JPS6145295B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cassette automatic changer configured to sequentially replace and install a large number of stored cassettes into a recording/reproducing apparatus, and which includes:
In particular, it is a front-operated device that is extremely easy to use, and when changing cassettes, it does not apply any shock to the cassette, allowing the cassette to move extremely smoothly.Moreover, it is easy to synchronize cassette changes, making it highly reliable. The purpose of this invention is to provide a device that has a simple structure and is high in cost.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an answering machine commonly referred to as a "business machine" will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, to give an overview of this "business machine," this device stores a large number of tape cassettes, and while it sequentially feeds unrecorded (unused) tape cassettes to the cassette exchange position, it also transfers recorded (used) tape cassettes to the cassette exchange position. a cassette carriage configured to sequentially feed out cassettes from a cassette exchange position; an automatic recording tape recorder; and a cassette autochanger configured to automatically load or unload cassettes at the cassette exchange position into the recording tape recorder. It is equipped with a player, an announcement tape recorder, an indexing device, etc.

This device is usually installed within each company (head office, etc.). When a plurality of business trip employees, each with a fixed ID number, make a call from their business trip destination, this device receives the call. Immediately, an announcement tape is activated to convey instructions on how to send information, such as conveying the ID number of each traveling employee. After this, the business trip employee who made the call first transmits his/her ID number (for example, by pressing a button on a push-button telephone), and then speaks the contents of the transmission (business contents).
The transmitted content is then automatically recorded on the tape cassette of the recording tape recorder. On the other hand, the ID number of the business trip employee who made the call, the date of the call, the time the call started, the time the call ended, the recording location,
The recording length and other necessary call marks are automatically recorded on the index sheet of the indexing device. As the above series of operations progresses,
Recorded tape cassettes are automatically replaced with unrecorded tape cassettes one after another by a cassette autochanger in a recording tape recorder. The recorded tape cassettes are then sequentially conveyed to a cassette removal position in the cassette cartridge, and at this time, the index sheets are loaded into the cassette cartridge in a one-to-one relationship with the opposite recorded tape cassette. The company staff will take out the recorded tape cassette and its corresponding index sheet from the cassette cartridge, and process the tape cassette appropriately based on the call mark recorded on the index sheet. .

Next, the structure of each part of this device will be explained in sequence.

First of all, Figure 1 shows the entire device.
A large round window 2 is provided on one side of the front of the main body case 1, and a cylindrical drum-shaped cassette carriage 3 is housed inside the window 2. A recording tape cassette (hereinafter simply referred to as a cassette) 4 is constructed so that it can be loaded into or taken out from the cassette carriage 3 through the round window 2. A cover 5 for preventing double loading of cassettes is provided in front of the cassette exchange position, which will be described later. An opening/closing door 6 is provided on the other side of the front of the main body case 1, and an announcement tape recorder (not shown), an indexing device, etc. are housed inside this opening/closing door 6. A tape cassette 7 and an index sheet cassette 8 are configured to be loaded therein.

FIG. 2 is for explaining the movement of the cassettes 4 in accordance with the above-mentioned usage procedure. First, a large number of cassettes 4 are loaded in the cassette carriage 3 in advance. The cassette carriage 3 is sequentially and intermittently rotated in the direction of the arrow by the drive device 9 at predetermined rotational angles, thereby sequentially transporting the cassettes 4 to the cassette exchange position _P1 . The cassette 4 sent to the cassette exchange position _P1 is automatically pulled in by the cassette automatic changer and automatically loaded into the recording tape recorder 11. Then, the recorded (used) cassette 4 is automatically taken out from the tape recorder 11 by the cassette auto changer and moved to the cassette exchange position P ₁ of the cassette cartridge 3.
be returned to. Then, the cassette cartridge 3 is rotated by one pitch in the direction of the arrow, the unrecorded cassette 4 is sent to the cassette exchange position _P1 , and the recorded cassette 4 is transferred to the index sheet shifted by one pitch from the cassette exchange position _P1 . Sent to loading position P ₂ . Then, at this position P ₂ , insert the cassette cartridge 3.
Next, the index sheet 13 indexed by the index device 12 is loaded, and the index sheet 13 and the corresponding recorded cassette 4 are placed in a one-to-one relationship.

Next, the cassette carriage 3, cassette automatic changer 15, and structures related thereto will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 to 18.

