Automatic cassette changer - Patent Review 5450254

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A compact arrangement of an automatic cassette changer comprising a frame having mounted therein a plurality of components Of said changer at respective vertical positions, said components mounted in said frame comprising:

a cassette storage rack adapted for storing plural mutually different types of cassettes having a record medium accommodated therein, said cassette storage rack comprising a first cassette rack unit of a first type having a first plurality of cassette storage bins of a first size for accommodating a first type of said plural types of cassettes and a second cassette rack unit of a second type having a second plurality of cassette storage bins of a second size for accommodating a second type of said plural types of cassettes, said first and second cassette rack units being dimensioned so as to have substantially the same height and width so that said rack units are exchangeable within said frame, each of said cassette rack units having a first type detecting section representative of the type of the rack unit; and

a plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus each provided for selectively recording and/or reproducing a signal on or from the record medium in at least one of said plural types of cassettes, said plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus including at least two different types of recording and/or reproducing apparatus each having a respective different sized aperture for receiving a respective type of said plural types of cassettes, each of said recording and/or reproducing apparatus having a second type detecting section representative of the type of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said changer further comprising a transport mechanism for transporting cassettes of said mutually different types in a substantially vertical direction between said cassette storage rack and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus, said transport mechanism having a type detecting sensor for reading the first or second type detecting section to control operation of said transport mechanism.

2. An automatic cassette changer, comprising:

a plurality of cassettes in which record media are individually accommodated;

a cassette storage rack having a plurality of bins for storing said cassettes therein;

a plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus for selectively recording and/or reproducing said cassettes; and

a transport mechanism for selectively transporting said cassettes between said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said storage rack and said plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus being arranged so as to form a vertical column;

said transport mechanism having a main body that travels in a vertical direction relative to said storage rack and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus, and a hand block for holding a selected one of said cassettes and inserting or removing the selected cassette into or from a selected one of said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said hand block being mounted on said main body for movement relative to said main body in a first direction and in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the first direction being a direction in which said hand block inserts or removes the selected cassette into or from the selected one of said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus, said first and second directions being in a horizontal plane; said main body being located in the first direction relative to said vertical column.

3. An automatic cassette changer according to claim 2, wherein said transport mechanism includes a slider disposed for linear movement in the second direction and a pivotal arm mounted at an end thereof for pivotal motion on said slider and having said hand block mounted at the other end thereof, said pivotal arm being pivoted in the first direction with respect to said slider.

4. An automatic cassette changer according to claim 3, wherein said pivotal arm includes turning motion controlling means for controlling said hand block to turn in the direction opposite to the direction of pivotal motion of said pivotal arm in synchronism with pivotal motion of said pivotal arm so that said hand block is maintained in a constant orientation during pivotal motion of said pivotal arm.

5. An automatic cassette changer according to claim 3, wherein said pivotal arm is pivoted between a first position in which said pivotal arm extends in said first direction from said slider towards said vertical column and a second position in which said pivotal arm extends in said first direction from said slider and away from said vertical column.

6. An automatic cassette changer, comprising:

a plurality of cassettes in which record media are individually accommodated;

a cassette storage rack having a plurality of bins for storing said cassettes therein;

a plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus for selectively recording and/or reproducing said cassettes; and

a transport mechanism for selectively transporting said cassettes between said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said transport mechanism including a hand block for holding a selected one of said cassettes in a thicknesswise direction of the selected cassette and driving means for driving said hand block to move in a direction in which the selected cassette is inserted into or removed from a selected one of said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said hand block being supported for linear movement in the thicknesswise direction of the selected cassette with respect to said driving means.

