CONVEYING APPARATUS FOR A MAGNETIC TAPE CARTRIDGE CHANGER

"Conveying apparatus for a magnetic tape cartridge dianger'* The invention relates to a conveying apparatus for a magnetic tape cartridge changer for playing a pliu- rality of stacked tape cartridges i:n sequence, the chan¬ ger being provided with a shaft for storing the loosely stacked cartridges and alsOp for removing the lowest cartridge, which occupies the playing position with a lateral outlet apertiire through which such a cartridge is automatically ejectedo It is an object of the invention to provide a simple apparatus with which a magnetic tape changer of the above described kind may be equipped to form a sys¬ tem which continuously plays one cartridge after the other in an uninterrupted cycle, as may be desirable in stores for producing so-called functional music » Accord- ing to the invention,, for this purpose a cartridge track is provided which leads from the outlet aperture of the changer to the inlet aperture of the storing shaft and along which cartridges which have issued from the outlet aperture can bo intermittently displaced by the thrust force exerted by each cartridge as it issues from the outlet aperture. Thus, each cartridge which is expelled from the outlet aperture and has just been played en¬ sures that previously played cartridges are again con¬ veyed into the storing shaft in which are disposed car- - 2 tridges to be played, without the need for a separately driven conveying mechanism» Advantageously the cartridge track is simply designed as a channel which adjoins the outlet aperture of the changer, is curved substantially in the form of a circle ±n the direction of length of the storing shaft and terminates in a chute which leads to the inlet aper¬ ture of the storing shaft» A particularly compact appa¬ ratus is produced when the entire channel is curved in the form of a U and a freely movable endless belt is guided along the facing channel walls within the channel, which belt passes over rollers, one of which is disposed at the two open ends of the channel and the other of which is disposed at the semicircular curve, and is pro- vided at intervals each equal to the length of a car¬ tridge with cartridge driving members which occupy at least part of the cross-sectional area of the channelo In such an apparatus, it has proved to be especially ad- vantageouslfor the conveyor belt to be movable by hand also, so that cartridges arranged in the channel may readily be removed therefrom» Such apparatus invert a cartridge during its transport so that, the two tracks generally provided on the tape ara alternafcely played., If such inversion of the cartridge is not de- 2.5 sired, the chut© also may simply be designed as a chan¬ nel which in the direction of length of the storing shaft is curved substantially in the form of a semicircle, When the channel is curved in the shape of a U, for this purpose there may be provided in the outer wall of the channel in the area of its semicircular curvature and, viewed in the direction of movement of the cartridges, preceding the second longitudinal part of the channel a bag-shaped bulge which extends substantially in the di¬ rection of length of storing shaft and into which enters one end of a cartridge being pushed through the semicir~ cular channel curve, the cartridge then sliding out of the bulge again in the opposite direction into the ad¬ joining second longitudinal part of the channel and be« ing pmished forward in this part by the cartridge driving membero In this connection it has also proved of advan¬ tage for the cartridge track to be in the form of a chute 1.5 which is helically curved between, the outlet aperture of the changer and the inlet aperture of the storing shaft so as to make a full turn» The apparatus according to tjie invention ar© also very suitable for use as supplements to existing magnetic tape cartridge changers so that these may9 if desired, be used for playing cartridges in an uninter¬ rupted cycle * For this purpose, the channel track is sim¬ ply designed as a separate component adapted to be ar¬ ranged on the changer.

It has proved of particular advantage for the storing shaft and the cartridge track to form an inte-» gral structure capable of being arranged on the changer.

