JPH0722782Y2 - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a tape cassette, and more particularly to a tape cassette whose cassette casing is made of transparent resin or translucent resin so that the internal state thereof can be observed. Tape cassette.

[Outline of the Invention] At least 45% of the longitudinal direction, that is, the lateral direction of the external surface of the cassette half formed of transparent resin or translucent resin
The above area is provided with a pattern or the like formed by transfer or printing formed by a base color having a Munsell color chart with a lightness of 5 or less, and the positions of the patterns on the front and back main surfaces are reversed in the lateral direction. The running state of the magnetic tape can be clearly visually confirmed from the outside on any of the front and back surfaces.

[Conventional technology]

Tape cassettes are widely used as recording media for tape recorders and VTRs. The tape cassette has a magnetic tape wound around a reel and housed in a cassette casing. When such a tape cassette is mounted on a tape recorder and the reel shaft is inserted into the casing through the reel shaft insertion hole of the cassette casing, the reel shaft is engaged with the reel.
Therefore, the magnetic tape runs along the front side opening so as to be taken out from one reel and taken up by the other reel, and at this time, the magnetic tape is brought into contact with the magnetic head, whereby predetermined recording is performed. And / or playback will be performed.

The casing of such a tape cassette is a see-through type molded from a transparent resin or a translucent resin, and two types of resin, an opaque resin and a transparent resin, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-36052. It is roughly divided into the wind type molded in. Both the see-through type and the wind type have the purpose of visually confirming the running state of the magnetic tape from the outside, and give a general user a sense of security in use.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, when the tape cassette is mounted on the actual cassette deck, the base of the cassette mounting part on the mechanical deck side is often a black base, and the cassette casing is transparent or transparent because it is the same color as the magnetic tape. Even if the window is provided, it is not always possible to surely visually check the state of the magnetic tape from the outside.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, of the upper and lower halves 1 and 2 constituting the cassette casing, the upper half 1 is molded with a transparent resin and the lower half 2 is molded with a white opaque resin. A tape cassette that has been designed is being considered. According to such a tape cassette, the running state of the magnetic tape can be seen when the upper half 1 is on the upper side, but when the tape cassette is turned upside down and the lower half 2 is on the upper side, the internal magnetic tape is magnetic. There is a drawback that the condition of the tape is completely invisible. Further, such a tape cassette has a drawback that it is impossible to take a family at the time of molding and the accuracy of the combination of the cover half 1 and the base half 2 is lowered.

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a transparent window 5 is formed on the left half reel shaft insertion hole 3 side of the upper half 1 and the reel shaft insertion hole 4 portion of the opposite half 2 is formed on the opposite side. There has been proposed a tape cassette in which the transparent window 6 is formed. Although such a tape cassette can be taken as a family at the time of molding, it is an essential requirement to adopt a two-color molding method. If the transparent windows 5 and 6 are formed as separate pieces and joined later by the welding method, the number of molding cycles increases, the die structure becomes complicated, and the cost increases. Further, the portions of the reel shaft insertion holes 3 and 4 into which the pair of reel shafts of the mechanical deck of the tape recorder are inserted are made of different resins on the supply side and the winding side. Therefore, there is a problem in that the accuracy of the hole pitch between the insertion holes 3 and 4 is reduced, and the number of factors that change the running conditions increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and uses a single-color molded cassette casing without using two kinds of resins, and the running state of the magnetic tape inside can be visually confirmed from the outside. It is intended to provide a tape cassette that can be confirmed.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention relates to a tape cassette formed by molding a cassette casing using a transparent resin or a translucent resin, in which the main surface of the front and back surfaces of the cassette casing is transferred or printed by transferring or printing a background color pattern whose Munsell color chart has a lightness of 5 or less. To form more than 45% of the width,
The positions of the patterns on the front and back main surfaces are made to be mutually opposite in the lateral direction, and preferably, patterns or the like having two or more colors are formed by transfer or printing, and the transfer surface or print surface is also formed. Can be on only one side of the reel shaft insertion hole or over the reel shaft, and in this case, one side may be either the supply side or the winding side.

[Action]

Therefore, according to such a tape cassette, the running state of the internal tape can be visually confirmed from the outside by using the background color pattern or the like having a lightness of 5 or less of the Munsell color chart formed by transfer or printing as a base.

〔Example〕

FIG. 6 shows a tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, which has a cassette casing 10. The cassette casing 10 is configured by combining upper and lower halves 11 and 12 with each other. A magnetic tape 14 is a pair of reels in the casing 10.
It is designed to be stored in the state that it is wound around 15 and 16. The magnetic tape 14 is hung by a pair of left and right guide rollers 17 so as to face the front opening 18 of the casing 10.

A shield plate 20 is arranged inside the front side opening 18 of the cassette casing 10. A pad 22 is supported by the shield plate 20 via a leaf spring 21, and the magnetic head inserted through the front opening 18 is received by the pad 22. Further up and down half
Reel shaft insertion holes 23 and 24 are formed in 11 and 12, respectively, and reels 15 and 16 are driven by reel shafts inserted through these reel shaft insertion holes 23 and 24, respectively. Has become. As a result, the magnetic tape 14 hung so as to face the front opening 18 of the casing 10 is run. In order to make the running of the magnetic tape 14 smooth, the slip sheets 25 and 26 are arranged above and below the reels 15 and 16, respectively.

