JP2850055B2 - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette used in a recording and / or reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a lid which operates in the thickness direction of a case body, such as an 8 mm video tape cassette or an HDTV tape cassette. The present invention relates to a tape cassette provided with a lock member for performing lid lock.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is well known that a tape cassette is conventionally used in a recording and / or reproducing apparatus such as a video tape recorder (hereinafter simply referred to as a recording / reproducing apparatus). In addition, when such a tape cassette is outlined,
Generally, a supply reel and a take-up reel are disposed in a case body in which an upper half and a lower half made of plastic are united, and between the supply reel and the take-up reel. A magnetic tape is stretched over the predetermined path, and a front cover for protecting the magnetic tape located outside the case body is provided.

It is also well known that a locking means for maintaining the front lid in a closed state is provided. For example, as proposed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-12455, a rotating lid for covering the front surface of a tape cassette to protect the tape stretched over the front surface, two side walls separated from each other, and the side wall. By arranging the extension of one of the side walls and the side wall and the inner surface of the side plate of the rotating lid in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tape stretched on the front surface of the tape cassette, by separating them from each other. A groove formed,
A notch provided at a lower portion of the front surface of the rotating lid corresponding to the groove position so as to allow the unlocking member to enter the groove from the front surface of the tape cassette; The tape cassette has a release end which pivots into a plane in the thickness direction of the tape cassette, engages with the pivot lid, and faces a front surface of the tape cassette via the notch. The unlocking member that engages with the moving lid at the engagement end to prevent its rotation, passes through the notch and the groove, and enters from the front surface of the tape cassette moves the release end into contact. A tape cassette having a lid lock that rotates to release the engagement with the rotating lid and allows the rotation, and a biasing spring that biases the lid lock to engage with the rotating lid. Has been proposed.

In this tape cassette, a lid lock and an urging spring for urging the lid lock to engage with the rotating lid are formed as separate members, so that the number of parts is large, and time and effort are required for parts management. It takes time and assembly is also troublesome. In order to solve such a problem, the applicant of the present application has proposed a tape cassette in which a lock member having a lock function by the function of a resilient member such as a leaf spring is fixed to a case body. .

[0005] However, this proposal still has a problem. That is, when a large force in the opening direction is applied to the front cover in a state where the lock member is not unlocked, that is, in a locked state, the elastic member in the lock member is plastically deformed, and as a result, It has been found that there is a problem that the locking function is deteriorated and the durability is poor.

[0006]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cassette in which a lock member has excellent durability with respect to a lid. An object of the present invention is to provide a case main body, a pivotable lid that is attached to the case main body, a locking portion provided on the lid, and a locking portion that locks to the locking portion. A lock member that locks the lid to close the lid, wherein the lock member is attached to the case body.
An attached base portion and a lock for locking the locking portion
A claw portion and a spring connecting the base portion and the lock claw portion.
And a lid closing lock for the locking member.
The unlocking operation is performed by the sliding operation of the lock member.
Not, closing the lock of the locking member, the force of the spring
The locking claw of the locking claw portion is locked with respect to the locking portion.
The locking member is held at the
The lock is released by locking the lock claw against the force of the spring.
This is done by retracting the locking claw to the unlocked position.
Shall, as described above, and said locking pawl portion opening force to the lid before closing <br/> unlocked for locking pawl acts, forced displacement force on the spring of the locking member through the locking portion The present invention is attained by a tape cassette characterized in that a prohibition mechanism for prohibiting the lock claw portion from displacing by a predetermined amount or more when an operation is performed is provided.

Namely, when a large force in the opening direction acts on the lid before the unlocking for the locking member, forced displacement force unexpected spring of the locking member through the locking portion is applied, b
If a lock mechanism is provided to prevent the lock claw from being displaced by more than a predetermined amount, the lock member spring will be deformed before plastic deformation occurs.
The position of the lock claw portion is maintained, and no plastic deformation occurs in the spring . As a result, the lock function is not hindered, and the durability is high.

Incidentally, such a prohibition mechanism can be constituted by a rib provided on the case body.

[0009]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of a tape cassette according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the whole, FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part in a normal closed state, and FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part in a state where a lid opening force is applied in a closed state, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of a prohibition mechanism for prohibiting displacement of the lock member beyond a predetermined value, and FIG. It is a top view of a part.

