Apparatus having cassette lid opening mechanism for plurality of cassettes of different sizes

In an apparatus which is capable of selectively using a plurality of cassettes of different sizes, a cassette lid opening mechanism includes a first opening member arranged to open the lid of a first cassette by abutting on the lid when the first cassette is inserted into the apparatus, a second opening member arranged to open the lid of a second cassette which is smaller than the first cassette by abutting on the lid when the second cassette is inserted into the apparatus, and a moving mechanism arranged to move the second opening member when detecting the first cassette.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to an apparatus arranged to be capable of using any 
of a plurality of cassettes of different sizes and more particularly to a 
cassette lid opening mechanism of the apparatus. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
The apparatuses of the kind mentioned above include video cassette 
recorders (hereinafter referred to as VCRs). Cassettes containing tapes 
for use by VCRs have been arranged in various sizes according to the 
purposes of their use. Apparatuses which are capable of using such 
cassettes of different sizes have also been contrived. 
However, the conventional apparatuses of this kind have been provided with 
all cassette lid opening members that respectively correspond to the 
cassettes of different sizes usable by the apparatus. The positions of all 
the cassette lid opening members arranged to abut on the lids of different 
cassettes are fixedly disposed within the apparatus. To prevent a cassette 
lid opening member which corresponds to a smaller cassette from 
interfering a larger cassette inserted into the apparatus, therefore, it 
has been necessary to provide some cutout part in the larger cassette. 
With the cassette provided with the cutout part, however, some guide post 
must be arranged within the cassette to cause the tape to make a detour to 
avoid the cutout part in such a way as to prevent the opening member 
inserted into the cutout part from coming into contact with the tape. Such 
arrangement not only causes an increase in cost of the cassette but also 
tends to increase factors of varying the tension of the tape and thus 
might deteriorate the performance of the apparatus. These problems have 
prevented such arrangement from being put into practice. 
Further, since these opening members are located in the neighborhood of an 
opening provided in the cassette for moving the tape into and out of the 
cassette, their presence tends to be impedimental to design work on the 
path of the tape. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In view of the problems mentioned above, it is an object of this invention 
to provide a cassette lid opening mechanism which is capable of opening 
the lids of cassettes of different sizes by means of members dedicated for 
this purpose and is arranged to allow more latitude to design work on a 
tape path without necessitating any additional cutout part in a cassette 
containing the tape. 
To attain the above-stated object, a cassette lid opening device usable for 
a plurality of cassettes of different sizes is arranged according to this 
invention to include a first opening member arranged to open a lid of a 
first cassette by abutting on the lid of the first cassette, a second 
opening member arranged to open a lid of a second cassette which is 
smaller than the first cassette by abutting on the lid of the second 
cassette, and moving means for moving the second opening member when 
detecting the first cassette. 
To attain the object from another point of view, a device for opening a lid 
of a cassette is arranged according to this invention to include a lid 
opening member arranged to be swingable with one end part thereof 
pivotally supported and to open the lid of the cassette with the other end 
part thereof coming to abut on the lid, and a detecting member arranged to 
be swingable with one end part thereof pivotally supported and to have the 
other end part thereof engaging the lid opening member, the one end part 
of the detecting member having a portion formed to protrude farther toward 
the mounted cassette than the one end part of the lid opening member. 
To attain the object from a further point of view, an apparatus capable of 
selectively using a plurality of cassettes of different sizes is arranged 
according to this invention to includes a cassette mounting mechanism 
arranged to permit a selected cassette to be mounted into the apparatus by 
acting according to the size of the selected cassette, and a cassette lid 
opening mechanism including a first opening member arranged to open a lid 
of a first cassette by abutting on the lid of the first cassette when the 
first cassette is inserted into the apparatus, a second opening member 
arranged to open a lid of a second cassette which is smaller than the 
first cassette by abutting on the lid of the second cassette when the 
second cassette is inserted into the apparatus, and moving means for 
moving the second opening member when detecting the first cassette. 