First, the cassette carriage 3 has a cylindrical drum shape, and is rotatably supported on a horizontal support shaft 19 fixed to a main body frame 18. The cassette carriage 3 is provided with a large number of cassette storage sections 20 arranged radially with respect to the center of the drum. In this embodiment, 24 cassette storage sections 20 are provided, and the structure is such that 24 cassettes 4 can be stored radially. Further, slits 21 for loading index sheets are formed on the outer circumference of the cassette cartridge 3 at positions facing the cassette storage sections 20, respectively. And this cassette cartridge 3
is 360/24 by the carriage drive device 9 described later.
It is configured to be rotated intermittently at an angle of 15 degrees, that is, a rotation angle of 15 degrees. Each of the cassette storage sections 20 is provided so as to pass through the cassette carriage 3 in the front-rear direction. The cassettes 4 stored in each of these cassette storage sections 20 are stably positioned at two positions, push-in position A and push-out position B shown in FIG. A cassette holding spring 22 made of a plate spring is attached to detect the position of the cassette. The cassette exchange position _P1 is located at a horizontal position on the right side of the cassette carriage 3 in FIG.
Note that the index sheet loading position _P2 is set at a position shifted one pitch above the cassette exchange position _P1 . A cassette push regulating plate 23 is vertically provided on the back side of the cassette carriage 3. And each cassette storage section 2
When the cassette 4 is inserted into the cassette 4, the cassette 4 comes into contact with the regulating plate 23 and is prevented from being pushed further. Note that the above cassette insertion and removal are performed at the cassette exchange position.
You can do it anywhere other than P ₁ , but
At this cassette exchange position _P1 , the double loading prevention cover 5 prevents the cassette from being inserted or removed. Further, the regulation plate 23 is notched at a position corresponding to the cassette exchange position _P1 , so that the cassette 4 can be pulled in to the rear side. Further, on the outer circumference of the cassette carriage 3, slits 24 for inserting pawl levers of a cassette automatic changer 15, which will be described later, are provided in correspondence with the respective cassette storage sections 20.

Next, the cassette automatic changer 15
It is provided between the cassette carriage 3 and the recording tape recorder 11 at substantially the same horizontal level as the cassette exchange position _P1 .

First, a pair of left and right guide rods 2 are attached to the main body frame 18.
6a and 26b are installed parallel to each other and horizontally. And these two guide rods 26a, 26b
A slider 27 is arranged horizontally in between,
This slider 27 includes both guide rods 26a,
26b, each pair of guide rollers 28a, 28b,
These two guide rods 2 are engaged via 28c.
It is configured to be guided by 6a and 26b so as to be slidable in the front and rear directions in a horizontal state. Another slider 29 is arranged horizontally below the front end of this slider 27 with a vertical interval therebetween. The slider 29 has a pair of rising portions 30a and 30b formed at its front and rear ends, and is inserted into one guide rod 26a through a through hole 31 formed therein. The slider 29 is inserted into a horizontal slit 34 formed in the vertical plate portion 33 of the slider 27 by a horizontal protrusion 32 formed on one side of the rear end. Therefore, the slider 29 is guided by the guide rod 26a and the slit 34, and is configured to be slidable in the front and rear directions with respect to the slider 27. Furthermore, slider 27
A falling edge 36 formed on one side of the front end of the slider 29 and a rising edge 3 formed on one side of the rear end of the slider 29
A tension spring 38 is installed between the slider 27 and the slider 27, and the tension spring 38 is configured to push the slider 29 forward with respect to the slider 27. However, in this case, the slider 29 will not touch the slider 2 at the front end of the rising edge 39 formed on one side of the slider 29.
The push-out position is regulated by contacting the falling edge 36 of No.7. Further, a cassette push-out portion 40 is formed in a portion of the slider 27 that is continuous with the vertical plate portion 33.

On the other hand, a pawl lever 41 is arranged between the sliders 27 and 29. The pawl lever 41 is bent into a U-shape as a whole, and has a cassette locking pawl 42 at its tip, and its rear end is rotatably supported on the slider 29 by a fulcrum pin 43. has been done. The pawl lever 41 is urged to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 8 by a tension spring 44 installed between the pawl lever 41 and the rising edge 30b of the slider 29. Also, this claw lever 41
A pin 45 is provided on a portion of the lower surface.

On the other hand, when the pawl lever 41 is located at the cassette loading start position shown by the solid line in FIG.
A push lever 47 is arranged. The push-out lever 47 has a substantially L-shape and is rotatably supported by a fulcrum pin 48 on a portion of the main body frame 18 . and the tension spring 44
The pawl lever 41, which is rotationally biased by
7a. Note that the main body frame 1
A plunger solenoid (hereinafter simply referred to as a plunger) 50 is fixedly installed at a position on the rear end side of the plunger 8 . A conversion lever 53 interlocked with the suction rod 51 via an interlocking link 52 is rotatably supported on a part of the main body frame 18 by a fulcrum pin 54, and the conversion lever 53 and the extrusion lever 47 are An interlocking rod 55 is connected to the other end 47b.
It is linked by. In addition, the push lever 47
is rotated clockwise in FIG. 8 by a tension spring 56 installed between this and the main body frame 18. Further, the pawl lever 41 is configured to be reciprocated by the slider 29;
A pawl lever regulating plate 59 is provided on a part of the main body frame 18 for branching the main body frame 18.

On the other hand, a cassette holder 62 is disposed at a position facing the rear end opening of the cassette storage section 20 at the cassette exchange position P1 of the cassette cartridge ₃ at the same horizontal level and at a predetermined distance apart from this. . The cassette holder 62 has a substantially U-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. 15, and is configured so that the cassette 4 can be inserted horizontally. Further, a cassette transfer guide 63 is provided between the cassette holder 62 and the rear end opening of the cassette storage section 20.

