Recording/reproducing apparatus and information medium transfer method

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is an object of the present invention to solve these problems, and to extend the product lifetime of a recording/reproducing apparatus having a plurality of recording/reproducing means by operating them in accordance with their usage frequency.
A recording/reproducing apparatus in accordance with the present invention includes a plurality of recording and/or reproducing means for performing at least one of recording an information signal and reproducing an information signal; a medium transfer means for transferring an information medium and loading it selectively into one of the recording and/or reproducing means; and a selection means for selecting the recording and/or reproducing means to be loaded with the information medium by the medium transfer means.
The selection means selects the recording and/or reproducing means with the currently shortest usage history from the plurality of recording and/or reproducing means.
With this configuration, the usage frequency of the recording and/or reproducing means used for recording or reproducing can be equalized, and the lifetime of the entire recording/reproducing apparatus can be prolonged up to the combined lifetime of all recording and/or reproducing means.
That is to say, it can be avoided that the lifetime of the entire recording/reproducing apparatus is limited to the lifetime of one recording and/or reproducing means due to the fact that this one recording and/or reproducing means is used more than the other recording and/or reproducing means.
In this configuration, it is preferable that the apparatus is provided with a storage means (memory) for storing a usage history of each of the recording and/or reproducing means.
With this configuration, information media can be transferred appropriately and without losing the usage history of the recording and/or reproducing means included in the recording/reproducing apparatus, even when the usage environment of the recording/reproducing apparatus is changed, for example, by moving the recording/reproducing apparatus or diversification of the information input/output means