Video cassette recorder having dual decks for selective simultaneous functions

Claim 1

A dual deck video cassette system comprising: (a) means defining a tuner for connection to a receiving antenna and constructed and arranged to demodulate the signal received by said antenna to extract a video-audio signal therefrom, (b) means defining a first video cassette deck with record and playback capability, (c) means defining a second video cassette deck with record and playback capability, (d) means defining common housing of the two means defining video cassette decks, (e) the first and second means defining video cassette decks being independently operable, (f) means defining an output jack of the common housing connectable to a television receiver's reception port and comprising, at said output jack an R.F. modulator to reestablish a simulation of an on-the-air video-audio, (g) switching means within said housing for selectively connecting: (1) the extracted off-the-air video-audio to one or the other of said decks and independently connecting the other of said decks to the television receiver via said modulator and output jack, (2) one deck to the other directly for dubbing a played out recorded video-audio of a source cassette in one of said decks directly to a target cassette in the other of said decks without passing the source signal through an R.F. modulator in the course of dubbing, while independently allowing direct transmission of an antenna signal of the system to said television receiver via the housing without passage through the tuner and modulator within said housing or with passage of such antenna signal or of the source signal through the modulator within said housing, (3) auxiliary input or output jacks to one or the other of said decks while allowing the other of said decks to be connected to another one of said auxiliary jacks or to the television receiver via said modulator; (4) the extracted video-audio from the off-the-air signal simultaneously to said receiver and, as extracted, one or the other of said decks which is connected to an active auxiliary jack, or (5a) the extracted video-audio from the off-the-air signal to both said decks for simultaneous copying onto cassettes located in both said decks and, selectively, the extracted video-audio, via said modulator, or the off-the-air signal directly to said receiver, or (5b) either of said decks to the receiver.