The lever cassette holder 62 is located directly above the cassette mounting position 64 of the recording tape recorder 11, and is configured to be movable vertically in parallel. First, there is a first cassette holder 62 bent in a U-shape on one side of the cassette holder 62.
An elevating arm 65 is arranged, and this first elevating arm 65 is pivotally supported by a portion of the main body frame 18 via a horizontal fulcrum shaft 66 so as to be freely rotatable in the vertical direction. A support pin 67 parallel to the fulcrum shaft 66 is installed between the tips of a pair of arms 65a and 65b facing each other of the first lifting arm 65, and this support pin 67 is attached to the lower plate of the cassette holder 62. It is inserted into a horizontal elongated hole 69 formed in a pair of downward slopes 68a and 68b formed at both the front and rear ends of 62a. On the other hand, on the rear side of the cassette holder 62, a second lifting arm 71 having a substantially U-shaped cross section is arranged. It is pivotally supported by a part of the main body frame 18 so as to be rotatable in the vertical direction. A support pin 73 parallel to the fulcrum shaft 72 is installed between the tips of the second lifting arm 71, and this support pin 73 is attached to the lower plate 62a of the cassette holder 62.
A pair of left and right protrusions 74a, 7 formed at the rear end.
4b is inserted and supported. Note that the first elevating arm 66 is urged to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 15 by a tension spring 75 installed between the first elevating arm 65 and a part of the main body frame 18.

According to the supporting mechanism of the cassette holder 62 constructed as described above, the fulcrum shafts 6 are perpendicular to each other.
A pair of lifting arms 6 rotating around 6, 73
At the tips of 6 and 72, support pins 67 and 7 are perpendicular to each other.
Since the cassette holder 62 is supported by The cassette holder 62 disposed in the cassette holder 62 can be completely moved in parallel in the vertical direction without any wobbling. A cassette lifting guide 76 is provided at the side of the U-shaped open end of the cassette holder 62 along its vertical movement path.

On the other hand, a lift guide plate 77 is provided on one side of the cassette holder 62. This elevation guide plate 77 is provided with a horizontal guide surface 77a that extends long in the front-rear direction, and an inclined guide surface 77b that is inclined obliquely upward from the rear side of the horizontal guide surface 77a. On the other hand, a vertical plate 78 is provided on one side of the slider 27, and this vertical plate 78
An elevating guide roller 79 is pivotally attached to the lower end of the holder. The elevating guide plate 77 is placed on the elevating guide roller 79. The pair of guide rollers 28c of the slider 27 are pivotally mounted to the vertical plate 78.

The vertical plate 78 has a vertical long hole 8.
0 is formed, and a roller 81 engaged in this elongated hole 80 is pivotally mounted on the upper end of the slider 2.
The drive arm 82 of 7 is connected to the fulcrum shaft 8 by its lower end.
3, it is pivotally supported by a part of the main body frame 18 so as to be freely rotatable in the front-rear direction. A worm wheel 84 is pivotally supported on a part of the main body frame 18 at the rear side of the drive arm 82 by a worm wheel shaft 85, and an eccentric pin 86 provided on the worm wheel 84 and the drive A pin 87 provided on a part of the arm 82 is connected to the arm 82 by an interlocking link 88. A drive motor 89 is fixedly attached to a part of the main body frame 18, and a worm gear 91 that is interlocked with the drive motor 89 via a belt transmission mechanism 90 is configured to drive the worm wheel 84. There is.

As shown in FIG. 7, a cassette loading start detection switch 93 is provided near the cassette storage section 20 of the cassette carriage 3 at the cassette exchange position _P1 . This switch 93 is constituted by a micro switch and is attached to a part of the main body frame 18. In the switch 93, a switch lever 94 for operating an actuator 93a is pivotably supported around a fulcrum pin 95 within a certain range. And this switch lever 9
4 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 7 by a tension spring 96, and normally keeps the switch 93 in the OFF state. Note that a cassette detection roller 97 is attached to a part of this switch lever 94.
This roller 97 is configured to detect the tips 22a of the cassette presser springs 22 provided in each of the cassette storage sections 20.

Further, as shown in FIG. 15, a cassette mounting completion detection switch 99 is provided on the lower side of the cassette holder 62. This switch 99
is composed of a micro switch and is attached to a part of the main body frame 18. A switch slide plate 100 for operating the actuator 99a of the switch 99 is provided so as to be movable vertically within a certain range. This switch slide plate 100 has a compression spring 1
01 slides upward,
The switch 99 is normally kept in the off state.
The switch slide plate 100 is disposed directly below the cassette holder 62, and is configured to come into contact with the lower plate 62a of the cassette holder 62 and be pushed downward.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a stop position detection switch 103 for the drive arm 82 is provided near the worm wheel 84. This switch 103 is constituted by a micro switch and is attached to a part of the main body frame 18. A switch lever 10 that operates the actuator 103a of this switch 103
4 is rotatably supported around a fulcrum pin 105 within a certain range. The switch lever 104 is configured to detect the position of the eccentric pin 86 with its tip 104a.

The automatic exchange operation of the cassette 4 will now be explained based on the structure described above.

First, it is assumed that each cassette 4 is loaded in each cassette storage section 20 of the cassette carriage 3 in advance. However, at this time, the cassette 4 has been pushed to the push-in position A shown in FIG. 4, and the cassette presser spring 22 is biased to the position shown in FIG. In this state, the cassette 4 is stably positioned by the cassette presser spring 22.

