JPH0341345Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The present invention relates to tape cassettes, and in particular to magnetic tapes and tapes used in rotating head type magnetic recording and reproducing devices.
This relates to a loading (pull-out) type tape cassette.

(Prior art and its problems) In recent years, DAT (Digital Audio Tape Recording) type magnetic recording and reproducing devices have appeared, but these recording and reproducing devices are significantly more efficient than conventional audio tape recorders. Since broadband recording and playback must be performed, for example, a recording and playback method using a rotating head is used, and the tape cassette used for this uses a tape
A loading (pull-out) type is used.

However, although such tape loading type tape cassettes have been widely used in video tape recorders, there are the following problems when they are used in DAT type magnetic recording and reproducing devices.

First, the size of the tape cassette is too large, and DAT-type recording/playback devices do not require as much recording capacity as video tape recorders.
A tape cassette that is smaller than that is sufficient, and preferably one with a magnetic tape width and a cassette case size comparable to those of conventional small audio cassettes.

Second, tape cassettes are required to be more dustproof than those for video tape recorders.
In particular, in DAT type recording and reproducing devices, the quality of recording and reproducing is significantly degraded due to the influence of dust adhering to the magnetic tape.

Thirdly, in order to make the tape cassette smaller, it is possible to use a magnetic tape with the same width (3.81 mm) as the magnetic tape in the small audio cassette mentioned above, without damaging the magnetic tape. Great care must be taken when pulling out the cassette from the cassette case and winding it around the guide drum containing the rotary head.

Therefore, even if a small tape cassette that meets the first problem mentioned above is made, adopting a tape cassette of the same construction as a conventional tape cassette for a video tape recorder will not meet the second problem mentioned above. It is impossible to solve the third problem.

In other words, a tape cassette for a conventional video tape recorder is housed in a cassette housing, and a portion of the magnetic tape wound on a take-up reel from a supply reel is placed inside the cassette housing for easy loading. A part of the body is exposed, and a lid for protecting the tape is provided on the front part of the cassette housing so that the exposed part cannot be directly touched by the operator's hands.

However, in such a tape cassette, although a lid is provided on the front surface of the cassette housing, there must be a space provided therein into which a tape drawer member for loading is inserted. It is easy for dust to enter from there, and protection of the tape surface is not perfect.Furthermore, depending on how the tape is stored in the cassette housing, there is a risk that the tape may get caught when opening and closing the lid. As mentioned above, since the tape surface cannot be completely protected, there are problems such as having to store the tape cassette in a cosmetic case or the like when carrying it or selling it at a store.

(Purpose of the invention) The purpose of the invention is to provide a tape cassette configured to eliminate the joint play between upper and lower holding plates that hold a tape reel wound with magnetic tape, and to prevent misalignment of the reel axis. There is a particular thing.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a tape cassette consisting of a cassette housing 1, a tape holder 2, and a pair of tape reels 13a and 13b for winding magnetic tape. The cassette housing 1 has a hexahedral shape with an opening 1a on one side, the tape holder 2 has 16 vertical walls that close the opening 1a, and the pair of tape reels 13a, 13b The lower holding plate 11 is composed of an upper holding plate 12 and a lower holding plate 11 that rotatably hold the tape reels 13a and 13b.
7, and one of the upper and lower retaining plates 12 and 11 has a hook-shaped locking piece 41 on one side;
The other side opposite to the one side has a hook-shaped locking piece 42, and the other holding plate has the locking piece 41,
42, the locking piece 41 and the locking piece 42 are arranged in different angular directions, and the tape cassette is not in use when the tape holder 2 is not in use. The tape holder 2 is housed in the cassette housing 1 and closes the opening 1a, and when in use, the tape holder 2 closes the opening 1a.
The present invention provides a tape cassette in which the tape cassette is pulled out to a predetermined position in the apparatus, and the magnetic tape 23 is pulled out through the notch 17 to form a predetermined tape path.

(Example) Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the tape cassette according to the present invention seen from diagonally below.
1 is a hexahedral cassette case 1 formed by an upper case 3 and a lower case 4, which are joined together by setscrews (not shown) inserted through screw holes 5a and 5b on the lower surface, and has an opening 1a on one side. The tape holder 2 is housed in a cassette casing 1 when not in use, and is pulled out from the cassette casing 1 through an opening 1a and moved to a predetermined position when in use.

6 is a groove formed on one side of the lower housing 4 to prevent incorrect insertion, and 7 is a recess formed on one side of the hexahedron that spans the upper housing 3 and the lower housing 4. 8a and 8b can be used to detect the front and back sides of tape cassette A by touch even in the dark, for example.
Furthermore, in order to be able to distinguish between the front and rear of the tape cassette, there is a discrimination section provided with an unevenness on one side of the surface of the lower casing 4 at a position offset from the center thereof.

