JPH11162137A - Tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize the proper attitude of the incorporated locking spring of a tape cartrodge with a front cover locking mechanism and eliminate the malfunctioning of the front cover locking mechanism. SOLUTION: A locking nail 12 is supported by a nail receptacle 14 provided in a lower case so as to be able to swing back and forth and the swing of the locking nail 12 is energized in a locking attitude by a locking spring 13. The locking spring 13 is composed of a pair of rear spring arms 27 which are drawn out from both the side ends of a coil unit 25 and a front spring arm 26 which is drawn out from the middle part of the coil unit 25 as a twist coil spring. The horizontal width of the lacking spring 13 is larger than the corresponding horizontal distance of the pawl receptacle 14. When the locking spring 13 is incorporated, it is inserted into the pawl receptacle 14 from the lower surface side with the coil part 25 as its insertion leading end. In a loading state, as the rear spring arm 27 or the coil unit 25 is pressed against the left and right sidewalls 14a and 14b, the shift and the fluctuation of the loading posture of the locking spring 13 can be avoided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cartridge characterized by a lock mechanism for holding a front cover, which is disposed on the front of a main body case, in a closed position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to protect a tape when not in use, a tape cartridge of a form in which the front and back of a tape led out to the front of a case are covered with a front cover and a back cover, and the upper surface of a tape loading pocket is further covered with an upper cover. For example, see JP-A-7-14
It is known from US Pat. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, a lock claw 41 is disposed inside a claw receiver 40 having a U-shaped horizontal section provided on a lower case, and a claw shaft 42 provided at an upper end of the lock claw 41 is attached to the claw receiver. The bearing is supported by a bearing groove 43 recessed in 40. Further, a lock spring 45 is disposed between the lock claw 41 and the inner end wall 44 of the claw receiving portion 40, and the lock spring 45 urges the lock claw 41 to swing so that the lock claw 41 engages with the front lid 46. doing. On the inner surface of the rear edge of the front lid 46, a claw receiving piece 4
The claw arm 48 of the lock claw 41 is engaged with the claw receiving piece 47 to lock and hold the front cover 46 in the closed position. The lock spring 45 is formed of a leaf spring bent in an inverted V-shape.

The width of the lock claw 41 is only about 1 to 2 mm.
And the claw receiving piece 47 are easily disengaged. Therefore, the present inventors have sought to improve the reliability of the front lid locking mechanism by increasing the overall width dimension of the lock claw. In particular,
As shown in FIG. 9, a lock claw 50 is formed of a plastic block having a large thickness on the right and left sides, and a wide claw arm 51 that engages with the claw receiving piece 47 of the front lid 46 is protruded obliquely upward in the middle of the front surface. The lower end of the front surface is provided with a leg 52 that can be unlocked by a tape drive unlocking tool. Leg 5
2 is smaller than the left-right width of the claw arm 51. Along with such a structural change of the lock claw 50, a protruding wall 54 is provided at the lower end of the left and right side walls of the claw receiving portion 53 so as to face each other.
Thus, the left and right swing of the leg 52 can be restricted.
Also in this case, the lock claw 50 is urged to swing in the direction of engaging with the front lid by using the inverted V-shaped lock spring 45.

[0004]

In the above front lid lock mechanism, the lock spring 45 is inserted and loaded from the side of the lower surface opening of the claw receiving portion 53 after the upper and lower cases are assembled.
The left and right width dimensions of the lock spring 45 must be equal to or smaller than the opposing interval of the protruding wall 54. Therefore, the lock spring 45 loaded between the lock claw 50 and the back end wall of the claw receiving portion 53 has room for free movement in the left-right direction by the protrusion dimension of the protrusion wall 54, and in the worst case, the lock spring 45 45
Is loaded in a state where it is inclined in the left-right direction, and the spring force cannot be stably exhibited. At the time of loading, even if the posture is correct, the spring posture may be inclined due to a drop impact. As described above, when the lock spring 45 is tilted, a sufficient spring force cannot be applied to the lock claw 50 or a biased spring force is applied to the lock claw 50, so that a malfunction is likely to occur.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to form a lock spring for locking the front lid with a torsion coil spring, and make use of the fact that the torsion coil spring can exhibit the same elastic action as a compression coil spring. The side face of the loaded lock spring is pressed against the claw receiving portion so that the loaded state of the lock spring can be stably maintained by the frictional force associated with this pressing action, so that the front lid locking mechanism is always operated reliably. is there.

