U.S. patent number 3,752,485 [Application Number 05/031,153] was granted by the patent office on 1973-08-14 for automatic and continuous cassette player.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.. Invention is credited to Katsuhiko Okabe.
United States Patent |
3,752,485 |
Okabe |
August 14, 1973 |
AUTOMATIC AND CONTINUOUS CASSETTE PLAYER
Abstract
An apparatus for playing a plurality of cassettes automatically
and continuously in sequence. The apparatus plays a cassette taken
out from a sequentially fed cassette case; and both forward and
reverse channel tracks of a two track tape of each cassette are put
to reproducing performance to play.
Inventors: |
Okabe; Katsuhiko (Tokorozawa,
JA) |
Assignee: |
Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.
(Yokohama City, JA)
|
Family
ID: |
26371529 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/031,153 |
Filed: |
April 23, 1970 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 28, 1969 [JA] |
|
|
44/32924 |
Apr 28, 1969 [JA] |
|
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44/39036 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
360/92.1;
G9B/15.147; G9B/15.138 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B
15/6815 (20130101); G11B 15/686 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G11B
15/68 (20060101); G11b 023/12 () |
Field of
Search: |
;274/4C,4E,4F,4D,11C
;242/197-200 ;179/1.2Z ;353/15 ;74/32,84,415,432,422 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Prince; Louis R.
Assistant Examiner: Dearing; Dennis A.
Claims
What I claim is:
1. An automatic and continuous cassette player comprising:
a cassette case having a plurality of compartments, each of which
compartments stores a cassette containing a winding of recorded
tape, said cassette case being formed in aligned relation with
notches, through which the adjacent compartments are connected to
each other;
case guide means for guiding a motion of the cassette case in a
known direction;
cassette shifting means for taking out in a direction transverse to
said known direction and shifting a cassette to a first
predetermined position from one of the compartments of the cassette
case, said one of the compartments being at a second predetermined
position; means for playing a cassette which lies at the first
predetermined position;
means for detecting the completion of the winding of recorded tape
in the cassette being played by said playing means;
cassette restoring means responsive to the detection of the end of
the winding operation by said detecting means for moving and
restoring the cassette from the first predetermined position into
said one of the compartments in the second predetermined
position;
restoration detecting means for detecting the restoration of said
cassette into said one of the compartments, said restoration
detecting means including a first lever, an end of which is
inserted into the notch of the cassette case in the compartment
lying in said second predetermined position, a second rotatable
lever pivotally mounting the first lever at an end, biasing means
including a resilient member for biasing said first lever in a
direction parallel to the direction of taking out of the cassette
by said cassette shifting means, a first switch to open and close
by rotation of the second lever, and limiting means for limiting an
extent of the insertion of said first lever into the cassette case
so that the inserted first lever is pushed back against said
biasing means by the cassette restored by said cassette restoring
means and closes said first switch through the second lever to
detect the restoration of said cassette;
cassette case moving means responsive to closing of said first
switch for moving said cassette case in the direction guided by
said case guide means so that a subsequent cassette in the cassette
case reaches said second predetermined position; and
a second switch operable to open and close by rotation of said
first lever;
said cassette shifting means being actuated in response to closing
of said second switch by rotation of said first lever due to a
contact with a moving cassette.
