JPH0224864A - Automatic video cassette loading device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically load four video cassettes with a small-sized device by holding the four cassettes by means of a cassette holder placed on a video deck and inserting the cassettes into a cassette inserting port after moving the cassettes to a standby position by turning the holder. CONSTITUTION:This automatic video cassette loading device 11 holds four video cassettes in a flyflot like state by means of a cassette holder 12 provided on the upper surface of a household video deck 2. At the time of performing continuous absent recording of a long-time program, a cassette clamper 18 is turned to a standby position in accordance with a number reading sensor 19 by actuating a motor 16 in the normal direction. Then the holder 12 is advanced by driving the motor 16 in the opposite direction and, after one of the four cassettes 5 is faced to a cassette inserting port 3 by causing the clamper 18 to make oscillating motions in the vertical direction, the cassette 5 is fed into the port 3 by retreating the holder 12. After recording the cassette is discharged from the deck 2 in the opposite way to the loading time and the next cassette is loaded in the above mentioned way. Thus continuous recording can be performed to the four cassettes to the upmost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic video cassette loading device that enables automatic loading of video cassettes into a tape deck.

[Conventional technology] In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of families who are away from home during the day due to single-person assignments or dual-income families, or families who are away from home for long periods of time for family trips, and this has led to an increase in the number of families who are away from home for long periods of time due to reasons such as single-person assignments or dual-income families. Magnetic recording and reproducing devices that can do this are very popular. On the other hand, for example, different types of programs such as serial dramas, English conversation programs, or cooking programs,
An increasing number of users are requesting an answering machine recording function that includes the creation of a video library, such as the ability to edit and record programs by program content.

By the way, most automatic tape cassette loading devices that automatically load video cassettes into tape decks have been developed for commercial use. A device generally similar to the video cassette automatic loading device l shown in FIG. The automatic video cassette loading device 1 holds 6Il video cassettes 5 arranged on the circumference in a multi-stage stacked rotating stocker 4 arranged in front of the cassette insertion slot 3 of the tape deck 2, and the rotating stocker 4 is vertically movable. The configuration is such that a desired video cassette 5 is guided to the cassette insertion slot 3 from among the many video cassettes 5 stored in the cassette 5 using a planar transport mechanism 6.

[Problem H to be solved by the invention] The above conventional video cassette automatic loading device l is for business use, and searches for and automatically loads a requested video cassette 5 from among a large number of prepared video cassettes 5. Because the device was intended to be used as a camera, manual loading from a device other than device 1 was naturally not considered, and the device could not be used as is for home video decks. In addition, since the six video cassettes 5 held in the same layer in the rotating stocker 4 are arranged in a tomoe shape along each side of a regular hexagon, there is no waste between the central axis of the rotating stocker 4 and each video cassette 5. Therefore, a considerable amount of space was required for installing the equipment, and the overall size of the equipment was unavoidable. Furthermore, the planar transport mechanism 6 that guides the video cassette 5 from the rotary stocker 4 to the cassette insertion slot 3 of the tape deck 2 has a complicated structure, which can easily cause malfunctions, and installation requires specialized adjustment. Since it depends on the manufacturer, it is virtually impossible to convert it to home use, which is maintenance-free as a general rule.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention solves the above problems, and includes a tape deck that is placed on top of a tape deck, holds four video cassettes as if forming a cassette around a rotating shaft, A cassette holder rotates and guides it to any position along the circumference as the rotating shaft rotates, and of the four video cassettes held by this cassette holder, the video cassette located at a specific standby position is placed on the tape deck. The device is characterized by comprising a guide mechanism that guides the cassette to the cassette insertion slot.

[Function] This invention holds four video cassettes by a cassette holder placed on the top of a video deck so as to form a mouth around a rotation axis, and rotates the video cassettes to a standby position by a guide mechanism. By guiding the video cassette to the cassette insertion slot, it is possible to automatically load four video cassettes using the minimum necessary space.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. 1 to 3 are schematic perspective views showing different operating states of an embodiment of the automatic video cassette loading device of the present invention, and FIG. 4 shows the automatic video cassette loading operation in the long-time continuous recording mode. It is a flowchart for explaining.

