JP2508970B2 - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tape cassette,
In particular, the present invention relates to a structure for taking out a plurality of tape cassettes from a cassette magazine in a cassette magazine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, as tape cassettes, there have been proposed ultra-small cassettes that are even smaller than commercially available tape cassettes (so-called compact cassettes, microcassettes, etc.). Since such an ultra-compact cassette has an extremely small outer dimension, it may be lost when stored as a single unit. Therefore, a plurality of tape cassettes are collectively stored in a cassette magazine for storage.

At the time of recording / reproducing, the cassette magazine as a whole is inserted and loaded into a recording / reproducing machine, and in the recording / reproducing machine, a predetermined tape cassette is automatically taken out from the cassette magazine by a cassette changer and mounted on a drive mechanism section for recording / reproducing. A system in which the operation is performed is considered.

[0004]

However, in the conventional tape cassette, there has not been proposed a structure in which taking out the tape cassette from the cassette magazine is taken into consideration. Therefore, the tape cassette cannot be easily taken out from the cassette magazine, which has been a major problem in realizing an automatic tape cassette mounting system using a cassette changer.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
An object is to provide a tape cassette that can be easily taken out from a cassette magazine.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a tape cassette which is housed in a plurality of cassette magazines and which is taken out from the cassette magazine by a cassette changer at the time of use. An engaging portion on which a pull-out member (draw-out arm) of the cassette changer is hooked is formed in a lid attached to the portion.

[0007]

According to the tape cassette of the present invention, the pull-out member (pull-out arm) of the cassette changer is hooked on the engaging portion, so that the tape cassette can be easily pulled out from the cassette magazine, which is compatible with the cassette changer system.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example of a tape cassette to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, reference numeral 1 generally indicates a case of a microminiature tape cassette that houses a magnetic tape for recording / reproducing a PCM signal, and the cassette case 1 includes an upper half 2 and a lower half 3. The lids 6 are opposed to each other and are tightened by screws 4 to be united, and a lid 6 for opening and closing the openings 5 formed on the front surfaces of the halves 2 and 3 is pivotally supported.

In the cassette housing 1, that is, between the upper and lower halves 2 and 3, there are insertion holes 2a, 2b and 3 for the hub drive shaft.
The magnetic tape T is housed in a state of being wound between a pair of both hubs 7 and 8 arranged corresponding to a and 3b, and a part of the magnetic tape T is rotatably attached to the front side opening 5 and both sides of the opening 5. It is configured to be exposed in a stretched state via pinch rollers 9 and 10 that also function as guide rollers that are axially supported by.

A brake mechanism 11 for braking the hubs 7 and 8 when not in use is provided in the cassette casing 1, and the upper and lower surfaces of the cassette casing 1 are provided with rear side corners. And an erroneous erasure prevention mechanism 12 and 13 located in the upper part and communicating with the upper and lower halves 2 and 3, and positioning reference holes 14, 15 and 16, on the front and rear parts in the front-rear direction of the center and on both side parts in the rear lateral direction. 17, a plurality of required detection holes 18 and 19 are formed in the lateral direction of the trailing edge,
Further, grip portions 20 and 21 are formed at the rear portions of both side surfaces.

A lid 6 for opening and closing the front opening 5 of the cassette housing 1 is provided with a changer engagement portion 23 along a lateral guide groove 22.

In the tape cassette thus constructed, the magnetic tape T housed in the cassette housing 1 is adapted to be recorded and / or reproduced by a helical scan system using a rotary head. .

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the rotary head 41 is configured to rotate while being inclined with respect to the head drum 42 at a required angle, and the head drum 42 moves the lid 6 of the cassette housing 1 upward or upward. The magnetic tape T partially inserted into the front-side opening 5 that is opened by rotating downward and stretched across the opening 5 is wrapped around the insertion-side peripheral surface of the head drum 42. When the rotary head 41 is rotated as described above, an inclined track that obliquely crosses the magnetic tape is formed.

