Sony Corporation

Takashi Ohtsuka

Wataru Nonaka

Junichi Saiki

Yoshinari Moriya

An automatic cassette loading and transferring apparatus for use with at least one reproducing unit which is arranged between two housing blocks adjacent the reproducing unit, in which the housing blocks each hold a plurality of cassettes. The cassette transfer device has inlets facing the two cassette housing blocks for transferring the cassettes back and forth between the blocks, as well as to the reproducing unit. The cassette transferring device has at least one cassette receiving portion formed therein with two inlets and includes transport means capable of carrying in and carrying out a cassette from both of the cassette receiving portions in either direction and includes a cassette push-out element used to push out a cassette housed in each of the receiving portions in either the forward or rear facing directions relative to the two cassette housing blocks. A bar code detector is provided on a movable mounting for scanning an identification code on a cassette and is also movable to either inlet entrance of the cassette receiving portion to accommodate cassettes entering from either side.

Video cassette auto changer

An automatic tape cassette loading device is composed of a plurality of cassette storage shelf blocks arranged side-by-side and each including plural tiers of cassette storage compartments for containing respective tape cassettes, a cassette transfer device associated with each of the cassette storage shelf blocks and adapted to perform tape cassette inserting and removing operations in respect to each of the cassette storage compartments of the respective cassette storage shelf block and transferring of tape cassettes over the extent of the respective cassette storage shelf block, a video tape recorder housing block mounted adjacent an end of the side-by-side arrangement of the cassette storage shelf blocks and containing at least one video tape recorder adapted to at least reproduce the signals recorded in a tape cassette delivered thereto from one of the cassette storage shelf blocks, and cassette delivery units provided between the adjoining side-by-side cassette storage shelf blocks and between the video tape recorder housing block and the cassette storage shelf block adjacent thereto and adapted to perform delivery operations of the tape cassettes between the respective blocks. Each of the cassette storage shelf blocks is desirably comprised of two storage shelf portions which are spaced apart to define an aisle therebetween in which the respective cassette transfer device is movable for servicing cassette storage compartments in both shelf portions.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Takashi Ohtsuka