The above and further objects and features of this invention will become 
apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments thereof 
taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The arrangement of embodiments of this invention is described with 
reference to the drawings as follows: In the cases of the embodiments, 
this invention is applied to a magnetic recording and/or reproducing 
apparatus of the kind for recording and/or reproducing information on or 
from a magnetic tape with a head mounted on a rotary drum. 
FIG. 1 shows in outline the arrangement of the magnetic recording and/or 
reproducing apparatus. The illustration includes a chassis 1, a rotary 
drum 102 which is placed on the chassis 1, a capstan 103, a pinch skate 
104 on which a pinch roller is placed, a leading skate 105, a trailing 
skate 106 and a cassette post 107. The pinch skate 104, the leading skate 
105, the trailing skate 106 and the cassette post 107 are arranged to be 
movable along their respective paths 104a, 105a, 106a and 107a, so that as 
shown in FIG. 1, a tape T which is pulled out from a large cassette 10 
mounted on the chassis 1 is wrapped around the rotary drum 102 and a post 
110 disposed on an exit side. 
A take-up reel mount 111 is placed on a take-up reel mount base which is 
not shown. A supply reel mount 112 is placed on a supply reel mount base 
113. Referring to FIG. 2, the take-up reel mount base and the supply reel 
mount base 113 are movable along rails 115 for a small cassette 9 when the 
small cassette 9 is mounted on the chassis 1. The large cassette 10 which 
is shown in FIG. 1 and the small cassette 9 which is shown in FIG. 2 thus 
can be set in their respective predetermined positions. 
The cassette 10 or 9 is inserted and held within a cassette holder 121 
(FIG. 1) when the cassette holder 121 is in a raised position. When the 
cassette holder 121 descends, the cassette 10 or 9 is mounted on the reel 
mounts 111 and 112. When the cassette holder 121 is descending, the lid of 
the cassette 10 or 9 is opened by a cassette lid opening mechanism which 
is arranged as described below: 
First Embodiment 
FIG. 3 shows the essential parts of a first embodiment of this invention. A 
first opening member 2 is secured to the upper surface of the chassis 1. 
When the cassette holder 121 which is shown in FIG. 1 is in a lowered 
state, a fore end part 2a of the first opening member 2 engages a lid 10a 
of the large cassette 10, as shown in FIG. 4(b). 
A small-cassette lid opening mechanism 50 which represents a feature of 
this invention is described as follows: Referring to FIG. 3, a fitting 
base 3 is secured to the chassis 1. A shaft 5 is secured to the fitting 
base 3. One end part 4a of a large-cassette detecting lever 4 is pivotally 
supported by the shaft 5. A bent part 3a which protrudes from an upper 
right end part of the fitting base 3 is arranged to limit the clockwise 
swinging movement of the large-cassette detecting lever 4, as viewed from 
the right-hand side in FIG. 3. The large-cassette detecting lever 4 is 
disposed in a position at a distance from the side face 9b of the small 
cassette 9, as shown in FIG. 4(a). However, an abutting part 4c which is 
formed at the other end part 4b of the large-cassette detecting lever 4 is 
arranged to be capable of abutting on the bottom face 10b of the large 
cassette 10, as shown in FIG. 4(b). This end part 4b also has an engaging 
part 4d formed to limit the clockwise swinging movement, as viewed from 
the right-hand side in FIG. 3, of a second opening member 6 which is 
arranged to abut on the lid 9a of the small cassette 9. 
The second opening member 6 has one end part 6a thereof pivotally supported 
by a shaft 7 which is secured to the fitting base 3. The counterclockwise 
movement, as viewed from the right-hand side in FIG. 3, of the second 
opening member 6 is limited by a bent part 3b which protrudes from the 
upper left end part of the fitting base 3. The other end part 6b of the 
second opening member 6 has an abutting part 6c which is arranged to abut 
on the lid 9a of the small cassette 9 and an engaging part 6d which is 
arranged to engage the engaging part 4d of the large-cassette detecting 
lever 4 on the side of the second opening member 6 away from the side face 
9b of the small cassette 9. Although it will be described later, the lid 
9a of the small cassette 9 can be opened by the second opening member 6, 
as shown in FIG. 4(a), in a state where the engaging part 6d of the second 
opening member 6 is engaging the engaging part 4d of the large-cassette 
detecting lever 4. Further, the end part 4a of the large-cassette 
detecting lever 4 and the end part 6a of the second opening member 6 are 
respectively provided with lock parts 4e and 6e which protrude from these 
end parts. A coiled spring 8 is stretched between the lock parts 4e and 
6e. 
As shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), in the case of this embodiment, the 
respective lengths l and L of the opening parts 9c and 10c of the small 
and large cassettes 9 and 10 are arranged to be equal to each other. 
Therefore, the bottom face 10b of the large cassette 10 can be arranged to 
have a large area to allow the abutting part 4c of the large-cassette 
detecting lever 4 and the abutting part 6c of the second opening member 6 
to abut on the bottom face 10b. Further, the arrangement of having the 
opening parts 9c and 10c to have the same length permits use of one and 
the same tape loading mechanism for both the cassettes 9 and 10 which are 
of different sizes. 
In mounting the small cassette 9 into the apparatus, the small-cassette lid 
opening mechanism 50 operates as described below with reference to FIGS. 
5(a) to 5(d): 
Referring to FIG. 5(a), the cassette 9 which is inserted into the cassette 
holder 121 (FIG. 1) moves downward, as viewed in FIG. 5(a), to be mounted 
on the reel mounts 111 and 112 which are disposed on the chassis 1 as 
shown in FIG. 1. The small cassette 9 then first comes to have its lid 9a 
abut on the abutting part 6c of the second opening member 6, as shown in 
FIG. 5(b). The abutting part 4c of the large-cassette detecting lever 4 
then does not abut on the lid 9a. Further, although the second opening 
member 6 then tries to swing clockwise on the shaft 7 against the urging 
force of the spring 8, its engaging part 6d abuts on the engaging part 4d 
of the large-cassette detecting lever 4 to prevent the second opening 
member 6 from swinging. 
When the small cassette 9 further moves downward as viewed on the drawing 
from its position as described above, the lid 9a of the cassette 9 is 
pushed by the abutting part 6c to rotate clockwise, as shown in FIG. 5(c). 
When the cassette 9 moves still further downward, the lid 9a is fully 
opened with the cassette 9 mounted on the reel mounts 111 and 112, as 
shown in FIG. 5(d). While the small cassette 9 is moving from the position 
of FIG. 5(c) down to the position of FIG. 5(d), the second opening member 
6 is pushed to move counterclockwise by its abutting relation to the lid 
9a. However, this movement is limited by the bent part 3b of the fitting 
base 3. 
In mounting the large cassette 10 into the apparatus, the small-cassette 
lid opening mechanism 50 operates as described below with reference to 
FIGS. 6(a) to 6(d): 
Referring to FIG. 6(a), the large cassette 10 which is inserted into the 
cassette holder 121 (FIG. 1) moves downward, as viewed in FIG. 6(a), to be 
mounted on the reel mounts 111 and 112 disposed on the chassis 1. The 
large cassette 10 then first comes to have its bottom face 10b abut on the 
abutting part 4c of the large-cassette detecting lever 4, as shown in FIG. 
6(b). After that, the large-cassette detecting lever 4 swings 
counterclockwise on the shaft 5 against the urging force of the spring 8. 
When the large-cassette detecting lever 4 swings further, the bottom face 
10b of the cassette 10 comes to abut also on the abutting part 6c of the 
second opening member 6. At this point of time, the engaging part 6d of 
the second opening member 6 does not engage the engaging part 4d of the 
large-cassette detecting lever 4. Therefore, when the large cassette 10 is 
moved further downward as viewed on the drawing, the large-cassette 
detecting lever 4 and the second opening member 6 further swing against 
the urging force of the spring 8. When the cassette 10 moves to a 
predetermined extent, the lid 10a abuts on the fore end part 2a of the 
first opening member 2 to be caused to rotate clockwise, as shown in FIG. 
