Storage Container for Compact Cassettes

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the storage, and to the retrieval therefrom, of standard magnetic tape cassettes and particularly to enhancing the utilization of the space available in motor vehicles for the storage of such cassettes. More specifically, this invention is directed to improved storage containers for compact cassettes and especially to storage magazines wherein the transport sliders for the cassettes are characterized by a comparatively long path of movement. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.

2. Description of the Prior Art

While not limited thereto in its utility, the present invention is particularly well suited for use in the storage of audio tape cassettes in the environment of a motor vehicle. Storage systems for compact, i.e., standard magnetic tape, cassettes which may be installed in the center console of a motor vehicle are known in the art. Typically, the cassettes are supported in such storage systems on transport slider members in such a manner that the narrow side of the cassette, which is intended to be juxtapositioned to the recording head in playback apparatus, is located adjacent to the front wall of the slider member. This cassette storage orientation has previously been employed since, when returning a cassette to storage, it must be placed on the slider member such that projection on the slider will engage the tape winding hubs of the cassette to prevent vibration induced rotation of the winding hubs. When returning a cassette to storage in the prior art, one of its long sides is angled beneath a front edge of a housing and the cassette is then pressed downwardly into the slider member. Thus, both winding hub engaging projections must be positioned outside of the housing and this could previously be accomplished with what was deemed to be an acceptable amount of slider travel by adhering to the aforementioned cassette orientation.

The cassette storage containers of the prior art can be interlocked with additional containers of identical construction to form blocks and, in the typical motor vehicle installation, a plurality of such blocks would be recessed in an adapter or fitting provided in the central console of the vehicle.

The recess provided in a vehicle console for a cassette storage system will typically have a considerable depth but a relatively small opening, i.e., the opening will have a comparatively small height and width. Previously available cassette storage containers made inadequate use of the available storage depth and, accordingly, the volumetric efficiency of the storage system was poor. This poor volumetric efficiency resulted from the fact, discussed above, that the movement of the cassettes from the storage to the ejected or removal position was in the direction of their short sides. Storage containers for magnetic tape cassettes have not previously been available which had a sufficiently long ejection stroke, i.e., transport slider member travel length, so as to move a cassette in the direction of its longest side and present, outside of the housing, both of the winding hub retaining projections. The foregoing deficiency, i.e, short stroke length, of prior cassette storage containers is, in part, attributable to the fact that, to be economically practical, such storage containers should be comprised of moulded plastic parts. There is an ever present danger of such parts becoming distorted, particularly in the comparatively harsch operating environment of a motor vehicle, whereupon the transport slider member would be unable to move and the possibility of the slider jamming in the housing increases with increased ejection stroke length.

The present invention overcomes the above-briefly discussed and other deficiencies and disadvantages of the prior art by providing a novel and improved cassette storage technique and apparatus which is characterized by a high degree of reliability in the face of a long transport slider member stroke.

Apparatus in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing, open at one narrow side, and a transport slider member which is movable with respect to said housing from a storage position to an ejected position. The transport slider member has front and rear walls and a base which connects these walls. The apparatus includes an ejection spring which biases the slider member toward the ejected position which is defined by cooperation between stops on the slider member and the housing. The apparatus also includes a manually releasable locking arrangement which permits the transport slider member to be retained in the housing against the bias of the ejection spring. The transport slider also has winding hub retaining projections, for engaging a cassette positioned on the base of the slider member, and these projections are arranged one behind the other in the direction of travel of the slider member. The guide means for the slider member, including portions of the base of the slider member and cooperating components on the bottom of the housing, provide for reliable travel over a long path length and, in a preferred embodiment, also provides support which prevents buckling of the ejection spring.

As a result of the long travel or stroke of the transport slider member of the present invention, a compact cassette positioned thereon can be easily lifted over the front wall of the slider member, i.e., the possibility of interference between the cassette and the housing opening is substantially eliminated since the most rearwardly disposed of the winding hub engaging projections is, with the slider in the ejected position, located forwardly with respect to the front edge of the housing of the storage container. In the preferred embodiment the slide bar for the slider member is provided on or adjacent to the central part of the base of the slider. This is a particularly important advantage since, if lateral guide means were provided at the side edges of the transport slider, there would be increased danger of jamming.

