JP2530922Y2 - Small tape cassette - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a compact tape cassette which can be directly mounted on a recording / reproducing apparatus such as a video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to as a VTR) dedicated to a standard tape cassette. The present invention relates to a small tape cassette that requires an adapter or the like, and more particularly to a small tape cassette that can reliably perform brake releasing operations of a supply-side reel hub and a take-up reel hub in conjunction with each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, a standard VTR uses a tape cassette of a standard type, and is smaller than a standard tape cassette.
Small tape cassettes that enable recording and reproduction while maintaining compatibility with TRs have also been put to practical use. This small tape cassette can be recorded and reproduced by the small tape cassette dedicated VTR. On the other hand, when the small tape cassette is used by the standard tape cassette dedicated VTR, a tape cassette adapter having substantially the same shape as the standard tape cassette is used. By storing the tape cassette, it can be used in the same manner as a standard tape cassette. Also, a so-called camera-integrated VTR in which a video camera and a VCR dedicated to a small tape cassette are integrated so as to be suitable for portable photographing has been put to practical use.

FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of a conventional general small tape cassette viewed from below, showing a cover open state, wherein 1 is a small tape cassette, 2 is a magnetic tape, 3 is a cassette housing, 4 is the upper half, 5 is the lower half, 6
Is a lid for opening and closing the front side opening of the cassette housing 3, 16 is a brake release pin insertion port, 21 is a take-up reel hub,
25 is a supply side reel hub. As shown in the figure, the magnetic tape 2 is stretched at the front side opening of the cassette housing 3 while being guided by guide rollers 10 provided on both right and left ends thereof. Protected. A notch in the lower half 5 of the cassette housing 3 in which the gear 23 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lower reel flange 22 of the take-up reel hub 21 faces one side of the cassette housing 3 in a state assembled with the upper half 4. The part 11 is formed. The lid 6 is provided with a U-shaped groove 12 formed on the side of the cassette housing 3.
The lid is clicked and held in the open and closed positions by the sliding piece 14 urged to the front side by the leaf spring 13 fitted in the cover. Behind the notch 11 on the side of the cassette housing 3,
An erroneous insertion preventing groove 15 is formed from the lower surface of the lower half 5 to the upper half 4, and a brake release pin insertion port 16 is formed in a corner of the lower surface of the lower half 5 on the erroneous insertion preventing groove 15 side. . When the above-mentioned small tape cassette 1 is mounted on a VCR dedicated to a small tape cassette (not shown) and used, the small tape cassette 1 is inserted from the tape cassette insertion opening of the VTR to a predetermined position, so that the lid 6
11 is rotated to a substantially horizontal position as shown in FIG. 11 to open the lid, and the small tape cassette 1 is lowered, for example, so that the supply reel hub 25 is fitted to a supply reel disc (not shown) of the VTR. The gear 23 on the outer peripheral surface of the lower reel flange 22 of the take-up reel hub 21 meshes with a drive gear (not shown) of the VTR. Then, the vertical and inclined loading members of the VTR and the capstan (both not shown) face the concave portions 7, 8, 9 of the front opening of the cassette housing 3, respectively. In this manner, recording and reproduction can be performed by attaching the small tape cassette 1 to the small tape cassette dedicated VTR. When the small tape cassette 1 is used by mounting it on a VTR dedicated to a standard tape cassette (not shown), a tape cassette adapter having the same shape as the standard tape cassette as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-37739 or a standard tape cassette The small tape cassette 1 is mounted in a small tape cassette storage section of a storage tray capable of storing both the small tape cassette 1 and the small tape cassette.

In a standard tape cassette and a small tape cassette used for a VTR, a pair of reel hubs for winding a magnetic tape are housed in a cassette housing, and are wound around a supply-side reel hub during recording and reproduction. The magnetic tape is fed out from the front side opening, slides with the magnetic head of the VTR, and then returns to the inside from the front side opening again and is wound around the take-up reel hub. When rewinding,
The magnetic tape is transferred directly from the take-up reel hub to the supply-side reel hub. The supply-side reel hub and the take-up side reel hub that supply and rewind the magnetic tape include:
Each brake mechanism is provided, and the operation of the brake mechanism prevents unnecessary rotation of the supply-side reel hub and the take-up reel hub. In other words, when an external impact is applied to carry a small tape cassette,
In order to avoid the possibility that the supply reel hub or the take-up reel hub is unnecessarily rotated and the magnetic tape is loosened, thereby causing rotation unevenness, bending of the magnetic tape, and further trouble such as cutting. A brake mechanism is provided.

