numbers on the liquid crystal display 41 one by one and start reproduction at the head of the sound data corresponding to the displayed index numbers. On the other hand, if the rotational speed of the rotational operation section 61 is fast, the control section 30 controls to perform the backward search while skipping many slices. More specifically, the control section 30 controls to decrease the index number on the liquid crystal display 41 by more than 1 at a time and start reproduction at the head of the sound data corresponding to the displayed index number.

Therefore, even if many pieces of sound data are stored in the semiconductor memory 9, a simple operation of rotating the operation member 61 quickly can find and reproduce the head of the target sound data quickly by skipping a plurality of pieces of sound data. This significantly enhances the efficiency of sound data search during reproduction.

As described above, in the IC recorder 1, various functions are assigned to the steering wheel 60. This can improve operability and reduce the volume and weight of the entire apparatus. More specifically, the user does not have to move his/her fingers around, and all the basic operations in the reproduction process can be completed only by rotating and pressing the rotational operation member 61 with his/her left thumb. Since a large number of functions are assigned to the steering wheel 60, the number of operation buttons and switches can be reduced as a whole, which visually simplifies the operation of the IC recorder 1 and achieves a reduction in volume and weight of the entire apparatus.

The aforementioned storage and reproduction apparatus according to the present invention employs a semiconductor memory. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, except that it can be used for recording apparatuses in general, and portable apparatuses in particular, which can be easily carried. In the above-described embodiment, a sound data recording and reproducing apparatus is described in detail, but the present invention may be a recording and reproducing apparatus for recording/reproducing such as video data or the like in addition to sound data.

Claims

1. A storage and reproduction apparatus having an apparatus body, the apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing therein input data and auxiliary data for said input data;

a reproduction means for reproducing the data read out from the memory;

an operation member mounted on the apparatus body, the operation member having a rotational operation member mounted on the apparatus body in such a manner that the rotational operation member rotates about a rotation center and moves along a plane substantially perpendicularly intersecting the rotation center; and

a control means for writing the auxiliary data into the memory and reading out the data stored in the memory in accordance with an input from the operation means, wherein the control means reads out the auxiliary data from the memory in accordance with a rotation direction of the rotational operation means, and when the rotational operation means is moved along the plane, the control means reads out the data from the memory in accordance with the auxiliary data read out from the memory, the data read out from the memory being reproduced by the reproduction means.

2. The storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control section terminates the reproduction operation performed by the reproduction section when the rotational operation section is moved along the plane during the reproduction operation performed by the reproduction section.

3. The storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control section repeatedly reproduces the data being reproduced by the reproduction section when the rotational operation section is at a moved position along the plane for a predetermined time or more during the reproduction operation performed by the reproduction section.

4. The storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when said rotational operation means is rotated at a movement position along said plane after a reproduction start by said reproducing means or in progress of a reproduction, said control means performs a high-speed reproduction of the data read out from said memory by said reproducing means while said rotational operation means is at said movement position along said plane.

5. The storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control means switches the reproduction means to a normal reproduction state when the rotational operation means is released from the movement position along the plane.

6. The storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control means repeatedly reproduces data being reproduced by the reproduction means when the rotational operation means is also at the movement position along the plane for a predetermined period, and thereafter, if the rotational operation means is moved or rotated along the plane, the control means switches the reproduction means to a normal reproduction state.

7. The storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when said apparatus is in a stopped state, if said rotational operation section is in a moved position along said plane for a predetermined period of time, said control section intermittently reads out the data stored in said memory so that the data is reproduced by said reproducing section.

8. The storage and reproduction apparatus of claim 7, wherein the control section performs the normal reproduction by the reproduction section if the rotational operation section is not in the moved position along the plane for the predetermined period.

9. The storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control section controls a normal reproduction to be performed by the reproduction section if the rotational operation section is moved along the plane while the data is intermittently read out and reproduced by the reproduction section.

10. The storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 7, wherein if the rotational operation member is rotated while the data is intermittently read out and reproduced by the reproduction means, the control means modifies the data read out from the memory in accordance with the amount of rotation of the rotational operation member and continues the reading out of the data of the interval and the reproduction by the reproduction means.

11. The storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said apparatus further comprises a display section for displaying the auxiliary data read out from said memory in accordance with a rotation direction of said rotation operating section.

12. A storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control section rewrites said auxiliary data so that new data written to said memory is read before data which has been written to said memory.

13. A storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said auxiliary data includes a start address and a result address of data stored in said memory and data indicating a reproduction order.

14. The storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if said operating means inputs an instruction to write additional data into said memory during a reproducing operation performed by said operating means, said control means interrupts the reproducing operation performed by said reproducing means and starts writing said additional data into said memory.

15. A storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said control means rewrites said auxiliary data so that said additional data written in said memory is read out from said memory continuously after reproduction thereof of the data which has been interrupted by said reproducing means.

16. A storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory stores said input data in the form divided into predetermined storage units and stores management data for reading out auxiliary data corresponding to each of said units of said input data, the management data being written in a position other than a start address and an end address of each of said storage units.

17. The storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said memory has a back-up area for writing back-up data of said management data, and said control section reads out said management data stored in said back-up area of said memory when said management data cannot be read out.

18. A storage and reproduction apparatus having an apparatus body, the apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing therein inputted data and management data of said inputted data;

a reproduction means for reproducing the data read out from the memory;

an operation member mounted on the apparatus main body; and

a control unit for performing writing of said data and said management data and performing reading of said data stored in said memory in accordance with an input from said operation unit, wherein said control unit rewrites said management data so that new data written in said memory is read before said data already stored in said memory.

19. The storage and reproduction apparatus of claim 18, wherein the management data includes a start address and an end address of the data stored in the memory and data indicating a reproduction order.

