Tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus and tape cassette for use therewith

Claim 2

A tape cassette comprising a housing having two substantially parallel opposed walls, at least one reel having tape wound thereon and being contained in said housing for rotation about an axis substantially normal to said walls and for axial displacement between said walls, one of said walls having a bore therein which is substantially centered in respect to said reel, a floating member axially movable in said bore and having means at the inner end of said floating member within said housing for engagement axially with said reel, means urging said floating member and said reel axially toward the other of said walls for normally disposing said floating member in a retracted position in respect to said one wall, and an aperture in said other wall which is substantially centered in respect to said reel and through which the latter is adapted to be engaged for controlling the rotation of saId reel and for axially displacing the reel toward said one wall so as to similarly displace said floating member to a projecting position in respect to said one wall and at which said floating member is engageable outside of said housing for firmly establishing a predetermined axial location of said reel.

Claim 3

A tape cassette as in claim 1; in which said means at the inner end of the floating member for engagement axially with the reel includes thrust bearing members on said floating member and reel, respectively, and having substantially point contact with each other for minimizing the frictional resistance to rotation of said reel relative to said floating member.

Claim 4

A tape cassette as in claim 2; in which said thrust bearing members are respectively constituted by a plane surface and a ball bearing engaging said plane surface.

Claim 5

A tape cassette as in claim 3; in which said plane surface is provided on said inner end of the floating member, and said reel has a central recess in which said ball bearing is seated.

Claim 6

A tape cassette as in claim 2; in which said thrust bearing members are respectively constituted by a plane surface at said inner end of said floating member and a central projection extending from said reel into said point contact with said plane surface.

Claim 7

A tape cassette as in claim 1; in which said means urging said floating member and said reel axially toward said other wall includes a spring within said housing acting on said floating member and, through the latter, on said reel.

Claim 8

A tape cassette as in claim 1; in which said housing has an opening along a side thereof, guide means are provided within said housing adjacent opposite ends of said opening for directing a run of the tape in a path along said opening, and a pair of spaced apart tape positioning members are mounted within said housing and are engageable with the inner side of said tape run for preventing inward buckling of said tape run from said path.

Claim 9

A tape cassette as in claim 7; in which each of said tape positioning members is in the form of a resilient finger secured, at one end, to said housing and having its other end adapted for slidable engagement with said tape run.

Claim 10

A tape cassette as in claim 1; in which said two walls are substantially rectangular and connected by a third wall extending therebetween along the peripheries of said two walls, said third wall has an opening extending along one side of said housing and along which a run of said tape is guided, said other wall has a cutout extending from said opening and through which said tape run is engageable for withdrawing the tape from said housing through said opening, said other wall further has a guide slot extending from said cutout substantially at right angles to said one side of the housing and by which said housing can be positioned in the direction of said one side thereof, and a cassette positioning member extends removably from the side of said housing opposed to said one side for positioning the housing in the direction of said slot in the event that the cassette is received in a holder substantially larger than said housing.

Claim 11

A tape cassette as in claim 9; in which said third wall has a pair of holes therein spaced apart along said opposed side of the housing, and said cassette positioning member includes an elongated portion having resilient arms extending from its opposite ends and terminating in claw-like extensions which are engageable in said holes for securing said cassette positioning member to said third wall, said claw-like extensions being removable from said holes upon flexing of said arms.

Claim 12

The combination of a tape cassette comprising a housing having two substantially parallel opposed walls, at least one reel having tape wound thereon and being contained in said housing for rotation about an axis substantially normal to said walls and for axial displacement between said walls, one of said walls having a bore therein which is substantially centered in respect to sAid reel, a floating member axially movable in said bore and having means at the inner end of said floating member within said housing for engagement axially with said reel, means urging said floating member and said reel axially toward the other of said walls for normally disposing said floating member in a retracted position in respect to said one wall, said floating member being movable away from said other wall to a projecting position extending out of said end wall, and an aperture in said other wall which is substantially centered in respect to said reel; and a tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising a chassis having a rotatable reel drive member extending therefrom for each said reel of said cassette, a cassette holder including a base plate having an opening for each said reel drive member and through which the latter is adapted to extend, means mounting said cassette holder for movement in respect to said chassis between a cassette receiving position, in which said base plate is spaced from said reel drive member and the cassette is receivable in said holder with said other wall of the housing against said base plate, and an operative position of said holder in which said base plate is relatively closer to said chassis so that each said reel drive member extends through the respective opening of said base plate and aperture of said other wall of the housing into engagement with the respective reel for controlling the rotation of said reel and for displacing said reel toward said one wall of the housing so as to similarly displace said floating member to said projecting position, and reel locating means carried by said holder so as to be spaced from said one wall of the housing of a cassette received by said holder, said reel locating means being engageable with said floating member in said projecting position of the latter for cooperation with said reel drive member in firmly establishing a predetermined axial location of the respective reel in relation to said chassis.