2. An automatic and continuous cassette player comprising:
a cassette-case having a plurality of adjacent compartments each
storing a cassette containing two reels, on one of which a recorded
tape is wound, said cassette-case being formed in aligned relation
with notches, through which the adjacent compartments are connected
to each other;
case guide means for guiding a motion of the cassette-case in a
known direction;
cassette shifting means for taking out in a direction transverse to
said known direction and shifting a cassette to a first
predetermined position from one of the compartments of the
cassette-case, said one of the compartments being at a second
predetermined position;
first cassette-playing means for playing the tape to be wound from
the one of two reels to the other reel in the cassette which lies
at the first predetermined position;
first completion-detecting means for detecting a completion of the
winding of the tape from the one of two reels to the other reel in
the cassette being played by said first cassette-playing means;
cassette moving means responsive to the detection of the completion
of the winding by said first completion-detecting means for moving
the cassette from the first predetermined position to a third
predetermined position;
second cassette-playing means for playing the tape to be wound from
the other reel to the one of two reels in the cassette which lies
at the third predetermined position;
second completion-detecting means for detecting a completion of the
winding of the tape from the other reel to the one of two reels in
the cassette being played by said second cassette-playing
means;
cassette restoring means responsive to the detection of the
completion of the winding by said second completion detecting means
for moving and restoring the cassette from the third predetermined
position into said one of the compartments in the second
predetermined position;
restoration detecting means for detecting the restoration of the
cassette into said one of the compartments, said restoration
detecting means including a first lever, an end of which is
inserted into the notch of the cassette case in the compartment
lying in said second predetermined position, a second rotatable
lever pivotally mounting the first lever at an end, biasing means
including a resilient member for biasing said first lever in a
direction parallel to the direction of taking out of the cassette
by said cassette shifting means, a first switch operable to open
and close by rotation of the second lever, and limiting means for
limiting an extent of the insertion of said first lever into the
cassette case so that the inserted first lever is pushed back
against said biasing means by the cassette restored by said
cassette restoring means and closes said first switch through the
second lever to detect the restoration of the cassette;
cassette case moving means responsive to closing of said first
switch for moving said cassette-case in the direction guided by
said case guide means so that a subsequent cassette in the
cassette-case reaches said second predetermined position; and
a second switch operable to open and close by rotation of said
first lever, said cassette shifting means being actuated in
response to closing of said second switch by rotation of said first
lever due to a contact with a moving cassette.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automatic and continuous cassette
player, in other words, a cassette changer, and more particularly
to an apparatus for playing automatically and continuously in
sequence a plurality of cassettes each containing a web of
tape.
2. Description of Prior Art
A conventional automatic cassette player generally has a
construction in which a number of cassettes piled up in a stack are
shifted downwardly consecutively in the player and a cassette in
the lowest position in the stack is first played and discharged
from the player at the end of playing. Such type of a player has
however the disadvantages that the operator cannot play but one
channel track in the course of the forward travel of tape of each
cassette, while, for playing the other channel track of each tape
he is required to turn over all the cassettes in the stack; and
moreover if it is required to re- play a formerly played cassette
it is required to load the particular cassette in a predetermined
position in the player. This may prove to be a disadvantage on
occasions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the general object of the present invention to provide a
novel automatic and continuous cassette player which is devoid of
the disadvantages as encountered in a conventional player.
A primary object of the present invention is therefore to provide
an automatic and continuous cassette player in which a plurality of
cassettes can be played automatically and continuously in sequence,
each of which can be automatically turned over to play both forward
and reverse channel tracks of the tape.
Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic and
continuous cassette player of the type described which comprises
two units of playing means oppositely provided for sequentially
playing both forward and reverse channels of a tape in a cassette,
and a means for turning over the cassette once played by a first
playing means to a position cooperating with the second playing
means.
A third object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the
type described having a means for feeding a case containing a
plurality of cassettes in arrangement so as to automatically and
continuously play a preferred cassette sequentially in cooperation
with the cassette case.
A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic and
continuous cassette player of the type described having a novel
switch means which make different switching operations in response
to shifting and feeding of the cassette in two dimensional
directions both longitudinally and transversely.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic
and continuous cassette player having a means for detecting readily
and automatically a termination of a tape in the cassette by use of
a large tension of a tape at the termination of playing of a
tape.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other objects and features of the invention will be
apparent from the following description with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of an automatic and
continuous cassette player according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the player showing a head plate portion, a
switch mechanism and a cassette case feed mechanism;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the player showing a cam gear driving
mechanism and a mechanism for driving capstans and reel discs;
FIGS. 4 and 5 are respectively a front view and a vertical
sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a mechanism for taking out,
shifting and turning a cassette;
FIGS. 7A and 7B are respectively a plan view and a bottom view of a
cam gear;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a head plate sliding mechanism;
FIGS. 9A to 9C are schematically developed views of cam
surfaces;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a back surface of a cassette
case;
FIGS. 11A and 11B are respectively a front view and a bottom view
of the cassette case shown in FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is a view illustrating the feeding operation of the
cassette case;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a switch mechanism;
FIGS. 14A, 14B and 14C are plan views respectively illustrating the
operation of the switch mechanism as shown in FIG. 13;
FIG. 15 is a plan view of a mechanism detecting a termination of
tape;
FIGS. 16A and 16B are views respectively illustrating the detecting
operation of the tape termination;
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the cassette
case;
FIG. 18 is a plan view of the player in use of the cassette case
shown in FIG. 17; and
FIGS. 19A and 19B are respectively a perspective view and a front
view of still another embodiment of the cassette case.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED INVENTIVE EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIG. 1, a case guide 11 is provided on a chassis
base 10. A cassette case 13, which is of a rectangular shape and
houses in parallel arrangement a plurality of tape cassettes 12
each containing a recorded tape, is loaded from the right on FIGS.