20. The storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein if an instruction for writing additional data into said memory is input by said operating section during a reproducing operation performed by said reproducing section, said control section interrupts the reproducing operation performed by said reproducing section and starts writing said additional data into said memory.

21. A storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said control means rewrites said management data so that said additional data written in said memory is read out from said memory continuously after the reproduction thereof has been interrupted.

22. A storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said memory stores said inputted data in the form divided into predetermined storage units and stores further management data for reading out management data corresponding to each of said units of said inputted data, said further management data being written in a position other than a start address and an end address of each of said storage units.

23. A storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said memory has a back-up area for writing back-up data of said another management data, and said control section reads out said management data stored in said back-up area of said memory when said management data cannot be read out.

24. A storage and reproduction apparatus having an apparatus body, the apparatus comprising:

a reproduction means for reproducing the data read out from the memory;

an operation member mounted on the apparatus main body; and

a control unit for writing said data and said management data to and reading out said data and said management data from said memory in accordance with an input from said operation unit, wherein said control unit interrupts a reproduction operation of said reproduction unit and starts writing of said additional data to said memory in response to an input from said operation unit specifying writing of additional data to said memory during reproduction.

25. A storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said control means rewrites said management data so that said additional data written in said memory is read out from said memory continuously after the reproduction thereof has been interrupted.

26. A storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said control means rewrites said management data so that new data written in said memory is read out before data already stored in said memory.

27. The storage and reproduction apparatus of claim 24, wherein the management data includes a start address and an end address stored in the memory and data indicating a reproduction order.

28. A storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said memory stores said inputted data in the form divided into predetermined storage units and stores further management data for reading out management data corresponding to each of said units of said inputted data, said further management data being written in a position other than a start address and an end address of each of said storage units.

29. A storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said storage has a back-up area for writing back-up data of said another management data, and said control section reads out said management data stored in said back-up area of said storage when said management data cannot be read out.

30. A storage and reproduction apparatus having an apparatus body, the apparatus comprising:

a signal processing section for converting an inputted sound signal into a digital signal;

a memory for storing said digital signal from said signal processing section and management data of said digital signal;

a reproduction means for reproducing the digital signal read out from the memory;

a control unit for performing writing of the digital signal and the management data into the memory and reading of the digital signal and the management data stored in the memory in accordance with an input from the operation unit, wherein the control unit reads out the management data from the memory in accordance with a rotation direction of the rotational operation unit, and when the rotational operation unit moves along the plane, the control unit reads out the digital signal from the memory in accordance with the management data read out from the memory.

31. The storage and reproduction apparatus of claim 30, wherein the control means interrupts the reproduction operation performed by the reproduction means if the rotational operation means moves along the plane during the reproduction operation performed by the reproduction means.

32. The storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the control section repeatedly reproduces the data being reproduced by the reproduction section if the rotational operation section is in a moving state along the plane for a predetermined period or more during the reproduction operation performed by the reproduction section.

33. The storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 30, wherein if said rotating operation means is rotated at a moving position after a reproduction performed by said reproducing means is started or in progress of a reproduction, said control means performs a high speed reproduction of the data read out from said memory by said reproducing means while said rotating operation means is at said moving position along said plane.

34. The storage and reproduction apparatus of claim 33, wherein the control means switches the reproduction means to a normal reproduction state when the rotational operation means is released from the movement position along the plane.

35. The storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the control means repeatedly reproduces the data being reproduced by the reproduction means if the rotational operation means is still in the moved position for a predetermined period of time, and thereafter, the control means switches the reproduction means to a normal reproduction state when the rotational operation means is moved or rotated along the plane.

36. A storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 30, wherein if said rotational operation section is moved and is in a moved position for a predetermined period while said apparatus is in a stopped state, said control section intermittently reads out the data stored in said memory so that the data is reproduced by said reproducing section.

37. The storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 36, wherein said control means performs a normal reproduction by said reproducing means if said rotational operation means is not in said moved position for a predetermined period of time while said apparatus is in a stopped state.

38. The storage and reproduction apparatus of claim 36, wherein if the rotational operation section moves along the plane while the data is intermittently read out to be reproduced by the reproduction section, the control section performs normal reproduction by the reproduction section.

39. The storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 36, wherein if said rotational operation member is rotated while said data is intermittently read out to be reproduced by said reproducing means, said control means switches to another data read out from said memory and continues the data readout of said interval and the reproduction by said reproducing means in accordance with the amount of rotation of said rotational operation member.

40. A storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 30, wherein said apparatus further comprises a display means for displaying the auxiliary data read out from said memory according to the rotation direction of said rotation operating means.

41. The storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 30, wherein said control means rewrites said management data so that new data written to said memory is read out before data already stored in said memory.

42. The storage and reproduction apparatus of claim 41, wherein the management data includes a start address and an end address of the data stored in the memory and data indicating a reproduction order.

43. A storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 30, wherein if said operating means inputs an instruction to write additional data into said memory during a reproduction operation performed by said reproducing means, said control means interrupts the reproduction operation performed by said reproducing means and starts writing said additional data into said memory.

44. A storing and reproducing apparatus according to claim 43, wherein said control means rewrites said management data so that said additional data written in said memory is read out continuously after reproduction thereof by said reproducing means has been interrupted.

45. A storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 30, wherein said memory stores said input data in the form divided into predetermined storage units and stores further management data for reading out management data corresponding to each of said units of said input data, said further management data being written in a position other than a start address and an end address of each of said storage units.

46. A storage and reproduction apparatus according to claim 45, wherein said memory has a back-up area for writing back-up data of said another management data, and said control section reads out the management data stored in said back-up area of said memory when said management data cannot be read out.