GB2096383A - Juke box - Google Patents

Abstract

A selected one of a plurality of recordings on a video cassette is played by a video tape player 1 in response to receipt of a coin or token by a coin mechanism 4 and selection of a code corresponding to the appropriate recording by depressing code buttons 13 followed by a select button 15. In order to access the starting position of the selected recording a tape drive controller 18 compares the actual position of the tape as determined from markers on the tape with the required position, and then drives the tape to the required position. The audio signal is supplied to a loudspeaker 2 and the video signal is supplied to a video screen 3. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Juke Box This invention relates to a juke box.

Juke boxes are commonly provided in clubs and public houses for playing a selected piece of music in response to receipt of a coin or token. The possible pieces of music to be played are recorded on a plurality of record discs stored in the machine and capable of being individually selected by a selector arm and moved on to a platten where the selected disc is played by a stylus in a conventional manner. The discs in a particular juke box are regularly replaced by a fresh selection of discs of current popular appeal. However, it will be appreciated that the mechanism for selecting the discs in such juke boxes is complex and liable to malfunction, and that such juke Doxes are necessarily large in size. Also the discs themselves rapidly become worn leading to loss of quality, and the replacement of the discs can be timeconsuming.

It is an object of the invention to provide a new form of juke box which overcomes many of the disadvantages associated with traditional juke boxes.

According to the invention a juke box comprises a magnetic tape player, credit control means for registering a credit on receipt of a coin or token, form selection control means for registering a selection entered into the juke box, and tape selection and play control means for causing the tape player to play a selected one of a plurality of recordings on a magnetic tape when the credit control means is in credit and an appropriate selection has been entered into the form selection control means.

In use of such a juke box the recordings on the tape are reliably accessed, and a particular recording may be played a large number of times before any loss of quality becomes noticeable.

Furthermore the selection of recordings which may be played can be changed simply by replacinc the tape. The possibility also exists of combining the audio signals on the magnetic tape with video signals and of accompanying the music played with moving images on a screen.

The juke box may be arranged to play one or more audio and/or visual (film or video) open-reel or cassette tapes, the or each tape having a plurality of recordings on it. The juke box may be capable of selecting a particular recording by sensing markers interposed between recordings, such as holes cut in the tape or electronic or magnetic codes on the tape.

The juke box is preferably provided with more than one tape so that, as one tape is being played, the other tape may be accessed to select the next recording, thus shortening the access time between the playing of successive recordings.

The selection of recordings available to be played may be indicated on a flexible strip or on the tape itself in the form of a video image.

The juke box may be incorporated in a fruit machine, the arrangement being such that the playing of a recording is awarded in response to a winning combination within the viewing window.

The credit control means conveniently includes a change mechanism for providing coins or tokens or at least one credit together with at least one coin or token, in exchange for a higher denomination coin.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, a microprocessor-based juke box in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which the single figure is a block diagram of the juke box.

The illustrated juke box, which may be termed a "video juke box", incorporates a video tape player 1 of the type which is adapted to reproduce audio and video signals from respective recorded channels of a video cassette and to supply these signals to a loudspeaker 2 and a video screen 3 respectively. The audio signals may correspond to an audio recording of a piece of music and the video signals may correspond to a video recording of the artist performing the piece of music or some other video recording intended to accompany the piece of music.

The juke box is intended to play a particular audio and video recording selected from among a plurality of such recordings provided on a single video cassette in response to receipt of a coin, token or credit and selection of the appropriate recording. To this end the machine includes a coin mechanism 4 comprising a 50p change slot 5, a lOp coin slot 6 and a 1 Op token slot 7 and corresponding change/reject shutes 8 to 10. If a 1 Op coin is inserted in the 1 Op coin slot 6 or a 1 Op token is inserted in the lOp token slot, a credit is passed toa credit control 11 unless the coin or token is faulty in which case it is returned by way of the reject coin shute 8 or reject token shute 9.A 50p coin may be changed into five lOp coins or tokens by inserting the 50p coin into the 50p change slot 5, the resulting 1 Op coins or tokens being returned by way of the 50p change shute 8.

In a variation of this mechanism a credit may be passed to the credit control 11 and 40p change given when a 50p coin is inserted into the machine. Alternatively a number of credits greater than five, say six, may be passed to the credit control 11 on receipt of a 50p coin. The number of credits currently stored in the credit control 1 1 may be indicated by a two-digit seven-segment auxiliary display or on the video screen 3 itself between plays.

