A tape transport mechanism has a device for reversing the direction of tape transport, which pivots the head mounting plate so that either one of two pressure rollers pinches the tape against a respective capstan. The head mounting plate is guided by systems of guide pins engaging guide slots, each of the systems having at least one corresponding pin and slot to each side of a magnetic head, in the direction of a line between the two capstans. At least one guide slot to each side of the head has two legs or branches, one of which is shorter than the other. A control device causes a guide pin to one side of the head to be in the short leg or branch, while the guide pin to the other side of the head is in the long leg or branch, the head plate then pivoting about the guide pin which is in and abuts the end of the short leg or branch.

A cassette loading apparatus, for example, for a video tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus (VTR), and having a cassette holder movable between a raised, cassette-receiving position in which a cassette can be slidably inserted therein, and a lowered or cassette-loading position in which the cassette contained in the holder is intended to be engaged, from above, with reel mounts and cassette positioning pins, is provided with a device for preventing movement of the cassette holder from the cassette-receiving position toward the cassette-loading position in the event that a cassette is not fully or accurately inserted in the holder, whereby to avoid damage to the cassette or to the reel mounts and cassette positioning pins that might result from the movement of the holder to its loading position with an incompletely inserted cassette therein.

A cassette loading/unloading apparatus for a slot-in type cassette tape recorder is provided with a toggle spring and an ejecting spring. The toggle spring biases a slider which slides together with a cassette inside a cassette holder at cassette insertion. The ejecting spring is stretched between the cassette holder and an operating plate slidably attached to the cassette holder, functioning as a return spring for the operating plate. The ejecting spring is charged with a biasing force in concert with and only by the slide of the slider at the cassette insertion, and is disengaged from the slider to be locked to a charged state when the slider passes the neutral point of the toggle spring. The charged biasing force of the ejecting spring is caused to act as an ejecting force on the slider at cassette ejection.

A cassette (1) for a record carrier (10) is provided with a sliding cover (2) for covering at least one opening (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21) in the cassette housing (3), which cover has at least one plate-shaped flange (28) which extends parallel to a main wall (5) of the cassette housing (3), hold-down means (41) overlying its edge zone (31), which extends parallel to the direction of movement (22) of the sliding cover (2) and has a given length (L), in order to hold down the flange (28). Suitably, the hold-down means (41) comprise at least two hold-down members (50, 51) whose dimension (A) parallel to the direction of movement (22) of the sliding cover (2) is only a fraction of the length (L) of the edge zone (31) of the flange (28) of the sliding cover (2), over which edge zone said hold-down members engage.