A further particularly important feature of the present invention resides in the location of the ejection spring so that its force is applied at or adjacent to the center of the rear wall of the transport slider. This results in minimizing the angular forces applied to the locking mechanism of the assembly when the slider member is in the inserted position. As noted above, economic considerations dictate that the components of the storage system be moulded from plastic and the materials customarily employed are susceptible to cold flow, and thus deformation, when exposed to constant pressure and adverse conditions such as, for example, the high temperature which might be encountered in a closed vehicle.

The present invention may be better understood and its numerous objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements in the several Figures and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a cassette storage container in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1a is a partial perspective view which illustrates the means for guiding the transport slider member of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 1b is a schematic cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 taken in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the slider member;

FIG. 2 is a schematic, cross-sectional side elevation view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 as schematically depicted in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view, rotated by 90.degree., of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side elevation view, similar to FIG. 2, depicting a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 being a view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 5 with the transport slider member shown in the inserted position;

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view, taken in the same direction as FIG. 6, which schematically shows the operation of the locking arrangement of the embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6; and

FIGS. 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d are partial perspective views which depict various alternative locking systems for use in the present invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, a tape cassette storage container in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing 100. Housing 100 is provided, respectively on the outside of its top and bottom walls, with complementary shaped locking members 102 and 104. This permits a plurality of identical housing 100 to be assembled to form a module or block. A transport slider, indicated generally at 106, is positioned in housing 100 and is capable of movement with respect thereto between an inserted or cassette storage position and the ejected or cassette removal position shown in FIG. 1. When the slider 106 is in the inserted position the cassette will be entirely contained within housing 100 and the open front side of the housing, through which the slider moves, will be covered by a front wall 118 of slider 106.

As may be seen from FIG. 1a, a rail 110 is formed integrally with the floor or base 108 of housing 100. Rail 110 has a central portion 112 which is of arcuate configuration, the radius of this arc being commensurate with that of the compression spring 114 which provides the force for ejecting the slider from the housing. Rail 110 also has, to either side of arcuate portion 112, side edge portions which are configured as shown and which terminate at laterally projecting flanges or guide bars 128. A pair of grooves 115 are also formed in the base 108 of housing 100, these grooves being displaced outwardly from and being oriented parallely with respect to rail 110. Stop members 116, formed integrally with and extending downwardly from the base of slider 106, run in grooves 115. The grooves 115 terminate short of the front edge of housing 100. The cooperation between the stops 116 and grooves 115 limits the motion of slider 106 in the ejection direction. The stops 116 can be seen by reference to FIG. 1b.

The slider 106 comprises a front wall 118, a rear wall 120 and bottom or base plates 122, 124 and 126 which interconnect the front and rear walls. The base plates 122, 124 and 126, as may be seen from FIG. 1a, each have a generally inverted U-shaped cross-sectional profile. A pair of parallel slots are defined by the spacing between the centermost base plate 124 of the slider and the two outwardly disposed plates 122 and 126. These parallel slots being immediately behind the front wall 118 of the slider and extend outwardly past the rear wall 120. Each of these parallel slots has a cross-section that is complementary in shape to the profile of the laterally projecting guide bars 18 of rail 110 whereby these rails will be engaged in the slots. Additionally, the slider base plates 122 and 126 have, as indicated at 130, inwardly directed flanges at the end of the legs thereof which are positioned adjacent to central base plate 126. The flanges 130 are received under the bars 128 of rail 110 and thus further aid in the establishment of a secure guiding relationship between guide rail 110 and the slider 106. It should be noted that the forming of the base plates of slider 106 with an inverted U-shaped profile improves the flexural strength of the slider 106.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1a, it is to be noted that the upper side of base plate 122 of slider 106 is disposed at a higher level, relative to the plane of the base 108 of the housing, than is the upper side of the opposite base plate 126. This offsetting of the heights of the support surfaces of the base plates constitutes allowance for the fact that, in the region of the face which is opposed to the tape head, most magnetic tape cassettes have a thickened portion with a trapazoidal outline. Thus, when a cassette is installed on slider 106 this thickened portion will rest on the top of base plate 126.

The winding hub retaining projections 132, i.e., the projections on the slider 106 which engage and prevent undesired rotation of the winding hubs of a tape cassette, are formed integrally with the upper side of the central base plate 124 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4.

A push lever 134 is hinged to the front wall 118 of slider 106. Push lever 134 is connected to an indicator button 136, which may be seen from FIG. 2. When a cassette is inserted on slider 106 the push lever 134 will be pivoted downwardly so that the indicator button 136 will be visable through a window 138 provided in slider front wall 118. Accordingly, it is possible to determine, at a glance and from the outside, which containers in a stacked block of containers have been loaded with a cassette. Resilient biasing means will typically be provided to return push lever 134 to the position shown in FIG. 2 when a cassette is removed from slider 106.

