(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 6,771,568 B2 Hochendoner (45) Date of Patent: Aug
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USOO6771568B2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 6,771,568 B2 HOchendoner (45) Date of Patent: Aug. 3, 2004 (54) DIGITALAUDIO RECORDER OTHER PUBLICATIONS (75) Inventor: David Hochendoner, Allison Park, PA Disclosure made by Sima Products of an I-Mix Product in an advertisement in Electronic Consumer Daily News, Fri (US) day, Jan. 7, 2000, p. 39. (73) Assignee: Sima Products Corporation, Oakmont, “Sima in the News' Press Release dated Jan. 6, 2000. PA (US) Display pages for the Consumer Electronics Show. Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this * cited by examiner patent is extended or adjusted under 35 Primary Examiner Ali Neyzari U.S.C. 154(b) by 737 days. (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Buchanan Ingersoll, P.C. (57) ABSTRACT (21) Appl. No.: 09/760,058 A digital audio recorder having a compact disk player for (22) Filed: Jan. 12, 2001 playing at least one compact disk having multiple tracks also (65) Prior Publication Data has a hard drive and associated memory. The memory contains a database containing data relating to Specific CDS US 2002/0093884 A1 Jul. 18, 2002 Such as album name, artist name, Song title, and track, and (51) Int. Cl................................................. G11B 21/08 may also contain playlists. The playlists can be loaded by the (52) U.S. Cl. ................................ 369/30.06; 369/30.08; manufacturer or created by the user. There are correlations 710/301; 711/111 among the data. A central processor is connected to the Field of Search ........................... 369/2401, 30.04, compact disk player, the hard drive and associated memory, (58) a Second memory, display, audio output and buttons or 369/3201, 30.06, 30.05, 30.08, 30.09, 30.03, knobs. Turning knobs or pushing buttons directs signals to 30.07, 30.19, 2, 6; 711/111; 710/301, 62, the central processor and enables a user to operate the 10, 13; 707/104.1; 455/66.1; 703/24; 709/219 compact disk player, Store in the Second memory audio (56) References Cited Selections from a disk placed in the compact disk player, Select and create playlists, and output audio Selections U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS contained in the Second memory in an order according to a 5,161,251 A 11/1992 Mankovitz ................. 455/66.1 Selected playlist. A keyboard communicates with the player 6,356,971 B1 * 3/2002 Katz et al. .................. 710/301 through infrared Signals. 6,542,445 B2 * 4/2003 Ijichi et al. ..... ... 369/30.08 6,629,197 B1 * 9/2003 Bhogal et al. .............. 711/111 8 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets 24 ANALOG 10 11 12 TO DIGITAL HARD CD LCD CONVERTER DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE DIGITAL 13 TO ANALOG FLASH CONVERTER MEMORY CENTRAL 1A PROCESSOR RAM NTERFACE MEMORY ELECTRONICS USB RS-232 R OPTICAL TO INTERFACE INTERFACE INTERFACE ELECTRICAL CONVERTER 7 6 15 50 U.S. Patent Aug. 3, 2004 Sheet 2 of 5 US 6,771,568 B2 24 ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER t"No 13 FLASH CONERIE MEMORY CENTRAL |F 20 PROCESSOR A. RAM INTERFACE MEMORY ELECTRONICS OPTICAL TO - - - - KEYPAD ELECTRICAL CONVERTER 50 FIG 3 78 NEW SEARCH - SEARCH FOR MUSIC SEARCH MENU-------- AND CLEAR CURRENT SELECTION ADD SEARCH - SEARCH FOR MUSIC AND SELECT SEARCH METHOD BELOW ADD TO CURRENT SELECTION USE KNOBTO FIND MUSIC SELECT P-LIST - SELECT AN EXISTING THEN PUSH KNOB TO SELECT PLAYLIST ARTISTY ALBUMBY TRACKP-LISTSAYE, I DONE FIG.6 U.S. Patent Aug. 3, 2004 Sheet 5 of 5 US 6,771,568 B2 79 80 - - - - - - - PLAYLIST SEARCH ------- - - - - - - - - ARTIST SEARCH-------- DAVES FAVORITES A ARTIST 5 ESFROME 60s SNMSESAMPLERS is WORKOUT FAVORITES APHA ABORT SEARCHSEARCH ARTIST #7 / ALBUM #19 TRACK FO1 - TRACK FO2 TRACK FO4. TRACK FO5 UP TO PREV ALPHA SEARCH FIG 10 ARTIST 7 TRACK FO / ALBUM #10 TRACK Q 1 ALBUM i2. TRACR 27 AEW 6 v ALBUM #14 LIST APHA SEARCHUP TO MENUPEY SEARCHAli, DONE TRISSE DONE FIG 11 - - - - - - - - TRACK SEARCH -------- - - - - - - - SAVE PAYST-------- TRACK FO1 / ALBUM 10 DO YOU WANT TO SAVE SELECTED TRACK 5. / ALBUM TRACK AS A PLAYLIST? TRAGR if AEY I PLAYLIST NAME "DAVES MIX" UP TO APHA UP TO SEARCH SEARCH SEARCH FIG. 13 FIG 1 A US 6,771.568 B2 1 2 DIGITALAUDIO RECORDER enhanced. That information may include artist name, Song title, track location and other data. There is also a need for a digital audio recorder that can FIELD OF INVENTION receive audio programs in analog form, record them in The invention relates to products that record, Store and digital form and Store the recorded programs along with play audio Selections from a compact disc or other audio asSociated text information. SOCC. There is also a need for a digital audio recorder that