7. An automatic cassette changer, comprising:

a plurality of cassettes in which record media are individually accommodated;

a cassette storage rack having a plurality of bins for storing said cassettes therein;

a plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus for selectively recording and/or reproducing said cassettes; and

a transport mechanism for selectively transporting said cassettes between said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said transport mechanism including a hand block for holding a selected one of said cassettes in a thicknesswise direction of the selected cassette to insert or remove the selected cassette into or from a selected one of said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said hand block including a pair of upper and lower holding elements disposed in the thicknesswise direction of the selected cassette for holding the selected cassette therebetween and a cassette inclination sensor for detecting an inclination of the selected cassette with respect to said hand block, said inclination to be detected being within a horizontal plane.

8. An automatic cassette changer according to claim 7, wherein said cassette inclination sensor comprises a plurality of sensor elements each for detecting a respective portion of a rear face of said selected cassette, said portions of said rear face being spaced apart from each other in said horizontal plane.

9. An automatic cassette changer, comprising:

a plurality of cassettes in which record media are individually accommodated;

a cassette storage rack having a plurality of bins for storing said cassettes therein;

a plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus for selectively recording and/or reproducing said cassettes; and

a transport mechanism for selectively transporting said cassettes between said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said transport mechanism including a hand block for holding a selected one of said cassettes in a thicknesswise direction of the selected cassette to insert or remove the selected cassette into or from a selected one of said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said hand block including a pair of upper and lower holding elements disposed in the thicknesswise direction of the selected cassette for holding the selected cassette therebetween, a feed screw for controlling opening and closing movement of said cassette holding elements, drive means for rotationally driving said feed screw, and a torque limiter for controlling the force by which the selected cassette is to be held between said cassette holding elements;

said drive means comprising an intermediate shaft and said torque limiter comprising compliant means associated with said intermediate shaft for selectively transmitting a rotational force to said intermediate shaft in such a manner as to limit a torque with which said feed screw is driven.

10. An automatic cassette changer, comprising:

a plurality of cassettes in which record media are individually accommodated;

a cassette storage rack having a plurality of bins for storing said cassettes therein;

a plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus for selectively recording and/or reproducing said cassettes; and

a transport mechanism for selectively transporting said cassettes between said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said transport mechanism including a hand block for holding a selected one of said cassettes in a thicknesswise direction of the selected cassette to insert or remove the selected cassette into or from a selected one of said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said hand block including a pair of upper and lower holding elements disposed in the thicknesswise direction of the selected cassette for holding the selected cassette therebetween;

said transport mechanism further comprising opening distance controlling means for controlling the opening distance between said cassette holding elements in accordance with information concerning the thickness of the selected cassette.

11. An automatic cassette changer according to claim 10, wherein said plurality of cassettes comprises a plurality of types of cassettes having mutually different thickness dimensions, and the opening distance between said cassette holding elements is varied by said opening distance controlling means in accordance with information representing the thickness of said selected cassette.

12. An automatic cassette changer, comprising:

a plurality of cassettes in which record media are individually accommodated;

a cassette storage rack having a plurality of bins for storing said cassettes therein;

a plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus for selectively recording and/or reproducing said cassettes;

a self-propelled transport mechanism for selectively transporting said cassettes between said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus, said transport mechanism carrying a motor for driving said transport mechanism to travel in a transport direction relative to said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

a slide rail constituting one of a pair of travel guides for said transport mechanism for restricting the movement of said transport mechanism in a first direction in which said transport mechanism inserts or removes a selected one of said cassettes into a selected one of said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, said first and second directions being in a plane that is perpendicular to said transport direction, said slide rail having a substantially channel-shaped cross section for slidably accommodating therein a sliding element for movement of said sliding element in said transport direction, said sliding element being mounted on said transport mechanism; and

a fixed rail constituting the other travel guide for said transport mechanism for cooperating with a plurality of guide rollers mounted on said transport mechanism to restrict the movement of said transport mechanism in the first direction.

13. An automatic cassette changer according to claim 12, further comprising a plurality of balls accommodated within a slot in said sliding element and also within a guide groove in said slide rail for cooperating with said slot and said guide groove to restrict movement of said transport mechanism in at least one of said first and second directions.

