Patent Application
20090015963
1. Field of the Invention
The present application is related generally to consumer audio electronics and more specifically to a dual cassette tape deck player and recorder that includes a computer serial port to enable archiving of cassette tapes onto a personal computer and transfer of audio onto cassette tape.
2. Background of the Related Art
Many consumers individually still own tens to hundreds of audio cassette tapes. However, cassette audio tapes have been rendered virtually obsolete since the introduction of the compact disc. The advent of portable digital media players that may be synchronized with a music library stored on a personal computer has revolutionized the music industry has further accelerated the decline of the audio cassette tape. Accordingly, it is desirable to transfer music stored on audio cassette tapes onto a personal computer for archival purposes and also to enable this music to be played on portable digital media players.
There are two methods of connecting a cassette tape player to a personal computer in order to transfer or archive the music. The first method is accomplished by using an RCA to ⅛″ stereo adapter. Using the adapter, the RCA outputs on the cassette tape player are connected directly to the microphone port on the sound card of the personal computer. However, this method suffers from the disadvantage of extremely poor sound quality usually due to an unacceptable level of noise in the recording. Poor sound quality is often due to poor quality onboard sound cards.
Alternatively, the consumer can purchase a higher quality sound card or an auxiliary audio interface having USB and/or IEEE 1394 interface. If the consumer uses an auxiliary audio interface, he or she would also need to purchase an appropriate matching RCA adapter to suit. In either case, both options involve added complexity and cost, which is often undesirable.
Accordingly, there is a perceived need for a low cost, and easy to use method of transferring cassette tape deck audio output to a personal computer. Additionally, there is a perceived need to enable such a transfer that preserves the quality of the original audio cassette tape recording without undue degradation.
Even though audio cassette tape technology is falling into disuse, many consumers still frequently use audio cassette tape players. For instance, many consumers still have audio cassette tape decks in their cars rather than a compact disk player. However, because recording studios have diverted their resources into compact disk and other new technologies, consumers often find it difficult to find recent recordings in audio cassette format. Accordingly, there is a perceived need in the consumer market for a device to be able to transfer audio files stored on a personal computer to an audio cassette tape useable in audio cassette tape players.
The present invention solves the problems of the prior art by providing a dual-deck audio cassette player with an integrated computer serial port to facilitate transfer of audio stored on an audio cassette tape to a personal computer. In particular, the player includes a housing having a front panel and a rear panel. An analog output port, analog input port and computer serial port are located on the rear panel. An analog input port located on the rear panel. A first audio cassette deck having an output is located on the front panel. Adjacent thereto, a second audio cassette deck having an output and an input is also located on the front panel. The output of the first deck is electrically connected to the input of the second deck, the analog output port and the computer serial port. The output of the second deck is electrically connected to the analog output port and the computer serial port. Finally, the input port of the second deck is electrically connected to the computer serial port.
Accordingly, among the objects of the present invention is the provision for a dual-deck cassette tape player that includes a digital computer serial port to permit transfer the transfer and conversion of analog audio into digital format for use on a personal computer.
Another object of the present invention is the provision to transfer digital audio and conversion thereof to analog format to an audio cassette tape player.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, accompanying drawings and claims where:
Referring to
Located between the two decks on the front panel 12 are a level meter 24 and several other controls. A counter 26 is included for deck B, which also includes a reset button 28. The counter 26 is useful when dubbing or recording on deck B. A button 30 to activate the dynamic noise reduction function is also included. Additionally a record level knob 32 is included to control the volume of the audio recorded on deck B. A selector switch 34 is also included to allow the decks to play Metal and CrO2 audio cassette tapes. Another selector switch 36 is included to enable deck B to record to Metal and CrO2 audio cassette tapes. A selector switch 38 is included to toggle dubbing between deck A and deck B on and off. Another selector switch 40 is included to toggle between normal and high-speed dubbing between deck A and deck B. A power switch 41 is also provided to turn the cassette player 10 on and off.
The housing 11 also includes a rear panel 42, best seen in
Referring now to
A digital-to-analog converter 108 is also included and connected to the computer serial port controller 106 and the input 110 of Deck B, thus permitting the serial port 48 to function as an audio input like the analog inputs 44. In this manner, the consumer can record an audio signal from the serial port 48 onto an audio cassette tape located in Deck B.
Therefore, it can be seen that the present invention provides a unique solution to the problems of the prior art. The cassette player can be connected to a serial port on a personal computer and audio cassette tapes may be archived on the personal computer in a variety of formats, such as the popular MP3 format. Moreover, music stored on personal computers can also be dubbed onto an audio cassette tape, allowing the consumer to create their own mix tapes for audio cassette players that they still use and where compact disk players are unavailable.
It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be within the scope of the present invention except as limited by the appended claims.
The present invention claims priority to earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/949,535, filed on Jul. 13, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60949535 | Jul 2007 | US |
