GB2128391A - Tape deck for a telephone answering machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A tape deck is provided for a cassette-type of telephone answering unit in which the movement of the record/playback head 1 and pinch roller 16 associated with each cassette, and the engagement of the drive for the take-up and rewind spindles of each cassette, are achieved by the rotational energy of the drive motor 8 of the unit, rather than by high power electromagnetic solenoids; and in which small, lower power electromagnets are provided merely for latching and unlatching the motor driven control mechanism. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Tape deck for a telephone answering machine Background of the invention The present invention finds particular application in telephone answering apparatus which utilizes a first cassette-type tape unit on which an announcement message is recorded for transmission to a calling party during an initial time interval (T1) upon the receipt of a ring signal; and which utilizes a second cassette-type tape unit for receiving messages from a calling party during a subsequent message recording interval (T2).

For each cassette, a record/playback head is mounted on a sliding plate together with a pinch roller, and for normal forward playback/record operation the plate is moved into its operative position such that the pinch roller presses the tape of the corresponding cassette against a motor driven capstan to cause the tape to be drawn from the supply reel to the take-up reel of the cassette; and such that the corresponding record/playback head is moved to a position adjacent to the tape in magnetically coupled relationship with the tape. In addition, when the sliding plate is moved into its operative position, a gear train couples the motor driven capstan to the take-up reel to rotate the take-up reel to enable it to wind up the tape.

For rewind operation, the sliding plate is released and is spring-biased to its standby position to move the record/playback head back from the tape and the pinch roller back from the capstan, and also to disengage the take-up reel from the capstan. At the same time, a further gear train couples the rewind reel of the cassette to the drive motor to cause the rewind reel to rotate in the opposite direction and rewind the tape.

It is usual in the prior art apparatus to provide an appropriate electromagnetic solenoid in conjunction with each cassette to draw the corresponding sliding plate forward to its operational position against the bias of a return spring. It is also usual to provide a second electromagnetic solenoid in conjunction with each cassette to couple the drive motor to the rewind reel for the rewind operation. However, the electromagnetic solenoids used in the prior art apparatus of necessity are relatively large and expensive, and they draw relatively large electric currents, since it is necessary for each solenoid to exert a relatively large force on the controlled components in order to accomplish their desired purpose.

In the apparatus of the present invention, however, the force for driving the sliding plate forward to its operational position against its spring bias, and the force for coupling the motor driven capstan to the rewind spindle of the capstan for the rewind operation, are provided by the drive motor itself, rather than by separate electromagnetic solenoids. Relatively small, low electromagnets are provided merely for latching and unlatching the mechanism which couples the drive motor to the sliding plate and to the rewind gear chain.

Summary of the invention In the apparatus of the present invention, movement of the record/play head and pinch roller for normal forward operation, and the engagement and disengagement of the forward and reverse spindles with the motor driven capstan, are accomplished by using the rotational energy of the drive motor. This is effectuated by means of a first sub-assembly including a cam and rocker arm to move a sliding plate on which the head and pinch roller are mounted into its operational position during normal forward operation; and a second sub-assembly including a cam and rocker arm and a number of gears to drive the rewind spindle during rewind operation.

Each of these sub-assemblies is controlled by a small, low powered electromagnet.

Brief description of the drawings Figure 1 is a top plan view of the chassis of a telephone answering unit which may be constructed to incorporate the concepts of the present invention; Figure 2 is a bottom view of the chassis of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a bottom view, similar to the view of Figure 2, but with certain components removed so as to reveal other components used in the mechanism of the invention; Figure 4 is an exploded view of the various components which are mounted on the top of the chassis of Figure 1; Figure 5 is an exploded view of other components which are mounted on the underside of the chassis of Figure 1; Figure 6 is an exploded view of various components which make up the turntable drive for the rewind reel of each cassette;; Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective representation of certain gears and components which are used to drive the rewind spindle of each cassette; Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of various components which are used to drive the sliding plate during normal forward operation of the apparatus; and Figure 9 is a view of certain of the components on the underside of the chassis which move a sliding plate to its operational position.

Detailed description of the illustrated embodiment In the plan view of Figure 1, one of the two cassettes is shown in place, and the other is removed so as to reveal the various components associated with it. In each instance, the components are generally the same, so the present description will be directed merely to the components associated with the cassette which has been removed.

These components include a take-up reel turntable 9 and a rewind reel turntable 10 which respectively engage the take-up reel and rewind reel of the cassette, when it is in place.

An electromagnetic record/playback head 1, and a pinch roller 16 are mounted on a sliding plate 19. The sliding plate is normally biased to is standby position shown in Figure 1 by a spring 48. However, when the apparatus is conditioned for normal play or record operation, the plate 19 is moved to the right against the bias of spring 48 to draw the pinch roller 16 against a drive gear on a motor driven capstan 15, and also to draw the head 1 into magnetically coupled relationship with the tape in the cassette. The movement of plate 19 to the right in Figure 1 also causes a spindle gear 14 to be drawn between the gear on capstan 15 and a gear on the take-up turntable 9 cause the take-up reel in the cassette to be rotated in the forward direction. Accordingly, the pinch roller 16 presses the tape in the cassette against the capstan 15 and causes the tape to be drawn across the head 1.At the same time, the take-up reel in the cassette is rotated by turntable 9 to wind up the tape.

During rewind operation, the sliding plate 19 is returned to the position shown in Figure 1, and the rewind reel turntable is driven in the opposite direction to cause the rewind reel in the cassette to rewind the tape. During the rewind operation, an off-center gear 30 operates a leaf switch 31, so that pulses may be generated for use in the electronic circuitry of the system during the rewind operation.

The capstan 15 is operated by a drive motor 8 through a belt 32 (Figure 2). The belt 32 is wound around a pulley 77 on the drive motor, and around flywheels 7 which, in turn, are mounted on the capstans, such as capstan 15. The flywheels and capstan assemblies are held in place by means of a bracket 22.

The various components which are used to control the movement of sliding plate 19, and to control the rewind operation of the turntable 10, are shown in Figure 3. These components include a function gear 11 which is controlled by electromagnet 54. When electromagnet 54 is energized, function gear 1 1 is turned by gear 13 on the capstan, to move plate 19 to its operative position in a manner to be described in conjunction with Figures 8 and 9. So long as electromagnet 54 remains energized, the plate 19 is held in its operative position. When the electromagnet is de-energized, the plate immediately is moved back to its standby position by spring 48 of Figure 1.

The various components which make up the telephone answering unit are shown in the exploded views of Figures 4, 5 and 6. These components are as follows: Description Item Record/Playback 1 Erase Head 2 Main Panel 3 Take-up Spindle Gear Arm 4 Mechanical Functional Arm 5 Description Item Cassette Holding Plate Assembly 6 Flywheel Sub-assembly 7 Motor Assembly 8 Take-up Reel Turntable Sub-assembly 9 Rewind Reel Turntable Sub-assembly 10 Function Gear (Play) 11 Function Gear (Rewind) 12 Cam Drive Gear 13 Take-up Spindle Gear 14 Take-up Drive Gear 15 Pinch Roller Assembly 16 Rubber Bushings (Shock Absorbers) 17 Cam Lock (Roller) 18 Read/Playback Head Plate 19 Erase Head Plate 20 Rewind Spindle Gear Sub-assembly 21 Capstan Axis Holder 22 Washer 23 Erase Head Plate Spring 24 Rewind Spindle Gear Arm Spring 25 Spindle Gear Arm Spring 26 Pinch Roller Spring 27 Record Plate Overtravel Spring 28 Eject Plate 29 Off-Center Gear 30 Leaf Switch 31 Belt 32 Eject Plate Spring 33 Reel Turntable Spring 34 "E" Ring 35 "E" Ring 36 Capstan Axis Bushing 37 Pinch Roller Frame 38 Take-up Gear Axle 39 Mechanical Functional Arm Axle 40 Cam Roller Axle 41 Functional Gear Axle 42 Cassette Guide Pole (Right) 43 Rewind Spindle Gear Arm Axle 44 Brake Sleeve 45 Cassette Guide Pole (Left) 46 Reel Turntable Axle 47 Record Head Plate Spring 48 Mechanical-Functional Arm Auxiliary Spring 49 Armature Spring 50 Rewind Functional Spring 51 T- 1 Forward Electromagnet Sub-assembly 52 T-2 Forward Electromagnet Sub-assembly 54 T-2 Rewind Electromagnet Sub-assembly 55 Bracket 56 Description Item Electromagnet Armature 57 4-Pin Plug a Cable 58 18-Pin Plug a Cable 59 Sense Switch 61 Reel Cap 62 Spring 63 Washer 64 Clutch Plate 65 Friction Pad (Clutch Disc) 66 Clutch Mounting Plate 67 Rewind Spindle Cap 68 Spring 69 Rewind Spindle Axle 70 Rewind Spindle Base 71 Rewind Clutch Mounting Plate 72 Friction Pad (Clutch disc) 73 Clutch Driving Gear 74 Rewind Clutch Spring Plate 75 Rewind Clutch Keeper 76 Motor Pulley 77 Screw 78 Lockwasher 79 Screw 80 Screw 81 Screw 82 Lockwasher 83 Screw 84 Lockwasher 86 Screw 87 Washer 88 Bobbin, Electromagnet Assembly 89 Heat Sink Spring 90 Solenoid core 91 Capstan/Flywheel Bushing 93 Capstan Axle 94 Pinch Roller Axle 95 In order to set the telephone answering unit to its normal forward position, the mechanism illustrated in Figures 3, 8 and 9 is utilized.When the slide plate 19 is in its standby position, the drive gear 13 of Figure 3 is adjacent to a portion "A" of the function gear 11 which has no teeth, and is, accordingly, disengaged from the function gear. For that angular position of the function gear, the electromagnet 55 is deenergized, and the end of its armature is latched in a notch 11 a of the function gear.

When the electromagnet 55 is energized, the end of its armature is released from the notch 11 a, and spring 33 of Figure 9 causes the roller 18 to roll about the cam 11 c to turn the function gear 11 slightly so that the drive gear 13 of Figure 4 engages the end of the larger segment of gear teeth "A" on the gear 1 The drive gear 13 then drives the gear 11 causing the cam 11 c to turn, and causing the roller 18 to pivot the rocker arm 5 in a direction so that the plate 19 is pulled into its operative position through the override spring 49 of Figure 9. For that position of the plate 19, the record/playback head 1 of Figure 1 is moved against the tape in the cassette, the pinch roller 16 is moved against the capstan 15 to drive the tape, and the gear 14 couples the capstan to the take-up reel 9 so that it may be turned to wind up the tape.

When electromagnet 55 is energized, the function gear 11 of Figure 8 continues to be turned by the drive gear 13 of Figure 3 until the drive gear reaches the end of the larger segment C of gear teeth on the function gear 11. Then, so long as the electromagnet 55 remains energized, the end of its armature engages a notch 11 b on the function gear so as to latch the function gear in a position such that the plate 19 is maintained in its operative position against the tension of spring 48 of Figure 1. At that point, the drive gear 13 of Figure 3 is adjacent to a second toothless portion B of the function gear 11, so that the function gear remains stationary, and the slide plate 19 is latched in its operative position.

When the electromagnet 55 is subsequently deenergized, the end of its armature 57 is released from the notch 11 b, and the spring 48 of Figure 1 draws the slide plate 19 back to its standby position, and arm 5, roller 18 and cam 11 c of Figure 9 causes the function gear 11 to turn back to its original position. Drive gear 13 then engages the small toothed segment D to turn the function gear 11 back to a position in which the toothless section A faces the drive gear, so that the function gear 11 is no longer turned, and the mechanism is held in its standby position until the electromagnet 55 is next energized.

It will be appreciated, therefore, that the function of drawing the slide plate 19 to its operative position is now performed by the drive motor 8, rather than by a high power electromagnetic solenoid, as was the case in the prior art.

For rewind operation, the electromagnet 55 of Figure 3 is energized, and its armature causes the rewind function gear 12 to be turned slightly so that the drive gear 13 can mesh with the teeth on the gear which extend around approximately onehalf the periphery of the gear. The drive gear 13 then turns the rewind function gear 12 causing roller 18 (Figure 7) on arm 5 to move around a cam 1 2a on the underside of functional gear 12.

This causes arm 5 to draw the spindle 21 b of the spindle sub-assembly against the rewind turntable 10, and the gear 21 a of the spindle gear sub-assembly 21 against the drive gear 13 (Figure 3). The spindle gear sub-assembly 21 is mounted on an arm 21 c which, in turn, is mounted on a post 21 d, so that movement of arm 5 draws the spindle gear sub-assembly 21 into place so that the drive gear 13 drives the rewind turntable through the spindle gears 21 a and 21 b.

So long as the rewind electromagnet 55 of Figure 3 is energized, the drive gear 13 turns the function gear to the end of the teeth extending approximately half-way around its periphery and, at that point, the function gear is no longer turned by the drive gear 13. The armature of electromagnet 55 latches with the function gear and serves to hold the function gear in that particular angular position, for so long as the electromagnet is energized. In that position, the spindle sub-assembly 21 is drawn into position so that the rewind turntable 10 is driven through the spindle gears 21 a and 21 b by the drive gear 13.

Accordingly, the corresponding tape spindle is turned in the rewind direction to rewind the tape.

At the end of the rewind function, the electromagnet is de-energized and, when that occurs, the function gear 12 is unlatched, and is drawn back to its original position by the action of springs 25 and 26. At the same time, the spindle gear sub-assembly is moved away from the rewind turntable 10 and from the drive gear 13 of Figure 3. When the function gear 12 is returned to its original position, the armature of electromagnet 55 again latches with the function gear, with another toothless segment facing the drive gear 13, so that there is no coupling between the drive gear and function gear 12.

These two gears remain decoupled, until the electromagnet 55 is next energized, which causes the function gear 12 of Figure 7 to rotate slightly in the counterclockwise direction so that the drive gear 13 engages the gear teeth of the function gear to perform the function described above.

Accordingly, the corresponding cassette of the telephone answering unit is placed into its rewind condition by the action of the drive motor 1 7 through the gears described above, so that there is no need for a high power electromagnet solenoid to be provided to set the apparatus to its rewind condition.

It will be appreciated that while a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, modifications may be made. It is intended in the claims to cover all modifications which come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

Claims

1. A tape deck for a telephone answering apparatus comprising: a chassis; means mounted on said chassis for receiving a removable magnetic tape cassette; a capstan drive mounted on said chassis for driving the tape in said cassette; a drive motor for said capstan drive; a movable carriage mounted on said chassis; a pinch roller assembly mounted on said movable carriage; a magnetic head mounted on said movable carriage; resilient means coupled to said carriage for biasing said carriage to a standby position in which said pinch roller assembly is displaced from said capstan and said head is displaced from said tape; a mechanism for selectively moving said carriage from its standby position to an operative position in which said pinch roller presses said tape against said capstan and said tape is placed in magnetically coupled relationship with said tape; and means mechanically coupling said mechanism to said drive motor to enable said drive motor to drive said mechanism.

2. The tape deck as claimed in Claim 1, in which said mechanism includes: an arm pivotally mounted on said chassis and having one end coupled to said carriage; a cam follower mounted on the other end of said arm; a cam rotatably mounted on said chassis in position to be engaged by said cam follower; and means coupling said drive motor to said cam for selectively causing said cam to turn from a first to a second angular position so as to cause said arm to move said carriage from its standby position to its operative position.

3. The tape deck as claimed in claim 2, in which said mechanism includes: a first gear included in said capstan drive; a further gear concentrically mounted on said cam and having teeth extending partially around the periphery thereof in position to be engaged by said first gear for selected angular positions of said further gear, and with said further gear being disengaged by said first gear for other angular positions thereof.

4. The tape deck as claimed in claim 3, and which includes electromagnetic means mounted on said chassis having an armature in latching relationship with said further gear to latch said further gear in a first angular position when said electromagnetic means is energized and for latching said further gear in a second angular position when said electromagnetic means is deenergized, said further gear being disengaged from said first gear in both said first and second angular positions.

5. The tape deck as claimed in claim 1, in which said first-named means includes a turntable for driving said tape; a drive means for said turntable; resilient means normally biasing said drive means to a disengaged position with respect to said turntable; and a mechanism coupled to said drive motor and to said drive means for selectively moving said drive means into engagement with said turntable.

6. A tape deck for telephone answering apparatus which includes: a chassis; means mounted on said chassis for receiving a removable magnetic tape cassette, said means including turntable means for driving the tape in said casssette; a drive motor; drive means for selectively coupling said drive motor to said turntable means; resilient means normally biasing said drive means to a disengaged position with respect to said turntable; and a mechanism coupled to said drive means for selectively moving said drive means into engagement with said turntable means; and means coupling said mechanism to said drive motor to cause said drive motor to drive said mechanism.

7. The tape deck as claimed in claim 6, in which said mechanism includes: an arm pivotally mounted on said chassis and having one end coupled to said drive means; a cam follower mounted on the other end of said arm; a cam rotatably mounted on said chassis to be engaged by said cam follower; and means coupling said drive motor to said cam for selectively causing said cam to turn from a first to a second angular position to cause said arm to move said drive means from its standby position to the position in which it engages said turntable means.

8. The tape deck as claimed in claim 6, in which said mechanism includes: a first gear included in said capstan drive; a further gear concentrically mounted on said cam and having teeth extending partially around the periphery thereof in position to be engaged by said first gear for selected angular positions of said further gear, and with said further gear being disengaged from said first gear for other angular positions of said further gear.

9. The tape deck as claimed in claim 8, and which includes electromagnetic means mounted on said chassis having an armature in latching relationship with said further gear to latch said further gear in a first angular position when the electromagnetic means is energized and for latching said further gear in a second angular position when the electromagnetic means is deenergized, said further gear being disengaged from said first gear when in said first and second angular positions.

10. A tape deck substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.