[0006]

As shown in FIG. 2, the tape cartridge of the present invention has a front cover 5 on the front surface of a main body case 1 in which upper and lower cases 1a and 1b are connected in a lid-like manner. A front lid locking mechanism for locking and holding the front lid 5 in the closed position is provided at the front part of the side wall of the case 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the front lid locking mechanism includes a claw receiving piece 11 provided on a lid side wall 5 a of the front lid 5, a lock claw 12 which is detachably engaged with the claw receiving piece 11, and a lock claw. And a lock spring 13 that oscillates and biases the lock lever 12 in a lock engagement direction. Lock claw 12
And a claw receiving portion 14 for accommodating the lock spring 13,
The lower case 1b is provided with a U-shaped cross section at the front portion of the side wall with the upper and lower surfaces and the front surface open. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the lock claw 12 engages with the claw receiving piece 11.
8 and a leg 19 that is unlocked by the unlocking tool P, and a shaft 20 provided on the upper part of the claw is loaded into a bearing groove 15 provided on the upper end of the claw receiving part 14, whereby the lock claw 12 is released. Are supported to be able to swing back and forth. At the lower ends of the left and right side walls 14a and 14b of the claw receiving portion 14, projecting walls 23 for restricting the swing of the leg portion 19 in the left and right direction are provided. The lock spring 13
The torsion coil spring is provided with a coil part 25, and a front spring arm 26 and a rear spring arm 27 which are extended in front of and behind the coil part 25. Receiving walls 17 and 22 for preventing the front spring arm 26 or the rear spring arm 27 from slipping out are provided on at least one of the rear surface of the lock claw 12 facing the front and rear and the rear end wall 14 c of the claw receiving portion 14. The left and right width dimension L of the lock spring 13 in the free state is set to be larger than the facing dimension T of the left and right side walls 14a and 14b of the claw receiving portion 14.

More specifically, the lock spring 13 includes a coil portion 25, a pair of right and left rear spring arms 27 extending from both ends of the coil portion 25, and a U extending from a middle portion of the coil portion 25.
And a U-shaped front spring arm 26.

The receiving wall 1 is provided at the lower end of the rear end wall 14c of the claw receiving portion 14.
7 is protruded. A concave portion 21 for receiving the front spring arm 26 is provided on the back surface of the lock claw 12, and a receiving wall 22 is provided at a lower end of the concave portion 21.
Is provided.

[0009]

At the time of assembly, the shaft 20 of the lock claw 12 is dropped into the bearing groove 15 of the claw receiving portion 14 and loaded, and the upper case 1a
After being assembled to the lower case 1b, the lock spring 13 is inserted into the claw receiving portion 14 from the side of the lower surface opening and loaded. More specifically, the front and rear spring arms 26 and 27 are elastically deformed so that their free ends approach each other. Further, while the lock spring 13 is compressed and deformed in the width direction, the coil part 25
Is inserted into the claw receiving portion 14 from the lower surface side with the insertion start end. At this time, the left and right width dimension L of the lock spring 13 is shown.
Is larger than the opposing dimensions of the left and right side walls 14a and 14b of the claw receiving portion 14. Therefore, the lock spring 13 inserted into the claw receiving portion 14 attempts to return to the free state,
5, or one of the front and rear spring arms 26 and 27 is pressed against the left and right side walls 14a and 14b of the claw receiving portion 14 and receives a frictional force at the pressed portions. Therefore, when the lock spring 13 is completely loaded, there is no room for the lock spring 13 to tilt in the left-right direction, and the proper loading posture can always be maintained. Even in the case where an external impact acts on the lock spring 13, it is possible to prevent the lock spring 13 from being largely displaced and changing its loading posture.

[0010]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of a tape cartridge according to the present invention. A video tape cartridge (DVC) mainly for business use which records digitized video and audio signals is illustrated. I have. 2 and 3, the tape cartridge is a main body case 1.
The upper case 1a and the lower case 1b made of plastic are screwed together in a lid-like manner, and a pair of reels 3 around which a tape 2 is wound around the left and right inside the main body case 1 are rotatably accommodated. The tape 2 pulled out from one of the reels 3 is guided by tape guides on the left and right front portions of the main body case 1 and is led out to the front of the case.
It is wound up. Between the left and right tape guides, a tape loading pocket 4 having an open upper and lower surface and a front surface.
In order to protect the tape 2 crossing the front surface of the pocket 4 when not in use, the front and rear surfaces of the tape 2 are covered with a front cover 5 and a back cover 6. Covering.

In FIG. 4, a front cover 5 provided on the front surface of the main body case 1 is provided with shafts 8 provided on the inner side surfaces of left and right cover side walls 5a.
Is pivotally supported on the side wall of the main body case 1 and can be pivotally opened and closed vertically around the shaft 8 between a closed state shown by a solid line in FIG. 4 and an open state shown by an imaginary line. When the front lid 5 is opened, the upper lid 7 is guided rearward by a convex guide groove 9 provided on the side wall of the case.
Slide open so that you can get over the top of the The back cover 6 also slides up and down above the main body case 1. The front lid 5 is closed and biased by a torsion coil spring (not shown).

