JP2000260155A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tape cassette capable of easily recycling by lowering the cost in the manner of simplifying the manufacturing process and reducing the number of components. SOLUTION: In this tape cassette 1, a casing is constituted for housing the tape inside it by combining an upper half 2 and a lower half 3 each other, and an elastically deformable boss 4 having a pawl 7 at the tip is provided on one out of the upper half 2 and lower half 3, and on another one out of the upper and lower halves, a mounting hole 5 having a stepped part 5c to be engaged with the pawl 7 is provided while the boss 4 is to be inserted therein, then by inserting the boss to the mounting hole 5 while elastically deforming the boss, the pawl 7 is restrained to the stepped part 5c to form the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 by combining them each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a tape cassette for recording and reproducing information. More specifically, the present invention relates to a coupling structure of an upper half and a lower half constituting a casing of a cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A magnetic tape such as an audio tape for recording audio information and a video tape for recording image information is usually stored in a tape cassette. This tape cassette
The upper half and the lower half are combined to form a housing and house a magnetic tape inside.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are a plan view of a conventional tape cassette and an enlarged sectional view of a connection portion thereof. The tape cassette 10 has an upper half 11 and a lower half 12 which are opposed to each other and are joined together by screws 14 at six locations to form a housing. Reels 15a and 15b are provided in the tape cassette 10, and a magnetic tape (not shown) is wound around these reels and wound. Each screw 14 is screwed to the upper half 11 side through the mounting hole 13 from the lower half 12 side.

[0004]

However, in the conventional tape cassette, since a metal screw is used as the connecting means of the upper and lower halves, there are the following problems.

(1) From the viewpoint of resource saving, energy saving and environmental problems in recent years, when recycling a tape cassette, it is necessary to separate a case made of upper and lower plastic halves from a metal screw. Labor and cost.

(2) In manufacturing a tape cassette, equipment for screwing work and a lot of labor are required, the number of parts is increased, cost is increased, and management becomes troublesome.

On the other hand, a method of manufacturing a cassette in which upper and lower halves (cases) are fixed to each other without using a screw has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-37359). In the method of manufacturing a tape cassette described in this publication, a boss is projected on the upper surface of the lower case of the cassette at the same time as the molding of the lower case, and the boss is inserted into a stepped fixing hole provided in the upper case of the cassette. The tip of the boss protrudes above the step of the fixing hole, and an instantaneous heating chip is applied to this protruding part to melt it, forming an enlarged part on the step in the fixing hole and It fixes the case.

However, in the tape cassette described in this publication, a boss protruding from one case is inserted into a hole in the other case so that the tip protrudes from the hole, and then the protruding boss tip is melted by a heating chip. A large portion is formed on the crushing step to fix the upper and lower cases to each other, which requires a heating device, increases equipment costs, and complicates the manufacturing process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned prior art, and has as its object to provide a tape cassette which can simplify a manufacturing process, reduce the number of parts and reduce costs, and can be easily recycled.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a tape cassette comprising an upper half and a lower half connected to each other to form a housing for accommodating a tape therein. An attachment hole having an elastically deformable boss having a claw at one end in one of the lower halves, and a stepped portion into which the boss is inserted and the claw is engaged in the other of the upper half and the lower half. The upper half and the lower half are connected to each other by being inserted into the mounting hole while elastically deforming the boss, so that the claw is engaged with the stepped portion, and the upper half and the lower half are connected to each other. Provide a cassette.

According to this structure, the upper and lower halves are connected to each other by the connecting means of the boss with the claw and the mounting hole into which the boss is fitted without using a metal screw. The upper and lower hearths can be fixed to each other simply by inserting them into the steps and locking the claws on the step.This simplifies the manufacturing process and allows the boss to be formed of the same plastic material as the upper and lower halves. Separation work becomes unnecessary, and labor and cost for separation can be reduced.

In a preferred configuration example, the boss is formed integrally with the upper half or the lower half together with the claw at the tip thereof.

According to this configuration, the boss is easily formed integrally with the upper half or the lower half using the same material by molding or the like, so that the labor and cost for sorting in recycling can be reduced.

In a further preferred embodiment, the boss is
The umbrella-shaped claw formed at the tip of the pillar portion and the umbrella, and a slot is formed along the longitudinal direction thereof.

According to this structure, when the boss is inserted into the mounting hole, the enlarged umbrella-shaped claw at the end thereof is pushed to close the slit formed along the longitudinal direction of the boss. When the portion is elastically deformed and the claw comes out of the mounting hole, the pillar portion is elastically restored, the slit groove is opened, and the claw is locked on the step of the mounting hole. Thus, the upper and lower halves can be easily connected to each other by a simple operation of inserting the boss into the hole.

In a further preferred configuration example, the pillar portion of the boss is formed to be curved before insertion into the mounting hole,
It is characterized in that the claw is formed so as to be stretched in a state of being locked to the step portion to apply a tensile force.