m Suitablyg on each of two opposed lateral walls of the storing shaft there is provided a holding member which is capable of being inserted into the storing shaft against spring action and engages under a cartridge dis- posedaat the shaft end nearer the changers, these two holding members being adapted to be jointly adjusted by means of a U-shaped member arranged to pivot between two operating positions and journalled in the storing shaft so that cartridges stored in the shaft can be removed from th® recorder together with the apparatus» In this connection in a magnetic tape changer provided with a device for continuous changing of the cartridges with¬ out the cartridges being played it has proved of advan¬ tage for the U-meraber when set to the operating position in which it pushes the holding members into the storing shaft to start the continuous cartridge change device, thereby ensuring that no cartridge is left in the chan¬ ger. In a particularly simple manner the above-mentioned advantages are also obtained by providing the end of the storing shaft which cooperates with the cartridge chan¬ ges' with at least two projections which extend into the playing position of a cartridge and engage under such a cartridge « Advantageously there is provided in the area of the cartridge chute adjoining the outlet aperture of the changer a locking member adapted to foe manually set to either of two operating positions» which locking mem™ ber in a first operating positions holds the last car¬ tridge to have been pushed into the cartridge track and may allow some further movement of this cartridge» and in the other operating position looks the cartridge track itself in its position on the changer. As a results in on© position the apparatus is securely locked to the re¬ corders, and in the other position the last cartridge hav¬ ing been pushed onto the cartridge track is securely held when the apparatus is removed» In conjunction with the aforementioned embodiments„ it has proved of advan¬ tage for the U-memtaer to be locked, in the position in which it holds the holding members in their position of insertion into the storing shaft by the locking member when set in its first operating position, because thus with the apparatus removed from the recorder the car¬ tridges both in the shaft and on the track are securely held.

Features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of the embodiments thereof, given by way of example onlyj with reference to the accompanying drawings» in which;- Figure 1 shows an apparatus which is arranged on a cartridge changer and in which the cartridge track is a channel terminating in a chute; Figure 2 shows, by way of illustration of the operation of the embodiment shown in Figure 1, part of Figure 1 which shows the apparatus ready for removal from - 6 the changer; ; :' Figure 3 is a modification of the embodiment •:: of Figure 1 , in which th© apparatus is fixedly arranged : î on the changer and the chute also is in the form of a m 5 channel; '':! Figure h shows a helically designed cartridge track; Figure 5 shows a cartridge track in the form ..; of a U-shaped channel provided with a belt conveyor; .'."'! 10 Figure 6 shows a modification of the embodi- .;; nient of Figure 5, in which similarly to the embodimeitts ',; shown in Figure 3 and h a cartridge is returned to the storing shaft in the same positionc, '.} Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown a :i 15 magnetic tape changer 1 which is designed for succes- ';'-..'' s.ively playing a plurality of stacked magnetic tape car- •V| tridges 2o First the operation of such a changer will :; :'' :i •') briefly be described. The cartridges to be played are i M loosely stacked in a storing shaft (not shown) adapted i; 1 20 to be placed on the changer, the lowest cartridge being ; .i in the playing position on the changer< For playing such j a cartridge, driving elements 3 which grip the reel of j tape in the cartridge by means of winding spindles are '";! pivoted into their operating positions, as are the mag- ..! 25 metic heads for reading the tape. After the playing ope» - ration, these driving and reading members are again pi~ v voted away from the cartridge and subsequently the car- tridge is pushed out of the changer by an ejector adapted to be displaced in the direction of an outlet aperture h of the changer, which aperture is located la¬ terally of the playing position, so that the cartridge falls into a container 6 provided on the changer beside the outlet aperture» During this ejection of the car¬ tridge just played the next cartridge moves into the playing position,, and the entire cycle is repeated» According to the invention, there is provided an apparatus which enables the cartridges to be conti¬ nuously played in an uninterrupted cycle» For this par- pose, there is provided a cartridge track 9 which leads from the outlet aperture h of the changer to the inlet aperture 7 of a storing shaft 8 and along which car- tridges issuing from the outlet aperture can be inter¬ mittently moved by the thrust force of each cartridge issuing from the outlet aperture until they are re burned to the storing shaft» In the embodiment shown, the car¬ tridge track and the storing shaft are designed as an integral unit adapted to be placed on the changer„ The cartridge track is in the form of a channel a part 11 of which adjoins the outlet aperture H of the changer and in the direction of length of the storing shaft 8 is curved substantially into a semicircle and ter™ minâtes in a chute 12 which leads to fche Inlet aperture 7 of the storing shaft 8» The curvature and the cross- sectional area of the channel are so matched to one another i_ 8 as to enable the cartridges to be readily moved along it.