FIG. 12 shows a state in which the upper half 4 of the small tape cassette 1 shown in FIG. 11 is removed. As shown, a take-up reel hub 21 and a supply reel hub 25 are housed in the lower half 5, and the magnetic tape 2 is stretched between the two reel hubs 21 and 25. The take-up reel hub 21 and the supply-side reel hub 25 are provided with respective brake mechanisms.
A support shaft 31 erected on the inner surface of the lower half 5 near 1 is a take-up reel stopper that is non-rotatably supported by the support shaft.

FIG. 13 shows a brake mechanism of the supply-side reel hub 25. On the lower surface of the lower reel flange 26 of the supply-side reel hub 25, radial ribs 18 having a trapezoidal cross section are provided.
Are formed on the inner surface of the lower half 5 so as to correspond to the radial ribs 18. In the state shown in FIG. 12, the supply-side reel hub 25 is pressed from the upper half 4 toward the lower half 5 by a reel spring (not shown) fixed to the upper half 4. At this time, the radial ribs 18 on the lower surface of the lower reel flange 26 of the supply-side reel hub 25 engage with the radial grooves 19 on the inner surface of the lower half 5 so that a braking operation is obtained, and Unnecessary rotation is always prevented. That is, the supply side reel hub 2
The brake mechanism 5 includes radial ribs 18 on the lower surface of the lower reel flange 26 of the supply-side reel hub 25 and radial grooves 19 on the inner surface of the lower half 5. This brake release operation is performed after the small tape cassette 1 is mounted on the VTR,
Is inserted into the small tape cassette 1 from below the supply-side reel hub 25 of the small-sized tape cassette 1 and the supply-side reel hub 25 is pushed up slightly above the inner surface of the lower half 5 to form the radial ribs 18. This is performed by disengaging the grooves 19.

FIG. 14 shows a brake mechanism of the take-up reel hub 21. The take-up reel stopper non-rotatably supported by a support shaft 17 provided on the inner surface of the lower half 5 near the take-up reel hub 21. A plurality of mountain-shaped teeth 32 are formed on the lower side of the reel 31, and the reel stopper 31 is urged downward by a spring (not shown). .. Of the reel stopper 31 mesh with the gear 23 on the outer peripheral surface of the lower reel flange 22 of the take-up reel hub 21, so that a braking operation is obtained, and the take-up reel hub 21 becomes unnecessary. Rotation is always prevented. That is, the brake mechanism of the take-up reel hub 21 is
And a gear 23 on the outer peripheral surface of the lower reel flange 22 of the take-up reel hub 21. In the brake release operation, when the small tape cassette 1 is mounted on the VTR, a reel brake release pin (not shown) of the VTR is inserted into the lower half 5 from below the brake release pin insertion port 16 and into the reel stopper 31. Is pushed upward from the inner surface of the lower half 5,
This is performed by disengaging the gears 23 from the above-mentioned mountain-shaped teeth 32.

However, the brake mechanism described above
Since both the supply side and the winding side rely on the biasing force of the spring, there is a problem that when an external impact is applied to the small tape cassette 1, the rotation of the pair of reel hubs 21 and 25 cannot be reliably locked. . Furthermore, this brake mechanism has a problem that it is impossible to prevent the magnetic tape 2 from being intentionally pulled out to the outside by opening the lid 6 of the small tape cassette 1 which can be freely opened and closed.

[0009]

[Problem to be solved by the present invention]
No. 229804 (JP-A-4-111278),
A pair of reel hubs on which magnetic tapes are stretched, and a pair of brake mechanisms for preventing unnecessary rotation of the reel hubs, respectively. And proposed a small tape cassette that can be configured to interlock the release operations of both brake mechanisms. However, in the small-sized tape cassette, the two reel hubs are configured such that each of the brake mechanisms is rotatable in the winding direction of the magnetic tape but is not rotated in the winding loosening direction. If the user loosened the magnetic tape, or misunderstood the proper slack of the magnetic tape as looseness of the magnetic tape and tried to correct it, etc. Due to the tension of the magnetic tape, the positionally movable reel hub, that is, the supply-side reel hub, is pulled in the direction of the magnetic tape path,
It has been found that it is difficult to store a small video cassette in a cassette case or to load it into a recording / reproducing apparatus.

Therefore, the present applicant has developed a device in which the brake mechanism is automatically released when the magnetic tape is excessively wound when the magnetic tape is stored in a cassette case or loaded in a recording / reproducing apparatus. The small tape cassette that was held was used in Japanese Utility Model Application No. Hei 3-15244 (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. 4-105879).
No.). However, in the case of the small tape cassette, if the magnetic tape is erroneously wound up too much and is not stored in the cassette case, or is not loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus and is left alone, the magnetic tape is stretched due to the tension of the magnetic tape. It has been found that there is a risk of deformation or deformation of the structural member for guiding the tape in the cassette.

