JP2001266530A - Tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the tape cartridge of a skeleton type that the quantity of tape wound on a right and left tape reels can be seen through any of the upper and lower directions. SOLUTION: The tape cartridge has tape reels 3 with an upper and lower flanges 7a, 7b around which a tape 2 is wound on either side of inside of a main body case 1 consisting of an upper and lower cases 1a, 1b. The upper and lower cases 1a, 1b are formed of a transparent plastic material as a whole. Each tape reel 3 is formed of a colored and transparent plastic material, colored in such as red and blue. The quantity of tape wound on each tape reel 3 can be visually recognized from the upper surface side over the upper case 1a and an upper flange 7a, and can be visually recognized also from the undersurface side over the lower case 1b and a lower flange 7b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cartridge having a tape reel on which a tape is wound on the left and right sides of a main body case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a VHS type video tape cartridge, a transparent window is provided in an upper wall of a main body case, and an upper flange of a plastic tape reel is formed to be transparent so that a tape can be wound around the tape reel. The amount is visible from the outside on the top side. There, in order to optically detect the tape end, the part of the main body case except for the transparent window is colored black or dark and finished opaque, and the lower flange of the tape reel is also usually white opaque. It was molded from plastic material.

[0003]

In such a conventional tape cartridge, the winding amount of the tape around the tape reel can be visually recognized only from the transparent window of the upper case, and the tape winding amount can be visually recognized from the back side (the lower case side). Can not. For this reason, for example, in a case where the tape cartridge is placed on the floor surface with the back side facing upward,
The amount of tape winding cannot be visually recognized, and it is necessary to invert the main body case one by one so that the front side (upper case side) faces upward, which is inconvenient to handle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge which is excellent in handleability because the amount of winding of a tape around a tape reel can be viewed not only from the upper surface but also from the lower surface.

[0005]

According to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the upper and lower casings 1a and 1b are connected to each other in a lid-like manner. In a tape cartridge having tape reels 3 and 7 on which the tape 2 is wound with 7a and 7b,
The upper and lower cases 1a and 1b of the main body case 1 and the upper and lower flanges 7a and 7b of each tape reel 2 are formed of a transparent plastic material. Specifically, the light transmittance of the transparent plastic material is set to 5% or more.

[0006]

The term "transparent" in the present invention includes colorless transparent and colored transparent, and may be so-called smoked translucent. In short,
When viewed from the top side, the upper case 1a and the upper flange 7
It suffices that the amount of tape winding on the corresponding tape reel 3 can be seen through the lower case 1b and the lower flange 7b when viewed from the lower surface side. As long as the light transmittance of the transparent plastic material is 5% or more, preferably 10% or more.
Set to more than%. If it is less than 5%, it is difficult to determine the internal tape winding amount, and if it is 10% or more, the tape winding amount can be more reliably visually recognized.

[0007]

According to the tape cartridge of the present invention,
Since the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b of the main body case 1 and the upper and lower flanges 7a and 7b of each tape reel 2 are formed of a transparent plastic material, the amount of tape winding on each tape reel 3 can be determined not only from the upper surface but also from the lower surface. This makes it possible to visually check, and it is possible to improve the handleability.

[0008]

The drawings illustrate a VHS type video tape cartridge, in which a pair of tapes 2 are wound around the left and right inside a plastic main body case 1 in which upper and lower cases 1a and 1b are connected in a lid-like manner. Tape reels 3.3. The tape 2 is fed out from the one tape reel 3 to the outside of the front surface of the main body case 1 via the tape guide member 4 and wound on the other tape reel 3. A front cover 5 for protecting the tape is pivotally mounted on the front surface of the main body case 1 so that the front cover 5 can be opened and closed.

As shown in FIG. 3, each tape reel 3 has a hub 6 and flanges 7a and 7 provided at upper and lower ends of the hub 6.
b. The lower flange 7b is formed of plastic integrally with the hub 6. The upper flange 7a is formed of plastic separately and has a reel cap 9 on the upper end of the hub 6.
Are connected integrally. The end of the tape is connected to one portion of the outer peripheral surface of the hub 6 via a clamp 8, and the tape 2 is wound around the outer periphery of the hub 6 to form upper and lower flanges 7a.
-Vertical movement is regulated by 7b.

