JPH03235279A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce stroke for opening the lid of a cassette and to make a VTR deck thin by providing a moving member for opening lid to be vertically moved at the notched part of a cassette case. CONSTITUTION:For a moving member 31 for opening lid, the central part is composed of a shaft 31a, one end is composed of a guide pin 31b and the other end is composed of a free end 31c. When the lid is closed, the free end 31c is engaged with a notched part 3j of a front lid 3. By moving a tape cassette 55 in an arrow II direction, a lid opening member 25 provided on the VTR side is abutted on the member 31, which is provided on the inside of the front lid 3, to be engaged with notched parts 15 and 15a of cassettes cases 1 and 2. Thus, in respect to the movement of a tape 35 in the II direction, force is generated at the member 31 so as to turn the front lid 3 in a clockwise direction with a front lid turn supporting shaft as a center. Further, when the tape cassette is moved in the II direction, the front lid 3 is opened upward against a front lid energizing spring 26 with the supporting shaft as the center. Thus, the stroke for opening the lid of the cassette can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette, and more particularly to a tape cassette suitable for a magnetic recording/reproducing device such as a video tape recorder.

Conventional technology Generally, a tape cassette installed in a magnetic tape device such as a video tape recorder has a magnetic tape stretched over the front of the case body, which is covered by a front cover provided on the front of the case body and the case body. (For example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-214488).

Hereinafter, a tape cassette of the VH3 magnetic recording and reproducing system will be described as a conventional example with reference to the drawings.

Figures 10 and 11 are perspective views of the first and second conventional examples, Figure 12 is a side view of the conventional example with the lid closed, and Figures 13 and 14 are the conventional examples with the lid open. FIG.

10 and 11, a tape cassette for a video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to as VTR) has an upper case 102a and a lower case 102 in which a tape reel 101 is housed.
The cassette case 102 is constructed by fitting the two parts together. The front side of this cassette case 102 has an opening 1.
03 is formed, and the magnetic tape 104 wound on the tape reel 101 is stretched along this opening 103.

105 is a magnetic tape 10 located along the opening 103;
This is an opening/closing lid provided in the opening 103 to cover the front surface of the device 4. By the way, when trying to install a magnetic tape cassette as described above into a VTR, the lid opening/closing fitting 107 installed on the VTR side is located below the front notch 106 of the cassette case 102, and the magnetic tape cassette is placed downward. When moving, first the opening/closing lid 105 and the lid opening/closing fitting 1
07, the lid opening/closing fitting 107 rotates the opening/closing lid 105 around the fulcrum 108, and the cassette case 1
The front side of 02 is opened to enable recording and playback. At this time, the required stroke of the magnetic tape cassette is C1.The second conventional example shown in FIGS. 11 and 14 reduces this required stroke by providing a protrusion 105b on the front cover 105. The required stroke is 02.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with the above configuration, the load required to open the lid increases, and the contact positions of the cassette lid opening part and the lid opening part with the metal fittings are different, so the lid opening compatible with conventional cassettes has been difficult. There was a problem that there was no compatibility with the metal fittings.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a cassette tape that protects the magnetic tape from dust and human touch when the lid is closed, allows the lid to be opened smoothly with less load, and does not cause the same problems when installed in a conventional VTR. It is.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the tape cassette of the present invention includes:
A pair of tape reels for winding the tape and locking both ends of the tape, a cassette case with the tape stretched on the front and containing the pair of tape reels, and a cassette case inside the tape stretched on the front. a front cover that is rotatably supported on the side surface of the cassette case and covers the front surface of the tape stretched on the front surface; and a front cover provided on the front surface of the cassette case where the tape is not stretched. A notch, a bracket integrally provided on the inner surface of the front cover at a position facing the notch, a hole for receiving a light emitting element inside the cassette case, and a hole for receiving light from the light emitting element into the cassette case. an optical path provided in the cassette case for passing from the side surface of the cutout, and a generally inverted dogleg-shaped groove provided in at least one side of the notch at a position that does not obstruct the optical path;
It is equipped with a bracket part and a movable member that is rotatably supported by a shaft and that is guided by a groove shaped like an inverted C and is movable up and down within the notch. The lid is configured to move back and forth between a closed lid position and an open lid position.

In addition, there is a pair of tape reels for winding the tape and locking both ends of the tape, a cassette case with the tape stretched on the front and a built-in pair of tape reels, and an inside of the tape stretched on the front. a front cover that pivots on the side of the cassette case and covers the front surface of the tape stretched on the front; and a front cover provided on the front surface of the cassette case where the tape is not stretched. a notch, a bracket integrally provided on the inner surface of the front cover at a position opposite to the notch, and a generally inverted V-shaped groove cut in at least one side of the notch; It is rotatably supported by the bracket part, and one end is guided by a substantially inverted V-shaped groove, and the other end is a free end, and when the lid is closed, it is placed at approximately the same position as the front surface of the front lid. The device includes a moving member that can move vertically within the notch, and the front cover and the back cover are moved back and forth between a closed lid position and an open lid position by the vertical movement of the moving member.

