JP2004145982A - Magnetic tape cartridge and its assembling method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a magnetic tape cartridge capable of easily automating the assembling work of a door and a tension coil into a cartridge case. <P>SOLUTION: This cartridge is provided with a door side spring latch part 63 provided at a slide door 6, a case side spring latch part 8 formed at an inside plane of a lower half 1B, a spring placing mount 16 provided being adjacent the case side spring latch part 8, a door side spring latch part 63 of a pin shape extended to a lower case side from the slide door 6, and a tension coil spring 7 of which the one end part is latched to the door side spring latch part 63 and the other end part is latched to the case side spring latch part 8 and which energizes the door to a closed position of the magnetic tape drawing opening ID, the spring placing mount 16 is formed in the different direction from a expansion and compression direction of the tension coil spring 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for assembling a magnetic tape cartridge, and more particularly, to a magnetic tape cartridge that can facilitate automation of an assembly operation of a door and a tension coil spring to a cartridge case.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an external recording medium for data backup such as a computer, there is a magnetic tape cartridge configured by housing a single reel wound with a magnetic tape as a recording medium in a case (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-265560 (FIG. 2)
[0004]
There are various types of magnetic tape cartridges of this type. In recent years, in order to reduce the operating space of the tape pull-out mechanism in the drive device for the purpose of reducing the size of the drive device, A magnetic tape cartridge has been developed in which a magnetic tape outlet is formed at a corner, and the magnetic tape outlet is opened and closed by a curved door.
[0005]
In such a magnetic tape cartridge, in order to open and close the door, the door is fitted into a guide groove formed on the inner surface of the cartridge case, and the door is provided on the inner surface of the door (the surface facing the inner side of the cartridge case). The door is always biased in the closing direction by hanging a tension coil spring between the side spring hook and the case side spring hook provided on the inner surface of the cartridge case, and the outer surface of the door (on the outside of the cartridge case). A structure in which the door is opened by pushing the operating protrusion formed on the facing surface) by an operating arm attached to the loading mechanism of the drive device is conceivable.
[0006]
As a method of automating the assembly operation of the door and the tension coil spring to the cartridge case in the manufacturing process of the magnetic tape cartridge having the above-described structure, first, the door is gripped by the robot hand and set in the guide groove, and then An assembly method is conceivable in which both ends of the tension coil spring are gripped by a robot hand, one end thereof is attached to the door-side spring hanging portion, and the other end is attached to the case-side spring hanging portion.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above assembling method, if the door set in the guide groove swings or tilts to the left or right, the position of the door side spring hooking portion with respect to the cartridge case shifts. There was a problem that the work of attaching to the spring hook and the case side spring hook became difficult. In addition, if the gap between the door and the case side spring hook is narrow, the robot coil hand grips the tension coil spring when attaching both ends of the tension coil spring to the door side spring hook and the case side spring hook. There is a problem that it is difficult to insert the robot hand between the door and the case side spring hook. That is, the above-described assembling method has a problem that it is difficult to automate the assembling work of the door to the cartridge case and the tension coil spring.
[0008]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic tape cartridge capable of facilitating automation of assembling work of a door and a tension coil spring to a cartridge case.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention was devised to achieve the above object, and the magnetic tape cartridge according to claim 1 includes a cartridge case composed of an upper half and a lower half, and a corner portion of a side wall portion of the cartridge case. A magnetic tape outlet, formed in a curved door for opening and closing the magnetic tape outlet, and a guide groove formed on the inner surface of the cartridge case for slidably guiding the door in its opening and closing direction. A door-side spring hook provided on the door, a case-side spring hook provided on the inner surface of the lower half, a spring stand provided adjacent to the case-side spring hook, and the door A pin-like door-side spring hook extending to the lower case side, one end of which is attached to the door-side spring hook, and the other end is attached to the case-side spring hook. And a tension coil spring for always urges the door in the closing direction, the spring stand is characterized by being formed in a direction different from the expansion and contraction direction of the tension coil spring.
