Loading and ejection mechanism for tape player

Claim 1

A loading and ejection mechanism in a motor driven tape player comprising: an eject plate movable between ejecting and loading positions and having a rack thereon; an inversion gear engageable with said rack; bidirectional drive means for selectively driving said inversion gear in either direction according to the direction of rotation of said motor; a movable guide arm for elevating and dropping a pack guide; first camming means for coupling said eject plate and said guide arm so as to elevate and drop said pack guide responsively to movement of said eject plate; and a pivotally mounted eject arm linked to said eject plate so as to pivot responsively to a reciprocating movement of said eject plate for reciprocatingly moving a pack stopper, said bidirectional drive means including an intermittent gear coaxially affixed to said inversion gear, a gear train coupled to be drivable in either direction by said motor and having at least a terminal gear thereof mounted on a rotatable gear carriage, and friction drag means for urging said carriage to opposite extreme positions thereof according to the direction of rotation of said motor, said intermittent gear and said carriage being disposed so that during a loading cycle with said motor running in a loading direction said terminal gear engagingly drives said intermittent gear to actuate said system through a loading cycle to present an un-toothed portion to said terminal gear so as to disengage therefrom at the end of said loading cycle, said bidirectional drive means further including resiliently biased camming means coupled to urge said intermittent gear to maintain this disengaging orientation, said friction drag means rotating said carriage means to carry said terminal gear into re-engagement with said intermittent gear upon reversal of said motor to run in an ejecting direction.