Field, Background and Summary of the Invention
This invention relates to sound recording and reproducing apparatus of the type utilizing a magnetic tape, wherein two pivotal levers of similar form, each with a wing and two guide flanges, are arranged in the assembled condition with their guide flanges on a mounting pin and biased by a torsion spring so that the wings press the magnetic tape against the magnetic heads of the apparatus. The instant invention is a further development of the apparatus disclosed in my copending application, Ser. No. 361,058, filed May 17, 1973.
It is an object of this invention to secure a considerable simplification of the mounting and assembly of the constructional elements of such an arrangement. This object is achieved in accordance with the present invention by an arrangement wherein each pivotal lever has an additional abutment nose which is pressed by the torsion spring, engaged around the mounting pin, against an abutment surface on the other pivotal lever, whereby the two pivotal levers, the torsion spring and the mounting pin constitute a group which is a closed system as regards forces and shape. The constructional elements can thus be combined into a group as a pre-assembly, which can be mounted in the apparatus in this condition and, when the final assembly takes place, can be introduced and incorporated as a whole in the apparatus or in the cassette of the latter.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the mounting pin is provided intermediate its ends with a reduced diameter section and with two limit surfaces which are at right angles to the longitudinal axis thereof, each of which constitutes an abutment face for the confronting guide flanges of the pivotal lever concerned. As a result, the elements are held together as a closed system as regards shape and force conditions, even in the longitudinal direction of the mounting pin, and are thereby secured against accidental dislodgement.
Description of the Drawings
A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of the guide arrangement in use in a cassette which has been only partially illustrated,
FIGS. 2 and 3 are different views of the front group of elements of the guide arrangement,
FIGS. 4 and 5 show details of the arrangement on a larger scale, and
FIG. 6 is a perspective illustration of a pivotal lever of the guide arrangement.
Description of a Preferred Embodiment
FIG. 1 illustrates in some detail the guide arrangement for the magnetic tape 18 which is anchored to spools 14, 16 and introduced into the cassette 12. The two pivotal levers 34 and 34' are of similar form, are installed on the mounting pin 32 held in the cassette 12, and are biased by torsion spring 38 in such a way that the felt pieces 36, 36' carried by the arms 34a, 34a' of the pivotal levers press the magnetic tape 18 against the magnetic heads 28, 30 of the sound recording and reproducing apparatus when the cassette 12 is inserted in said apparatus. The two guide flanges 34b and 34c, and 34b' and 34c', respectively, of pivotal levers 34, 34' have mounting openings 34bb and 34cc, and 34bb' and 34cc'.
The mounting pin 32 is provided at its central part with a reduced section 32a bounded by two surfaces 32b, 32bb at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the pin 32. As clearly shown by FIG. 3 and FIG. 6, each pivotal lever 34, 34' additionally has a projection or abutment surface 34v or 34v' which is approximately tangential to the pivotal axis thereof, and a nose 34n or 34n' which is turned down parallel to this axis.
In a pre-assembly of the elements described, the mounting pin 32 can be pushed through the openings 34bb, 34cc, 34bb' and 34cc' of the pivotal levers 34 and 34', and through the turns of the torsion spring 38. The ends 38a, 38b of this spring 38 act on the pivotal levers 34, 34' and the mounting pin 32 in such a way that the nose 34n of one lever 34 presses against projection 34v' of the other pivotal lever 34', and that at the same time the openings 34bb, 34cc, 34bb' and 34cc' are applied against one side of the reduction 32a of the bearing pin 32, and the turns of the spring 38 bear against the other side, as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. This means that the elements 32, 34, 34' and 38 are non-positively connected to one another to form a constructional unit which can be inserted as a whole during the assembly in the cassette, each of the two ends of the mounting pin 32 being held in a mounting bore in the cassette which has not actually been illustrated in full. FIG. 1 shows this constructional unit mounted in the cassette 12 in position ready for operation.