Audio cassette emulator

A device for insertion into a tape player having a plurality of user controls and a cassette driving mechanism including a capstan comprising:

• a removable solid state storage device for storing digital signals representing audio information;
• an interface embodied in said housing for converting digital signals to magnetic signals which are presented to said tape player;
• a processor, said processor interpreting user actuation of at least one of said tape player user controls as a command to control the presentation of said audio information in a predetermined manner;
• a first spindle rotating member driven by the tape player cassette driving mechanism;
• a second spindle rotating member;
• a linking member coupled to the first spindle rotating member and the second spindle rotating;
• and
• a sensor coupled to said processor for monitoring the motion of said linking member and for generating a signal indicative of linking member motion;
• wherein said processor is operable in response to at least user input to control accessing said storage device to result in the presentation of said audio information at a user specified point.

In an interface device having a digital data processor and a digital memory for transferring audio information to tape equipment designed to process signals from magnetic storage media, the method comprising the steps of:

• rotating a first rotating member;
• rotating a belt linked to the first rotating member so as to drive a second rotating member;
• sensing the motion of said belt and coupling a signal indicative thereof to a digital data processor;
• and accessing an audio selection stored in a digital memory under the control of said digital data processor for presentation to a user based on at least the signal.

For use with a device for insertion into an audio tape player having a plurality of user controls and for responding to user actuation of one of said controls to place said audio tape player in a state to initiate a selected operation when a cassette has been inserted into said player, a method for operating said device comprising the steps of:

• rotating a first rotating member;
• rotating a belt linked to a second rotating member so as to drive a second rotating member;
• detecting the motion of said belt;
• and
• determining at least one state of the tape player based at least in part on the detected belt motion.

For use with a device for insertion into an audio tape player having a plurality of user controls and for responding to user actuation of one of said controls to place said audio tape player in a state to initiate a selected operation when a cassette has been inserted into said player, a method for operating said device comprising the steps of:

• rotating a rotating member within the tape player;
• rotating a belt in the device linked to said rotating member;
• detecting the motion of said belt;
• and
• determining a current state of the tape player based at least in part on the detected belt motion.