Tape cassette holder for vehicular use

Claim 2

A tape cassette holder comprising: a. a housing having top, bottom and side walls; b. a cassette loading opening in at least one of said walls; c. an array of elastomeric material mounted for rotation as a unit within said housing, said array being disposed to form the entire and sole sidewalls of a plurality of radially extending tape cassette receiving cavities within said housing, the minimum transverse width of each of said cavities being smaller than the maximum thickness of a cassette intended to be received therein and the elastomeric material forming the sole structure between cassette receiving cavities; d. a generally planar turntable means mounted within said housing; e. said array of elastomeric material being secured to a surface of said turnable means for rotation therewith as a unit; f. means connected to said turntable from a position externally of said housing for rotating said turntable means and said array of elastomeric material.

Claim 3

The tape cassette holder recited in claim 1, wherein said housing is circular and wherein said turntable means is a planar disc; and further wherein said elastomeric material comprises individual elastomeric elements bonded to the upper surface of said disc, and said disc is located adjacent the bottom wall of said housing, the sidewalls of said tape receiving cavities being formed totally by adjacent ones of said elastomeric elements.

Claim 4

The tape cassette holder recited in claim 2, further including a mounting bracket means secured to said housing for adjustably mounting said housing relative to a support surface at any one of a plurality of inclinations.

Claim 5

The tape cassette holder recited in claim 2, further including a transparent, movable door covering said opening, said door being normally resiliently biased towards a closed position over said opening.

Claim 6

A tape cassette holder as recited in claim 2, further wherein said means for rotating said array comprises a knob located externally of said housing; a second non-cassette-loading opening in the housing; said knob having a portion extending through said second opening and being operably connected to said turntable means through an elastomeric member centrally located within the housing, the elastomeric member being secured to the upper surface of said disc.

Claim 7

A tape cassette holder as recited in claim 2, wherein said turntable means further includes an integral protrusion at the pivot axis thereof, and the said bottom wall of said housing includes a complementary recess for receiving said protrusion, said protrusion and recess constituting a sole pivot bearing for said turntable means.

Claim 8

A tape cassette holder comprising: a. a circular plastic housing having connected top, bottom and sidewalls; b. a cassette loading opening in at least one of said walls; c. a generally planar turntable supported by a single pivot bearing mounted on the said bottom wall within said housing; d. an array of foamed elastomeric elements fixedly mounted on said turntable, said elements closely fitting within the said side and top walls of said housing; e. a plurality of radially extending tape cassette receiving cavities having sidewalls formed by adjacent ones of said foamed elastomeric elements within said housing, the minimum width of each of said cavities being less than the maximum width of a cassette to be received and supported within said cavity; whereby adjacent ones of said elastomeric elements must be deformed to enable a cassette to be received within each cavity; f. rotary selector means located externally of said housing and connected to said turntable for enabling rotation of said turntable and selective alignment of said cavities with said loading opening.

Claim 9

A tape cassette holder comprising: a. a circular plastic housing having connected top, bottom and sidewalls; b. a cassette loading opening in at least one of said walls; c. a generally planar turntable supported by a single pivot bearing mounted on the said bottom wall within said housing; d. an array of foamed elastomeric elements fixedly mounted on said turntable, said elements closely fitting within the said side and top walls of said housing; e. a plurality of radially extending tape cassette receiving cavities having sidewalls formed by adjacent ones of said foamed elastomeric elements within said housing, the minimum width of each of said cavities being less than the maximum width of a cassette to be received and supported within said cavity; whereby adjacent ones of said elastomeric elements must be deformed to enable a cassette to be received within each cavity; f. rotary selector means located externally of said housing and connected to said turntable for enabling rotation of said turntable and selective alignment of said cavities with said loading opening.

Claim 10

The tape cassette holder recited in claim 7, further wherein said housing includes a second non-cassette-loading opening, said second opening being located in the top wall of said housing, and further wherein said rotary selector means includes a shank portion extending through said second opening and fitting closely therein; said shank being connected to said turntable through an elastomeric foam element centrally located on said turntable adjacent the radially innermost ends of said radial cassette receiving cavities, wherein said centrally located foam element resiliently restrains radially inward motion of a tape cassette inserted in any one of said cavities.