Cassette tape apparatus with automatic changer

Claim 1

In a cassette tape apparatus having a station at which a cassette containing magnetic tape can be recorded and/or played back, a cassette changer comprising: a loading magazine wherein cassettes to be used are stacked, a collecting magazine adapted to stack used cassettes therein, said loading and collecting magazines having horizontal bottom planes adapted to support the lowermost stacked cassette thereon, said station being disposed between said loading and said collecting magazines in a station plane below said bottom planes, a container movable between said bottom planes and said station plane, means for moving the movable container to align same with said bottom planes when a used cassette is to be replaced, means coupling the bottom plane of said collecting magazine to said movable container to raise said collecting magazine as said container moves into said station plane and to lower said collecting magazine as said container moves to said bottom planes wherein the stroke of the bottom plane of said collecting magazine exceeds the thickness of a cassette whereby said bottom planes and said container are aligned when the bottom plane of said collecting magazine is lowered and said container is raised, means for preventing the used cassettes stacked in said collecting magazine from dropping as the corresponding bottom plane is lowered comprising spring loaded catches mounted to coact with the lowermost one cassette in said collecting magazine to ride on same as the bottom plane of said collecting magazine rises, and transfer means for simultaneously transferring the lowermost one of the cassettes to be used from said, loading magazine to said container and the used cassette from said movable container to said collecting magazine when said container is aligned with said bottom plane, said transfer means comprising a slidable transfer plate mounted parallel to said bottom planes for pushing the lowermost one cassette to be used fromt said loading magazine into said container, an oscillatable arm pushing the used cassette from said container into said collecting magazine when actuated and a common drive means for actuating said transfer plate and said oscillatable arm when the bottom plane of said collecting magazine is lowered and said container is raised, said common drive means comprising a carriage, means slidably mounting the carriage for movement through a forward and a return stroke between two extreme positions comprising a fixed guide, a reversible motor for moving the carriage and a first and a second actuatable limit switch actuated in response to said carriage being in said extreme positions for respectively controlling the stopping and the reversing of the motion of said motor.