PURPOSE: To reduce the load on a motor, by using the driving force of the motor to load and unload a cassette.

CONSTITUTION: A pin 34 provided at the other end of a turning level 28 and a neutral part 31 of a cam 33 are disengaged from each other according to the turning lever 28 is turned, and a switching plate 21 becomes the free state. However, since the switching plate 21 is pressed by a inverting spring 24, the switching plate 21 is turned around its supporting shaft. A loading-side switching gear 22 on the switching plate 21 is engaged with a loading-side driving gear 15. As the result, the rotational force of the motor is transmitted to the loading-side driving gear 15, the loading-side switching gear 22, a transmission gear 20, and a speed reduction gear group 18, and a gear 17 provided at the output end of the reduction gear group 18 is rotated in a prescribed speed. Since a rack 14 of the side of a slide plate 5 is engaged with this gear 17, the slide plate 5 starts moving to the deep part side of a tape player.