14. An automatic cassette changer, comprising:

a plurality of cassettes which have a plurality of different sizes and in which record media are individually accommodated;

a cassette storage rack having a plurality of bins for storing said cassettes therein;

a plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus for selectively recording and/or reproducing said cassettes; and

a transport mechanism for selectively transporting said cassettes between said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said transport mechanism including a main body, and a hand block for holding a selected one of said cassettes, said hand block being mounted on said main body for movement relative to said main body in a first direction for inserting or removing the selected cassette to or from a selected one of said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus, said transport mechanism also including a pair of cassette slide guides fixedly mounted on said main body on the opposite sides of the range of movement of said hand block in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction for supporting the opposite ends of the selected cassette when the selected cassette has a larger one of the different sizes.

15. A compact arrangement of an automatic cassette changer comprising a frame having mounted therein a plurality of components of said changer at respective vertical positions, said components mounted in said frame comprising:

a cassette storage rack adapted for storing plural mutually different types of cassettes having a record medium accommodated therein, said cassette storage rack comprising a plurality of cassette rack units each including a plurality of cassette storage bins of the same size and a first type detecting section representative of the type of the rack unit, said plurality of bins comprising respective mutually different sized bins corresponding to said plural different types of cassettes; and

a plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus each provided for selectively recording and/or reproducing a signal on or from the record medium in at least one of said plural types of cassettes, said plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus including at least two different types of recording and/or reproducing apparatus each having a respective different sized aperture for receiving a respective type of said plural types of cassettes, each of said recording and/or reproducing apparatus having a second type detecting section representative of the type of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said changer further comprising a transport mechanism for transporting cassettes of said mutually different types in a substantially vertical direction between said cassette storage rack and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus and having a type detecting sensor for reading the first or second type detecting section to control operation of said transport mechanism.

16. An automatic cassette changer according to claim 15, wherein all of said cassette rack units are dimensioned so as to have substantially the same height and width so that said rack units are exchangeable within said frame.

17. An automatic cassette changer, comprising:

a plurality of cassettes in which record media are individually accommodated and comprising cassettes having a plurality of sizes including at least a smaller size and a larger size;

a cassette storage rack having a plurality of bins for storing said cassettes therein;

a plurality of recording and/or reproducing apparatus for selectively recording and/or reproducing said cassettes; and

a transport mechanism for selectively transporting said cassettes between said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus;

said transport mechanism including a hand block for holding a selected one of said cassettes to insert or remove the selected cassette into or from a selected one of said bins and said recording and/or reproducing apparatus by means of a pair of cassette holding elements provided in a thicknesswise direction of the selected cassette on said hand block, an opening and closing mechanism for controlling the opening distance between said cassette holding elements within a range of between distances that are greater and smaller than the thickness of said cassettes, and controlling means for controlling said hand block such that, when the selected cassette held between said cassette holding elements is to be inserted into a selected one of said recording and/or reproducing apparatus, said hand block first inserts the selected cassette held in its thicknesswise direction to a first position in the selected recording and/or reproducing apparatus, then reduces the opening distance between said cassette holding elements so that said distance is smaller than the thickness of the selected cassette and finally pushes in the selected cassette to a second position deeper than the first position in the selected recording and/or reproducing apparatus by means of said cassette holding elements only if said selected cassette is of said smaller size.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field on the Invention

This invention relates to an automatic cassette changer which automatically exchanges various cassettes in which record media in the form of tapes or disks are accommodated to effect continuous recording and/or reproduction of the cassettes over a long period of time.

2. Description of the Prior Art

An automatic cassette changer for a television broadcasting station wherein a plurality of types of cassettes having different sizes are automatically exchanged to effect continuous reproduction, recording or edition of video signals over a long period of time has been proposed by the assignee of the present patent application and is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 1-243265.

The automatic cassette changer is convenient in that cassettes of different sizes are selectively used in such a manner that a small cassette is used to televise a video signal for a comparatively short period of time such as a commercial, but a large cassette is used to televise a video signal for a comparatively long period of time such as a news program or other type of program.