In order to enable a particular recording to be selected a programme selector 12 is provided.

This selector 12 is in the form of a keyboard, for example of the type used in telephones, comprising ten code keys 13, a cancel key 14 and a select key 15. Each recording which is available to be played on the juke box is assigned a twodigit code, which may be obtained from a printed list on the machine or from a list displayed on the video screen 3 between plays, and a recording is selected by pressing appropriate code keys 13 of the selector 12 and then entering the code into a form selection control 16 by pressing the select key 15. Alternatively the cancel key 15 may be pressed after the code keys 13 have been actuated in order to cancel the selection made and prevent this selection being entered into the form selection control 16.If two or more selections are entered into the form selection control 16 consecutively then the selected recordings will be played sequentially in the order in which their corresponding codes were introduced into the selector 12 as long as sufficient credits are available in the credit control 1 1.

When one or more selections have been entered into the machine the form selection control 16 checks the validity of the or each selected code by comparing it to the list of codes corresponding to the recordings available to be played. In the event of a match being found, and a credit being available in the credit control 11 , a tape selection and play control 17 is activated to cause the video tape player 1 to select and play the appropriate recording under control of a tape drive controller 18. More particularly the tape selection and play control 17 supplies a signal to the tape drive controller 18 indicative of the starting position on the tape of the selected recording.A signal indicative of the actual position of the tape in relation to the tape head, as determined from optical markings on the back of the tape or magnetic cues recorded on the tape between recordings, is also supplied to the tape drive controller 18 from the video tape player 1. The signals indicative of the required position and the actual position are then compared and, depending on the result of the comparison, either a fast forward wind signal or a fast reverse wind signal or an audio and video start signal (if the actual position corresponds to the required position) is supplied to the video tape player 1.

During fast winding and rewinding the required position and actual position are continuously compared and an audio and video start signal is supplied to the video tape player 1 when the two positions are the same.

In a modification of the above described juke box the video tape player comprises two separate tape drive mechanisms and two tape heads associated with these drive mechanisms, and two video cassettes having the same selection of recordings thereon are engaged by these drive mechanisms. Either of the two cassettes may be played through the loudspeaker 2 and on the video screen 3 under control of the tape drive controller 18. Furthermore, as one cassette is being played, the other cassette may be searched to find the start of the next recording selected so that this next recording will be ready to be played immediately the preceding recording has finished, thus shortening the access time between the playing of successive recordings. A supplementary cassette playing mechanism may also be provided for displaying information on the video screen, such as the list of recordings available, the current credit, advertising matter, news material or teletext, between plays.

In a further modification the video screen is replaced by a projection system which enables a larger picture to be obtained.

Claims (12)

1. A juke box comprising a magnetic tape player, credit control means for registering a credit on receipt of a coin or token, form selection control means for registering a selection entered into the juke box, and tape selection and play control means for causing the tape player to play a selected one of a plurality of recordings on a magnetic tape when the credit control means is in credit and an appropriate selection has been entered into the form control means.

2. A juke box according to claim 1, wherein the tape player is a cassette player.

3. A juke box according to claim 2, wherein the tape player is a video cassette player.

4. A juke box according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the tape player comprises two separate tape drive mechanisms and two tape heads associated with these drive mechanisms so that, as one tape is being played, another tape may be accessed under control of the tape selection and play control means to select the next recording to be played.

5. A juke box according to any preceding claim, wherein the credit control means includes a change mechanism for providing coins or tokens or at least one credit together with at least one coin or token, in exchange for a higher denomination coin.

6. A juke box according to any preceding claim, wherein the form selection control means includes a keyboard incorporating a plurality of code keys by means of which a code corresponding to a particular recording may be selected.

7. A juke box according to claim 6, wherein the keyboard also incorporates a select key which may be actuated to enter a selection previously made on the code keys, and a cancel key which may be actuated to cancel a selection previously made on the code keys.

8. A juke box according to any preceding claim, wherein the tape player is controlled by a tape drive controller which is adapted to drive the tape to the starting position of a selected recording by comparing the actual position of the tape as determined from markers on the tape between recordings with the required position of the tape as determined from the selection made.

9. A juke box according to any preceding claim, which also comprises a loudspeaker.

10. A juke box according to any preceding claim, which also comprises a video screen.

1 A juke box according to any preceding claim, which also comprises a projection system.

12. A juke box substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.