On the other hand, before the start of operation, the eccentric pin 86 is
The drive arm 82 is stopped in a starting position C1, which is shown in dotted lines in the figure, and in connection with this the drive arm 82 is stopped in a starting position _C1 , which is shown in dotted lines in FIG. In relation to this drive arm 82, the slider 27 is stopped at the start position _C2 shown by the chain line in FIG.
0 is located at the _C3 position shown in solid line in FIG. At this time, the slider 29 has come into contact with the tip of the guide rod 26a at the rising edge 30a of its front end and has stopped, and the pawl lever 41 has been moved to the outside of the cassette carriage 3 as shown in FIG. It is located at the _C4 position shown in FIG. 8 at the position (position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 8).

In the above state, the cassette carriage 3 is intermittently rotated one pitch at a time in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 as described above, and the cassette storage section 20 in which the cassette 4 is stored is opened for cassette exchange as shown in FIG. When the cassette is moved to position _P1 , the tip 22a of the cassette presser spring 22 contacts and presses the cassette detection roller 97 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Then, the switch lever 94 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 7 against the tension spring 96, the actuator 93a of the switch 93 is pushed, the switch 93 is turned on, and the cassette is detected. Incidentally, upon this cassette detection, the cassette carriage 3 is stopped at that position.

At this time, when the cassette 4 is not stored in the cassette storage section 20 that has been sent to the cassette exchange position _P1 , the cassette presser spring 22 is retracted beyond the position shown by the chain line in FIG. The tip 22a of the cassette presser spring 22 does not come into contact with the cassette detection roller 97. At this time, no cassette detection is performed, and the cassette carriage 3 continues to be rotated intermittently for one pitch. Therefore, until the cassette storage section 20 in which the cassette 4 is stored is sent to the cassette exchange position _P1 and the above-mentioned cassette detection is performed, the cassette carriage 3 repeats the intermittent rotation operation one pitch at a time. When the above-mentioned cassette detection is performed, the machine stops at that position and waits.

After the cassette detection has been carried out, the loading operation of the cassette 4 is finally started.

That is, first, the plunger 50 is energized and its suction rod 51 is pulled in the direction of the arrow in FIGS. 6 and 8. Then, the extrusion lever 47 is activated via the interlocking link 52, conversion lever 53, and interlocking rod 55.
is rotated counterclockwise against the tension spring 56 as shown in FIG. Then, one end 47a of the pushing lever 47 pushes the pin 45 of the pawl lever 41, and the pawl lever 41 is rotated clockwise in FIG. is moved to the cassette engagement position. At this time, the pawl lever 41 is inserted through the slit 24 of the cassette carriage 3 into the front end position of the cassette storage section 20 by the cassette locking pawl 42 at its tip.
In FIG. 8, the cassette 4 is locked as shown by the solid line.

On the other hand, almost simultaneously with the cassette locking operation by the locking lever 41, the motor 89 starts operating, and the worm wheel 84 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 10 via the belt transmission mechanism 90 and the worm gear 91. Then, the eccentric pin 86 is rotated in the same direction by the worm wheel 84, and the drive arm 82 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 10 via the interlocking link 88. is being slid in the direction of the arrow in Figure 6. When the slider 27 is slid in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 6, the slider 29 is pushed by the slider 27 due to the contact of these falling edges 36 and rising edges 39, and is slid in the same direction. As the slider 29 slides, the claw lever 41 is moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 8 from the C4 position while retaining the cassette ₄ as shown by the solid line in FIG. At this time, immediately after the pawl lever 41 starts the above movement, the pin 45 transfers from one end 47a of the push lever 47 to the pawl lever regulating plate 59, and the pawl lever regulating plate 5
9 outbound route 57. This prevents the claw lever 41 from returning in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 8 due to the tension spring 44, so that the claw lever 41 is moved with the cassette 4 held in place. The plunger 50 is configured to be energized for only about 1 to 2 seconds, and after the pin 45 of the pawl lever 41 is transferred to the pawl lever regulating plate 59, the energization of the plunger 50 is cut off. When the current is turned off, the push-out lever 47 is moved back to the original position shown by the chain line in FIG. 8 by the tension spring 56.

Then, the claw lever 41 moved as described above hooks the cassette 4, pulls out the cassette 4 horizontally from inside the cassette storage section 20 of the cassette carriage 3, passes through the inside of the cassette delivery guide 63, and moves it to the cassette mounting position 64. The cassette holder 62 is inserted horizontally into the cassette holder 62, which is waiting at the upper position, that is, the raised position.

On the other hand, as the slider 27 slides, the elevating guide roller 79 moves horizontally below the horizontal guide surface 77a of the elevating guide plate 77. At this time, the cassette holder 6 is moved by the lifting guide roller 79.
2 is prevented from descending, and the cassette holder 62 is held in the raised position indicated by the solid line in FIG.

When the cassette 4 is completely inserted into the cassette holder 62 and reaches directly above the cassette mounting position 64, the claw lever 41 and the cassette 4 are moved to the position _D4 shown by the dashed line in FIG. reach. And at this moment, pin 4 of claw lever 41
5 is removed from the pawl lever regulating plate 59. Then, the pawl lever 41 is rotated counterclockwise by the tension spring 44 and moved to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 8, and the pin 45 is moved to the return path 58 side of the pawl lever 41. . At the above moment, the cassette locking pawl 42 of the pawl lever 41 comes off the cassette 4, and the cassette 4 is stopped within the cassette holder 62.

On the other hand, together with the drive arm 82, the sliders 27, 2
9 continues to be moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Then, the elevating guide roller 79 eventually moves from the horizontal guide surface 77a of the elevating guide plate 77 to the inclined guide surface 77.
Enter b. When the elevating guide roller 79 enters the inclined guide surface 77b, the cassette holder 62 starts to descend while maintaining the horizontal state as the inclined guide surface 77b inclines due to the cam action at that time. At this time, the cassette holder 62 is lowered by the urging force of the tension spring 75 applied to the first lifting arm 65, and the cassette holder 6
2, the cassette 4 is lowered in a completely parallel motion while maintaining a horizontal state.

As a result, the cassette 4 is mounted horizontally at the cassette mounting position 64 of the recording tape recorder 11 as shown by the chain line in FIG. When the above-mentioned cassette installation is completed, the lower plate 62a of the cassette holder 62 pushes down the switch slide plate 100 against the compression spring 101 as shown by the chain line in FIG. When the switch 99 is pressed, the switch 99 is turned on, and completion of the cassette installation is detected. The motor 89 is stopped by this detection of the cassette attachment, and the recording tape recorder 11 is stopped.
A series of cassette loading operations are completed. At this point, the eccentric pin 86 reaches the D position shown by the solid line in FIG. 10 and stops, and the drive arm 82 and the slider 27 are also moved to the D ₁ position and D ₂ position shown by the solid line in FIG. 10. reaches and stops.

Note that when the above-mentioned telephone call is received in the above-mentioned cassette loading state, the head drive device 106 by the plunger solenoid 102 shown in FIG. 12 is operated, and the recording tape recorder 1
1 is automatically switched to the recording mode, and the contents of the telephone transmission are automatically recorded on the tape in the cassette 4.

On the other hand, when the cassette 4 has been recorded (used), the cassette 4 is automatically ejected.

This eject is performed as follows. That is, first, the motor 89 is rotated in the same direction as during loading. Then, as the eccentric pin 86 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 10, the drive arm 82 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 10 via the interlocking link 88.
starts sliding in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
At this time, the elevating guide roller 79 first acts on the inclined guide surface 77b of the elevating guide plate 77, and the cam action at this time pushes the elevating guide plate 77 upward from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the chain line in FIG. As a result, the cassette holder 62 is pushed up in parallel against the tension spring 75 from the position indicated by the chain line to the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. and lifted parallel to its upper position. After the cassette holder 62 is pushed up to the raised position shown by the solid line in FIG. held in the raised position.

On the other hand, with the movement of the slider 27, the cassette push-out section 40 is also moved in the same direction, and immediately after the cassette 4 is pushed up to a predetermined height as described above, the cassette push-out section 40 pushes the cassette 4 upward.
9, the cassette 4 is pushed out in the direction of the arrow in FIG. As a result, the cassette 4 is pushed out from inside the cassette holder 62, and the cassette delivery guide 6
3 and is inserted into the cassette storage part 20 of the cassette cartridge 3 against the leaf spring 22. At this time, as the slider 27 slides, the slider 29 is also pulled and slid in the same direction via the tension spring 38. Then, by sliding this slider 29, the pawl lever 4
1 is also moved in the same direction, but at this time, the pin 45 of the pawl lever 41 is moved on the return path 58 side of the pawl lever regulating plate 59, so that the pawl lever 41 is moved as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. The cassette locking pawl 4 of the pawl lever 41 is in the retracted position with respect to the cassette 4.
2 is moved to a position where it is not locked to the cassette 4. Then, the slider 29 is stopped at the initial position where the rising edge 30a of the front end is in contact with the front end of the guide rod 26a as shown in FIG.
1 is returned to its original standby position, which is shown in dotted lines in FIG.

However, since the above-mentioned start position C of the eccentric pin 86 is set at a position slightly rearwardly shifted from the frontmost position E on the rotational trajectory, the eccentric pin 86
6 performs a slight overstroke _S1 operation in order to return to the starting position C via the E position. Since this overstroke S ₁ is magnified at the drive arm 82 and transmitted to the slider 27,
The slider 27 passes through the start position _C2 and is once moved to the _E2 position ahead of it, and then performs an overstroke _S2 operation to return to the start position _C2 .

Due to this overstroke _S2 operation of the slider 27, the cassette pushing portion 40 of the slider 27 is pushed out to the _D3 position shown by the chain line in FIG. As a result, the cassette 4 inserted into the cassette storage section 20 of the cassette cartridge 3 is
It is pushed out to a push-out position B, which is further pushed forward from the initial push-in position A shown by the solid line in FIG. Note that when the eccentric pin 86 returns to the starting position C, the eccentric pin 86
comes into contact with the tip 104a of the switch lever 104 and pushes it up, so this switch lever 10
4 rotates in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 17, and switches 1
03 is turned on, the motor 89 is stopped, and a series of cassette eject operations are completed.

