JPH10247373A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the disassembling function of a tape cassette. SOLUTION: This cassette is furnished with a main body 5 of the cassette constituted by combining an upper half 3 and a lower half 4, a lid 8 provided on an opening part for pulling out the tape of the cassette main body 5 so as to be freely openable/closable while having a turning support shaft 16 freely turnably supported by the cassette main body 5, and a lid spring 9 provided on the turning support shaft 16 of this lid 8 for imparting the turning habit to the lid 8. On the upper half 3, a supporting recessed part 24 for supporting one end part of the lid spring 9 is provided opening to the front end, and also a supporting part 29 is provided for supporting the turning support shaft 16 of the lid 8, and a shaft control rib 30 is provided on this supporting part 29 for preventing the fall-off of the turning support shaft 16. The lid spring 9 is formed in such a manner that a restraining part 23 supported by the supporting recessed part 24 of the upper half 3 is bent to the circular-arcuate state like as gradually away from the bottom surface of the supporting recessed part 24 toward the tip part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette having, for example, a tape reel on which a magnetic tape is wound, and a lid which is openably and closably provided at a tape drawing-out opening from which the magnetic tape is drawn.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A tape cassette comprises a cassette body composed of a pair of an upper half and a lower half combined, a tape reel on which a magnetic tape is wound and housed in the cassette body, and a front surface of the cassette body. A lid is provided in the formed tape pull-out opening so as to be openable and closable, and a lid spring for imparting a rotation behavior to the lid in a direction of closing the tape pull-out opening is provided.

As shown in FIG. 9, a lid 58 has a substantially rectangular plate-shaped main surface portion 63 provided opposite to a tape drawing-out opening portion of a cassette body 55, and both sides of the main surface portion 63 in the short side direction. And a top plate portion 65 provided integrally with the main surface portion 63 and the guide portion 64.

[0004] The guide portion 64 of the lid 58 is provided integrally with a rotation support shaft 56 rotatably supported by the cassette body 55. Therefore, the lid 58
Is attached to the cassette main body 55 by the rotation support shaft 56 of the guide portion 64.
And is rotatably supported via the.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the lid 58 is provided with a mounting rib 68 to which one end of a lid spring 59 is mounted on an outer peripheral portion of the rotation support shaft 56 of the guide portion 64. ing. Also, this lid 5
The top plate 65 of FIG. 8 is provided with a temporary fixing recess 69 for temporarily attaching the other end of the lid spring 59 at a position facing the lid spring 59.

The lid spring 59 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a coil-shaped base portion 71 attached to the rotation support shaft 56 of the guide portion 64 of the lid 58 and an attachment portion 72 attached to the attachment rib 68 of the lid 58
And the locking portion 7 supported against the upper half 53
And 3.

[0007] The lid spring 59 is attached to the mounting portion 7.
2 is provided so as to be orthogonal to the axis of the base 71, and the locking portion 73 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape bent toward the upper half 53. The lid spring 59 gives the lid 58 a rotational behavior in the direction of closing the tape pull-out opening of the cassette body 55 by the elastic force.

As shown in FIG. 12, the upper half 53 has a lid spring 59 attached to the pivot 56 at a position adjacent to the pivot 56 of the lid 58.
Is provided with a support concave portion 74 for supporting the locking portion 73. The support recess 74 includes a position regulating wall 74 a parallel to the length direction of one end of the lid spring 59, and a locking portion 73.
And an abutment wall 74b against which the front end is abutted.

As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, an upper half 53 and a lower half 5 constituting a cassette body 55 are provided.
In FIG. 4, substantially L-shaped notches 77 and 78 are formed at the butting portions of the rising peripheral walls 75 and 76 on the side surfaces. The upper half 53 and the lower half 54 have the notch 7
A support portion 79 that rotatably supports the rotation support shaft 56 of the lid 58 is configured by combining 7, 78. As shown in FIG. 9, a leaf spring 80 for urging the tape reel toward the lower half 54 is provided on the bottom surface of the upper half 53.