This prior art automatic cassette changer, however, can handle only cassettes wherein the tapes thereof have a common recording format. Consequently, it is impossible to properly use a plurality of types of cassettes wherein the tapes have different recording formats such as tapes which have been recorded with different video cameras having different recording formats.

Also, an automatic cassette changer with a transport mechanism wherein a plurality of cassettes are successively exchanged to effect continuous reproduction, recording editing or the like over a long period of time has been proposed by the assignee of the present patent application and disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-156382.

The automatic cassette changer with a cassette transport mechanism includes two loading mechanisms including a main cassette loading mechanism and an auxiliary cassette loading mechanism, by means of which a cassette loading operation having a long stroke can be performed compactly.

With the automatic cassette changer which has a transport mechanism, however, the cassette loading mechanisms cannot be moved with respect to the transport mechanism in a direction perpendicular to the direction for inserting or removing a cassette, and the movement in the perpendicular direction can be achieved only by horizontal movement of the entire transport mechanism.

Accordingly, in the prior art automatic cassette changer, the entire transport mechanism must be moved in the vertical direction and the leftward and rightward horizontal direction, which makes the moving apparatus large. Thus, it is impossible to freely select the position for transferring a cassette in a direction perpendicular to the cassette inserting or removing direction with the transport mechanism simply being moved only in the vertical direction.

The automatic cassette changer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 3-156382 is further constructed such that the transport mechanism includes a pair of upper and lower cassette holding pawls mounted for pivotal motion in the upward and downward directions such that a cassette is held in its thicknesswise direction by and between the cassette holding pawls to effect insertion or removal of the cassette into or from a cassette storage rack or the recording and reproducing apparatus.

With the automatic cassette changer, however, if the transport mechanism is displaced or offset in the vertical direction with respect to the cassette storage rack and the recording and reproducing apparatus, then, when a cassette is to be inserted from the transport mechanism into the cassette storage rack or the recording and reproducing apparatus, an end of the cassette may be abutted with and pinched in the cassette storage rack or the recording reproducing apparatus, each of which is quite rigid so that the cassette cannot be inserted farther than an intermediate position. On the other hand, when a cassette is to be removed from the cassette storage rack or the recording and/or reproducing apparatus there is a problem in that an end of the cassette may be pinched and stopped in the cassette storage rack of the recording/reproducing apparatus so that the cassette holding pawls to slip off the cassette, and consequently, the cassette cannot be withdrawn beyond an intermediate position.

Incidentally, in an automatic cassette changer of the type mentioned, a cassette which is discharged, for example, from the recording and reproducing apparatus does not always assume a correct position but instead assumes, in most cases, an inclined position within a horizontal plane with respect to the transport mechanism, due to the structure of the automatic cassette changer. Further, the relative distances between the transport mechanism and the cassette storage rack and the recording and reproducing apparatus, respectively, in the cassette inserting or removing direction are liable to present a considerable displacement.

With the automatic cassette changer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 3-156382, however, when a cassette discharged, for example, from the recording and reproducing apparatus is to be held by and between the cassette holding pawls and taken into the transport mechanism, it is impossible to correct the inclination of the cassette with respect to the transport mechanism or to compensate for displacement between the cassette and the transport mechanism. Accordingly, there are difficulties in that the cassette is held in an unstable posture and in an inclined condition by and between the cassette holding pawls and the position at which the cassette is held by and between the cassette holding pawls is within such a narrow range that the cassette cannot be held with certainty.

Further, since this prior art automatic cassette changer cannot cope with cassettes having different thicknesses, it is difficult to provide an automatic cassette changer in which a plurality of types of cassettes having different thickness in accordance with different recording formats can be used.

Moreover, when a cassette is to be held from above and below between a pair of cassette holding pawls mounted for upward and downward pivotal motion as in the prior art automatic cassette changer, when it is desired to hold cassettes of varying thickness in accordance with diverse recording formats such as, for example, an 8 mm tape cassette and a digital tape cassette, one of the various types of cassette may not be held stably between the cassette holding pawls.

