Video tape pick-up and guide system for cartridge type reproducing and/or recording system

Claim 2

In a tape transport system of the type having a rotary head assembly and tape supply and take-up means providing a laterally shiftable stretch of tape spaced from the assembly, a tape guide system comprising: a base plate adapted to support the assembly and the tape supply and take-up means in spaced relationship to each other; a pair of canted tape pick-up elements; means on the base plate for mounting the canted pick-up elements thereon for movement between respective first positions behind one side of the tape stretch and respective second positions adjacent to said head assembly with the tape pick-up elements being operable to pull the tape stretch toward the head assembly and to position the same helically along a portion of the paths of travel of the heads of the assembly, whereby the heads can scan the tape stretch adjacent thereto; driving means coupled with said mounting means for selectively moving the tape pick-up elements from the first positions to the second positions and return; and an auxiliary guide for each tape pick-up element, respectively, the auxiliary guides being operable to twist the tape as it extends between the tape supply and take-up means and the respective tape pick-up elements to cause the tangential tape portions at each tape pick-up element to align.

Claim 3

A tape guide system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said auxiliary guides are swingably mounted on said mounting means and are movable into respective operative locations as a function of the movement of the first guides into said second positions.

Claim 4

A tape guide system as set forth in claim 2, wherein each auxiliary guide has a conical tape-engaging surface, the tape stretch being partially looped about each tape pick-up element when the latter is in its second position, the conical surface of one auxiliary guide being disposed with its apex down on the supply side, the other auxiliary guide being disposed with its apex up on the take-up side.

Claim 5

A system as set forth in claim 3, wherein is provided a tape cartridge having a pair of axially aligned reels disposed at respective distances from said base plate, said tape stretch being coupled to the reels and extending outwardly therefrom, and second auxiliary guides disposed on the base plate to direct the tape from and into the cartridge and onto respective reels when the cartridge is in an operative location adjacent to the base plate and when the tape pick-up elements are in their second positions.

Claim 6

A system as set forth in claim 4, wHerein said moving means includes a rotatable member coupled with said mounting means for moving the same and thereby said tape pick-up elements relative to said base plate, and means coupled with the member for rotating the same through a predetermined arc corresponding to the distance of travel of said take pick-up elements between respective first and second positions.

Claim 7

A system as set forth in claim 5, wherein is included means coupled with said rotatable member for stopping the rotation of the latter after the tape pick-up elements are in their second positions.

Claim 8

In a video reproducer and/or recording system of the type including a mount in which multiple transducers are rotatably mounted relative to a base plate and which utilizes a video cartridge presenting a continuous stretch of magnetic tape, said stretch having a supply end and a return end, a tape guide apparatus for selectively withdrawing said stretch of tape from said cartridge and helically wrapping a portion of it about a part of said mount or permitting said stretch to return to said cartridge, comprising the combination of: a pair of arms swingable from retracted positions behind said stretch to advanced positions adjacent said mount, a pair of tape pick-up elements secured to said arms and positioned to pick up said stretch and helically to wrap said portion thereof about said mount as said arms move from their retracted to their advanced positions, a first pair of auxiliary tape guides, of which one has a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, relative to the base plate, and the other has a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex, means for individually swingably mounting the first auxiliary guides into operative positions such that each outer tangential portion of tape at each pick-up element is aligned with its respective inner tangential portion of tape when said arms are advanced, and second auxiliary guides, one of said second auxiliary guides having a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex and the other of said second auxiliary guides having a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, said second auxiliary guide being so positioned on said base plate that one end of the stretch is lowered and the other end of the stretch is lifted in order to transform the angle of inclination of the presented tape span into the helical angle of the wrap.

Claim 9

In a video reproducer and/or recording system of the type including a mount in which multiple transducers are rotatably mounted relative to a base plate and which utilizes a video cartridge presenting a continuous stretch of magnetic tape, said stretch having a supply end and a return end, a tape guide apparatus for selectively withdrawing said stretch of tape from said cartridge and helically wrapping a portion of it about a part of said mount or permitting said stretch to return to said cartridge, comprising the combination of: a pair of arms swingable from retracted positions behind said stretch to advanced positions adjacent said mount, a pair of tape pick-up elements secured to said arms and positioned to pick up said stretch and helically to wrap said portion thereof about said mount as said arms move from their retracted to their advanced positions, a first pair of auxiliary tape guides, of which one has a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, relative to the base plate, and the other has a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex, means for individually swingably mounting the first auxiliary guides into operative positions such that each outer tangential portion of tape at each pick-up element is aligned with its respective inner tangential portion of tape when said arms are advanced, and second auxiliary guides, one of said second auxiliary guides having a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex and the other of said second auxiliary guides having a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, said second auxiliary guide being so positioned on said base plate that one end of the stretch is lowered and the other end of the stretch is lifted in order to transform the angle of inclination of the presented tape span into the helical angle of the wrap.

Claim 10

In a video reproducer and/or recording system of the type including a mount in which multiple transducers are rotatably mounted relative to a base plate and which utilizes a reel-over-reel video cartridge presenting a continuous inclined stretch of magnetic tape, said stretch having a relatively high supply end and a relatively low return end, a tape guide apparatus for selectively withdrawing said stretch of tape from said cartridge and helically wrapping a portion of it about a part of said mount or permitting said stretch to return to said cartridge, comprising the combination of: a pair of arms swingable from retracted positions behind said stretch to advanced positions adjacent said mount, a pair of tape pick-up elements secured to said arms and positioned and inclined to pick up said stretch and helically to wrap said portion thereof about said mount as said arms move from their retracted to their advanced positions, a first pair of auxiliary tape guides, of which one is positioned on the tape supply side and has a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, relative to the base plate, and the other is positioned on the tape return side and has a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex, means for individually swingably mounting the first auxiliary guides into operative positions in contact with the tape such that each outer tangential portion of tape at each pick-up element is aligned with its respective inner tangential portion of tape when said arms are advanced, and a second pair of auxiliary guides, one of said second auxiliary guides beinG positioned on the tape supply side and having a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex and the other of said second auxiliary guides being positioned on the tape return side and having a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, said second auxiliary guides being so positioned on the base plate that tape departing from the supply end of the stretch is lowered and tape entering the return end of the stretch is lifted in order to transform the angle of inclination of the presented tape span into the helical angle of the wrap.

