JPH07220447A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a tape cassette which is smoothly brought in contact, with an apparatus by surely executing a method for positioning a data memory means within the tape cassette. CONSTITUTION:By expanding a partition wall A3f to secure a thickness of a mold, a board-accommodating part 3k is regulated at a position D to be wider than a thickness C of a substrate 12a of a semiconductor memory board 12. A contact part 12c of the part 3k is regulated in a forward/backward direction by a regulating projection A3g projecting from the partition wall A3f. Accordingly, a position of the contact part 12c is surely regulated in the forward/backward direction, and tone mold has an increased strength to elongate the service life.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to position regulation of information storage means housed in a tape cassette used in a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus such as a video tape recorder and other various information processing apparatuses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the increasing density of magnetic recording, tape cassettes and video tape recorders (hereinafter referred to as VTRs)
Is becoming more compact. As a result, since the tape cassette is small, the label attached to the cassette body is also small, and the information recorded on the tape cannot be written sufficiently.

As a countermeasure against this, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2-96
958, Sho 63-166086, Sho 63-16608
7, Sho 63-13187, Sho 63-164084, Sho 6
As described in JP-A-3-164085, it has been proposed to store the medium information regarding the thickness and type of the tape and the information content recorded on the tape in a semiconductor memory device provided in the tape cassette.

[0004]

However, according to the above-mentioned proposal, there is no specific positioning means for positioning the semiconductor memory in the tape cassette, and in the present situation, the information storage means in the tape cassette is further downsized. The problem was to accurately position the.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a tape cassette in which a method of positioning the information storage means in the tape cassette is surely carried out and contact with the apparatus side can be made smoothly.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, in the tape cassette of the present invention, an information storage means is provided between a side wall of the tape cassette and a partition wall provided in the tape cassette, and the side wall. The information storage means is provided with a cutout portion to expose the contact portion of the information storage means, and the partition wall at a position facing the cutout portion is formed with a position regulating projection protruding toward the cutout portion to form the information storage. The means is configured to regulate the position.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the contact portion of the information storage means and the connector on the apparatus side contact with each other when the tape cassette is mounted in the apparatus. At this time, the contact portion of the information means is the tape cassette. The side wall and the position control projection accurately control the position. Therefore,
The tape cassette and the device side can be reliably contacted.

[0008]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are an assembly perspective view of a tape cassette and an exploded perspective view of the tape cassette of one embodiment.
FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of a lid part.

As shown in the drawing, the cassette body constituting the tape cassette 1 is composed of a rectangular upper half 2 and a lower half 3 formed of synthetic resin. Then, the upper half 2 and the lower half 3 are fitted to each other from above and below,
It is screwed with a set screw 4 to form an integral casing. The cassette body also houses a pair of reels 6 around which the tape 5 is wound.

On the front surface of the cassette body, there is provided an opening 7 into which the tape pull-out member on the apparatus side is inserted. A pair of tape guides 3a integrally formed with the lower half 3 are provided on both sides of the opening 7 of the lower half 3, and the tape 5 is guided by the tape guides 3a and extends along the opening 7. It is stretched.

As shown in FIG. 2, the front lid 8 is composed of a front lid portion 8a which covers the front surface of the tape 5 stretched over the opening portion 7 and a side plate 8b which covers the front side surfaces of the upper and lower halves 2 and 3. It has a roughly U shape. The side plate 8b of the front lid 8 is provided with a pair of fulcrum pins 8c, and the fulcrum pins 8c are inserted into a pair of notches 2a provided on both front side surfaces of the upper half 2. The front lid 8 is rotatable around the fulcrum pin 8c. A coil spring 9 is attached to one side of the fulcrum 8c to constantly bias the front lid 8 in the closing direction. In addition, a pair of pin holes 8d are formed in the upper portion of the front surface of the side plate 8b of the front lid 8.

The upper lid 10 is a tape 5 stretched over the opening 7.
The upper lid portion 10a that covers the upper surface of the upper half 2 and the side plate 10b that covers the side surface of the upper half 2 are configured. A pair of support pins 10c is provided inside the front surface of the side plate 10b of the upper lid 10, and the support pins 10c are inserted into the pin holes 8d of the front lid 8 and are rotatable.

An upper lid side plate 10b is provided in front of a side surface of the upper half 2.
A pair of cutouts 2 cut into almost the same size as the thickness of the
b is provided. The notch 2b is formed with a pair of upper lid guide grooves 2c each having a curved portion and a straight portion, and one end of which is an open portion.
A pair of guide pins 10d formed on the inner rear side of the upper lid 10 side plate 10b is slidably attached to c.

