JPH0664885B2 - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a parallel two-reel type tape cassette for storing a tape such as a magnetic tape, and particularly when the recording / playback is used, the magnetic tape is pulled out to the outside of the tape cassette. The present invention relates to a tape cassette most suitable for use.

Conventional Configuration and Problems The rotary head system has been adopted as a home video tape recorder for a long time, but as is well known, a rotary head system video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to as VTR) is a magnetic tape (hereinafter referred to as tape). The tape is pulled out from the tape cassette, and the tape is wound around the guide drum that has a built-in video head and rotates at high speed to guide the running.
This is a device that records and reproduces video signals.

For example, a tape cassette in the VHS, β system, etc. is composed of a flat housing in which two reels around which tapes are wound are arranged in parallel in the same plane, and an opening is provided on one side surface. The tape can be pulled out to the outside. When the tape is stored in the cassette, a rotation plate with a rotation fulcrum is opened at a predetermined position of the tape cassette case to prevent dust and the like from adhering to the surface of the tape and touching it with the hand. The tape is protected as a lid that covers the part.

By the way, the type of tape used for VHS, β system is γ-
Fe ₂ O ₃ is a tape using iron oxide as a main component,
It was a strong tape against rust against moisture. However, with the widespread use of VTRs, the development of tapes has been promoted along with the demand for smaller and higher-performance equipment. Recently, so-called metal tapes that apply pure iron powder, and so-called vapor deposition that deposits Ni-Co. Tapes are about to become the mainstream of next-generation tapes.

While VTRs that use metal tapes and vapor-deposited tapes bring about compactness and high image quality, they require more careful handling and protection of tapes than conventional iron oxide tapes. In particular, attention should be paid to the protection of the tape when it is handled as a single tape cassette when it is not used, such as dust on the tape and contact with human hands.

As is well known, in the VHS, β system cassette, a single rotating plate is provided as a lid at the tape pull-out opening portion of the tape cassette to consider protection from the outside of the tape cassette. However, the VHS, β system cassette has an opening (notch) into which the tape pull-out member is inserted when it is set on the VTR on the bottom of the cassette, and it is possible to intentionally touch the tape from the opening. Met. Recently announced the standard,
In consideration of the conventional problems in the 8 mm video that uses metal tape and vapor deposition tape, the tape cassette has been devised. In particular, as a cover of the tape cassette opening, as shown in principle in FIGS. 1 (a) and (b), VHS,
In addition to the first rotating plate 2 that rotates around a fulcrum provided at a predetermined position of the tape cassette 1 as in the β system,
The rotating plate 3 is provided. Then, the tape 4 at a portion easily touched by humans is attached to the first rotary plate 2 and the second rotary plate 3 from the time when the tape cassette shown in FIG. 1 (a) is used to the tape cassette shown in FIG. When the tape 4 is used, it is rotated in the direction of the arrow A and sandwiched between the two, thereby protecting the tape 4 from being touched by human hands.

Therefore, the tape 5 is blocked by the second rotating plate 3 from the opening 5 on the bottom surface of the tape cassette and cannot be directly touched by the human hand.

However, the drawbacks of this method are as follows. That is, when the first rotating plate 2 and the second rotating plate 3 are rotated so that the tape 4 is sandwiched between them for the purpose of protecting the tape, if the tape 4 has a predetermined tension, it is straightened. There is no problem if it is stretched in a line, but if the tape 4 is slackened and curled in the longitudinal direction due to some accident, the tips of the two rotating plates 2 and 3 will crush the tape 4. However, it has a defect that it may not be able to be caught.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to make up for the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide an advantageous tape cassette using a metal tape, a vapor deposition tape or the like.

The tape cassette of the present invention is a tape cassette including a pair of upper flat plate, lower flat plate, and at least two or more side plates, and a tape reel incorporated therein, and a cutout portion continuous with an opening formed on one side surface. A rotary lid that covers the opening, and a sliding lid that slides in a plane parallel to the lower flat plate and covers the notch, the lower flat plate being at least a first parallel plate. A surface and a second surface parallel to the first surface and close to the upper flat plate and having a notch hole portion in a part thereof, and the sliding lid includes at least the first surface and the second surface. A first sliding portion that slides in a plane sandwiched between the first sliding portion, a second sliding portion that covers the cutout hole portion, and a second sliding portion that covers the cutout hole portion, As a result, when storing the tape in the cassette from the tape pull-out state, the tape is not caught Therefore, it is possible to securely protect the tape without damaging the tape, and when the rotating lid and the sliding lid are closed, there is no dust attached to the tape or human touch. In addition, the sliding lid can be made of resin because it has a size that is almost the same as the width of the notch of the cassette, and cost can be reduced. Moreover, the sliding lid can be easily assembled into the main body and is excellent in mass productivity. Further, since the bottom plan view of the cassette can be configured to have a smooth surface without a convex portion, the holder shape for mounting the cassette in, for example, a recording / reproducing apparatus can be simplified and smooth mounting can be performed.