When the tape cartridge is not used, the front lid 5 covers and protects the outside of the front surface of the tape 2, and the reel brake means 10 locks the rotation of each tape reel 3, so that the tape 2 is slackened to the front of the case. To prevent When the tape cartridge is loaded into the player, the front lid 5 is opened upward and rotated, and the reel brake means 10 is released to allow each tape reel 3 to freely rotate.
Is in a standby state in which it can be loaded forward and outward.

In this tape cartridge, in this embodiment, the entire upper and lower cases 1a and 1b of the main body case 1 and the entire front cover 5 are molded from a colorless and transparent plastic material, and the hub 6 and the upper and lower flanges of each tape reel 3 are formed. 7a
-The whole including 7b was molded with a red transparent plastic material having a light transmittance of 5% or more.

In this case, since the main body case 1 is entirely colorless and transparent, the inside of the main body case 1 including the left and right tape reels 3, 3 is fully visible. In addition, the red tape reels 3 are prominently seen from both the upper surface side and the lower surface side of the main body case 1. Each red tape reel 3
Is contrasted in color with the black tape 2 so that the amount of tape wound on each tape reel 3 can be visually confirmed while comparing the left and right tape reels 3.3 over the upper flange 7a or the lower flange 7b. it can. To this extent, it is desired that each tape reel 3 be colored and transparent with a different color tone from the black tape 2.

When the front lid 5 is formed of a transparent plastic material, the front lid 5 is compatible with the transparent main body case 1 and the appearance is improved. Further, when the tape 2 led out inside the front lid 5 is greatly loosened, this can be recognized from the front outside. Accordingly, in such a case, the tape reel 3 on the winding side is manually rotated in the winding direction in advance, and the tape 2 is set in a tensioned state.
When the main body case 1 is loaded in the player, troubles can be prevented in advance when loading the tape 2 from the front surface of the main body case 1 toward the front outside.

When the main body case 1 is loaded in the player, it is necessary to optically detect the tape start and end. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, an opening 12 is provided in a front part in the main body case 1 to allow the projector 11 on the player side to enter from below the case. The light receiver 15 is arranged laterally outside the side walls 13, 13, and the left and right side walls 1 of the main body case 1 are arranged.
Through holes 16 and 16 are provided in 3 and 13 respectively. As a result, the detection light from the light projector 11 is received by the light receiver 15 through the through hole 16 after passing through the tape 2 and the tape end detection optical path L
Is composed. Then, using the transparent leader tape 2a (see FIG. 3) connected to both ends of the tape 2, the tape 2
Is detected at the beginning and end. In such a tape cartridge, if the main body case 1 is entirely transparent, external light may enter the tape end detection optical path L and malfunction may easily occur. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a light-shielding member (not shown) is attached to the inner wall surface of the main body case 1 facing the tape end detection optical path L to prevent external light from entering. In addition, if the light transmittance of the portion surrounding the tape end detection optical path L of the main body case 1, that is, the front part of the front lid 5 and the upper portion of the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b is made lower than that of the other portions, the tape becomes The light shielding to the edge detection optical path L is more reliable.

The present invention is not limited to making the entire upper and lower cases 1a and 1b colorless and transparent. For example, in FIG. 1, a portion corresponding to a conventional transparent window is defined as a transparent window 17 in the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b in appearance, and the portion of the transparent window 17 is made transparent and the other portions are opaque. Two-color molding may be performed. The point is that at least the amount of tape wound on each of the left and right tape reels 3 can be visually recognized from the outside.

Each tape reel 3 has upper and lower flanges 7a.
7b may be formed separately from the hub 6 and integrally joined therewith. The hub 6 is opaque and has upper and lower flanges 7a and 7a.
Only b may be colorless and transparent or colored translucent. By the way, when the entire upper and lower cases 1a and 1b are made transparent, the light emitter 11 and the light receiver 15 are arranged on the player side in a laterally outer side in front of the main body case 1 so that the tape end can be detected. You may. The tape cartridge to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the video cartridge in the illustrated example, but can be applied to, for example, a DAT for audio.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire appearance.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the inside.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the tape reel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case 2 Tape 3 Tape reel 5 Front lid 6 Hub 7a ・ 7b Flange

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Tape reels 3, 3 having flanges 7a, 7b on the upper and lower sides of a hub 6 at the left and right sides of a main body case 1 in which upper and lower cases 1a, 1b are connected in a lid-like manner. The upper and lower cases 1a and 1b of the main body case 1 and the upper and lower flanges 7a and 7b of each tape reel 3 are each formed of a transparent plastic material. 2. The light transmittance of a transparent plastic material is 5%.
2. The tape cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the tape cartridge is set as described above.