JPH0721642A - Tape cassette loading device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simply and rigidly constitute an opening/closing mechanism of a shutter by engaging a pin with the front end of the closed shutter and retraining the pin at that position when a DCC cassette is inserted and pulled into a cassette holder. CONSTITUTION:When the DCC cassette (digital compact cassette) 50 is inserted to the cassette holder 4, a hook 20a provided on a slider 20 of the cassette loading/unloading mechanism 5 is engaged with an engaging groove 51a on a main body 51. When the cassette 50 is further pushed in slightly, a loading motor 22 is rotated, then a rotary lever 24 is turned to pull in the slider 20. According to this operation, the cassette 50 is pulled into the holder 4. On the other hand, the main body 51 is moved while being successively pulled in, and the shutter 52 is opened. Next, a cassette holder elevating mechanism is driven by a control part to lower the holder 4, thereby a reel hole is engaged with a reel receptacle 7. Thus, the setting of the DCC cassette 50 to the recording/reproducing position is completed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette loading device applied to an on-vehicle logic type tape recorder, and more particularly to a tape cassette loading device capable of using a normal compact cassette and a digital compact cassette. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a plurality of manipulators that bring a tape recorder into a predetermined operating state or a stopped state have a touch switch structure, and various movable members of a tape recorder mechanism are operated by a motor in correspondence with the operated operators. Alternatively, logic type tape recorders, which are designed to be moved to a stopped position, have become widespread. In addition, digital compact cassettes (hereinafter referred to as "DCC cassettes"), which have good sound quality and are hard to deteriorate, have become popular. This DCC cassette is basically the same size as a conventional compact cassette (hereinafter referred to as "C cassette") and has forward and reverse tracks. It is also compatible with the C cassette.

In this DCC cassette, a portion of the tape that comes into contact with the pinch roller and the magnetic head is covered with a shutter, and the shutter is opened when the tape is loaded in the DCC deck. The shutter serves as a protection mechanism for the tape against dust, dirt, damage, etc., and has an advantage that a holder case is not required even when carrying the tape. Normal DC
The C deck draws the DCC cassette into the apparatus main body using a tray and opens the shutter in the main body.

By the way, with the advancement of vehicles, the sophistication of onboard tape recorders has been increasing year by year, and logic type tape recorders have been installed. There is also a demand for a tape recorder that can use a DCC cassette. In addition to the usual C cassette, DCC
There is also a need for a compact tape recorder that can use a cassette.

[0005]

A tape recorder using an ordinary C cassette has a structure in which the C cassette is directly inserted into the main body of the apparatus, and a tape recorder such as a DCC deck is used.
It does not have a tray for accommodating the CC cassette and carrying it in and out of the device body. In addition, a tape cassette loading device for an in-vehicle tape recorder usually inserts a tape cassette into a cassette holder in the longitudinal direction, pulls the inserted tape cassette to a predetermined position, and then lowers the cassette holder to record / play back. It is configured to be set in position.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is a tape recorder of a type in which a tape cassette is inserted into a cassette holder in the longitudinal direction and the cassette holder is horizontally lowered and set at a recording / playback position. An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cassette loading device for a tape recorder, which is provided with a shutter opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing a shutter of a DCC cassette with a simple structure, and which can use a C cassette and a DCC cassette.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a cassette holder in which a tape cassette is inserted and stored in the longitudinal direction, and a recording / reproducing operation is performed by vertically moving the cassette holder. In a tape cassette loading device equipped with a drive mechanism that sets the position,
Rotatably provided at a predetermined position of the cassette holder,
A lever whose one end is pushed and rotated by the DCC cassette when the DCC cassette is inserted to a predetermined position, and a lever which is rotatably disposed at a predetermined position on the shutter side upper surface of the DCC cassette of the cassette holder, A pin that can be engaged with one end of the closed shutter of the DCC cassette and an engaging portion that elastically engages with the other end of the lever are provided, and the pin is rotated by the rotation of the lever. A pin is interposed between an arm that engages with one end of the shutter to lock and hold the shutter at the position, and the pin of the arm is biased away from the shutter. A shutter opening / closing mechanism including a spring member for applying force is provided.

