JP2001307456A - Magnetic tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a magnetic tape cassette whose direction (top, bottom, front, and rear) can easily be discriminated. SOLUTION: This magnetic tape cassette 10 has its outward appearance constitution members 11, 12, and 15 made transparent to an extent that makes hard to discriminate the direction of the magnetic tape cassette 10 and has the outward appearance of at least the outward appearance constitution member 12 among 11, 12, and 15 made distinguishable from those of the parts 11 and 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic tape cassette, and more particularly, to a magnetic tape cassette characterized by the external components of the magnetic tape cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, magnetic tape cassettes are frequently used as recording media. There are various types of magnetic tape cassettes, such as audio, video, and computer. Among these forms, there are various types such as an analog type and a digital type. For example, the digital type includes a DAT (digital audio tape) cassette, a DVC (digital video cassette), a DDS (digital data storage) cassette, and the like. Also,
Video tape cassettes include a VHS type and a β type. The basic configuration is almost the same, and the magnetic tape is held movably in the cassette case.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a VHS type magnetic tape cassette which is an example of a video magnetic tape cassette. The magnetic tape cassette 40 includes an upper cassette half 41 and a lower cassette half 42. The upper and lower cassette halves 41 and 42 are flat plates 41a and 42a, respectively.
And side walls 41b, 42b erected on the periphery of the flat plate.
And A cassette case is formed by combining the upper cassette half 41 and the lower cassette half 42.

[0004] A pair of tape reels 50 are rotatably housed in the cassette case. The tape reel 50
The magnetic tape T has a hub 53 wound around its outer peripheral surface, and an upper flange 51 and a lower flange 52 attached to upper and lower ends of the hub 53 so as to sandwich the hub 53. The upper flange 51 is formed of a transparent resin.
A window 46 is provided on the flat plate 41 a of the upper cassette half 41 so that the winding amount of the magnetic tape T wound on the hub 53 can be checked. Window 46 is upper cassette half 4
1 is provided with a transparent window member so as to close the window opening provided in the window member 1. A label attaching section 47 is provided substantially at the center of the flat plate 41a.

The tape reel 50 is a lower cassette half 42
The hub is mounted on a pair of holes 48 into which a hub driving shaft (not shown) on the recording / reproducing device side provided on the flat plate 42a is inserted. Magnetic tape T wound on tape reel 50
Is movably arranged on the lower cassette half 42 so as to be bridged between a pair of tape guides 44 provided in the front opening 43 of the lower cassette half 42. The magnetic tape T is exposed at the front opening 43 of the cassette case. A guard panel 45 serving as a lid member is rotatably attached to the cassette case so as to cover the front surface of the magnetic tape T. The external appearance of the magnetic tape cassette 40 is roughly composed of an upper cassette half 41, a lower cassette half 42, and a guard panel 45.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a magnetic tape cassette 40 for the VHS system. The magnetic tape cassette 40 is attached to the label attaching portion 47 of the flat plate 41a of the upper cassette half 41,
Label 60 indicating the recordable time, cassette type, etc.
Is affixed. A label 61 describing the title of the content recorded on the magnetic tape is attached to the rear side wall of the cassette case 40a, which is the rear end of the magnetic tape cassette 40. The above-described label is not attached to the flat plate of the lower cassette half 42 or the front side wall of the guard panel 45 which is the front end of the magnetic tape cassette 20.
The user confirms the label 60 on the flat plate 41 a of the upper cassette half 41 to check the magnetic tape cassette 4.
0 can be distinguished from the upper surface and the lower surface. In addition, cassette case 4
By checking the label 61 attached to the rear end of the magnetic tape cassette 40a, the front end and the rear end of the magnetic tape cassette 40 can be identified.

In some magnetic tape cassettes, after a user purchases a product, labels 60 and 61 are attached to the magnetic tape cassette as necessary. In such a magnetic tape cassette, no label is attached to the cassette case at the time of shipment. By doing so, the operation of attaching the label can be eliminated, and the manufacturing process has been simplified.

[0008]

In a magnetic tape cassette to which no label is attached at the time of shipment, a user does not always attach a label. In conventional magnetic tape cassettes without labels, it is difficult to identify the top and bottom surfaces of the magnetic tape cassette and the front and rear ends, and the user inserts the magnetic tape cassette in the recording / playback device in the wrong direction. There was a case. In this case, the magnetic tape cassette may be damaged, or the recording / reproducing device may be damaged.

The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic tape cassette that can easily identify the direction (up, down, front and rear) of the magnetic tape cassette. .

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic tape cassette in which a magnetic tape is held movably inside an external component, wherein the external component identifies the orientation of the magnetic tape cassette. The magnetic tape cassette is transparent to the extent that it is difficult to perform, and is characterized in that the appearance of at least a part of the appearance component is formed so as to be distinguishable from the appearance of other parts.

With the above-described configuration of the magnetic tape cassette, the user can identify the upper surface and the lower surface, and the front end and the rear end of the magnetic tape cassette. Therefore, the user does not mistake the direction of inserting the magnetic tape cassette into the recording / reproducing / recording apparatus.

In recent years, housings of electronic devices and the like have been made transparent, that is, so-called skeletons, mainly for the purpose of improving design. When the external components such as the cassette case are made transparent so that the storage members such as the tape reels stored inside the cassette case of the magnetic tape cassette can be viewed from the outside, the direction of the magnetic tape cassette ( It has been particularly difficult to distinguish between the upper and lower surfaces and the front and rear ends. By making the external components of the magnetic tape cassette of the present invention transparent, if a predetermined process is performed on the inner surface of the external components to make a difference in the external appearance, the degree of freedom of the locations to be processed is expanded, and various processes are performed. A magnetic tape cassette in the form can be manufactured.