[0010]
According to this configuration, the spring mount is formed on the inner surface of the lower half, so that when the tension coil spring is attached to the door side spring hook, the tension coil spring is fixed by being placed on the spring mount. This eliminates the need to first set the door in the guide groove, thereby solving the problem caused by the conventional wobbling of the door. Further, it is not necessary to insert the robot hand into a narrow gap between the door set in advance and the case side spring hook. Furthermore, since the door-side spring hanging portion extends from the door to the lower case side, when the tension coil spring is attached to the door-side spring hanging portion, the attachment can be performed from above with respect to the lower case. Therefore, it is possible to easily realize the mounting operation of the door and the tension coil spring. In addition, since the spring mount is formed in a direction different from the expansion / contraction direction of the tension coil spring, the tension coil spring does not contact the spring mount when the magnetic tape cartridge is assembled.
[0011]
Further, it is desirable that a groove for regulating the position of the tension coil spring in the state where the tension coil spring is temporarily assembled to the case side spring hook is formed in the spring mount.
[0012]
According to such a configuration, in the state where the tension coil spring is temporarily assembled to the case side spring hook, the groove for regulating the position of the tension coil spring is formed in the spring mount, so that the position of the tension coil spring can be adjusted. Since it is decided reliably, the engagement operation | work with this tension coil spring and a door side spring hook part can be performed easily.
[0013]
Further, the length of the spring mount is set so that the other end of the tension coil spring is located outside the spring mount in a state where the tension coil spring is temporarily assembled to the case side spring hook. It is desirable that
[0014]
According to such a configuration, in the state where the tension coil spring is temporarily assembled to the case side spring hook portion, the other end portion of the tension coil spring is set so as to be located outside the spring mount. When attaching a tension coil spring to a spring hook part, a tension coil spring can be inserted to the back of a door side spring hook part.
[0015]
Moreover, it is desirable that the door-side spring-hanging portion has a distal end curved in the opening direction of the door.
[0016]
According to such a configuration, since the tip of the door-side spring hook is curved in the opening direction of the door, from the door-side spring hook of the tension coil spring after the tension coil spring is attached to the door-side spring hook. Can be prevented from falling off.
[0017]
The magnetic tape cartridge assembly method of the present invention includes a step of temporarily assembling one end of the tension coil spring to the case-side spring hook, a step of placing the tension coil spring on the spring mount, the door Hang a side spring hook on the other end of the tension coil spring, and fit the door into the guide groove.
[0018]
According to this method, when automating the assembly operation of the door and the tension coil spring, first, one end of the tension coil spring is provisionally assembled to the case-side spring hook with a robot hand, and the tension coil spring is Place on a spring stand. Then, the door-side spring hook is hooked on the other end of the tension coil spring, and the door is fitted into the guide groove. As a result, the problem caused by previously setting the door in the guide groove as in the prior art is solved, so that the work of assembling the curved door and the tension coil spring to the cartridge case can be easily realized.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a magnetic tape cartridge and an assembling method thereof according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate.
[0020]
First, a magnetic tape cartridge according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. In the drawings to be referred to, FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a magnetic tape cartridge MC according to the present invention. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of the inner surface 12 of the lower half 1B included in the magnetic tape cartridge MC shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing the slide door 6 included in the magnetic tape cartridge MC shown in FIG.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 1, a magnetic tape cartridge MC has a single reel 2 in which a magnetic tape MT as a recording medium is wound inside a cartridge case 1 that is divided into an upper half 1A and a lower half 1B. The lock plate 3 and the compression coil spring 4 for locking the rotation of the reel 2, the release pad 5 for releasing the locked state of the reel 2, and a part of the side wall portion of the cartridge case 1 are notched and formed obliquely. The sliding door 6 that opens and closes the magnetic tape outlet 1D formed across the upper half 1A and the lower half 1B at the corner 1C of the cartridge case 1 and the tension coil spring 7 that constantly urges the sliding door 6 in its closing direction. , Leaf spring 9 for locking the leader pin L attached to the tip of the magnetic tape MT when the slide door 6 is closed, the erroneous erasure preventing claw 10, the car It is constructed by assembling a ridge memory 11 or the like. The corner 1C of the cartridge case 1 is formed obliquely by notching a part of the side wall portion of the cartridge case 1. Here, “upper half 1A, lower half 1B” refers to the upper half at the time of assembly as “upper half 1A”, and the lower half as “lower half 1B”. The “sliding door 6” corresponds to the “door” in the claims. Further, one end 7a and the other end 7b of the tension coil spring 7 are formed in a substantially ring shape (see FIG. 1).
[0022]
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a curved shallow guide groove in which a sliding door 6 is fitted in the inner surface 12 of the lower half 1 </ b> B and slidably guides the sliding door 6 in the opening and closing direction when the sliding door 6 is opened and closed. 13. A case-side spring hook 8 which is a pin-like protrusion for attaching the tension coil spring 7, and a groove 16a for temporarily mounting the tension coil spring 7 in the step of engaging the slide door 6 with the tension coil spring 7. A spring mount 16 is formed. Although not shown, a case-side spring hook and a guide groove are also formed on the inner surface of the upper half 1A at positions corresponding to the case-side spring hook 8 and the guide groove 13 formed on the inner surface 12 of the lower half B. ing. The spring mount 16 is used in the assembly process of the magnetic tape cartridge MC, and when the tension coil spring 7 is placed, the ring portion 7b (see FIG. 1) at the tip of the tension coil spring 7 is provided. The length is located outside the spring mount 16 and is formed in a direction different from the expansion / contraction direction of the tension coil spring 7 in use so as not to contact the tension coil spring 7 when the magnetic tape cartridge MC is assembled. Has been.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 3, the slide door 6 is formed in a horizontally long thin plate shape, and has a shape curved in the plate thickness direction. A plurality of sliding projections 60 that are slidably fitted in the guide grooves 13 formed in the upper half 1A and the lower half 1B are formed on the upper end 6a and the lower end 6b of the slide door 6.
[0024]
On the outer surface (the surface facing the outside of the magnetic tape cartridge MC) 6c of the slide door 6, an operation protrusion 61 for projecting the slide door 6 is provided. When the magnetic tape cartridge MC is assembled, the operation projecting piece 61 faces the operation opening 1E (see FIG. 1) formed in the side wall portion of the upper half 1A. The sliding door 6 is opened by being pushed by an operating arm attached to the loading mechanism of the drive device.
[0025]
On the inner surface 6d of the slide door 6 (the surface facing the inner side of the magnetic tape cartridge MC), the front end 6e has a stopper that holds the lower end of the leader pin L (see FIG. 1) when the slide door 6 is closed. 62 is formed. The “front end portion” refers to an end portion that becomes the closing direction side when the slide door 6 is assembled to the lower half 1B.
[0026]
On the inner surface 6d of the slide door 6, a door-side spring hook portion 63 to which the tension coil spring 7 is attached projects from the rear end portion 6f. The “rear end portion” refers to an end portion that is on the opening direction side when the slide door 6 is assembled to the lower half 1B. The door-side spring hook 63 extends perpendicularly to the lower end 6b side of the slide door 6 and has a curved end so as to prevent the tension coil spring 7 from falling off during operation. In addition, the shape of the door side spring hook part 63 will not be specifically limited if it is a shape where the front-end | tip of the tension coil spring 7 is attached.
[0027]
Next, a method for assembling the magnetic tape cartridge according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the slide door 6 is assembled to the lower half 1B. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the tension coil spring 7 and the slide door 6 are assembled to the lower half 1 </ b> B of the cartridge case 1.
[0028]
When assembling the magnetic tape cartridge MC, the upper half 1A, the lower half 1B, the reel 2, the lock plate 3, the compression coil spring 4, the release pad 5, the slide door 6, the tension coil spring 7, and the leaf spring 9 are placed on the transport pallet. The parts such as the erroneous erasure preventing claw 10 and the cartridge memory 11 are arranged, and in the process of assembling each part, each part is placed at a predetermined position of the lower half 1B by using an assembly device equipped with a robot hand. Is assembled.
[0029]
Each part is held on the transport pallet by a part holding jig (not shown) dedicated to each part so that the robot hand (not shown) of the assembling apparatus can easily hold it. The slide door 6 is held by a component holding jig for holding the slide door 6 in a vertical standing posture with no left-right tilt or front-back tilt.
[0030]
When assembling the tension coil spring 7 held by the component holding jig and the slide door 6 to the lower half 1B, first, the ring portion 7a (see FIG. 1) at one end of the tension coil spring 7 is placed on the case side spring hook. 8, the main body of the tension coil spring 7 is placed on the spring mount 16 of the lower half 1B.
[0031]
Then, the middle part of the slide door 6 is gripped by a robot hand (not shown), the robot hand is moved above the lower half 1B, and then lowered toward the inner surface 12 of the lower half 1B. The hanging portion 63 is attached to the ring portion 7b (see FIG. 1) at the other end of the tension coil spring 7 placed on the spring mount 16.
[0032]
Further, the robot hand is moved above the guide groove 13 formed in the inner surface 12 of the lower half 1B while maintaining the state where the tension coil spring 7 is attached to the door side spring hook 63 of the slide door 6, and then the robot The hand is lowered toward the inner surface 12 of the lower half 1 </ b> B, and the sliding projection 60 formed on the lower end 6 b of the slide door 6 is fitted into the guide groove 13. The position at which the slide door 6 is gripped by the robot hand is not particularly limited.
[0033]
According to the above method, the door-side spring hook 63 of the slide door 6 gripped by the robot hand is attached to the ring portion 7b of the tension coil spring 7 placed on the spring mount 16, and then the slide door 6 is attached. Since it is assembled to the guide groove 13, an assembly method in which a slide door is set in the guide groove in advance as in the prior art, and then both ends of the tension coil spring are attached to the door side spring hook and the case side spring hook. This eliminates the need to consider the problem that the sliding door set in the guide groove wobbles to the left and right. Therefore, it is possible to easily realize automation of the operation of assembling the slide door and the tension coil spring to the cartridge case.
[0034]
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications are possible as long as it is based on the technical idea of the present invention.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a magnetic tape cartridge capable of facilitating the automation of the assembly operation of the door to the cartridge case and the tension coil spring.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a magnetic tape cartridge MC according to the present invention.
2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a main part of an inner surface 12 of a lower half 1B included in the magnetic tape cartridge MC shown in FIG.
3 is an enlarged perspective view showing a slide door 6 included in the magnetic tape cartridge MC shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the slide door 6 is assembled to the lower half 1B.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cartridge case 1A Upper half 1B Lower half 1C Corner | angular part 1D Magnetic tape outlet 1E Operation opening 2 Reel 3 Lock plate 4 Compression coil spring 5 Release pad 6 Slide door 7 Tension coil springs 7a and 7b Ring part 8 Case side spring Hook 9 Leaf spring 10 Erasing prevention claw 11 Cartridge memory 12 Inner surface 13 Guide groove 16 Spring mount 16a Groove 60 Sliding protrusion 61 Operation protrusion 62 Stopper 63 Door side spring hook

Claims (2)

A cartridge case consisting of an upper half and a lower half;
A magnetic tape outlet formed at a corner of the side wall portion of the cartridge case;
A curved door that opens and closes the magnetic tape outlet;
A guide groove formed on the inner surface of the cartridge case and slidably guiding the door in its opening and closing direction;
A door-side spring hook provided on the door;
A case-side spring hook provided on the inner surface of the lower half;
A spring pedestal provided adjacent to the case side spring hook;
A pin-like door-side spring hook extending from the door to the lower case,
One end thereof is attached to the door-side spring hook portion, the other end is attached to the case-side spring hook portion, and a tension coil spring that constantly biases the door in the closing direction. The magnetic tape cartridge is formed in a direction different from the expansion / contraction direction of the tension coil spring. A method of assembling a magnetic tape cartridge according to claim 1,
Temporarily assembling one end of the tension coil spring to the case-side spring hook;
Placing the tension coil spring on the spring mount;
Hang the door side spring hook on the other end of the tension coil spring;
Fitting the door into the guide groove;
A method for assembling a magnetic tape cartridge, comprising:

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