JPH04325984A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve efficiency and accuracy in tightening screws for fixing by making possible a temporary fixation between an upper shell and a lower shell before tightening the screws. CONSTITUTION:In the tape cassette, for which a case is formed with an upper shell and a lower shell screwed down and with built-in reel hubs, and for which a lid 7, to open and close the front part of the case, and a slider 6 fixed slidably to the lower shell so as to open and close the front lower part of the case, are provided; a restraining Jug 6f1 is provided on the rear side of a spring position regulating rib 6f provided projectingly on the slider 6. Also, a means 2e to be restrained with which the restraining Jug 6f1 is engaged when the slider 6 is slid to the open position is provided in the upper shell 2, and thus in a state before tightening the screws, the temporary fixation of the upper and the lower shells is made possible.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention is directed to DAT (Digital Application Field).
The present invention relates to a tape cassette suitable for use in audio tape recorders and the like.

0002

[Prior Art] In recent years, analog signals such as acoustic signals have been
2. Description of the Related Art Digital audio tape recorders (DAT) that convert into digital signals such as M signals and record them on magnetic tape or reproduce the recorded signals have become widespread.

[0003] The tape cassette used in this DAT must be as sealed as possible because if a finger touches the magnetic tape and oil or fat or dust gets on it, dropouts may occur in the playback signal. can be,
Further, during recording and reproduction, a space is required inside the housing to insert a guide system in order to load a magnetic tape from a tape cassette. For this purpose, a lid that can be opened and closed is provided on the front surface of the casing, and a slider that slides from an open position to a closed position to open and close the front lower part of the tape cassette is provided on the lower surface of the lower shell.

FIGS. 9, 10(a) and 10(b) show a tape cassette 1 used for DAT, and the housing of this tape cassette 1 is made up of an upper shell 2 and a lower shell 3 that are screwed together and integrated. A pair of reel hubs 4a and 4b around which magnetic tape T is wound are housed inside the housing. Since the upper shell 2 is provided with a window 2a, it is possible to check the remaining amount of the magnetic tape T wound around the reel hubs 4a and 4b. Further, a lid 7 is provided on the front surface of the tape cassette 1 so that the magnetic tape T is not exposed when the tape cassette is stored, and the lid 7 is rotatably supported in front of the upper shell 2.

A reel shaft insertion hole 3a is formed in the bottom inner surface of the lower shell 3 to correspond to a pair of reel hubs, and when the tape cassette 1 is attached to the DAT, the reel of the DAT is inserted through the reel shaft insertion hole 3a. The shaft is inserted. Further, a concave space 5 is formed on the front surface of the lower shell 3, into which a guide member for tape loading of the DAT is inserted when the tape cassette 1 is attached to the DAT.

Furthermore, a slider 6 is attached to the lower shell 3 and is slidable in the front-rear direction of the lower shell 3 while covering the bottom outer surface and both outer surfaces of the lower shell 3. A reel shaft insertion hole 6a is formed in the slider 6 so as to correspond to the reel shaft insertion hole 3a of the lower shell 3 when the slider 6 is slid to one slide position. Note that the slider 6 is urged forward (closed position) with respect to the lower shell 3 by a slider spring 8.

As described above, in the tape cassette 1 whose housing is formed by the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 3, the slider 6 is slidably mounted on the lower surface of the lower shell 3 and the slider 6 is rotatably mounted on the front surface of the upper shell 2. A space 5 on the front side of the housing can be opened and closed by a lid 7 attached to the lid 7. When storing the tape cassette 1, the slider 6 is held at the closed position on the front side of the tape cassette as shown in FIG. is closed in front by a lid 7. Further, at this time, the reel shaft insertion hole 3a formed in the lower shell 3 and the reel shaft insertion hole 6a of the slider 6 are not in corresponding positions, so that the reel shaft insertion hole 3a is also blocked by the slider 6.

On the other hand, when the tape cassette 1 is attached to the DAT, the slider 6 is slid to the rear open position and held, as shown in FIG. 10(b), and in this state, the reel shaft insertion hole of the slider 6 is 6a corresponds to the position of the reel shaft insertion hole 3a of the lower shell 3, into which the reel shaft of the DAT can be inserted. Further, by moving the slider 6, the lower part of the space 5 is also opened, and by rotating the lid 7 upward, the front of the space 5 is also opened, and the DAT
A guide member for tape loading can be inserted.