An object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized tape cassette which does not apply harmful tension to the magnetic tape even when the magnetic tape is wound.

[0012]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises a pair of reel hubs on which a magnetic tape is stretched, and a pair of brake mechanisms for preventing unnecessary rotation of the reel hubs. The two brake mechanisms are used by one of the brake mechanisms in a small tape cassette configured to transmit the release operation of one of the brake mechanisms to the other brake mechanism so that the release operations of the two brake mechanisms can be interlocked. A projection is provided on a portion of the claw portion of the brake member that engages with the reel hub.

[0013]

When the take-up reel hub rotates in the take-up direction in the brake operating state, the take-up brake member rotates in the release direction following the gear shape of the outer periphery of the take-up reel hub. Release the brake. Therefore, while the take-up reel hub is rotated to loosen the magnetic tape, the supply-side reel hub can rotate in the loosening direction.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, in FIGS. 1 to 10,
The same components as those shown in FIGS. 11 to 14 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted below.
Also, in FIGS. 7, 9 and 10, the protrusions according to the present invention are omitted for convenience. The upper half of the small tape cassette to which the present invention is applied is removed to remove the upper half of the small tape cassette of the present invention, as shown in FIG. Has a configuration in which a reel stopper 31 and a spring (not shown) are removed from the small-sized tape cassette 1 and a pair of brake mechanisms 40 and 50 described below are added. On the outer periphery, uneven tooth grooves 27 are formed.
It should be noted that although the tooth grooves 27 are formed in an uneven shape, other shapes may be used.

First, the brake mechanism 40 of the take-up reel hub 21 includes a brake arm 41 and a spring 49. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the brake arm 41 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 17 erected on the inner surface of the lower half 5 near the take-up reel hub 21, and is supported by a spring 49 mounted below. It is always urged in the direction of the arrow a. The brake arm 41 includes a claw portion 42 which is engaged with the gear 23 on the outer peripheral surface of the lower reel flange 22 of the take-up reel hub 21 by a constant bias in the direction of arrow a by a spring 49, and a reel brake release pin 3 of the VTR.
6, a brake release pin receiving portion 43 rotated in the direction of arrow b in the figure, an arm portion 45 extending to the brake mechanism 50 side of the supply-side reel hub 25, and a supply-side reel hub 25 provided at the tip of the arm portion 45. And an engagement pin portion 46 for interlocking with the release operation to be engaged with the brake piece 51 of the brake mechanism 50 of FIG. A pin engagement end surface 44 is formed in the brake release pin receiving portion 43.

As shown in FIG. 9, the support shaft 17 of the brake arm 41 is located in a substantially tangential direction on the outer periphery of the take-up reel hub 21.
2 is selected so as to closely engage with the tooth surface of the gear 23 on the outer peripheral surface of the lower reel flange 22 of the take-up reel hub 21 so as to be in the direction indicated by the arrow d in FIG. The rotation of the take-up reel hub 21 in the direction in which the magnetic tape 2 is loosened can always be reliably prevented.
(The direction in which the reel hub 21 is wound).

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 10, the brake mechanism 50 of the supply-side reel hub 25
1 and a spring 59. The brake piece 51 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 37 erected on the inner surface of the lower half 5 near the supply-side reel hub 25, and is constantly urged in the direction of arrow e by a spring 59 mounted below. . The brake piece 51 is provided with a claw portion 52 which engages with the tooth groove 27 on the outer peripheral surface of the lower reel flange 26 of the supply-side reel hub 25 by a constant bias in the direction of arrow e by a spring 59.
And a releasing operation interlocking engagement portion 53 that is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow f by an engagement pin portion 46 at the tip of the arm portion 45 of the brake arm 41. A pin portion engaging end face 54 is formed in the releasing operation interlocking engaging portion 53.

Here, the support shaft 37 of the brake piece 51
Is positioned substantially tangentially to the outer periphery of the supply-side reel hub 25, so that the shape of the claw portion 52 of the brake piece 51 engages with the tooth groove 27 on the outer peripheral surface of the lower reel flange 26 of the supply-side reel hub 25. By selecting, the arrow h shown
Direction (magnetic tape 2 wound on supply-side reel hub 25)
The rotation of the supply-side reel hub 25 in the direction in which the magnetic tape 2 is wound around the supply-side reel hub 25 can be always reliably prevented. Make it possible.