Then, as shown in FIG. 15, the lid 58 is held in a state where the lid spring 59 is temporarily fixed.
It is attached to the upper half 53. The lid 58 supports the rotation support shaft 56 of the guide portion 64 on the support portion of the upper half 53 and the lid spring 59.
Is supported by the support recess 74 of the upper half 53.

The tape cassette 5 configured as described above
When the cassette main body 1 is loaded into a recording / reproducing apparatus (not shown), the cassette body 55
The lid 58 is rotated against the elastic force of the lid spring 59 to open the tape pull-out opening of the cassette body 55. And this tape cassette 51
The magnetic tape is pulled out from the tape pull-out opening, and information is recorded / reproduced on / from the magnetic tape.

[0012]

As described above, the upper half 53 has one end of the lid spring 59 attached to the lid 58 when the lid 58 is conveyed in a state where the lid 58 is assembled in the assembling process. The support recess 74 is formed with an abutment wall 74b against which the locking portion 73 of the lid spring 59 abuts so as not to easily come off the support recess 74. For this reason, when the tape cassette 51 is disassembled for recycling component parts, for example,
There is a problem that it is difficult to remove the lid 58 from the cassette body 55, and the workability of the disassembling operation is inferior.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tape cassette which can be easily disassembled and has improved part recyclability.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a tape cassette according to the present invention is constituted by combining an upper half and a lower half, accommodates a tape reel, and is provided with an opening for extracting a tape. A cassette body, a lid having a rotation support shaft rotatably supported by the cassette body, and a lid provided to be openable and closable at an opening for tape withdrawal of the cassette body, And a torsion coil spring for imparting rotation behavior to the lid.

In the upper half of the cassette body, a support recess for supporting one end of a torsion coil spring is provided at the front end side of the cassette body, and a support section for supporting a pivot shaft of the lid. The support portion is provided with a shaft restricting rib for preventing the rotation support shaft from dropping off, and the torsion coil spring has an end portion supported by the support recess of the upper half gradually becoming a support recess. It is formed to be curved in an arc shape so as to be separated from the bottom surface.

The tape cassette constructed as above is
When the lid is disassembled from the cassette body, the support recess of the lid is provided to be opened in the front surface of the cassette body, and one end of the torsion coil spring is formed to be curved in an arc shape. Can easily be pulled out from the support recess, so that the disassembly of the lid with respect to the upper half is improved.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings for a tape cassette.
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show a tape cassette 1 according to an embodiment.
As shown in the figure, a pair of upper half 3 and lower half 4
And a tape reel 7 on which a magnetic tape (not shown) is wound and stored in the cassette body 5
And a lid 8 rotatably provided on the cassette body 5.
And a lid spring 9 for imparting rotation behavior to the lid 8.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cassette body 5 is formed by combining a pair of upper halves 3 and lower halves 4 formed of a resin material into a substantially rectangular shallow dish shape. The cassette main body 5 has tape pull-out openings 11 through which a magnetic tape is drawn out from the inside when the cassette main body 5 is loaded into a recording / reproducing device (not shown). Tape reel 7
Is rotatably housed in the cassette body 5, and the wound magnetic tape is pulled out from the tape pull-out opening 11 of the cassette body 5.

The lid 8 is formed of a resin material. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lid 8 has a main surface portion 13 facing the front surface portion of the cassette body 5, and is formed on both sides of the main surface portion 13. A guide portion 14 which is rotatably supported by the cassette body 5, a main surface portion 13 and a guide portion 14.
And a top plate 15 formed on the upper surface of the cassette body 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lid 8 is provided with a rotation support shaft 16 which is rotatably supported by the upper half 3 and the lower half 4 in the guide portion 14. Opening 1 for tape withdrawal of cassette body 5 via support shaft 16
1 is provided so as to be freely opened and closed. The rotation support shaft 16 is provided with an unlocking rib 18 that swings a reel lock mechanism 31 described later that regulates the rotation of the tape reel 7.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lid 8 is provided on the top plate 15 with a temporary fixing recess 19 for temporarily attaching one end of the lid spring 9 in an assembling process. 19 is attached to the upper half 3 with one end of the lid spring 9 temporarily fixed.

The lid spring 9 is a so-called torsion coil spring, and has a base portion 21 wound in a coil shape as shown in FIG. The base portion 21 has a circular mounting portion 22 provided at one end thereof so as to be orthogonal to the axis of the base portion 21, and is supported at the other end by abutting the upper half 3. Locking portion 23 is formed. Also, this lid spring 9
The locking portion 23 is formed in an arc shape that is gradually curved toward the distal end portion in a direction away from the upper half 3.

The lid spring 9 includes a base 21
Are supported by the pivot 16 of the lid 8, and the mounting portion 22 is mounted on the unlocking rib 18 of the lid 8. In the lid spring 9 in which the base portion 21 is attached to the rotation support shaft 16, the locking portion 23 is supported by the upper half 3. The lid spring 9 gives the lid 8 a rotational behavior in the direction of closing the tape pull-out opening 11 of the cassette body 5 by an elastic force.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, on the front end side of the upper half 3, a lid spring attached to the turning support shaft 16 is positioned adjacent to the turning support shaft 16 of the lid 8. A support recess 24 that supports the 9 locking portions 23 is provided. The support recess 24 has a position regulating wall 24a parallel to the longitudinal direction of one end of the lid spring 9, and is formed with an opening at the front end side of the upper half 3. Therefore, according to the support recess 24, the locking portion 23 of the lid spring 9 can be easily removed.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the upper half 3 and the lower half 4 constituting the cassette body 5 have substantially L-shaped cutouts at the butting portions of the rising peripheral walls 25 and 26 on the side surfaces. Parts 27 and 28 are respectively formed. The upper half 3 and the lower half 4 form a substantially rectangular support portion 29 by combining the cutout portions 27 and 28,
The support portion 29 supports the rotation support shaft 16 of the lid 8 to be rotatable.

The notch 27 of the upper half 3 has
The shaft restricting rib 30 is formed.
When the lid 8 is assembled to the upper half 3, the notch 27 of the support portion 29
Of the rotating support shaft 16 is securely prevented from falling off.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cassette body 5 is provided with a reel lock mechanism 31 for restricting the rotation of the tape reel 7. The reel lock mechanism 31 provides a reel lock member 32 for regulating the rotation of the tape reel 7, a swing support shaft 33 for swingably supporting the reel lock member 32, and a swing behavior to the reel lock member 32. And a reel lock spring 34.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the reel lock member 32 is engaged with an engagement groove 7b formed over the outer peripheral portion of a flange plate 7a constituting the tape reel 7, thereby forming a tape. An engagement piece 36 that regulates the rotation of the reel 7, an operation piece 37 that is oscillated by the unlocking rib 18 of the lid 8, and a locking piece 38 that locks one end of the reel lock spring 34. Have.

The swing shaft 33 includes an upper half 3 and a lower half 4
, And swingably supports a central portion of the reel lock member 32. One end of the reel lock spring 34 is locked by a locking rib 39 erected on the bottom surface of the lower half 4, and the other end is locked by a locking piece 38 of the reel lock member 32. I have. The elasticity of the reel lock spring 34 imparts a swinging behavior in a direction in which the engagement piece 36 of the reel lock member 32 engages with the engagement groove 7b of the tape reel 7 by an elastic force.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the reel lock mechanism 31 constructed as described above rotates the lid 8 in a direction to open the tape pull-out opening 11, and Of the reel lock member 32 is operated by the lock release rib 18. And the reel lock member 32
The operation piece 37 is swung by being operated, and the engagement state between the engagement piece 36 and the engagement groove 7b of the tape reel 7 is released, so that the tape reel 7 can be rotated.

The tape cassette 1 configured as described above
The operation of removing the lid 8 from the cassette body 5 and disassembling it will be described. First, the tape cassette 1 is composed of a cassette body 5 and an upper half 3 on which a lid 8 is assembled.
And the lower half 4. And lid 8
By pulling out one end of the lid spring 9 from the support recess 24 of the upper half 3 and pulling out the rotation support shaft 16 from the support portion 29 of the upper half 3, the lid spring 9 can be easily removed from the upper half 3.