At the two sides which extend parallel to the plane of the drawing, the channel» the chute and the storing shaft are bounded by lateral walls 1.3 » In the area above the chut© 12 an aperture 1 is provided through which the cartridges can be manually inserted» The entire apparatus is adapted to be placed on the changer, its lateral walls 13 being supported by the open edge of the container 6 and the deck 15 of the changer, the end of the storing shaft 8 nearer the changer bearing on the edge of the aperture in the deck 15 which gives access to the playing position of a cartridgeo As Figure 1 shows, the apparatus placed on the changer contains eight cartridges 2a to 2h.» The cartridge rA 15 2e is in the playing position and the cartridges 2a to 2d are piled on it. The cartridges 2a to 2c are located in the storing shaft, whereas the cartridge 2d is already in the changer. Part of* the cartridge 2f still lies in the outlet aperture 4, whilst the remainder is already in the channel 10o In front of the cartridge 2f two other cartridges 2g and 2h are disposed in the channel 10, the cartridge 2h being supported by the cartridge 2g which in turn is supported by the car bridge 2f the posi¬ tion of which is determinod ~by a projection 16 on th® bot- torn of the aperture 4 <, When the cartridge 2e has been played, the driv¬ ing members 3 and the magnetic heads, not shown, are auto- raatically pivoted away and the ejector 5 is actuated in the direction of the arrow 17 so that the cartridge is moved from the playing position and is pushed out of the changer through the outlet aperture 4» During this dis- placement the cartridge 2e slides over the projection 16 and strikes the cartridge 2f, pushing it forward. The cartridge 2f in its turn pushes the cartridge 2g along the channel and this cartridge 2g pushes the cartridge 2h before it» Thus, the cartridge 2h is moved onto the chute 12 and slides down it through the inlet aperture 7 into the storing shaft 8» Such an operation is repeated each time a cartridge is removed from the playing posi- tiono As will be clear from the above, the cartridges present in the apparatus are played in an uninterrupted sequence» Whilst travelling along the track the cartrid¬ ges are inverted» ioe» the lower surface of a cartridge in the playing position will be its upper surface when it enters the storing shafts ¥he.n the tape contained in such a cartridge is provided in the usual manner with two tracks for opposite directions of movement of the tapa relative to the two tape reels, after each passage of the cartridge through the apparatus the track to be played will be changed» 2f5 In order to enable fcha unit comprising the car¬ tridge channel and the storing shaft to be readily removed from the changer the following steps have further been m taken « Each of the two opposite lateral walls 18 and 19 o:f the storing shaft 8 is provided with a holding mem- be.r 20 which is .resilient and shaped in the form of a hook, and in the inoperative position the free hook end Is arranged in front of an aperture 21 or 22 in the la¬ teral wall )8 or 19 respectively of the storing shaft» These apertures 21 and 22 are provided in the end of the shaft nearer the changert, A V-shaped member 2bs which, is Journalled in bearing flanges 23 provided on one of the ;:f! lateral walls 13 of the storing- shaft and embraces this shaft and is adapted to pivot between two operating po¬ sitions, is provided to operate the holding members » When the XJ-member is moved from the operating position shown in Figure 1 in the direction of the arrow 25s; for example by faandj its parts 26 press down on the hooks so that the free hook eauds enter the apertures 19 and 20 and engage under a cartridge (2c) disposed in the shaft end nearer the changer, with the result that no cartridge can leave the storing shaft» Furthermore, in the area of the part of the car¬ tridge track adjoining the outlet aperture h of fcho chan¬ ger provision ±s made of a locking member 27 adapted to b© manually set to either of two operating positions<, This locking member has a transverse part 28 adapted to slide in slits 29 provided in the lateral walls 13 and a bent end 30 to which is secured a leafspring 31 extending towards the open channei end,, This leaf spring serves to posh the cartridge (2f) just removed from the playing position completely into the channel 10 and to hold it in this position» When th© locking member 27 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 32 from the second operating position shown in