As shown in FIG. 3, the upper lid portion 10a of the upper lid 10 is shown.
A pair of bracket portions 10e having a distance substantially equal to the width dimension of the opening portion 7 is provided on the inside of, and pin holes 10f are formed in each of the bracket portions 10e.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rear lid 11 covers the back surface of the tape 5 stretched over the opening 7. And the back lid 1
1 is provided with a pair of support pins 11a on the upper side surface thereof.
It is rotatably attached to the pin hole 10f of 0e. A pair of protrusions 11b is provided on the lower side surface of the rear lid 11, and the guide pins 11c are further provided on the protrusions 11b.
Are formed respectively.

Behind the pair of tape guides 3a formed on the lower half 3 and on both side surfaces of the opening 7, a pair of rear lid guide grooves 3b having an open upper portion are provided. A pair of guide pins 11c formed on the protruding portion 11b of the rear lid 11 are slidably inserted into the rear lid guide groove 3b.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the rear portion of the tape cassette 1. On the rear side of the cassette body, there is provided a semiconductor memory board 12 capable of storing information about the medium such as the type of tape and the thickness of the tape, and information such as programs recorded on the tape.

The semiconductor memory board 12 is composed of a thin plate-shaped substrate 12a formed of a material such as glass epoxy and a semiconductor memory portion 12b capable of storing the above information. In addition, the substrate 1 on the side opposite to the mounting portion of the semiconductor memory
The surface 2a has a contact portion 12c which serves as a contact point with a communication circuit provided on the device side.

Reference numeral 13 denotes an erroneous erasure prevention piece formed of synthetic resin, which includes a detection portion 13a for closing an erroneous erasure prevention detection hole formed on the bottom surface of the lower half and an erroneous erasure protection formed on the back surface of the upper half. The display section 13b is displayed on the display window.

The rear wall 3n of the lower half 3 has a plurality of cutouts A3c, and the contact portions 12c of the semiconductor memory board 12 are exposed in the cutouts A3c. Also, 3d
Is provided with a plurality of protective walls so that the contact portion 12c cannot be easily touched by a hand or the like. The arc-shaped wall is
Reel position regulation wall 3 for regulating the circumferential position of the reel
It is e.

A partition wall A3f provided in parallel with the back wall 3n of the lower half 3 distinguishes the storage portion of the semiconductor memory board 12 from the storage portion of the erasure prevention piece 13. The protrusion protruding from the partition wall A3f in the direction of the cutout portion A3c is the position regulation protrusion A3g of the semiconductor memory board. As shown in the figure, the positioning of the semiconductor memory board contact portion 12c in the front-rear direction is performed by a plurality of position regulation protrusions A3g and the rear face. It goes with the wall 3n.

3h is a position regulating projection B for positioning the substrate 12a on the semiconductor memory portion side in the front-rear direction.

The semiconductor memory board 12 is positioned in the left-right direction by the side wall end surface 3i of the lower half and the partition wall B3j formed parallel to the side wall.

The vertical positioning of the semiconductor memory board 12 is restricted by the combination of the upper and lower halves.

The tape cassette 1 configured as described above
The operation will be described below. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the lid part showing the opened state of the tape cassette 1, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing the contact between the connector 15 of the device and the contact part 12c of the semiconductor memory board 12. As shown in the drawing, when the tape cassette 1 is inserted into the device, the side plate 8b of the front lid 8 is pushed up by the opening pin 14 arranged on the device side, and at the same time, the connector 15 for the semiconductor memory communication circuit also provided on the device side. Notch A3
It comes in in c. Therefore, the front lid 8 rotates upward against the coil spring 9. At this time, the upper lid 10 connected to the front lid 8 is guided by the upper lid guide groove 2c, and the rear lid 11 connected to the upper lid 10 is opened while being guided by the rear lid guide groove 3b. As a result, the tape 5 stretched over the opening 7 is exposed, and the tape 5 is pulled out and wound around the rotary head drum to record and reproduce video signals and the like.

The connector 15 hits the contact portion 12c of the semiconductor memory board 12 and becomes in a state where information can be read.

FIG. 7 is a plan view, a side view and a cross-sectional view of the main part of the peripheral portion of the semiconductor memory board 12 on the lower half 2 side.
When the tape cassette 1 is downsized, the semiconductor memory board storage section 3k (hereinafter, referred to as a board storage section) is also downsized, and the semiconductor memory board 12 in the board storage section 3k is required to be thin and the substrate 12a of the substrate 12a is required. Thickness is 0.1
A size of about 0.5 mm to 0.5 mm is required. However, if the entire space of the board storage portion 3k is made to have a thickness of 0.5 mm, the strength of the mold corresponding to the board storage portion 3k becomes extremely weak, and the mold of the board storage portion 3k is damaged.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the board accommodating portion 3k is provided with the thickness C of the substrate 12a so that the strength of the mold is not weakened.
Partition wall A to the position of D (D> C) which is thicker than
Spread 3f to increase the wall thickness of the mold and contact part 12
By controlling the position of c in the front-rear direction with the position-regulating projection A3g protruding from the partition wall A3f, the position of the contact portion 12c in the front-rear direction is surely controlled and the strength of the mold is increased to prolong the life of the mold. .

