JPH0514381Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION FIELD The present invention relates to a tape cassette. Prior Art Currently, video tape recorders use counters to count the number of rotations of the supply reel shaft and take-up reel shaft, and the output of the counter directly drives the display to display the amount of tape used or the remaining amount of tape (tape remaining time). is displayed. On the other hand, regarding tape cassettes, there are several types of tape cassettes on the market, such as those with exactly the same external appearance but with different tape thicknesses and different reel hub diameters. Therefore, it is impossible to accurately display the remaining tape time simply by counting the number of rotations of the reel shaft as described above. In order to accurately display the remaining tape time, it is necessary to provide the device with various specification data of the tape cassette in use, such as tape thickness, reel hub diameter, etc., in advance. A conceivable structure for providing information regarding the tape cassette to the apparatus while the tape cassette is attached to the apparatus is a structure in which a bar code label on which information is recorded is affixed to the top surface of the cassette. However, with this configuration of tape cassette,
There is a problem in that the barcode label becomes dirty or peels off while the tape cassette is handled, making it impossible to stably provide accurate information to the device. Means for Solving the Problems The purpose of the present invention is to provide a tape cassette that solves the above-mentioned problems.In this invention, information regarding various specifications of the tape cassette is transmitted to the reading means of the recording and/or reproducing device. The information providing section is provided on at least one of the front side or the back side of the tape protective lid as a plurality of selective notches arranged to form a data string of several bits for the reading means. It is something. Embodiments Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described. FIGS. 1A to 1C show an embodiment of the tape cassette according to the present invention. The tape cassette 1 consists of a cassette housing 2 and a tape protection lid 3 rotatably provided on the front side of the cassette housing 2. The cassette housing 2 has a supply reel 4 and a take-up reel 5 inside. As shown in FIG. 2, this tape cassette 1 is used by fitting the reels 4 and 5 onto the corresponding reel shafts 6 and 7 and installing it in a recording/reproducing device 8, so that the magnetic tape 9 is inserted outside the tape cassette 1. The tape is pulled out from the drum 10 and runs along the tape path wound around the drum 10 for recording and reproduction. In addition, tape cassette 1
When the lid 3 is moved downward and installed, the front lower edge 3
A is locked and guided from point A to point B along the upper end inclined surface 11a of the opening member 11 installed on the chassis, and the shaft portion 12 is moved as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. The lid is opened by rotating clockwise around the center (see Figure 3). Reference numeral 13 denotes an information providing section, which is provided at a portion of the lid 3 facing the front lower edge 3a and near the portion where the lid opening member 11 acts, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 3. . This information providing section 13
Four planned notches 14a lined up in a line along a
-14d (indicated by a two-dot chain line) are appropriately formed with notches 15, and the notches 15 are arranged as "present" and "absent", and the "present" notches indicate the signal.

[0],
The notch "None" represents signal [1], and 16 types of tape cassette information, which are 4-bit combinations, can be provided. Further, the information providing section includes a pair of planned notch sections 14.
a and 14b serve to represent information on the reel hub diameter, and the remaining pair of intended notches 14c and 14d serve to represent information on tape thickness. The information providing unit 13 of this embodiment is
The arrangement of the notches 15 is "with", "absent", "with", "with", for example, when the reel hub diameter is 62 mm and the tape thickness is 2 mm.
This indicates that it is 0 μm. 16 is a micro switch assembly (reading means)
There are four micro switches 1 on the base 17.
8a to 18d are arranged and attached in a row, and are provided so as to protrude laterally from the vicinity of point B of the lid opening member 11. Micro switch 18a-18
d is the intended notch portion 14a to 1 of the opened lid 3, respectively.
4d, and the signal remains in the OFF state.

[0], turns ON and outputs signal [1]. When the tape cassette 1 is loaded into the recording/reproducing device 8, the lid 3 is opened as described above, and information from the information providing section 13 is provided to the device 8 as described below. When the lid 3 is opened, the information providing section 13 faces the microswitch assembly 16, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Micro switches 18a, 18c, 18d facing the notch 15 are the fourth
As shown in the figure, each actuating piece is relatively fitted into the notch 15 and is not pushed and remains OFF. Further, the micro switch 18b facing the notch portion 14b in which no notch is formed is turned on by having its actuating piece pressed by the lid 3, as shown in FIG. As a result, the information from the information providing unit 13 is provided to the microswitches 18a to 18d, where it is read, and the information is transmitted to the four microswitches 18a to 18d.
