Automatic cassette changer

Claim 2

An automatic cassette changer comprising: a chassis; a rotary tray which is rotatably mounted on said chassis and has a plurality of compartments for storing a plurality of cassettes; a tape deck mounted on said chassis and having a magnetic head and tape moving means for playback of said cassettes; tray driving means coupled to said rotary tray for rotating said rotary tray to transfer said cassettes along a circular path; index means engageable with said rotary tray for restricting the rotation of said rotary tray so as to position a selected compartment of said rotary tray at a first position where a single cassette in said selected compartment can be introduced toward said tape deck; cassette exchanging means on said chassis at said first position and movable for transporting said single cassette from said first position to an operative position to engage said single cassette with said tape deck so that said single cassette is played back by said magnetic head; a motor for driving said tray driving means and said cassette exchanging means; clutch means connected between said motor and said tray driving means and said cassette exchanging means and coupled to and responsive to said index means upon restriction of said rotary tray by said index means so as to disengage said motor from said tray driving means and to engage said motor with said cassette exchanging means so that said single cassette is transported from said first position to said operative position by said cassette exchanging means; a plurality of first memory devices, each of which corresponds to one of said compartments of said rotary tray for memorizing instructions to play back a single cassette in the corresponding compartment; simultaneous setting means coupled to said first memory devices for setting all of said first memory devices at one time to memorize said instructions; control means coupled between said memory devices and said tray driving means and said index means for controlling said tray driving means and said index means for causing said tray driving means to rotate said rotary tray and said index means to restrict the rotation of said rotary tray so as to bring a single cassette in the compartment corresponding to the set first memory device to said first position when at least one of said first memory devices is set by said simultaneous setting means; and resetting means coupled to said first memory devices for resetting said set first memory devices corresponding to the single cassette played during each exchanging cycle of said cassette exchanging means.

Claim 3

An automatic cassette changer as claimed in claim 1 further comprising actuating means coupled to said first memory devices for setting all of said first memory devices at one time to memorize said instructions in association with the rotation of said rotary tray at least once during one rotation of said rotary tray, whereby said rotary tray rotates endlessly to play back all of said cassettes repeatedly regardless of the resetting of each first memory device by said resetting means in each exchanging cycle of said cassette exchanging means.

Claim 4

An automatic cassette changer as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a plurality of selection devices, each connected to each of said first memory devices and which are capable of selectively resetting said first memory devices corresponding to the cassettes which are not desired to be played back, whereby only desired cassettes are played back upon operation of said selection devices after all of said first memory devices have been set by said simultaneous setting means.

Claim 5

An automatic cassette changer comprising: a chassis; a rotary tray which is rotatably mounted on said chassis and has a plurality of compartments for storing a plurality of cassettes; a tape deck mounted on said chassis and having a magnetic head and tape moving means for playback of said cassettes; tray driving means coupled to said rotary tray for rotating said rotary tray to transfer said cassettes along a circuilar path; index means engagable with said rotary tray for restricting the rotation of said rotary tray so as to position a selected compartment of said rotary tray at a first position where a single cassette in said selected compartment can be introduced toward said tape deck; cassette exchanging means on said chassis at said first position and movable for transporting said single cassette from said first position to an operative position to engage said single cassette with said tape deck so that said single cassette is played back by said magnetic head; a motor for driving said tray driving means and said cassette exchanging means; clutch means connected between said motor and said tray driving means and said cassette exchanging means and coupled to and responsive to said index means upon restriction of said rotary tray by said index means so as to disengage said motor from said tray driving means and to engage said motor with said cassette exchanging means so that said single cassette is transported from said first position to said operative position by said cassette exchanging means; a plurality of first memory devices, each of which corresponds to one of said compartments of said rotary tray for memorizing instructions to play back a single cassette in the corresponding compartment; a plurality of selection devices, each of which corresponds to and is coupled to one of said first memory devices and which are capable of setting said first memory devices selectively to memorize said instructions; control means coupled between said first memory devices and said tray driving means and said index means for controlling said tray driving means and said index means for causing said tray driving means to rotate said rotary tray and said index means to restrict the rotation of said rotary tray so as to bring a single cassette in the compartment corresponding to the set first memory device to said first position when at least one of said first memory devices is set by the corresponding selection device; and Resetting means coupled to said first memory devices for resetting the set first memory devices corresponding to the single cassette played during each exchanging cycle of said cassette exchanging means.

Claim 6

An automatic cassette changer comprising: a chassis; a rotary tray which is rotatably mounted on said chassis and has a plurality of compartments for storing a plurality of cassettes; a tape deck mounted on said chassis and having a magnetic head and tape moving means for playback of said cassettes; tray driving means coupled to said rotary tray for rotating said rotary tray to transfer said cassettes along a circuilar path; index means engagable with said rotary tray for restricting the rotation of said rotary tray so as to position a selected compartment of said rotary tray at a first position where a single cassette in said selected compartment can be introduced toward said tape deck; cassette exchanging means on said chassis at said first position and movable for transporting said single cassette from said first position to an operative position to engage said single cassette with said tape deck so that said single cassette is played back by said magnetic head; a motor for driving said tray driving means and said cassette exchanging means; clutch means connected between said motor and said tray driving means and said cassette exchanging means and coupled to and responsive to said index means upon restriction of said rotary tray by said index means so as to disengage said motor from said tray driving means and to engage said motor with said cassette exchanging means so that said single cassette is transported from said first position to said operative position by said cassette exchanging means; a plurality of first memory devices, each of which corresponds to one of said compartments of said rotary tray for memorizing instructions to play back a single cassette in the corresponding compartment; a plurality of selection devices, each of which corresponds to and is coupled to one of said first memory devices and which are capable of setting said first memory devices selectively to memorize said instructions; control means coupled between said first memory devices and said tray driving means and said index means for controlling said tray driving means and said index means for causing said tray driving means to rotate said rotary tray and said index means to restrict the rotation of said rotary tray so as to bring a single cassette in the compartment corresponding to the set first memory device to said first position when at least one of said first memory devices is set by the corresponding selection device; and Resetting means coupled to said first memory devices for resetting the set first memory devices corresponding to the single cassette played during each exchanging cycle of said cassette exchanging means.