In the above-described small tape cassette, if the magnetic tape is accidentally left overwound in the brake operating state, the magnetic tape is stretched and deformed by the tension of the magnetic tape, or the tape in the cassette is removed. It has been found that the structural member to be guided may be deformed.

Therefore, in the present invention, in order to solve this problem, a projection is provided on a portion of the claw portion of the brake arm which engages with the gear on the outer peripheral surface of the lower reel flange of the take-up reel hub. The brake arm also performs a releasing operation when rotating in the take-off direction, and releases the brake mechanism of the supply-side reel hub.

FIGS. 1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a projection 48 is provided at the tip of a claw 42 of a winding-side brake arm 41. Then, Figure 2
When the take-up reel hub 21 rotates in the direction indicated by arrow A (in the direction in which the magnetic tape 2 is wound up) from the state in which the claw portion 42 is engaged with the gear 23 as shown in FIG.
The claw portion 42 rotates in the direction of the arrow B shown in FIG. 3 according to the shape of FIG. 3, but the amount of rotation is as much as the size of the protrusion 48, as shown in FIG. It will increase more. This means that it is possible to increase the amount of movement of the engagement portion 46 (see FIG. 1) for releasing operation interlocking of the winding side brake arm 41.

The specific operation by this will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, an appropriate gap is provided between the protrusion 55 of the engagement portion 53 for releasing operation interlocking of the supply side brake piece 51 and the engaging portion 46 for releasing operation interlocking of the winding side brake arm 41. Is provided. Therefore, FIG.
As shown in the figure, when the supply-side reel hub 25 moves,
The brake piece 51 can freely follow without contacting the brake arm 41.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the take-up reel hub 21 is to be rotated in the take-up direction, a brake arm is formed in the shape of the gear 23 on the outer periphery of the lower reel flange 22 of the take-up reel hub 21. The brake arm 41 rotates in the release direction following the claw 42 of the 41,
As described above, since the protrusion 48 is provided at the tip of the claw portion 42, the engaging portion 46 of the brake arm 41 moves by the distance or more, and hits the protrusion 55 of the brake piece 51, and the brake piece 51 It will be rotated in the release direction. Therefore, the supply-side reel hub 25 is released, and the supply-side reel hub 25 can rotate.

As described above, while the take-up reel hub 21 is being rotated in order to loosen the magnetic tape 2,
The supply-side reel hub 25 is intermittently released, and the supply-side reel hub 25 intermittently rotates, and the magnetic tape 2
Pay out. As a result, no excessive tension is generated on the magnetic tape 2. This cassette is loaded into the VTR and the brake is released, as shown in FIG. 5, as in the case before the present invention.

[0025]

As described above, according to the small tape cassette of the present invention, the take-up side reel hub is rotated by providing a projection on the portion of the claw portion of the brake member used in one brake mechanism which engages with the reel hub. Then, when the magnetic tape is loosened, the supply-side reel hub is made rotatable, so that no harmful tension remains on the magnetic tape. This prevents the magnetic tape from being erroneously wound up too much. Therefore, there is no problem such as deformation due to expansion of the magnetic tape due to such tension or deformation of the tape guiding structural member in the cassette. Can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a brake member according to an embodiment in a small tape cassette to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the operation of the brake member according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a gap between both brake members according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating functions according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state where both brakes are released when a cassette is loaded.

FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating another function according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing essential parts including both a take-up reel hub and a supply reel hub in a state in which an upper half of a small tape cassette to which the present invention is applied is removed.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a brake mechanism of the take-up reel hub.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a brake mechanism of the take-up reel hub.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a brake mechanism of a supply-side reel hub.

FIG. 11 is an external perspective view of a conventional general small-sized tape cassette viewed from below.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state in which an upper half of a conventional general small tape cassette is removed.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view showing a brake mechanism of a supply-side reel hub in a conventional general small-sized tape cassette.

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view showing a brake mechanism of a take-up reel hub in a conventional general small-sized tape cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

2: magnetic tape, 21, 25: reel hub, 22, 26
... lower reel flange, 40, 50 ... brake mechanism, 4
1, 51: brake member, 42, 52: claw portion, 46, 5
3 ... engagement part for releasing operation interlocking; 48 ... projection.

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A pair of reel hubs on which magnetic tapes are stretched, and a pair of brake mechanisms for preventing unnecessary rotation of the two reel hubs, respectively.
In a small tape cassette configured to transmit the release operation of one of the brake mechanisms to the other brake mechanism so that the release operations of the two brake mechanisms can be interlocked, a reel hub of a claw portion of a brake member used in one brake mechanism A small tape cassette characterized in that a projection is provided at a portion engaging with the tape cassette.