In such a tape cassette, the flat surface of the upper and lower halves 11 and 12 constituting the casing 10 other than the bulging portion 29 is a thermal transfer film as shown in FIGS. The pattern is formed by being transferred by 32. As shown in FIG. 3, the thermal transfer film 32 includes a base film 33 made of polyethylene, and a protective layer 34 is formed on the base film 33. The ink layer 36 is formed below the protective layer 34. The ink layer 36 is a layer formed by printing, and is for imparting a pattern, a mark, or the like to the main surface 28 of the cassette casing 10. Ink layer 36
The lower side is an adhesive layer 37, and the transfer film 32 is adhered to the main surfaces 28 of the halves 11 and 12 by the adhesive layer 37.

Casing the ink layer 36 of such a thermal transfer film 32
When transferring to the main surface 28 of 10, the upper half 11 is arranged on the base 40 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Then, the heat transfer film 32 pulled out from the roll is guided to the upper side of the roll to correctly position it. Then, the transfer pad 42 is lowered to heat the thermal transfer film 32. The adhesive layer 37 of the transfer film 32 is designed to melt at 200 to 210 ° C,
As a result, the thermal transfer film 32 is transferred to the cassette casing 10
Bonded to the main surface 28 of the. Once adhered, the base film 33 is peeled off as shown by the chain line using the protective layer 34 shown in FIG. 3 as a peeling layer. The peeled base film 33 is wound up by a winding roll 41 (see FIG. 5). As a result, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the printing layer 36 is transferred to the main surface 28 of the cassette casing 10 to form a pattern.

In this way, the thermal transfer film 32 is used to form a pattern or the like on the main surfaces 28 of the halves 11 and 12 of the cassette casing 10. Moreover, this tape cassette is composed of an ink layer 36 having an underlayer of a color relatively opposite to the color of the magnetic tape 14 with respect to the outer surfaces of the halves 11 and 12 formed of transparent resin or semitransparent resin. I am trying to apply. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the area where the pattern 36 is formed occupies at least 45% or more in the longitudinal direction of the cassette, that is, in the left-right direction, and the base color thereof is as bright as 5 or less as the lightness of the Munsell color chart. It has a color.

Moreover, it should be noted here that the positions of the ink layers 36 formed by transfer are opposite to each other in the upper and lower halves 11 and 12. Ie the second
As is clear from the figure, the ink layer 36 is formed on the main surface 28 on the reel shaft 23 side of the upper half 11 by transfer. On the other hand, with respect to the lower half 12, the ink layer 36 is formed on the other reel shaft 24 side portion, and the upper half 11 and the upper half 12 are printed at positions opposite to each other in the left-right direction. To form. Since this pattern has a lightness difference with the magnetic tape 14, the running state of the magnetic tape 14 can be visually confirmed from the outside even if the hue is the same. That is, when the tape cassette is loaded as shown in FIG. 1, the running state of the magnetic tape 14 can be confirmed through the transparent portion of the upper half 11 on the reel shaft insertion hole 24 side. Further, when the lower half 12 is mounted on the tape recorder in a state of being on the upper side, the running state of the internal magnetic tape 14 can be confirmed through the transparent portion of the half 12 on the reel shaft insertion hole 23 side.

In this way, the tape cassette according to the present embodiment uses the cassette halves 11 and 12 formed of a transparent resin or a semi-transparent resin in a single color so that the running state of the magnetic tape 14 can be clearly visually confirmed from the outside. Become. That is, the state of the magnetic tape 14 can be confirmed even when the magnetic tape 14 is mounted on a cassette deck of the same color as the base color. Also, since it is a single-color molded product, it is possible to create an opaque area by the transfer film 32,
Design equivalent to or better than a two-color molded product having a transparent portion and an opaque portion is possible. Furthermore, because of the single color molding, the total cost of molding cycle and mold structure is much cheaper than the two color molding.

FIG. 7 shows a cassette half 11 of a modified example. This half 11 is printed on the main surface 28 of the half 11 directly by the template 45 without using a transfer film, so that the half 11 can be printed on one side. A pattern is formed in a biased area. In the case of direct printing, a transfer roller 47 as shown in FIG. 8 may be used instead of the template 45. In this case, the half 11 is moved by the conveying means 48 and brought into contact with the transfer roller 47, and printing is performed directly on the main surface 28 thereof. Even in such a half 11, it is possible to achieve the same effects as those of the above embodiment.

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to the present invention, a Munsell color chart having a lightness of 5 or less is formed by transfer or printing so as to occupy 45% or more of the width on the main surfaces of the front and back of the cassette casing. The positions of the patterns on the main surfaces of the front and back are made to be opposite to each other in the lateral direction.
Therefore, according to such a configuration, based on the pattern of the high-lightness base color formed by transfer or printing,
Through the transparent portion or the semi-transparent portion on the opposite side, it becomes possible to reliably visually confirm the internal state. Moreover, since the casing can be manufactured by single-color molding, it is very advantageous in terms of total cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a plan view of a tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a sectional structure of a transfer film. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a transfer state, FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a transfer device,
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the entire tape cassette, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing printing by a template, FIG. 8 is a front view showing direct printing by a transfer roller, and FIG. 9 is a cross section of a conventional tape cassette. FIG. 10 is a plan view of another conventional tape cassette, and FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line XI-XI in FIG. The names of the main parts in the drawings are as follows. 10 …… Cassette casing 11 …… Upper half 12 …… Lower half 23,24 …… Reel shaft insertion hole 28 …… Main surface 32 …… Thermal transfer film 36 …… Ink layer (printing layer)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A tape cassette formed by molding a cassette casing using a transparent resin or a semitransparent resin,
By transferring or printing patterns such as background colors whose Munsell color chart has a lightness of 5 or less so as to occupy 45% or more of the horizontal width on the main surface of the front and back of the cassette casing, and A tape cassette characterized in that the positions thereof are opposite to each other in the lateral direction.