9a and 9b are pressure pieces provided on the left and right sides of one surface of the tape holder 2, for example, the upper front corner in the insertion direction.When not in use, these are on the same surface as one surface of the tape holder 2, and when in use, This is to release the tape holder 2 from being locked in the cassette housing 1 by pressing a protruding piece 54 of the slide plate 53, which will be described later. Further, reference numeral 10 denotes a claw for preventing erroneous erasure, which is provided approximately at the center of the front surface of the tape holder 2 in the insertion direction.

Next, the internal structure of the tape cassette according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the tape cassette excluding the upper housing 3, Fig. 3 is a plan view of only the tape holder, and Fig. 4 is a state cut from plane B-B' in Fig. 2. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of one side of the locking mechanism for locking the tape holder to the cassette housing.

The tape holder 2 is made of synthetic resin, for example, and includes a lower holder plate 11 having a substantially L-shaped cross section and a vertical wall 16, which will be described later, and an upper holder plate 12 having a smaller area. A supply reel hub (tape reel) 13a and a take-up reel hub (tape reel) 13b are held between both holding plates.

Note that 14 and 15 correspond to the positioning pins 55 provided on the magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus side, which will be described later, so that when the tape cassette A according to the present invention is installed in a predetermined position of the magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus, a positioning pin 55 provided on the magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus side, which will be described later, is inserted. These are reference holes provided at different positions, and one reference hole 14 is a round hole, and the other reference hole 15 is an elongated hole.

16 is a vertical wall vertically installed at one end of the lower holding plate 11, and this vertical wall 16 forms one side of a hexahedron whose entire surface is closed when the tape holding body 2 is housed in the cassette housing 1. The shape and dimensions are set as follows.

17 is a notch formed on the plane opposite to the vertical wall 16 of the lower holding plate 11 into which a tape pull-out member is inserted, and 18a and 18b are tapes to prevent the loosened tape from entering the inside of the reel. The protective walls 19a and 19b are tape protective walls to prevent the loosened tape from extending and spreading in the left and right direction, and these protective walls are connected to the lower holding plate 11.
is formed integrally with.

Further, the lower holding plate 11 has an annular projection 2 provided with a through hole 20a that allows the reel drive shaft of the device to enter.
0, annular recesses 21 are formed in the upper holding plate 12, and these reel hubs 13a and 1
The upper and lower sides of the reel hubs 13a and 13b are rotatably held with an appropriate gap, and Teflon sheets 22 are inserted into the lower surfaces of the reel hubs 13a and 13b to reduce rotational friction.

Supply side reel hub 13a and take-up side reel hub 1
3b, a magnetic tape 23 is wound with its respective ends fixedly attached, and the magnetic tape 23 passes through guide pins 24a and 24b from both the reel hubs and into a notch 17 between guide poles 25a and 25b. Form the facing tape loop.

In addition, on the bottom surface of the lower holding plate 11, a plurality of protrusions 26 are provided approximately radially from the center of the left and right reels,
A mylar sheet 27 containing graphite is laid on the upper surface of these protrusions 26 to improve the sliding of the lower edge of the magnetic tape 23 wound around the reel hub 13.

The reel hub 13 has, for example, six protrusions 28 on its inner periphery, which engage with a reel drive shaft 57 of a magnetic recording/reproducing device to transmit driving force, as will be described later.

A brake plate 29 constitutes a part of the brake mechanism, and is slidably provided on the upper surface of the lower holding plate 11.

This brake plate 29 is made of synthetic resin, and is slidable in the direction of arrow D-E by inserting a long hole 30 into a pin 31 on the lower holding plate 11.
In the state shown in FIG. 3 in which the brake plate 29 is pulled out from the cassette housing 1, the elastic arms 32a and 32b of the brake plate 29 contact the guide pins 24a and 24b, respectively, and the brake plate 29 is urged back in the direction of arrow E, and the pin 31 regulates the return position.

In addition, in the position shown in FIG. 3, the brake plate 29
The left and right brake plates 33a and 33b do not come into contact with the brake bodies 34a and 34b of the reel hub 13,
Supply side reel hub 13a and take-up side reel hub 13
No braking force is applied to b.

35a and 35b are vertical walls 16 of the lower holding plate 11;
One lock arm 35a has a pressing piece 9a at one end and a hook portion 36a at the other end, and the lock arm 35a has a pressing piece 9a at one end and a hook part 36a at the other end. It is inserted so that it can rotate, and is biased in the locking direction by a return spring 38. It should be noted that the other lock arm 35b has a similar configuration, so its explanation will be omitted.