Claim 11

In a video reproducer and/or recording system of the type including a mount in which multiple transducers are rotatably mounted relative to a base plate and which utilizes a reel-over-reel video cartridge presenting a continuous inclined stretch of magnetic tape, said stretch having a relatively high supply end and a relatively low return end, a tape guide apparatus for selectively withdrawing said stretch of tape from said cartridge and helically wrapping a portion of it about a part of said mount or permitting said stretch to return to said cartridge, comprising the combination of: a pair of arms swingable from retracted positions behind said stretch to advanced positions adjacent said mount, a pair of tape pick-up elements secured to said arms and positioned and inclined to pick up said stretch and helically to wrap said portion thereof about said mount as said arms move from their retracted to their advanced positions, a first pair of auxiliary tape guides, of which one is positioned on the tape supply side and has a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, relative to the base plate, and the other is positioned on the tape return side and has a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex, means for individually swingably mounting the first auxiliary guides into operative positions in contact with the tape such that each outer tangential portion of tape at each pick-up element is aligned with its respective inner tangential portion of tape when said arms are advanced, and a second pair of auxiliary guides, one of said second auxiliary guides beinG positioned on the tape supply side and having a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex and the other of said second auxiliary guides being positioned on the tape return side and having a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, said second auxiliary guides being so positioned on the base plate that tape departing from the supply end of the stretch is lowered and tape entering the return end of the stretch is lifted in order to transform the angle of inclination of the presented tape span into the helical angle of the wrap.

Claim 12

In a video reproducer and/or recording system of the type including a mount in which multiple transducers are rotatably mounted relative to a base plate and which utilizes a reel-over-reel video cartridge presenting a continuous inclined stretch of magnetic tape, said stretch having a relatively high supply end and a relatively low return end, a tape guide apparatus for selectively withdrawing said stretch of tape from said cartridge and helically wrapping a portion of it about a part of said mount facing the cartridge or permitting said stretch to return to said cartridge, comprising the combination of: a pair of arms mounted on the base plate and swingable from retracted positions to advanced positions adjacent said mount, a pair of tape pick-up elements secured to said arms and positioned and inclined to pick up said stretch and helically to wrap said portion thereof about a portion of said mount facing the cartridge as said arms moved from their retracted to their advanced positions, a first pair of auxiliary tape guides, of which one is positioned on the tape supply side and has a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, relative to the base plate, and the other is positioned on the tape return side and has a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex, means for individually swingably mounting the first auxiliary tape guides into operative positions in contact with the tape such that each outer tangential portion of tape at each pick-up element is aligned in coplanar relationship to and in substantial parallelism to its respective inner tangential portion of tape when said arms are advanced, and a second pair of auxiliary tape guides mounted on said base plate, one of said second auxiliary guides being positioned on the tape supply side and having a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex and the other of said second auxiliary guides being positioned on the tape return side and having a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, said second auxiliary guides being so positioned on the base plate that tape departing from the supply end of the cartridge is lowered and tape descends to enter the return end of the cartridge.

Claim 13

In a video reproducer and/or recording system of the type including a mount in which multiple transducers are rotatably mounted relative to a base plate and which utilizes a reel-over-reel video cartridge presenting a continuous inclined stretch of magnetic tape, said stretch having a relatively high supply end and a relatively low return end, a tape guide apparatus for selectively withdrawing said stretch of tape from said cartridge and helically wrapping a portion of it about a part of said mount facing the cartridge or permitting said stretch to return to said cartridge, comprising the combination of: a pair of arms mounted on the base plate and swingable from retracted positions to advanced positions adjacent said mount, a pair of tape pick-up elements secured to said arms and positioned and inclined to pick up said stretch and helically to wrap said portion thereof about a portion of said mount facing the cartridge as said arms moved from their retracted to their advanced positions, a first pair of auxiliary tape guides, of which one is positioned on the tape supply side and has a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, relative to the base plate, and the other is positioned on the tape return side and has a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex, means for individually swingably mounting the first auxiliary tape guides into operative positions in contact with the tape such that each outer tangential portion of tape at each pick-up element is aligned in coplanar relationship to and in substantial parallelism to its respective inner tangential portion of tape when said arms are advanced, and a second pair of auxiliary tape guides mounted on said base plate, one of said second auxiliary guides being positioned on the tape supply side and having a conical surface with an upwardly extending apex and the other of said second auxiliary guides being positioned on the tape return side and having a conical surface with a downwardly extending apex, said second auxiliary guides being so positioned on the base plate that tape departing from the supply end of the cartridge is lowered and tape descends to enter the return end of the cartridge.

Claim 14

In a video reproducer and/or recording system the combination in accordance with claim 9 in which the means for individually swingably mounting the first auxiliary tape guides into operative positions comprises individual linkages, each linkage consisting of a first link, pivoted to one of said arms and carrying a first auxiliary tape guide, and a second link having ends separately pivotally secured to the base plate and to the first link.