At this time, the magnetic tape T is attached to the head drum 42.
In this example, a pair of tape guides are provided in the insertion portion of the head drum 42 of the opening portion 5 of the cassette housing 1 so that the guide portions are inclined in opposite directions so that they are surely slidably contacted with each other. The members 24 and 25 are connected to the guide rollers 9 and 10.
Is arranged so as to face each other and to swing and move laterally. When the head drum 42 is inserted into the opening 5, the head drum 42 comes into contact with the peripheral surface of the head drum 42. The magnetic tape T is guided between the head drum 42 and the peripheral surface of the head drum 42.

Further, on both sides of the head drum 42, both wing guides 43, 44 inserted between the pinch rollers 9, 10 and the tape guide members 24, 25 on both sides of the opening 5 of the cassette housing 1 are provided. The wing guides 43, 44 are provided with rollers 43a,
The magnetic tape T is attached to the magnetic tape T so that the magnetic tape T is pressed against the tape guide members 24 and 25.

The wing guides 43, 44 are provided with support pieces 26, 27 on the inner side of the opening 5 of the cassette housing 1, respectively.
And a guide protrusion 28 for preventing the tape from protruding, which is located between the support pieces 26, 27 and the pinch rollers 9, 10.
It is designed to be inserted between 29 and 29.

Since the tape cassette constructed as described above is formed in a very small size as described above, it may be lost as a single unit. Therefore, when not in use, a plurality of tape cassettes are stored in a cassette magazine (described later) to be stored. .

A device for accurately accommodating the tape cassette in this cassette magazine and taking it out easily is provided on a lid 6 for opening and closing the opening 5. That is, the guide groove 22 provided on the front surface of the lid 6 is formed in the lateral direction so as to be offset to one of the upper and lower sides (downward in this example) from the central portion of the lid 6, and as will be described later, the guide groove 22 is formed. The insertion direction of the tape cassette into the cassette magazine is specified.

On the other hand, the engaging portion 23 provided along the guide groove 22 is used for pulling out the tape cassette from the cassette magazine. In this example, the engaging portion 23 extends laterally between the both ends of the lid 6 along the guide groove 22. 1st-4th installed in parallel
Of the cutout recesses 23a, 23b, 23c, 23d. That is, the first and the fourth parts are provided on the left and right ends of the front surface of the lid 6.
Notch recesses 23a and 23d are formed so as to open to the side surfaces of the lid 6, and second and third notch recesses 23b and 23c are provided in the center of the front surface of the lid 6 between the notch recesses 23a and 23d. The four cutout recesses 23a, 23b, 23c and 23d are formed at substantially equal intervals.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a cassette magazine, that is, the cassette magazine 31 has a plurality of storage sections 32 into which tape cassettes are inserted and loaded in the lateral direction, and each storage section 32 is provided with a partition 33. It is partitioned.
An engaging projection 34 is formed on the bottom of each storage portion 32 in the depth direction, and the guide groove 22 of the lid 6 is engaged with the engaging projection 34 when the tape cassette is inserted. It is done as follows.

When the tape cassette is inserted, the guide groove 22 of the lid 6 is formed so as to be offset from the central portion, so that when the tape cassette is reversed and inserted from the opposite side, the guide groove is formed. 22 does not correspond exactly to the engagement ridge 34, thus preventing reverse insertion of the tape cassette. Further, a groove 35 into which a drawer arm of a drawer, which will be described later, is inserted is formed along the engaging projection 34 at the bottom of each storage portion 32.

The plurality of tape cassettes housed in the cassette magazine thus configured are inserted into the recording / reproducing machine together with the cassette magazine, and the tape cassette is automatically taken out and recorded by the cassette changer system in the recording / reproducing machine. Playback is performed.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic structure of the cassette changer system. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 36 denotes the entire recording / reproducing apparatus, and a cassette magazine 31 in which a plurality of tape cassettes are housed in the recording / reproducing apparatus 36. When you insert the cassette magazine 3
1 is moved to pull out the device 3 from the designated storage 32.
One tape cassette is pulled out by 7. When the tape cassette is taken out from the cassette magazine 31 in this way, the tape cassette 1 is conveyed by the transfer device 38 to the drive mechanism section 39 and mounted therein. In the drive mechanism section 39, the rotary head 41 described above is attached to the tape cassette. Then, a predetermined recording or reproducing operation is performed by being inserted into the opening 5 of the.