Description of Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line XY of FIG. 2 showing the inside of the tape cassette in the closed state, and FIG. 5 is also the X of FIG. -Y
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line, showing the inside of the open state of the tape cassette. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the inside of the tape cassette of the present embodiment, excluding the tape reel. FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the tape cassette of the present embodiment seen from the lower surface.

As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, the tape cassette 6
Has a flat casing (cassette) in appearance, and the tape cassette 6 has a pair of tapes in which the start end or the end of the magnetic tape 7 is fixed and the tape is wound around it. Two reels 8 and 9 are housed side by side on the same plane. The pair of tape reels 8 and 9 around which the tape is wound are covered with an upper flat plate 10 and a lower flat plate 11 from above and below.

In addition, the flat surface and three side surface portions 12, 13, 14 in the thickness direction of the tape cassette 6 are formed with wall surface portions to protect the tape 7 from the outside, but one side surface has an opening portion 15 having no wall surface. When the tape 7 is not pulled out from the opening portion 15, the opening portion 15 covers the opening portion 15 with the rotating lid 16 in order to protect the tape 7.

In the tape cassette 6 according to this embodiment, the pair of tape reels 8 and 9 (however, the tape reel 8 is not shown in FIGS. 4 and 5) is a type without a flange, that is, a so-called flangeless reel. is there. The tape reel 9 has bosses 17 and 18 at both ends in the axial direction. The bosses 17 and 18 are the upper recesses 1 provided in the upper and lower flat parts of the cassette housing.
9, By loosely inserting and engaging the lower recess 20,
The position in the plane direction of the tape reel 8 inside the tape cassette 6 is gently regulated. Two rectangular sheets 21 and 22 such as rectangular fluororesin sheets are arranged on both end surfaces of the bosses 17 and 18, respectively, and are used when the tape 7 is wound on a tape reel. It plays a role as a control means when the winding is disturbed due to irregular winding or step drop.

By the way, when the cassette is not used, the tape 7 has a rotatable lid 16 which is pivotally supported at a position 23 at the rear of the opening 15.
The front surface of the tape 7 is covered with. In order to insert the tape pull-out member 24 for pulling the tape 7 to the outside of the cassette into the tape cassette 6,
The lower flat plate 11 is formed with a notch 25 continuous with the opening 15.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the lower flat plate 11 is the upper flat plate 10
A first surface 26 parallel to the first surface 26 and a second surface parallel to the first surface 26 and close to the upper flat plate 10 and further provided with some notch holes 27
A third surface 29, 30 which has a cutout portion 25, is parallel to the first surface 26 in the vicinity of the opening and includes the cutout portion 25, and is closer to the upper flat plate 10 than the first surface 26; Fourth surfaces 31, 32 parallel to the first surface 26 and closer to the upper flat plate 10 than the second surface 28.
And have. Further, when the cassette is closed, the sliding lid 33 for covering the cutout portion 25 for protecting the tape from dust and human hands is provided in the plane sandwiched between the first surface 26 and the second surface 28. A first sliding portion 34 that slides, and a second sliding portion 35 that covers the cutout hole portion 27, fits into the cutout hole portion 27, and slides.
And a third sliding portion 36, 37 that slides in a plane sandwiched between the third surface 29, 30 and the fourth surface 31, 32. Therefore, the first surface 26 of the lower flat plate and the surface of the first sliding portion 34 of the sliding lid can be flush with each other.

By the way, to attach the sliding lid 33 to the cassette body,
The stepped sliding portion formed on the second sliding portion 35 of the sliding lid 33 on the stepped notched sliding surfaces 38, 39 provided in the notched hole portion 27 of the lower flat plate 11. 40 and 41 are placed, and the third sliding portions 36 and 37 of the sliding lid 33 are connected to the third surface 29,
The first sliding portion 34 of the sliding lid is placed on the
The sliding lid 33 is slightly slid to the rear of the cassette until it partially overlaps the surface 28 of the. Then, the floating of the second sliding portion 35 of the sliding lid is regulated by the end surface 44 of the convex portion 43 of the wall surface 42 behind the opening 15 formed in the upper flat plate 10, and The flat plate 10 and the lower flat plate 11 are superposed on each other, and the sliding lid 33 is mounted on the cassette.

Further, the lifting of the sliding lid 33 is regulated not only by the end face of the convex surface 43 of the wall surface 42 at the rear of the opening but also by the upper flat plate 10.
The height regulating members 45 and 46 provided inside the cassette of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, an urging means 47 for urging the sliding lid 33 toward the opening 15 is provided inside the cassette, and the urging means of the sliding lid 33 is arranged. A concave groove 48 is formed at the abutting portion of the sliding lid 33 so that the biasing means 47 does not deviate from the bias of the sliding lid 33.

Furthermore, the sliding lid 33 is attached to the second sliding portion 35 of the sliding lid.
Protrusion-shaped locking means 49 is provided for locking the sliding in the direction of the opening 15.

