JPH03245383A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent dust, etc., from entering from an upper direction into a tape cassette even when a shutter is set at an open position by providing the shutter, which is freely slid, to open/close the opening window of an enclosure, blocking the upper direction of a pinch roller inserted to the enclosure at the open position and providing a notch corresponding to the pinch roller in the lower direction of the shutter. CONSTITUTION:A shutter 6 is equipped with a U-shaped cross section and pens/closes a magnetic head inserting window 4 and pinch roller inserting windows 5a and 5b of an enclosure 1 in the direction of an arrow B connecting the centers of reel inserting holes 3a and 3b. The shutter 6 is equipped with a pinch roller inserting hole 9a at a position corresponding to the pinch roller inserting window 5a of the enclosure 1 on the front panel at the open position, and continuously to this pinch roller inserting hole 9a, a notch 10a corresponding to the pinch roller is provided on a surface 6a on the reel inserting side out of two surfaces 6a and 6b to be extended in a magnetic head inserting position. Thus, at the open position, the upper direction of the pinch roller inserted to the enclosure is blocked by the shutter and concerning the lower direction of the pinch roller, the dust is prevented from the upper direction of the notch corresponding to the pinch roller.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a tape cassette that stores a tape-shaped recording medium (hereinafter referred to as "tape") on which information such as music and video can be recorded and reproduced.

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional tape cassette is, for example, a compact cassette shown in FIG. In this compact cassette 31, the tape 32 is exposed from the housing 33 through the magnetic head insertion window 34 for inserting the magnetic head into the housing 33, the pinch roller insertion windows 35a and 35b for inserting the pinch rollers, etc. .

In such a compact cassette 31, there is a risk that dust or the like may enter through the opening window and adhere to the recording/playback surface of the tape, or that a hand or the like may accidentally touch the recording/playback surface of the tape and damage it. be.

In order to eliminate these inconveniences, for example, video tape cassettes and digital audio tapes (rD
It's called ATJ. ) There are cassettes, but all of these have a structure in which the tape is pulled out by rotating a shutter that covers an opening window when attached to a magnetic recording/reproducing device.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the compact cassette described above, the tape is exposed through the magnetic head insertion window for inserting the magnetic head into the casing, the pinch roller insertion window for inserting the pinch roller, etc. Dust or the like may enter and adhere to the recording/reproducing surface of the tape, or a hand or the like may accidentally touch the recording/reproducing surface of the tape and damage it.

In addition, with video tape cassettes and DAT cassettes, when the shutter is in the closed position, the tape is shielded by the shutter and there is no risk of dust entering, but when the tape cassette is installed in a magnetic recording/playback device and recording/playback is performed, It is necessary to rotate the shutter and pull out the tape.
Dust etc. adhere to the recording/playback surface of the tape that is pulled out and exposed.

In addition, the tape cassette occupies a large volume during the process of rotating the shutter and when the shutter is in the open position, which poses problems such as hindering miniaturization of the device.

The present invention solves these conventional problems, and is compatible with conventional compact cassettes in terms of size and shape, prevents the intrusion of dust, etc., and achieves high reliability. Our technical challenge is to provide a tape cassette that is suitable for digital recording/playback, and that can also contribute to the miniaturization of equipment.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the tape cassette of the present invention includes:
It consists of a housing that houses a tape-shaped recording medium and has a plurality of opening windows in the front part and a reel insertion hole on only one side, and a slidable shutter that has a U-shaped cross section and opens and closes the opening window, When the shutter is in the open position, a pinch roller insertion hole is provided in the front surface of the shutter at a position corresponding to the pinch roller insertion window among the opening windows provided in the housing, and the hole is continuous with the hole in the magnetic head insertion direction. Of the two surfaces extending to the reel insertion hole side, a notch corresponding to the pinch roller is provided on the surface facing the reel insertion hole.

Function According to the above configuration, this tape cassette has a shutter for opening and closing a plurality of opening windows of the housing, and in the open position, the shutter shields the upper part of the pinch roller inserted into the housing, Since there is a notch corresponding to the pinch roller below the pinch roller, it is possible to insert the pinch roller that provides tape driving force while preventing dust from coming from above.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the tape cassette of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the tape cassette according to the first embodiment of the present invention, seen from above when the shutter is opened, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view from above, illustrating the operation when the tape cassette is installed in a magnetic recording/reproducing device. 3 is a plan view of the tape cassette shown in FIG. 1 seen from below, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the shutter of this tape cassette seen from below, and FIG. 5 is the tape cassette shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG.

In FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the housing 1 has a reel insertion hole 3a on only one side in which the tape 2 is stored.