In order to make the appearance of at least one part of the appearance constituent member distinguishable from the appearance of the other part, for example, the outer or inner surface of a predetermined member may be a textured surface (a surface having fine irregularities on the surface). Means that the predetermined member is formed of a resin having a different color from other members, or formed of a resin having different transparency. Note that “transparent” in the present specification means that the inside of the magnetic tape cassette is visible, and may be achromatic or chromatic.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the embodiments described below, the members and the like having the same configurations and operations as the members and the like already described are denoted by the same reference numerals or corresponding reference numerals in the drawings to simplify or omit the description.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a magnetic tape cassette 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The external appearance of the magnetic tape cassette 10 is roughly constituted by an upper cassette half 11, a lower cassette half 12, and a guard panel 15, which are formed of a transparent resin. Cassette case 10 formed by upper cassette half 11 and lower cassette half 12
A magnetic tape T is wound around a pair of tape reels 50 so that a part of the magnetic tape T is exposed to the front opening, and is housed in a. A guard panel 15 is rotatably attached to the front opening of the cassette case 10a so as to cover the exposed magnetic tape T. The inner surface of the lower cassette half 12 is formed into a textured surface. Therefore, the light transmittance of the lower cassette half 12 is smaller than the light transmittance of the upper cassette half 11 and the guard panel 15.

The magnetic tape cassette 1 having the above configuration
According to 0, the storage members such as the tape reel 50 stored in the cassette case 10a can be confirmed from the outside. However, when checking the storage member through the lower cassette half 12 whose inner surface is a textured surface, the storage member cannot be checked as clearly as the upper cassette half 11.

Therefore, when the upper surface and the lower surface of the magnetic tape cassette 10 are distinguished from each other, the surface on which the tape reel 50, the magnetic tape T and the like can be easily confirmed through the upper cassette half 11 is defined as the upper surface. The upper surface and the lower surface of the magnetic tape cassette 10 can be easily identified. Further, since the textured surface is provided on the inner surface of the lower cassette half 12, the outer surface thereof is not rubbed during use of the magnetic tape cassette 10, so that the textured surface is not worn. In the present embodiment, only the inner surface of the flat plate of the lower cassette half 12 may be a textured surface.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a magnetic tape cassette 20 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The external appearance of the magnetic tape cassette 20 is roughly constituted by an upper cassette half 21, a lower cassette half 22, and a guard panel 25 formed of a transparent resin. The guard panel 25 has both an inner surface and an outer surface formed into a textured surface. Therefore, the light transmittance of the guard panel 25 is smaller than the light transmittance of the cassette case 20a.

The magnetic tape cassette 2 constructed as described above
0, the direction of the side wall of the magnetic tape cassette 20 (A,
When viewed from the direction B, the storage members such as the magnetic tape T and the tape reel 50 stored in the cassette case 20a can be confirmed from the direction of the rear side wall 23a and the side wall 23b (the direction A). But guard panel 25
From the front side wall 23c (direction B). Further, when the hand touches the magnetic tape cassette 20, the touch is different between the cassette case 20a and the guard panel 25.

Therefore, the magnetic tape cassette 20 can be viewed from the side wall direction without sticking a label or the like to the external appearance of the magnetic tape cassette 20 whose design is improved by making the external structural members transparent, without lowering the external appearance. Or
The front end and the rear end can be easily identified by touching with the hand. In this embodiment, only the front side wall 23c of the guard panel 25 facing the rear side wall 23a of the cassette case 20 may be formed into a textured surface.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate modifications and improvements can be made. In the embodiment of the present invention, the number of appearance components subjected to the predetermined processing is not limited to only one, and when it is desired to simultaneously identify a plurality of appearance components, each of the plurality of appearance components is assigned to the respective exterior components. May be performed. For example, two members such as a lower cassette half and a guard panel may be subjected to different processing so that the lower cassette half and the guard panel can be easily identified from the magnetic tape cassette. The process for identifying the predetermined external component is not limited to the formation of the textured surface, but may be a surface formed by uneven streaks or any other process that causes a difference in light transmittance. Also, the predetermined external component may be molded with a resin of a different color from the other external components. Note that the embodiment of the present invention employs VH
Not limited to the S-type magnetic tape cassette, the β-type magnetic tape cassette for video, the aforementioned DAT, DVC,
The present invention is also applicable to a magnetic tape cassette such as a DDS.

[0022]

As described above, according to the magnetic tape cassette of the present invention, the user can easily identify the upper surface and the lower surface or the front end and the rear end of the magnetic tape cassette. Is not inserted in the recording / reproducing apparatus in an incorrect direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a magnetic tape cassette according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a magnetic tape cassette according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional magnetic tape cassette.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional magnetic tape cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 20 Magnetic tape cassette 10a, 20a Cassette case 11, 21 Upper cassette half (external component) 12, 22 Lower cassette half (external component) 15, 25 Guard panel (external component) 50 Tape reel T Magnetic tape

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic tape cassette in which a magnetic tape is held movably inside an external component, wherein the external component is transparent to the extent that it is difficult to identify the orientation of the magnetic tape cassette. A magnetic tape cassette, wherein an appearance of at least a part of a component is formed so as to be distinguishable from an appearance of another part.