Figure 1 to a first operating position, the spring 31 grips such a cartridge 2f'9 pushes it completely out of the outlet aperture h and in con¬ junction with the channel wall 33 holds the cartridge„ as is shown in F±gux-& 2o This ensures that the cartridge track can be taken from the changer without a cartridge still partly disposed in the outlet aperture k prevent¬ ing this removal and also that cartridges disposed in the channel !0 cannot slide back and drop out» 15 In th© second operating position of the locking member 27, which position is shown in Fig-ore J j, the bent end 30 of this member engages under the deck 15 amd thus locks the cartridge track and the storing shaft to -the changer so that this apparatus cannot .inadvertently b© removed» The locking member 27 is further provided with a hook 3h which cooperates with a projection 35 on the tr-memfoer 2h so as to lock this member» When the unit comprising the cartridge track and the storing .shaft is to be taken from the changer, the U-member 24 is first moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 25s, so that the cartridges 2a to 2c are held in the storing shaft» ::'i M Then the locking member 2? is displaced in the direction indicated by the arrow 32, so that the cartridge 2:f is piished into the channel SO and held whilst the cartridge track is freed from the changer in the manner described and sinraltaneously the U-member 24 is locked by the hook 3k now gripping the projection 35 and is held in this position (Figure 2)» Thus» the e.nfcire unit can readily be removed from the changer and the cartridges contained in the unit cannot imlntensi.orially drop outo When the embodiment described the cartridge track together with the storing shaft is removed, the tvo cartridges 2d and 2e remain on the changer,, as will foe apparent from the Figures » In a changer having an arran¬ gement for a continual change of cartridges without the cartridges being played, this may simply be avoided by causing the U-meinber Zh when moved in the direction in¬ dicated by the arrow 25 to actuate the arrangement for continual cartridge change by means of an extension 36, for which purpose the extension 36 may operate a switch 37 shown schematically or may directly actuate the ope¬ rating member concerned » Since the cartridges 2a to 2c are then held in the storing shaft by the holding mom- bera 20, the continuous cartridge change operation only removes the two cartridges 2e and 2d and subsequently in the manner described the locking member 2? may be actuated so that finally all the cartridges are disposed in the cartridge track and the storing shaft» - 13 9 î 4 7 9 6 In the embodiment shown In Figure 3, the car- tx-idge track 9 and the storlxig shaft 8 are directly se¬ cured to the changer ΄ The cartridge track 9 is distin¬ guished, from that shown in Figure 1 in that the chat© 12 also is in the form of a channel 38 which in the direc¬ tion of length of the .storing shaft is curved smbstan- tially into a semicircle» Tims, the cartridges return to the storing shaft in the same position in which they have been 'removed from the playing position, since in fcraval- ling through the channels of the cartridge track they have made a full turn» Such an arrangement is suitable for changers in which before the ejection of a cartridge from the playing position the tape is automatically re¬ wound and, as the case may be, a second track is imroe- diately played » The cartridges can be inserted into the «haft 8 through the aperture 7 « Two opposite lateral walls of the storing ahaffc are each provided with a slit 39 so that the cartridges may laterally be grasped for removal from the shaft» Figure h shows an embodiment in which the car¬ tridge track 9 alone is adapted ta be placed as a separate component on the changer,, so that the Latter «say be «sod with or without the brack„ If desired, the storing shaft 8 also may be individually removable „ In this ambodirnerit the cartridge track is helically curved from the outlet aperture h of the changer to the inlet aperture 7 of the storing shaft 8 so as to make a full turm The cartridges à are moved along this track to a point above the level of the inlet aperture 7 and then slide down the last track part hoknto the storing shaft 80 Similarly to what is the case in the embodiment of Figure 3, the caartridges are not invertedc The track comprises a simple chute hi -which is provided with lateral walls hZ and 43 to prevent the cartridges from falling off» Co.nseqtientiy, all the car¬ tridges present on the