JPH0343705B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a pack guide support mechanism for a tape player, and relates to an improvement in the connecting portion between a pack guide and a guide arm that supports the pack guide.

[Technical Background of the Invention] A cassette-type tape player is brought into play mode for playback, recording, etc. by inserting two reel shafts that stand upright on its board into the shaft holes of the cassette. Various types of cassette mounting means are known, depending on the direction in which the cassette is inserted into the tape player. One of them, which is widely used in car stereos, is to insert a cassette horizontally into a pack guide through an insertion slot opened at the front of the tape player, and then lower the entire pack guide onto the reel base. There is also a so-called horizontal loading type in which the reel shaft is inserted into the cassette.

Loading and unloading of a cassette in such a tape player is carried out by a coordinated operation between a pack guide in which the entire cassette is housed, and a guide arm that supports the pack guide and rotates up and down.

That is, as shown in FIG.
is supported at the tip of a guide arm 2 that rotates around a support shaft 2a supported by a frame F. A pin 3 protruding outward is provided on the tip side of the support shaft 2a of the guide arm 2, and this pin 3 slides on a stepped cam 5 of an eject holding plate 4 provided on the tape player so as to be movable back and forth. are in contact with each other. On the other hand, stoppers 6 are provided on the upper right and left sides of the front end of the pack guide 1 in accordance with the position of the cassette insertion opening formed in the escutcheon of the tape player, thereby regulating the upward position of the pack guide 1. being done.

In such a pack guide mechanism, when the cassette 7 is pushed into the pack guide 1, the pack stopper (not shown) provided at the center of the guide arm 2 moves to the back of the tape player, and in conjunction with this moves the pack stopper (not shown) to hold the eject. Plate 4 is pushed forward. Then, the pin 3 provided on the guide arm reaches the lower part of the step of the cam 5 formed on the eject holding plate 4, and the tip of the guide arm 2 descends around the support shaft 2a supported by the frame F. Rotate to. As a result, the pack guide 1 connected to the tip of the guide arm 2 moves downward while keeping the cassette 7 housed therein, while maintaining a substantially horizontal state, thereby enabling operations such as recording and playback.

[Problems with the Background Art] By the way, in the horizontal loading type tape player as described above, the positioning of the pack guide 1 when loading or ejecting a cassette is done by a stopper 6 provided on the main body side of the tape player. There is. However, in the conventional pack guide support mechanism as shown in FIG. There was a risk of misalignment between the raised position of the guide and the stopper 6.

For example, if the mounting position of the pack guide 1 is too high, the pack guide 1 that has risen to the eject position will strongly hit the stopper 6, causing damage to the pack guide itself or the stopper, or the guide arm 2 may not be fully raised. The pack guide 1 hits the stopper 6, and the pin 3 of the guide arm cannot engage with the high part of the cam 5 of the eject holding plate, causing the inconvenience that the guide arm 2 cannot be held at the raised position. On the other hand, if the connection position of the pack guide 1 is too low, even if the guide arm 2 rises completely, the pack guide 1 will not rise until it hits the stopper 6, and the cassette ejected from inside the pack guide will be inserted into the cassette on the escutcheon side. The problem was that it got stuck in the mouth and was impossible to remove.

On the other hand, if the connection with guide arm 2 is too loose,
Backlash occurs between the two, and the lifted pack guide 1 wobbles due to vibration from the outside, resulting in repeated unnecessary contact with the stopper 6 and the backlash causing abnormal noise.

However, in order to improve the precision of the connection between the pack guide 1 and the guide arm 2, it would require a great deal of effort and time to manufacture and assemble each member, which is not desirable.

Furthermore, in order to solve these problems, an invention has been proposed in which the pack guide and the guide arm are constantly connected using a leaf spring, such as the invention described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-55819. .

However, in this prior art, since the pack guide and the guide arm are constantly connected by a leaf spring, various problems arise depending on the strength of the leaf spring. That is, if the leaf spring is too weak, the pack guide will wobble when it rises, and it will be difficult to accurately position the pack guide even if it is applied to the stopper. On the other hand, if the leaf spring is too strong, the reaction force of the leaf spring against the rotation of the guide arm will become large.
It becomes difficult to move the pack guide up and down smoothly, and it becomes difficult to give the pack guide a degree of freedom for positioning at the lowered position.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and makes it possible to accurately position the pack guide when the pack guide is raised, and to insert the cassette smoothly and reliably. An object of the present invention is to provide a pack guide support mechanism which allows the pack guide to move freely relative to the guide arm when the pack guide is lowered, and which enables accurate positioning of the pack guide with respect to the tape player body.

[Summary of the Invention] The pack guide support mechanism of the present invention attaches the pack guide to the distal end of the guide arm using a vertically movable connection part, and has one end connected between the pack guide and the guide arm. A leaf spring is provided which is fixed to either the guide or the guide arm and whose other end can engage with either the pack guide or the guide arm, and when the pack guide is raised, the leaf spring is inserted into the pack guide into the cassette insertion slot. The leaf spring is crimped onto a stopper of the pack guide, and the engagement between the leaf spring and the pack guide or guide arm is released when the pack guide is lowered.

According to the present invention having such a structure, when the pack guide is raised, the pack guide is pressed against the stopper of the cassette insertion opening by the action of the leaf spring to accurately position the pack guide, and the cassette can be inserted smoothly and smoothly. Do it for sure.

When the pack guide is lowered, the engagement between the leaf spring and the pack guide or the guide arm is released, allowing the pack guide to move relative to the guide arm, thereby enabling accurate positioning of the pack guide with respect to the tape player body. .

becomes possible.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Incidentally, the same parts as those of the conventional type shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the pack guide 11 and the guide arm 12 are formed by a hole 11 opened in a vertical surface of a stepped portion 11a formed on the upper surface of the pack guide 11.
The protrusion 12a at the tip of the guide arm 12 is inserted into the inner part b, and the protrusion 11c on the side of the pack guide 11 is inserted into the inner part b.
are connected to each other by entering a hole 12b opened in the guide arm 12 from below.
The dimensional tolerance of the connecting part consisting of these protrusions and holes is large, and the pack guide 11 and the guide arm 1
2 and is connected with some play.

On the other hand, on the upper surface of the guide arm 12, facing toward the pack guide 11, as shown in FIG. 13,13
The tip of the pack guide 11 is inserted into the lower side of the top plate of the pack guide through a notch 15 and a hole 16 formed at the edge of the stepped portion of the pack guide 11, and urges the pack guide 1 upward.

In the pack guide support mechanism of the present invention configured in this manner, the pack guide 11 of the guide arm 12 is connected to the guide arm 12 in a loose manner.
The plate spring 13 disposed in the plate spring 13 pushes the plate upward by the amount of play. Therefore, in the ejected state, the pack guide 11 is in elastic contact with the stopper 6 due to the upward force of the leaf spring 13. As a result, even if there is play in the joint between the pack guide 11 and the guide arm 12, the pack guide 11 is always in the correct position of contact with the stopper, so the cassette attachment/detachment operation can be performed smoothly. It will be done.

Further, since some play may occur in the connecting portion between the pack guide 11 and the guide arm 12, the manufacturing process of each component is simplified.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and the leaf spring that biases the pack guide in the upward direction with respect to the guide arm may be fixed to the pack guide side.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the simple structure of interposing a leaf spring between the pack guide and the guide arm simplifies the man-hours for manufacturing the pack guide and the guide arm, and also reduces the number of cassettes. This has the effect of providing a pack guide support mechanism that allows smooth loading and unloading.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a conventional pack guide support mechanism, where A is a cassette ejected state, B is a cassette after insertion, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a pack guide and guide arm used in the pack guide support mechanism of the present invention. 3 are sectional views showing the pack guide support mechanism of the present invention in an ejected state. 1...Pack guide, 2...Guide arm, 3...Pin, 4...Eject holding plate, 5...Cam, 6
...stopper, 7...cassette, 11...pack guide, 11a...step, 11b...hole, 11c...protrusion,
12...Guide arm, 12a...Protrusion, 12b...
hole, 13...plate spring, 14...screw or caulking, 1
5...notch, 16...hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pack guide into which a cassette is inserted and which moves up and down between the cassette insertion position and a playback position, and a pack guide which supports this pack guide and rotates up and down as the pack guide moves up and down. In a pack guide support mechanism equipped with a movable guide arm, the pack guide is attached to the tip of the guide arm using a vertically movable connection part, and between the pack guide and the guide arm, one end is connected to the pack guide. Alternatively, a leaf spring may be provided which is fixed to either one of the guide arms and whose other end can be engaged with either the pack guide or the guide arm, and this leaf spring is connected to the cassette insertion opening of the pack guide when the pack guide is raised. A pack guide support mechanism characterized in that the leaf spring is pressed against a stopper of the pack guide, and the engagement between the leaf spring and the pack guide or the guide arm is released when the pack guide is lowered.