Recording and/or reproducing apparatus with variably damped cassette loading mechanism

An apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information on and/or from a recording medium contained in a cassette, comprising:

• a) a chassis having means for recording and/or reproducing information on and/or from the recording medium;
• b) a cassette holder for holding said cassette;
• c) a link mechanism arranged to support said cassette holder in such a way as to move said cassette holder between a first position and a second position relative to said chassis, said first position being a descended position of said cassette and said second position being an ascended position of said cassette, said link mechanism including a lever arranged to have one end part thereof rotatably supported by one of said chassis and said cassette holder and to have the other end part thereof provided with a gear part and slidably engaging the other of said chassis and said cassette holder, said gear part being composed of at least first and second gears having different pitch circles and being continuously formed;
• d) an urging member arranged to urge said cassette holder to move from the first position to the second position;
• e) a damper having a gear part arranged to engage the gear part of said lever;
• and
• wherein the pitch circle diameter of said first gear that engages said damper when said cassette holder is in the first position is D1 and the pitch circle diameter of said second gear that engages said damper when said cassette holder is in the second position is D2, said first and second gears are arranged to be in a relation of D1<D2.

A cassette loading device comprising:

• a) a chassis;
• b) a cassette holder for holding a cassette;
• c) a link mechanism arranged to support said cassette holder in such a way as to move said cassette holder between a first position and a second position relative to said chassis, said first position being a descended position of said cassette and said second position being an ascended position of said cassette, said link mechanism including a lever arranged to have one end part thereof rotatably supported by one of said chassis and said cassette holder and to have the other end part thereof provided with a gear part;
• d) an urging member arranged to urge said cassette holder to move from the first position to the second position;
• e) a damper having a gear part arranged to engage the gear part of said lever;
• f) a lock lever rotatably mounted at one end thereof on said cassette holder and arranged to be locked to said chassis when said cassette holder is in the first position;
• and
• g) a restricting part provided on said lock lever at an other end thereof and arranged to restrict a free movement of said lock lever in the direction of said lock lever's own thickness and hold said lock lever when said cassette holder is in the second position.

A cassette loading device, comprising:

• a) a chassis;
• b) a cassette holder for holding a cassette;
• c) a link mechanism arranged to support said cassette holder in such a way as to move said cassette holder between a first position and a second position relative to said chassis, said first position being a descended position of said cassette and said second position being an ascended position of said cassette, said link mechanism including a lever arranged to have one end part thereof rotatably supported by one of said chassis and said cassette holder and to have the other end part thereof provided with a gear part and slidably engaging the other of said chassis and said cassette holder, said gear part being composed of at least first and second gears having different pitch circles and being continuously formed;
• d) an urging member arranged to urge said cassette holder to move from the first position to the second position;
• e) a damper having a gear part arranged to engage the gear part of said lever;
• and
• wherein the pitch circle diameter of said first gear that engages said damper when said cassette holder is in the first position is D1 and the pitch circle diameter of said second gear that engages said damper when said cassette holder is in the second position is D2, said first and second gears are arranged to be in a relation of D1<D2.

A cassette loading device comprising:

• a) a chassis;
• b) a cassette holder for holding a cassette;
• c) a link mechanism arranged to support said cassette holder in such a way as to move said cassette holder between a first position and a second position relative to said chassis, said link mechanism including a lever arranged to have one end part thereof rotatably supported by one of said chassis and said cassette holder and to have the other end part thereof provided with a gear part and slidably engaging the other of said chassis and said cassette holder;
• d) an urging member arranged to urge sad cassette holder to move from the first position to the second position;
• e) a damper having a gear part arranged to engage the gear part of said lever;
• and
• f) a sliding mechanism comprising a cam slot formed on said lever and a shaft for allowing said lever to slide, said lever being formed with a bent part at an end part thereof, said bent part extending in a direction away from a plane of a remaining part of said lever, said cam slot including a narrow part and a wide part continuously formed in addition to said narrow part and partly extended up to said bent part of said lever, said narrow part enabling guiding of the sliding operation of said lever and said wide part enabling engagement or disengagement between said cam slot and said shaft.