Then, as mentioned above, after this, the cassette carriage 3
If you rotate it one pitch at a time intermittently,
The above-described automatic exchange operation of the cassettes 4 will be performed one after another. As mentioned above, since the ejected cassette 4 has been ejected to the cassette ejection position B, the ejected cassette 4 can be easily removed. When the cassette 4 is pushed out to the push-out position B, the deflection amount of the cassette presser spring 22 becomes as shown by the chain line in FIG. do not have. Therefore, once the cassette 4 is ejected, the loading start detection switch 93 does not perform the cassette detection operation.

Next, the carriage drive device 107 and related structures will be explained with reference to FIGS. 19 to 24.

First, on the outer periphery of the front end of the cassette carriage 3, there is provided a full-periphery gear 108 whose entire circumference is geared. Further, on the front side of the full circumference gear 108, an index disk portion 109 is provided, which is cut at positions that are an integral multiple of the number of teeth of the full circumference gear 108. In this embodiment, as described above, the number of cassette storage sections 20 of the cassette carriage 3 is 24, and the cassette storage sections 20 are configured to be rotated intermittently at 15 degrees. Therefore, 24 notches 109a of the index disk portion 109 are provided at a center angle of 15 degrees, and the all-round gear 108
The number of teeth 108a is, for example, 4×24=96, so that 4 teeth form an angle of 15°.

On the other hand, a gear frame 110 is fixed to a part of the main body frame 18, and a drive shaft 111 is horizontally supported on this gear frame 110. A drive gear 112 is attached to the front end of the drive shaft 111 so as to be relatively rotatable. The driving gear 112 is meshed with the full-periphery gear 108, and the number of teeth 112a of the driving gear 112 is, for example, 16, so that it can be rotated by 4 teeth at 90 degrees. Also, this drive shaft 11
A cam 114 for driving a positioning lever, which will be described later, is fixed to the rear end side of 1. As shown in FIG. 20, a slip mechanism 115 is provided between the drive shaft 111 and the drive gear 112. This slip mechanism 115
4 and the flange 116 integral with the drive gear 112
A drive sleeve 1 is placed around the drive shaft 111 between
17, and a plurality of drive pins 118 parallel to the drive shaft 111 protruding from the flange 116 are slidably engaged in the engagement hole 119 formed in the sleeve 117 in the axial direction thereof, The sleeve 117 is pressed forward by a compression spring 120, and a friction plate 121 made of felt or the like is interposed between the sleeve 117 and the drive gear 112. On the other hand, the drive shaft 111
A motor 123 is fixed to the gear frame 110 at the rear end side. And this motor 12
3 is connected to the drive shaft 11 via a reduction gear mechanism 124.
It is linked to 1. In addition, in Figure 20, 12
5 is a deceleration output shaft, and 126 is a double U connecting this deceleration output shaft 125 and the drive shaft 111.
It is a leaf spring joint with a curved shape.

Further, near the upper part of the drive shaft 111, a support shaft 130 of a positioning lever is installed in parallel.
A positioning lever 131 is rotatably supported on this support shaft 130. Note that this positioning lever 131 is formed in a substantially crank shape,
A carriage positioning pawl 13 for locking the cassette carriage 3 by engaging with the notch 109a of the index disc portion 109 at one end 131a thereof.
2 is provided. Also, the positioning lever 1
A cam follower roller 133 for the cam 114 is pivotally attached to the other end 131b of the cam 31. Note that the positioning lever 131 is connected to the support shaft 130.
The carriage positioning pawl 132 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 24 by a coiled spring 134 fitted therein, thereby pressing the carriage positioning pawl 132 toward the circumferential surface of the index disc portion 109. has been done. A stop position detection switch 136 is provided in a part of the gear frame 110 near the cam 114, and the cam 114 operates an actuator 136a of the switch 136.

Based on the structure described above, the intermittent rotational driving operation of the cassette carriage 3 one pitch at a time will now be explained.

First, before starting the operation, the cartridge positioning pawl 132 of the positioning lever 131 is engaged with one notch 109a of the index disc portion 109, as shown by the solid line in FIG. It is locked.

When a cassette replacement command signal is input in this state, the motor 123 starts operating and the reduction gear mechanism 124
As a result, the drive shaft 111 starts rotating clockwise in FIG. 24 at a low speed. First, the cam 114 pushes the roller 133, and the positioning lever 131 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 24 against the coil spring 134 to move it to the position indicated by the chain line. As a result, the carriage positioning pawl 132 comes out of the notch 109a of the index disc portion 109 as shown in FIG. 21, and the lock of the cassette carriage 3 is released. Note that until the moment when the pawl 132 is removed from the notch 109a, the drive gear 1 in the slip mechanism 115 is
12 and the sleeve 117, and the drive gear 112 is stopped, but the pawl 123 does not fit into the notch 109a.
At the moment when the cassette carriage 3 is released from the cassette carriage 3, the drive gear 112 starts rotating counterclockwise in FIG.
starts rotating in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

As the drive shaft 111 continues to rotate, the cam 114 eventually separates from the roller 133 as shown in FIG. Then the positioning lever 13
1 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 24 by the coiled spring 134, and its carriage positioning pawl 132 is pressed against the outer periphery of the index disc portion 109 as shown in FIG. , and prepare to fall into the next notch 109a.

