JPH0416307Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] The present invention is most suitable for application to tape cassettes for video tape recorders, for example, and is a plug disposed in a through hole of a cassette housing. The present invention relates to a tape cassette in which cassette information is detected by switching the vertical position of the tape cassette.

[Summary of the idea]

The present invention switches the vertical position of the plug by moving the plug up and down in the through hole against the spring using a tool such as a screwdriver from the top of the cassette housing, and rotating it around the vertical axis. In such a tape cassette, instructions for selectively instructing a plurality of display sections provided on the top surface of the cassette casing while the plug is selectively positioned by a plurality of positioning sections provided in the through hole are provided. By providing a portion at the upper end of the plug, the switching state of the vertical position of the plug within the through hole can be clearly determined from above the cassette housing.

[Conventional technology]

In this type of tape cassette, the plug is arranged in a through hole provided in the cassette housing so that the plug can be switched between the vertical position and the vertical position of the plug can be switched when the tape cassette is installed in a video tape recorder. The detection means detects various types of cassette information such as prevention of erroneous erasure and recording method.

Conventional examples of this type of tape cassette will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.

First, Figure 5 is a bottom view of the tape cassette.
The cassette casing 1 is composed of upper and lower halves 2 and 3 molded from synthetic resin, etc., which are joined from above and below. A reel 5 is rotatably housed. A front cover 7 for opening and closing the front opening 6 is rotatably attached to the front end side of the cassette case 1. Inside the front cover 7, the magnetic tape 4 is guided by a pair of left and right tape guides 8, and the magnetic tape 4 is guided by a pair of left and right tape guides 8 to the front side. It spans across the opening 6. Further, in the inner portion of the front lid 7, the half 3 is formed with a bottom opening 9 into which a tape extractor (not shown) of a video tape recorder is inserted. Further, a guide groove 10 is formed in the left and right center of the bottom surface 1a of the cassette housing 1 (the bottom surface of the lower half 3), and extends continuously from the bottom opening 9 in the front-rear direction. This guide groove 10 extends upward along the front-rear direction at the left and right center of the cassette holder 12 in order to position the tape cassette when the tape cassette is inserted into the cassette holder 12 of a video tape recorder from the direction of arrow a. It is engaged with a guide protrusion 13 provided in a protruding manner. Then, a cassette information detection section 1 is installed in a substantially triangular portion along both reels 5 on the front end side of the bottom surface 10a of the guide groove 10.
5 is provided.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the cassette information detection section 15 is provided with a detection hole 16 and a positioning hole 17 that are offset by 180 degrees from each other in the front and back. It is configured to be openable and closable by a plug (hereinafter simply referred to as plug) 18. Note that two breakable lid pieces 19 are integrally formed in a row on the left and right sides of the detection hole 16. And as shown in Figure 7,
The plug 18 is arranged above an intermediate position between the detection hole 16 and the positioning hole 17. That is, the upper and lower through holes 22 are formed between the upper and lower surfaces 1b and the bottom surface 1a of the cassette housing 1 by the plug storage sections 20 and 21 that are vertically integrally molded in the upper and lower halves 2 and 3, respectively.
is formed, and a plug 18 is disposed within this through hole 22 so as to be movable up and down and rotatable around a vertical axis. The plug 18 is made of synthetic resin or the like, and has a tool insertion groove 23 at its upper end 18a, and a protrusion 24 projecting to one side at its lower end 18b. The plug 18 is connected to the through hole 22 by the compression coil spring 25.
It is pressed upward inside.

On the other hand, in the through hole 22 above the detection hole 16 and the positioning hole 17, there are two positioning parts 26 and 27.
are provided at intervals above and below. Note that the positioning part 26 on the detection hole 16 side is formed at the lower end of the plug housing part 20 on the upper half 2 side, and the positioning part 27 on the positioning hole 17 side is formed at the upper end part of the plug housing part 21 on the lower half 3 side. has been done. Therefore,
When the protrusion 24 of the plug 18 is selectively fitted into the detection hole 16 or the positioning hole 17 from below, as shown by the one-dot chain line and the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6, and the solid line and the one-dot chain line in FIG. The two positioning parts 26 and 27 position the plug 18 in two positions, upper and lower, so that it cannot rotate.

According to the tape cassette of the reference example configured as described above, the plug 18 is pressed upward by the compression coil spring 25 in the state shown by the dashed line in FIG. 6 and the solid line in FIG. The protrusion 24 is fitted into the detection hole 16 from below to form the positioning part 26.
It is positioned at the lower position by . Therefore, the detection hole 16 is closed by the protrusion 24 of the plug 18, and when the tape cassette is installed in the video tape recorder in this state, the detection pin of the information detection means provided on the video tape recorder side is closed. 28 is inserted into the through hole 22 from the bottom surface 1a side of the cassette housing 1, and the detection pin 28 is pushed down by the protrusion 24 of the plug 18 to perform information detection. When the tape cassette is installed in a video tape recorder, the guide groove 10 on the bottom surface 1a of the cassette housing 1 is engaged with the guide protrusion 13 on the cassette holder 12, as shown in FIG.

Next, when opening the detection hole 16, insert a tool such as a screwdriver into the tool insertion groove 23 of the plug 18 from the top surface 1b of the cassette housing 1, and push the plug 18 against the compression coil spring 25. and move it downward to push out the protrusion 24 from the detection hole 16 into the guide groove 10. Thereafter, the protrusion 24 is rotated 180 degrees within the guide groove 10 by rotating the plug 18 by 180 degrees around the vertical axis. Then, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6, the protrusion 24 and the positioning hole 1
When the tool is removed when 7 and 7 match, plug 1
8 is pressed upward by a compression coil spring 25, and the protrusion 24 is placed in the upper position by the positioning part 27 fitted into the positioning hole 17 from below as shown by the dashed line in FIG. Positioned. This opens the detection hole 16, and when the tape cassette is inserted into the video tape recorder in this state, the plug 18 does not operate the detection pin 28 in any way, so no information is detected.

In order to close the detection hole 16 again, the movement and rotation of the plug 18 are reversed to switch the protrusion 24 from inside the positioning hole 17 to inside the detection hole 16. Further, five detection pins 28 are provided in a row on the left and right, and different information can be detected by selectively breaking off the left and right cover pieces 19 of the detection hole 16.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, the conventional tape cassette described above has the following problems.

That is, in the conventional tape cassette, the plug 18
Since the plug 18 cannot be seen from the side of the cassette case 1, the switching state of the vertical position of the plug 18 in the through hole 22 can be changed from inside the cassette case. The discrimination was made by looking into the through hole 22 from above the body 1. However, it is difficult to clearly determine the vertical position of the plug 18 from above the cassette housing 1, and for this reason, when using a tape cassette, the plug 18, which was intended to be in the lower position, may be in the upper position. Switching operation errors were often made. As a result, when the tape cassette is installed in a video tape recorder, an error in switching the plug 18 may easily cause the inconvenience that the erasure prevention or recording method may be mistakenly detected.

In addition, especially in the case of the conventional example described above, the through hole 2
In order to prevent the vertical position of the plug 18 within the plug 18 from being changed unexpectedly due to vibration etc.
4 is fitted into the detection hole 16 or the positioning hole 17 from below, thereby positioning the plug 18 in a non-rotatable manner. Therefore, the vertical position of the plug 18 is switched by moving and rotating the plug 18 as described above, but if you are not accustomed to this switching operation, you will notice the difference as shown by the solid line in Fig. 6. There have often been erroneous operations in which the user assumes that the switching operation has been completed when the protrusion 24 is between the detection hole 16 and the positioning hole 17. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the protrusion 24 of the plug 18 is on the bottom surface 10a of the guide groove 10, and the lower end 18b of the plug 18 and the protrusion 24 protrude into the guide groove 10 by a height H. Therefore, when the tape cassette is inserted into the cassette holder 12 from the direction of arrow a, the lower end 18b or the protrusion 24 of the protruding plug 18 collides with the tip 13a of the guide protrusion 13 from the side. , there was a risk that the lower end 18b or the protrusion 24 would be accidentally damaged. Further, even if the lower end 18b or the protrusion 24 of the plug 18 is not damaged. its lower end 18
Otherwise, the tape cassette cannot be inserted into the cassette holder 12 due to the protrusion 24 getting in the way.

Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to clearly determine the switching state of the vertical position of the plug in the through hole from above the cassette housing.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides the above-mentioned tape cassette.
A plurality of display sections respectively corresponding to the plurality of positioning sections are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the cassette housing around the through hole, and at the upper end of the plug, the plug is selectively positioned at the plurality of positioning sections. An instruction section is provided for selectively instructing the plurality of display sections in a state where the display section is positioned.

[Effect]

In the present invention, when the plug is positioned within the through hole at one of the plurality of positioning parts, the indicator parts at the upper and lower ends of the plug indicate the display part corresponding to this positioning part. Further, when the plug is positioned by another positioning section, the indicating section of the plug indicates another display section corresponding to this positioning section. Therefore, by viewing the display section indicated by the indicator section of the plug from above the cassette housing, the switching state of the vertical position of the plug within the through hole can be clearly determined.

〔Example〕

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a tape cassette for a video tape recorder will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. Note that the same parts as those of the conventional example described in the [Prior Art] section are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, on the upper surface 1b of the cassette housing 1, there are
For example, two display sections 30 and 31, such as ON and OFF, are provided front and back and offset by 180 degrees from each other. That is, these display parts 30 and 31 are provided so as to correspond to the two positioning parts 26 and 27 (the detection hole 16 and the positioning hole 17) in the through hole 22, respectively, and to be at the same position. In this embodiment, a label 32 for writing recorded contents etc. is attached to the top surface 1b of the cassette housing 1.
The two display sections 30 and 31 are displayed by printing or the like around a circular hole 33 provided in the label 32 in correspondence with the through hole 22.

On the other hand, at one end of the tool insertion groove 23 provided at the upper end 18a of the plug 18, an indicator portion 34 consisting of an arrow-shaped recess is provided integrally with the tool insertion groove 23. The arrow shape of the indicator 34 is formed so as to face in the same direction as the protrusion 24 of the lower end 18b of the plug 18.

The switching operation between the upper and lower positions of the plug 18 in the tape cassette constructed as described above is performed in substantially the same manner as in the reference example described above.

By the way, according to the present invention, the protrusion 2 of the plug 18
When the plug 18 is positioned at the lower position (see solid line state in FIG. 7), the second plug 18 is positioned by the positioning portion 26.
As shown by the dashed line in the figure, the arrow-shaped indicator 34
indicates the display unit 31. Therefore, plug 1
8 is in the OFF state, that is, in the upper position, which can be very clearly determined from above the cassette housing 1.

Further, when the indicator 34 on the upper end 18a of the plug 18 indicates between the two display sections 30 and 31, it can be determined that the rotation operation of the plug 18 is incomplete. In particular, as in this embodiment, plug 1
In the case where the protrusion 24 of 8 is rotated within the guide groove 10 to switch the vertical position of the plug 18, the rotation operation of the plug 18 is incomplete, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 6 of the conventional example. The protrusion 24 is the guide groove 1
0, it can be clearly identified from above the cassette case 1. Therefore, if the tape cassette is attached to the video tape recorder with the protrusion 24 still on the guide groove 10, the lower end 18b of the plug 18 or the protrusion 24 may be accidentally damaged by the guide protrusion 13. It is possible to prevent accidents that would otherwise occur.

Note that the display section referred to in the present invention does not necessarily need to be provided at the same position as the plurality of positioning sections within the through hole. For example, FIG. 3 shows another embodiment, in which the two positioners 26, 27 in the through hole 22 are
(Similar to FIG. 1), on the upper surface 1b of the cassette housing 1, two display sections 36 and 37, such as ON and OFF, are provided on the left and right sides around the through hole 22.
The tool insertion groove 23 of the upper end 18a of the plug 18
(This is the same direction as the protrusion 24) A pointing portion 38 consisting of a recess is provided at one location in a direction perpendicular to the projection 24. Therefore, when the protrusion 24 of the plug 18 is positioned by the positioning part 26, the indicating part 38 indicates the display part 36 as shown by the solid line, and when the protrusion 24 is positioned by the positioning part 27, the display part 36 is indicated by the dashed line. The instruction section 38 instructs the display section 37.

FIG. 4 shows still another embodiment, in which the plug 18 is configured so that it can be positioned in three stages (not shown) up and down, and the plug 18 is positioned around the through hole 22 on the upper surface 1b of the cassette housing 1. For example, ON-1.
Three display parts 39, 40, 4 such as ON-2 and OFF
1.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various effective changes can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, in this embodiment, a protrusion is provided at the lower end of the plug, and this protrusion is positioned by two positioning parts, but various structures can be applied to position the plug within the through hole.

The present invention is not limited to tape cassettes for video tape recorders, but can be applied to tape cassettes for various recording and reproducing devices that record or reproduce various types of information using various recording or reproducing methods.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to the present invention, the switching state of the vertical position of the plug in the through hole can be determined very clearly from above the cassette housing.
Therefore, a plug switching error can be easily determined at a glance, and erroneous information detection due to a plug switching error can be prevented, thereby significantly improving safety during use.

In addition, especially in the case of a structure in which the protrusion is rotated within the guide groove by the rotation operation of the plug as in this embodiment, even if the rotation operation of the plug is incomplete, the protrusion can be rotated in the cassette casing. Since it can be clearly identified from above the body, when a tape cassette is installed in a device such as a video tape recorder, the lower end of the plug or It is possible to prevent the protrusion from being damaged unexpectedly, and it is also possible to prevent an accident in which it becomes impossible to attach the tape cassette, thereby significantly improving safety.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 4 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a tape cassette for a video tape recorder, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the main part, and Figure 2 is a plan view of the main part. , FIG. 3 is a plan view of main parts in another embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of main parts in still another embodiment. 5 to 8 show conventional examples of tape cassettes for video tape recorders, and FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the tape cassette;
Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the main parts, Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main parts to explain how to change the vertical position of the plug, and Fig. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main parts in the middle of switching the vertical position of the plug. . In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1...cassette housing, 1a...bottom surface, 1b...top surface, 10...
Guide groove, 18...Plug, 18a...Top end, 2
2...Through hole, 23...Tool insertion groove, 24...Protrusion, 25...Compression coil spring, 26, 27...Positioning part, 28...Detection pin, 30, 31, 3
6, 37, 39, 40, 41...display section, 34,
38...This is an instruction section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] Upper and lower through holes are provided between the top and bottom surfaces of the cassette housing, and a cassette that is movable up and down and rotatable around the vertical axis is used for detecting information within this through hole. A plug is arranged, a tool insertion groove is provided at the upper end of the plug, a spring is provided to press and bias the plug upward, and a plurality of positioning parts are provided in the through hole to position the plug in a non-rotatable manner. A tool such as a screwdriver inserted into the tool insertion groove from the top surface of the cassette housing is used to move the plug up and down against the spring, and to move the plug around the vertical axis. The plug is selectively positioned by the plurality of positioning parts by rotational operation, and the vertical position of the plug is switched, and the vertical position of the plug is switched from the bottom side of the cassette housing. In the tape cassette configured to be detected by a detection means inserted into the through hole, a plurality of indications respectively corresponding to the plurality of positioning parts are provided around the through hole on the upper surface of the cassette housing. and an instruction section provided at the upper end of the plug for selectively instructing the plurality of display sections while the plug is selectively positioned by the plurality of positioning sections. Cassette.