JPH11110942A - Tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tape cartridge capable of housing two kinds of cards, i.e., an information recording card indicating information intrinsic to the cartridge prevented from being freely taken out by a user and an information recording card requested for free taking-in and out by a user. SOLUTION: Two recessed grooves 7 are provided side by side in a row on the same outer side surface of a main body case 1. A card inserting port 9 is provided in one end of the longitudinal direction of each recessed groove 7. In the recessed groove 7 for housing an information recording card 6 indicating information intrinsic to the cartridge prevented from being freely taken out by a user, a means is provided for permitting the insertion of the information recording card 6 but regulating its pulling-out. In the other recessed groove 7 for housing an information recording card 11 to be freely inserted/taken out by a user, the inserting/pulling-out of the information recording card 11 is freely performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a tape cartridge such as a data cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a data cartridge, an identification symbol such as a bar code for displaying individual information of the cartridge, which can be distinguished by a machine, and a content display for a user to visually confirm, for use in an autoloader or the like. Such information recording card is required. As means for mounting such an information recording card on the outer surface of the data cartridge, there are a sticking method and a method of inserting the information recording card into a concave groove on the outer surface.

[0003]

According to the pasting method, two or more types of information recording cards can be provided, but they may peel off or float over time. Particularly, when the information recording card is automatically loaded by an autoloader or the like, floating of the information recording card becomes a serious problem. In this regard, according to the plug-in storage method, there is no such a floating problem, and the plug-in storage method can be used without any trouble for an autoloader or the like. In this insertion storage method, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a concave groove 7 is provided on the outer surface of the main body case 1, and the information recording card 6 is inserted from the card insertion slot 9 and stored in the concave groove 7. I have. But,
The biggest difficulty is that only one information recording card 6 can be stored. If the information displayed on the information recording card 6 is a display unique to the data cartridge such as an identification symbol that can be distinguished by an autoloader or the like, it is desired that the user cannot take out the data cartridge without permission. In this case, since the information recording card 6 can be freely taken out from the groove 7, there is a problem that the user mistakenly takes out the information recording card 6.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge which employs the above-described insertion and storage method and which can store two types of information recording cards.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a tape capable of storing two types of information recording cards, which display information unique to a cartridge, which cannot be easily taken out by a user, and an information recording card, which requires a user to freely take out and put in. It is to provide a cartridge.

[0005]

In the tape cartridge of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the information recording cards 6 and 11 are provided on the same outer surface of the main body case 1 on the respective recording display surfaces 6a and 11 as shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, two concave grooves 7.7 are provided in a row so as to be accommodated so that a is exposed to the outside, and a card slot 9 is provided at one longitudinal end of each concave groove 7. At a position near the card slot 9 in one groove 7, there is provided withdrawing restricting means 10 for permitting insertion of the information recording card 6, but restricting withdrawal, and the other groove 7 is inserted through the card slot 9. The information recording card 11 can be freely inserted and removed.

More specifically, the extraction restricting means 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes an elastic projection 14 provided so as to protrude into and out of the groove 7 from a notch 12 provided inside the groove 7 having a T-shaped cross section. The elastic projection 14 is formed integrally with the plastic body case 1. A taper 15 is provided on one side of the elastic projection 14 facing the card insertion slot 9, and a regulating surface 16 is provided on the other side of the elastic projection 14 facing the information recording card 6 in the groove 7.

[0007]

The two types of information recording cards 6 and 11 are inserted into the grooves 7 and 7 of the main body case 1 from the respective card insertion slots 9 so that they can be stored separately. By arranging two concave grooves 7 on the same outer surface of the main body case 1 side by side, it is possible to contribute to downsizing of the tape cartridge. Since the information recording card 6 inserted into the groove 7 provided with the extraction restricting means 10 is restricted, the user can be prevented from taking out the information recording card 6 from the groove 7 without permission.

[0008]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of a tape cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a single-reel type data cartridge, in which a single reel 2 is rotatably accommodated in a rectangular box-shaped main body case 1, and a tape 3 is wound around the reel 2. The tape 3 is provided with a connector (not shown) for pull-out operation at the winding end side thereof, so that the tape 3 can be pulled out from the openable and closable loading opening of the front wall 4 of the main body case 1.

On the outer surface of the back wall 5 of the main body case 1, an information recording card 6 displaying an identification symbol such as a bar code unique to a cartridge for identification by an autoloader or the like is exposed on a recording display surface 6a. The groove 7 for storing the information recording card 11 on which the information display card 6 on which the content display or the like which can be visually checked by the user is exposed is arranged side by side. Provided. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the left and right concave grooves 7 is formed into a T-shaped cross section, and has a narrow groove portion 7a facing the outside.
and a wide groove portion 7b formed to communicate with the inner part of the inner groove 7a. The vertical width of the narrow groove 7a is set to be slightly smaller than the vertical width of the information recording cards 6 and 11, and the recording display surfaces 6a and 11a of the information recording cards 6 and 11 are exposed from the narrow groove 7a. The vertical width of the wide groove portion 7b is set to be slightly wider than the vertical width of the information recording cards 6 and 11, and the wide groove portion 7b is set.
The information recording cards 6 and 11 are slidable along.