6(c). When the large cassette 10 moves still further downward, the lid 10a 
comes into an open state with the large cassette 10 mounted on the reel 
mounts 111 and 112 (FIG. 1), as shown in FIG. 6(d). Further, in ejecting 
the large cassette 10, the large-cassette detecting lever 4 and the second 
opening member 6 are brought back to their original positions as shown in 
FIG. 6(a) by the urging force of the spring 8. 
While the two large and small cassettes are arranged to be usable in the 
case of the embodiment described by way of example above, it is possible 
to handle cassettes of more than two different sizes by arranging an 
additional mechanism in the same manner as the lid opening mechanism 50. 
Second Embodiment 
A second embodiment of this invention is described with reference to FIG. 7 
to FIGS. 9(a) to 9(d). In these figures, all parts that are the same as 
those of the first embodiment are indicated by the same reference numerals 
and the details of them are omitted from the following description. The 
second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the second 
opening member is arranged to engage the detecting lever in such a way as 
to have the second opening member act in association with the action of 
the detecting lever. 
A fitting base 13 is secured to the upper surface of the chassis 1. A shaft 
15 is secured to the fitting base 13. One end part 14a of a large-cassette 
detecting lever 14 is pivotally supported by the shaft 15. The clockwise 
swing of the large-cassette detecting lever 14, as viewed from the 
right-hand side in FIG. 7, is restricted by a bent part 13a which 
protrudes from an upper right end part of the fitting base 13. The 
detecting lever 14 is disposed in a position at a distance from one side 
face 9b of the small cassette 9. However, one end part 14b of the 
detecting lever 14 is arranged to be capable of abutting on the bottom 
face 10b of the large cassette 10 (see FIG. 4(b)). The detecting lever 14 
has an engaging part 14c which is arranged in the neighborhood of the end 
part 14b to engage a second opening member 16. 
One end part 16a of the second opening member 16 is pivotally supported by 
a shaft 17 which is secured to the fitting base 13. The second opening 
member 16 has an engaging groove 16c formed therein. The engaging part 14c 
of the detecting lever 14 engages the groove 16c of the second opening 
member 16. The middle part of the engaging groove 16c is formed in an 
arcuate shape to allow the detecting lever 14 to swing. The engaging 
groove 16c has groove parts which are formed in a shape protruding from 
both ends of the arcuate middle part. The second opening member 16 is thus 
arranged to act in association with the counterclockwise swinging action 
of the detecting lever 14 after the detecting lever 14 has moved to a 
predetermined extent. The clockwise swing of the second opening member 16 
is restricted by the detecting lever 14 the clockwise swing of which is 
restricted by the bent part 13a of the fitting base 13. On the other hand, 
the counterclockwise swing of the second opening member 16 is restricted 
by the engaging part 14c of the detecting lever 14 which engages the 
protruding part of the engaging groove 16c of the second opening member 
16. The other end part 16b of the second opening member 16 is arranged to 
abut on the lid 9a of the small cassette 9. The second opening member 16 
is arranged to be capable of opening the lid 9a of the small cassette 9 as 
shown in FIG. 7 in a manner as will be described in detail later herein. A 
lock part 14d is formed to protrude from the end part 14a of the 
large-cassette detecting lever 14. A coiled spring 8 is stretched between 
this lock part 4d and a lock part 13b which protrudes from the fitting 
base 13. 
In mounting the small cassette 9 into the apparatus, the small-cassette lid 
opening mechanism operates as described below with reference to FIGS. 8(a) 
to 8(d): 
Referring to FIG. 8(a), the small cassette 9 which is inserted into the 
cassette holder 121 (FIG. 1) is moved downward, as viewed on FIG. 8(a), to 
be mounted on the reel mounts 111 and 112 (FIG. 1) disposed on the chassis 
1. The end part 16b of the second opening member 16 first comes to abut on 
the lid 9a of the small cassette 9, as shown in FIG. 8(b). The second 
opening member 16 then tries to swing clockwise on the shaft 7. However, 
since the engaging part 14c of the detecting lever 14 engages the end part 
of the engaging groove 16c, the clockwise swing of the second opening 
member 16 is restricted. 