In the locked state shown in FIG.
The hook portion 36a of the tape holder 5a contacts a stopper 39 protruding from the upper housing 3 to connect the lower holding plate 11 and the upper housing 3. In other words, the tape holder 2 is locked with respect to the cassette housing 1. This means that

In addition, the pressing piece 9a of the locking arm 35a has a shape that closes the notch 40 provided in the vertical wall 16 of the lower holding plate 11 in this locked state, and the outer surface of the locking arm 35a has a shape that closes the notch 40 provided in the vertical wall 16 of the lower holding plate 11. It is formed to match the outer surface of wall 16.

Next, a method for assembling the tape holder, which is the main part of the present invention, will be explained based on the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.

Figure 6 shows the lower holding plate 1 that constitutes the tape holding body.
1 and the upper holding plate 12, FIG.
6 is a side view taken along line C-C' in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view taken along line FF' in FIG. 2.

Reference numerals 41 and 42 designate hook portions that are integrally provided with the upper holding plate 12 and protrude downward, and have sloped ends. Recess 43 and through hole 44
are formed respectively.

Therefore, to assemble these, first roughly align the upper holding plate 12 and the lower holding plate 11, and then press down the upper holding plate 12 against the lower holding plate 11. The parts 41 and 42 are each elastically displaced to form the recessed part 43 of the other party.
and the through hole 44.

However, since it is impossible to reduce the positional error between the upper and lower engaging parts to zero, there is usually some margin in the widthwise dimension of the recess 43 or the through hole 44 relative to the widthwise dimension of the hook part 41 or 42. It is necessary to have a degree. In this method, the hook portions 41, 4
Although it is possible to eliminate the meshing play by setting an appropriate amount of elastic displacement in the thickness direction of the hook part 2, in such a case, fitting play will occur in the width direction of the hook portion.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the hook portions 41, 4
2, the recess 43, and the through hole 44 in the width direction, the two sets of hook parts 41 and 42 are arranged at an angle of approximately 45 degrees, and the hook parts 41 and 42 are By setting the amount of elastic displacement in the thickness direction to a sufficiently small value, the tape holder 2 can substantially eliminate coupling play in the longitudinal and lateral directions.

As a result, there is almost no mutual positional deviation between the upper holding plate 12 and the lower holding plate 11, reducing assembly man-hours during manufacturing. There is no discrepancy, and smooth rotation is possible.

Next, regarding the connection of the upper housing 3 and the lower housing 4, which are the constituent parts of the cassette housing 1, we will refer to FIGS. 2 and 8.
This will be explained with reference to the figures.

As is clear from both figures, the upper casing 3 and the lower casing 4 are connected by left and right setscrews 45, 45 and left and right hooks 46, 47 protruding from the upper casing 3 and lower casing 4, respectively. This is done by interlocking with the

In addition, when the tape holder 2 is housed in the cassette housing 1 as described above, the lower holding plate 11 of the tape holder 2 has its left and right edges connected to the guide rails 48.
a and 48b, and is further guided by the lower housing 4
A Teflon sheet 49 coated with adhesive on one side is attached to the bottom surface of the lower holding plate 11 to reduce sliding friction of the lower holding plate 11.

In addition, when the tape holder 2 is in the stored state, the rear surface 50 of the brake plate 29 is in contact with the cylindrical boss 51 installed on the bottom surface of the lower casing 4 and is slid in the direction of arrow D. The brake arms 33a and 33b are elastically displaced and abut against the brake bodies 34a and 34b of the left and right reel hubs.

Therefore, in such a state, the supply reel hub 13a
A braking force is applied to the take-up reel hub 13b, and the tape holder 2 is urged in the direction of arrow D by the biasing force of the elastic arms 32a and 32b.
and 35b, the state shown in FIG. 2 is maintained.

Since the tape cassette of the present invention is constructed as described above, when this tape cassette is stored in the tape cassette storage section 52 provided on the side of the magnetic recording/reproducing device described later, the tape cassette placed on the front side of the tape cassette is When the pressing pieces 9a, 9b are pressed and the lock is released, the tape holder 2 will pop out a certain amount due to the pressing (biasing) force of the elastic arms 32a, 32b, and the tape will not be held thereafter. To facilitate the drawing operation of the body 2.

Next, an example of actual use of the tape cassette according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams showing the arrangement relationship between the tape cassette according to the present invention and, for example, a DAT type magnetic recording/reproducing device. FIG. 9 shows the tape cassette in an unloading state, and FIG. Each shows the loading status of the cassette.