[0008]

When the DCC cassette is inserted into the cassette holder and pulled in to a predetermined position, one end of the lever is moved to the DC
It is pushed and rotated by the C cassette to rotate the arm against the spring force, and a pin is engaged with the front end of the shutter to be closed and locked at that position. The shutter is opened as the DCC cassette body is pulled into the cassette holder. Further, when the C cassette is inserted into the cassette holder, the pin contacts the C cassette, so that the arm does not rotate.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tape cassette loading device including a shutter opening / closing mechanism according to the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a tape cassette loading device 1 includes a frame 2, a base end of which is pivotally supported on an upper end of one end of the frame 2, and a tip of which is vertically rotatable and is housed in the frame 2. A cassette holder 4 having a central portion rotatably engaged with and supported by the tip end of the support body 3 and vertically moved, and a cassette holder 4 arranged on the support body 3 in the longitudinal direction (tape feeding direction). (In the same direction), the tape cassette is inserted into the cassette holder 4 or the tape cassette is pushed out of the cassette holder 4, and the tape cassette loading / unloading mechanism 5 is arranged on the side of the frame 2 and the tape cassette 4 is moved vertically. A cassette holder elevating mechanism 6 and the like are provided.

The cassette holder 4 is arranged above the reel receiver 7 (only one side is shown), and when lowered to a predetermined position, each reel hole of the accommodated tape cassette is engaged with the corresponding reel receiver 7. Set to the recording / playback position. This cassette holder 4 is a C cassette, DC
Any tape cassette of the C cassette can be used. A head panel (not shown) is housed in the frame 2 so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the tape cassette insertion direction (tape feeding direction), and the magnetic head for the DCC cassette (to the one side 2a of the frame 2). (Not shown) is attached.

The cassette holder 4 is provided with a shutter opening / closing mechanism 10 for opening / closing the shutter 52 of the DCC cassette 50 on the upper surface on the magnetic head side. The shutter opening / closing mechanism 10 is a DC switch as shown in FIGS.
Arm 11 for opening and closing shutter 52 of C cassette 50
And a lever 12 that operates to drive the arm 11 when the DCC cassette 50 is retracted to a predetermined position, and the arm 1
The tension spring 13 applies a spring force to the arm 11 to separate the first pin 14 from the shutter 52.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the shutter mechanism 10. The arm 11 has a plate-like shape, and stoppers 11a and 11b are formed at the tip thereof in a bifurcated shape. Stopper 11a
Is longer than the stopper 11b, and a step is formed below the thickness of the lever 12 from approximately the center to the tip, and is lowered by one step. A protrusion 11c is provided on one side of the arm 11, and a pin 14 is vertically provided on the lower surface of the protrusion 11c. The pin 14 enters into the notch 51c provided in the closed position of the shutter 52 of the main body 51 of the DCC cassette 50 shown in FIG.
The outer diameter and the length are set so that they can be engaged with the tip end 52a.

A locking portion 11d is provided along the longitudinal direction at the center of the other side of the arm 11. The locking portion 11d has a base end connected to the side portion, bent upward at a right angle, and has a distal end extending along the longitudinal direction to face the stopper 11a, and is formed between the side portion. The slit 11e is provided. A shaft hole 11f is bored slightly closer to the rear portion than the locking portion 11d of the arm 11, and a notch 11g is provided on one side of the rear end.

The lever 12 has a substantially crank shape in a plan view, and one side portion 12a is bent at a right angle downward with respect to the central portion 12b, and the other side portion 12c is bent at a right angle upward with respect to the central portion 12b. The one side portion 12a is bent and formed in a substantially V shape with its tip facing inward. Central part 1
2b is provided with a cutout 12d and a shaft hole 12e,
The cutout 12d is open to the side of the one side portion 12a, and the shaft hole 12e
Is located near the other side portion 12c. One side portion 12a of the lever 12 is a detection portion (hereinafter referred to as “detection portion 12a”) that detects the tape cassette inserted in the cassette holder 4, and the other side portion 12c is a drive portion that drives the arm 11 ( Hereinafter, it is referred to as "driving unit 12c"). The drive portion 12c is engageable with the locking portion 11e through the slit 11e of the arm 11, and the notch 12d is engageable with the pin 14. The lever 12 is formed of a member having a spring property.

The lever 12 is rotatably supported by a shaft 15 which is planted at a predetermined position on one side 4a of the upper surface of the cassette holder 4 through a shaft hole 12e. The shaft 15 has the same length as the plate thickness of the lever 12, and its upper end is flush with the upper surface of the central portion 12b. The arm 1 has a front portion mounted on the central portion 12b of the lever 12 and a rear portion which is planted at a predetermined position on one side 4a of the upper surface of the cassette holder 4 through a shaft hole 11f.
6 is pivotally supported by 6. The arm 11 is made immovable by a stopper (not shown) attached to the upper end of the shaft 16. The arm 11 is axially supported by a shaft 16 via a washer 17 having the same plate thickness as the lever 12, and is horizontally mounted on the cassette holder 4.

FIG. 4 is an assembly plan view of the shutter opening / closing mechanism 10. In the lever 12, the tip of the driving portion 12c is the arm 11.
The slit 12e contacts the inner surface of the tip of the locking portion 11f, and the notch 12d engages with the pin 14 of the arm 11.
The tip of the stopper 11a of the arm 11 has an arch-shaped guide 4 formed by cutting and raising the upper surface of the cassette holder 4.
engaged with b. The guide 4b prevents the tip of the arm 11 from rising and regulates the rotation of the arm 11. The stopper 11b of the arm 11 has a lever 12
The lever 12 is prevented from being lifted by contacting the central portion 12b with the detection portion 12a side. One end of the spring 13 is locked to a notch 11f at the rear end of the arm 11 and the other end is hooked to a hook 4c formed by cutting and raising the upper surface of the cassette holder 4, and the arm 11 is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. And acts to separate the pin 14 from the shutter 52 of the DCC cassette 50.

The arm 11 is rotated clockwise in FIG. 4 by the spring force of the spring 13 locked at the rear end, while the stopper 11a at the tip is locked by the guide 4b and its rotation is restricted. , Is held along the upper surface one side portion 4a. The lever 12 is held along the upper surface one side portion 4a with the driving portion 12c being restricted by the locking portion 11d of the arm 11 and the notch 12d being restricted by the pin 14. In this state, the pin 14 of the arm 11 is located slightly outside the side surface 4d of the cassette holder 4 and has a slight gap with the side surface on the tape side of the tape cassette inserted into the cassette holder 4. It is possible to face each other. Further, the tip of the detection portion 12a of the lever 12 is inserted into the cassette holder 4 so that it can be pressed against the side surface of the tape cassette inserted into the cassette holder 4.

The operation will be described below. When the DCC cassette 50 is inserted into the cassette holder 4 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the hook 20a provided on the slider 20 of the cassette loading / unloading mechanism 5 is provided at the center of the front end of the upper surface of the main body 51 of the DCC cassette 50. It engages with the engaging groove 51a. DC
When the C cassette 50 is further pushed slightly, a control unit (not shown) operates to rotate the loading motor 22. The rotational force of the motor 22 is transmitted to the rotation lever 24 via the speed reduction mechanism 23, and the rotation lever 24 rotates to pull in the slider 20. Along with this, DCC cassette 5
0 is drawn into the cassette holder 4.

When the DCC cassette 50 is pulled in to a predetermined position, as shown in FIG.
The tip of the lever contacts the side portion 51b of the main body 51 and is pushed outward, the lever 12 rotates clockwise in the drawing, and the driving portion 12c pushes the locking portion 11d of the arm 11. Along with this, the arm 11 is rotated counterclockwise against the spring force of the spring 13, the pin 14 is inserted into the notch 51c provided in the closing side position of the shutter 52 of the DCC cassette 50, and the front end 52a of the shutter 52 is formed. Engage with. As a result, the shutter 52 is locked and held at that position.