Normally, in the contact portion 12c, the contact pressure of the connector 15 is as large as 100 g or more per pin in order to secure a stable contact resistance. (If the contact pressure is small, the contact resistance becomes unstable and the information stored in the semiconductor memory cannot be communicated.) Therefore, the connector 1
For example, if 5 is 4 pins, the total contact pressure may be 10 times or more the weight of the miniaturized tape cassette 1 such as 400 g or more. As a result, the resin-made tape cassette 1 is greatly deformed.

Therefore, the connector 15 on the apparatus side attempts to reduce the absolute value of the contact pressure as much as possible and suppress the variation in the contact pressure.

On the other hand, in the tape cassette 1, in order to suppress the variation in the contact pressure of the connector 15 described above, it is necessary to improve the accuracy of the front-rear positional relationship of the contact portion 12c which is a contact point with the connector 15. In addition, it is essential to prevent deformation of the tape cassette 1 so that a contact pressure as large as possible can be accepted.

As for the above-mentioned tape cassette problem, as shown in the figure, position regulating projections A3g are provided at positions corresponding to the respective connectors 15 on the apparatus side to ensure positional regulation in the front-rear direction, and at the same time, position regulating projections. A3g serves to prevent the connector 15 from being deformed by the contact pressure, and produces a great effect.

Further, the following constitution is preferable for maintaining the longevity of the miniaturized tape cassette 1 die of several hundreds of thousands of shots or more and maintaining the above effect.

When the mold is repeatedly molded several hundred thousand times or more, the resin pressure of the back wall 3n repeatedly applies stress to the mold of the board housing portion 3k. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, the die of the board storage portion 3k falls to the adjacent erroneous erasure prevention piece storage portion 3l, the storage portion space of the board storage portion 3k is further opened, and the contact portion 12c of the semiconductor memory board 12 and the connector are connected. The contact position of 15 goes further in the opening direction (F direction). As a result, the contact pressure of the connector decreases and the contact resistance of the contact portion 12c increases, which causes a problem that information of the semiconductor memory cannot be communicated.

As a countermeasure against this, a plurality of cutouts B3m are provided on the partition wall A3f, and the mold of the board storage part 3k and the mold of the erroneous erasure prevention piece storage part 3l are connected to each other so that the metal of the board storage part 3k is connected. It is possible to prevent the mold from collapsing. As a result, the positional accuracy of the contact portion 12c can be ensured even when molded for several hundreds of thousands of shots or more, and a large effect of obtaining stable contact resistance is generated.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the information storage means is provided between the side wall of the tape cassette and the partition wall provided in the tape cassette, and the side wall is provided with the cutout portion. Of the contact portion is exposed, and a position regulating projection is formed on the partition wall at a position corresponding to the cutout portion so as to project in the cutout portion direction to regulate the position of the information storage means. is there.

Therefore, when the tape cassette is mounted in the apparatus, the contact portion of the information storage means and the connector of the apparatus contact each other. At this time, the contact portion of the information means forms the side wall of the tape cassette and the position regulating projection. The position is regulated with high precision. Therefore, the contact between the tape cassette and the device side can be reliably performed. Further, there is a great effect that the strength of the mold of the information storage means storage portion is increased and the life of the mold is extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the tape cassette.

FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view of the tape cassette lid portion.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the same tape cassette semiconductor memory board section.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a lid part showing an opened state of the tape cassette.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an essential part showing the contact between the semiconductor memory board of the tape cassette and the connector on the apparatus side.

FIG. 7 is a plan view, a side view and a sectional view of a main part of a lower half side around the tape cassette semiconductor memory board.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts showing the contact between the semiconductor memory board and the connector on the apparatus side of the tape cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Lower half 3c Cutout A 3f Partition wall A 3g Position regulation protrusion A 3h Position regulation protrusion B 3k Board storage part 3l Erase erasure prevention storage part 3m Cutout part B 12 Semiconductor memory board 12c Contact part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A tape cassette for accommodating an information storage unit having an information storage unit for storing information on medium information such as tape thickness and type, and an information storage unit having a contact portion with an information communication circuit provided on the device side, A contact portion is provided between a side wall of the tape cassette and a partition wall provided in the tape cassette, and a cutout portion is provided in the side wall to expose the contact portion, and the contact portion is located at a position facing the cutout portion. A tape cassette characterized in that a position regulating projection is formed on a partition wall so as to project toward the cutout portion to regulate the position of the information storage means. 2. The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein the partition wall is provided with a notch.