In addition, there is a pair of tape reels for winding the tape and locking both ends of the tape, and an upper and lower cassette case in which the tape is stretched on the front and the pair of tape reels are housed in a pair of upper and lower cassette cases. , an opening provided inside the tape stretched on the front, a front cover that is pivotally supported on the side of the upper and lower cassette cases and that rotates to cover the front of the tape stretched on the front, and the upper and lower cassette cases. a notch part provided on the unstretched front surface of the tape; a bracket part integrally provided on the inner surface of the front cover at a position facing the notch part; and a bracket part provided on at least one side of the notch part. The upper cassette is provided with a substantially inverted dog-shaped groove, and a movable member rotatably supported by the bracket part and movable vertically within the notch. It is constructed by combining the case and the lower cassette case.

According to the above-described structure, the moving member for opening the front cover is guided by a substantially inverted V-shaped guide groove provided in a position that does not obstruct the optical path connecting the inside and outside of the cassette case. The movable member is rotatably supported on the inside of the front lid by a bracket that is integrally provided with the front lid. One end is guided by a guide groove, and the other end is a free end. The approximately inverted dog-shaped grooves that guide the movable member are arranged at approximately the same position and are composed of an upper cassette case and a lower cassette case, so a simple lid configuration reduces the amount of lid required to open the cassette lid. Open stroke can be reduced and VT
R can be made thinner. Furthermore, it is possible to provide a tape cassette case that does not cause the same problems even when inserted into a VTR with a conventional lid-opening fitting.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, a tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9.

As is clear from the figure, the tape cassette 35 has a lower cassette case 1, an upper cassette, and a case 2 that fit together to form a flat cassette case, and two tape cassettes are arranged on the same plane. cassette reel 6a,
6b and a magnetic tape 14.

The cassette reels 6a and 6b fix the starting end or the ending end of the magnetic tape 14, respectively, and wind the magnetic tape 14 around the fixed end.

3 is a front cover that covers the top and front surface of the magnetic tape 14;
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in cross section along line X-X when the lid is closed and opened, it has a substantially U-shape. Furthermore, cassette case 1.2
A pair of front cover rotation support shafts 3a and 3d provided on both left and right end plates of the front cover 3 are pivotally supported, and the front cover 3 rotates around the rotation support shafts 3a3d. Furthermore, the front lid 3 is always biased in the closing direction by a front lid biasing spring 26 provided on the pivot shaft 3d.

20 The biasing spring is composed of a torsion coil spring, and one end is supported by the upper cassette case 2, and the other end is supported by a pin 3f provided on the front cover rotation support shaft 3d.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a back cover that covers the back surfaces of the openings 5a and 5b of the magnetic tape 14. On the back M4, a pair of back cover pivot shafts 4a protruding left and right are pivotally supported on the bearing portion 3b of a protrusion 3c integrally provided on the front M3.

The back M4 is rotatable around the pivot shaft 4a.

Reference numeral 1a denotes a guide groove for guiding guide bins 4b at substantially both ends of the lining 4, and openings 5a and 5b of the lower cassette case 1.
are provided on both the left and right ends of the

5a and 5b are openings into which posts (not shown) that pull out the magnetic tape 14 from the cassette case 1.2 enter, and guide posts 8a and 8b at the left and right ends of the cassette case 1.2 and the cassette case A magnetic tape 14 is projected from the front of the cassette case 1.2 while being guided by a guide post 9 and a guide roller 10 provided inside the cassette case 1.2.

7a, 7b, the magnetic tape 14 is connected to the cassette reel 6a, 6.
This is the tape roll wound up in b.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a lighthouse consisting of a photodiode that emits light toward a light receiving element (not shown) in order to detect the start and end ends of the magnetic tape 14. 36 is an insertion hole through which the lighthouse 11 enters into the tape cassette 35.

Light from the lighthouse 11 inserted into the insertion hole 36 is guided from the inside of the cassette case 1.2 to the outside through the light receiving paths 12a and 12b when the lid is opened.

13a and 13b are cassette case positioning holes provided in the lower cassette case 1.

15 is a first notch provided in the cassette case 1.2, and Y-Y cross sections when the lid is closed and opened are shown in FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and 9. . In FIGS. 6 and 7, the lid opening part 25a of the lid opening member 25 provided on the VTR is shown in FIG.
, 25b enters the notch I5.

Each notch 15.15a has a shape that does not obstruct the transmission hole 23, which serves as a path for receiving light from the lighthouse 11.

