The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 04, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 09, 1996
Stephane MA. d'Alayer de Costemore d'Arc, Genappe, BE;
Staar S.A., Brussels, BE;
Abstract
A centering mechanism for centering cassettes in a defined location in a housing of a cassette loading/unloading system for recording/playback apparatus, each of the cassettes having a shell with a bottom face and an information carrier within the shell, and each of the cassettes having a similar cavity with a standard profile on the bottom face of the cassette which provides access to the information carrier. The centering mechanism includes a centering tab and a movable tab support, the centering tab being supported by the tab support in a cassette centering position projecting vertically above a bottom wall of the housing where it is located to be received in a cavity of a cassette placed in the defined location in the housing and in a non-interfering position free and clear of the housing and cassette, the centering tab defining a profile which approximately matches the standard profile of the cassette cavity, and a member which is connected to move the tab support and displace the centering tab between its cassette centering position and its non-interfering position during loading/unloading operations so that the centering mechanism does not interfere with recording/playback of information on the information support.