Bidirectional tape transport for cassettes

Claim 2

A bidirectional tape transport for cassettes comprising, in combination, a stationary frame supporting a cassette for sliding movement in its own plane to playing position, a movable transport plate carried by said frame for movement to a playing position in response to said movement of the cassette, a pair of drive sets each including a capstan and a reel drive spindle carried by said plate for introduction into the cassette in the course of said movement of said plate, a drive motor connected to rotate the capstans of said drive sets in opposite directions, a pair of pinch rollers carried by said stationary frame each movable into drive relation against the capstan of one of said drive sets with the tape of a cassette in playing position pinched therebetween, a pair of intermediate rollers carried by said plate each movable into drive relation to drive the spindle from the capstan of one of said drive sets, and cam means carried by said stationary frame adjacent said pinch rollers and selectively operable with the cassette in playing position to move the rollers of one of said drive sets into drive relation while disengaging the rollers of the other drive set to provide for transport of the tape within the cassette selectively in either direction from reel to reel.

Claim 3

A bidirectional tape transport for cassettes comprising, in combination, a fixed frame supporting a cassette for movement to a playing position, a movable transport plate carried by said fixed frame for movement to a playing position in response to the movement of the cassette, a pair of tape drive means carried by said plate for introduction into the cassette in the course of said movement of said plate, a drive motor connected to rotate said tape drive means in opposite directions, a pair of pinch rollers carried by said fixed frame each movable into drive relation with one of said drive means with the tape of the cassette in playing position pinched therebetween, cam means carried by said frame comprising a movable cam member, and cam follower means including movement transmitting connections mounted on said plate for cooperation with said cam member carried by said frame in a first tape direction position upon movement of said plate to the playing position to locate a pinch roller and one of said drive means in drive relation to the tape within the cassette while simultaneously disengaging from tape drive relation the second pinch roller and the second drive means.

Claim 4

A bidirectional tape transport for cassettes comprising, in combination, a fixed frame supporting a cassette for movement to a playing position, a movable transport plate carried by said fixed frame for movement to a playing position in response to the movement of the cassette, a pair of tape drive means carried by said plate for introduction into the cassette in the course of said movement of said plate, a drive motor connected to rotate said tape drive means in opposite directions, a pair of pinch rollers carried by said fixed frame each movable into drive relation with one of said drive means with the tape of the cassette in playing position pinched therebetween, cam means carried by said frame comprising a movable cam member, and cam follower means including movement transmitting connections mounted on said plate for cooperation with said cam member carried by said frame in a first tape direction position upon movement of said plate to the playing position to locate a pinch roller and one of said drive means in drive relation to the tape within the cassette while simultaneously disengaging from tape drive relation the second pinch roller and the second drive means.

Claim 5

A bidirectional tape transport for cassettes according to claim 2 including means mounting said cam member for movement from said first tape direction position to a second tape direction position to disengage said first pinch roller and said first drive means from tape drive relation and to simultaneously shift the second pinch roller and the second drive means into drive relation with the tape in the cassette.

Claim 6

A bidirectional tape transport for cassettes according to claim 3 further including means for manually shifting said cam member between its tape direction positions to provide transport of the tape within the cassette selectively in either direction from reel to reel.

Claim 7

A bidirectional tape transport for cassettes according to Claim 3 further including means for detecting the stopping of the cassette reels at the end of the first drive direction and for causing said cam member to disengage said first pinch roller and said first drive means from tape drive relation and to simultaneously shift the second pinch roller and the second drive means into drive relation with the tape in the cassette.

Claim 8

A bidirectional tape transport for cassettes comprising, in combination, a fixed frame supporting a cassette for sliding movement in its own plane to a playing position, a movable transport plate carried by said fixed frame for movement to a playing position in response to said movement of the cassette, a pair of drive sets each including a capstan and a reel drive spindle carried by said plate for introduction into the cassette in the course of said movement of said plate, a drive motor connected to rotate the capstans of said drive set in opposite directions, a pair of pinch rollers carried by said fixed frame each movable into drive relation against the capstan of one of said drive sets with the tape of the cassette in playing position pinched therebetween, a pair of intermediate rollers carried by said plate each movable into drive relation to drive the spindle from the capstan of one of said drive sets, and cam means carried by said fixed frame adjacent said pinch rollers comprising a cam member mounted for movement between two positions and having cam elements adjacent each end, movement transmitting connections mounted on said plate and movable into cooperation with each said cam element upon movement of said plate to the playing position, said movement transmitting connections being operable to shift a pinch roller and an intermediate roller of one of said drive sets upon movement of said member to either of said positions for engaging the pinch roller and the intermediate roller of said one drive set in drive relation while simultaneously disengaging the pinch roller and the intermediate roller of the second drive set to provide for transport of the tapes within the cassette selectively in either direction from reel to reel.

Claim 9

A bidirectional tape transport for cassettes comprising, in combination, a fixed frame supporting a cassette for sliding movement in its own plane to a playing position, a movable transport plate carried by said fixed frame for movement to a playing position in response to said movement of the cassette, a pair of drive sets each including a capstan and a reel drive spindle carried by said plate for introduction into the cassette in the course of said movement of said plate, a drive motor connected to rotate the capstans of said drive set in opposite directions, a pair of pinch rollers carried by said fixed frame each movable into drive relation against the capstan of one of said drive sets with the tape of the cassette in playing position pinched therebetween, a pair of intermediate rollers carried by said plate each movable into drive relation to drive the spindle from the capstan of one of said drive sets, and cam means carried by said fixed frame adjacent said pinch rollers comprising a cam member mounted for movement between two positions and having cam elements adjacent each end, movement transmitting connections mounted on said plate and movable into cooperation with each said cam element upon movement of said plate to the playing position, said movement transmitting connections being operable to shift a pinch roller and an intermediate roller of one of said drive sets upon movement of said member to either of said positions for engaging the pinch roller and the intermediate roller of said one drive set in drive relation while simultaneously disengaging the pinch roller and the intermediate roller of the second drive set to provide for transport of the tapes within the cassette selectively in either direction from reel to reel.