When the drive gear 112 rotates 90 degrees (4 teeth), the cassette carriage 3 completes one pitch, or 15 degrees. At this moment, as shown in FIG.
9a, the cassette carriage 3 stops rotating at that position and is locked again.

On the other hand, the motor 123 continues to rotate, but
During this time, the drive gear 112 remains in a stopped state due to the aforementioned slip of the slip mechanism 115. When the drive shaft 111 rotates approximately one turn and the cam 114 returns to the starting position, this cam 1 rotates as shown in FIG.
Actuator 1 of switch 136 by 14
36a is pressed, this switch 136 is turned on, and the rotation of the motor 123 is stopped.

By repeating the above operations, the cassette carriage 3 is rotated one pitch at a time intermittently and extremely accurately, and is positioned each time.

Next, the indexing device 12 and related structures will be explained with reference to FIGS. 25 to 27.

First, the index sheet 13 is wound around a reel 141 and stored in the index sheet cassette (hereinafter simply referred to as cassette) 8. Further, this index sheet 13 is made of a heat-sensitive sheet. As shown in FIG. 3, this cassette 8 is loaded while being tilted to the same level as the index sheet loading position _P2 . That is, the cassette is loaded at an angle of 15° from the horizontal cassette exchange position _P1 .

However, at the cassette loading position, a thermal head 142 for recording the above-mentioned call contents on the index sheet 13 and a sheet feed roller 143 for continuously feeding the index sheet 13 are provided on the front surface of the cassette 8. It is being When the cassette 8 is loaded in the above position, the index sheet 13 that has been passed through the front opening 144 of the cassette 8 is inserted into the sheet pad 145 and the pinch roller 1 provided inside the cassette 8.
46, it is configured to be pressed against the thermal head 142 and the sheet feeding roller 143, respectively. Note that the sheet pad 145 and the pinch roller 146 are supported within the cassette 8 by a leaf spring support mechanism 147, and the pressing operation is performed by loading the cassette 8, but when the cassette 8 is removed, the sheet pad 14 is
5 and the pinch roller 146 are configured to be spaced apart from the sheet 13.

The thermal head 142 is electrically connected to a predetermined index drive circuit and configured to perform a predetermined electrothermal operation. Further, the sheet feeding roller 143 is connected to the main body frame 18.
The motor 148 is connected via a reduction gear mechanism 149 to a motor 148 fixedly attached to a part of the motor. Further, between the loading position of the cassette 8 and the index loading position _P2 of the cassette carriage 3, there is a sheet guide 150 for loading the index sheet 13 into the slit 21 of the cassette carriage 3.
is provided. Furthermore, this sheet guide 150
The top side of the index sheet 13 is open, and after the index sheet 13 is loaded into the slit 21, when the cassette carriage 3 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. It is configured so that it can easily pass above the sheet guide 150. Further, between the cassette loading position and the sheet guide 150 and near the sheet exit portion 151 of the cassette 8, a scissor-shaped sheet cutting cutter 154 consisting of a fixed blade 152 and a movable blade 153 is arranged. . The movable blade 153 of this cutter 154 is interlocked with a suction rod 156 of a plunger solenoid 155 via an interlocking rod 157. In FIG. 25, reference numeral 158 is a tension spring for reciprocating the movable blade 153 and the suction rod 156. Further, in FIG. 26, 159 and 160 are photo sensors for detecting the position and end of the index sheet 13. Also, the cassette 8
is configured to be appropriately locked at the loading position described above by a locking mechanism.

Next, a procedure for automatically loading the index sheet 13 will be explained based on the structure described above.

First, when the motor 148 is activated, the sheet feed roller 143 is rotated at a very low speed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. Then, the index sheet 13 in the cassette 8 is gradually pulled out in the direction of the arrow in FIG. During this time, the thermal head 142 is operated and the above-mentioned call contents are automatically recorded on the index sheet 13.

After the above-mentioned ejecting operation of the cassette 4 is completed, the cassette carriage 3 is rotated intermittently for one pitch, and the recorded cassette 4 is moved to the index sheet loading position _P2 . The sheet 13 is automatically loaded into the slit 21 of the cassette carriage 3 through the sheet guide 150 as shown in FIG.
rotation stops. Then, the plunger solenoid 155 is momentarily energized, its suction rod 156 is pulled, and the movable blade 153 of the cutter 154 is moved by the tension spring 15 via the interlocking rod 157.
8 and rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 27,
The index sheet 13 is cut into a constant length by the movable blade 153 and the fixed blade 152.

Furthermore, when inserting the above index sheet 13,
At the cassette exchange position _P1 , the next cassette 4 is loaded into the recording tape recorder 11. Therefore, this index sheet insertion operation is performed at the same time as the cassette loading operation, and the index sheet insertion and series of cassette exchanges can be performed in a very short time, making it possible to perform cassette exchanges at a very high efficiency. It is configured to

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, and the embodiments have the following features.

