Special receptacle or package – For holding a machine readable recording medium – For holding a tape cassette
Patent
1993-02-11
1994-11-15
Sewell, Paul T.
Special receptacle or package
For holding a machine readable recording medium
For holding a tape cassette
220345, 312 948, 312 957, B65D 85672
Patent
active
053639600
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a container or a storage device for magnetic tape cassettes of the basic design set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,229 or modifications thereof as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,702,372 or 4,738,361 or 4,828,341 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
These conventional devices comprise a housing and a transporter slidably guided in said housing and adapted to carry a cassette. The transporter slider is spring-biassed towards an open or removal position and may be locked or latched within the housing in a storing position. The latch may be manually released.
The known devices are designed to receive the well-known standard compact cassettes which exhibit freely accessible tape reels. When stored and subjected to vibrations, e.g. in a vehicle, there is a risk that the tape reels are inadvertently rotated and the cassette may become destroyed due to so-called "tape salad". Therefore, the known containers are provided with blocking members integrally formed with the slider so as to engage into the tape reels and to lock them.
Recently, a novel type of cassette has appeared under the designation "DCC" or digitally recorded cassette. Such cassettes permit improved reproduction quality over that of conventional compact cassettes with analog recording. Recorders developed for such DCC cassettes are able to reproduce from DCC cassettes but also from conventional cassettes. Consequently, the exterior appearance of the two cassette types is quite similar. There are, however, two significant differences: While the standard compact cassette exhibits protruding head face portions of trapezoid contour such protruding portions are not present with DCC cassettes. Further, DCC cassettes are equipped with shutters shielding the tape reels against intrusion of dust; the reels are locked within the cassette until the reels are exposed upon placing the cassette into the reproducing apparatus whereby the shutters are displaced.
It will be understood that the conventional cassette containers are not suited for storing of DCC cassettes because of their tape reel blocking members, necessitating design of a device specifically adapted to receive DCC cassettes. Since, however, the reproducing apparatus may use both types of cassettes and it is not predictable what cassette type will be the preferred one of a particular person, there is a need to provide a cassette container adapted to receive either type of cassette.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides such a device thanks to the design described below having a first housing with a substantially parallelepipedic shape and an opening, and a second, cassette transporter part displaceable through the opening in the first part. The two parts completely surround a cassette carried by the second part when the second part is in a storage position, and permit cassette exchange when the second part is in a removal position, into which it is biased by an ejection spring. A releasable latch retains the second part in the storage position against the bias of the ejection spring inside the first part. One of the parts has blocking members for engaging the tape reels of cassettes whose tape reels are accessible from the exterior. The blocking members are deactivated when the cassette being stored has tape reels that are not accessible from the exterior.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Some embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be explained in detail hereunder with reference thereto. It should be noted that the drawings are somewhat schematic in order to emphasize the features which are important for the invention. Details which are not essential for the present invention may be derived from the publications incorporated above.
FIG. 1 is a section view of a device according to the invention seen as indicated by line 1--1 in FIG. 2,
FIG. 2 is a partial plan view, with the housing in section, of the device of FIG. 1 with the transporter part in open
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patent: 3899229 (1975-08-01), Ackeret
patent: 4030601 (1977-06-01), Ackeret
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patent: 4087145 (1978-05-01), Weavers
patent: 4113091 (1978-09-01), Ackeret
patent: 4184594 (1980-01-01), Hehn
patent: 4291801 (1981-09-01), Basili et al.
patent: 4322000 (1982-03-01), Struble
patent: 4365713 (1982-12-01), Ekuan
patent: 4406369 (1983-09-01), Wallace et al.
patent: 4702372 (1987-10-01), Ackeret
patent: 4738361 (1988-04-01), Ackeret
patent: 4828341 (1989-05-01), Ackeret
Ackun Jr. Jacob K.
IDN Inventions and Development of Novelties AG
Ingerman Jeffrey H.
Sewell Paul T.
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