JP3002847B2 - Tape cartridge - 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 cartridge having an erroneous insertion preventing groove provided on an outer surface of a case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Providing an erroneous insertion preventing groove on the outer surface of a case is known in VHS type tape cartridges. The prevention groove is formed in the bottom wall of the case.

[0003]

For example, there is a video tape recorder system mainly for broadcasting business, which digitizes and records all video and audio signals.
In this system, a plurality of types of tape cartridges having different case sizes are prepared in accordance with the usage such as camera shooting and editing. Each large and small tape cartridge can be directly loaded into one tape deck without using an adapter.

In the above-mentioned business system, there is a system using a tape of 8 mm width which is practically used in recent years, and the video tape cartridge there has a different case size, but the case thickness (the vertical direction of the main body case). Are both expected to be 18 mm. On the other hand, the commercially available 8 mm video tape cartridge for consumer use has a case thickness of 15 mm, and it is necessary to prevent the case from being misused with that for business use. If a small tape cartridge prepared for business use has a case size similar to a consumer tape cartridge, and a non-standard tape cartridge is accidentally loaded into the tape deck,
This is because a serious failure occurs.

The inventor of the present invention has conceived to use an erroneous insertion preventing groove provided on the bottom wall of the case as a measure against misuse of a nonstandard tape cartridge. The holder of the tape deck is provided with a regulating protrusion corresponding to the prevention groove,
This is because loading of a nonstandard tape cartridge can be prevented by these projections. However, if the case thicknesses of two types of tape cartridges with similar case sizes are almost the same, there is no problem in the above countermeasures. Will happen.

In other words, if the regulating protrusion of the holder is formed corresponding to a non-standard thin tape cartridge, the depth of the erroneous insertion preventing groove to be provided in the standard tape cartridge becomes abnormally large, and the vertical If the wall thickness exceeds the wall thickness and the wrong insertion prevention groove is formed to penetrate inside and outside,
There is nothing more than protruding the groove bottom largely into the case. In this case, it is difficult to arrange a tape reel or the like avoiding the peripheral wall of the erroneous insertion prevention groove.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a tape cartridge capable of forming an erroneous insertion preventing groove without impairing a case structure for preventing misuse of a nonstandard tape cartridge.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a plurality of types of tape cartridges C1 and C2 having different case sizes.
In each of the tape cartridges provided with erroneous insertion preventing means of the same specification, a pair of upper and lower pairs of upper and lower cases are respectively provided on the case upper wall 1a and the case bottom wall 1b of each of the tape cartridges C1 and C2. It is required that the wrong insertion preventing grooves 13 and 14 are provided. Specifically, the pair of upper and lower erroneous insertion prevention grooves 13 and 14 is provided at a central portion in the longitudinal direction of each of the tape cartridges C1 and C2.

[0009]

When the erroneous insertion preventing grooves 13 and 14 are provided separately for the case upper wall 1a and the case bottom wall 1b, the groove depth of each of the grooves 13 and 14 is smaller than when grooves are formed on either the upper or lower side. By reducing the height of each case, it is possible to prevent the groove peripheral wall from protruding inward of the case.

[0010]

According to the present invention, the erroneous insertion preventing grooves 13 and 14 are separately formed in the case upper wall 1a and the case bottom wall 1b.
By making the groove depth of each of the grooves 13 and 14 smaller than in the case of providing only one of the upper and lower sides, the peripheral wall is prevented from protruding largely into the case. Therefore, even when there is a difference in the case thickness between the standard tape cartridge and the non-standard tape cartridge which may be misused by a certain value or more, it is possible to prevent the non-standard tape cartridge from being erroneously loaded.

Since the erroneous insertion preventing grooves 13 and 14 are formed at the central portions in the longitudinal direction of the tape cartridges C1 and C2, the positions of the loading pockets 5 of the tape cartridges C1 and C2 are adjusted to the right and left center of the holder 10. The tape deck can be positioned on a line, the operation range of the loading mechanism of the tape deck can be commonly used, and the mechanism on the tape deck side can be simplified.

[0012]

FIG. 2 shows a large-sized tape cartridge C1 applied to a commercial 8 mm video tape recorder system. Reference numeral 1 denotes a main body case formed by connecting plastic upper and lower cases in a lid-to-lid manner. It is. Tape reels 3 around which the tape 2 is wound are provided on the left and right inside the main body case 1. The tape 2 pulled out from one tape reel 3 to the front of the case is wound on the other tape reel 3 via tape guides 4 provided on the left and right of the front of the case. On the front face of the main body case 1, a pocket 5 for tape loading is formed between the left and right tape guides 4. The main body case 1 is provided with a front lid 6 for protecting the tape that covers the front and top surfaces of the pockets 5 when not in use. The front lid 6 is pivotally supported on the main body case 1 so that it can be opened and closed. . Reference numeral 7 denotes an insertion opening for the lamp L for detecting the tape end, and reference numeral 8 denotes an optical path detected by the lamp L.