(1) The cassette carriage 3 rotates around a horizontal axis and is operated from the front and is very easy to handle.

(2) Cassette storage section 20 of cassette cartridge 3
The storage position of the cassette 4 is the push-in position A.
and extrusion position B, so depending on the position, recorded (used) cassette 4
This makes it easy to detect unrecorded (unused) cassettes 4, prevent reloading of recorded cassettes 4, and facilitate removal of recorded cassettes 4.

(3) Since the stop of the cartridge drive device 107 is not synchronized with the cassette carriage 3, the cassette loading device does not make unnecessary movements and the access time for automatic cassette exchange is short.

(4) The cassette auto changer 15 is driven by a crank mechanism, and at both ends of its stroke it raises and lowers the cassette holder 62 and pushes the cassette out of the cassette carriage 3 into the cassette housing section 20 against the cassette retaining spring 22. Since the operation requires a relatively strong force, the motor 89 with a relatively small torque can perform the operation reliably.

(5) The elevating and lowering drive mechanism of the cassette holder 62 moves the cassette holder 62 completely in parallel without any wobbling.

(6) Since the cartridge drive device 107 drives the outer periphery of the cassette carriage 3, there is less drive transmission loss compared to a device that drives the vicinity of the rotation axis at the center of the cassette carriage, and the cassette carriage can be moved smoothly. Can be driven. In other words, in the structure that drives the area near the rotating shaft, the reduction ratio is larger than that of the outer periphery drive method, and even though the speed is significantly reduced once, the speed is increased again at the outer periphery of the cassette carriage, which increases the above-mentioned transmission loss. .

In the embodiments described above, a recording tape recorder was used as the recording/playback device, but the recording/playback device referred to in the present invention includes a recording device for recording only, a playback device for playback only, and a device capable of both recording and playback. This includes all types of recording and/or playback equipment.

As described above, the present invention is configured such that the cassette carriage can be rotated intermittently around a horizontal axis, and cassettes can be inserted into and taken out from the front side of a large number of cassette storage sections provided radially on the cassette carriage. This construction allows for a very easy-to-handle device, especially of the front-operated type.

Furthermore, the cassette is taken out horizontally from the cassette exchange position, which is set at the horizontal position of the cassette carriage that is rotated around this horizontal axis, horizontally inserted into the cassette holder, and then the cassette holder is lowered to remove the cassette. Since the cassette is configured to be mounted horizontally on the recording/playback device, the cassette can be moved extremely smoothly without any shocks being applied to the cassette, such as dropping the cassette under its own weight when changing the cassette. This allows automatic cassette exchange to be carried out extremely smoothly.

Furthermore, the cassette auto-change device performs a series of operations, including the operation of ejecting the cassette from the cassette carriage and the lowering operation of the cassette holder. In addition to being easy to synchronize with the lowering movement of the holder after inserting the cassette and having high reliability, the cassette ejecting mechanism and the cassette holder lowering mechanism are both driven by the same drive means, resulting in a simple structure. You can get things.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the entire system, Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the entire system, and Fig. 3 is a front view of a cassette cartridge. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the state shown in FIG. 3 as viewed from the line, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of FIG.
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the main parts to explain the cassette locking operation by the pawl lever, Fig. 7 is a side view of the main part to explain the cassette detection operation, and Fig. 8 is a main part to explain the cassette retracting operation by the pawl lever. A plan view of the section;
Figure 9 is a perspective view showing the slider part, Figure 10
The figure is a side view of the main parts explaining the trajectory of the drive arm,
Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the main parts to explain the drive of the drive arm during cassette loading, Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the main parts showing the completed state of cassette loading, and Fig. 13 is a diagram to explain the cassette loading device. A perspective view of the main parts, FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along the line of FIG. 13, FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along the line of FIG. Perspective view of main parts, No. 18
The figure is a perspective view of the main parts showing the completed state of cassette ejection, Fig. 19 is a perspective view of the carriage drive device, Fig. 20 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the same main parts, and Figs. 21 to 23 are FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the main parts for explaining the operation of the same as above, FIG. 24 is a front view of the main parts of the same as above, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view of the indexing device, FIG. 26 is a partially cutaway plan view of the same, and FIG. 27 is a perspective view of essential parts of the same. In addition, in the reference numerals used in the drawings, 3 is a cassette carriage, 4 is a tape cassette, 9 is a cartridge drive device, 15 is a cassette automatic changer, 19 is a support shaft, 20 is a cassette storage section, 62
is a cassette holder.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A large number of cassette storage sections are arranged radially,
and a cassette carriage configured to be rotated intermittently at constant rotational angles around a horizontal axis, a recording and reproducing device disposed behind the cassette carriage, and a recording and reproducing device in the recording and reproducing device. A cassette holder for attaching and detaching a cassette,
a cassette holder that can be raised and lowered and has a raised position at the same height as a cassette exchange position set at a horizontal position of the cassette cartridge; A cassette auto-changer comprising: a cassette auto-change device which is inserted horizontally into the cassette holder, and after the cassette holder is inserted, the cassette holder is lowered to horizontally mount the cassette in a recording/reproducing apparatus.