Sony Corporation

Toshihiko Chimura

Hideo Shimizu

Hirokimi Iwata

Noriyuki Yamazaki

Fumio Sekiguchi

Osamu Shinagawa

Shin Okita

In a magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus having a rotary head drum and a mounting for a tape cassette apart from the drum; a tape loading device is provided with a support ring which is rotatable around the drum and inclined in respect to the plane containing the longitudinal median of the tape in the mounted cassette, a plurality of rotary tape guides spaced apart along the support ring and extending perpendicularly to the latter for withdrawing tape from the cassette and wrapping a portion thereof about the drum in response to turning of the support ring, and a draw-out guide which is movable toward and away from one side of the support ring in synchronism with the turning of the latter, the draw-out guide, when moved away from the support ring, being inclined relative to the plane containing the longitudinal median of the tape in the cassette such that a return run of the tape extending from the draw-out guide back to the cassette leads smoothly to the latter.

Tape loading device for magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus

In an apparatus in which a magnetic tape extending between supply and take-up reels is guided in a helical path about at least a portion of the periphery of a guide drum having one or more rotary magnetic heads associated therewith, and the tape is longitudinally driven, during recording and normal reproducing operations, by a capstan and a pinch roller pressed against the capstan with the tape therebetween, so that video signals are recorded and normally reproduced by the rotary heads in parallel record tracks extending obliquely across the tape at an angle determined by the helical path of the tape on the guide drum, the rotational speed of the heads and the speed of longitudinal movement of the tape by the capstan, and in which, for still motion reproducing operation, the pinch roller is moved away from the capstan to halt the driving of the tape thereby and permit the heads to repeatedly reproduce the signals recorded in one of the oblique tracks while scanning along a line that is at an angle to such track so that guard band noises appear in the reproduced signals; a manually actuable device is provided for conveniently shifting the longitudinal position of the tape relative to the circular path of the rotary magnetic heads during such still motion reproducing operation so as to make such guard band noises as inconspicuous as possible when the reproduced signals are displayed as a still motion video picture. Such manually actuable device includes an arm pivoted about the axis of rotation of the support member for the supply reel and being angularly displaceable in opposed directions, and a drive member mounted on the arm for wedge-like engagement with a cylindrical surface on the supply reel support member when the arm is displaced in one direction and for sliding relative to such surface when the arm is displaced in the opposite direction. Further, the drive member is securely held out of engagement with the supply reel support member during fast forward and rewind operations of the apparatus.

Apparatus for magnetically recording and/or reproducing video signals

A mode selecting device for a tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus includes a plurality of push-button members which are selectively actuable from rest positions to active positions for selecting corresponding operating modes of the apparatus, an electrically energizable driving means, such as, a solenoid, which is momentarily energized in response to the actuation of a selected one of the push-button members to its active position, an operating member movable by said driving means from an inoperative position to an operative position in response to the momentary energizing of the solenoid and being urged to its inoperative position upon deenergizing of the solenoid, a plurality of transmission members each being coupled with the operating member in response to the actuation of a respective one of the push-button members for establishing the corresponding operating mode of the apparatus by the movement of the operating member to its operative position, a locking assembly for locking the operating member in its operative position upon the movement to such position by the momentary energizing of the solenoid, and a lock release operative, for example, by actuation of a stop push-button member, to release the locking assembly and permit the return of the operating member to its inoperative position for halting a previously selected operating mode. In a preferred embodiment, the transmission members are mounted in superposed relation to each other for independent movement parallel to the movement of the operating member, and a plurality of couplings respectively corresponding to the push-button members are provided. Each coupling is displaceable, by actuation of the respective push-button member to its active position, from a disengaged condition, in which the operating member is movable independently of the respective transmission member, to an engaged condition in which the respective transmission member is coupled with the operating member.

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Atsugi, Japan

Toshihiko Chimura