The case main body 1 constituting the tape cassette A is composed of a rectangular upper half 1a and a lower half 1b made of synthetic resin such as polypropylene, polystyrene, ABS resin, etc. 1
“b” is mutually fitted from above and below, and is screwed with a set screw to form an integral housing. A pair of tape reels, i.e., a supply reel 2a and a take-up reel 2b, are rotatably housed in the case body 1, and a magnetic tape (hereinafter simply referred to as "tape") 3 is provided between the supply reel 2a and the take-up reel. 2b. The tape reels 2a and 2b are placed on the bottom plate of the lower half 1b, and the lower ends thereof are fitted and positioned in reel fitting holes provided in the bottom plate.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a pressing spring for the pair of tape reels 2a and 2b. As shown in FIG. 1, a front opening 5 is provided on the front surface of the case main body 1 over substantially the entire width of the tape cassette, and the front opening 5 is provided on the bottom plate of the lower half 1b.
(A tape loading member on the recording / reproducing apparatus side enters into a pocket formed by the front opening 5 and the bottom opening to draw out the tape 3 from the tape cassette A). A front wall is integrally formed along the edge of the bottom opening on the bottom plate of the lower half 1b, and the front wall allows the inside of the case body 1 to be located between the bottom opening side and the two tape reels 2a and 2b. It is divided by. A pair of tape guides 6a and 6b are integrally formed on the bottom plate of the lower half 1b at both left and right ends of the front wall, and the tape 3 is guided by the tape guides 6a and 6b. It is hung along the opening.

The front opening 5 is covered by a front cover 7 formed in a substantially U-shape. In other words, the front lid 7 has a front plate 7a for closing the front surface of the case body 1, a connecting piece 7b extending rearward from both left and right ends of the front plate 7a, and an inner surface of both connecting pieces 7b. A molded product made of a synthetic resin such as polypropylene, polystyrene, or ABS resin having a protruding rotating shaft 7c, and left and right connecting pieces 7b are attached to front end recessed portions 8a and 8b of the left and right side walls of the case body 1. The rotating shaft 7c is fitted and pivotally supported by rotating holes provided in the concave portions 8a and 8b. And the front lid 7
Is rotatable around a rotation shaft 7c between a position in which the front surface of the case body 1 is closed and a position in which the case body portion 1 is opened upward. The front lid 7 has, for example, a torsion spring mounted on the right rotation shaft 7c. Nineth and other resilient means are normally urged to rotate to the closed position.

At the location where the pocket exists, the front lid 7
A dust cover is pivotally connected to the inside of the tape cassette via a shaft so that the dust cover seals the inner side including the lower side of the tape 3 and the upper surface of the pocket when the tape cassette A is not used, It prevents dust from entering from the upper and lower opening surfaces of the pocket and attaching to the tape 3. The dust cover is connected to cam grooves provided on the left and right side faces facing the pocket (the side faces are connected to the tape guides 6a and 6b). It moves upward together with the front lid 7 without any interference. That is, dust cover mounting pieces are vertically provided integrally from the upper end side of the front plate 7a at positions near the left and right ends of the front plate 7a of the front cover 7, and are attached to the left and right ends of the upper and lower intermediate portions of the dust cover. The projecting shaft is pivotally supported.
A pin-shaped cam follower protrudes from the left and right sides near the lower end of the dust cover, and this cam follower is engaged and connected to each of the cam grooves.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a lock member. The lock member 10 is formed by insert molding means using a suitable resin material such as a leaf spring or polyacetal. As shown in FIGS. The main part is a claw-shaped locking portion 10a (the inclination angle θ of the locking portion 10a is, for example, 30 °) fixed to the case body 1 (the lower case 1b in this embodiment).
(A sharp angle), a pair of elastic locking arms 10b made of resin, a resin base 10c serving as a base of the locking arms 10b, and a downward direction from the distal end of the base 10c. A leaf spring 10d made of a resilient material made of metal such as stainless steel and the like;
Release end 10e and lock claw 1 provided at the lower end of the
0f having a resin lock 10g.

The lock member 10 is formed by insert molding means using an appropriate resin material such as a leaf spring such as stainless steel or polyacetal, and is formed by a pressure at the time of injection of a resin material such as polyacetal. Spring 10d
The recesses 10h and 10i are formed in the base 10c and the lock 10g in order to prevent the deformation of the base 10c and the lock 10g. That is, a convex portion is formed on the mold side corresponding to these concave portions 10h and 10i, and the plate spring 10d is supported by the presence of these convex portions, so that a resin material such as polyacetal is injected. Is prevented from deforming the leaf spring 10d.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an opening formed in the case main body 1 (in this embodiment, the horizontal flat plate portion 12 of the lower case 1b).
When the locking arm 10b is fitted, the locking arm 10b elastically deforms, the locking arm 10b enters below the opening 11 and the claw-shaped locking portion 10a locks on the lower surface of the flat plate portion 12, and the locking member The ten base portions 10c are configured to be attached to the case main body portion 1 by a so-called snap type. As shown in FIG. 5, a tapered portion is formed on the entrance side of the opening 11 so that the lock member 10 can be mounted more easily.