Claim 13

The combination of a tape cassette comprising a housing having two substantially parallel opposed walls, at least one reel having tape wound thereon and being contained in said housing for rotation about an axis substantially normal to said walls and for axial displacement between said walls, one of said walls having a bore therein which is substantially centered in respect to sAid reel, a floating member axially movable in said bore and having means at the inner end of said floating member within said housing for engagement axially with said reel, means urging said floating member and said reel axially toward the other of said walls for normally disposing said floating member in a retracted position in respect to said one wall, said floating member being movable away from said other wall to a projecting position extending out of said end wall, and an aperture in said other wall which is substantially centered in respect to said reel; and a tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising a chassis having a rotatable reel drive member extending therefrom for each said reel of said cassette, a cassette holder including a base plate having an opening for each said reel drive member and through which the latter is adapted to extend, means mounting said cassette holder for movement in respect to said chassis between a cassette receiving position, in which said base plate is spaced from said reel drive member and the cassette is receivable in said holder with said other wall of the housing against said base plate, and an operative position of said holder in which said base plate is relatively closer to said chassis so that each said reel drive member extends through the respective opening of said base plate and aperture of said other wall of the housing into engagement with the respective reel for controlling the rotation of said reel and for displacing said reel toward said one wall of the housing so as to similarly displace said floating member to said projecting position, and reel locating means carried by said holder so as to be spaced from said one wall of the housing of a cassette received by said holder, said reel locating means being engageable with said floating member in said projecting position of the latter for cooperation with said reel drive member in firmly establishing a predetermined axial location of the respective reel in relation to said chassis.

Claim 14

The combination as in claim 11; in which said reel locating means is mounted for limited movement in respect to said holder in the directions toward and away from said floating member, and spring means yieldably urges said reel locating means toward said floating member at least during its engagement with the latter.

Claim 15

The combination as in claim 12; in which second spring means urges said reel locating means in the direction away from said floating member when said holder is in its cassette receiving position so as to increase the clearance between said reel locating means and said one wall of the cassette housing during the insertion and removal of a cassette in said holder, and means responsive to movement of said holder to its operative position makes the first mentioned spring means operative to overcome said second spring means.

Claim 16

The combination as in claim 13; in which said means making said first spring means operative to overcome the second spring means includes a lever arm assembly pivoted on said holder and engageable at one end with said reel locating means in said direction toward the floating member, and abutment means on said chassis engageable by the other end of said lever arm assembly for pivoting the latter in the direction to move said reel locating means in said direction toward said floating member in response to movement of said holder to said operative position; and in which said lever arm assembly includes first and second lever arms connected by said first spring means so that the force for moving said reel locating means in said direction toward said floating member is transmitted by way of said first spring means.

Claim 17

The combination as in claim 11; in which said cassette holder includes means engageable with said one wall of the housing only adjacent the periphery of the latter for yieldably holding said other wall of the housing against said base plate of the holder, said chassis has cassette locating posts extending therefrom, and saiD base plate has openings registering with said posts and through which the latter extend into engagement with said other wall of the cassette housing when said holder is moved to said operative position.

Claim 18

The combination as in claim 11; in which said means at the inner end of the floating member for engagement axially with the reel includes thrust bearing members on said floating member and reel, respectively, and having substantially point contact with each other for minimizing the frictional resistance to rotation of said reel relative to said floating member.

Claim 19

The combination as in claim 16; in which said thrust bearing members are respectively constituted by a plane surface and a ball bearing engaging said plane surface.

Claim 20

The combination as in claim 17; in which said plane surface is provided on said inner end of the floating member, and said reel has a central recess in which said ball bearing is seated.

Claim 21

The combination as in claim 16; in which said thrust bearing members are respectively constituted by a plane surface at said inner end of said floating member and a central projection extending from said reel into said point contact with said plane surface.

Claim 22

The combination as in claim 11; in which said means urging said floating member and said reel axially toward said other wall includes a spring within said housing acting on said floating member and, through the latter, on said reel.

Claim 23

The combination as in claim 11; in which said housing has an opening along a side thereof, guide means are provided within said housing adjacent opposite ends of said opening for directing a run of the tape in a path along said opening, and a pair of spaced apart tape positioning members are mounted within said housing and are engageable with the inner side of said tape run for preventing inward buckling of said tape run from said path.