In Figure 1, video cassette automatic loading device l! A cassette holder 12 is provided on the top surface of a housing of a home-use video deck 2 so as to be movable back and forth, and four video cassettes 5 are held in a positional relationship such that the cassette holder 12 forms an opening around a rotating shaft 13. It consists of a guide mechanism 14 that guides one of the cassettes located at a specific rotational position (standby position) to the cassette insertion slot 3 of the tape deck 2.

The cassette holder 12 is mounted on a base 15 mounted and fixed on the upper surface of the tape deck 2, and is mounted on a motor lB that can rotate intermittently.
Four arms 1 extend radially from a rotating shaft 13 that is rotatably driven by a motor 16.
A cassette clamper I8 for clamping the video cassette 5 is provided at the tip of each of the video cassettes 7, respectively. Each arm 17 can swing vertically by the reverse rotation power of the motor 16 at a position (standby position) where the cassette clamper 18 faces the cassette insertion slot 3 of the video deck 2, and also holds a cassette holder! 2 is moved in the front and back direction by the reversing power of the motor 6, and the cassette clamper 18
It is configured such that the video cassette 5 held therebetween can be carried in and out of the cassette insertion slot 3.

That is, the motor 16 used in the example rotates the cassette holder 12 intermittently by 90 degrees when driving in the forward direction, and does not rotate the cassette holder 12 when driving in the reverse direction, but instead drives the cassette holder 12 forward and backward on the base 15. Or, the cassette clamper 18 in the standby position is oscillated in the vertical direction. Note that the guide mechanism 14 includes a motor 16 and this motor 1.
Mechanism and arm for advancing and retracting the cassette holder 12 using 6! It consists of a mechanism that drives the swing of the 7.

The cassette holder 12 shown in the embodiment also includes a number reading sensor 19 that reads the identification number attached to the cassette clamper 18 that has reached the standby position, and a cassette clamp 7 (18 A tape remaining amount sensor 20 that detects the remaining amount of tape in the video cassette 5 held by the cassette clamper 18 and a tape rewinding mechanism 21 that rewinds the video cassette 5 held by the cassette clamper 18 located one position past the standby position are attached. It is.

When recording a long program that exceeds the recording capacity of the video cassette 5, the motor 16 is first started in the normal rotation as shown in step (101) in FIG. Then, according to the number reading sensor 19, the cassette clamper 18 clamps the desired video cassette 5.
to the standby position. When the cassette clamper 18 reaches the standby position, a judgment step (102) is performed and the motor 16 is started in reverse rotation. As a result, the cassette holder 12 is first driven forward and reaches the position shown in FIG.
Next is the cassette clamper! 8 is driven to swing from the standby position from top to bottom. As shown in FIG. 3, when the cassette clamper 18 finishes descending to the lowest position, the video cassette 5 clamped by the clamper just faces the cassette insertion opening 3, so that the cassette holder 12 is moved by the motor 1.
When the video cassette 5 is moved backward by the reverse rotation power of the video cassette 6, the video cassette 5 held therein is sent into the cassette insertion slot 3.

The video cassette 5 transferred from the cassette holder I2 into the cassette insertion slot 3 is moved by the tape remaining amount sensor 20.
Recording is performed within the measured remaining tape capacity.

When the recording on the video cassette 5 is completed, in step (105) following step (+04), the tape is ejected from the tape deck 2 in the completely reverse order of the loading operation. Then, in response to the determination in step (106), continuous recording is performed on up to four volumes of video cassette 5 until the final step (107).

