Cassette storage and dispensing device

A storage and dispensing cabinet in which films, tape cassettes or similar articles are stored in parallel open-ended slots. The cassettes are held in the slots and selectively ejected by an ejector mechanism formed by resilient retention members at the front ends of the slots and resilient drive members at the back ends of the slots, the retention and drive members being secured to a base that provides a raised platform on which the cassettes are supported. The retention members for the various slots are integrally formed as a single piece, the drive members being integrally formed in a similar manner, but separately from the retention members. When a cassette is to be ejected, the appropriate retention member is depressed, causing an abutment that normally engages the leading edge of the cassette to be withdrawn. The drive member then springs forward to its relaxed position, partially ejecting the cassette so that it can be withdrawn. In another form of the invention, the slots extend horizontally and each retention member includes a lip along the bottom of an opening at the front of the slot. The retention member can be flexed downwardly to allow the stored article to pass over the lip as it is forced outwardly by a drive member. Alternatively, the article can be lifted above the lip, allowing the drive member to push it partially out of the slot.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to storage and dispensing cabinets for tape 
and film cassettes and similar articles, and more particularly to such 
cabinets provided with mechanisms for ejecting selected cassettes. 
A variety of cabinets have been proposed for the storage of tape and film 
cassettes, exemplary cabinets being described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,866,990 
and 3,969,007. The increasing number of cassettes in use has created a 
need to improve upon the construction of such cabinets to reduce their 
cost, while improving upon their operational features and reliability. 
In general, previously known cabinets of the above type employ a series of 
open-ended parallel slots in which the cassettes are inserted. An ejector 
mechanism is provided which includes a tab or button at the front end of 
each slot by which a member at the rear of the slot is caused to push the 
cassette forward so that it can be grasped and removed manually. In some 
instances, a plurality of interconnected moving parts are used to form a 
separate ejector for each slot. In other devices, a flexible member 
extends beneath each slot and bends to eject the cassette when depressed. 
In each of these cabinet constructions, the ejector must extend from the 
front of the cabinet to the back. 
An objective of this invention is to simplify the construction of the 
cabinet, reducing its assembly cost and minimizing the quantity of 
materials required, while providing a highly reliable cabinet and a 
simple, smooth functioning ejector mechanism. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention resides in an improved storage and dispensing cabinet 
for tape and film cassettes and similar articles that is of simple and 
economical construction, eliminating the need for an ejector mechanism 
that extends from the front to the back of each slot. Each cassette can be 
retained at its front end by a resilient retention member that normally 
extends into the open end of a slot, but is bendable so as to be withdrawn 
from the path of the cassette being inserted or removed. At the rear of 
the slot is a resilient drive member that is biased for movement toward a 
relaxed position in which it projects into the slot extending toward the 
retention member. When a retention member is depressed to release a 
cassette, the coacting drive member springs forward and pushes the 
cassette partially out of the slot so that it can be readily grasped by 
the finger tips and completely removed. 
According to a more detailed aspect of the invention, the retention members 
can be integrally formed with an attachment strip, preferably of molded 
plastic. The drive members, which may be elongated fingers of generally 
Z-shaped profile, can be similarly formed with another attachment strip, 
also of molded plastic. When installed in a housing, each set of coacting 
retention and drive members is separately actuable to eject a cassette 
from one of a plurality of parallel slots. 
In one embodiment of the invention, the housing is advantageously formed as 
an enclosure that receives a separate base, the attachment strips being 
secured along opposite sides of the base. Preferably, the retention 
members are tabs that carry upstanding abutments that project through 
openings in the base. The free ends of the tabs form actuator portions 
exposed on the outside of the cabinet so that the retention members can be 
depressed to selectively release the cassettes for movement under the 
force of the drive members. 
In another embodiment of the invention, each slot extends horizontally (to 
receive cassettes in a horizontal position) and the retention member 
includes a lip that extends along the bottom of an opening at the front of 
the slot to engage the cassette. The lip is supported by flexible members 
that extend along the bottom of the slot, permitting it to be moved 
downwardly to release the cassette by bending these support members. 
Alternatively, the retaining lip can be stationary, in which case the 
cassette is released by lifting it over the lip and permitting the drive 
member to push it forward. 
In the embodiments in which the cassette is inserted horizontally, each 
slot can be provided with a floor having a raised portion that defines a 
recess in which an article smaller than the slot can be securely held. The 
slot itself can be dimensioned to receive a boxed cassette while the 
recess receives the cassette alone. The drive members are provided with 
small projections that engage unboxed cassettes received by the recesses 
but fit underneath boxed cassettes. Accordingly, the user of the device 
can store both boxed and unboxed cassettes in the same cabinet without 
modifying the cabinet in any way. The cabinet housing, the retention 
members and the drive members can all be integrally formed of a single 
piece of molded plastic for ease of manufacture and assembly. 
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent 
from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the 
accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of exmple, the principles 
of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
A cabinet 10 (illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 of the accompanied drawings) 
provides for storage of microfilm cassettes 11 and other tape and film 
cassettes or similar articles in accordance with certain aspects of the 
present invention. In general, the cabinet 10 includes a housing 12 that 
defines a series of vertically oriented slots in which the cassettes 11 
are stored, a plurality of retention members 13 for retaining the 
cassettes in the slots and a plurality of drive members 14 for pushing 
selectively released cassettes out of the slots. 
The housing 12 includes a box-shaped, generally rectangular, molded plastic 
enclosure 15 having a horizontal floor 16, two vertical end walls 17, a 
back wall 18, and a horizontal roof 19, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A base 
20, that completes the housing, is best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. It rests 
on the enclosure floor, extending from one end wall to the other, and 
provides a raised horizontal platform 21 extending longitudinally along 
the center of the enclosure 15 to support the cassettes 11 from beneath. A 
plurality of evenly spaced, short, parallel partitions 22 project 
vertically upwardly from the platform to divide the interior of the 
enclosure into the slots. The base is positioned and retained by a flat, 
horizontal foot 23 that extends rearwardly along the floor from the back 
of the platform into a groove 24 provided along the bottom edge of the 
back wall. 
At the open front ends of the slots, numerical indicia 25 (shown in FIGS. 1 
and 4) uniquely assigned to the slot with which they are associated are 
imprinted on the top surface of the platform 21. Corresponding indicia 26 
(shown in FIG. 4 but omitted in FIG. 1) are imprinted on a strip-like 
front wall 27 of the base 20 that is slightly inclined backwardly toward 
the interior of the enclosure 15. Spaces 28 are provided adjacent these 
corresponding indicia for the display of information describing the 
particular cassettes 11 to be stored in the various slots. 
The cassettes 11, which stand on end, are held in the slots by the 
retention members 13 which include rectangular tabs 29 that carry 
upstanding abutments 30. Each tab is joined at its back end to a first 
elongated, flat attachment strip 31 perpendicular to the top surface of 
the tab, as best shown in FIG. 5. The retention members are secured to the 
base 20 by inserting the top edge of the attachment strip into a 
downwardly facing groove 32 formed on the underside of the platform so 
that the strip is vertical and the tabs, in their normal, relaxed, i.e., 
unflexed position, extend horizontally, side by side, along the front side 
33 of the base. With the tabs in this retaining position, the abutments 
project upwardly through openings 34 in the platform 21 (as best shown in 
FIG. 4) to engage the leading edges of the cassettes at the open front 
ends of the slots. 
Actuator portions 35 on the free ends of the tabs 29 extend forwardly 
through openings 36 between the front wall 27 of the base 20 and the 
enclosure floor 16, as best shown in FIG. 2. Since the actuator portions 
35 are exposed on the outside of the cabinet 10, the individual retention 
members 13 can be displaced downwardly by depressing a selected actuator 
portion with the tip of one's finger, causing the abutment 30 to be 
withdrawn through its associated opening 34 and disengage the leading edge 
of the cassette 11. 
The drive members 14 are of a generally Z-shaped profile, each consisting 
of an elongated finger 37 with a relatively short connecting section 38 at 
its lower end and a shorter joining section 39 that extends from the 
connecting section (FIGS. 2 and 3). With the drive members in their 
relaxed positions, the connecting sections form acute angles with the 
finger and the joining sections form right angles with the connecting 
sections. 
The bottom ends of the joining sections 39 merge with a flat elongated 
second attachment strip 40, similar to the first attachment strip 31 of 
the retention members 13, the drive members 14 and their associated strip 
being integrally formed as a single piece of resilient molded plastic, 
best shown in FIG. 3. When the drive members are installed in the cabinet 
10, the lower edge of the second attachment strip 40 is inserted in an 
upwardly facing groove 41 formed in the base 20 along the back of the 
platform 21 so that the drive members are arranged along the side of the 
platform opposite the retention members 13. With the drive members in 
their normal, relaxed positions, the connection sections 38 extend 
rearwardly in the same plane as the horizontal top surface of the platform 
21, and the drive fingers 37 are inclined forwardly from the vertical into 
the slots (as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 2). 
When it is desired to insert a cassette 11 in one of the slots, the 
appropriate retention member 13 is depressed so that its abutment 30 is 
withdrawn from the slot. The cassette is then slid into the slot through 
its open front end to rest on the platform 21, the slot being dimensioned 
to snugly receive the cassette without interference or excessive friction. 
As the cassette reaches its fully inserted position, its back edge presses 
against a small bead 41 on the top end of the drive finger 37. Once the 
cassette is completely inserted so that the abutment 30 can snap up to 
partially block the front end of the slot, the drive finger will have 
reached a substantially vertical position (as shown in solid lines in FIG. 
2). The cassette is then securely held between the drive member 14 and the 
retention member 13. It cannot fall out of its slot, regardless of the 
orientation of the cabinet 10. 
To remove the cassette 11, the appropriate retention member 13 is again 
depressed. The drive member 14, being biased toward a relaxed position in 
which its drive finger 37 projects into the slot, springs forward and 
pushes the cassette partially out of the slot so that it can be grasped by 
its leading edge and withdrawn. The retention members and the drive 
members thus cooperate to form an ejector mechanism for selectively 
ejecting the cassettes. 
It will be noted that the cabinet 10 need have only four separate parts, 
each of which is readily manufactured from plastic. It is not necessary to 
align or assemble a separate ejector mechanism for each slot because all 
ejector components are properly positioned once the two attachment strips 
31 and 40 are installed. Since the coacting retention members 13 and drive 
members 14 do not directly engage each other, the dimensions and alignment 
of these members are not critical. 
Other aspects of the present invention are embodied in a cabinet 42, 
illustrated in FIGS. 6-9. In general, the cabinet is of modular 
construction being formed by a vertical stack of relatively flat 
interlocking trays 43. Each tray defines the floor 44 and three sides, 45, 
46 and 47, of two adjacent horizontally extending slots, while the floor 
of the tray above provides the top for the slots below. The slots are open 
at their front ends and dimensioned to receive cassettes 48 lying on their 
sides rather than standing on end as in the cabinet 10 of FIGS. 1-5. 
The floor 44 of each slot consists of two generally flat strips 49 that 
extend rearwardly from the front (as best shown in FIGS. 6 and 7). At the 
rear of the slot a resilient drive arm 53 is held against the back wall 46 
by the cassette 48 (as shown in solid lines in FIG. 8) but tends to spring 
forward, pushing the cassette partially out of the cabinet 42 (as shown in 
phantom lines in FIG. 8) so that it can be removed. When restrained by the 
cassette, the arm forms an L-shape, extending around the side of the 
cassette where it is joined to the side 47 at the center of the tray 43. 
This L-shape of the arm gives it the required snap and resiliency. 
A narrow lip 54 extends across the front of the slot to retain the cassette 
48 against the force of the arm 53. The lip 54 is mounted on a flange 55 
tucked under the front edge of the cassette 48 and joined at its ends to 
two flat narrow support members 56 extending rearwardly (perpendicular to 
the lip) along the bottom of the cassette. The opposite ends of the 
support members are joined to the strips 49 that form the floor 44. 
To release the cassette 48, it is merely necessary to depress a small 
actuator tab 57 that extends outwardly from the center of the lip 54 
causing the support members 56 to bend downwardly until the lip drops 
below the cassette. The drive arm 53 can then push the cassette forward 
with a short positive stroke so that it can be grasped by the fingertips. 
It is not necessary for the action of depressing the actuator to supply 
the energy to eject the cassette, this energy having been provided when 
the cassette was inserted and having since been stored by the arm. 
A unique feature of the cabinate 42 is that either the boxed cassette 48 
(FIG. 8) or an unboxed cassette 52 (FIG. 9) is snuggly received without 
any modification of the trays 43. The unboxed cassette fits between two 
raised ribs 58 that are set inwardly from the opposite sides 45 and 46 on 
the floor 44. It is engaged from behind by a small projection 59 that 
extends forwardly from the bottom of the outer end of the arm 53. 
The large boxed cassette 48 rides on top of the ribs and fills the entire 
slot from side to side. It also extends farther back into the slot, but it 
does not push the arm 53 back farther because it passes over the tab 59 to 
engage the end of the arm directly. Accordingly, the force exerted by the 
arm remains the same regardless of whether a boxed or unboxed cassette is 
used. 
An important advantage of the cabinet 42 is that each module or tray 43 is 
integrally formed as one plastic piece that includes the drive arms 53 and 
the retention lips 54 as well as the housing that defines the slots. The 
one-piece construction of each tray not only reduces the cost of 
fabricating components, but it greatly reduces the cost of assembly. 
A simplified embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 10-12. This 
cabinet 60 is generally similar to the cabinet 42 of FIGS. 6-9 except that 
the movable retention lip 54 and its supporting members 56 are omitted 
(similar reference numbers being used to designate similar components). 
All that is necessary to release a cassette 48 or 52 is to press one finger 
gently against the cassette, pushing it slightly back into the slot and 
lifting it over a pair of stationary retention lips 61 at the front of the 
slot near the sides. Alternatively, it is possible to push the finger 
slightly under the cassette since the entire center of the floor 44 
between the two retention lips is open. There is enough space between the 
top of the cassette and the top of the slot to allow the cassette to pass 
over the lips 61 as it is pushed forward by the resilient drive arm 53. 
The simplicity of construction and ease of assembly of each of the cabinets 
10, 42 and 58 will be readily appeciated. They have the important 
advantage of simplicty of construction and operation. Moreover, the action 
of the ejector mechanism is smooth and positive, since the force that 
moves a cassette 48 out of a slot need not be transmitted to the rear of 
the cabinet to operate the drive member 41 or 53. 
While the invention has been described in connection with its preferred 
embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that 
modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit 
and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.