can receive audio files from a personal computer or another BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION digital audio player. Audio programs are routinely recorded and Stored in SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION digital form. Many compact discS contain Songs, musical compositions and other audio programs in digital form. I provide a digital audio recorder having analog inputs, There are many types of compact disk players. Some are digital inputs and a compact disk player for playing at least contained in large audio Systems with amplifiers and Speak 15 one compact disk having multiple tracks as well as a hard erS. Other compact disk players are portable and connected drive and associated memory. The memory contains a data to headphones. Most compact disks are prerecorded at a base containing data relating to Specific CDS Such as album recording Studio. name, artist name, Song title, and track, and may also contain playlists. The playlists can be loaded by the manufacturer or Compact disks can also be played on the CD drive of created by the user. There are correlations among the data many computer Systems. Since the audio programs on the Such as album name to artist name, album name to Song title, CD are in digital form it is possible to copy those digital album name to playlist, artist name to Song title, artist name programs and Save them as digital audio files in the memory to playlist, Song title to playlist, and Song title to track. I of the computer System. Furthermore, it is also possible to prefer to provide a Second memory in which the digital audio transfer those digital audio files to other computers. files are Stored. The player also has a display or external Recently, portable audio playerS have been introduced 25 Video output to a TV that can display Selected album name that contain a memory into which digital audio files can be and Song to be played as well as other data Selected from the loaded. Some popular players called RIOs or MP-3 players database. Of course there is an audio output to which a allow the owner to Store within a memory in the player Speaker, amplifier or headphone can be connected and at music programs in digital form copied from a CD player or least one button or knob for operating the player. A central computer memory. The owner may then Select and play processor is connected to the compact disk player, the hard audio files from the memory of the portable player. drive and associated memory, the Second memory, the There are now available in the marketplace enhanced display, the audio output and the buttons or knobs. Turning CD’s that contain not only tracks of audio files but also other knobs or pushing buttons directS Signals to the central information Such as artist name, Song title, length of Song, processor and enables a user to operate the compact disk track associated with each Song, and even lyrics. Some audio 35 player, Store in the Second memory audio Selections from a playerS have hardware and associated Software that can read disk placed in the compact disk player or from an analog to this information and display it on a display. Consequently, as digital data Stream, Select and create playlists, and output a Song is playing the user can See the Song title and artist audio Selections contained in the Second memory in an order name on the display. according to a Selected playlist. I also provide a keyboard Radio broadcasters have had similar equipment that dis 40 removably connected to the central processor in a manner to play text information about audio Selections being played enable a user to input data into the database. A preferred since the early 1990's. One such system is disclosed in U.S. keyboard communicates with the player through infrared Pat. No. 5,161,251 to Mankovitz. That system relies upon a Signals. digital code unique to each audio Selection being present on 45 the disk with the audio selection. The information can be BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS displayed during, immediately after or immediately prior to FIG. 1 is a front view of a present preferred embodiment the audio Selection being played. Mankovitz also teaches of the digital audio recorder of the present invention. that the text information and associated audio files can be FIG. 2 is a rear view thereof. Selected and played in any desired order. 50 FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of the digital audio Although the system disclosed in the 251 patent and the recorder shown in FIG. 1. enhanced CD players work well, they rely upon CD's that FIGS. 4A and 4B together contain a flow chart of searches contain information about the audio Selections on the disk that can be made with a present preferred embodiment with Yet, many people have CD's that do not contain this present preferred displays being shown in detail in FIGS.