In this way, the video cassette automatic loading device 11 has the following features:
By holding the 4 (11) video cassettes 5 in the position where the opening is formed, a compact and efficient cassette holder 12 can be formed, and the tape deck 2 can be held without worrying too much about height constraints. Since it can be placed on the top surface, the video cassette 5 can be easily manually inserted from other than the cassette holder 12.Furthermore, the rotational power of the single motor I6 allows selection of the video cassette 5 and insertion into the cassette insertion slot 3. Since the mechanism can be guided by a plurality of power sources, complication of the mechanism due to a plurality of power sources can be effectively avoided.

Moreover, since the use of each operation is performed according to the rotation direction of the motor 16, it is possible to mechanically switch the guiding operation by the guiding mechanism 14, and the video cassette 5 can be guided using the reversing power of the motor 16. , can be easily realized by a mechanism that converts a rotational motion into a horizontal sliding motion and a mechanism that converts a rotational motion into a swinging motion.

In addition, when performing editing recording by program, by detecting the identification number of the cassette clamper 18 in the standby position with the number reading sensor 19, the video cassette 5 prepared for each content such as a drama series, English conversation, or cooking program is detected. can be left to mechanical selection. In addition, the remaining tape amount of the video cassette 5 to be held is detected by the tape remaining amount sensor 2.
By detecting the video cassette 5 whose tape remaining amount does not meet a certain standard, necessary measures such as replacing or rewinding the video cassette 5 can be appropriately instructed. Furthermore, by providing a tape rewinding mechanism 21 that rewinds the tape of the video cassette 5 held by the cassette holder 12, it is possible to prevent clumsiness such as rewinding in the middle of playback when continuously playing a long-recorded program. , can be prevented.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention allows four video cassettes to be held and rotated to the standby position by a cassette holder provided at the top of the video deck, each time the four video cassettes are extended around the rotation axis. Since the guide mechanism guides the moved video cassette to the cassette insertion slot, four video cassettes can be inserted into the slot, which provides sufficient recording capacity for home use, considering the recording time. By holding the cassette holder in this position, it is as if the four tatami mats were surrounding a rotating shaft installed in the half-tatami area of a four-and-a-half tatami room, creating the most compact and efficient cassette holder. Even for tape decks that are often stored in TV racks, etc., which have restrictions, it can be placed on top of the tape deck without worrying about height restrictions, so it is also possible to manually insert video cassettes from places other than the cassette holder. It has excellent effects such as being easily possible.

Further, in the present invention, the cassette holder is driven by a motor capable of forward and reverse rotation, the cassette holder is rotated by the forward rotation power of this motor, and the cassette holder is guided from the video cassette standby position to the insertion position by the reverse rotation power. As a result, it is possible to select the video cassette and guide it to the cassette insertion slot using the rotational power of a single motor, and it is possible to avoid complicating the mechanism due to multiple power sources. Since Q is selectively used depending on the rotational direction of the motor, it is possible to mechanically switch the guiding operation of the guiding mechanism.

In addition, by moving the entire cassette holder forward and backward after it has been ejected, the video cassette in the standby position is guided into and out of the cassette insertion slot. The effects can be easily achieved through a mechanism that converts the motion into horizontal sliding motion.

In addition, by driving the cassette clamper provided in the cassette holder up and down in the vertical direction to guide the video cassette in the standby position to the cassette insertion slot, the video cassette can be guided using the reversing power of the motor. ,
Through a mechanism that converts a rotating motion into a swinging motion, effects such as being easily realized can be achieved.

In addition, by installing a number reading sensor on the cassette holder to read the identification number of the cassette clamper in the standby position, when editing and recording programs by content, video cassettes by content such as drama series, English conversation, or cooking programs can be edited. By specifying the identification number, you can easily leave the selection to mechanical selection, and in particular, by specifying the video cassettes sequentially, you can also record while you are away for a long time, which cannot be recorded on the -volume video cassette. This has the advantage of being easily possible.

In addition, by installing a tape remaining amount sensor in the cassette holder to detect the remaining amount of tape in the video cassette being held, necessary measures such as replacing or rewinding a video cassette whose remaining amount of tape does not meet a certain standard can be taken. , the front side can be appropriately instructed, and the total recordable time of four video cassettes can be easily managed.

