JP3201907B2 - Tape cassette reel lock mechanism - 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,
In particular, the present invention relates to a tape cassette provided with a lock mechanism for a reel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a tape cassette containing a pair of rotating reels wound with a tape such as a magnetic tape, both reels are used when the cassette is not used, in order to prevent the tape from being loosened when not in use or during transportation. A lock member that locks and unlocks when used is used.

A typical locking member has a sliding portion that slides between a locking position that engages a pair of reels and a release position that is separated from the reels, and extends divergently from the sliding portion toward both reels. The locking claw portion has a distal end which is detachably engageable with a sawtooth-shaped portion on the peripheral surface of the reel. When the cassette is mounted on the recorder, the slide automatically retracts from the locked position to the released position. At that time, the locking claws are opened by the restriction pins provided on the case body on both sides thereof, and stay in that state at the retracted position. The lock claw is usually made of tough plastic with a high elastic modulus, but if left in this state for a long time or at high temperature, the lock claw will undergo plastic deformation and cannot be restored. You will not be able to lock.

A means for solving this problem is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 63-4.
No. 9908. As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of reels 7 for a tape 3 are provided inside a cassette body formed by combining an upper half (not shown) and a lower half 1.
The shaft of each reel is loosely fitted in a pair of through holes 9 and 11 of the lower half 1, and is driven from below by a recorder-side drive shaft. The peripheral surfaces of the lower flanges 13 and 15 of the reels 5 and 7 have serrated irregularities 14 and 1
6 are formed. A pair of guide members 19 and 21 are provided at the center of the rear wall 17 of the lower half 1, and a guide groove 23 extending in the front-rear direction of the cassette is formed at the back.
A lock member 39 whose rear portion is pushed forward by a spring 25 as shown in FIG. 2 is fitted into the guide groove 23, so that the cassette slides rearward when the cassette is mounted on the recorder. ing. An elastic locking claw portion 4 which always tries to expand in the direction of the arrow is provided at the front portion of the locking member 39.
1, 43 are provided, and the rear portion thereof is supported by a block-shaped sliding portion 40, and the rear portion 49 is pushed forward by a spring 25. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, a pair of release pins 33 and 35 are provided at a front portion of the guide groove 23, and an expanding portion 51 having tapered surfaces 53 and 55 is provided at the front center thereof. is there. The lock claws 41 and 43 are inserted between the release pins 33 and 34 and the expanding portion 51, respectively. Raised portions 45, 45 are provided on the inner surface of each lock claw portion. According to this conventional example, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the raised portions 45, 45 of the lock claws 41, 43 are forcibly guided by the tapered surfaces 53, 55 of the expanding portion 51. 3 between the unlocked position and the locked position shown in FIG. 4, and the advantage of being able to relatively reliably engage and disengage with the outer periphery of the tape reel is obtained.

[0005]

In the prior art described above, when the lock member 27 retreats at the time of unlocking, when the raised portions 45 of the lock claw protrude inward and come into strong contact with the expanding portion 51. Also, the contact of the release pins 33, 35 for closing the lock claws 41, 43 is increased by that much, which hinders the smooth operation of the lock member 39 or requires the strong spring 25. In the state in which is moved forward, the inner surfaces of the pins 33 and 35 and the lock claws 41 and 43
There is play between them. Therefore, when the lock member is moved to the lock position after being left at a high temperature for a long time in the recorder mounted state, the lock pawl portion is pressed by the release pins 33 and 35 and the thermal deformation is caused. Therefore, there is a case where the lock claw portion cannot be properly locked on the reel peripheral surface. The present invention aims to solve this problem.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above object is achieved by providing a pair of substantially divergently extending flexible lock claws for engaging with a pair of tape reels. A lock member that slides between the lock claw portion and an expansion portion that engages with the inner surface of the lock claw portion to expand the lock claw portion when the lock member moves to the lock position; In a reel lock mechanism including a pair of unlocking portions that engage with the outer surface of the lock claw portion to close the members when moved to the release position, a lock claw portion of an expansion portion that expands the lock claw portion; The abutting portion is disposed at the center between the pair of releasing portions.

The locking member comprises a sliding portion and the pair of locking claws extending from the sliding portion toward the reel. The locking claw extends in the reel direction and then diverges through a "-" bent portion. , And is inserted into the opening between the expanding portion and the pair of releasing portions with almost no play in the entire range of the sliding, and further, when the lock member is at the reel lock position, the lock claw is provided. The refractive portions of the portions are located at these openings.

[0008]

According to this structure, each lock claw portion is mounted with little play in the pair of openings formed between the expanding portion and the pair of unlocking portions on both sides thereof, and both edges of the opening are used as guide surfaces. If the lock member is left at a high temperature for a long time in a state where the lock member is in the unlocked position for a long time, the lock claw portion may be permanently deformed. In addition, since there is little play at the lock position, the position of the tip of the lock claw portion hardly changes, and reliable locking is possible. If the root portion of the lock claw portion is made thin, the deflection mainly gathers in this portion, and even if left at a high temperature for a long time in the unlocked state, permanent deformation is less likely to occur in other portions, which is more preferable.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail. The structure of the tape cassette is the same as that of the conventional tape cassette except for the lock mechanism. Therefore, the description of other parts will be omitted, but the description of FIG. 1 should be referred to as necessary. 5 and 6 show the main part of the tape cassette according to the present invention. In FIG. 5, the upper half is an unlocked state, and the lower half is a main part plan view in a locked state. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5, showing a locked state. In addition, in the following description, the front and the rear respectively indicate the left direction and the right direction in FIG.

