JPS62239372A - Automatic cassette changer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the cassette storing efficiency by turning the cassettes taken out of many cassette store shelves by a cassette shifter by 90 deg. by means of a turning device and inserting those cassettes into the cassette inserting slot of a recording/reproducing device in the lengthwise direction. CONSTITUTION:The cassettes 1 are successively extracted toward an arrow head (b) from the shelf addresses of the shelves 2 and 15 designated at the cassette shifter side 16 by a cassette shifter 4 which moves in the X and Y directions. These extracted cassettes are moved automatically by the shifter 4 and supplied successively and selectively to each cassette rotary device 10 from the arrow head (b). Then the directions of cassettes 1 are turned by 90 deg. toward the arrow head (b) and supplied successively and selectively to a cassette slot 9 of each recording/reproducing device 8 toward the lengthwise direction from the direction of an arrow head (d). Thus a side-loading recording/ reproducing device is available and furthermore many cassettes can be arranged in many cassette store shelves in the vertical direction so that the lengthwise direction is set rectangular to the operator side.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention will be explained in the following order.

A. Field of industrial application B. Outline of the invention C. Prior art D. Problem to be solved by the invention E. Means for solving the problem 2. Effect G. Example G! Explanation of the entire disc autochanger (Fig. 1~
Figure 4) 02 Description of cassette rotating device (Figures 5 to 6C) Effects of the invention A Industrial field of application The present invention is applicable to 1, for example, continuous video playback and recording over a long period of time at a television broadcasting station. This is about a cassette autochanger that is ideal for.

B. Summary of the Invention The present invention comprises a large number of cassette storage shelves storing a large number of cassettes, a cassette transfer machine, a recording and reproducing device, and a
In a cassette autochanger configured to perform selective automatic exchange of cassettes between a cassette storage shelf and a recording/playback device using a cassette transfer device, a cassette insertion slot is provided on the side surface relative to the operation surface, and the cassette can be inserted from the longitudinal direction. By using a side-loading recording and reproducing device configured to be inserted into a cassette insertion slot and a cassette rotation device that rotates the cassette 90 times, maintenance of the recording and reproducing device can be improved and cassette storage efficiency can be improved. I have been busy so that I can improve myself at the same time.

C. Prior Art A conventional example of a cassette autochanger using a video cassette or the like is shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, for example.

The conventional example shown in FIG. 7A includes a normal recording and reproducing device fi 161 in which the cassette 60 is inserted from the operation surface 61a, an operator side 63KX which is the front side of a large number of cassette storage shelves 62,
Cassette transfer @ moved in Y direction (vertical, horizontal direction) K
64 are arranged. And a large number of cassettes 6
0 is inserted and stored in a large number of cassette storage shelves 62 from a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and the cassettes are inserted between the cassette transport a 64, the cassette storage shelves 62, and the recording/reproducing device 61 in the direction of the arrow. 60 Uke is configured to perform handing over.

In the conventional example shown in FIG. 7B, the cassette transfer device 62 is arranged on the side opposite to the operator side 63 of the large number of cassette storage shelves 62, and the cassette transfer device 62 is arranged laterally with respect to the operator side 63 of the recording/reproducing device 61't'. It is. A large number of cassettes 60 are stored in a large number of cassette storage shelves 62 from the longitudinal direction.
The cassettes 60 are received and transferred between the cassette transport a64 and the cassette storage shelf 62 in the direction of the arrow, while the cassettes 60 are transferred between the cassette transport s64 and the recording/reproducing device 61 in the direction of the arrow. The cassette 60 is transferred in the direction of the arrow d perpendicular to the direction.

In the conventional example shown in FIG. 7C, a cassette transfer device 64 is disposed on the side opposite to the operator side 63 of a large number of cassette storage shelves 62, and the cassettes 60 are placed on the lateral side 63 relative to the operation surface 65a.
A side-loading type recording/reproducing device 65't'' is used, which is inserted from the 5b.Then, a large number of cassettes 60' are inserted into a large number of cassette storage shelves 62 from a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the cassettes 60'. The cassette 60 is received and transferred in the direction of the arrow between the cassette transfer a64 and the cassette storage shelf 62, while the cassette transfer a
The cassette 60 is transferred between the cassette 64 and the recording/reproducing device 165 in the direction of the arrow d, which is perpendicular to the direction of the arrow.

D. Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the conventional example shown in FIGS.
Since it is moved in the X and Y directions in front of f6, it is extremely dangerous while the cassette transfer device 64 is in motion, and
The operation surface 618 of No. 1 cannot be approached at all. Therefore, while the cassette transfer a64 is moving, the operation of various switches on the operation surface 61a and the maintenance of the printed circuit board, etc. (normally, when maintaining the printed circuit board of this type of recording/reproducing apparatus, the front panel, which is the operation surface) It is configured so that the printed circuit board can be removed and pulled out in front of its operating surface.) No front access is possible. Moreover, even if the cassette transfer machine is stopped, front access is obstructed, making it difficult to repair the recording/playback device.

Replacement etc. is not easy. Particularly, in the conventional example shown in FIG. 7A, the cassette transfer device 64 is moved in the X%Y direction on the operator side 63, which is not preferable in terms of operator safety.

Further, in the conventional example shown in FIG. 7C, a large number of cassette storage shelves 62
Since a large number of cassettes 60 must be arranged horizontally so that their longitudinal directions are parallel to the operator side 63, the storage efficiency of the cassettes 60 relative to the width j1 of the entire large number of cassette storage shelves 62 [number of turns] is low.

The present invention enables the use of a side-loading type recording/reproducing device, and also arranges a large number of cassettes in a multi-cassette storage shelf in a vertical direction such that their longitudinal directions are perpendicular to the operator side. This is to make it possible to do so.

E. Means for Solving the Problems The present invention is directed to the aforementioned cassette autochanger, in which the operation aspect of the recording and reproducing device is improved. A cassette insertion slot is provided between the sides facing the operator and facing the operation surface, a cassette rotation device is provided next to the cassette insertion slot of the recording and reproducing device, and a large number of cassette storage shelves are installed on the side of the cassette rotation device. The cassette storage racks are arranged at least in a horizontal row, and the cassette storage racks are configured such that cassettes are inserted and stored from the longitudinal direction, and the cassette transfer a is arranged on the operator's side between the cassette storage racks and the cassette rotation device. The cassettes are selectively taken out from a number of cassette storage shelves by the cassette transfer device, and the orientation of the cassettes is changed by the cassette rotation device to 90 degrees.
After rotation, the cassette is inserted into the cassette insertion slot of the recording/reproducing apparatus from its longitudinal direction.

1. Effect of the present invention The cassette rotating device rotates the cassette by 90 degrees when the cassette is transferred between the cassette transfer device and the recording/reproducing device.
In addition to being able to use a side-loading type recording/playback device, a large number of cassettes can be arranged vertically in a multi-cassette storage shelf so that their longitudinal directions are perpendicular to the operator's side. It's busy.

G. EXAMPLE Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on an example in which the present invention was applied to a cassette autochanger using a video cassette.

G1 First, referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the cassette autochanger will be explained.

First, this cassette autochanger is a large machine that can accommodate hundreds of cassettes 11. Then, multiple rows up and down (30 to 50 rows) and horizontal rows (5 to 10 rows)
A plurality of shelf blocks 3a to 3d each provided with a large number of cassette storage shelves 2 are arranged in two rows along both front and rear sides of a movement path 50 of a cassette transfer 94 that is moved in the X and Y directions (up and down, left and right directions). It is placed in a relaxed manner. In addition, two shelf blocks 3 placed on the operator side (front side) 6
a and 3b are attached to two opening/closing doors 7 that can be opened and closed in the direction of arrow a in FIG. It is configured. On one side of the moving path 5, a recording/reproducing device (cassette type video tape recorder) 8 is disposed in multiple stages above and below. Each recording/reproducing device 8 has an operation surface 8a on the front side on which various operation buttons and indicators are provided, and is located on the operator side 6, and a side surface 8bK on the side of the cassette transfer a4 is provided with a cassette insertion slot 9. It is a side loading method. A plurality of upper and lower cassette rotating devices 10 are disposed between each recording and reproducing device 8 and the shelf block 3a, with each recording and reproducing device 8 facing the power set insertion slot 9.

Next, each of the plurality of shelf blocks 3a to 3d is one in which shelf columns 12 each provided with cassette storage shelves 2 of multiple stages (30 to 50 stages) above and below are attached in several horizontal rows (5 to 10 rows). For example, the upper half of a predetermined shelf column 12a of an openable/closable shelf block 3a is a shelf 1 exclusively for cassette insertion with multiple upper and lower levels.
It is composed of 3.