In addition, by providing the cassette holder with a tape rewinding mechanism that rewinds the tape of the held video cassette, it is possible to quickly take measures to play back the video cassette that has finished recording, especially when recording for a long time. This has the effect of preventing clumsiness such as rewinding in the middle of playback when continuously playing a program.

Furthermore, the guide mechanism collects the video cassette that has been loaded and ejected from the cassette insertion slot after recording or playing back into the cassette holder at the standby position, then rotates the cassette holder, and then returns the video cassette to the standby position. By introducing a new video cassette into the cassette insertion slot, long-term continuous recording or continuous playback is possible automatically. For example, by making the cassette holder more compact and incorporating it into the tape deck, it is possible to The product image can be sufficiently enhanced as a home AV device that is significantly differentiated by features not found in other products.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 are schematic perspective views showing different operating states of an embodiment of the automatic video cassette loading device of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the automatic video cassette loading operation in the long-term continuous recording mode, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of a conventional video cassette automatic loading device. 211. Tape deck, 3. ,,cassette insertion slot,5.
,, video cassette, 11. ,, Video cassette automatic loading device, 12. ,,cassette holder,13. ,
, rotation axis, 14. ,,guidance mechanism. 15. Base 16. ,, motor, 17° arm,
1B, Cassette clamper 19° Number reading senna, 20. ,,Tape remaining amount sensor, 2+,,,Tape rewind mechanism. Figure 1

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) It is placed on the top of the tape deck and holds four video cassettes in a circle around the rotation axis,
A cassette holder that rotates and guides it to any position along the circumference as the rotation axis rotates, and a video cassette that is located at a specific standby position among the four video cassettes held by this cassette holder is placed on a tape deck. A video cassette automatic loading device comprising a guide mechanism for guiding the video cassette to a cassette insertion slot. (2) The cassette holder is driven by a motor capable of forward and reverse rotation, and the forward rotation power of this motor rotates to guide the video cassette to the standby position, and the reverse rotation power of the motor moves the video cassette in the standby position to the tape. 2. The automatic video cassette loading device according to claim 1, wherein the video cassette automatic loading device is configured to guide the video cassette into the deck. (3) The cassette holder includes a rotating shaft that is rotationally driven by the normal rotation power of a motor that can be rotated forward and backward, four arms that extend from this rotating shaft, and is attached to the tip of each arm, and holds the video cassette. 2. The automatic video cassette loading device according to claim 1, further comprising a cassette clamper which is driven forward and backward in a forward and backward direction by the reverse rotation power of a motor. (4) The cassette holder includes a rotating shaft rotationally driven by the forward rotation power of a motor capable of forward and reverse rotation, four arms extending from this rotating shaft, and attached to the tip of each arm, which holds the video cassette. Claim 1: wherein each arm is configured to be vertically driven up and down by reversing power of a motor in a standby position where the cassette clamper faces a cassette insertion slot of a tape deck. The video cassette automatic loading device described. (5) The cassette holder includes four cassette clampers with identification numbers that clamp video cassettes, and a number reading sensor that reads the identification numbers of the cassette clampers in a standby position. automatic video cassette loading device. (6) The video cassette automatic loading device according to claim 1, wherein the cassette holder is equipped with a tape remaining amount sensor that detects the amount of tape remaining in the video cassette being held. (7) The video cassette automatic loading device according to claim 1, wherein the cassette holder is provided with a tape rewinding mechanism for rewinding the tape of the video cassette. (8) The guide mechanism collects the video cassette ejected to the cassette insertion position after loading and recording or playback into the cassette holder at the standby position, then rotates the cassette holder, and returns the video cassette to the standby position. 2. The automatic video cassette loading device according to claim 1, wherein the video cassette loading device is configured to feed another video cassette into the cassette insertion slot.