On the other hand, the main body 51 of the DCC cassette 50 is
The shutter 52 is continuously pulled in and moved, and accordingly, the shutter 52
Is gradually opened. Then, when the DCC cassette 50 is pulled to the end position of the cassette holder 4, the shutter 52 is completely opened as shown in FIG. As a result, the DCC cassette 50 is brought into a state in which the magnetic head can contact the tape. When the shutter 52 is opened, the reel hole is also opened at the same time. At this time, the tip of the detection portion 12a of the lever 12 is
It is located near the end of the opening of the shutter 52 on the side surface 51b, and regulates the rotation of the arm 11 so that the pin 14 does not enter the inside.

Next, the control section drives the cassette holder elevating mechanism 6 to lower the cassette holder 4 while maintaining the horizontal state, and engages the reel hole with the reel receiver 7 (FIG. 1). This completes the setting of the DCC cassette 50 at the recording / playback position. The motor 25 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a drive motor for moving the tape. When the DCC cassette 50 is pushed out from the cassette holder 4, the shutter 5 is operated by the operation opposite to the above.
2 is closed. In this way, the shutter opening / closing mechanism 10
Opens and closes the shutter 52 of the DCC cassette.

When the C cassette 55 is inserted into the cassette holder 4 as shown in FIG. 7, the tip of the detecting portion 12a of the lever 12 is the C cassette 55 as described above.
It is pushed outward by the side surface 56a of the main body 56, and the lever 12 rotates in the clockwise direction in the figure accordingly. Since the side surface of the C cassette 55 is not provided with the cutout unlike the DCC cassette 50, the pin 14 of the arm 11 slides as the cassette 55 moves while being in contact with the main body side surface 56a. As a result, the arm 11 is prevented from rotating counterclockwise in the figure. Then, the drive portion 12c that engages with the locking portion 11d of the arm 11 of the lever 12 bends as shown in the figure,
The displacement caused by the rotation is absorbed. Therefore, it does not hinder the loading of the C cassette.

In the above embodiment, the structure of loading the cassette by the driving force of the motor 22 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and mechanical force can be obtained by using another force such as a reversing spring. The same applies to a cassette loading type.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, D
The opening / closing mechanism of the shutter of the CC cassette can be made extremely simple, small-sized, and robust, and as a result, it can be easily provided in a small tape recorder or a tape cassette loading device of an on-vehicle tape recorder. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tape cassette loading device to which a shutter opening / closing mechanism according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the tape cassette loading device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the shutter opening / closing mechanism of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the shutter opening / closing mechanism of FIG. 3 in an assembled state.

FIG. 5 is a DC diagram of the tape cassette loading device of FIG.
It is a figure which shows operation | movement of a shutter opening / closing mechanism when using a C cassette.

6 is a diagram showing a state in which the shutter opening / closing mechanism of FIG. 5 opens a shutter of a DCC cassette.

7 is a diagram showing the operation of the shutter opening / closing mechanism when a C cassette is used in the tape cassette loading device of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Tape cassette loading device 2 Frame 3 Supporting member 4 Cassette holder 5 Cassette loading / unloading mechanism 6 Cassette holder lifting mechanism 10 Shutter opening / closing mechanism 11 Arm 12 Lever 13 Spring 50 DCC cassette 51 Main body 52 Shutter 55 C cassette 56 Main body

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cassette holder (4) in which a tape cassette (50) is inserted and stored in the longitudinal direction, and a drive mechanism (5, 6) for vertically moving the cassette holder and setting it at a recording / playback position. In a tape cassette loading device (1), which is rotatably provided at a predetermined position of the cassette holder,
A lever (12) which is rotated by pushing one end (12a) by the DCC cassette when the DCC cassette is inserted to a predetermined position, and a predetermined position on the upper surface of the cassette holder on the shutter (52) side of the DCC cassette. Is rotatably disposed in the
One end of the shutter (52
A pin (14) engageable with a) and an engagement portion (11d) elastically engaged with the other end (12c) of the lever are provided, and are rotated by the rotation of the lever. The pin is interposed between the arm (11) that engages with one end of the shutter to lock and hold the shutter at the position, and the pin of the arm is separated from the shutter. A tape cassette loading device comprising a shutter opening / closing mechanism (10) provided with a spring member (13) for imparting a biasing force in the direction of movement.