FIG. 1 shows a commercial 8-mm video tape cartridge C2 used together with the above-mentioned tape cartridge C1. The case size and the tape length are set smaller than those of the large-sized tape cartridge C1. Since the structure is substantially the same only by providing the same components, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the internal structure is omitted. The thickness of the main body case 1 of both tape cartridges C1 and C2 is 18 mm.

Both tape cartridges C1 and C2 can be applied to a common tape deck. For this purpose, each body case 1 is provided with an erroneous insertion preventing means of the same specification. The erroneous insertion preventing means is, as shown in FIG. 3, a pair of upper and lower rail-shaped regulating protrusions 11/1 provided on a holder 10 of the tape deck.
2 and a pair of upper and lower erroneous insertion prevention grooves 13 and 14 provided on the case upper wall 1a and the case bottom wall 1b of the main body case 1, respectively. These mis-insertion prevention grooves 13 and 14
Are formed at the central portion of the large and small tape cartridges C1 and C2 in the left-right longitudinal direction so as to cross the main body case 1 back and forth.

The upper and lower erroneous insertion preventing grooves 13 and 14 have a width b and a depth h of 4.5 mm and 2.5 mm, respectively, when the case thickness of the main body case 1 is 18 mm. When the erroneous insertion prevention grooves 13 and 14 are separately formed in the upper and lower portions as described above, a tape cartridge having a case thickness of more than 13 mm (specifically, a tape cartridge having a case thickness of more than 13 mm) can be prevented while preventing the groove peripheral wall from protruding largely into the case. Tape width is 8mm and case thickness is 1
5mm consumer) can be reliably prevented, and the tape deck can be prevented from malfunctioning due to misuse. Mis-insertion prevention groove 13.1
Since the tape cartridges 4 are provided above and below, the tape cartridge can be accurately positioned by using these.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, optical path windows 16 corresponding to the detection optical paths 8 are provided so as to penetrate inside and outside at positions near the front ends of the right and left side walls of the main body case 1. The detection light that has passed through the optical path window 16 is detected by an end sensor 17 provided on the deck side. The lamp L, which is a light source, is always on, and part of the light leaks into the main body case 1 and It is reflected by walls and parts. Therefore, although the detection optical path 8 is blocked by the tape 2, the reflected light in the case may leak from the optical path window 16 and be detected by the end sensor 17. In particular, light is likely to leak in a large tape cartridge C1 having a large detection optical path length.

In order to prevent such an erroneous operation of the end sensor 17, the optical path window 16 is closed with a transparent plastic window plug 18, and the outside facing the end sensor 17 has a concave curved surface 19.
Formed. That is, by imparting the function of a concave lens to the window plug 18 and diffusing disturbance light in the case reaching the optical path window 16, the end sensor 17 is prevented from malfunctioning due to disturbance light. Note that, even when the transparent leader tape blocks the detection optical path 8, the detection light is diffused by the window plug 18. In this case, the cross-sectional area of the light that is going to pass through the window plug 18 is large. Tape end can be detected without any trouble. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 20 denotes a lock claw for the front lid 6.

The window plug 18 need only be provided with a concave curved surface 19 on one of the inner and outer surfaces. However, if necessary, a concave curved surface may be provided on both the inner and outer surfaces. The concave curved surface 19 may be formed in a Fresnel lens shape.

In the above embodiment, the erroneous insertion preventing grooves 13.1
4 are provided one above and below the main body case 1, for example, a plurality of at least one of both grooves 13 and 14 may be provided. The erroneous insertion preventing grooves 13 and 14 only need to have a front-rear length of about half the front-rear dimension of the main body case 1 and thus need not necessarily be provided in a state of crossing the front-rear direction. When the tape cartridge is loaded into the holder along the longitudinal direction, the erroneous insertion preventing grooves 13 and 14 may be provided along the longitudinal direction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of large and small tape cartridges.

FIG. 2 is an internal plan view showing a schematic structure of the tape cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional front view for explaining a relational structure between a tape cartridge and a holder.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an optical path window for tape end detection light.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C1 Large tape cartridge C2 Small tape cartridge 1 Body case 1a Case upper wall 1b Case bottom wall 11.12 Restriction projection 13.14 Mis-insertion prevention groove

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Mikihisa Inoue 1-1-88 Ushitora, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka Within Hitachi Maxell Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Nobuyuki Kaku 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Hidekazu Takeda 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Pref. Hitachi, Ltd. Image-Media Research Laboratories (56) Reference: Shokai 62-129180 (JP, U) (58) ) Surveyed field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 23/087 501 G11B 23/28

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of types of tape cartridges C1 and C2 having different case sizes are provided with erroneous insertion preventing means having the same specification, and the tape cartridges C1 and C2 are used as erroneous insertion preventing means.
A tape cartridge characterized in that a pair of upper and lower erroneous insertion prevention grooves 13 and 14 are respectively provided on a case upper wall 1a and a case bottom wall 1b of C2. 2. A pair of upper and lower erroneous insertion preventing grooves 13 and 14,
2. The tape cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the tape cartridge is provided at a central portion in a longitudinal direction of each of the tape cartridges C1 and C2.