Claim 7

An automatic cassette changer as claimed in claim 4 wherein said selection devices include means for resetting said first memory devices selectively to cancel said instructions.

Claim 8

An automatic cassette changer as claimed in claim 5 further comprising switching means coupled to said first memory devices and to said control means for resetting all of the first memory devices which memorize said instructions and for instructing said control means to operate said cassette exchanging means to return the single cassette from said operative position to said first position so that the automatic cassette changer is brought into the stopped condition after said single cassette has been restored to the compartment of said rotary tray.

Claim 9

An automatic cassette changer comprising: a chassis; a rotary tray which is rotatably mounted on said chassis and has a plurality of compartments for storing a plurality of cassettes; a tape deck mounted on said chassis and having a magnetic head and tape moving means for playback of said cassettes; tray driving means coupled to said rotary tray for rotating said rotary tray to transfer said cassettes along a circular path; index means engageable with said rotary tray for restricting the rotation of said rotary tray so as to position a selected compartment of said rotary tray at a first position where a single cassette in said selected compartment can be introduced toward said tape deck; cassette exchanging means on said chassis at said first position and movable for transporting said single cassette from said first position to an operative position to engage said single cassette with said tape deck so that said single cassette is played back by said magnetic head; a motor for driving said tray driving means and said cassette exchanging means; clutch means connected between said motor and said tray driving means and said cassette exchanging means and coupled to and responsive to said index means upon restriction of said rotary tray by said index means so as to disengage siad motor from said tray driving means and to engage said motor with said cassette exchanging means so that said single cassette is transported from said first position to said operative position by said cassette exchanging means; a plurality of first memory devices, each of which corresponds to one of said compartments of said rotary tray for memorizing instructions to play back a single cassette in the corresponding compartment; a plurality of selection devices, each of which corresponds to and is coupled to one of said first memory devices and which is capable of setting said first memory devices selectively to memorize said instructions; a plurality of second memory devices coupled to each of said first memory devices for memorizing the order in which said first memory devices have been set, a memory step switch coupled to each of said second meory devices for controlling said second memory devices during every exchanging cycle of said cassette exchanging means so as to allow only one of the set first memory devices corresponding to the number memorized by the second memory device to initiate said index means; and control means coupled between said second memory devices and said tray driving means and said index means for controlling said tray driving means and said index means for causing said tray driving means to rotate said rotary tray and said index means to restrict the rotation of said rotary tray so as to bring the single cassette in the compartment corresponding to the set first memory device to said first position when at least one of said first and second memory devices is set by the corresponding selection device; whereby said cassettes are played back in the order in which said first memory devices have Been set by said selection devices.

Claim 10

An automatic cassette changer comprising: a chassis; a rotary tray which is rotatably mounted on said chassis and has a plurality of compartments for storing a plurality of cassettes; a tape deck mounted on said chassis and having a magnetic head and tape moving means for playback of said cassettes; tray driving means coupled to said rotary tray for rotating said rotary tray to transfer said cassettes along a circular path; index means engageable with said rotary tray for restricting the rotation of said rotary tray so as to position a selected compartment of said rotary tray at a first position where a single cassette in said selected compartment can be introduced toward said tape deck; cassette exchanging means on said chassis at said first position and movable for transporting said single cassette from said first position to an operative position to engage said single cassette with said tape deck so that said single cassette is played back by said magnetic head; a motor for driving said tray driving means and said cassette exchanging means; clutch means connected between said motor and said tray driving means and said cassette exchanging means and coupled to and responsive to said index means upon restriction of said rotary tray by said index means so as to disengage siad motor from said tray driving means and to engage said motor with said cassette exchanging means so that said single cassette is transported from said first position to said operative position by said cassette exchanging means; a plurality of first memory devices, each of which corresponds to one of said compartments of said rotary tray for memorizing instructions to play back a single cassette in the corresponding compartment; a plurality of selection devices, each of which corresponds to and is coupled to one of said first memory devices and which is capable of setting said first memory devices selectively to memorize said instructions; a plurality of second memory devices coupled to each of said first memory devices for memorizing the order in which said first memory devices have been set, a memory step switch coupled to each of said second meory devices for controlling said second memory devices during every exchanging cycle of said cassette exchanging means so as to allow only one of the set first memory devices corresponding to the number memorized by the second memory device to initiate said index means; and control means coupled between said second memory devices and said tray driving means and said index means for controlling said tray driving means and said index means for causing said tray driving means to rotate said rotary tray and said index means to restrict the rotation of said rotary tray so as to bring the single cassette in the compartment corresponding to the set first memory device to said first position when at least one of said first and second memory devices is set by the corresponding selection device; whereby said cassettes are played back in the order in which said first memory devices have Been set by said selection devices.

Claim 11

An automatic cassette changer as claimed in claim 7 further comprising resetting means coupled to said first and second memory devices for resetting the first memory devices and the corresponding second memory devices during every exchanging cycle of said cassette exchanging means, whereby said cassette changer stops its operation when all of said first and second memory devices have been reset.