Braking device for the cover of a chamber in a recording and/or reproducing apparatus

A braking device, comprising:

• a non-rotatable plate;
• a shaft connected to said plate and extending generally in a direction perpendicular therefrom;
• a first member rotatably arranged on said shaft, for movement in a first direction and in a second direction opposite to said first direction, said first member directions lying in a plane generally transverse of said shaft;
• a second member coaxial with said first member and rotatably arranged on said shaft between said plate and said first member, for movement in a plane parallel to said first member plane;
• a damping material provided between said plate and said second member, said plate and said second member being arranged such that said material contacts both said plate and said second member;
• means, associated with said shaft, for urging said first and said second members simultaneously toward said plate;
• and
• means, associated with said first and said second members, for uniting said first and said second members and providing simultaneous unidirectional rotation by said first and said second members only when said first member is rotated in said first direction, whereby said unidirectional rotation is damped by said material between said plate and said second member,
• characterized in that said second member includes a damping disc having an edge, said first member includes an actuating disc coaxial with said damping disc, and
• said uniting and providing means includes a recess provided in said damping disc and a plurality of teeth provided on said actuating disc, said recess adjoining said edge and having a shallow depth, said teeth being adjacent said edge and said recess, and said uniting and providing means further includes a toothed disc accomodated within said recess, said teeth of said toothed disc being meshed with said teeth of said actuating disc, said toothed disc having a thickness substantially corresponding to said depth of said recess, said recess being partly formed by an oval-shaped wall tangential to said toothed disc, and said wall being provided with a cam on a diameter of said recess, so that said toothed disc moves along said diameter toward said cam when said first member rotates in said first direction.