Appeal No. 1996-1253
Application 08/113,034
Appellant has appealed to the Board from the examiner’s final rejection of claims 1 to 23,
which constitute all of the pending claims in the application before us.
BACKGROUND
The subject matter on appeal is directed to a method for detecting playing time and residual
time of a magnetic tape (e.g., a VCR tape or a cassette tape) by detecting various positions of a signal
on the tape (see specification, pages 1 and 2).
Representative independent method claim 1 is reproduced below:
1. A method for detecting playing time of a magnetic tape by detecting an instantaneous
position of the magnetic tape loaded on a head drum of a deck, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) when a video signal is recorded on a magnetic tape, storing a first residual time of the
magnetic tape by detecting a finishing position;
(b) storing a second residual time of the magnetic tape by detecting a beginning position of a
video signal recorded in the magnetic tape;
(c) storing a third residual time of the magnetic tape by subtracting said first residual time from
said second residual time; and
(d) increasing said third residual time in response to operation of said deck in a corresponding
recording/reproducing mode of operation.
The following reference is relied on by the examiner:
Orimoto et al. (Orimoto) Kokai 57-14108 (Sept. 1, 1992)2
2We have been provided a translation, on which we rely, of this reference from the Translations Branch of
the PTO Scientific Library. A copy is provided to appellant as an attachment to this opinion. For purposes of this
opinion, we will reference the Orimoto translation, which contains pages 1 through 12, accompanying this opinion.
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007