Reference numeral 3h designates a bracket portion that is formed integrally with the front lid 3 inside the front lid 3 and is provided at a position facing the notch portions 15 and 15a of the upper and lower cassette cases.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a groove formed by the upper cassette case 2 and the lower cassette case 1, and is formed in a substantially inverted dogleg shape at a position that does not obstruct the optical path 12b from the lighthouse 11 from 30a and 30b.

Reference numeral 31 designates a lid opening moving member that moves vertically within the notch 15.15a. The moving member 31 for opening the lid is provided with a shaft 31a approximately in the center, and has a free end of a guide bin 31b at one end and a free end 31c at the other end.

For opening the lid, the shaft 31a of the moving member 31 is rotatably supported by a bearing part 31 of the bracket part 3h, and the guide bin 31b is guided in the groove 30. Furthermore, when the lid is closed, the free end 31c is located at approximately the same position as the front surface of the front lid 3, and engages with the notch 3j of the front lid 3.

Reference numeral 16 indicates that the front cover 3 is engaged with the opening/ink portion 3e provided on the side plate of the front 1[3] to prevent the front cover 3 from accidentally closing and damaging the magnetic tape 14 when not attached to the VTR. The locking member 16 is always moved in the direction of engagement with the front lid locking part 3e by the locking member biasing spring 21.
is energized.

17a and 17b are the magnetic tapes 1 when the VTR is not installed.
This is a reel brake for preventing tape sagging due to careless rotation of the cassette reels 6a, 6b wound with cassette case 1.2.
8b, and is constantly biased by a biasing spring (not shown) in a direction in which the tip engages with the cassette reels 6a, 6b.

19 is an accidental erasure prevention switch, and the cassette case 1.
It is configured to be movable left and right within a substantially rectangular room formed by fitting the two.

The operation of the tape cassette 35 configured as described above will be explained below.

FIG. 3 shows the lid in the closed state, and the openings 5a and 5b are normally open.
The magnetic tape 14 stretched over the front cover 3 and the back cover 4 are respectively covered.

Even if an attempt is made to intentionally open the front M3 upward, the locking member 16 and the front lid locking portion 3e will come into contact with each other and will not rotate in the direction of the arrow (■). In this way, damage to the tape due to careless opening of the front cover is prevented.

Next, when the tape cassette 35 is inserted into a VTR (not shown), the locking member 16 is rotated clockwise around the shaft 20, and the locking member 16 is disengaged from the front cover locking portion 3e! 3, the lid can be opened upward.

Next, by moving the tape cassette 35 in the direction of the arrow {circle around (2)}, the lid opening provided on the VTR side opens the member 25 provided inside the front lid 3 and the first notch 15 of the cassette case 1.2. The lid opening that engages with the second notch 15a comes into contact with the moving member 31, and when the cassette tape 35 moves in A force is generated that attempts to rotate the shafts 3a and 3b in a clockwise direction.

When the front cover 3 is further moved in the direction of the arrow ■, the support shafts 3a, 3
The lid is opened upward against the front lid biasing spring 26 centering on b.

In addition, the back II 4 is regulated by guide grooves 1a and 1b provided in the lower cassette case 1 around the back cover support shaft 4a.
It rotates integrally with the front M3 and becomes the state shown in FIGS. 4 and 7.

FIG. 8 shows that when the moving member 31 or the front cover 3 is opened more than necessary, the contact portion 31c at the upper end of the groove 30 and the guide pin 31b of the moving member 31 shows a state in which the movable member 31 and the front lid 3 are prevented from opening any further.

Further, at the same time as the lid is opened and closed, a reel brake release member (not shown) installed in the VTR is activated to release the cassette reel 6a,
Reel brakes 17a and 17 that were stopping the rotation of 6b
b is rotated in a direction to separate from the cassette reels 6a, 6b, and the restraint on the cassette reels 6a, 6b is released. Furthermore, a reel stand (not shown) within the VTR supports each cassette reel 6a, 6b and becomes rotatable. On the other hand, a lighthouse 11 provided in the VTR for detecting the beginning and end of the magnetic tape 14 and a loading post (not shown) for winding the magnetic tape 14 around a rotating cylinder (not shown) are inserted into the lighthouse insertion hole of the tape cassette 35. 36 and opening 5a
, enters 5b.

Further, the lid opening member 25 provided in this VTR is no different from the lid opening/closing fitting 107 described in the conventional example. Furthermore, the conventional VHS shown in FIGS. 12 and 13
The cassette and the lid can be opened and closed at a position approximately equal to the abutment position of the metal fitting 107, and the lid can be opened at the free end 31c of the movable member 31.
However, when the lid is opened, the tape cassette 3 is in contact with the member 25.
5 to a conventional VTR will not cause the same problem.