By the way, when using a cassette,
As shown in the figure, the sliding lid covering the notch 25
Sliding lid moving means 50 and 51 for moving 33 to the rear moves in the direction of arrow B, and passes through the notches 52 and 53 formed in the end surface of the rotating lid 16 to move one of the sliding lid 33. While pressing the end face, the sliding lid 33 is moved rearward against the urging force of the urging means 47, and the tape pull-out member 24 for pulling out the tape 7 to the outside of the cassette is provided in the space area behind the tape 7. The tape 7 can be pulled out by inserting the tape 7 into the tape 54 and rotating the rotary lid 16 by an appropriate lid pushing means (not shown).

On the contrary, when the cassette is not used, the tape pull-out member (not shown) is taken out from the space area 54 to the outside of the cassette, and the lid pushing-up means (not shown) is lowered, whereby the rotary lid 16 is removed. Rotates so as to cover the front surface of the tape 7 and becomes a state as shown in FIG.

Therefore, when the cassette is not used, the tape 7 is attached to the rotating lid 16
Since it is surrounded by the sliding lid 33, human hands do not touch the tape and dust or the like does not adhere to it. Moreover, even when the tape 7 in the cutout portion is slightly loose at the time of shifting from the cassette used state to the cassette unused state, the rotating lid 16
The sliding lid 33 does not catch the tape and damage it. Further, the sliding lid 33 has a size substantially equal to the width of the cutout portion of the cassette, resin molding is easy, and the sliding lid 33 can be easily attached to the cassette, which leads to cost reduction. Also, since the lower flat surface of the cassette, including the sliding lid, can be configured to be a smooth surface with no protrusions, the holder shape for mounting the cassette in, for example, a recording / reproducing device can be simplified and a smooth device can be realized. .

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The tape cassette of the present invention does not catch the tape when the tape is stored in the cassette from the pulled-out state, so that the rotating lid does not damage the tape.
Further, when the rotary lid is closed, the tape can be protected surely without dust being attached to the tape or being touched by humans. Further, the sliding lid has a size substantially equal to the width of the cutout portion of the cassette and can be easily resin-molded, and can be easily attached to the cassette body, which is easy to assemble and leads to cost reduction. Furthermore, since the lower flat surface of the cassette, including the sliding lid, can be configured as a smooth surface without any protrusions, for example, the shape of the cassette holder for mounting the cassette in the recording / reproducing apparatus can be simplified and smooth mounting can be achieved. It also has the advantage of being possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 (a) and 1 (b) are schematic cross-sectional views of a main part of a conventional tape cassette in an open state and a closed state, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a side view thereof, FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional views taken along the line XY in FIG. 2 in a closed state and an opened state, respectively, and FIG. 6 shows the inside of the tape cassette of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the tape cassette according to the present embodiment as seen from the bottom surface of the tape cassette. 6 ... tape cassette, 7 ... tape, 8,9 ... tape reel, 10 ... upper plate, 11 ... lower plate, 15 ... opening,
16 ... Rotating lid, 26 ... First surface, 27 ... Notched hole portion, 28 ...
… Second surface, 29 …… Third surface, 31,32 …… Fourth surface, 33
...... Sliding lid, 34 ...... First sliding portion, 36,37 ...... Third sliding portion, 47 ...... Biasing means, 49 ...... Locking means.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Kaoru Matsuoka Kazumi, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture 1006 Kadoma, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 56) Bibliography Reference: Showa 51-74417 (JP, U)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A tape cassette comprising a pair of upper and lower flat plates and at least two or more side plates and containing a tape reel, wherein a notch portion continuous with an opening formed on one side surface and the opening. And a sliding lid that slides in a plane parallel to the lower flat plate and covers the cutout portion, the lower flat plate at least parallel to the upper flat plate and the first flat surface. Has a second surface that is parallel to the surface of, and is close to the upper flat plate, and further has a notch hole in a part thereof, and the sliding lid is sandwiched between at least the first surface and the second surface. A tape cassette comprising a first sliding portion that slides in a plane and a second sliding portion that covers the cutout hole portion. 2. The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein the second sliding portion is configured to fit into the notch hole portion and to be slidable. 3. The lower plate is parallel to the first surface in the vicinity of the opening including the notch and is closer to the upper plate than the first surface, and is parallel to the first surface. A fourth surface closer to the upper flat plate than a second surface, and the sliding lid has a third sliding portion that slides in a surface sandwiched between the third and fourth surfaces. The tape cassette according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tape cassette is provided at both ends of the first sliding portion. 4. A tape cassette according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein at least a part of the second sliding portion of the sliding lid slides inside the cassette. . 5. A locking means for locking the sliding movement of the sliding lid toward the opening portion is provided in the second sliding portion. The tape cassette according to claim 3 or 4. 6. The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein a biasing means for biasing the sliding lid toward the opening is provided inside the cassette.