When the small cassette 9 further moves downward from the above-stated 
position, the lid 9a of the cassette 9 is pushed by the end part 16b of 
the second opening member 16 to rotate clockwise, as shown in FIG. 8(c). 
When the small cassette 9 is mounted on the reel mounts 111 and 112 (FIG. 
1) by moving downward still further, the lid 9a comes into an open state, 
as shown in FIG. 8(d). 
In mounting the large cassette 10 into the apparatus, the small-cassette 
lid opening mechanism operates as described below with reference to FIGS. 
9(a) to 9(d): 
Referring to FIG. 9(a), the large cassette 10 which is inserted into the 
cassette holder 121 (FIG. 1) is moved downward, as viewed on FIG. 9(a), to 
be mounted on the reel mounts 111 and 112 (FIG. 1) disposed on the chassis 
1. The end part 14b of the large-cassette detecting lever 14 then first 
comes to abut on the bottom face 10b of the large cassette 10, as shown in 
FIG. 9(b). After that, the detecting lever 14 swings counterclockwise on 
the shaft 15 against the urging force of the spring 8. In the initial 
stage of the swinging action of the detecting lever 14, the engaging part 
14c of the detecting lever 14 moves within the groove part protruding from 
the end of the arcuate middle groove part of the engaging groove 16c and, 
therefore, the second opening member 16 does not swing. However, when the 
detecting lever 14 further swings, the engaging part 14c comes out of the 
protruding groove part and comes to push the arcuate groove part and to 
cause the second opening member 16 to swing clockwise. When the large 
cassette 10 is moved further downward as shown in FIG. 9(b), the detecting 
lever 14 swings further against the urging force of the spring 8. In 
association with this action, the second opening member 16 also swings. 
When the large cassette 10 has moved to a predetermined extent, the fore 
end part 2a of the first opening member 2 abuts on the lid 10a of the 
large cassette 10, as shown in FIG. 9(c), to cause the lid 10a to rotate 
clockwise. When the large cassette 10 moves still further downward, as 
shown in FIG. 9(d), the large cassette 10 is mounted on the reel mounts 
111 and 112. In this state, the lid 10a comes into an open state. Since 
the engaging part 14c of the detecting lever 14 then pushes the protruding 
end part of the engaging groove 16c, the second opening member 16 does not 
swing counterclockwise under this condition. Further, in ejecting the 
large cassette 10, the urging force of the spring 8 causes the detecting 
lever 14 and the second opening member 16 to come back to their original 
positions as shown in FIG. 9(a). 
Third Embodiment 
The following describes a third embodiment of this invention with reference 
to FIGS. 10 and 11(a) to 11(c). In FIGS. 10 and 11(a) to 11(c), the parts 
of the third embodiment that are arranged to act in the same manner as 
those of the first and second embodiments are indicated by the same 
reference numerals and the details of them are omitted from the following 
description. The third embodiment differs from the first and second 
embodiments in that a lever-like stopper is arranged to engage the second 
opening member and, when the large cassette is detected, the stopper is 
caused to swing by means of a solenoid. 
A fitting base 23 which is secured to the chassis 1 has a shaft 25 secured 
to the fitting base 23. One end part 24a of the lever-like stopper 24 is 
pivotally supported by the shaft 25. The clockwise swing, as viewed from 
the right-hand side in FIG. 10, of the stopper 24 is limited by a bent 
part 23a which protrudes from the fitting base 23. Further, the stopper 24 
is disposed in a position at a distance from one side face 9b and a lid 9a 
of the small cassette 9. The stopper 24 is provided with an engaging part 
24c which protrudes from the other end part 24b of the stopper 24 and is 
arranged to engage the second opening member 26. 