In order to lock and hold the front lid 5 so that it cannot be opened in the closed position, a front lid lock mechanism is provided between the left and right lid side walls 5a and the front left and right side walls of the main body case 1. In FIG. 4, the front lid lock mechanism includes a claw receiving piece 11 provided on the inner side surface of the lid side wall 5 a, a lock claw 12 that is detachably engaged with the claw receiving piece 11, and a direction in which the lock claw 12 is locked. And a lock spring 13 which oscillates and biases.

In order to incorporate the lock claw 12 and the lock spring 13, as shown in FIG. 5, a claw receiving portion 14 having a U-shaped horizontal cross section with an open upper and lower surface and a front surface is provided at the front portion of the side wall of the lower case 1 b. . The claw receiving portion 14 has a pair of left and right side walls 14a and 14b facing each other, and a bearing groove 15 is formed in the upper end of each of the left and right side walls 14a and 14b. Claw receiver 1
The fourth inner end wall 14c connects the left and right side walls 14a and 14b, and is formed in a convex shape when viewed from above to reduce the wall thickness. At the lower end of the rear end wall 14c, a receiving wall 17 for preventing the rear spring arm 27 from slipping downward is projected forward. Along a lower edge of the left and right side walls 14a and 14b, a protruding wall 23 for restricting the later-described swinging of a leg portion 19 in the left and right direction is protrudingly provided.

In FIG. 5, a lock claw 12 is made of a vertically long plastic block, and a claw arm 18 for engaging with the claw receiving piece 11 is projected obliquely upward at a middle part of the front surface of the lock claw, and is locked at a lower end of the front surface. A leg 19, which is unlocked by the release tool P, protrudes. The left-right width of the leg 19 is smaller than the left-right width of the claw arm 18. Near the upper end of the lock claw 12, a shaft 20 that is dropped into the bearing groove 15 from above and loaded is protruded. On the back surface of the lock claw 12, a concave portion 21 for receiving a front spring arm 26, which will be described later, is formed as a recess, and the lower end thereof is used as a receiving wall 22 for the front spring arm 26. As shown in FIG. 6, the inner wall of the concave portion 21 extends outward and is inclined in a tapered shape.

The lock spring 13 is formed of a torsion coil spring formed of a spring wire. The rear spring arm 27 is extended from the rear portion of each of the left and right ends of the coil portion 25 so as to be wider than the coil portion 25. The front spring arm 26 is formed in a U-shape from the front portion at the center in the width direction. The left and right width dimension L of the lock spring 13 in the free state (the left and right width of the protruding end of the rear spring arm 27 in this embodiment) is equal to the left and right side walls 1 of the claw receiving portion 14.
4a and 14b are set sufficiently larger than the facing dimension T.
When the lock spring 13 is loaded between the lock claw 12 and the back end wall 14c, the protruding end of the front spring arm 26 is received by the concave portion 21 of the lock claw 12, and the rear spring arm 27 is connected to the left and right side walls 14a and 14b and The lock claw 12 is received by the rear end wall 14c and oscillates in a direction in which the lock claw 12 is locked.

When assembling the front lid lock mechanism, the upper lid 7 is assembled to the front lid 5 and the rear lid 6 is assembled to the upper lid 7 in advance. In these lid units, the shaft 8 is press-fitted into the upper case 1a to be integrated with the upper case 1a. After assembling the pair of reels 3 and the reel lock mechanism into the lower case 1b, the lock claw 12 is dropped into the claw receiving portion 14 from above and loaded, and the shaft 20 is engaged with the bearing groove 15. Next, the upper case 1a is assembled to the lower case 1b, and finally the lock spring 13 is assembled in the claw receiving portion 14 from the side of the lower surface opening. Specifically, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 1, the front and rear spring arms 26 and 27 are elastically deformed in a direction approaching each other, and the coil part 25 is compressed and deformed while maintaining this state. Insert between 23. Thereafter, the lock spring 13 is pushed in until the two spring arms 26 and 27 cross over the receiving walls 17 and 22, and the spring arms 26 and 27 are pushed into the concave portion 21 and the rear end wall 14.
By dropping the lock spring 13 into the c, the lock spring 13 can be easily assembled into the claw receiving portion 14.

As described above, when the lock spring 13 is assembled in the claw receiving portion 14, the entire lock spring 13 is compressed in the width direction as shown in FIG. 14 and receives frictional force by contacting the left and right side walls 14a and 14b. Therefore, even if an external impact acts on the main body case 1, the lock spring 13 is reliably prevented from tilting in the left-right direction, and the assembled state of the lock spring 13 can be stably maintained.