According to this configuration, when the boss is inserted into the mounting hole and the claw at the tip of the boss is locked to the step at the mounting hole exit,
Since the pillar portion of the boss that has been curved in advance is stretched to generate an elastic restoring force and pull the claw, the upper and lower halves come into close contact with each other and the coupling surface is fixed without any gap.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of the tape cassette according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the lower half side, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a connection portion thereof. Also,
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the manufacturing process in order.

The tape cassette 1 of this embodiment is formed by combining an upper half 2 and a lower half 3 to form a housing. A magnetic tape (not shown) is wound around the internal reels 8a and 8b. It is wound. A boss 4 protrudes from the lower surface of the upper half 2 and a mounting hole 5 into which the boss 4 fits.
Are formed in the lower half 3. The boss 4 includes a pillar 6 and an umbrella-shaped claw 7 at the tip thereof, and a slot 8 is formed at the center in the longitudinal direction. By providing such a slot 8, the column 6 of the boss 4 is easily elastically deformed,
When the boss 4 is inserted into the mounting hole 5, the groove is closed and the enlarged pawl 7 is reduced to a diameter that can pass through the hole, and after passing through the hole, it returns elastically to its original shape. Such a boss 4 with a claw is integrally formed simultaneously with the upper half 2 by molding a plastic material.

The mounting hole 5 formed in the lower half 3 has an insertion portion 5a opened on the upper surface side and an enlarged diameter portion 5 opened on the lower surface side.
b between the insertion portion 5a and the enlarged diameter portion 5b.
c is formed.

When connecting the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 having such a configuration, first, as shown in FIG. 3A, the boss 4 of the upper half 2 and the mounting hole 5 of the lower half 3 are opposed to each other for alignment. I do. Subsequently, the boss 4 is inserted into the mounting hole 5 as shown in FIG. At this time, the column portion 6 of the boss 4 is elastically deformed, and the umbrella-shaped claw 7 is reduced in diameter so that it can pass through the insertion portion 5a of the mounting hole 5. When the boss 4 is further pushed in, the claw 7 comes out of the insertion portion 5a as shown in FIG.
c. Thereby, the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 are connected to each other. In this case, the length of the column 6 of the boss 4 and the mounting hole 5
The boss 4 and the mounting hole 5 are desirably formed in advance so that the lengths of the insertion portions 5a are equal to each other. Thereby, the mating surfaces of the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 can be joined without a gap.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are cross-sectional views of a boss according to another embodiment of the present invention. In these embodiments, the adhesion between the joining surfaces of the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 is enhanced.

FIG. 2A shows a structure in which the pillar 6 of the boss 4 is curved outward in advance. The length of the curved column 6 is shorter than the length of the insertion portion 5 a of the mounting hole 5. Thus, when the boss 4 is inserted into the mounting hole 5 and the pawl 7 is engaged with the step 5c, the column portion 6 is elastically deformed and stretched. Close contact.

FIG. 3B shows an example in which the column 6 is curved inward, and FIG. 3C shows an example in which the column 6 is bent in a zigzag shape. In either case, as in the case of (A) above, a tensile force is applied to the pawl 7 in a state of being locked and connected to the step of the mounting hole so that the upper and lower halves come into close contact with each other.

The present invention is not limited to audio recording tape cassettes and video tape cassettes, but may be applied to other audio compact cassettes, data storage cassettes, or magnetic head cleaning tape cassettes provided with cleaning tapes. It is possible.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the upper and lower halves are connected to each other by the connecting means of the boss with the claw and the mounting hole into which the boss is fitted without using a metal screw. The upper and lower hearths can be fixed to each other simply by inserting them into the mounting holes and locking the claws to the steps while deforming, simplifying the manufacturing process and forming the boss with the same plastic material as the upper and lower halves. This eliminates the need for sorting work during recycling, thereby reducing sorting labor and costs. Further, since no screws are used, the number of parts is reduced, cost is reduced, and parts management becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a lower surface side of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a coupling portion of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a connection procedure in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the shape of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the lower surface side of a conventional tape cassette.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a connection portion of a conventional tape cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: tape cassette, 2: upper half, 3: lower half,
4: boss, 5: mounting hole, 6: pillar, 7: claw, 8: slot.

Claims (4)

[Claims] An upper half and a lower half which are connected to each other to form a housing for accommodating a tape therein; and wherein one of the upper half and the lower half has a claw at an end thereof and is elastically deformable. A boss is provided, and the other of the upper half and the lower half is provided with a mounting hole having a step portion with which the boss is inserted and the claw is engaged, and is inserted into the mounting hole while elastically deforming the boss. The upper half and the lower half are connected to each other by engaging the claw with the step, thereby forming a tape cassette. 2. The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein the boss is formed integrally with the upper half or the lower half together with the claw at the tip thereof. 3. The tape according to claim 1, wherein the boss comprises a pillar portion and the umbrella-shaped claw formed at a tip of the pillar portion, and a slot is formed along a longitudinal direction of the boss. cassette. 4. A pillar portion of the boss is formed to be curved before insertion into the mounting hole, and is extended so as to apply a tensile force while the claw is locked to the step portion. The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein