JP2004247002A - Tape cassette and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tape cassette which can prevent such a situation that an erroneous erasing preventing member is unexpectedly disengaged even if the movement of a production line, repeated removal of upper and lower half cases or the like are performed, and to provide its manufacturing method. <P>SOLUTION: This tape cassette houses a tape type recording medium rotatably in a case constituted of a pair of upper and lower half cases, and has an erroneous erase preventing member 7 which is housed in a housing part 20 provided in the lower half case 2 in a pressed state. The erroneous erase preventing member 7 is provided with elastic parts 30, 31 having projections 23, 24, and is placed in a pressed state because the elastic part is pressed to a wall surface 20a and deformed elastically when the member 7 is housed in the housing part 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tape cassette having an identification member and a method for producing the same.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in an 8 mm video tape cassette, a digital audio tape cassette (DAT), a digital video tape cassette (DVC), or the like, an erroneous erasure prevention member is operated from an operation window provided on the back surface of the cassette case to erroneously lower the lower half case. Opening / closing the erasure prevention identification hole enables the recording / reproducing apparatus to identify whether information can be recorded on the recording tape in the cassette case and prevents erroneous erasure of the information recorded on the recording tape. (See Patent Document 1 below).
[0003]
The above-mentioned conventional tape cassette is assembled by inserting the erroneous erasure prevention member 99 for opening and closing the operation window 102 into the storage portion 101 of the lower half case 100 and then covering the upper half case as shown in FIG. .
[0004]
There are products in which the tape cassette has the same shape and the specification form of the identification hole is different for the purpose of supporting a plurality of recording methods, etc., but the identification member for opening and closing the identification hole of such a product has a different identification hole. In some cases, the shape may change slightly. When assembling a plurality of these products, it is preferable to share the production line for improving the production efficiency. However, when assembling the parts of the identification members having the different shapes, it may not be possible to assemble the same production line. In such a case, it is desirable to produce parts with different shapes on different lines, and to produce common parts on the same line. However, when putting parts assembled on another line into another line, And the assembled identification member such as the erroneous erasure prevention member 99 in FIG. 9 is detached from the storage portion 101 of the lower harp case 100 due to dropping or the like, and it is necessary to reassemble. And the production efficiency decreases.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-7-296557
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the related art, and therefore, even if the production line is moved or the upper and lower half cases are removed after the identification member such as the erroneous erasure prevention member is incorporated, the erroneous erasure prevention member is unexpectedly provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tape cassette which can prevent the tape cassette from coming off, and a method for producing the tape cassette.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a tape cassette according to the present invention is a tape cassette that rotatably accommodates a tape-shaped recording medium in a case composed of a pair of upper and lower half cases and has an identification member. Wherein the identification member is housed in a press-fitted state in the housing portion provided in the above.
[0008]
According to this tape cassette, since the identification member is housed in the housing part in a press-fit state, even if the production line is moved or the upper and lower half cases are removed again after the identification member is incorporated, the identification member comes off unexpectedly. Can be prevented.
[0009]
In the above-described tape cassette, the housing portion includes a wall surface that forms a space in which the identification member is accommodated, and the identification member includes an elastic portion that is elastically deformed by being pressed against at least a part of the wall surface in the housing portion. it can. Thereby, when the identification member is accommodated in the accommodation portion, the elastic portion is pressed against the wall surface and is elastically deformed, so that the identification member is press-fitted.
[0010]
Further, the identification member slides against the wall while the elastic portion is elastically deformed when moving in the housing portion, so that the identification member moves smoothly when opening and closing the identification hole even when the identification member is press-fitted. it can.
[0011]
Further, it is preferable that the elastic portion includes a convex portion that contacts the wall surface. Further, the elastic portion may be configured to be incorporated in the storage portion as a separate component from the identification member.For example, the elastic portion may be configured by a coil spring, and the coil spring may be disposed between the identification member and the wall surface. It may be arranged. Further, it is preferable that a contact member is provided at the end on the wall surface side of the coil spring to improve the slidability between the coil spring and the wall surface.
[0012]
The method for producing a tape cassette according to the present invention is a method for rotatably storing a tape-shaped recording medium in a case composed of a pair of upper and lower half cases, and producing a tape cassette having an identification member. The identification member is housed in a housing portion provided in the half case in a press-fit state, and then the half case incorporating the identification member is moved from the production line to another production line.
[0013]
According to the tape cassette production method, since the identification member is housed in the housing portion in a press-fit state, even if the production line is moved after the identification member is incorporated, the upper and lower half cases are moved during the movement. Even if it is removed again, the identification member can be prevented from coming off unexpectedly, and a decrease in production efficiency can be prevented.
[0014]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The tape cassette according to the present embodiment uses the identification member as an erroneous erasure prevention member. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a tape cassette according to the present embodiment.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 1, the tape cassette includes a case composed of an upper half case (hereinafter simply referred to as “upper case”) 1 and a lower half case (hereinafter simply referred to as “lower case”) 2. A pair of tape reels 3 and 4 around which the magnetic tape 10 is wound are rotatably accommodated. The upper case 1 and the lower case 2 are each produced from a resin material by injection molding.
[0016]
In the tape cassette of FIG. 1, the front cover 5 and the back cover 6 protect the magnetic tape 10 outside the case when not in use. The front lid 5 is rotatably attached to the case by a shaft formed on the side plate 5a, and is normally urged in a closing direction by a spring 5b. The back cover 6 is connected to the front cover 5 by a shaft 6 a, is guided by a guide groove 9 of the lower case 2 by a shaft 6 b, and moves in conjunction with the front cover 5.
[0017]
A lock member 2a for locking the front lid 5 at the closed position is provided on the side wall 13 of the lower case 2, and the lock member 2a is constantly urged to the lock position by a spring 2b. A reel brake member 8 and a reel brake spring 8a are provided near the center outside the reel area on the back wall 11 side of the lower case 2.
[0018]
In addition, an erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is provided near the corner between the back wall 11 and the side wall 12. The erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is preferably made of a resin material such as POM having good slidability.
[0019]
When the upper case 1 and the lower case 2 of FIG. 1 are assembled, a rectangular cutout 19 formed on the back wall 11 of the lower case 2 and a rectangular cutout formed on the back wall of the upper case 1 The notch 18 is combined to form a rectangular operation window, and the operation window is opened and closed while the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 slides against the inner surface of the case.
[0020]
When the tape cassette of FIG. 1 is set in the recording apparatus, a detection member or the like on the apparatus detects opening / closing of the identification hole 36 (FIG. 5), and moves the operation window by, for example, moving the erroneous erasure prevention member 7. The recording apparatus is closed (FIG. 5A), and when the detecting member or the like detects the closed state, the recording apparatus cannot record information on the tape cassette. Note that the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is made of, for example, a conspicuous color (red or the like) different from the upper and lower cases 1 and 2 so that the open position (FIG. 5B) and the closed position (FIG. By visually recognizing, it is possible for the user to visually recognize whether information recording is possible or not.
[0021]
Next, the erroneous erasure prevention member and a housing portion of the lower case for housing the erroneous erasure prevention member will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing a state in which the erroneous erasure prevention member is attached to the accommodating portion at the corner of the lower case of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the erroneous erasure prevention member shown in FIGS. FIG. 4 is a top view (a), a front view (b), a right side view (c), and a bottom view (d) of the erroneous erasure prevention member of FIG.
[0022]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4A to 4D, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is vertically arranged on a flat plate 21 having a substantially rectangular shape as a whole and a front surface (operation window side) 21a of the flat plate 21. A knob portion 22 formed to be elongated and protruding, a protruding portion 29 provided at the upper left end side of the flat plate 21 so as to be elastically deformable by a notch 28 to protrude upward (toward the upper case 1), and a flat plate 21. And a rib plate 27 provided between the bottom surface 26 and the rear surface of the flat plate 21.
[0023]
The erroneous erasure prevention member 7 further includes a pair of left and right convex portions 23 and 24 provided below the front surface 21 a of the flat plate 21 so as to slightly protrude from the surface, and a cut formed on the flat plate 21 above the convex portion 23. And a notch 25. The portion provided with the convex portion 23 constitutes an elastic portion 30 which is easily elastically deformed by the cutout portion 25, and the portion provided with the convex portion 24 is protruded from the flat plate 21 so as to be easily elastically deformed. The unit 31 is constituted.
[0024]
Next, a housing portion provided in the lower case for housing the erroneous erasure prevention member will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a main part showing the state where the erroneous erasure prevention member of FIGS. 3 and 4 is attached to the housing portion of the lower case and the operation window is closed, and a plan view of the main part showing the state where the operation window is opened is shown in FIG. ), And shows a cross section of the erroneous erasure prevention member cut along a line connecting the convex portions 23 and 24.
[0025]
As shown in FIGS. 2, 5 (a) and 5 (b), the housing portion 20 provided in the lower case 2 faces the rear wall 11, the side wall 12, and the wall surface 20a which constitute the wall surface 20a inside. An inner wall 35 forming the wall surface 20b and a recessed space surrounded by the inner wall 35, and the lower half of the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 can be accommodated by inserting the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 from the bottom plate 26 thereof. The erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is housed in the housing portion 20 so that the convex portions 23 and 24 are pressed against the wall surface 20a and the elastic portions 30 and 31 are slightly elastically deformed. An identification hole 36 is formed in the lower surface of the lower case 2 in the housing portion 20, and the identification hole 36 is opened by the bottom plate 26 of the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 being moved as the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 moves (FIG. b)) and close again (FIG. 5 (a)).
[0026]
Similarly, the upper case 1 is provided with an accommodating portion capable of accommodating the substantially upper half of the erroneous erasure prevention member 7. The erroneous erasure prevention member 7 in which the upper case 1 and the lower case 2 are assembled and housed in the housing portion 20 enters a groove provided on the inner bottom surface of the upper case 1 on the upper case 1 side, and opens and closes. 5 is slightly elastically deformed and is in contact with the projection 29. The positioning projection 29 is moved in the direction of arrow H in FIG.
[0027]
Next, the incorporation of the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 into the lower case 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. The erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is positioned with respect to the lower case 2, and is inserted from the bottom plate 26 into the recessed space of the housing portion 20. At this time, the projections 23 and 24 of the flat plate 21 of the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 abut on the wall surface 20a in the housing portion 20, and the rear end surfaces of the bottom plate 26 and the rib 27 abut on the wall surface 20b. 24 is pressed against the wall surface 20a. As a result, the elastic portions 30 and 31 having the convex portions 23 and 24 are slightly elastically provided on the space side of the housing portion 20 as shown by a broken line in FIG. 5A (only the convex portion 23 is exaggerated in deformation). While being deformed, it is accommodated in the housing portion 20.
[0028]
As described above, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is housed in the housing portion 20 with the elastic portions 30, 31 having the convex portions 23, 24 pressed against the wall surface 20a to be in a press-fit state. Therefore, by incorporating the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 into the lower case 2 in a press-fit state in the production process of the tape cassette shown in FIG. 1, the lower case 2 incorporating the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 may be vibrated or tilted when the lower case 2 is moved. Can prevent the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 from accidentally falling off the lower case 2 or the like. Therefore, the trouble of reassembling the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 in the lower case 2 is eliminated, and a decrease in production efficiency can be prevented.
[0029]
Also, in the production process of the tape cassette shown in FIG. 1, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is assembled in one production line into the lower case 2 in a press-fitted state, and then, due to the incorporation of parts of another type of tape cassette, etc. When moving from the production line and performing the next production process on another production line, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is accidentally dropped from the lower case 2 and detached from the lower case 2 when moving or storing from the production line. Can be prevented.
[0030]
When the moving distance is long (for example, moving from one building to another building), it is more erroneous to assemble and move the lower case 2 and the upper case 1 with the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 incorporated therein. Although it is preferable because the erasure prevention member 7 can be surely prevented from falling off, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 unexpectedly drops from the lower case 2 even when the upper case 1 is detached and disassembled in order to continuously incorporate parts and the like after the movement. It can be prevented from being detached by the same operation.
[0031]
In the tape cassette of FIGS. 1 to 5 assembled as described above, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 opens and closes the operation window formed by the notch 19 of the lower case 2 and the notch 18 of the upper case 1. 5 (a) and 5 (b) in the directions H and H '. In this case, the convex portions 23 and 24 of the erroneous erasure preventing member 7 are in contact with the wall surface 20a of the lower case 2, but the elastic portions 30 and 31 having the convex portions 23 and 24 are elastically deformed to prevent erroneous erasure. The sliding of the member 7 against the wall surface 20a is performed smoothly.
[0032]
As described above, the present invention has been described with the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications can be made within the technical idea of the present invention. For example, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 may be configured such that a convex portion and an elastic portion are provided on the rib plate 27 as shown in FIG. That is, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 shown in FIG. 6 includes a convex portion 27 a provided so as to protrude toward the rear end side of the rib plate 27 (the wall surface 20 b side after being incorporated in the housing portion 20), and a vertical direction of the rib plate 27. And a resilient portion 32 formed with a convex portion 27a and configured to be easily elastically deformed by the notch portion 27b.
[0033]
When the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 of FIG. 6 is incorporated in the accommodating portion 20 of the lower case 2 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the convex portion 27a of the rib plate 27 comes into contact with the wall surface 20b, and the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 becomes convex. The elastic portion 32 having the portion 27a is slightly elastically deformed and pressed against the wall surface 20b to be press-fitted and housed in the housing portion 20. Therefore, in the production process of the tape cassette shown in FIG. 1, even if the lower case 2 incorporating the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is moved or tilted when the lower case 2 is moved, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is unexpectedly moved from the lower case 2. It can be prevented from falling off and falling off. In FIG. 6, the protrusions 23 and 24 and the elastic portions 30 and 31 of FIG. 3 may be omitted, or both may be provided without omission.
[0034]
Further, in the erroneous erasure prevention member 7, the elastic portion may be constituted by a coil spring 33 as a separate component as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 includes a concave portion 34 in which a part of the coil spring 33 is accommodated on the back surface 21 b side of the flat plate 21 and holds the coil spring 33. The coil spring 33 is provided with a contact member 33a having a dome-shaped tip. The erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is housed in the housing portion 20 of the lower case 2 as shown in FIG. I do. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, the coil spring 33 is elastically compressed in the housing portion 20, and the contact member 33a contacts the wall surface 20b, so that the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is pressed against the wall surface 20a by the front surface 21a. Into a press-fit state. Therefore, in the production process of the tape cassette shown in FIG. 1, even if the lower case 2 incorporating the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is moved or tilted when the lower case 2 is moved, the erroneous erasure prevention member 7 is unexpectedly moved from the lower case 2. It can be prevented from falling off and falling off. In addition, when the coil spring 33 moves with respect to the wall surface 20b in accordance with the opening / closing operation of the erroneous erasure prevention member 7, the contact member 33a is in contact with the wall surface 20b, so that it is easy to slip, which is preferable.
[0035]
In the present embodiment, the erroneous erasure prevention member for preventing erroneous erasure of recorded information provided on the tape cassette has been described as an example of the identification member, but the identification member of the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention can be applied to an identification member for identifying characteristics such as the type and storage capacity of a tape cassette.
[0036]
In FIG. 1, the present invention has been described by taking an 8 mm video cassette as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and similar digital audio tape cassettes (DAT) and digital video tape cassettes (DVC) can be used. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a tape cassette having a structure in which an operation window is opened and closed by an identification member such as an erroneous erasure prevention member.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the tape cassette which can prevent that an erroneous erasure prevention member comes off accidentally even if the production line moves or the upper and lower half cases are removed again after incorporating the erroneous erasure prevention member, and a production method thereof Can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a tape cassette according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing a state in which an erroneous erasure prevention member is attached to an accommodating portion at a corner of a lower case of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the erroneous erasure prevention member of FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 4 is a top view (a), a front view (b), a right side view (c), and a bottom view (d) of the erroneous erasure prevention member of FIG.
5A is a plan view showing a state where the erroneous erasure preventing member of FIGS. 3 and 4 is attached to the housing portion of the lower case and the operation window is closed, and FIG. It is a partial plan view (b), and shows the erroneous erasure prevention member by the cross section cut and seen on the line which connects convex parts 23 and 24.
FIG. 6 is a view showing a modification of the erroneous erasure prevention member of FIGS. 3 and 4, and is a perspective view of the erroneous erasure prevention member viewed from the back surface side.
FIG. 7 is a view showing another modification of the erroneous erasure prevention member of FIGS. 3 and 4, and is a perspective view of the erroneous erasure prevention member and the elastic portion as viewed from the back surface side.
8 is a main part plan view similar to FIG. 5A, showing a state in which the erroneous erasure prevention member and the elastic portion of FIG. 7 are housed in a housing portion of a lower case.
FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view showing a state in which a conventional erroneous erasure prevention member is housed in a housing portion of a lower case.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Upper half case, upper case 2 ... Lower half case, lower case 3, 4 ... Tape reel 7 ... Erroneous erasure prevention member (identification member)
10 ... Magnetic tape (tape recording medium)
20 accommodation parts 20a, 20b wall surfaces 23, 24, 27a convex parts 30, 31, 32 elastic part 33 coil spring (elastic part)

Claims (5)

In a tape cassette having an identification member, the tape-shaped recording medium is rotatably housed in a case composed of a pair of upper and lower half cases,
A tape cassette, wherein the identification member is housed in a housing portion provided in the half case in a press-fit state. 2. The storage unit according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit includes a wall surface that forms a space in which the identification member is accommodated, and the identification member includes an elastic unit that is elastically deformed by being pressed against at least a part of the wall surface in the storage unit. The tape cassette according to 1. The tape cassette according to claim 2, wherein the elastic portion includes a convex portion that contacts the wall surface. 4. The tape cassette according to claim 2, wherein the elastic portion is incorporated in the storage portion as a separate component from the identification member. 5. A method for rotatably storing a tape-shaped recording medium in a case composed of a pair of upper and lower half cases, and producing a tape cassette having an identification member,
The identification member is housed in a housing part provided in the half case in the production line in a press-fit state, and then the half case incorporating the identification member is moved from the production line to another production line. Production method of tape cassette.

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