Automatic changing system for cassette-type mediums

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an automatic changing system for a cassette-type medium which overcomes the above described problems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic changing system for a cassette-type medium, having a large capacity for storing a plurality of cassettes, and which does not require a mechanism for rotating a cassette in order to load the cassette into a VCR.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an automatic changing system for video tape cassettes which may use ordinary or general purpose VCRs.
Therefore, in accordance with one aspect of this invention, there is provided a cassette automatic changing machine having at least one recording and/or reproducing apparatus, a cassette storage apparatus comprising multiple cassette storage compartments, and a cassette transporting apparatus by which a selected cassette may be picked up from a compartment in the cassette storage apparatus and transported to the recording and/or reproducing apparatus.
A cassette may also be retrieved from the recording and/or reproducing apparatus and then transported to a selected cassette compartment in the cassette storage apparatus.
The cassette transporting apparatus includes first and second openings through which cassettes may be transported in first and second parallel directions between the cassette storage apparatus and the cassette transporting apparatus, and a third opening through which cassettes may be transported in a third direction perpendicular to the first and second directions between the cassette transporting apparatus and the recording and/or reproducing apparatus.
The cassette storage apparatus may be installed on both sides of the cassette transporting apparatus to form a channel along which the latter is movable.
The selected cassette may then be transported between said recording and/or reproducing apparatus and said cassette transporting apparatus in the third direction which is perpendicular to the first and second directions