US3877074A — Miniature tape recording and reproducing apparatu…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 152 words

Tape recording and reproducing apparatus comprising reversible drive means for causing forward movement and rewinding movement of a recording tape, and an elongated housing adapted to be held in one hand of a user, said drive means being in said housing, characterized by a single control slide mounted for longitudinal movement in the direction of elongation of said housing to a plurality of different operating positions respectively controlling different kinds of operation of the apparatus, said control slide having means within the housing for controlling operation of said drive means and other parts of said apparatus, said control slide also having an actuating portion projecting out to a manually accessible position outside of said housing, one of said different operating positions of said control slide being a rest position in which said apparatus is turned off, said apparatus further including releasable latch means for latching said control slide in said rest position.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 152 words

Tape recording and reproducing apparatus comprising reversible drive means for causing forward movement and rewinding movement of a recording tape, and an elongated housing adapted to be held in one hand of a user, said drive means being in said housing, characterized by a single control slide mounted for longitudinal movement in the direction of elongation of said housing to a plurality of different operating positions respectively controlling different kinds of operation of the apparatus, said control slide having means within the housing for controlling operation of said drive means and other parts of said apparatus, said control slide also having an actuating portion projecting out to a manually accessible position outside of said housing, one of said different operating positions of said control slide being a rest position in which said apparatus is turned off, said apparatus further including releasable latch means for latching said control slide in said rest position.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 57 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further including a plurality of actuating cams within said housing and associated with said control slide, said cams respectively serving, in accordance with the position of said control slide, to actuate an electric supply switch (42, 42a), a drive reversing lever (28), and a control lever (44) for an erasing head.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 33 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said control slide is associated with a bore (40a) cooperating with a pin (54a) on a control member (54) for controlling operation of an electronic amplifier.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 19 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said control slide is a singel part of molded plastic material.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 30 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said releasable latch means moves between latching and unlatching positions in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of said control slide.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 49 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein said control slide has a manually accessible operating knob accessible externally of said housing, and wherein said releasable latch means is mounted in said knob in a position to be operated by the same finger of an operator which actuates said knob.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 23 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 5, further comprising spring detent means (52) tending to hold said releasable latch means in its latching position.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 189 words

Tape recording and reproducing apparatus comprising reversible drive means for causing forward movement and rewinding movement of a recording tape, and an elongated housing adapted to be held in one hand of a user, said drive means being in said housing, characterized by a single control slide mounted for longitudinal movement in the direction of elongation of said housing to a plurality of different operating positions respectively controlling different kinds of operation of the apparatus, said control slide having means within the housing for controlling operation of said drive means and other parts of said apparatus, said control slide also having an actuating portion projecting out to a manually accessible position outside of said housing, said control slide being shiftable from a rest position to various positions for recording, for rewind, and for replaying a recorded sound at normal speed, further including a special operating member (60) for causing rapid winding in a replaying direction, said actuating portion of said control slide and said special operating member both lying in a position where they are operable by the same finger of one hand in which the apparatus is held.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 189 words

Tape recording and reproducing apparatus comprising reversible drive means for causing forward movement and rewinding movement of a recording tape, and an elongated housing adapted to be held in one hand of a user, said drive means being in said housing, characterized by a single control slide mounted for longitudinal movement in the direction of elongation of said housing to a plurality of different operating positions respectively controlling different kinds of operation of the apparatus, said control slide having means within the housing for controlling operation of said drive means and other parts of said apparatus, said control slide also having an actuating portion projecting out to a manually accessible position outside of said housing, said control slide being shiftable from a rest position to various positions for recording, for rewind, and for replaying a recorded sound at normal speed, further including a special operating member (60) for causing rapid winding in a replaying direction, said actuating portion of said control slide and said special operating member both lying in a position where they are operable by the same finger of one hand in which the apparatus is held.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 45 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said special operating member is mounted on and moves bodily with said control slide, further including blocking means (14p, 60a) permitting full effective movement of said special operating member only when said control slide is in replaying position.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 32 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein said special operating member (60) is movable against spring pressure in a direction transverse to the direction of longitudinal movement of said control slide (40).