1 and 4 onto the guide 11. The cassettes 12 are housed in the
cassette case 13 with each front surface cooperating with the
magnetic head turned upwards. The cassette case 13 is composed of
partition plates 14 separating the cassettes from each other, side
plates 15, a bottom plate 16 and reinforcing plates 17a, 17b as
shown in FIGS. 10, 11A and 11B. Each partition plate 14 and each
side plate 15 has a notch 18 of the same size. The bottom plate 16
is provided with a number of projections 19 for feeding a cassette
case 13 as later described and a rack 20 for positioning the case.
A cover may preferably be provided on the case 13 unless it
obstructs the taking out of the cassette 12 as later described. The
said cover or the reinforcing plates 17a and l17b may have desired
titles of music to be played on the cassette. The cassettes
accommodated in the case 13 can be assorted or classified as
desired. The case 13 also can contain cassettes of the same kind or
denomination representing a specified collection in a group. In
addition it can serve for protecting of the cassettes.
A lever arm 21a of a lever 21 shown in FIG. 2 is positioned to be
inserted into the notches 18 of the cassette case 13 laid on the
case guide 11. By leftward insertion of the cassette case 13 the
cassette at the left end in the case 13 moves the lever 21
counterclockwise. By the movement of the lever 21, a microswitch 23
is closed ON by an actuator 22.
When the switch 23 is closed a plunger 24 shown in FIG. 3 is
actuated to move a lever 25 clockwise against the force of a spring
26, whereby a lever 27 is released from the locking action of a
pawl 25a. The lever 27 is turned counterclockwise about a shaft 29
by the force of a spring 28. A pin 30 projecting from the lever 27
rotates a lever 31 clockwise against force of a spring 33 about a
shaft 32. A lever 34 by revolution of the lever 31 is released from
engagement with a pin 35 of the lever 31. At the start of the
operation a pin 36 provided on the lever 34 engages a recess 39 on
cam surface 38 provided at the lower side of a cam gear 37 which
can rotate about the shaft 32.
As the lever 31 revolves as described above, an idler 40 provided
rotatably thereon contacts a motor shaft 42 of a motor 41 and
receives a rotating force. A gear 43 integrally rotatable on the
shaft of the idler 40 rotates in engagement with the cam gear 37 so
that the cam gear 37 also receives a rotating force and is rotated.
At the instant the lever 34 has been released from engagement with
the lever 31, the pin 36 is released from the recess 39 by rotation
of the cam gear 37 and engages with the cam surface 38. A cam gear
45 which meshes with a gear 44 integrally coaxially rotatable with
the cam gear 37 is rotated accompanying the rotation of the cam
gear 37.
There are provided a cam groove 46 on the upper surface of the cam
gear 45 as shown in FIG. 7A and a cam groove 47 on the lower
surface thereof as shown in FIG.7B. A pin 49 on a lever 48 contacts
the cam groove 47 of the cam gear 45. The lever 48 has at its end a
long groove 51 fitted with a fixed pin 5. At the other end the
lever 48 is pivotted on a lever 53 revolvable about a shaft 52 as
shown in FIG.6. Therefore by rotation of the cam gear 45 the lever
48 is made to slide, thereby revolving the lever 53.
