Video disc player

Claim 1

A player for use with a record caddy; said player comprising: (A) a housing having an input slot into which an occupied record caddy is inserted for loading an enclosed record therein and into which an empty caddy is inserted for retrieving a loaded record therefrom; (B) means for guiding caddy insertion into said housing along a path; (C) a turntable mounted in said housing for centering and supporting the loaded record; (D) means mounted in said housing for rotating said turntable; (E) a signal pickup for recovering prerecorded information from the turntable-supported record during playback; (F) a carriage for supporting said signal pickup; (G) means for guiding said carriage along a second path lying substantially parallel to said caddy path; and (H) means for translating said carriage during playback along said carriage guiding means in a direction opposite to said direction of caddy insertion at a speed correlated to the speed of rotation of said turntable; the location of said caddy guiding means relative to that of said carriage guiding means being such that an empty caddy engages said carriage, when said carriage is at a position other than at a starting position, to reset said carriage to said starting position during insertion of an empty caddy into said housing for record retrieval.