track are always accessible from above so that they can simply be removed or exchangedo In the embodiment; shown in Figure 5 9 the car¬ tridge track 9 and th© storing shaft 8 again form a unit adapted to be placed on the changer 10 The cartridge track leading from the outlet ape.rtxire 4 of the changer to the chute 12 here takes the form of a channel 10 curved into the form of a U» The channel comprises a first straight part hh adjoining the outlet aperture h, a semicircular curved part 45 and a second straight part 460 Along the two inner opposed walls 4? of the channel there Is guided an endless conveyor belt which is freely movable and at the two open channel ends and at the semicircular channel curve runs over rollers 48 and is provided with strip- shaped cartridge driving members 50 spaced from one an¬ other by distances equal, to the length of a cartridge.:, The free ends of these driving members extend into a sli.t in the outer wall 51 of the cartridge track so that they protrude into the channel from the inner wall to the outer wall thereof» Ira the direction from on© lateral wall 13 o.f the cartr-idg© track to the other the dri-ving members are narrower than the transverse dimension of the cartridges< To enable the driving members to get from the channel part h6 to the channel part kh the chute 12 is provided with a corresponding slit» The ejector 5 by means of which the cartridge situated in the playing position ±3 prashed out through the outlet aperture k, here is arranged to be moved into the ©harmel part kk in a plane extending beside the driving members 50 and projects through slits in the deck 15 and the outer wall 5'i of the cartridge track» ¥hen a cartridge is removed from the playing position by the ejector .5, it passes through the outlet; aperture 4 into the channel part hh0 Thus it strikes the driving member 50' which it pushes before it during the remainder of its movement in the channel until finally at the end of the range of the ejector it reaches the position occupied by the cartridge 2f in Figure 5° Since such a cartridge pushes before it the driving member in front of it, the entire conveyor belt h9 is actuated and each driving member pushes a cartridge before ifco When a cartridge reaches the curve h5 it is effectively raised into the channel part h6 and sinral taneoimaly inverted by the driving member following it» In the channel part 46 it is again moved on step by step until it reaches the chute 12 and slides into the storing shaft» This arrangement has the particular advantage that, viewed in the direction of length of the storing .1 X shaft 8, it can be made comparatively low since the car¬ tridges are raised through the channel curve 45• In this embodiment the storing shaft 8 at its end cooperating with the changer is provided with three projections 52 which extend into the playing position of a cartridge and engage under a cartridge located in this position» One of these projections is arranged on the la¬ teral wall 53 of the storing shaft and the others are each provided on one of the lateral walls 1.3» This en¬ sures that when the apparatus is removed from the changer not only the cartridges present in the channel but also all the cartridges contained in the storing shaft» in¬ cluding that in the playing position, are removed,, The cartridges can be taken from the apparatus through the aperture 7, and cartridges which may be located in the channel can be moved into the storing shaft by means of the conveyor belt;, which is adapted to be externally moved by hand, for which purpose one of the rollers 48 has a handle 5k projecting beyond the lateral wall 13» As has been mentioned hereinbefore, in the em¬ bodiment shown in Figure 5 the cartridges are inverted during transport» If, however, the cartridges are to be introduced Into the storing shaft with the same side down, the semiciroularly curved channel part h5 may simply be provided with a bag-shapod bulge 55 which extends in the direction of length of the storing shaft and precedes the second straight channel part h6, as is shown in Figure 6„ 914 ? 9 8 When in this case a cartridge is moved throagh the chan¬ nel curve k5 by the associated driving member 50, it is raised into the bulge 50 along the inclined wall part 56 •until it tips ov©r about the edge 57 and then slides into the channel part 46 in the direction indicated by the arrow 58, as is shown in Fig-are 6c Obviously, many modifications of the above- described embodiments are possible •without departing; from the scope of the invention<> m