Cassette recording or non-recording indicating mechanism

Claim 1

A cassette indicating mechanism for selectively placing a cassette of the type having top and bottom halves and an information recording medium mounted therebetween in a recording or non-recording condition, the combination comprising: a pair of spaced apart walls on said bottom half facing said top half, an abutment means on said bottom half between said walls at one end thereof, and a post on said bottom half between said walls at the opposite end thereof, said post having a side surface defining front and rear cam surfaces merging at an apex; an aperture in said top half in register with at least a part of the space between said walls adjacent said abutment means; and a slidable insert interposed between said walls and said top and bottom halves for slidable movement to and from said abutment means, said insert having a body portion with a front surface and a rear surface adjacent said abutment means, said insert further having at least one flexible finger extending from said front surface thereof having a projection on a side thereof facing said post and adapted to flex over said apex of said side surface and to resiliently selectively engage said front and rear cam surfaces thereof, said insert being selectively slidably movable between a normal recording position in which said insert is captured between said abutment means and said rear cam surface of said post with said body portion thereof in register with and blocking said aperture, and a non-recording position in which said post is captured between said front surface of said body portion and said projection for releasably holding said body portion out of register with and unblocking said aperture.