JPH0755724Y2 - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of Device] a. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette, particularly a tape cassette for a video tape recorder (VTR).

B. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, tape cassettes for VTRs are constructed as shown in FIGS. Fig. 10 shows the lower half of the VTR tape cassette, and Fig. 11 shows the upper half of the cassette. Between the take-up reel 2 of the lower half 1 and the supply reel 3, the magnetic tape 5 wound on the supply reel 3 side is joined to the leader tape 4 on the take-up reel 2 side by the splice tape 6. This joining position is not necessarily limited to the illustrated position. In the figure, 7 is a guide pole and 8 is
Is a tape holding flap, 9 is a tape guide, and 10 is a guide roller. In the upper half 11, transparent windows 12 and 13 are provided corresponding to the reels 2 and 3, and an opening / closing lid (lid) 14 that covers the front side of the lower half 1 is attached. As shown in FIG. 10, the opening / closing lid 14 is a coil spring attached to the projecting portion 15 on one end side and in contact with the inner surface of the upper half.
16 keeps it normally closed. In FIG. 9, the opening / closing lid 14 is shown by a dashed line.

In the above, the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing lid 14 with respect to the front surface of the lower half 1 is performed as shown in FIGS.

As shown in the drawing, a lock mechanism 17 for the opening / closing lid 14 is provided at one end on the front surface side of the lower half 1. This lock mechanism includes a rotatable lid lock lever 20 having rotating shafts 18 and 19 engaged with arcuate recesses 31 and 32 of a lower half wall.
A coil spring 21 for urging the lock lever 20 in the locking direction is attached to the protrusion 30 provided on one shaft 19 of the lock lever 20. The coil spring 21 is attached such that one end 21a thereof engages with the facing wall portion 26 of the lower half and the other end 21b engages with the lock lever 20 itself. The lock lever 20 has an opening / closing lid.
The locking claws 22 for locking and the protrusions 23 for unlocking 14 are integrally formed in a state of penetrating through holes 24, 25 of the lower half wall portion with a margin.

In the locked state, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 14, the lock claw 22 of the lock lever 20 has entered the engaging recess 28 of the opening / closing lid 14, so that the opening / closing lid 14 cannot be opened. However, the lock release pin (not shown) on the VTR body side
When is pressed in the direction of arrow 29, the lock lever 20 rotates counterclockwise against the spring force of the coil spring 21, and at the same time, the lock claw 22 disengages from the engagement recess 28 of the opening / closing lid 14. As a result, the opening / closing lid 14 is unlocked, pivots upward on the front surface of the lower half, is brought into an open state, and tape loading is started.

However, in the above-described conventional lock mechanism 17, it is necessary to attach the above-mentioned coil spring 21 in order to urge the lock lever 20 in the locking direction, so the attachment work is troublesome (sometimes it may come off. However, there is a drawback that the number of parts increases and the cost also increases.

C. Object of the Invention An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cassette having a lock mechanism that exhibits a sufficient spring force, reduces the number of assembling steps, and realizes cost reduction.

D. Configuration of the Invention That is, the present invention relates to a tape cassette in which an opening / closing lid provided on the front surface of a tape cassette body composed of a lower half and an upper half is locked by a lock member. Elastic means is integrally formed, and the lock member is formed so that there is a lock portion that engages with the opening / closing lid at a position different from the position where the elastic means is located. The tape cassette is characterized in that the lock member is arranged so that the lock portion of the lock member is locked to the opening / closing lid by a molded elastic means.

E. Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. However, Figs. 9 to 13
Portions common to the conventional example shown in the figure are denoted by common reference numerals, and description thereof may be omitted.

1 to 7 show an example in which the elastic means for urging the lock member in the present invention in the locking direction is not integrally formed with the lower half but is integrally formed with the lock member, that is, the present invention. It is a preliminary explanatory diagram for explaining.

The open / close lid lock mechanism 47 according to the present example has a lock lever 40 in which plate-like elastic pieces 41 and 42 are integrally formed under the rotary shafts 18 and 19, respectively. These elastic pieces 41, 42 are
It shows elastic forces that are respectively fitted into the grooves 43 and 44 formed in the arc-shaped recesses 31 and 32 into which the 19 is fitted and that are restored to the original shape in a deformed state by external pressure. The lock lever 40 is not provided with the coil spring 21 as described in the conventional example.

The lock lever 40 described above is in the locked state as shown in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, the elastic pieces 41, 42 are fitted in the recesses 43, 44 in a solid line state, but when unlocking in the direction of the arrow 29, they rotate counterclockwise as shown by the one-dot chain line, at this time, The elastic pieces 41, 42 are forcibly elastically deformed. Therefore, since the lever 40 rotates against the spring force due to this deformation, if the external pressure 29 is removed, the elastic piece 41,
The spring force of 42 urges the lock lever 40 in the lock direction (clockwise direction) to return it to the solid line lock position.

Therefore, in the mechanism of this example, a desired bias can be applied to the lever simply by integrally molding the elastic pieces 41 and 42 at the time of molding the lever. Can be improved and the number of steps can be reduced. Further, the number of parts is reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

In addition, in the above, in order to make the elastic pieces 41, 42 sufficiently exhibit the spring property, their thickness may be set to, for example, about 0.3 mm, and the unlocking can be performed with a pressing force (standard) of 15 g or less. The elastic force may be designed in advance. This elastic force can be realized by appropriately selecting the length or width, the material and the like together with the above thickness.