A developed view showing the cam surface of the cam groove 47 is
provided in FIG.9A as indicated by a line I. While the cam gear 45
rotates through an angle .theta..sub.1 the lever 53 is revolves in
a clockwise direction. A cassette pushing arm 54 having a pair of
L-shaped arms 54a and 54b has pins 58 and 59 fitted to elongated
grooves 56 and 57 of a guide plate 55 as shown in FIGS.5 and 6. At
the other end the lever 53 is provided with a U-shaped groove 60 in
which engages the pin 58. Hence in response to the swing of the
lever 53 the pushing arm 54 slides along the guide plate 55. At the
start of rotation of the cam gear 45 the lever 53 is in a position
as shown in FIG.1 while the pushing arm 54 is not ready for pushing
the cassette 12 in the cassette case 13. When, by rotation of the
cam gear 45, the lever 53 is revolved clockwise about the shaft 52
on FIG.1, the pushing arm 54 is moved to right in FIG.5, pushes the
cassette 12 and takes it out from the cassette case 13. As the
lever 53 revolves to its farthest position the cassette 12 can be
shifted and inserted and held securely in a cassette holder 61 as
shown in FIG.6.
As shown in FIGS.2 and 6, a slide lever 64 has a rack 62 at its one
end and a pin 63 at the other end in contact with the cam groove 46
of the cam gear 45. The lever 64 is stopped during rotation of the
cam gear 45 through the angle .theta..sub.1 and slides leftwards in
FIG.2 along the cam groove 46 which has a developed surface shown
by line II in FIG.9B, during rotation of the cam gear 45 moving
from the angle .theta..sub.1 to an angle .theta..sub.2. A pinion 65
meshing with the rack 62 is rotated clockwise by sliding of the
lever 64 as shown in FIG.6. In consequence, the cassette holder 61
which is holding the cassette 12 is rotated clockwise to descend on
the right side. When the cassette holder 61 lies down horizontally,
reel discs 66 and 67 are inserted into the cassette 12 through
holes 68 and 69 on the cassette holder 61 and fitted to reel holes
70 and 71 of the cassette 12.
It will be seen that as the cam gear 45 is rotated through the
angle .theta..sub.2 a cam 72 provided at the lower surface of the
cam gear 37 shown in FIG.8 is rotated through an angle
.theta..sub.3 on the developed cam surface as shown by line III in
FIG.9C. The cam gear 37 is provided with a preferred number of
teeth engageable with the cam gear 45 which is also provided with a
preferred number of teeth such that the gear 37 makes three
rotations while the gear 45 will make one rotation. Therefore, as
the cam gear 45 makes one third rotation the cam gear 37 makes one
rotation. While the cam 72 with the cam gear 37 rotates over the
angle .theta..sub.3 and completes its rotation through an angle
360.degree., a lever 74 having at its end a pin 73 contacting with
the cam 72 is moved clockwise about a shaft 75. There is provided a
U-shaped groove 76 at the other end of the lever 74, which is
engaged with a pin 79 on the lower surface of a slide lever 78
integrated with a head plate 77. A rotatable connection lever 84
engages with a pin 80 on the lever 78 and a pin 83 on a slide lever
82 integrated with a head plate 1 paired with the head plate 77.
Thus, the slide levers 78 and 82 slide in opposite directions
relative to each other through the connection lever 84. By
clockwise movement of the lever 74 the lever 78 and the head plate
77 slide to the right, the connection lever 84 is rotated
counterclockwise and the lever 82 and the head plate 81 slide to
the left.