Accordingly, the prior art automatic cassette changer can handle only cassettes of uniform thickness, and it is difficult to provide an automatic cassette changer in which a plurality of cassettes having different thicknesses in accordance with diverse recording formats can be used to effect continuous video signal reproduction, recording, editing or the like over a long period of time.

A further automatic cassette changer has been proposed by the assignee of the present patent application and is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 1-151448 wherein plurality of types of cassettes having different large and small sizes can be automatically exchanged to effect continuous video signal reproduction, recording, editing or the like over a long period of time.

This automatic cassette changer is convenient in that cassettes of different sizes are selectively used in such a manner that a small cassette is used to televise a video signal for comparatively short period of time such as a commercial, but a large cassette is used to televise a video signal for a comparatively long period of time such as a news program or other type of program.

This automatic cassette changer, however, can handle only cassettes wherein the tapes have a common recording format. Consequently, it is impossible to use a plurality of types of cassettes wherein the tapes have different recording formats such as tapes which have been recorded with difference video cameras having different recording formats.

In particular, one problem encountered with a automatic cassette changer that uses a plurality of types of cassettes having tapes of different recording formats and tape widths of 3/4 inches, 1/2 inch, 8 mm and so forth is that a cassette of the wrong type, such as a medium size cassette with 1/2 inch tape or a small cassette with 8 mm tape, may sometimes be inserted erroneously into a storage rack for large cassettes with 3/4 inch tape.

Another automatic cassette changer with a transport mechanism has been proposed by the assignee of the present patent application and is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-204265 wherein a plurality of types of cassettes can automatically be exchanged to effect continuous video signal reproduction, recording, editing or the like over a long period of time.

This automatic cassette changer includes a transport mechanism that moves itself by means of a motor provided on the transport mechanism itself. The transport mechanism moves, in a vertical direction along a vertical rack provided on the body of the automatic cassette changer, and the entire automatic cassette changer is of a compact design.

With this automatic cassette changer, however, a pair of left and right travel guides for the transport mechanism are each formed by a fixed rail mounted on the automatic cassette changer body and extending in a direction perpendicular to the cassette inserting or removing direction, and a plurality of guide rollers are mounted on a transport mechanism and maintained in contact in the cassette inserting or removing direction with the fixed rail, and accordingly, it is difficult to restrict the movement or play of the transport mechanism in the leftward or rightward direction, that is, in a direction perpendicular to the cassette inserting or removing direction.

In order to restrict the movement of the transport mechanism in the leftward or rightward direction, an additional fixed rail extending in parallel to the cassette inserting and removing direction and a plurality of additional guide rollers normally held in contact with the additional fixed rail in a direction perpendicular to the cassette inserting or removing direction must be provided. This causes the overall size of the automatic cassette changer to be excessive, on account of the space occupied by the travel guides in the leftward and rightward directions, that is, in the direction perpendicular to the cassette inserting and removing direction, and also in the forward and backward directions, that is, in the cassette inserting and removing direction.

The prior art automatic cassette changer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 243265 further has a disadvantage in that any cassette, whether of the large or small size, is positioned at the center of the transport mechanism by means of a cassette guide disposed in the transport mechanism, so that the position at which a cassette, for example, of the small size, is transferred to or from the cassette storage rack or the recording and reproducing apparatus cannot be selected freely in a direction perpendicular to the cassette inserting and removing direction.

Also the prior art automatic cassette changer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 3-156382 has a further drawback in that it cannot handle a plurality of types of cassettes having different sizes.

The automatic cassette changer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 3-156382 includes two loading mechanisms including a main cassette loading mechanism and an auxiliary cassette loading mechanism, by means of which a cassette loading operation having a long stroke can be performed.

With this type of automatic cassette changer, however, a cassette is transferred from or to the recording and reproducing apparatus by successive t