FIG. 8 shows a first embodiment of the tape cassette according to the present invention.

In this example, the rotary shafts 18 and 19 (the side 19 is shown in the drawing, but the side 18 is also the same) are provided with grooves instead of the elastic pieces described above.
52 is formed, and the elastic piece 54 is integrally formed in the recess 32 in correspondence therewith. Contrary to the above example, the elastic piece 54 on the lower half side is fitted into the groove 52 on the lock lever side, and the lock lever 50 is attached to the lower half 1.

Therefore, when the lock is released, as described in FIG.
The lock lever 40 is rotated counterclockwise against the spring force due to the deformation of the elastic piece 54, and at the time of locking, the spring force of the elastic piece 54 urges the lock lever 40 in the locking direction (clockwise direction). Be punished. In the case of this example, since the elastic piece 54 does not exist on the lock lever side, it is possible to reduce the situation in which the elastic piece comes into contact with other parts and is worn or damaged during manufacture, storage, and assembly of the lock lever. it can. Further, since the elastic means for urging the lock member in the lock direction is integrally formed on the lower half, the elastic member can be easily implemented as compared with the case where the lock member is integrally formed. In other words, the lock member has a complicated shape and is a small part. Therefore, it is easier to integrally mold the lower half that is larger and less complicated than the lock member, rather than integrally molding the elastic means on the lock member. Can be configured.

FIG. 9 shows an example in which the elastic means for urging the lock member in the lock direction in the present invention is not integrally formed in the lower half but is integrally formed in the lock member, that is, for explaining the present invention. It is a preliminary explanatory drawing.

In this example, an elastic piece having the same function as the elastic piece described above is used.
61 is integrally formed on the inner surface side of the lock lever 40, and an engaging wall portion 60 is provided on the lower half 1 at a position opposed to this. Therefore, when the lock is released, the elastic piece 61 abuts on the wall portion 60 when the lever rotates as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line, and is elastically deformed by this pressure. As a result, a force for biasing the lock lever 40 in the lock direction is generated by the deformed elastic piece. In the case of this example, the number of parts is also reduced, the assembly is facilitated, and the workability is improved because the lock lever 40 is simply dropped into the lower half.

Here, if the elastic piece 61 is integrally formed with the wall portion 60 (or 26) of the lower half, the same features as those described above can be obtained.

The present invention has been illustrated above, but the above-described example can be further modified based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, the shapes and positions of the lock lever and the elastic pieces may be changed variously.

F. As described above, the present invention provides a tape cassette in which an opening / closing lid provided on the front surface of a tape cassette body composed of a lower half and an upper half is locked by a lock member. The lower half is integrally formed with an elastic means, and the lock member is formed so that a lock portion that engages with the opening / closing lid exists at a position different from the position where the elastic means is located. Since the lock member is arranged so that the lock portion of the lock member is locked to the opening / closing lid by the elastic means integrally formed in the half, a desired biasing force can be applied at the time of integral molding, and the coil spring as in the conventional case is used. Parts such as are not required at all, the workability of assembly is improved, and the number of steps can be reduced.
Moreover, the number of parts can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced. Further, since the elastic means for urging the lock member in the lock direction is integrally formed on the lower half, the elastic member can be easily implemented as compared with the case where the lock member is integrally formed. In other words, the lock member has a complicated shape and is a small part. Therefore, it is easier to integrally mold the lower half that is larger and less complicated than the lock member, rather than integrally molding the elastic means on the lock member. Can be configured.

Further, since the elastic means and the lock portion of the lock member are not used in common, the lock is reliable, the damage is hard to occur, and the durability is high.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of a lock lever, FIG. 2 is a front view of a lower half when the lock lever is attached to the lower half, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 3, FIG. 8 is a front view similar to FIG. 2 according to another example, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 6 according to a reference example. . 10 to 14 show a conventional example, FIG. 10 is a plan view of the lower half of the tape cassette, FIG. 11 is a plan view of the upper half of the tape cassette, and FIG. 12 is the lock lever. FIG. 13 is a front view of the lower half when the lock lever is attached to the lower half, and FIG. 14 is an enlarged plan view of an essential part of the lower half. In the reference numerals shown in the drawings, 1, 11 ...... Half 2, 3 ...... Reel 5 ...... Magnetic tape 14 ...... Open / close lid 18, 19 ...... Rotating shaft 20, 40 ...... Lock lever 21 ...... Coil spring 22 …… Lock claw 23 …… Protrusion 26,60 …… Lower half wall 29 …… External pressure 41,42,54,61 …… Elastic piece 43,44,52 …… Groove.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A tape cassette in which an opening / closing lid provided on the front surface of a tape cassette body composed of a lower half and an upper half is locked by a lock member, wherein the lower half has elastic means. The lock member is formed integrally, and the lock member is formed at a position different from the position where the elastic unit is located so that a lock portion that engages with the opening / closing lid exists. A tape cassette, wherein the lock member is arranged so that the lock portion of the lock member is hooked on the opening / closing lid by means.