United States Patent [19] [ii] Patent Number: 4,847,825
Levine [45] Date of Patent: Jul. 11, 1989
[54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
SIGNALING THE VOLUME LEVEL OF
REPRODUCING APPARATUS FOR
DIGITALLY RECORDED SOUND
[76] Inventor: Michael R. Levine, 2900
Heatherway, Ann Arbor, Mich.
48104
[21] Appl. No.: 84,978 •
[22] Filed: Aug. 10, 1987
[51] Int. C1.+ G11B7/00
[52] U.S. CI 369/47; 369/50
[58] Field of Search 369/53, 50, 51, 48,
369/49
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,051,795 8/1962 Roberts et al 369/53
3,171,902 3/1965 Jones et al 369/50
3,881,072 4/1975 Becker 369/50
3,958,272 8/1976 Rotter et al 369/50
4,519,057 5/1985 Higashihara et al 369/50
4,764,860 8/1988 Takao 369/50
Primary Examiner—William L. Sikes
Assistant Examiner—Akm E. Ullah
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Krass & Young
[57] ABSTRACT
In order to warn persons who are about to listen to sound performances from player apparatus using digital records and particularly those listeners using headphones, of the volume setting of the record player, a warning sound having an amplitude substantially lower than the amplitude of the recorded performance, and proportional to the volume setting of the player, is generated for a few seconds before the player begins to reproduce the performance. The warning signal may emanate from digital signals encoded on the record media before each recorded performance, or alternatively, may be generated by circuitry built into the player that generates its own warning tone for a few seconds following the actuation of the "play" button.
17 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