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 70 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein said blocking means is formed by a fixed wall (14p) having an opening (14a) into which a portion (60a) of said special operating member (60) may enter only when said control slide (40) is in its replay position, entrance of said portion (60a) into said opening serving to shift a carrying lever (66) to a position establishing rapid drive in a replay direction.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 31 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein entrance of said portion (60a) into said opening (14a) serves also to prevent movement of said control slide (40) away from its replay position.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 61 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 8, further including a pair of transmission gear wheels (68, 70), and a carrying lever (66) on which said gear wheels are mounted, actuation of said special operating member (60) serving to move said carrying lever to shift said transmission gear wheels to operative positions effective to increase the speed of winding in a replay direction.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 37 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 8, further including releasable latch means for preventing movement of said control slide from another position to recording position, said latch means being released by predetermined movement of said special operating member.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 72 words

Apparatus as defined in claim 14, wherein said releasable latch means comprises a fixed abutment surface (10f) and a cooperating pin (80) on the special operating member (60), said pin cooperating with said abutment surface when said special operating member is in a rest position and being moved out of cooperative relation to said abutment surface when said special operating member is moved to a predetermined extent from its said rest position.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 211 words

A reversible drive for a tape recorder or the like, comprising a forward drive means including a drive wheel having a friction surface, reverse drive means including a reverse wheel having gear teeth, a shiftable assembly including a flywheel, a friction wheel, and a toothed gear wheel coupled to each other to rotate together, a driving motor for driving said assembly, and control means for shifting said assembly selectively between a forward driving position in which said friction wheel of said assembly is in friction driving engagement with the friction surface of said drive wheel and a reverse driving position in which said toothed gear wheel of said assembly is in meshing engagement with said reverse wheel and a disengaged position in which said assembly is disengaged from both said drive wheel and said reverse wheel, said friction wheel of said shiftable assembly being on one side of said drive wheel and said drive motor being on the opposite side of said drive wheel, and an elastic driving belt operatively connecting said motor to said shiftable assembly, said elastic driving belt being so positioned that the tractive effect of the belt tends to draw the friction wheel of said assembly into firmer engagement with the friction surface of said drive wheel.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 211 words

A reversible drive for a tape recorder or the like, comprising a forward drive means including a drive wheel having a friction surface, reverse drive means including a reverse wheel having gear teeth, a shiftable assembly including a flywheel, a friction wheel, and a toothed gear wheel coupled to each other to rotate together, a driving motor for driving said assembly, and control means for shifting said assembly selectively between a forward driving position in which said friction wheel of said assembly is in friction driving engagement with the friction surface of said drive wheel and a reverse driving position in which said toothed gear wheel of said assembly is in meshing engagement with said reverse wheel and a disengaged position in which said assembly is disengaged from both said drive wheel and said reverse wheel, said friction wheel of said shiftable assembly being on one side of said drive wheel and said drive motor being on the opposite side of said drive wheel, and an elastic driving belt operatively connecting said motor to said shiftable assembly, said elastic driving belt being so positioned that the tractive effect of the belt tends to draw the friction wheel of said assembly into firmer engagement with the friction surface of said drive wheel.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 39 words

A drive as defined in claim 16, wherein said shiftable assembly is mounted on and moves bodily with one arm of a switching lever, said lever having a second arm engaged by said control means to shift said assembly.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 32 words

A drive as defined in claim 17, further including spring means acting on said lever and biasing it in a direction to tend to keep said shiftable assembly in forward driving position.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 36 words

A drive as defined in claim 16, wherein said forward drive wheel is fixed to a shaft and wherein a forward hub for engaging and driving a forward-motion tape spool is also fixed to said shaft.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 45 words

A drive as defined in claim 16, further including a rewind hub for engaging and driving a rewind tape spool, a rewind shaft fixed to said rewind hub, and a rewind gear fixed to said rewind shaft, said rewind gear meshing with said reverse wheel.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 35 words

A drive as defined in claim 16, wherein said control means includes a manually adjustable sliding member having a plurality of cam portions thereon for respectively determining a plurality of positions of said shiftable assembly.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 94 words

A drive as defined in claim 16, wherein said shiftable assembly is mounted on and moves bodily with a first arm of a switching lever having two arms, and wherein said control means includes a manually adjustable sliding member having a plurality of cam portions thereon for respectively engaging the second arm of said switching lever to determine a plurality of respective positions of said shiftable assembly, further including spring means acting on said switch lever and biasing it in a direction to tend to keep said shiftable assembly in a forward driving position.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1978-04-07	1978-10-07	1979-04-08	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1982-04-07	1982-10-07	1983-04-08	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1986-04-07	1986-10-07	1987-04-08	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Miniature tape recording and reproducing apparatus with one finger controlled switching arrangement

Abstract

Inventors

Bibliographic Details

Claims Analysis

References Cited (Backward Citations)

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Assigned Categories & Tags

Assign Category Tag