The lower half is configured as a shelf 14 exclusively for cassette ejection, and the entire upper and lower portions of another shelf column 12b are configured as a shelf 15 for both upper and lower cassette insertion and loading. All other cassette storage shelves 2 other than these dedicated and dual-use shelves 13% 14.15 are these dedicated and dual-use shelves 13.14.1
It is configured as a parts shelf with a simpler structure than 5.

Next, according to this cassette autochanger, the cassettes 1 that are constantly used for commercials etc. are set in a number of cassette storage shelves (parts shelves) 2, and the cassettes 1 that are used temporarily for news etc. is set on the cassette insert/illustration shelf 15.

At this time, the rectangular parallelepiped-shaped cassette 1 is inserted into each shelf 2.15 from its longitudinal direction and set at .degree.

Then, by the cassette transfer machine 4 moved in the X%Y direction, each column 2.150 force is set on the transfer machine side 16,
Take out the cassettes 1 sequentially from the specified shelf address in the direction of the arrow in Figure 2. Then, the taken-out cassette 1 is automatically transferred by the cassette transfer device 4 and selectively and sequentially supplied to each cassette rotating device 10 from the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG.

After the supplied cassettes 1 are rotated by 90° in the direction of arrow C in FIG. In the direction shown in FIG. 2, the liquid is selectively supplied sequentially from the direction of arrow d. Then, continuous video playback, recording, etc. over a long period of time are performed using a plurality of recording/playback devices 8'Y. It should be noted that each cassette 1 that has finished playing video, including 4P pictures, etc., is returned to the designated shelf address of each column of 2.150 yuan by the reverse operation of the above operation.

By the way, when loading a large number of cassettes l' that are constantly used in a large number of cassette storage shelves 2,

Used for a shelf 13' exclusively for cassette insertion. That is, when the operator manually inserts the cassettes 1 into the cassette insertion shelf 13 from the operator side 6, the inserted cassettes 1
are automatically discharged sequentially from the cassette insertion shelf 13 to the cassette transfer machine side 1-6 while being synchronized with the cassette transfer machine 4, and are held in the cassette transfer machine 4. Then, the cassette) 1 is automatically transferred to the specified shelf address of the cassette storage shelf 2 by the movement of the cassette transfer device 4 in the X and Y directions, and then automatically ejected from the cassette transfer a4 and transferred to the specified shelf address. The cassettes are automatically inserted and set in the cassette storage shelf 2 in sequence.

In addition, when removing used cassettes 1y from multiple cassette storage shelves 2,
4 is used. That is, the cassettes 1 are sequentially pulled out from the designated shelf address of the cassette storage shelf 2 by the cassette transfer machine 4 which is moved in the X and Y directions, and the cassettes 1 are taken out one after another from the designated shelf address of the cassette storage shelf 2.
It will be automatically discharged sequentially. Then, the operator only has to take out the cassette from the operator side 6, which is automatically ejected to the shelf 14 exclusively for cassette ejection.

In addition, the operator manually inserts and sets the cassette 1 to be used temporarily into the cassette insertion/insertion shelf 15 from the operator side 6. It can be manually ejected as desired by the eject operation.

03 Next, the cassette rotating device will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 to 6C.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, each cassette rotating device 10 has a cassette rotating shelf 1 that holds the cassette 1 horizontally and rotates the orientation of the cassette 1 by 90 degrees in the direction of arrows C and C.
It has a temperature of 8°C. This cassette rotating shelf 18 is mounted on a rotating base 20 that is horizontally rotated around a vertical rotating shaft 19.
A driven gear 21 centered around 9 is integrally provided.

The cassette rotating shelf 18 has cassette supply/discharge ports 22 and 23 in both directions, one on the 4 side after the cassette is transferred and the other on the recording and reproducing device 8 side.
A built-in cassette ejection mechanism (not shown) K allows the cassette 1 to be automatically ejected from the two-way set supply/discharge port 22, 23 in the directions indicated by the arrows b' and d and d'. It is configured so that it can be done.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 6A to 60, the rotating shaft 19 is mounted on a horizontal chassis 24.