As can be understood from the structure and mounting structure of the lock member 10, the lock member 10 does not rotate like the lock member of the conventional tape cassette. Reference numeral 13 denotes a locking portion formed at a predetermined position of the connecting piece 7b of the front lid 7, and a locking claw 10f of the locking member 10
Is to lock the front lid 7 by locking to the locking portion 13.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a semicircular (about 0.7 mm radius) columnar rib having a height of about 0.9 mm formed on the side plate portion 15 of the lower half 1b. The configuration position of the rib 14 is a position surrounded by an alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 2, and this position is relative to the release end 10e of the lock member 10 in FIG.
In the case where a rightward force is applied to cause the leaf spring 10d to bend and displace (unlock), the lock portion 10g collides with the rib 14 and the unlocking operation of the lock member 10 is hindered. In the state shown in FIG. 2, that is, when the front cover 7 is closed, that is, when a clockwise opening force is applied to the front cover 7, the locking member 10 is A pull-in force acts on the lock claw 10f, but as shown in FIG.
And the lock portion 10g and the rib 14 abut against each other to prevent further displacement.

As shown in FIG. 4, the base side of the rib 14 has a shape that spreads like a mountain, so that the rib 14 is hardly damaged even when a large force acts on it.
Of course, the rib 14 may be integrally formed of the same resin as the lower half 1b, but a metal material may be planted. When the ribs 14 are made of a metal material, they are often simply columnar in shape, and may be press-fitted after insert molding, press-fitting means, or other heating.
It can be constituted by means of ultrasonic welding. Further, in the figure, the ribs 14 are drawn in a semi-cylindrical shape, but may be in a triangular shape, for example, and are not limited to these shapes.

Reference numeral 16 denotes the base 1 corresponding to the leaf spring 10d of the lock member 10 when the lock member 10 is mounted.
This is a rib formed on the upper half 1a so as to come on the position 0c. That is, after the lock member 10 is assembled to the lower half 1b, and after the upper half 1a and the lower half 1b are united, the rib 16 comes on the base 10c of the lock member 10. In FIG. 2, the lock member 10 is not detached even if a force that pushes up from below acts.

The ribs 16 may be configured to abut the base 10c, but in this case, the precision of the parts must be extremely high. However, as shown, if a gap is formed between the rib 16 and the base portion 10c, it is not necessary to increase the precision of the parts more than necessary, and the productivity is improved accordingly. Therefore, when a gap having such a dimension m is formed, this dimension m is the thickness dimension n of the non-tapered portion of the flat plate portion 12 forming the opening 11.
If it is made smaller, the locking member 1
The workability of assembling is good, the precision of the components does not need to be increased more than necessary, and the lock member 10 is hard to be removed.

The tape cassette A constructed as described above
Indicates that the front lid 7 is closed when not in use and the tape 3
When the tape cassette A is loaded into the recording / reproducing apparatus, the front cover 7 is opened and the tape cassette A is largely recessed into the left and right central portions of the front edge of the case main body 1. A tape loading member (not shown) on the recording / reproducing device side enters the formed pocket, and the tape 3 is pulled out to the front of the tape cassette.

That is, when the tape cassette A is loaded into the recording / reproducing apparatus, an unlocking member (not shown) on the recording / reproducing apparatus enters, and the lock is released against the elasticity of the leaf spring 10d of the locking member 10. The member displaces the release end 10e of the lock member 10 to the right in FIG. 2, so that the lock claw 10f moves away from the locking portion 13 of the front lid 7,
The front cover 7 is placed in a state where the cover can be opened, and the front cover 7 is moved by the operation of a cover opening member (not shown) on the recording / reproducing device side in FIG.
The tape loading member (not shown) on the recording / reproducing apparatus side is opened by pivoting clockwise to open, and into a pocket which is formed so as to be largely penetrated into the left and right central portions of the front edge of the case main body 1. The tape 3 is pulled out to the front of the tape cassette.

In the tape cassette A having the above configuration, the locking arm 10 of the lock member 10 is
Since the mounting is completed by a simple operation of merely fitting the b, the workability of the locking mechanism of the front lid 7 is extremely high.
Also, since the lock member 10 is attached by a snap type,
Good mounting workability. Then, even if a force for pushing up from below is applied, the rib 16 moves the base member 10 of the lock member 10.
c, the lock member 10 is not detached.

Furthermore, since a gap is formed between the rib 16 and the base portion 10c of the lock member 10, the precision of the parts does not need to be increased more than necessary, and the productivity is accordingly high. Since the gap dimension m is smaller than the thickness dimension n of the non-tapered section of the flat plate section 12 forming the opening section 11, the lock member 10 is not removed even if there is a gap.

