Importance

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Abstract

A blocking device for insuring that the insertion movement of a cartridge is impeded immediately if the cartridge is not properly oriented when inserted by the user in loading apparatus for flat, rectangular cartridges with a casing having longer longitudinal edges than transverse edges parallel top and bottom faces, and transverse-edge grooves that are asymmetrical relative to the parallel faces. The apparatus has an entrance through which a cartridge when properly oriented is inserted front-edge first in a direction perpendicular thereto. The blocking device includes a pair of movable blocking elements which are mirror images of each other and are symmetrically mounted straddling the center line of the entrance and resiliently urged toward each other, each blocking elements presenting (i) a stop member near the center line which extends vertically into the path of the cartridge to impede its insertion and which is carried on a flexible portion of the blocking element that can flex to retract the stop member clear of the cartridge to allow insertion, (ii) a lateral surface near a side margin of the entrance which is engaged by a corner of the front-edge of the cartridge to move the respective blocking element laterally and away from the other blocking element as the cartridge starts through the entrance, and (iii) a laterally extending tongue near the entrance side margin which enters the transverse-edge groove of the respective cartridge when the cartridge is top-face up when inserted; the blocking device further includes a pair of displacement members mounted near the center line coacting with the blocking elements to flex the flexible portions thereof and retract the stop members responsive to lateral movement of both blocking elements produced by engagement of the lateral surfaces thereof by both corners of the front-edge of the cartridge, thereby to allow the cartridge through the entrance only when the cartridge is properly oriented when inserted.

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First Claim