JPH05174536A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent unstableness of a cancel plug and to improve smoothness of operations for reel lock and cancellation thereof. CONSTITUTION:A reel lock member 16 is brought into contact with a reel hub by a reel lock actuating means 17 and thereby the reel hub is locked so that it can not rotate. By making a cancel plug slide in the reverse direction to that of actuation by the reel lock actuating means 17 the reel lock member 16 is detached from the reel hub and thereby the reel hub is made rotatable. The reel lock member 16 and the cancel plug 15 are joined to each other in a swingable state through the intermediary of a supporting part 15b and a part 16e to be supported which are provided for them respectively.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette provided with a reel lock mechanism so that a reel hub around which a tape-shaped recording medium is wound can be locked in a non-rotatable state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a tape cassette for high density recording of video signals and PCM signals, a reel that locks a hub non-rotatably in order to prevent the slack of a magnetic tape when it is not used (at the time of storage). Various devices with a built-in lock mechanism have been put to practical use.

For example, in a VHS-VTR tape cassette, as shown in FIG. 7, a magnetic tape T is wound inside a casing formed by upper and lower halves 1 and 2 (the upper half 1 is not shown). Stored pair of reel hubs 3 and 4
Is attached to lower flanges 3a and 4a having reel lock engaging portions 3a ₁ and 4a ₁ formed on the peripheral surface thereof,
Further, a reel lock mechanism storage portion 2a is formed in the central portion on the back side of the lower half 3, and the reel lock mechanism storage portion 2 is formed.
In a, a release plug 5 and a pair of reel lock members 6 are provided.
And a reel lock spring 7 are provided.

In this reel lock mechanism, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9 as a plan view and a side view from the back side of the tape cassette housing, the reel lock spring 7 has a coil winding portion 7a at the center inserted and attached to a shaft pin 2b protruding from the lower half. At the same time, both arm portions 7b of the reel lock spring 7 are locked to the spring holding pieces 6a of the reel lock members 6, respectively.

On the other hand, the reel lock member 6 has a shaft portion 6b which is inserted into a shaft pin 2c protruding from the lower half 2 so as to be rotatable. Further, the reel lock member 6 is opposite to the spring holding piece 6a about the shaft portion 6b. A claw portion 6c is formed on the side. Further, an abutting portion 6d which is in abutting contact with the release pressing surface 5a of the release plug 5 is provided.

The release plug 5 is slidably arranged in the reel lock mechanism housing 2a, and
As shown in the front view of FIG. 10 (a) and the side view of FIGS. 10 (b) and (c), an inclined cam surface 5 b is formed in the lower portion thereof, and further, in the lower half 2, the cam surface 5 b of the cam surface 5 b is formed. A release pin insertion hole 2d is provided in the lower portion. Then, when the tape cassette is loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus, the releasing pin 99 provided in the recording / reproducing apparatus is inserted through the releasing pin insertion hole 2d.

A rib 2e is provided on the lower half 2 in front of the release plug 5 in order to regulate the sliding of the release plug 5 to the front.

In such a reel lock mechanism,
When not in use, that is, when the tape cassette is not loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus, the reel lock spring 7
The spring holding piece 6a of each reel lock member 6 is pulled toward the back side of the housing as shown in FIG. 8A by the urging force of the claw portion 6 located on the opposite side via the shaft portion 6b.
c is the reel lock engaging portions 3a ₁ and 4 of the reel hubs 3 and 4
It comes into contact with a ₁ . Further, at this time, the contact portion 6d of the reel lock member 6 has the release pressing surface 5a of the release plug 5.
Since the release plug 5 is being pressed, the release plug 5 is slid to the slidable range, that is, to the sliding position where it abuts the rib 2e.

In this state, the claw portions 6c of the reel lock members 6 are in contact with the reel lock engaging portions 3a ₁ and 4a ₁ in a locked state, so that the reel hubs 3 and 4 are locked so as not to rotate. become.

On the other hand, the reel lock must be released when the tape is run during recording, reproduction, fast-forwarding, etc. When the tape cassette is loaded into the recording / reproducing apparatus, the release pin is used as described above. The release pin 99 is inserted through the insertion hole 2d. The release pin is provided on the cam surface 5b of the release plug 5 as shown in FIG.
Is inserted while abutting against. Therefore, the release pin 99
Slides the release plug 5 toward the rear side of the cassette housing while slidingly contacting the inclined surface of the cam surface 5b. At the time when the release pin 99 is completely inserted, as shown in FIG. It is slid to the unlocked position in FIG. 8 (b).

At the time of this sliding movement, the release pressing surface 5a of the release plug 5 presses the contact portion 6d of the reel lock member 6, so that the reel lock member 6 is pivoted as shown in FIG. 8B. It rotates around the portion 6b against the biased state by the reel lock spring 7, and this rotation causes the claw portion 6c to separate from the reel lock engaging portions 3a ₁ and 4a ₁ . That is, the reel lock of the reel hubs 3 and 4 is released, and the tape can be run.

[0012]

By providing the tape cassette with the reel lock mechanism as described above, the magnetic tape is protected from the impact when the tape cassette housing is impacted when it is not used, or when it is transported by vibration. It gets loose from the reel hub, or again,
Although it is intended to prevent the magnetic tape from being damaged by the slack, the conventional reel lock mechanism has the following problems.

As described above, the reel lock spring 7 is attached to the shaft pin 2b which is erected on the lower half 2.
In this state, the reel lock member 6 is biased in the reel lock direction, and is not directly biased in the reel lock direction with respect to the release plug 5. Although the release plug 5 is indirectly biased via the reel lock member 6, the release pressing surface 5a and the contact portion 6d are in contact with each other between the release plug 5 and the reel lock member 6. It is only connected and not connected at all.

At the time of reel lock, the reel lock member 6 is finally rotated only to a position where the claw portion 6c engages with the reel lock engaging portions 3a ₁ and 4a ₁ .
At this time, the release pressing surface 5a and the contact portion 6d are not necessarily in pressure contact with each other, but in reality, they are often slightly separated from each other.

That is, in the conventional structure, the release plug 5 is not always in contact with the reel lock member 6 in contact with the reel lock member 6 when the reel is locked, considering the manufacturing dimensional error of each part and the error of the mounting position. Since the urging force of the reel lock spring 7 is not transmitted, the position is not regulated and rattling occurs.

As described above, since the release plug 5 and the reel lock member 6 are not always in contact with each other, there is a problem that the movement of the release plug 5 is not smoothly transmitted to the reel lock member 6 when releasing the reel lock. Further, there is also a problem that the quality of the tape cassette deteriorates due to a rattling sound when the release plug 5 rattles and collides with the reel lock member 6 or the rib on the half.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a tape-shaped recording medium is wound around a pair of reel hubs in a housing formed by upper and lower half members. The reel hub has a reel lock mechanism including a release plug, a reel lock member, and a reel lock biasing means. The reel lock biasing means causes the reel lock member to come into contact with the reel hub to rotate the reel hub. In the tape cassette, the reel lock member is separated from the reel hub by locking the release plug in the opposite direction to the urging direction of the reel lock urging means so that the reel hub is rotatable. The reel lock member and the release plug can swing with respect to each other through the receiving portion and the receiving portion provided on each. And it constitutes as is connected to.

[0018]

Since the reel lock member and the release plug are swingably connected to each other, the biasing force of the reel lock spring is transmitted to the reel lock member and the release plug directly or indirectly without loss. Will be.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Various embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In these figures, the same parts as those in FIGS. 7 to 10 are designated by the same reference numerals. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment, and FIG. 1 is a plan view of a reel lock mechanism used in a VHS-VTR tape cassette.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part.

This reel lock mechanism is similar to the conventional example,
In the reel lock mechanism housing 2a of the lower half 2,
The release plug 15 is slidably arranged, a pair of reel lock members 16 and a reel lock spring 17, and a cylindrical coil spring is used as the reel lock spring 17. Then, the reel lock spring 17 includes the half wall surface 2a ₁ and the release plug 1.
5 is attached between the rear surfaces 15a of the cassettes 5 to urge the release plug 15 toward the front surface side of the cassette housing.

As described with reference to FIG. 10, the release plug 15 is changed from the state shown in FIG. 1A to the state shown in FIG. 1B when the release pin 99 on the recording / reproducing apparatus side is inserted through the release pin insertion hole 2d. A cam surface (not shown) that slides in contact with the release pin 99 is provided so that it can slide to the state.

Further, as seen from FIG. 2, on the back side thereof, receiving portions 15b having a substantially U-shaped plane are formed on both left and right sides. Further, the tip portion 15b ₁ of the receiving portion 15b has a smoothly curved shape when viewed from the plane direction. The release plug 5 is made of a resin having good slidability, such as POM.
It is made of resin.

In the reel lock member 16 provided corresponding to the left and right reel hubs, the shaft portion 16b has a lower half 2.
It is rotatably inserted through a shaft pin 2c protrudingly provided in the arm, and further has a claw portion 16c formed by extending from the peripheral surface of the shaft portion 16b. Further, an arm is formed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the claw portion 16c. The portion 16d is formed by being extended, and a spherical receiving portion 16e is provided at the tip of the arm portion 16d. The spherical receiving portion 16e is sandwiched and supported by the receiving portion 15b of the release plug 15 which is substantially U-shaped in plan view.

Here, the receiving portion 16e and the receiving portion 15b are swung while maintaining a connected state with each other at least during the angular displacement associated with the stroke of the release plug 15 (for example, about 9 mm). The spherical size of the tip of the receiving portion 16e and the curved shape of the tip portion 15b ₁ of the receiving portion 15b are set.

In such a reel lock mechanism,
When not in use, that is, when the tape cassette is not loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus, the reel lock spring 1
The release plug 15 is pressed by the urging force of 7 toward the front side of the housing as shown in FIG. 1A, and reaches the sliding position where it abuts against the rib 2e. Therefore, in the reel lock member 16 in which the receiving portion 16e is swingably sandwiched and supported by the receiving portion 15b and is coupled to the release plug 15, the claw portion 16c is the reel lock of the reel hubs 3 and 4 centering around the shaft portion 16b. It means that it is rotated to a position where it abuts on the engaging portions 3a ₁ and 4a ₁ . That is, the reel hubs 3 and 4 are locked so that they cannot rotate.

On the other hand, when this tape cassette is loaded into the recording / reproducing apparatus, the release pin 99 is inserted from the release pin insertion hole 2d as described in FIG. 10, and the release pin 99 and the lower surface of the release plug 15 are inserted. When the cam surface provided in the contact slides, the release plug 15 slides to the lock release position shown in FIG. 1B against the bias of the reel lock spring 17. This release plug 15
The slide lock movement of the reel lock member 16 supporting the receiving portion 16e causes the claw portion 1 to move about the shaft portion 6b.
6c rotates in the direction away from the reel lock engaging portions 3a ₁ and 4a ₁ . That is, reel hubs 3 and 4
The reel lock is released and the tape can be run.

When the tape cassette is ejected from the recording / reproducing apparatus and the release pin 99 is pulled out, the release plug 15 and the reel lock member 16 are returned from the state of FIG. 1B by the urging force of the reel lock spring 17. It returns to the state of FIG. That is, the claw portion 16c
And the reel lock engaging portions 3a ₁ and 4a of the reel hubs 3 and 4
₁ comes into contact and reel lock is executed.

As described above, in this embodiment, the reel lock spring 17 directly urges the release plug 15 in the reel lock direction, and the reel lock member 16 serves as the release plug 1.
It is rotated to the reel lock position by being connected to 5. Therefore, when the reel is locked, the release plug 15
The position state of is strictly regulated to a position where it comes into contact with the rib 2e, and rattling of the release plug 15 does not occur. Further, since the release plug 15 and the reel lock member 16 are connected to each other, when the reel lock is released, the sliding action of the release plug 15 by the release pin 99 is directly applied to the reel lock member 16 without loss on the stroke. It is transmitted. Therefore, the smoothness of the reel lock releasing operation is improved.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are a plan view and a perspective view of an essential part of a reel lock mechanism showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the reel lock spring 17 has the rear surface 15
Cylindrical receiving portions 15f are erected on both sides of the rear portion of the release plug 15 that is in contact with a and is urged toward the front surface of the housing. The reel lock member 16 is provided with a U-shaped receiving portion 16f.

That is, the receiving portion 15f and the receiving portion 16f are swingably connected to each other, so that the reel lock member 16 is moved along with the sliding movement of the release plug 15 as shown in FIG.
The reel lock state shown in FIG. 3A and the reel lock release state shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are a plan view and a perspective view of an essential part of a reel lock mechanism showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the reel lock spring 17 has the rear surface 15a.
The receiving portion 1 formed by a pair of substantially semi-cylindrical portions 15g ₁ and 15g ₂ whose curved surface sides are opposed to each other on both sides of the rear portion of the release plug 15 which is abutted against and is biased toward the front surface of the housing.
5g is provided, also, the reel lock member 16 is substantially fittable diameter gap of the semi-cylindrical portion 15 g _1, 15 g _2, cylindrical, which is sandwiched against substantially by the half-cylindrical portions 15 g _1, 15 g ₂ A receiving portion 16g is provided.

The receiving portion 15g holds and supports the received portion 16g so that the release plug 15 and the reel lock member 16 are swingably connected to each other. With the slide operation, the reel lock state of FIG. 5 (a) and FIG. 5 (b)
The reel will be unlocked. In this embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

Although the reel lock spring 17 directly presses the release plug 15 in all of the above-mentioned three embodiments, for example, the reel lock spring 17 is provided with the reel lock member 16 as in the conventional example. A biasing structure is also conceivable. Even if the release plug 15 is not directly biased in this way, at least the reel lock member 16
Since the release plug 15 and the release plug 15 are connected so as not to be separated from each other, the release plug 15 is always indirectly biased, and the play of the release plug 15 does not occur.
Further, the receiving portion and the received portion provided for connecting the reel lock member and the release plug may have any structure as long as they are a connecting structure that can swing between predetermined angles.

Although the above embodiments have been described by taking the tape cassette for VHS-VTR as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, and the release plug and the reel lock member are in the reel lock position by the reel lock spring. The present invention can be applied to any tape cassette provided with a reel lock mechanism in which the reel is locked by being biased to.

[0035]

As described above, in the tape cassette of the present invention, the reel lock member and the release plug are connected to each other in a swingable manner via the receiving portion and the receiving portion provided respectively. With this configuration, there is an advantage that rattling of the release plug does not occur, and the sliding movement of the release plug is transmitted to the reel lock member without waste, so that the smoothness of the reel lock and the release operation thereof is significantly improved. Has the effect of

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a reel lock mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the reel lock mechanism of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a reel lock mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a main part of a reel lock mechanism according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a reel lock mechanism according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part of a reel lock mechanism according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the tape cassette with the upper half removed.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a conventional reel lock mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a conventional reel lock mechanism.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the slide operation of the release plug in the reel lock mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Lower half 2b Reel lock member storage part 3a ₁ , 4a ₁ Reel lock engagement part 15 Release plug 15b, 16f, 15g Receiving part 16 Reel lock member 16e, 15f, 16g Receiving part 17 Reel lock spring

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tape-shaped recording medium is housed in a housing formed by upper and lower half members while being wound around a pair of reel hubs, and a release plug, a reel lock member, and a reel lock urging means. The reel lock member is configured to abut the reel hub by the reel lock urging means to lock the reel hub in a non-rotatable manner, and the release plug is provided to the reel lock urging means. In the tape cassette, wherein the reel lock member is separated from the reel hub by being slid against the urging direction of the reel hub, and the reel hub is rotatable. It is characterized in that they are swingably connected to each other via the provided receiving portion and the received portion. Tape cassette to be.