As shown in FIG.2, the head plates 81 and 77 are provided
respectively with reproducing magnetic heads 85 and 86, pinch
rollers 87 and 88, tape termination detecting pins 89 and 90, and
microswitches 91 and 92. In FIG. 3 is shown a belt 95 tensioned
between a pulley 93 on the shaft 42 of the motor 41 and a pulley
94. A belt 98 is tensioned between pulleys 96 and 97 and contacting
to pulleys 94, 99 and 100. The pulleys 96 and 97 are respectively
provided with capstans 101 and 102 projecting from openings 103 and
104 of the head plates 81 and 77. When the cassette 12 descends to
the right with the holder 61, the capstan 101 engages the inside of
a tape in the cassette from an opening 105. Reel discs 106 and 107
are also provided on the opposite side of the head plate 77. The
pulleys 99 and 100 have respectively reel disc drive shafts 108 and
109 in contact with the reel discs 66 and 106. Normally, the
forward ends of bent arms 78a and 82a of the levers 78 and 82 will
push pins 110 and 111 which are movable integrally with the drive
shafts 108 and 109. Therefore the shafts 108 and 109 are detached
from the reel discs 66 and 106.
When with the clockwise movement of the lever 74, the lever 82 and
the head plate 81 are moved slidably to the left through the levers
78 and 84, the pinch roller 87, the head 85 and the pin 89 approach
the front face of the cassette 12 and are laid down with the holder
61 and fitted to the reel discs 66 and 67. The pinch roller, head
and pin fit into the cassette 12 respectively through openings 112,
113 and 114 at the front surface of the cassette as shown in FIG.15
and contact a tape in the cassette 12. At the same time, the pin
110 is released from engagement with the arm 78a and the drive
shaft 108 contacts the outer periphery of the reel disc 66. The
reel disc 66 is rotated by the drive shaft 108 rotated by the force
of the motor 41 transmitted through the pulley 94 and the belt 98.
The pinch roller 87 fitted in the cassette 12 and the capstan 101
hold the tape therebetween to run the tape by the rotating the
capstan 101. Thereby a reproducing performance of the first channel
track of forward travel of the tape in the cassette is made by
means of the head 85.
When the cam gear 37 is rotated through an angle of 360.degree.,
the pin 36 of the lever 34 is again engages the recess 39 of the
cam gear 37; the lever 31 is rotated counterclockwise by the
tension of the spring 33; the idler 40 is detached from the motor
shaft 42; and the cam gears 37 and 45 are stopped. Then the cam
gear 45 is in a position rotated by 120.degree.. During rotation of
the cam gear 37 by the angle .theta..sub.3 the lever 27 having at
its end a pin 118 contacting the cam 72 is rotated counterclockwise
and again locked to the lever 25.
The detecting pin 89 is always urged to fit into the cassette 12 by
a spring 115 as shown in FIG. 15, the rear end of the pin 89
contacts a switch button 116 of the microswitch 91 and the forward
end contacts a tape 117 in the cassette 12 as shown in FIG. 16A.
Normally during the tape reproducing time the compressive force of
the spring 115 is greater than the tension force of the tape 117 so
that the pin 89 with its end tends to push the tape 117 to loosen
it and the rear end of the pin 89 is out of contact with the
microswitch 91 which therefore is opened and maintained in its OFF
position. As the forward travel of the tape 117 in one direction
and playing of the first forward channel tracks of the tape reach
their end, the tension in the tape is increased by force of
engagement with a supply reel and by the driving force of the
capstan and the pinch roller so that the pin 89 is depressed
rearwards by the tension force of the tape 117 against the force of
the spring 115 as shown FIG.16B. Therefore the rear end of the pin
89 depresses the microswitch 91 which is closed to its ON position.
By suitable adjustment of urging force of the spring 115 it is
possible to regulate the detecting operation to become stable.
As the microswitch 91 is switched ON, the plunger 24 is again
actuated so as to release the lever 27 so that as described before
the cam gears 37 and 45 start their rotations. The rotation of the
cam 46 of the cam gear 45 is started at a position of 120.degree.
as shown in FIG.9B and the rotation of the cam 72 of the cam gear
37 is started at a position of 360.degree. as shown in FIG.9C.
While the cam gear 37 makes its rotation from a position of
360.degree. to a position of an angle of .theta..sub.4, the lever
74 is rotated counterclockwise by the pin 73 contacting with the
cam 72. Accompanying this rotation of the lever 74, the lever 78
and the head plate 77 slide leftwards and the lever 82 and the head
plate 81 slide rightwards causing the pinch roller 87, the head 85
and the pin 89 to be detached from the cassette 12. At the same
time the pin 110 is depressed with the end of the arm 78a and
thereby the drive shaft 108 is detached from the reel disc 66 and
the rotation of the reel disc 66 is therefore stopped.