The lock member 6 comprises a block-shaped sliding portion 8 and a pair of lock claws 10 and 12 provided symmetrically with respect to the axis of movement. Locking pin 1 at the rear of the sliding part 8
8 is provided, and the coil portion of the torsion spring 25 is supported thereon. As shown in FIG. 6, an operation pin insertion hole 20 is formed on the lower surface side of the sliding portion 8, so that the lock member automatically moves to the right when the cassette is mounted on the recorder. The lock claws 10 and 12 have their tips in the locked position and the reel 13 (one of which is not shown) has a serrated peripheral portion 1.
4 and has a bent portion 22 in the middle portion for the purpose to be described below, from which it extends divergently toward the front end. The lock claws 10 and 12 have enough flexibility to allow rotation of the reel 13 in the direction of tightening the arrow (arrow). Preferably, the thickness of the vicinity of the base of the lock claw portion is reduced to increase flexibility, and thermal deformation of other portions is avoided.

The guide groove 2 is located close to the rear wall 17 of the cassette.
3 are provided on both sides thereof, parallel guide walls 2 and 4 for guiding the lock member 6 are provided, along which the lock member 6 moves the lock release position (the upper half state in FIG. 5) and the lock position. (The lower half of FIG. 5 and the state of FIG. 6). The free ends of the torsion spring 25 are holding pins 26 ', 28'
Is held by An opening 32 is provided in the bottom wall of the cassette facing the operation pin insertion hole 20. In front of the guide groove 23, there are provided unlocking portions 26 and 28 (which may be columnar objects) that stand upright from the cassette symmetrically with respect to the movement axis.
At the center of these, a lock claw opening portion 30 rising from the cassette is arranged. The positions of the lock release portions 26 and 28 and the lock claw expanding portion 30 are determined so as to be located near the bending portion 22 when the lock member is at the lock position. The lock claw portions 10 and 12 penetrate through openings formed between the lock release portions 26 and 28 and the lock claw opening portion 30 with almost no gap. Preferably, a flared guide surface is formed in the lock claw expanding portion 30.

Next, the operation will be described. Unlocking section 26,
Since the lock claw portions 10 and 12 pass through the opening formed between the lock claw 28 and the lock claw expanding portion 30 with almost no gap, when the cassette is mounted on the recorder, an operation pin (not shown) on the recorder side is provided. Enters the insertion hole 20 of the lock member, and pulls it to the right (rearward) in FIGS. When the sliding portion 8 is retracted, the lock claws 10 and 12 are pushed by the unlocking portions 26 and 28, so that the opening is narrowed, and the locking claws 10 and 12 are separated from the reel peripheral surface. When the sliding portion 8 is further retracted, the upper half of FIG. Conversely, when the cassette is removed from the recorder, the lock member 6 moves forward. Immediately before advancing to the lock position, the bending portion 2 of the lock claw portions 10 and 12
The lock pawls 2, 24 come into contact with the lock pawl opening 30, whereby the lock pawl is forcibly expanded by its tapered or flared guide surface, and the lock pawl is inclined with respect to the opening. So the lock claw part is the lock release part 2.
6 and 27 are also in contact. For this reason, unlike the lock claw having a raised portion shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the lock claw can smoothly move under a small stress without causing play when sliding between the two positions, and at the lock position. There is no play and the position is regulated precisely.

[0013]

When the lock member is left at a high temperature for a long period of time in the unlocked position, permanent deformation may occur in the lock claw portion. Therefore, the position of the tip of the lock claw portion hardly changes, and reliable locking is possible. If the root portion of the lock claw portion is made thin, the deflection mainly gathers in this portion, and even if left at a high temperature for a long time in the unlocked state, permanent deformation is less likely to occur in other portions, which is more preferable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a tape cassette provided with a conventional reel lock member.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional reel lock member.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an unlocked state of a conventional reel lock member.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a locked state of a conventional reel lock member.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a reel lock member of the present invention, in which an upper half shows an unlocked state and a lower half shows a locked state.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Tape cassette 2, 4: Guide wall 6: Lock member 8: Sliding portion 10, 12: Lock claw portion 13: Reel 14: Serrated peripheral portion 18: Spring holding pin 20: Operation pin insertion hole 22, 24: Refraction Part 26, 28: Lock release part 30: Lock claw opening part 32: Opening

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-251485 (JP, A) JP-A-60-107776 (JP, A) JP-A-60-109078 (JP, A) JP-A-63-1988 26877 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 23/087

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A lock member slidable between a lock position and a release position separated from the reel, the lock member having a pair of substantially flared lock claws engaged with a pair of tape reels; An expanding portion that is disposed between the locking member and engages with the inner surface of the lock claw portion to expand the locking claw portion when the locking member moves to the locking position; and the lock portion when the locking member moves to the release position. In the lock mechanism, which includes a pair of unlocking portions that engage with the outer surface of the claw portion to close the claw portion, in the lock mechanism, the contact portion of the expanding portion that expands the lock claw portion with the lock claw portion is The lock member is disposed at the center between the pair of release portions, and the lock member includes a slide portion and the pair of lock claws extending toward the reel from the slide portion, and the lock claw extends in the reel direction. Through the bent part The sliding member is inserted into the opening between the expanding portion and the pair of releasing portions with almost no play in the entire range of the sliding. The reel lock mechanism, wherein the bending portion of the lock claw portion is positioned at an opening when the lock claw portion is at the lock position. 2. The reel lock mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a base portion of the lock claw portion is made thin. 3. The reel lock mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the expanding portion has a tapered guide surface that widens toward the reel.