When the tape cassette according to the present invention is stored in a tape cassette storage section 52 provided in a DAT type magnetic recording/reproducing device, the pressing pieces 9a and
9b is abutted against a protruding piece 54 formed on the bottom surface of the tape cassette storage section 52 at one end of a slide plate 53 that is slidable in the direction of the arrow X with respect to the bottom surface of the tape cassette storage section 52, and is moved a predetermined amount in the X' direction. , the tape holder 2 is unlocked from the cassette housing 1.

Thereafter, the tape holder 2 is pulled out together with the slide plate 53 to a predetermined position in the direction of arrow X by a cassette pull-out mechanism (not shown).

When the tape holder 2 is pulled out to a predetermined position together with the slide plate 53, the slide plate 53 is lowered in the direction of arrow Y by a cassette lifting mechanism (not shown), and the tape holder 2 of the tape cassette is moved downwards by the cassette lifting mechanism (not shown). The provided reference holes 14 and 15 engage with positioning pins 55 provided on the device side, and the lower surface of the tape holder 2 abuts against the positioning pins 56, thereby determining the planar position and the vertical position. will be done.

At the same time, the reel drive shaft 57 engages with the reel hubs 13a and 13b in the tape holder 2, and the loading pole 58 is connected to the tape formed by the magnetic tape 23 wound between the supply reel and the take-up reel. It is inserted inside the loop.

Thereafter, when the loading pole 58 is slid in the direction of arrow Z by the tape loading mechanism (not shown) by pressing a recording/playback button (not shown), the magnetic tape 23 is moved around the outer periphery of the guide drum 60. The magnetic tape is wound around the surface, for example, by about 180 degrees, and information is recorded on or reproduced from the magnetic tape.

In the embodiment of the tape cassette according to the present invention, an example of a tape cassette used in a digital audio tape recorder has been explained, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is suitable for recording high-density information. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to tape cassettes in general for playback.

(Effect of the invention) The tape cassette according to the invention is constructed as described above, so that the upper holding plate and the lower holding plate of the tape holding body which rotatably holds the tape reel wound with magnetic tape are hooked together. A locking piece (hook) of a shape and a locked part (recess) are integrally connected, and a pair of locking pieces are arranged so as to be inclined to each other, and a plate of the locking piece is provided. Since the amount of elastic displacement in the thickness direction is set to a sufficiently small amount, it is possible to eliminate backlash in the front-rear and left-right directions of the upper and lower retaining plates, and at the same time, the locking piece itself can regulate the front-back, left-right, and left-right positions. In addition, the tape reel can be rotated smoothly without the axes of the tape reel on the supply side and take-up side going out of alignment, and even if an external impact is applied to the tape cassette, the joining position of the tape holder can be fixed. It has features such as not shifting.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the tape cassette according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the tape cassette, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the tape holder, and Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the tape cassette.
The figure is a longitudinal sectional view of the reel hub part of the same tape cassette, Figure 5 is a partially enlarged view of the lock mechanism, Figure 6 is a plan view showing the state in which the holding plates constituting the tape holder are connected, and Figure 7 is the Partially cutaway side view of Figure 6, No. 8
The figure is a partial cross-sectional view showing the state of connection of the housing part.
10 are explanatory diagrams showing the arrangement relationship between the tape cassette and the magnetic recording/reproducing device. FIG. 9 shows the unloading state and FIG. 10 shows the loading state. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Cassette housing, 1a... Opening, 2... Tape holder, 11... Lower holding plate, 12... Upper holding plate, 13a... Supply side reel hub (tape reel), 13b... Winding side Reel hub (tape reel), 23... Magnetic tape, 41, 42... Hook part (locking piece), 43... Recessed part (locked part), 4
4...Through hole (locked part).

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A tape cassette consisting of a cassette housing 1, a tape holder 2, and a pair of tape reels 13a and 13b for winding magnetic tape, the cassette housing 1 having an opening on one side. 1a, the tape holder 2 has a vertical wall 16 that closes the opening 1a, and has an upper holding plate 12 and a lower holding plate that rotatably hold the pair of tape reels 13a and 13b. 11, and the lower holding plate 11 is a reel drive shaft 5 of the device that drives the pair of tape reels 13a and 13b.
7, and one of the upper and lower retaining plates 12 and 11 has a hook-shaped locking piece 41 on one side;
The other side opposite to the one side has a hook-shaped locking piece 42, and the other holding plate has the locking piece 41,
42, the locking piece 41 and the locking piece 42 are arranged in different angular directions, and the tape cassette is not in use when the tape holder 2 is not in use. The tape holder 2 is housed in the cassette housing 1 and closes the opening 1a, and when in use, the tape holder 2 closes the opening 1a.
The tape cassette is pulled out to a predetermined position in the apparatus, and the magnetic tape 23 is pulled out from the notch 17 to form a predetermined tape path.