A driven gear 26 is driven by a driving gear 26 of a motor 25 consisting of a stepping motor mounted on this chassis 24.
1 is configured to be driven. A locking plate 27 for positioning is integrally provided on the lower surface of the rotating base 20, and both ends 27a, 2 of the locking plate 27 are
7b is a right angle, and the outer periphery 27c is formed into an arc shape centered on the rotating shaft 19'. On the chassis 24, there is a pair of runaway prevention stoppers 28a128 made of rollers that restrict the 90' rotation range of the cassette rotating shelf 18.
A pair of stop levers 29a and 29b are attached to the intermediate portion of the stop levers 29a and 29b so as to be rotatable about fulcrum shafts 30a and 30b1, respectively.

In addition, stoppers 31a and 31b made of rollers are attached to the tips of both stop levers 29a and 29b, respectively, and both stop levers 29a and 29b are interlocked with each other by pins 32 and elongated holes 33. 6A, both stop levers 29a and 29b are urged to rotate in the directions of arrows e and f in FIG.
5a and 35b from the directions of arrows e and f.

Note that the stop lever 29b is configured to be rotationally driven by a plunger solenoid 36 mounted on the chassis 24 via a link 37.

By the way, a pair of spring locking portions 39a and 39b are provided on the side surface 18a of the cassette rotating shelf 18 opposite to the rotating shaft 19 and on the chassis 24 at the y-intermediate position in the 90' rotation area of the cassette rotating shelf 18. Both spring locking portions 39a are attached.

A long tension coil spring 40 is attached.

A cassette pushing mechanism 42 is mounted on the chassis 24 to push out the cassette 1 in the cassette rotating shelf 18 into the cassette insertion slot 9 of the recording/reproducing device 8. This cassette ejecting mechanism 42 includes a cassette ejecting lever 4 that is rotationally driven by a motor 43 via a gear train 44.
5, and a roller 46 is attached to the tip thereof.

According to this cassette rotating device 10, the cassette rotating shelf 1
8 is rotated 90 degrees in the direction of arrows c and c between the backward movement position shown in FIG. 6A and the forward movement position shown in FIG. 6C.

First, Figure 6A shows the cassette rotating rack 18y! - It shows a state in which it has moved backward in the direction of arrow C to the backward movement position t.

The cassette rotating shelf 18 is located at both ends 27a127 of the lock plate 27.
b"lk is positioned by both stoppers 28a and 31aK and locked in the double-movement position. In this state, the cassette 1 is held in the direction of arrows 1 and 2 between the cassette transfer device 4 and the cassette rotating shelf 18. delivery is possible.

Next, in the state shown in FIG. 6A, the cassette 1 is inserted from the cassette transfer device 4 into the cassette rotating shelf 18 from its longitudinal direction in the direction indicated by the arrow, and the built-in cassette ejecting mechanism moves the cassette 1 into the cassette rotating shelf 18. When positioned at a predetermined position, first, the plunger solenoid 36 is energized, and the stop lever 29b is rotated in the direction of arrow f' via the link 37 against the tension coil spring 34b to the position indicated by the chain line. Interlockingly, the stop lever 29a is also rotated in the direction of the arrow e to the position indicated by the chain line against the tension coil spring 34a.

As a result, the cassette rotating shelf 18 is unlocked at the return position, and the detection plate 48 provided integrally with the free end of the stop lever 29b is activated by the optical sensor 4! ll'ON,
The above lock release is confirmed.

Next, the rotation base 20 is rotated by the pulse drive of the motor 25.
is driven for a certain period of time, and the cassette rotating shelf 18 is rotated 900 times in the direction of arrow C. At this time, the lock plate 27 of the rotating base 20 is attached to both stop arms 29 as shown in FIG. 6B.
a, 29b inside the stoppers 31a, 31b.

Then, when the cassette rotating shelf 18 rotates 90 degrees and reaches the forward movement position shown in FIG. 50 turns on the optical sensor 51, and the above-mentioned 90' rotation is confirmed. Then, the plunger solenoid 36 is demagnetized, and both stop levers 29a,
29b is rotated in the direction of arrow f by both tension coil springs 34a and 34b, and the cassette rotating shelf 18 is positioned and locked in the forward position by both stoppers 28b and 31b.

As described above, the cassette 1 is
is rotated by 90°, and the cassettes (1) can be transferred between the cassette carousel 18 and the recording/reproducing device 8 in the directions of arrows d and d'.