Note that 3c1 to 3c4 are screw insertion holes into which screws are inserted to integrate the lower shell 3 and the upper shell 2, and the screw insertion holes 3c1 to 3c4 are used to insert the slider 6 as shown in FIG. 10(b). Screws can be inserted when in the open position. That is, when the slider 6 comes to the open position, the screw insertion holes 3c3, 3 on the front side of the tape cassette
c4 is exposed on the lower surface of the housing, and the positions of the screw insertion holes 3c1 and 3c2 on the rear side of the tape cassette correspond to the holes 6d1 and 6d2 of the slider, so that screws can be inserted, respectively.

As mentioned above, the slider 6 is held in the front closed position when the tape cassette 1 is stored, and is held in the rear open position when the tape cassette 1 is attached to the DAT. 6, the slider 6 is provided with engagement holes 6b and 6c, and the lower shell 3 can be engaged with the engagement holes 6b and 6c as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. A pin-shaped slider lock portion 3b is formed.

The slider lock portion 3b is integrally formed with the lower shell 3 as shown in FIG. 11, and has a spring property that always returns toward the engaging hole 6b of the slider 6, so that the slider 6 is in the closed position. When the slider 6 is in the open position, it engages with the engagement hole 6b to hold the slider 6 in the closed position, and when the slider 6 is in the open position, it engages with the engagement hole 6c to hold the slider 6 in the open position. .

In order to prevent the return force of the slider lock portion 3b from decreasing due to so-called fatigue, a compressed spring (slider lock spring) 10 is provided between the slider lock portion 3b and the upper shell 2. It has been proposed as a prior art that the The slider lock spring 10 is attached to a limiter pin 2b protruding from the inner surface of the upper shell 2, and presses the slider lock portion 3b toward the slider 6.

[0013]

However, since the slider lock spring 10 biases the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 3 in the direction of separating them, when such an internal member is loaded, the upper shell 2 and If the lower shells 3 are simply placed one on top of the other, the lower shells 3 may float away from the upper shell 2 or the positioning may become unstable, making it difficult to tighten the screws accurately.

In particular, the slider lock spring 10
When the slider 6 pushes up the lower shell 3 and the slider 6 from the upper shell 2 side, the slider locking force of the slider lock portion 3b weakens, and the slider 6 may move to the closed position. When the slider 6 is in the closed position, as is clear from FIG. 10(a), the screw insertion hole 3
c3 and 3c4 are closed by the slider 6 and cannot be tightened with screws. Because of this, the screw tightening workability in the production line process decreases,
There was a problem that production efficiency deteriorated significantly.

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is formed by fixing an upper shell and a lower shell with screws to form a pair of reel hubs around which a tape-shaped recording medium is wound. In addition to being built into the housing,
It has a lid that opens and closes the front of the housing, and a slider that is slidably attached to the lower shell to open and close the lower front part of the housing, and the tape-shaped recording medium inside the housing is pulled out from the front of the housing and loaded. In addition, the slider can be closed by supporting a slider spring whose arms on both sides extend in a V-shape from the central support part with support pins protruding from the front edge of the slider. In the tape cassette, the support pin has spring position regulating ribs on the inner side of the support pin that engage the both arms of the slider spring in a pinching manner on the base side thereof. A locking pawl is provided on the back side of the protruding spring position regulating rib, and the upper shell has a locking pawl that engages with the locking pawl on the back side of the spring position regulating rib when the slider slides to the open position. By providing this section, the upper and lower shells can be temporarily fixed before screws are tightened.

[0016]

[Function] By temporarily fixing the upper and lower shells before tightening the screws, the positioning of the upper and lower shells will not become unstable, and the slider will move due to a decrease in the slider locking force, and the screw insertion hole will close. It won't be blocked.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. Note that the appearance of the tape cassette of this embodiment and the sliding operation of the slider are the same as those described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11, and therefore their description will be omitted. Further, functional parts that are the same as those of the tape cassette in these figures are indicated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the tape cassette of this embodiment, showing the parts installed inside the housing made up of an upper shell 2 and a lower shell 3. As described above, the tape cassette housing is formed by the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 3, and has reel hubs 4a and 4 inside which the magnetic tape T is wound.
b is stored. Further, the space at the front of the housing can be opened and closed by a slider 6 and a lid 7, and the lid 7 is pressed against the upper shell 2 by a lid spring 7a to a closed position that closes the space at the front of the housing. attached.

Further, the slider spring 8 that urges the slider 6 to the closed position has its torsion coil portion 8a.
The shaft pin 6e protruding from the slider 6 is inserted and attached to the slider 6, and in this state the slider spring 8
The arm portions 8b on both sides of the lower shell 3 are in contact with the front wall portion 3d of the lower shell 3 to obtain an urging force. The slider 6 is provided with a spring position regulating rib 6f close to the rear of the shaft pin 6e, and the slider spring 8 attached to the shaft pin 6e has both arm portions properly held by the spring position regulating rib 6f. This allows the both arms 8b to properly abut against the front wall 3d of the lower shell 3 during assembly and when the slider 6 slides.

As shown in FIG. 11, the slider lock spring 10 is attached to a limiter pin 2b protruding from the inner surface of the upper shell 2, and contacts the slider lock portion 3b of the lower shell 3 to lock the slider lock portion 3b. The slider 4 is biased in the direction.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a prism for detecting the tape end, which is attached to the inner surface of the upper shell 2. Reference numeral 11 denotes a hub lock member, and when the tape cassette is not in use, the hub lock spring 12 urges the claw portion 11a to come into contact with the locked portions 4a1, 4b1 of the reel hubs 4a, 4b, causing the hubs 4a, 4b to rotate. is locked. When the lid 7 is opened when the tape cassette is used, the engaging portion 7b of the lid 7 pulls the engaged portion 11b of the hub lock member 11 toward the front side, thereby causing the claw portion 11a
are the locked parts 4a1 and 4b1 of the reel hubs 4a and 4b.
The reel hubs 4a and 4b are rotatable apart from the reel hubs 4a and 4b.

13 is the upper shell 2 and the reel hubs 4a and 4b.
A slippery sheet 14 is a slippery sheet interposed between the lower shell 3 and the reel hubs 4a and 4b,
The slippery sheets 13 and 14 have functions such as stabilizing the rotational torque in the reel hubs 4a and 4b and preventing the magnetic tape T from winding irregularly. Reference numeral 15 denotes a safety tab that is slidably attached to the rear surface of the housing, and is used to set whether the tape cassette is in a recordable state or an erasing prevention state depending on the sliding position.

With these members attached, screws B are inserted through the screw insertion holes 3c1 to 3c4 of the lower shell 3 and tightened to the upper shell 2, thereby forming a tape cassette.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the upper shell 2 seen from the inside, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the lower shell 3 seen from the inside. The upper shell 2 has screw insertion holes 3c1 to 3c for the lower shell 3.
Screw tightening boss portions 2c1 to 2c4 having a threaded portion D into which the screw B is screwed are provided at positions corresponding to 4,
Furthermore, the lower shell 3 has screw tightening boss parts 2c1 to 2c.
4 into the screw insertion hole 3 so that it can be fitted and positioned.
Boss receiving portions 3e1 to 3e4 are provided on the inner surfaces of c1 to 3c4.
is formed. That is, when screwing the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 3 together using the screws B, positioning is performed by fitting the screw fastening boss parts 2c1 to 2c4 into the boss receiving parts 3e1 to 3e4, and in this state, the lower shell 3 Screw insertion hole 3c
The screws B can be screwed into the screw tightening boss portions 2c1 to 2c4 from the outer surface side of the screws 1 to 3c4.

By the way, the spring position regulating rib 6f protruding from the slider 6 is provided close to the rear side of the shaft pin 6e, as described above, and as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. By engaging the both side arms 8b of the slider spring 8 attached to the slider spring 8 in a pinching manner at its base side, the both side arms 8b are pushed out into a V-shape, and as a result, both the both arms 8b are opened as shown in FIG. The position of the slider spring 8 is regulated so that the portion 8b comes into contact with the front wall portion 3d of the lower shell 3. Due to this position regulating action, both arm portions 8 are always
b, and the lower shell 3 slides into contact with the front wall portion 3d well, and the slider 6 is always properly biased toward the front of the housing by the slider spring 8. In the tape cassette of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, a claw portion 6f1 that projects toward the back side is formed at the upper part of this spring position regulating rib 6f. In addition, in the upper shell 2, at a position corresponding to the claw portion 6f1 of the spring position regulating rib 6f of the slider 6, there is shown FIG. 2 and FIG.
As can be seen, a locked piece 2e having a hole 2e1 large enough to fit the claw 6f1 is formed, and a spring position regulating rib 6f having the claw 6f1 and a locked piece having the hole 2e1. 2e allows the upper shell 2 and lower shell 3 to be temporarily fixed before tightening the screws.

FIG. 7 shows the spring position regulating rib 6 seen from the front side of the tape cassette with the lid 7 removed.
Fig. 8 shows a temporarily fixed state by the hole-locked piece 2e, and Fig. 8 shows this temporarily fixed state in a sectional view taken along the line A-A.

As explained in FIG. 10, the slider 6
lower shell 3 to slide between open and closed positions.
When the slider 6 is in the closed position, the slider 6 reaches the frontmost part of the tape cassette housing, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 8, and closes the lower part of the space 5 on the front side of the housing. When it slides to the open position as shown by the arrow, the lower part of the space 5 is opened and a guide system for tape loading can be inserted. When the slider 6 of this embodiment is slid to the open position, as shown in the figure, the claw portion 6f1 of the spring position regulating rib 6f is engaged with the locked piece 2e that protrudes from the upper shell 2 toward the lower shell 3. hole 2e1
into the spring position regulating rib 6f and the locked piece 2.
e is in an engaged state.

As mentioned above, when tightening the screws between the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 3, the slider 6 needs to be slid to the open position, so the slider 6 is slid as shown in FIG. In other words, when tightening the screw, the engaged state of the spring position regulating rib 6f and the locked piece 2e is realized,
The upper shell 2, slider 6, and lower shell 3 are temporarily fixed. After that, in this temporarily fixed state, insert the screw B from the screw insertion hole 3c3 in the direction of the arrow and screw it into the threaded part D of the screw tightening boss part 2c3, thereby screwing the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 3 together. Fixation takes place.

As described above, the tape cassette of this embodiment has the following characteristics:
Upper shell 2 and lower shell 3 with slider 6 attached
When the sliders 6 are superimposed and the slider 6 is held in the open position, the front side of the housing is temporarily fixed. As mentioned above, it is difficult to properly overlap the upper shell 2 and lower shell 3 on the front side of the tape cassette due to the action of the slider lock spring 10, but in this embodiment, the front side of the casing is temporarily fixed. The floating between the upper shell 2 and the lower shell 3 is eliminated, the slider 6 is securely fixed in the open position, and the difficulty of screw tightening work is eliminated. In particular, the temporary fixation is effectively performed by the engagement of the locked piece 2e with the spring position regulating rib 6f located near the inner side of the pair of slider lock springs 10 corresponding to the pair of slider lock portions 3b of the lower shell 3. It will be done.

Further, the mechanism provided on the slider 6 and the upper shell 2 performs the engagement operation using the space 5, and a special mechanism is provided on the upper and lower shells 2 and 3 to provide a temporary fixing mechanism. Since it does not require space, it does not affect other mechanisms in any way, and is extremely suitable.

[0031]

As explained above, in the tape cassette of the present invention, before screw tightening, the locking pawl formed on the spring position regulating rib protruding from the slider and the locking pawl formed on the upper shell Since the upper shell and lower shell can be temporarily fixed by engaging the upper and lower shells, the overlapping position of the upper shell and lower shell may shift during screw tightening work, or the slider may move due to the biasing member preventing the slider locking action. The screw insertion hole will not be blocked, and therefore the efficiency, speed, and accuracy of the screw tightening process can be greatly improved. Another advantage is that there is no need to provide a special space for the temporary fixing mechanism.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the upper shell of the embodiment as seen from the inside.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the lower shell of the present embodiment as seen from the inside.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the support portion of the slider spring of this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the slider spring of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the upper shell of the embodiment as seen from the inside.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a temporarily fixed state of this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a temporarily fixed state of this embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the tape cassette.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the slider of the tape cassette.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a slider lock mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Upper shell 2e Locked piece 2e1 Hole 3 Lower shell 6 Slider 6e　Axis pin 6f Spring position regulation rib 6f1 Claw part 8 Slider spring

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A lid that includes a pair of reel hubs around which a tape-shaped recording medium is wound inside a housing formed by fixing an upper shell and a lower shell with screws, and that opens and closes a front part of the housing; A slider is slidably attached to the lower shell to open and close the front lower part of the housing, and the tape-shaped recording medium can be pulled out and loaded from the front part of the housing, The slider is biased in the closing direction by supporting a slider spring having both side arm parts extending in a V-shape from a central support part by a support pin protruding from the front edge side of the slider. The tape cassette has a spring position regulating rib on the inner side of the pin that engages both arm portions of the slider spring in a pinching manner at its base side. A locking pawl is provided on the back side of the regulating rib, and a locked portion is provided on the upper shell with which the locking pawl engages when the slider slides to the open position. A tape cassette characterized by being able to temporarily fix the upper and lower shells before tightening.