Although the mounting operation for mounting the tape cassette 35 in the cassette mounting position of the VTR has been described above, the operation for removing the tape cassette 35 from the VTR is performed in the complete opposite of the mounting operation.

In the first embodiment, the substantially inverted dogleg-shaped groove 30 is divided into the upper cassette case 2 and the lower cassette case 1 at the center of the groove, but it is not limited to this position or this shape. . For example, in the second embodiment of the keyaki shown in FIG. 9, one side 30d of the groove 30 may be divided by the lower cassette case 1, and 30e by the upper cassette case 2.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a moving member for opening the lid that moves up and down in the notch of the cassette case, so that the stroke for opening the cassette lid can be reduced, and the VTR deck can be made thinner. In addition, the conventional lid opening has the feature that the same problem does not occur even if it is inserted into a metal VTR deck.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention with the upper cassette case, front cover and back cover removed, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tape cassette, and Figs. 3 and 4 are when the lid is closed and when the lid is open. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the front cover and back cover when the lid is closed;
Figures 7 and 8 are Y-Y sectional views when the lid is closed and opened; Figure 9 is an exploded Y-Y sectional view of the upper and lower cassette cases of the second embodiment; and Figure 10. , FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the first and second conventional examples, FIGS. 12 and 13 are side views of the first example, and FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a main part of the second example. 1...Lower cassette case, LA, LB...
...Guide groove, 2...Top cassette case, 3.
...Front cover, 4...Back cover, 5a, 5b...
...Opening, 11...Lighthouse, 12a, 12
b... Light receiving path, 14... Magnetic tape,
15.15a... Notch, 23...
・Transmission hole, 25...Lid opening is member, 30...
...Approximately inverted V-shaped groove, 31...Movement member for opening the lid.

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A pair of tape reels for winding a tape and locking both ends of the tape, a cassette case with the tape stretched on the front and housing the pair of tape reels; an opening provided inside the tape; and a side surface of the cassette case,
and a front lid that rotates to cover the front surface of the tape stretched on the front surface, a notch portion provided on the front surface of the cassette case where the tape is not stretched, and the notch portion on the inner surface of the front lid. a bracket part integrally provided at a position facing the cassette case; a hole for receiving a light emitting element inside the cassette case; and a cassette case for allowing light from the light emitting element to pass through a side surface of the cassette case. a substantially inverted dog-shaped groove provided on at least one side of the notch at a position that does not obstruct the optical path;
A movable member is rotatably supported by the bracket portion, and is guided by the substantially inverted V-shaped groove and movable in the vertical direction within the notch portion, and the movable member is movable vertically within the cutout portion. A tape cassette characterized in that the front cover and the back cover are moved back and forth between a closed cover position and an open cover position. (2) a pair of tape reels for winding a tape and locking both ends of the tape; a cassette case with the tape stretched on the front side and housing the pair of tape reels; an opening provided inside the tape; and a side surface of the cassette case,
and a front lid that rotates to cover the front surface of the tape stretched on the front surface, a notch provided on the front surface of the cassette case where the tape is not stretched, and the notch on the inner surface of the front lid. a bracket portion integrally provided at a position facing the cutout portion; a substantially inverted dog-shaped groove provided on at least one side of the notch portion; One end is guided in the approximately inverted V-shaped groove, and the other end is a free end, which is placed at approximately the same position as the front surface of the front lid when the lid is closed, and is movable in the vertical direction within the notch. A tape cassette comprising: a moving member, wherein the front cover and the back cover are reciprocated between a closed cover position and an open cover position by vertical movement of the moving member. (3) A pair of tape reels for winding tape and locking both ends of the tape, and an upper cassette case in which the tape is stretched on the front and the pair of tape reels are housed in a pair of upper and lower cassette cases. and a lower cassette case, an opening provided inside the tape stretched on the front surface, and a front surface that is pivotally supported on the sides of the upper and lower cassette cases and covers the front surface of the tape stretched on the front surface by rotation. a lid, a notch portion provided on the front surface where the tape of the upper and lower cassette cases is not stretched, and a bracket portion integrally provided on the inner surface of the front lid at a position opposite to the notch portion; The notch includes a substantially inverted dog-shaped groove provided on at least one side surface of the notch, and a moving member rotatably supported by the bracket and movable in the up and down direction within the notch. The tape cassette is characterized in that the substantially inverted V-shaped groove is formed by combining an upper cassette case and a lower cassette case. (4) Claims (1) and (2) characterized in that the tape has a front cover that rotatably covers the front surface of the tape, and a back cover that is pivotally supported by the front cover and that rotatably covers the back surface of the tape. ) or (3). (5) The tape cassette according to claim (3), wherein the movement of the moving member is restricted at the upper end of the substantially inverted dogleg-shaped groove when the upper and lower cassette cases are combined.