Next, after the cassette 1 in the cassette rotating shelf J8 is pushed out slightly in the direction of the arrow d by the built-in cassette ejecting mechanism, the cassette push lever 45 is rotated in the direction of the arrow g by the motor 43. This cassette pushing lever 45 is inserted into the cassette rotating shelf 18 through a slit 52 provided on the side surface 18aK of the cassette rotating shelf 18, as shown in FIG. The cassette 1 is automatically inserted from the longitudinal direction into the cassette insertion slot 9 of the side-loading recording/reproducing bag @8. Note that the cassette ejection lever 45 is
When the cassette ejecting lever 45 is rotated in the direction of the arrow g to the position indicated by the chain line in Fig. The lever 45 is moved back in the direction of arrow g'.

When the cassette ejecting lever 45 is moved back to the position txt indicated by the solid line in FIG. 6C, the cassette ejecting lever 45
The detection plate 55 provided in the optical sensor 56YONl
, the motor 43 is stopped.

Note that the return operation of the recording and reproducing bag [cassette from 8 to the cassette transfer machine 4] 1 is performed by the reverse operation of the above operation,
When the cassette rotating shelf 18 is moved back to the backward movement position shown in FIG. 6A, the detection plate 50 turns on the optical sensor 57''k, confirming that the cassette rotating shelf 18 is moving back.

By the way, according to this cassette rotating device 10, a stepping motor is used as the motor 25 in order to precisely divide the angle of 90' rotation of the cassette rotating shelf 18, and while this motor 25 is driven by pulses, Cassette rotating shelf 1
The structure is such that an inertia of 8 is absorbed by the tension coil spring 40.

That is, first, when the cassette rotating shelf 18 is returned to the return position as shown in FIG. 6A, the motor 25 is free. On the other hand, the tension coil spring 40 is being fully tensioned at this time, and the spring force (tension reaction force) applies a rotational force to the cassette rotary shelf 18 in the direction of arrow C (forward position 91!). There is. Therefore, the cassette carousel]
When the tension coil spring 8 is moved back to the back movement position, the tension coil spring 4
Due to the spring force of o, the end 27b of the lock plate 27 comes into contact with the stopper 31a from the direction of arrow C, and the gap between the stopper 28a and the lock plate 27 (both gears 21, 26
Backlash between and motor 25 of cassette rotating shelf 1
8 in the direction of arrow C' is absorbed, and the cassette rotary shelf 18 is locked in the backward movement position without any wobbling.

Next, as described above, after energizing the plunger solenoid 36, the motor 25 is driven in pulses to rotate the cassette rotating shelf 18 by 90 degrees in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 6A. by cassette carousel 18
Since the rotational force in the direction of arrow C is already applied to the cassette rotary shelf 18, the inertia of the cassette rotating shelf 18 in the direction of arrow C' is absorbed by the spring force of the tension coil spring 40, and the rotational force in the direction of arrow C is absorbed.
The rotational force in the direction is supplemented. Therefore, the motor 25 does not go out of synchronization, and the cassette rotating shelf 18 instantly reaches a constant rotational angular velocity. Moreover, both gears are 21.26
The cassette rotary shelf 18 rotates quickly and smoothly at a constant rotational angular velocity in the direction of arrow C without causing any backlash due to backlash at any part.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the cassette rotating shelf 18 reaches the midpoint of its 90° rotation range, the tension coil spring 40 is contracted to the minimum, and after this, the cassette rotating shelf 18 continues to rotate in the direction of arrow C. As the tension increases, this tension coil spring 40 is tensioned again.

Therefore, after the cassette rotating shelf 18 passes the midpoint of the 90° rotation region, the spring force of the tension coil spring 40 applies a rotational force to the cassette rotating shelf 18 in the direction of arrow C (return direction side). be done.