When the cam gear 37 has rotated by the angle .theta..sub.4 the cam
gear 45 has been rotated by an angles .theta..sub.5. While the cam
gear 45 continues further rotation up to an angle .theta..sub.6 the
lever 64 slides rightwards by the pin 63 contacting with the cam
groove 46. Thereby the cassette holder 61 revolves
counter-clockwise, rises up together with the cassette 12 to a
vertical position, continues its turning movement and descends
leftwardly and horizontally. Since the cassette holder 61 has been
laid down to left the reel discs 106 and 107 are fitted into the
cassette 12 through holes on the cassette holder 61.
When the cam gear 45 has rotated through the angle .theta..sub.6
the cam gear 37 has been rotated through an angle .theta..sub.7.
During rotation of the cam gear 37 by an angle 720.degree. over the
angle .theta..sub.7 the lever 78 and the head plate 77 slide
rightwards by same action as described above. As the cam gear 37
reaches the position of the angle 720.degree. the cam gears 37 and
45 will stop their rotation. Then there is provided the reproducing
performance of the second channel track for the reverse travel of
the tape by means of the head 86. Having ended the reproducing
performance for the reverse channel track the pin 90 detects the
tape termination. Consequently, the microswitch 92 is switched ON,
the plunger 24 is again actuated to rotate the cam gears 37 and 45.
While the cam gear 37 reaches an angle .theta..sub.8 the head plate
77 slides leftwards so that the pinch roller 88, the head 86 and
the pin 90 are detached from the cassette 12.
While the cam groove 46 of the cam gear 45 revolves from an angle
.theta..sub.9 to angle .theta..sub.10, the lever 64 is urged to
slide to left and the cassette holder 61 holding the cassette 12 is
erected upright. At this instant the cam groove 47 also has been
rotated by the angle .theta..sub.10. During the rotation of the cam
47 in the angle from .theta..sub.1 to .theta..sub.10, the lever 48
does not slide but it slides while the cam groove 47 travels the
angle 360.degree. over the angle .theta..sub.10 and the lever 53
revolves in the counterclockwise direction. By the rotation of the
lever 53 the cassette 12 in the cassette holder 61 is pushed back
by the arm portion 54b of the arm 54 and brought back in the
cassette case 13.
As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14A to 14C, the lever 21 has lever arms
21a and 21b pivotally supported with a lever 120 by a shaft 119.
When the cassette 12 is out of contact with the lever arm 21a, the
lever arm 21b is tensioned by a spring 121 causing the lever 21
located at a position shown in FIG.14A with the lever 120 engaged
to a pin 122. As the cassette 12 is pushed back in the direction of
an arrow Y into cassette case 13 as described above, a side of the
cassette 12 will push the end of the lever 21 as shown in FIG.14B,
with the result that the lever 120 will rotate about a shaft 123.
Then a microswitch 125 is depressed by an actuator 124 provided at
the lever 120 and is switched ON. Accordingly, the switch mechanism
which includes the levers 21, 120 and the switches 23, 125 actuates
in response to movements respectively in two dimensional directions
both transversely and longitudinally of the cassette.
Since the microswitch 125 is ON a plunger 126 shown in FIG.2 is
actuated so as to rotate the lever 127 clockwise against the bias
of a spring 128 and release a lever 129 from locking with a pawl
127a. The lever 129 released from the locking is rotated
counterclockwise about a shaft 131 by tension of a spring 130
causing a lever 133 to rotate in the clockwise direction about a
shaft 134 against a force of a spring 135. By the rotation of the
lever 133 a lever 136 is released from engagement wit the lever 133
by its with 137 and made free to rotate. At the start of the
described operation a pin 138 on the lever 136 is made to engage in
a recess 141 on a cam surface 140 at the lower surface of a gear
139.