The locking member 10 has a claw-shaped locking portion 10.
Since a is fixed by being locked to the flat plate portion 12 of the lower case 1b, there is no accident such as detachment when assembling the tape cassette, and the assembling workability of the tape cassette is extremely high. Although the lock member 10 is repeatedly subjected to a deforming action with the opening and closing of the front lid 7, the portion subjected to the deforming action is constituted by the highly durable leaf spring 10d, so that its durability is enhanced. Therefore, the tape cassette is hardly damaged, and the tape cassette has high durability.

In particular, when a large force is applied to the front cover 7 in the opening direction when the lock member 10 is not receiving the action of the lock release member, that is, in the locked state, the leaf spring 10d of the lock member 10 A large force acts on the leaf spring 10d at the joint with the portion 10g, and the leaf spring 1d
In contrast to the case where plastic deformation may occur at 0d, in the above embodiment, since the rib 14 is formed, the lock portion 10g abuts on the rib 14 and the lock member 1
0 is maintained in that state, no deformation force greater than plastic deformation acts on the leaf spring 10d, no plastic deformation occurs, the lock function does not decrease, and the durability is high.

As a result, the closing of the front lid 7 is securely locked, no accident such as accidental opening of the front lid 7 occurs accidentally, and the safety of the tape 3 is high.

[0029]

The tape cassette according to the present invention comprises a case main body, a rotatable opening / closing lid attached to the case main body, a locking portion provided on the lid, a tape cassette and a locking member which engages hermetically with performing closed locking of the lid, the locking member, the
The base attached to the case body and the locking part
The locking claw portion to be locked, and the base portion and the locking claw portion are linked.
And a connecting spring.
The operation of locking / unlocking the lid is performed by sliding the lock member.
Irrespective of the sliding operation, the closing lock of the lock member is
The locking claw of the locking claw portion is moved by the force of a spring to the locking portion.
Held in the locked position with respect to
The unlocking of the lid closing of the member is performed by the locking device against the force of the spring.
To retract the lock claw of the lock claw to the unlock position.
The locking claw of the locking claw portion
When a force in the opening direction is applied to the lid before the lid is unlocked, and a forcible displacement force is applied to the spring of the lock member via the locking portion, the lock claw portion is prohibited from being displaced by a predetermined amount or more. since prohibition mechanism is provided, when the locking member is not acted upon by the lock release member, that is, when the locked state, a large force in the lid opening direction is applied to the lid by mistake, the prohibition mechanism provided If not
Unexpectedly on the spring of the locking member through the locking part of the lid
A forced displacement force acts, which causes the spring to plastically deform.
The prohibition mechanism is provided.
Lock before the plastic deformation of the lock member spring occurs.
The position of the claw is maintained and plastic deformation of the spring occurs.
The lock function is not disturbed as a result, the durability is high enough, and the lid closing lock is secure, there is no accident such as accidental opening of the lid accidentally, and protection against tape It has features such as high safety.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire tape cassette.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part in a normal lid closed state.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part in a state where a lid opening force is applied in a closed state.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of a prohibition mechanism for prohibiting displacement of a lock member beyond a predetermined value.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a mounting portion of the lock member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: Tape cassette 1: Case body 7: Front cover 10: Lock member 10d: Leaf spring 13: Locking part 14: Rib

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hitoshi Okubo 1 Sakuracho, Hino-shi, Tokyo Konica Corporation (72) Inventor Osamu Shibasaki 1 Sakuracho, Hino-shi, Tokyo Konica Corporation (72) Inventor Nobuaki Takahashi No. 1, Sakura-cho, Hino-shi, Tokyo Inside Konica Corporation (56) References JP-A-60-70570 (JP, A) JP-A-2-30181 (JP, U) JP-A 1-177482 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G11B 23/087 521

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A case main body, a rotatable opening / closing lid attached to the case main body, a locking portion provided on the lid, and the lid locked to the locking portion. A lock member that locks the lid, wherein the lock member is attached to the case body.
A base portion, a lock claw portion locked to the locking portion, and the base portion;
It has a spring connecting the base and the lock claw.
Yes, the operation of closing the lock-unlock of the locking member is該Ro
Regardless of the sliding movement of the locking member, the lid closing lock of the locking member is moved forward by the force of the spring.
The locking claw of the locking claw portion is in a locking position with respect to the locking portion.
The lock is released when the cover is closed.
To retract the lock claw of the lock claw to the unlock position.
Is what is done by the locking claw portion opening force to the lid before closing the unlocking for locking pawl acts, through said the locking portion
When forced displacement force acts on the spring of the locking member, the locking
A tape cassette provided with a prohibition mechanism for prohibiting displacement of a claw portion beyond a predetermined value.