Claim 24

The combination as in claim 21, in which each of said tape positioning members is in the form of a resilient finger secured, at one end, to said housing and having its other end adapted for slidable engagement with said tape run.

Claim 25

The combination as in claim 11; in which said two walls of the cassette housing are substantially rectangular and connected by a third wall extending therebetween along the peripheries of said two walls, said third wall has an opening extending along one side of said housing and along which a run of said tape is guided, said other wall has a cutout extending from said opening of the third wall and a guide slot extending from said cutout substantially at right angles to said one side of the housing, and a cassette positioning member extends removably from the side of said housing opposed to said one side; and in which said holder has a guide projection extending from said base plate and engaging in said guide slot for positioning said housing in the direction of said one side thereof, said holder further has a portion engageable by said cassette positioning member on the housing for positioning the latter in the direction of said guide slot, and said tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus further comprises tape engaging means insertable into said cutout of a cassette housing thus positioned in said holder upon movement of the latter to its operative position and being effective to engage said tape run for withdrawing the tape from said housing through said opening in the third wall thereof.

Claim 26

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus for use with a tape cassette which includes a housing containing at least one rotatable reel having tape wound thereon and being engageable through an aperture in the housing for controlling the rotation of the reel and for axially displacing the latter, and a floating member axially movable with the reel between a normal retracted position in respect to the outer surface of the housing and a projecting position extending from the housing; said apparatus comprising a chassis having a rotatable reel drive member extending therefrom for Each reel of the cassette, a cassette holder including a base plate having an opening through which said reel drive member is adapted to extend, means mounting said holder for movement in respect to said chassis between a cassette receiving position, in which said base plate is spaced from said reel drive member and a cassette is receivable on said base plate of the holder, and an operative position of said holder in which said base plate is relatively closer to said chassis so that said reel drive member extends through said base plate and is adapted to engage the respective reel for controlling the rotation of the latter and for displacing the reel axially away from said base plate so as to similarly displace said floating member to said projecting position, and reel locating means carried by said holder so as to be spaced from the cassette housing when the latter is received in said holder, said reel locating means being adapted to engage the floating member of a cassette in the projecting position thereof for cooperating with said reel drive member in firmly establishing a predetermined axial location of the reel in relation to said chassis.

Claim 27

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus for use with a tape cassette which includes a housing containing at least one rotatable reel having tape wound thereon and being engageable through an aperture in the housing for controlling the rotation of the reel and for axially displacing the latter, and a floating member axially movable with the reel between a normal retracted position in respect to the outer surface of the housing and a projecting position extending from the housing; said apparatus comprising a chassis having a rotatable reel drive member extending therefrom for Each reel of the cassette, a cassette holder including a base plate having an opening through which said reel drive member is adapted to extend, means mounting said holder for movement in respect to said chassis between a cassette receiving position, in which said base plate is spaced from said reel drive member and a cassette is receivable on said base plate of the holder, and an operative position of said holder in which said base plate is relatively closer to said chassis so that said reel drive member extends through said base plate and is adapted to engage the respective reel for controlling the rotation of the latter and for displacing the reel axially away from said base plate so as to similarly displace said floating member to said projecting position, and reel locating means carried by said holder so as to be spaced from the cassette housing when the latter is received in said holder, said reel locating means being adapted to engage the floating member of a cassette in the projecting position thereof for cooperating with said reel drive member in firmly establishing a predetermined axial location of the reel in relation to said chassis.

Claim 28

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus as in claim 24; in which said reel locating means is mounted for limited movement in respect to said holder in the directions toward and away from said base plate, and spring means yieldably urges said reel locating means toward said base plate at least during the presence of said holder in saod operative position thereof.

Claim 29

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus as in claim 25; in which second spring means urges said reel locating means in the direction away from said base plate when said holder is in said cassette receiving position so as to increase the clearance between said reel locating means and a cassette housing during the insertion and removal of a cassette in said holder, and means responsive to movement of said holder to said operative position thereof makes the first mentioned spring means operative to overcome said second spring means.

Claim 30

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus as in claim 26; in which said means making said first spring means operative to overcome said second spring means includes a lever arm assembly pivoted on said holder and engageable at one end with said reel locating means in said direction toward the base plate, and abutment means on said chassis engageable by the other end of said lever arm assembly for pivoting the latter in the direction to move said reel locating means in said direction toward the base plate, and in which said lever arm assembly includes first and second lever arms connected by said first spring means so that the force for moving said reel locating means toward said base plate is transmitted by way of said first spring means.