The second opening member 26 has its one end part 26a pivotally supported 
by a shaft 27 which is secured to the fitting base 23. The second opening 
member 26 is provided with an engaging groove 26c which is arranged to 
engage the engaging part 24c of the stopper 24 and has its first and 
second linear parts formed approximately in an L-shape. The second opening 
member 26 is thus arranged to come to act in association with the 
counterclockwise swing of the stopper 24 after the stopper 24 has moved to 
a predetermined extent. Further, the clockwise swing of the second opening 
member 26 is restricted by the stopper 24 which has its clockwise swing 
restricted by the bent part 23a of the fitting base 23. The 
counterclockwise swing of the second opening member 26, on the other hand, 
is restricted by the engagement of the engaging part 24c of the stopper 24 
with the first linear part of the engaging groove 26c of the second 
opening member 26. Further, the other end part 26b of the second opening 
member 26 is arranged to abut on the lid 9a of the small cassette 9. In a 
state as shown in FIG. 10, the lid 9a of the small cassette 9 can be 
opened, because the clockwise swing of the second opening member 26 is 
restricted by the stopper 24. 
Further, a protruding end part 24d is formed to protrude from the end part 
24a of the stopper 24. A slot 24e is formed in the protruding end part 
24d. Meanwhile, a solenoid 28 is secured to the chassis 1. The solenoid 28 
has a T-shaped fore end and has one end part of the output shaft 28a of 
the solenoid 28 engage the slot 24e. A coiled spring 8 is stretched 
between the other end part of the output shaft 28a of the solenoid 28 and 
a lock part 23b which protrudes from the fitting base 23. The solenoid 28 
is connected to a control means 30, which controls the energized and 
deenergized states of the attracting force of the solenoid 28 on the basis 
of a result of discrimination made by a discriminating means 29. The 
discriminating means 29 makes a discrimination between the large and small 
sizes of the cassette loaded. 
In mounting the large cassette 10 into the apparatus, the third embodiment 
operates as described below with reference to FIGS. 11(a) to 11(c): 
Referring to FIG. 11(a), the size of the large cassette 10 which is 
inserted into the cassette holder 121 (FIG. 1) is discriminated by the 
discriminating means 29. The result of discrimination is transmitted to 
the control means 30. With the cassette thus determined to be the large 
cassette 10, the control means 30 causes the solenoid 28 to attract and 
move the stopper 24 counterclockwise against the urging force of the 
spring 8. The second opening member 26 swings clockwise in association 
with the movement of the stopper 24. FIG. 11(b) shows a state obtained 
after completion of the swinging movement. When this state is obtained, 
the cassette holder 121 is released from its locked state to be allowed to 
move downward as viewed on the drawing. In other words, the cassette 
holder 121 is arranged to be unlocked upon detection of completion of the 
attracting action of the solenoid 28. Further, in the event of a mechanism 
which is arranged to automatically move the cassette holder 121, a 
mechanism for locking the cassette holder 121 is not necessary. It is also 
possible to arrange the attracting action of the solenoid 28 to take place 
somewhat earlier than the moving action of the cassette holder 121. When 
the large cassette 10 is moved downward, as viewed on the drawing, from 
its position of FIG. 11(b), the lid 10a of the cassette 10 is rotated 
clockwise by the first opening member 2, as shown in FIG. 11(c). 
When the cassette inserted is the small cassette 9, the clockwise swing of 
the second opening member 26 is restricted by the stopper 24 which is 
caused to swing by the urging force of the spring 8 with the solenoid 28 
not operated to attract. Therefore, the lid 9a of the small cassette 9 is 
opened by the second opening member 26. 
Further, the stopper 24 may be arranged to be driven by some other means 
such as a motor, instead of by the solenoid 28. 
Each of the embodiments described is arranged to be capable of opening the 
lids of cassettes of different sizes using the respective dedicated 
members, to increase the latitude of arrangement for pulling out the tape 
contained in the cassette and to obviate the necessity of having any 
additional guide posts, so that an increase in cost and variations of 
tension can be easily suppressed.