By the way, by applying a driving pulse of 906+α to the motor 25, the cassette rotating shelf 18, which is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow C, reaches the forward position shown in FIG. 6C (actually, the cassette rotating shelf 18 and the stopper 28b], but at that position motor 2
When the brake is applied to 5, the tension coil spring 40
Due to the spring force in the direction of arrow C', the cassette rotating shelf 18
The inertia in the direction of arrow C is absorbed and the above braking force is supplemented. Therefore, the motor 25 does not become out of synchronization, and the cassette rotary shelf 18 is instantly and precisely stopped at the position of the predetermined number of motion pulses. Note that after the cassette rotating shelf 18 has overrun, the tension coil spring 4
The end portion 27a of the lock plate 27 is brought into contact with the stopper 31blC by being slightly returned in the direction of the arrow C by the spring force of 0.
The cassette rotating shelf 18 is locked in the forward movement position without any wobbling.

By the way, the required torque of the motor 25 is Tm (kgcm)
, load torque TL (kgcm), moment of inertia of cassette rotating shelf 18) J (kgcm"),
Angular velocity meter rad/81, gravitational acceleration g (cm/81
, the moment kxh due to the tension coil spring 40 (:
kgcm:] (k: spring constant, x: spring elongation,
h: moment arm length], the spring force of the tension coil spring 40 acts in a direction to supplement the torque of the motor 25.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and is based on the technical idea of the present invention.
Various valid changes are possible.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to cassette autochangers using video cassettes, but can be applied to autochangers for various cassettes and cartridges that accommodate various recording carriers such as magnetic tapes and optical disks.

H Effects of the Invention Since the present invention can use a side rope ink type recording and reproducing device, front access (operation surface The cassette transfer machine does not pose any danger or hindrance when performing operations on various switches, maintenance of printed circuit boards, etc.). Therefore, the recording/reproducing device can be repaired, replaced, etc. easily. In particular, since the cassette transfer device moves on the opposite side of the operator's side of the multiple cassette storage racks and the cassette rotating device, operator safety is very high.

However, in the present invention, a large number of cassettes can be arranged vertically within a large number of cassette storage shelves so that the longitudinal direction thereof is perpendicular to the operator side. It is possible to increase the storage efficiency (the number of storage rolls) of the cassette with respect to the width, and it is possible to save space.

It is also possible to install a cassette rotation device f that rotates the cassette direction by 90' after the cassette is transferred, but in such a configuration, the structure would be complicated to move it in the X and Y directions. The cassette transfer machine has a more complicated structure, is significantly heavier, and cannot provide high-speed access for automatic cassette exchange. however.

The present invention provides two independent cassette rotation devices with respect to the cassette transfer machine, and provides a cassette transfer function and a rotation function.
Since they are distributed, the structure of the cassette transfer device and the cassette rotation device can be simplified, and the reliability of operation can be increased. Furthermore, the cassette transfer device can be made lighter, allowing high-speed access for automatic cassette exchange.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment Z of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a front view of the entire cassette autochanger, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, Fig. 3 is a side view of the same, and Fig. 4 is a cassette. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the main parts of the autochanger, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the cassette rotating device, and FIGS. 6A to 6C are plan views illustrating the cassette rotation operation. FIGS. 7A to 7C are plan views illustrating a conventional example of a cassette autochanger. Also in the symbols used in the drawings. 1...Cassette 2...Cassette storage shelf (parts shelf) 4.
......Cassette transfer machine 6...
...Operator equipment 8... Recording/playback device 8a... Operation surface 8b of the recording/playback device...
...... Lateral side of the recording/reproducing device 9 ......
・Cassette insertion port 1O: Cassette rotation device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A large number of cassette storage shelves storing a large number of cassettes,
A cassette autochanger comprising a cassette transfer machine and a recording/playback device, the cassette autochanger configured to selectively automatically exchange cassettes between a cassette storage shelf and the recording/playback device using the cassette transfer machine, the recording/playback device The operation surface of the device faces the operator, and a cassette insertion slot is provided on the side surface of the operation surface.
A cassette rotating device is provided next to the cassette insertion slot of the recording and reproducing device, and the plurality of cassette storage shelves are arranged at least in a horizontal row next to the cassette rotating device, and the plurality of cassette storage shelves hold cassettes. The cassette transfer device is configured to be inserted and stored from the longitudinal direction, and the cassette transfer device is configured to move a large number of cassette storage shelves and a cassette rotation device on a side opposite to the operator side, and the cassette transfer device A cassette is selectively taken out from a cassette storage shelf, and after the orientation of the cassette is rotated by 90 degrees by a cassette rotating device, the cassette is inserted into the cassette insertion slot of the recording/reproducing device from its longitudinal direction. Features a cassette auto changer.