As described above, the tape cassette 1 according to the embodiment has the upper half 3 in which the support recess 24 for supporting the locking portion 23 of the lid spring 9 is provided at the front end.
And a lid spring 9 formed by bending the locking portion 23 supported by the support concave portion 24 of the upper half 3 into an arc shape so that the support concave portion 24 of the upper half 3 is provided.
Since the locking portion 23 of the lid spring 9 can be easily removed from the upper half 3, the upper half 3 and the lid 8 can be easily disassembled. Therefore, this tape cassette 1
According to the method, the decomposability is improved, and for example, resin parts can be satisfactorily recycled.

The tape cassette 1 has a lid 8
By providing the upper half 3 having the support portion 29 provided with the shaft restricting rib 30 for preventing the rotation support shaft 16 from dropping, the guide portion 14 of the lid 8 when the lid 8 is assembled to the upper half 3 is provided. Can be reliably supported.

Although the tape cassette 1 according to the present embodiment has a configuration including a single lid 8, it may have a configuration including a lid structure including a plurality of lids.
Further, the tape cassette 1 has a configuration in which the magnetic tape is wound around the tape reel 7, but it is needless to say that another configuration such as a cleaning tape may be wound.

[0035]

As described above, according to the tape cassette of the present invention, the support recess for supporting one end of the torsion coil spring is provided at the front end side of the cassette body, and the pivot shaft of the lid is provided. An upper half provided with a support portion for supporting the shaft, a shaft regulating rib provided on the support portion to prevent the pivot shaft from falling off, and one end supported by the support concave portion of the upper half is directed toward the distal end. By providing the torsion coil spring which is curved in an arc shape so as to be gradually separated from the bottom surface of the support concave portion, the assembled torsion coil spring can be easily removed, so that the cassette body and the lid are disassembled. Can be done easily. Therefore, according to the tape cassette, the disassembly is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the tape cassette from the bottom side.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of the tape cassette.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a lid spring included in the tape cassette.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating support portions provided on an upper half and a lower half of the tape cassette.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the support section.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a reel lock mechanism provided in the tape cassette.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the reel lock mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a main part of a conventional tape cassette.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view showing a lid and a lid spring included in a conventional tape cassette.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state where a lid spring is assembled to a lid provided in a conventional tape cassette.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view for explaining an upper half of a conventional tape cassette.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating support portions provided on an upper half and a lower half of a conventional tape cassette.

FIG. 14 is a side view for explaining support portions of an upper half and a lower half constituting a conventional tape cassette.

FIG. 15 is a side view for explaining a state where a lid is assembled to a conventional upper half.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 tape cassette, 3 upper half, 4 lower half, 5
Cassette body, 8 lid, 9 lid spring, 1
1 Tape pull-out opening, 16 rotation support shaft, 30 shaft control rib, 37 support, 38 support recess

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cassette body comprising a combination of an upper half and a lower half for accommodating a tape reel and having a tape pull-out opening, and a rotating support rotatably supported by the cassette body. A lid having a shaft, which is openably and closably provided in a tape drawing opening of the cassette main body, and a torsion coil spring which is provided on a rotation support shaft of the lid and imparts rotation behavior to the lid. A support recess for supporting one end of the torsion coil spring is provided in the upper half of the cassette body, and is provided on the front end side of the cassette body, and a support section for supporting a pivot shaft of the lid. The support portion is provided with a shaft regulating rib for preventing the rotation support shaft from falling off. The torsion coil spring has one end supported by the support recess of the upper half. Tape cassette, characterized in that toward the end is formed by arcuately curved as to separate gradually from the bottom surface of the support recess. A reel lock mechanism for restricting rotation of the tape reel, a lock operation section for operating a reel lock mechanism is provided on a rotation support shaft of the lid, and the lock operation section includes the torsion coil spring. 2. The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein the other end of the tape cassette is attached.