During the described revolution of the lever 133, an idler 142
rotatably provided on the lever contacts the motor shaft 42 and
receives a force of rotation. By rotation of the idler 142 a gear
143 provided rotatably integrally with the idler 142 rotates in
meshing with the cam gear 139. Therefore, the cam gear 139 also
receives a force of rotation. At this juncture, the lever 136 is
released from engagement so that the pin 138 is released from the
recess 141 rotation of the cam gear 139 and moves along the cam
surface 140. By rotation of the cam gear 139 a gear 145 is rotated
which is in mesh with a gear 144 rotatably provided coaxially and
integrally with the cam gear 139.
There is a pin 146 provided on the upper surface of the gear 145.
The pin 146 is in contact with the projection 19 at the bottom
plate 16 of the cassette case 13 as shown in FIG.12. By rotation of
the gear 145 the pin 146 is rotated in the clockwise direction as
shown by an arrow in FIG.12. A first half rotation from a point P
to a point Q is made along a semi-circular portion 19a of the
projection 19. In a second half rotation from the point Q to the
point P the pin 146 will push a side of a rectangular portion 19b
of the projection 19, which is carried together with the case 13 to
a position shown by broken lines. Accordingly, the cassette case 13
will be moved and fed leftwards in one pitch by one rotation of the
pin 146. Therefore a cassette adjacent to the cassette brought back
to the case 13 after end of playing performance will come to a
position opposite to the pushing arm 54. The gears 144 and 145 have
the same diameter and the same number of teeth. When the gear 144
has made one rotation the pin 138 will fit to the recess 141 so
that the gear 144 will stop its rotation and accordingly the pin
146 after one rotation will stop its movement.
As soon as the cassette case 13 has been moved by one pitch to the
left as described above, the lever 21 with an end inserted into the
cassette case 13 from the notch 18 returns to a position shown in
FIG. 14A together with the lever 120 by its fall between adjacent
cassettes 12 through tension of the spring 121 as the cassette with
which it is in contact is carried leftwards. Thereafter only the
lever 21 is pushed leftwards by the adjacent cassette 12' carried
from the right to rotate counterclockwise in the direction of an
arrow X as shown in FIG. 14C whereby the microswitch 23 is closed.
When the lever 21 is brought back to the position shown in FIG. 14A
the microswitch 125 is opened. As the lever 120 remains in the same
condition as in FIG. 14C the microswitch 125 is being opened.
When the microswitch 23 is switched ON by the newly fed cassette
12' the plunger 24 shown in FIG.3 is again actuated so as to repeat
the above described operation from the start of playing performance
of the cassette 12'. Thus the same automatic and continuous playing
performance is similarly carried out in sequence.
A modified embodiment of the cassette case according to the
invention is now shown in FIG.17, in which a case 150 as modified
has a cylindrical shape. The case 150 is composed of a circular
bottom plate 151, a plurality of partition plates 152 vertically
and radially provided on the bottom plate and having recesses 159,
a reinforcing plate 153 provided on the upper periphery of the
partition plate 152 and a cylindrical reinforcing plate 154. The
cassettes 12 in plurality are housed in radial arrangement between
each partition plate 152. FIG.18 is a plan view showing the
cassette case 150 also applied in the player apparatus. The feeding
means of the case is identical with that in the above embodiment,
in which the projections 19 provided radially at the lower surface
of the bottom plate 151 are fed by the pin 146 of the gear 145. The
case 150 is fed and rotated in one pitch after one cassette is
played and brought back in to the case. The case 150 is
intermittently revolve in one direction in sequence and the
cassette carried to a determined position is played in sequence for
automatic continuous playing.
FIGS.19A and 19B illustrate still an other embodiment which
includes a cylindrical cassette case 155. The cassette case
according to the embodiment is composed of a central cylinder 156,
a plurality of partition plates 157 fixed radially at the outer
periphery of the central cylinder 156, and a reinforcing plate 158
of a cylindrical shape fixed at the outer periphery of the
partition plates. The cassettes 12 are housed in the case 155 such
that their front openings for the tape are directed outwardly of
the radial arrangement of the cassettes.
The invention is not limited in application only to the embodiments
as hereinabove described. It may be apparent that many
modifications and variations can be made without departing from the
spirit and scope of the invention.
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