3b. This reel insertion hole 3 al 3
The center-to-center dimension L1 of b is the same as the dimension of a conventional compact cassette. It has a magnetic head insertion window 4 and pinch roller insertion windows 5a+5b on its front side. The magnetic head insertion window 4 and the pinch roller insertion windows 5a and 5b are also formed at approximately the same position and with the same dimensions as those of the conventional compact cassette.

The shutter 6 has a U-shaped cross section and the magnetic head insertion window 4 of the housing 1.
and pinch roller insertion window 5a+5b into reel insertion hole 3a
The guides 7a and 7b open and close in the direction connecting the centers of the housing 1 (in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1).
It engages with guide grooves 8a and 8b provided in the guide grooves 8a and 8b to be slidable. Further, in the open position, the shutter 6 is provided with a pinch roller insertion hole 9a at a position corresponding to the pinch roller insertion window 5a of the housing 1 on its front surface, and a magnetic field is continuously connected to the pinch roller insertion hole 9a. Of the two surfaces E3 al e b extending in the head insertion direction, a notch 10a corresponding to the pinch roller is provided on the surface 6a on the reel insertion hole side.

The operation of the tape cassette constructed as above will be explained.

In the tape cassette of this embodiment, the shutter 6 has a guide groove 8a.
, 31) until the magnetic head insertion window 4 and the pinch roller insertion windows 5a and 5b are completely exposed, the magnetic head 11 is inserted into the magnetic head insertion window 4 of the housing 1. , axis 12a.

Of the pinch rollers 15a and 15b whose rotating shafts are shafts 14a and 14b at the ends of levers 13a and 13 that can rotate around levers 13a and 12b, the pinch rollers 15 in FIG.
The tape 2 is shown pushed into the pinch roller insertion window 5a of the housing 1, and at this time the tape 2 is held between the pinch roller 15a and the capstan 16a and runs to the left.

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along line A-A in FIG. In order to obtain a suitable tape driving force, the width C of the pinch roller 15a needs to be about 1.5 times the width of the tape 2.

Furthermore, since the upper part of the pinch roller 15a inserted into the housing 1 is shielded by the lever 6b of the shutter 6 that extends in the magnetic head pushing direction, there is no room left for the lever 13a of the pinch roller 15a to form a shaft holding part. However, since a notch 10a corresponding to the pinch roller 15a is provided below the shutter 6, the shaft 14a can be press-fitted and held by the corresponding shaft holding portion 13c of the lever 13a.

As described above, according to the tape cassette according to this embodiment,
It has a sliding shutter that opens and closes the opening window of the casing. In the open position, the upper part of the pinch roller inserted into the casing is covered by the shutter, and the lower part is covered by the shutter, which has a cutout corresponding to the pinch roller. Since there are notches, it is possible to freely design various pinch rollers to ensure the tape drive force, and even when the shutter is in the closed position, there is no heat, and even when the shutter attached to the magnetic recording/reproducing device is in the open position, dust etc. cannot enter from above. can be prevented.

As described in detail, the tape cassette of the present invention is compatible with conventional compact cassettes in terms of size and shape, and also has a sliding window that can open and close the window of the casing that stores the tape. Since the tape cassette has a shutter, it can prevent dust from entering even during playback, making it suitable for digital recording/playback that requires high reliability.

Furthermore, since the shutter has a sliding structure, the volume occupied by the tape cassette does not increase even in the open position, contributing to miniaturization of the device. In addition, in terms of aesthetics, there are no unnecessary notches on the top surface of the tape cassette, so it does not cause discomfort.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention viewed from above when the shutter is opened, and Fig. 2 is an operation when the tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed in a magnetic recording/reproducing device. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the tape cassette shown in FIG. 1 seen from below, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the tape cassette seen from below the shutter, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the tape cassette shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of the tape cassette shown in the figure, and FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a conventional tape cassette. 1... Housing, 2... Tape, 3a+3b・
...Reel insertion hole, 4...Magnetic head insertion window,
5... Pinch roller insertion window, 6... Shutter, 6b... Two surfaces extending in the magnetic head insertion direction, 7b...
...Guide, 8a+8b...Guide groove, ...Pinch roller insertion hole, 10a...Notch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A housing for storing a tape-shaped recording medium and having a plurality of opening windows on the front face and a reel insertion hole on one side only, and a sliding member having a U-shaped cross section and opening and closing the opening windows. The shutter is configured as a flexible shutter, and in the open position, the shutter has a hole for inserting a pinch roller at a position corresponding to the pinch roller insertion window among the opening windows provided in the housing on the front surface thereof, and the hole A tape cassette characterized in that a notch corresponding to a pinch roller is provided on the surface on the reel insertion hole side of the two surfaces extending continuously in the magnetic head insertion direction.