In this cassette changer system, the drawer device 37 for taking out the tape cassette from the cassette magazine is, as shown in FIG.
The pull-out arm 4 which is inserted into the slot 35 of FIG.
0, and a ratchet-shaped engaging claw portion 40a that is engaged with the engaging portion 23 of the lid 6 only in the pull-out direction of the tape cassette is formed at the tip end portion of the pull-out arm 40. The reciprocating operation of the pullout arm 40 causes the engaging claw portion 40a to engage with the engaging portion 2 of the tape cassette.
3, the tape cassette is pulled out from the cassette magazine 31.

In this operation, in this example, the drawer arm 4
The tape cassette is pulled out by a plurality of reciprocating operations with a small stroke of zero. That is, first, in the first reciprocating operation of the pullout arm 40, the third notch concave portion 23 of the engaging portion 23 is formed.
The engaging claw 40a is hooked on c and the tape cassette 1
Approximately ⅓ of pulling out, and in the second reciprocating operation of the pulling out arm 40, the engaging claw portion 40 is inserted into the second notch recess 23b of the engaging portion 23.
a is hooked and the tape cassette is pulled out again about 1/3. Then, in the third reciprocating operation of the pullout arm 40, the engaging claw portion 40a is inserted into the first cutout recess 23a of the engaging portion 23.
, So that the entire tape cassette is pulled out.

The tape cassette pulled out from the cassette magazine in this manner is driven by the drive mechanism 39 by the transfer device 38 of the cassette changer system as described above.
Then, the recording or reproducing operation is performed.

As described above, in the tape cassette of this embodiment, the drawer arm 4 of the cassette changer is provided on the front surface of the lid 6.
By forming the engaging portion 23 on which 0 is hooked, it can be easily taken out from the cassette magazine 31 and can be applied to a cassette changer system.

Further, in this embodiment, the engaging portion 23 includes a plurality of cutout recesses 23a which are arranged in the lateral direction of the lid 6 at substantially equal intervals.
23b, 23c, and 23d, the stroke of the reciprocating arm 40 for one reciprocation can be shortened to pull out the tape cassette with a plurality of strokes. Therefore, the pulling-out device 37 can be formed in a small size, and, This leads to downsizing of the entire cassette changer system.

Further, since the engaging portion 23 is formed on the lid 6, it can be easily implemented without requiring a large design change in the conventional tape cassette. That is, if the engaging portion 23 is to be provided on the cassette casing 1 side,
Since the space of the cassette housing 1 is extremely limited, the layout of the magnetic tape and the arrangement of various detection holes will have to be changed significantly, which makes the design very difficult. In this example, however, the front of the lid 6 is empty. Since the engaging portion 23 is provided in the space, the design of the cassette casing 1 is not affected at all, and the lid 6 can be slightly processed, which facilitates the implementation.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the configuration of this embodiment. Further, although the present embodiment shows the case where the present invention is applied to the PCM recording micro-miniature cassette, the present invention is not limited to this and can be widely applied to various tape cassettes having a lid, for example, tape cassettes and DAT cassettes. It is something.

[0031]

As described above, in the tape cassette of the present invention, the tape cassette from the cassette magazine is formed by forming the engaging portion with which the drawer member of the cassette changer is hooked on the front lid of the cassette housing. Can be taken out easily. Further, since the engaging portion is formed on the lid attached to the front portion of the cassette housing, it can be easily implemented without requiring a major design change to the existing tape cassette.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a tape cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a tape cassette and a head drum of the same.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the lower half side of the same.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a cassette magazine.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a cassette changer system.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a drawing operation of a tape cassette from a cassette magazine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cassette housing 6 Lid 23 Engaging part 23a-23d Notch concave part which comprises an engaging part 31 Cassette magazine 40 Drawer arm

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A tape cassette which is housed in a plurality of cassette magazines and which is taken out from the cassette magazine by a cassette changer at the time of use, wherein a drawer member of the cassette changer is drawn to a lid attached to the front part of the cassette housing. A tape cassette characterized in that a hooking engagement portion is formed.