In the figure, the left groove 7 is located at the left end thereof, and the right groove 7 is located at the right end thereof. The card slot 9 is inclined downward toward the wide groove 7b, and the wide groove 7b is formed. 7b. The card slot 9 in one of the grooves 7 and the groove 7 on the left side in FIG.
Is located in the vicinity of the information recording card 6.
With 0, the insertion of the information recording card 6 is allowed, but the removal is restricted. In the drawing, the groove 7 on the right side does not have the extraction restricting means 10, and other information recording cards 11 can be inserted and extracted freely.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 (a), the extraction restricting means 10 has a notch 12 inside the wide groove 7b of the concave groove 7 and a thin arm 1 in the main body case 1.
3 is integrally formed in a cantilever shape, and an elastic projection 14 integrally provided at the tip of the arm 13 is made to be able to protrude and retract from the notch 12 into the wide groove portion 7b by the elastic action of the arm 13. A taper 15 is provided on one side of the elastic projection 14 facing the card insertion slot 9, and a straight wall-shaped regulation surface 16 is provided on the other side of the elastic groove 14 facing the information recording card 6. In the illustrated example, the notch 12 is formed on the inner wall 19 of the upper case 1a of the main body case 1, and the arm 13 having the elastic projection 14 is
b projecting upward from the inner wall 20 via the cut groove 17,
When the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b abut each other, the elastic projections 14
Is incorporated in the notch 12. Back wall 5 of upper case 1a
, A covering wall piece 18 that covers the elastic projection 14 is provided vertically so that the elastic projection 14 cannot be seen from the outside. The covering wall piece 18 can be attached to the lower case 1b.

When the information recording card 6 is pushed into the groove 7 from the card slot 9 as shown in FIG. 5A, the insertion-side starting end 6b of the information recording card 6 is brought into the taper 15 of the elastic projection 14. Abut and push further
The insertion-side start end 6b of the information recording card 6 slides on the taper 15, and as shown in FIG. 5B, the elastic projection 14 of the arm 13 enters the notch 12 against the elastic force by the force of the pushing force. Therefore, the information recording card 6 is
Is inserted deeply into the groove 7 while being immersed.
As soon as the end 6c of the information recording card 6 passes over the elastic projection 14 as shown in FIG. 5C, the information recording card 6 is completely received in the groove 7, and at the same time, the end 6c of the information recording card 6
Is released from the elastic projection 14, and the elastic projection 14 projects and returns into the concave groove 7 by an elastic return force. Thereby, the information recording card 6
The movement of the elastic projection 14 in the direction of the card insertion slot 9 is restricted by the restricting surface 16 of the elastic projection 14, so that it is possible to prevent the user from unintentionally removing the card. When the elastic projection 14 is covered with the covering wall piece 18, the effect of preventing the user from pulling out the information recording card 6 can be further enhanced.

One of the information recording cards 6 or 11 is an IC
Can be configured with a card. In the above embodiment, the elastic projection 14 is formed in the lower case 1b, and the notch 12 is formed in the upper case 1a.
b, the elastic projections 14 may be formed on the upper case 1a. If the elastic projection 14 is formed integrally with the main body case 1, it is advantageous that the number of steps for assembling the elastic projection 14 can be omitted. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the elastic projection 14 is formed separately from the main body case 1. It may be incorporated in the concave groove 7.

[0014]

According to the tape cartridge of the present invention,
The two types of information recording cards 6 and 11 can be conveniently stored without peeling or floating problems. One extraction restricting means 1
By storing the information recording card 6 which is not easily taken out by the user in the groove 7 provided with 0, it can be suitably used for an autoloader or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the tape cartridge of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a main part shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an operation diagram for inserting an information recording card into the tape cartridge of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional tape cartridge.

7 is a sectional view of a groove for accommodating an information recording card of the tape cartridge of FIG. 7;

[Description of Signs] 1 Body case 6 ・ 11 Information recording card 7 Recessed groove 9 Card slot 10 Removal control means 12 Notch 14 Elastic protrusion 15 Taper 16 Control surface

Claims (7)

[Claims] On the same outer side surface of a main body case, two concave grooves for accommodating information recording cards so that respective recording display surfaces are exposed to the outside are arranged in a horizontal line. And a card slot 9 at one longitudinal end of each groove 7.
A tape cartridge provided with 2. An extraction control means 10 for permitting insertion of an information recording card 6 but restricting removal thereof is provided at a position near a card insertion slot 9 in one concave groove 7, and the other concave groove 7 has a card insertion slot. Information recording card 1 through mouth 9
2. The method of claim 1, wherein insertion and withdrawal of the first member are free.
The tape cartridge as described. 3. The tape cartridge according to claim 1, wherein one of the information recording card 6 and the information recording card 11 comprises an IC card. 4. The groove 7 has a narrow groove portion 7a formed in a T-shaped cross section and facing outward, and a wide groove portion 7b formed to communicate with the inside of the narrow groove portion 7a. The tape cartridge as described. 5. The removal restricting means 10 comprises an elastic projection 14 provided so as to protrude into and out of the wide groove 7b from a notch 12 provided in a part of the wide groove 7b of the concave groove 7. Tape cartridge. 6. The tape cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the elastic projection is formed integrally with the main body case made of plastic. 7. A taper 15 is provided on one side of the elastic projection 14 facing the card insertion slot 9, and a regulating surface 16 is provided on the other side of the elastic projection 14 facing the information recording card 6 in the groove 7. Tape cartridge.