To compensate for the dimensional tolerances of the cassettes and the storage containers, a resilient foam cushion 140 is adhesively secured to the forwardly facing side of the rear wall 120 of slider 106. The provision of the cushion 140 insures that the indicator, including push lever 134, is reliably actuated and further assures that a cassette positioned on the slider will not rattle when, for example, the container is conveyed in a motor vehicle.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 a portion 142 of the front wall 118 of the slider 106 functions as a release button to unlock the slider 106 and permit its ejection. The release button 142 is coupled to a locking hook 144, shown in FIG. 2, so that upward finger pressure applied to button 142 will cause hook 144 to be lifted out of a recess or aperture, not shown, provided in the base of housing 100. With the locking hook 144 disengaged from the cooperating recess in the base of the housing, the ejection spring 114 can push the slider outwardly to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The locking hook 144 will be mounted on or integral with a leaf spring 146, see FIG. 3, which is itself formed integrally with the base plate 126 of slider 106. Because of its shape, the hook 144 will be cammed upwardly by the lower front edge of housing 100 during insertion of slider 106 into the housing.

Use of the storage container of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 required that the cassette be properly oriented. That is, standard magnetic tape cassettes are assymetrical in that a plane defined by the axes of the tape winding hubs is not equally positioned from the opposite longer sides of the cassette. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 the positioning of the retaining projections 132 takes this lack of symmetry into account. Thus, if an attempt is made to insert a cassette the wrong orientation, the cassette will project outwardly from one side of the slider and, because the thickened portion thereof is not resting on the lower support surface defined by base plate 126, one side of the cassette will be too high. Accordingly, it will be impossible to insert the slider into the housing. The embodiment of FIGS. 5-7 takes into account the asymmetric construction of the cassette and frees the user from the need to pay attention to the orientation of a cassette to be placed in storage.

Referring now to FIGS. 5-7, only those components which differ from corresponding elements of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 will be described. It is initially to be noted that each of the retaining projections 86 are shaped at their upper ends so as to cooperate with the winding hubs of a tape cassette in such a manner that a wedging action, and resultant force, will be generated. Each of projections 86 also includes an extension or foot which extends through a slot 88 in the central base plate of the slider, the slots 88 being parallel. The extensions of the projections 86 are captured beneath the slider base plate and interconnected by means of a spring, indicated generally at 90, which is supported by a bracket 98 located intermediate slots 88. Accordingly, when the above-mentioned force resulting from wedging action is produced, the projections 86 may move transversely with respect to the direction of motion of the slider thereby permitting the cassette to move downwardly into its storage position on the slider, the storage position not interfering with movement of the slider into the housing. The arrangement of the embodiment of FIGS. 5-7, i.e., the provision for lateral movement of the retaining projections 86, takes into account the fact that the asymmetry of a standard magnetic tape cassette is sufficiently small that the hubs 86 will be in partial registration with the winding hubs of a cassette regardless of which of the two possible orientations is assumed by that cassette upon initial placement on the slider. The cassette must, of course, be centered on the slider for the embodiment of FIGS. 5-7 to function properly and this centering is accomplished by the provision of lateral funnel-like guide faces at the inwardly disposed end of the slider. It is also to be noted that the two outer base plates of the slider are, in the embodiment of FIGS. 5-7, cut away so that the generally trapazoidal shaped thickened portion of a standard compact cassette will be unsupported and thus the cassette will lie flat regardless of which direction the side thereof which is opposed to the tape head faces.

As can be seen in FIG. 5, a stop 54 is provided which limits the ejection travel of the slider at a position where the above-mentioned funnel-shaped cassette guide opening is approximately flush with the open end of the housing. As may be seen from FIG. 6, the two outer base plates of the slider extend beyond the rear wall thereof to insure reliable guidance in spite of the long ejection stroke. This extra length of the base plates also permits the use of a locking device which requires space within the housing. This locking device, which will be described briefly below, includes the elements indicated at 64, 66 76 and 80.

