Apparatus for storing information material in cassettes

In an apparatus for manufacturing, from a cassette having a continuous leader extending between and connected to rotary cassette hubs and from a supply of elongated flexible information material which carries information capable of being extracted from said material, a cassette which has separate leaders respectively connected with said rotary hubs thereof and a length of the information material opposed ends of which are connected with said leaders, respectively, cassette-support means for supporting a cassette which initially has said continuous leader extending between and connected to said rotary hubs thereof, information material supply means for supplying information material lengths of which are respectively to be stored in cassettes, guide means having components situated along a predetermined path extending from said supply means to said support means for guiding the information material along said path from said supply means to said support means during travel of the information material into a cassette while being coiled around a hub thereof, holding means located at a splicing station which is situated along said path for temporarily holding a portion of said information material and a portion of said leader, said holding means having a leading splicing position where a leading end of a length of said information material is in alignment with an end of a separate leader connected with one of said cassette hubs and a trailing splicing position where a trailing end of said length of information material is in alignment with an end of a separate leader connected with the other hub of the cassette, cutting means situated adjacent said splicing station for cutting a continuous cassette leader loop held by said holding means into separate leaders respectively connected with said rotary hubs of said cassette, said holding means then changing from said trailing splicing position to said leading splicing position to situate the leading end of the information material in alignment with an end of one of said leaders which extends to one of said rotary hubs, splicing means situated in the region of said splicing station for splicing said leading end of said information material to said one leader, said holding means then releasing said length of information material at said leading end thereof and said one leader spliced thereto to be wound together with said length of information material into the cassette at said support means until the trailing end of the length of information material reaches said holding means, said holding means continuing to hold the other leader which extends to the other hub while said one leader together with the information material is wound into the cassette until the trailing end of said length of information material reaches said holding means, whereupon said holding means temporarily holds said trailing end of the length of information material, said cutting means then cutting the information material at said holding means to separate the trailing end of the length of information material already wound into the cassette from the leading end of the next length of information material, said holding means then returning to said trailing splicing position thereof for aligning the trailing end of the length of information material already wound into the cassette with said other leader which is still held by said holding means, while the leading end of the next length of information material remains held by said holding means, said splicing means then splicing said trailing end of the length of information material already wound into the cassette to said other leader whereupon said holding means releases said other leader and said trailing end of information material spliced thereto for completion of the winding of the information material and said other leader into the cassette, while the leading end of the next length of information material is held at said holding means in readiness to be connected with a leader of another cassette during a repetition of the above operating cycle, the improvement which comprises a transfer means movable along a second path extending between said cassette-support means and said splicing station for transferring a loop of the continuous leader from a cassette at said support means to said holding means to be temporarily held thereby while said holding means is in said trailing splicing position thereof and while said holding means holds a leading end of said information material which has travelled along said predetermined path up to said holding means, said transfer means including a loop-transfer pin and pin-moving means operatively connected thereto for moving said loop-transfer pin from a rest position first to a starting position adjacent said cassette-support means within a relatively short leader loop, then from said starting position along said second path to said splicing station for extending the loop of continuous leader from the cassette to the splicing station to be engaged and held by said holding means in preparation for being cut by said cutting means into separate leaders, then back to said starting position, and then back to said rest position, said cassette-support means supporting said cassette for movement along a third path, and cassette-moving means for moving said cassette along said third path after said pin has extended the loop into engagement with said holding means while the leader is held by said holding means, said cassette-moving means moving said cassette along a portion of said third path which forms one side of a triangle while said leader after transfer to said holding means by said transfer means extend from said holding means along a portion of said predetermined path which forms a second side of said triangle, whereby the movement of said cassette along said third path causes said leader to extend along said holding means at said portion of said predetermined path which forms said second side of said triangle, said transfer means including a holding pin connected with said pin-moving means to be moved thereby only from a rest position adjacent said transfer pin when the latter is in said rest position thereof into said relatively short loop to a starting position adjacent said transfer pin when the latter is in said starting position, with said holding pin returning with said transfer pin from the starting positions of both pins to the rest positions thereof, so that during movement of the cassette by said cassette-moving means along said one side of said triangle, a portion of the leader extends from said holding pin to said transfer pin after the latter has reached said holding means along the third side of the triangle.