Claim 10

A bidirectional tape transport according to claim 6 including, an actuator means connected to move said cam member between said positions, means for moving said actuator means responsive to movement of said transport plate to its playing position to engage one of said drive sets and cause the tape to be driven in one direction for a first playing operation, and control means responsive to the end of said first playing operation for moving said actuator to engage the other drive set and cause the tape to be driven in the other direction for a second playing operation following completion of the first playing operation to provide automatic consecutive playback of the tape recording tracks in a predetermined sequence.

Claim 11

A bidirectional tape transport for cassettes comprising, in combination, means supporting a cassette for movement front edge first to a playing position, a movable transport plate carried by said frame for movement to a playing position, a pair of capstans carried on said transport plate for introduction into one face of the cassette in the course of the movement of said transport plate, a drive motor connected to rotate the capstans in opposite directions, pinch roller means movably mounted to alternately penetrate the front edge of the cassette in its playing position, said pinch roller means being positioned to penetrate the front edge of the cassette and and engage the outside of the cassette as the cassette reaches its playing position in its movement so as to pinch the tape against one of said capstans, and cam means carried on said support means and operable in response to movement of the cassette to playing position to penetrate said pinch roller means into engagement with the outside of the tape and against the second of said capstans while disengaging said pinch roller means from said one of said capstans to provide for transport of the tape within the cassette in both directions.

Claim 12

A bidirectional tape transport for cassettes comprising, in combination, means supporting a cassette for movement front edge first to a playing position, a movable transport plate carried by said frame for movement to a playing position, a pair of capstans carried on said transport plate for introduction into one face of the cassette in the course of the movement of said transport plate, a drive motor connected to rotate the capstans in opposite directions, pinch roller means movably mounted to alternately penetrate the front edge of the cassette in its playing position, said pinch roller means being positioned to penetrate the front edge of the cassette and and engage the outside of the cassette as the cassette reaches its playing position in its movement so as to pinch the tape against one of said capstans, and cam means carried on said support means and operable in response to movement of the cassette to playing position to penetrate said pinch roller means into engagement with the outside of the tape and against the second of said capstans while disengaging said pinch roller means from said one of said capstans to provide for transport of the tape within the cassette in both directions.

Claim 13

In a tape recorder player for self-contained tape cassettes of the type having two reels with the tape anchored at each end to said reels, the combination comprising, means supporting a cassette for movement to and from a playing position, movable plate means carried by said supporting means for movement to and from a playing position, bidirectional drive means carried on said plate means for transporting the tape from reel to reel within the cassette, said drive means being operable to transport the tape in a first drive direction after movement of the cassette to playing position, means for sensing the stopping of said reels at the end of the transport of the tape from either reel to the other, and cam means carried on said supporting means operated by said sensing means responsive to the stopping of said reels at the end of the reel in said first drive direction for reversing said bidirectional drive means on said plate to transport the tape in the second drive direction.

Claim 14

In a tape recorder player for self-contained tape cassettes of the type having two reels with the tape anchored at each end to said reels, the combination comprising, means supporting a cassette for movement to and from a playing position, movable plate means carried by said supporting means for movement to and from a playing position, bidirectional drive means carried on said plate means for transporting the tape from reel to reel within the cassette, said drive means being operable to transport the tape in a first drive direction after movement of the cassette to playing position, means for sensing the stopping of said reels at the end of the transport of the tape from either reel to the other, and cam means carried on said supporting means operated by said sensing means responsive to the stopping of said reels at the end of the reel in said first drive direction for reversing said bidirectional drive means on said plate to transport the tape in the second drive direction.

Claim 15

In a tape recorder player for cassettes, the combination according to claim 9 further including ejecting means alternatively actuated by said sensing means responsive to the stopping of said reel at the end of the reel in said first drive direction for moving the plate and thereby removing the cassette from playing position.

Claim 16

In a tape recorder-player for cassettes, the combination according to claim 10 wherein said ejecting means is additionally actuated by said sensing means responsive to the stopping of said reel at the end of the reel in said direction for moving said plate and thereby removing the cassette from playing position.

Claim 17

In a tape recorder-player for cassettes, the combination according to claim 10 further including manually actuable means operable to override said ejecting means at the end of the reel in said first drive direction and to cause said cam means to reverse said bidirectional drive means on said plate to transport the tape in the second drive direction.

Claim 18

In a tape recorder player for a cassette, the combination according to claim 9 further including means manually operable during transport of the tape in the first drive direction for reversing said bidirectional drive means to provide playback of sets of tracks recorded in both directions of movement of the tape in sequence.

Claim 19

In a tape recorder-player for a cassette, the combination according to claim 13 further including means manually operable during transport of the tape in either drive direction for removing a cassette from playing position.

Claim 20

In a tape recorder player for a cassette the combination according to claim 9 further including a fixed playback head having spaced means aligned for reading the separated sound tracks recorded on said tape in each of said directions of tape transport, and means actuated in response to the mode of operation of said drive means for switching from one to the other of said track reading means of said playback head according to the direction of tape transport produced by said drive means.