To now discuss the locking arrangement of the embodiment of FIGS. 5-7, a "cage" is formed integrally with the slider and a catch member 64 is mounted for movement in this cage transversely to the direction movement of the slider and also for rotation. The rotation results in the upward movement of a catch projection 66, such upward movement being resisted by the bias of a spring, not shown. A cam plate 80 is formed integrally with the base of the housing, the shape of this cam plate being best seen from FIG. 7, and a control bracket 78, formed integrally with the back wall 60 of the housing, extends into the housing. The relative positioning of the cam plate 80 and control bracket 78 may be seen from FIG. 7. When the slider member is pushed inwardly the catch projection 66 of catch 64 will contact a first guide edge 68 of the cam plate 80. Continued insertion of the slider will result in movement of the projection 66, and thus catch 64 in the direction represented by the arrows on FIG. 7. Thus, the catch 64 will be translated and, when the projection 66 comes into alignment with a first ramp 70, the catch will be pivoted and the projection 66 will move up and over the cam plate 80. As the insertion of the slider continues, the projection 66 will drop down behind cam plate 80. The insertion movement of the slider will be arrested by its coming into contact with a stop, not shown. If the slider is then released, the catch projection 66 will, under the influence of the ejection spring, move in the direction of the arrow along a second guide edge 72 of the cam plate until it stops at a detent edge 74. Cooperating flat surfaces of the projection 66 and the detent edge 74, under the influence of the ejection spring, will lock the slider member in this inserted position. If it is desired to again eject the slider, the front plate thereof is pressed inwardly until the slider again contacts the stop. During this inward motion a control edge 76 of control bracket 78 will contact an edge of catch 64 and will translate catch 64 until projection 66 is in registration with a second, forwardly directed ramp on cam plate 80. Thereafter, under the influence of the ejection spring, the catch projection 66 will move upwardly and over the surface of cam plate 80 and, when projection 66 drops down in front of plate 80, the unlocking operation will be completed and there will be no impediment to the spring biased movement of the slider until such movement is arrested by the action of the stop lugs 54. The structure and operation of the locking mechanism briefly described above is discussed in more detail in contamporaneously filed application serial number entitled "Recording Media Storage Apparatus and Technique". The construction of slider members having movable tape winding hub engaging projections, such as the projections 86 of the embodiment of FIGS. 5-7, is described in more detail in contemporaneously filed application serial number entitled "Container for Storing Magnetic Tape Cassettes".

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the slider is guided by cooperation between the two flanges 130 of the outer base plates of the housing, the laterally projecting bars 128 of rail 110 and the guide slots defined by the spacing between the slider base plates. In addition, one of the slider base plates, specifically the base plate 126, forms the locking mechanism consisting of button 142, hook 144 and spring 146. FIGS. 8a-8d depict embodiments which are similar to that of FIGS. 1-4 but in which the base of the slider is defined by a single base plate member 200. The plate member 200 has a generally U-shaped profile with projections extending outwardly in opposite directions from the ends of the legs of the "U". A guide track for the base plate 200 is defined by a pair of L-shaped guide rails 202 which are preferably formed integrally with the base 204 of the housing. Thus, the outwardly extending flanges of base plate 200 fit under the L-shaped rails 202 with sufficient clearance being provided to permit sliding movement of the thus captured base plate. Each of FIGS. 8 a, 8b, 8c and 8d shows a different technique for locking and unlocking the slider with respect to the housing. In each alternative a locking hook 206, extending from a leaf spring 208, engages a recess 210 in the base 204 of the housing. Also, in each embodiment, an unlocking button 212 connected to the leaf spring 208 controls the unlocking operation. It is further to be noted that in each embodiment all of the components which move with the slider are injection molded as a single piece.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8a, a cross-piece 214 projects laterally from the base plate 200 and extends over one of the rails 202. The cross-piece 214 is provided with a thickened portion 216 which prevents deformation of the leaf spring 208 from being transmitted to the base plate.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8b, the hook, leaf spring and unlocking button are arranged centrally in the front end wall 218 of the slider. The leaf spring 208 is mounted on a thickened block 220 formed integrally with the underside of the base plate so that the underside of the leaf spring is aligned with the base of the housing.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8c a cross-piece similar to the cross-piece 214 of the embodiment of FIG. 8a is provided. However, in the arrangement of 8c the cross-piece 224 is hollow in a direction transverse to the direction of motion of the slider and is resistent to bending and torsion. In order that the slider can be pushed into the housing, one of the guide rails 202 is shorter than the other.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 8a-8c, dust can penetrate between the front end wall of the slider member and the unlocking button 212. Such dust penetration is not possible in the arrangement of FIG. 8d because the unlocking button is formed as a box-shaped projection 226 which is integral with the front end wall 208 of the slider. The external wall of the projection 226, with the slider inserted, contacts the side wall of the housing.

While preferred embodiments have been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation.