JPH06195937A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cope with various loading modes by providing a hole or a step part or the like in the area between an aperture part and both reels to make a tape cassette multifunctional. CONSTITUTION:A lower case 3 is provided with a detection hole 7. On the recording and reproducing device side, a detector 10 having a vertically movable pin 11 is arranged in a position corresponding to the hole 7. Consequently, the pin 11 is placed in an upper or lower position in accordance with the presence or the absence of the hole 7 to discriminate information given to a tape cassette 1 by the detector 10. An insertion hole 6 is provided in the area surrounded with the hole 7 and reels, and a tape end detector 12 attached to the device side is inserted there. Meanwhile, reflection parts are provided in two positions interposing a magnetic tape to detect the tape end. The hole may be a step part having a prescribed depth other than a through hole.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette containing a magnetic tape or the like, and more particularly to a structure which is compact and highly functional.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some tape cassettes have a function of transmitting information related to the tape cassette to a recording / reproducing device mounted thereon, in addition to containing a magnetic tape. Particularly in recent years, various types of information have been spread due to the complexity of a system including a recording / reproducing device and high density recording. For example, there are prevention of erroneous erasure, thickness of magnetic tape, type of magnetic tape, length of magnetic tape, etc., and other information unique to the user who uses the tape cassette. Etc. In order to transmit these pieces of information to the recording / reproducing apparatus when the tape cassette is mounted on the recording / reproducing apparatus, the conventional tape cassette has a hole or a stepped portion on its bottom surface. As a tape cassette that defines such a tape cassette, for example, SMP
TE Journal, March 1986, 358.
There is a D1 or D2 cassette described on pages 374 to 374. These tape cassettes are provided with holes or step portions for transmitting the above-mentioned information in the opening portion of the tape cassette in consideration of mounting the tape cassettes having a plurality of shapes on the same recording / reproducing apparatus. It is provided in the vicinity.
This is because the shape of the opening is common to tape cassettes having different sizes, and therefore the mechanism of the recording / reproducing apparatus can be shared. In other ordinary tape cassettes, the holes, steps, etc. are often provided at the edges or corners of the tape cassette. When considering only a single-shape tape cassette, these locations have little influence on the reel shape around which the tape length is wound to secure a predetermined recording / reproducing time and its arrangement. Is.

[0003]

In the above prior art, since the gap between the reels on the supply and winding sides is large for a tape cassette having a large reel diameter, these two reels are large. It is easy to provide the hole or the stepped portion in the vicinity of the gap between the holes. However, as the recording density becomes higher and the required tape length becomes shorter, the reel diameter becomes smaller. Therefore, the gap between the two reels becomes narrower and it becomes difficult to provide the hole or the stepped portion in this gap. Alternatively, even if they are provided, the number of them is small, it is difficult to deal with a large amount of information, and multi-functionalization is impaired. If the tape cassette becomes smaller,
It becomes difficult to make the arrangement of the insertion hole for inserting the detector for detecting the end of the insertion end and the hole portion compatible with each other. Although it is possible to provide these holes or steps on the outside of the reel or on the edge of the tape cassette, for example, when the opening of the tape cassette is on the front side, it is on the opposite side and rear side. When provided, when considering a tape cassette having a plurality of shapes, the positions of these holes or stepped portions change depending on their shapes, and the mechanism of the recording / reproducing apparatus becomes complicated. Further, in a general tape cassette, the positioning with respect to the recording / reproducing apparatus is generally performed in the vicinity of the opening. This is because when the tape cassette is mounted on the device, it is easy to ensure the positional accuracy of the opening and the tape guides inserted therein. Therefore, if a hole or step is provided at a position far from the opening, that is, at a position far from the positioning position,
The position accuracy of the sensor and the like on the device side corresponding to these holes and the like deteriorates.

[0004]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a new modification to the specific configuration of the position and the opening of holes or steps for transmitting information of a tape cassette. In addition, it is characterized in that the hole or step is provided in a region sandwiched by the opening and both reels.

[0005]

The hole or step portion for transmitting information of the tape cassette is provided in the vicinity of the line segment connecting the maximum diameters of the two reels, so that when providing a large number of holes or step portions, It does not affect the positional relationship between the two reels and does not reduce the substantial area of the opening.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 shows an overall view of the tape cassette, FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the lower half thereof, and FIG. 3 shows a partially enlarged view of the vicinity of the detection hole 7. A tape cassette 1 is composed of an upper case 2 and a lower case 3. Reference numeral 3 denotes a lid, which is provided on the front surface of the tape cassette 1 and has a role of protecting the magnetic tape 4 stretched over the tape cassette 1. A supply reel 19 for winding a magnetic tape 4 in the tape cassette 1.
And the winding reel 18 is included. Tape cassette 1
An opening 13 is formed at the rear of the magnetic tape 4 which is suspended inside, and tape guides are inserted therein when the tape cassette 1 is mounted in the recording / reproducing apparatus. Generally, the larger the area of the opening 13, the better in order not to impose a restriction on the tape loading mechanism. The width of the opening 13 in the longitudinal direction is substantially determined by the radius of the reel. The longer the width, the more kinds of tape guides can be inserted, and the smaller the influence on the loading mechanism. On the other hand, the width of the opening 13 in the front-rear direction is determined by the width of the tape cassette 1 and the radii of the reels 18 and 19. Further, the size of the tape guides, the pinch rollers, etc. inserted into the opening 13 is a substantially predetermined size, and the width required for this purpose is secured. Therefore, the shape of the opening 13 is a horizontally long rectangle.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a detection hole, which has a through hole and a substantially closed portion as shown in FIG. On the recording / reproducing device side, a detector 10 having a vertically movable pin 11 is arranged at a position corresponding to these detection holes 7. Therefore, depending on the presence or absence of the detection hole 7, the pin 11
The information provided to the tape cassette 1 by the detector 10 can be known by locating either of the above and below. Although the detection hole 7 is a through hole in the figure, it may be a stepped portion having a predetermined depth instead of the through hole. Further, various methods such as a structure having a light emitting / receiving section for light in the detector 10 and a reflecting / non-reflecting section in the corresponding lower case 3 even if the hole is not a hole corresponding to the mechanical method by the pin 11 It is natural that can be considered. Further, in this embodiment, the portion where the detection hole 7 is provided is formed in a plate shape, but this portion also has ribs or the like on the side surface like the other portions of the lower case 3 to form the lower case. The shape may be such that it is included in the inside of the container 3. In this way, a large number of detection holes 7 can be provided by separating the detection holes 7 to a position far from the reel to the maximum extent that does not affect the substantial size of the opening 13. Therefore, it is possible to cope with the multi-functionalization of the tape cassette. Further, the detection hole 7 and the detector 10 are provided on the device side.
Since it is behind the opening where the guides are inserted,
There is no hindrance when loading guides. Further, it does not interfere with the arrangement of the loading mechanism. An insertion hole 6 is provided in a region surrounded by the detection hole 7 and the reels 18 and 19, and a tape end detector 12 attached to the apparatus side is inserted therein. On the other hand, in the tape cassette 1, a reflecting portion 14 is provided at a position where the magnetic tape 4 is sandwiched with respect to the insertion hole 6.
15 are installed. The light emitted from the tape end detector 12 travels along the optical axes 16 and 17 and is reflected by the reflecting portions 14 and 15 and returns to the tape end detector 12 again. With such a structure, the tape cassette 1 does not have unnecessary holes and the like, and the tape cassette 1 is excellent in dustproofness. Reference numeral 5 is a guide groove provided in the lower case 3 and having a predetermined depth, which guides the tape cassette 1 to a predetermined position when the tape cassette 1 is mounted in the recording / reproducing apparatus. Since the insertion hole 6 and the detection hole 7 have the same depth as the guide groove 5, there is no inconvenience when mounting the tape cassette 1 on the apparatus.

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The tape cassette 26 comprises an upper case 27 and a lower case 28. The lower case 28 has insertion holes 20 and 21.
And 22 are provided. The light emitting portion 23 is provided in the insertion hole 20,
The light receiving portion 24 is in the insertion hole 21, and the light receiving portion 2 is in the insertion hole 22.
5 are inserted respectively. The light emitting unit 23 and the light receiving unit 24 are connected by an optical axis 29, and the light emitting unit 23 and the light receiving unit 25 are connected to the optical axis 3.
They are connected by 0, and each tape end can be detected. With such a configuration, the length of the optical axis can be suppressed to a necessary minimum even for a large-sized cassette, and the accuracy of the optical axis by the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit can be relaxed. The cost can be reduced without increasing the cost. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when considering a plurality of types of cassette shapes, the large cassette is 31 and the small cassette is 32. The large cassette 31 has a similar shape to that shown in FIG.
The light emitting portion 23 and the light receiving portions 24 and 25 on the device side are inserted into the respective insertion holes. On the other hand, the small cassette 32 has a small reel diameter corresponding to a short tape length. Further, only the insertion hole corresponding to the light emitting portion 23 is formed in the small cassette 32, and the side surface thereof is provided with the window corresponding to the optical axis from the light emitting portion 23 so that the light receiving portions 24 and 25 can receive light. it can. Since the window is general, its details are omitted. Therefore, it is not necessary to move the light-receiving unit on the device side with respect to a plurality of types of cassettes having different shapes, so that the mechanism on the device side can be simplified and the cost can be reduced. Further, since the length of the optical axis can be suppressed to the necessary minimum for each shape of cassette, it is possible to reduce the required accuracy for the mechanical portion and improve the tape end detection accuracy. In FIG. 8, the direction of the optical axis with respect to the tape surface is inclined from the vertical direction by a predetermined angle
FIG. 7 is an embodiment diagram when the reflection of light from the light emitting portion on the tape surface is reduced.

FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of the detection hole.

[0010]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a large number of detection holes for detecting information in the tape cassette.
The tape cassette can be made multifunctional. Also,
The width of the opening can be increased without substantially reducing the effective area of the opening of the tape cassette, and various loading modes can be supported. No increase in size or complexity. Further, it does not hinder the downsizing of the tape cassette. Further, the cassette shape is not complicated, and the cost reduction is not hindered.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a tape cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the inside of the tape cassette.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a detection hole portion of the tape cassette.

FIG. 4 is an overall view of a tape cassette according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the inside of a tape cassette according to another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of a tape cassette according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of large and small cassettes according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an embodiment diagram in which the direction of the optical axis is tilted from the direction perpendicular to the tape surface.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detection hole.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tape cassette 2 ... Upper case 3 ... Lower case 4 ... Magnetic tape 5 ... Guide groove 6 ... Insertion hole 7 ... Detection hole 10 ... Detector 12 ... Tape end detector 13 ... Opening Part 14, 15 ... Reflecting part 16, 17 ... Optical axis 18 ... Winding reel 19 ... Supply reel 20, 21, 22 ... Insertion hole 23 ... Light emitting part 24, 25 ... Light receiving part 26 ... Tape cassette

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Katsuo Maehara 1-88, Torora, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka, Hitachi Maxell Co., Ltd. Within the corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic tape (4) and the magnetic tape (4).
Supply reel (19) for winding up and winding reel (18)
And a tape cassette (1) which has an opening (13) in which a tape guide for pulling out magnetic tape is inserted in a front surface portion on which the magnetic tape (4) is stretched. , A tape cassette (7) for presenting information on the tape cassette is provided in the vicinity of a line segment connecting the outermost diameters of the supply reel (19) and the winding reel (18). Tape cassette 2. A magnetic tape (4) and the magnetic tape (4).
Supply reel (19) for winding up and winding reel (18)
And a tape cassette (1) which has an opening (13) in which a tape guide for pulling out magnetic tape is inserted in a front surface portion on which the magnetic tape (4) is stretched. A presentation section (7) for presenting information of the tape cassette, and an insertion hole (6) for inserting a detector (10) for detecting an end of the magnetic tape (4). (7) and the insertion hole (6) form the opening (1).
3), the supply reel (19) and the winding reel (18)
A tape cassette which is provided between the tape cassette and the tape cassette. 3. A magnetic tape (4) and the magnetic tape (4).
Supply reel (19) for winding up and winding reel (18)
And a tape cassette (1) including an opening (13) in which a tape guide for pulling out a magnetic tape is inserted in a front portion on which the magnetic tape (4) is stretched. A tape cassette characterized in that the opening (13) is substantially rectangular.