Information signal [0100] is output from 8d, and CPU2
It is added to 0 and stored here. During recording and reproduction, the rotational speed of the supply reel shaft 6 is detected by the detection head 21, and the detected rotational speed information is sequentially added to the CPU 20, as shown in FIG. The CPU 20 calculates the remaining tape time by calculating the information from the detection head 21 and the above-mentioned stored information using a preset calculation formula. The tape remaining amount time signal from the CPU 20 is applied to the display drive circuit 22, which operates to operate the tape remaining amount display section 23 arranged on the front panel of the device 8. The remaining tape time for the tape cassette 1 is accurately displayed. Note that the correlation between the arrangement of the information providing section with or without notches, the reel hub diameter, and the tape thickness is determined in advance by a standard, and the contents of this standard are stored in the CPU 20. Therefore, if the type of tape cassette is different, the information signal provided to the CPU 20 from the information providing section will also be different, but the CPU 20 can correctly determine the type of tape cassette installed, and the display section 23 will display a different information signal. The remaining tape time for the tape cassette being used at the time is accurately displayed. In addition, the notch for the information providing section can be formed on the back side of the lid so that it does not appear on the front side.
In this case, the appearance of the cassette will be improved. Further, the information providing section 13 described above is configured to be able to accurately provide information to the apparatus side without being affected by dirt or the like, and is therefore highly reliable. Further, by configuring the information providing section 13 to be provided in the tape protection lid 3 instead of the cassette housing 2, the following effects can be obtained. It is easier to work on the lid 3 than on the cassette casing 2. Therefore, information provision department 1
3 can be easily formed. Even if the information changes, there is no need to change the cassette housing 2, and only the lid 3 needs to be replaced.
Easily adaptable to future changes. By simply replacing the lid 3, a tape cassette without an information providing section can be changed to a tape cassette having an information providing section. Micro switch assembly 1 as reading means
6 can be installed on the opening member 11, and there is no need to worry about where to install it. Effects As mentioned above, the tape cassette according to the present invention has the following features. Since the contents of the tape cassette are arranged in a plurality of notches, the information providing section can represent information regarding the contents of the tape cassette itself. The information providing section can be made reliable and have a structure that is advantageous for manufacturing. That is, when an information providing unit is constructed using barcode labels, there is no need to worry about stains, peeling, etc. Furthermore, it can be manufactured more easily than when the information providing section is provided in the cassette housing. When assembling tape cassettes, there is no need to manage cassette casings according to cassette type (it is difficult to manage cassette casings by type), and parts management only needs to be done on the lid, which is a small component. , which is convenient for manufacturing tape cassettes. Changing the information provision section is convenient because it is only necessary to replace the lid. For example, changing an off-the-shelf tape cassette to a tape cassette equipped with an information provision section can be easily done by simply replacing the lid, and the equipment can then automatically perform operations that correspond to the various specifications of the tape cassette. , there is no need for the operator's intervention. The reading means can be provided, for example, on the lid opening member, and there is no need to worry about where to mount the reading means. When the plurality of notches constituting the information providing section are provided on the back side of the tape protection lid, the notches do not appear on the front side, which is advantageous since the appearance of the tape cassette is not spoiled.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1A, B, and C are respectively a plan view, a front view, and a side view of an embodiment of the tape cassette according to the present invention, and Figure 2 is a recording/reproducing apparatus equipped with the tape cassette of Figure 1. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the state in mode, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the information providing part of the tape protection lid of the tape cassette, the lid opening member and the micro switch assembly, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are A diagram showing the correspondence between the notched part and the non-notched part of the information providing section with the microswitch when a tape cassette is installed and the lid is open. Figure 6 shows the remaining amount of tape on the recording/playback device. It is a diagram showing a system. 1...Tape cassette, 2...Cassette housing,
3...Tape protective lid, 8...Recording and reproducing device, 11
...Opening member, 11a... Upper end inclined surface, 12...
Shaft part, 13... Information provision part, 14a to 14d...
Scheduled notch portion, 15... Notch, 16... Micro switch assembly, 17... Base, 18a to 18d...
...Micro switch, 20...CPU, 21...
Detection head, 22... Display drive circuit, 23... Tape remaining amount display section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a tape cassette that has a tape protective lid and is used by being attached to a recording and/or reproducing device with the tape protective lid open, information regarding the various specifications of the tape cassette is stored on the recording and/or reproducing device. An information providing portion to be provided to the reading means is provided on at least one of the front side or the back side of the tape protective lid, and has a plurality of selective notches so as to provide a data string of several bits to the reading means. A tape cassette configured as an array.