In the case where the lock spring 13 receives a drop impact, the lock spring 13 may try to come out to the lower surface opening side of the claw receiving portion 14. However, in each of the concave portion 21 for receiving the front and rear spring arms 26 and 27 and the lower end of the rear end wall 14c,
Since the receiving walls 22 and 17 are provided, each of the spring arms 26 and 27
Does not climb down over the receiving walls 22 and 17. In addition, even if only one of the two receiving walls 22 and 17 is used,
The same slip-out preventing action can be exhibited.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the lock spring 13. In the above embodiment, the left and right widths of the protruding end of the rear spring arm 27 are set to be larger than the left and right widths of the coil portion 25. In this embodiment, the left and right widths of the two 25 and 27 are matched.
The left and right width dimension L of the lock spring 13 is set to be sufficiently larger than the interval T between the left and right side walls 14a and 14b of the claw receiving portion 14.

Contrary to the above embodiment, the lock spring 13 may be formed by extending the front spring arm 26 from both ends of the coil portion 25 and extending the rear spring arm 27 from the middle of the coil portion 25. . The lock spring 13 can be formed by extending the front spring arm 26 from one end of the coil portion 25 and extending the rear spring arm 27 from the other end of the coil portion 25. The left and right side walls surrounding the recess 21 can be omitted.

[0021]

According to the present invention, the lock spring 13 is formed by a torsion coil spring, and the coil portion 25 is inserted into the claw receiving portion 14 from the lower surface with the insertion start end. Further, the left and right width dimension L of the lock spring 13 is set to be larger than the distance between the left and right side walls 14a and 14b of the claw receiving portion 14, and the lock spring 13 incorporated in the claw receiving portion 14 is attached to the left and right side wall 1
4a and 14b, and the lock spring 13 is
To be able to restrict easy movement within. Therefore, according to the tape cartridge of the present invention, the assembled state of the lock spring 13 can be stably maintained, and the lock function of the front lid lock mechanism can always be exhibited stably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a main part showing a front lid lock mechanism.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing a structure around a front lid.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a main part.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a front lid lock mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the front lid lock mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing another embodiment of the lock spring.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional front lid lock mechanism.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing a comparative example of the front lid lock mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case 1a Upper case 1b Lower case 5 Front lid 5a Lid side wall 11 Claw receiving piece 12 Lock claw 13 Lock spring 14 Claw receiving part 15 Bearing groove 18 Claw arm 19 Leg part 20 Shaft 25 Coil part 26 Fore spring arm 27 Rear spring arm

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A front cover 5 is provided on a front surface of a main body case 1 in which upper and lower cases 1a and 1b are coupled in a lid-like manner. The front lid locking mechanism includes a claw receiving piece 11 provided on a lid side wall 5 a of the front lid 5, and a locking claw 12 which is detachably engaged with the claw receiving piece 11.
And a lock spring 13 that oscillates and biases the lock claw 12 in a direction in which the lock claw 12 is locked. The claw receiving portion 1 that houses the lock claw 12 and the lock spring 13
4 is provided in the front part of the side wall of the lower case 1b in a U-shaped cross section with the upper and lower surfaces and the front surface open. The lock claw 12 includes a claw arm 18 that engages with the claw receiving piece 11, A shaft 20 provided at the upper part of the pawl is loaded in a bearing groove 15 provided at the upper end of the pawl receiving part 14 and supported so as to be able to swing back and forth. At the lower ends of the left and right side walls 14a and 14b of the nail receiving portion 14, a leg 1 is provided.
A projecting wall 23 for restricting swinging of the coil 9 in the left-right direction is provided so as to face each other. The lock spring 13 includes a coil part 25, a front spring arm 26 extending back and forth from the coil part 25, and a rear spring. The front spring arm 26 is provided on at least one of the rear surface of the lock claw 12 facing the front and rear and the rear end wall 14 c of the claw receiving portion 14.
Alternatively, receiving walls 17 and 22 for preventing the rear spring arm 27 from coming off.
A tape cartridge in which the left and right width dimension L of the lock spring 13 in the free state is set to be larger than the facing dimension T of the left and right side walls 14a and 14b of the claw receiving portion 14. 2. A lock spring 13 comprising: a coil portion 25; and a pair of left and right rear spring arms 2 extending from both side ends of the coil portion 25.
7. The tape cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising: a U-shaped front spring arm extending from a middle portion of the coil portion. 3. A receiving wall 17 protrudes from a lower end of a rear end wall 14c of the claw receiving portion 14. A concave portion 21 for receiving a front spring arm 26 is provided on a back surface of the lock claw 12, and a lower end of the concave portion 21 is provided. 3. The tape cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving wall.