JPS58161180A - Adapter of small-sized tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an adapter from being loaded into a recording and reproducing device unless a tape is led out to the front surface of the adapter body, by providing a preventing groove for erroneous loading. CONSTITUTION:Before the tape is led out, an arm 76 abuts on a raised piece 122 to shift a movable member 119 against a spring 121 to right and the right end part 119a of the movable member 119 blocks a part on the erroneous loading preventing groove 117. In this state, even if the adapter is loaded in a correct direction in the recording and reproducing device, the detector on the recording and reproducing device side interferes with the right end part 119a of the movable member 119, so the adapter can not be loaded into the recording and reproducing device completely likewise the front-rear reverse or upside- down reverse loading of the adapter.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a small tape cartridge adapter that allows a small tape cartridge to be used by being loaded into a recording/reproducing apparatus for large tape cartridges.

This type of adapter has already been proposed, in which a small tape cartridge is housed in an adapter body that has substantially the same external shape as a large tape cartridge, and the built-in tape is transferred from the small tape cartridge to the front side of the adapter body. After pulling out the adapter, the adapter body is loaded into the recording/playback device.

However, after storing a small tape cartridge in the adapter body, users tend to make the mistake of forgetting to pull out the tape from the small tape cartridge to the front of the adapter body and loading the adapter into a recording/reproducing device. In such a case, the recording and reproducing device will not work, so you will have to reload the adapter, which is a hassle and will also cause you to miss a valuable recording opportunity, and prevent you from being able to quickly identify the cause of the recording and reproducing device's inoperation. It also becomes.

Therefore, this invention prevents the adapter from being pushed into a recording/playback device if the user forgets to pull out the tape from the small tape cartridge to the front of the adapter main body after storing the small tape cartridge in the adapter main body. This allows the user to quickly notice that the tape drawer operation described above is not being performed.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. The illustrated adapter 1 is designed to allow a small-sized video tape cartridge 2 to be loaded into a video deck for a normal large-sized tape cartridge.

(1) Structure of a small tape cartridge In FIGS. 1 and 2, the small tape cartridge 2 functions independently, and has upper and lower plastic cases 3a and 3b arranged in a tufted shape. Tape reels 5 and 6 with flanges on both sides, on which the tape 4 is wound, are rotatably attached to the left and right sides of the main body case 3, which is connected with the main body case 3.

Tape guide members 7, 7 are arranged on the front left and right sides of the main body case 3, and when viewed from the rear side, the tape 4 is led out from the left delivery reel 5 to the front of the case and wound onto the right take-up reel 6. shall be. however.

The tape reel 5 on the output side is installed on a transparent drive shaft insertion hole in the bottom wall of the case to allow a certain amount of free movement in the radial direction, and the tape reel 6 on the take-up side is fixed in position around a vertical fixed shaft 9. It is supported and rotated.

A gear portion 11 formed on the outer periphery of the lower flange 10 is exposed laterally outwardly through a notch 13 formed across the bottom wall and right side wall 12 of the main body case 3. A transparent window 15 is formed on the left side of the upper case 3a for visually checking the amount of tape wound on the output tape reel 5 from the outside.

The main body case 3 is provided with a front 116 for closing the front surface of the case to protect the tape 4 when not in use. The front cover 16 has connecting pieces 18 extending rearward from both left and right ends of the front plate 17, and each connecting piece 18 fits outward into the front end recessed portion of the left and right side walls 12 of the main body case 3. When the front 116 is in the closed position with the opening angle of about 45° as the dead center, the front 90" When it is in the upward open position, it is held in the open position.

(2) Basic Structure of Adapter As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the adapter 1 has at least an adapter main body 20 having substantially the same external shape as a large-sized tape cartridge, the so-called VH3 type tape cartridge.

When loaded into a recording and reproducing apparatus for a VH3 type tape cartridge, the recording and reproducing apparatus operates without any trouble.

That is, the adapter main body 20 is made up of upper and lower plastic cases 20a and 20b that are joined together by tapping screws or the like, and has insertion holes 22 and 23 on the left and right sides of the bottom wall 21 for receiving the drive shaft of the recording/reproducing device. A locking mechanism is provided through the adapter body 20, and a front 124 that closes the front surface of the adapter body 20 is pivotally attached to the adapter body 20 so as to be rotatable to open and close, and is always biased to rotate in the closed position by a spring member (not shown), and is held in the closed position. It is equipped with

Since these configurations have the same specifications as standard VHS type tape cartridges, details will be omitted. however.

The internal structure of the adapter body 20 is a standard large tape cartridge and wings, there is no tape reel, and the front surface of the adapter body 20 is open.

(3) Storage chamber of adapter A storage chamber 25 with an open top is defined at a left-hand side of the adapter body 20 in the figure, and the small tape cartridge 2 is stored in this storage chamber 25 so as to be freely inserted and removed from above.

In FIGS. 3 to 5, the left and right side walls 2 of the storage chamber 25
The inner wall surface of No. 6 has a horizontally wide stepped surface 27 at the top, an inclined guide surface 28 that slopes downward from the stepped surface 27, and a vertical guide surface 28 that continues to the inclined guide surface 28 and reaches the bottom wall 21. It is formed into a cross-sectional shape having a surface 29, and the height of the one-step surface 27 is set to the height of the storage chamber 2.
5 (lower than the upper end of the small tape cartridge 2 when stored in The stepped surface 27 is formed from the bottom wall 21 at a rearward position of the inner wall surface of the left and right side walls 26.

Guide ribs 32 that reach the height position are provided in a protruding manner.

In such a case, insert the small tape cartridge 20 from above into the storage chamber 25 with its front and back orientation aligned with that of the adapter main body 20, and insert the recessed vertical grooves 33 into the rearward outer surface of the left and right horizontally tilting walls 12 of the small tape cartridge 2. The guide rib 32
guide and fit into each other. When the small tape cartridge 2 is stored in the storage chamber 25, the left and right side walls 12 of the small tape cartridge 2 are received and supported by the vertical surface 29, and the small tape cartridge 2 is positioned in the left and right direction.
3 and the guide rib 32, positioning in the front-back direction is performed. Therefore, the output tape reel 5 of the small tape cartridge 2 stored in the storage chamber 25 is concentrically aligned with the drive shaft insertion hole 22 of the adapter body 20. Also,
The inner wall surfaces of the left and right side walls 26 of the storage chamber 25 have stepped surfaces 2 at their upper ends.
7 and the inclined guide surface 28 form a finger insertion gap g, as shown in FIG.
The storage room 25 is guided smoothly by the inclined guide surface 28.
It can be stored in In particular, although the small tape cartridge 2 is stored with its top surface one step lower than the top surface 30 of the adapter main body 20, the small tape cartridge 2 can be easily picked out from the storage chamber 25 by inserting a fingertip into the space *g. become.

(4) Opening/closing lid of storage chamber - The opening top surface of the storage chamber 25 is closed with an opening/closing lid 35 so as to be openable and closable.

In the closed state, the opening/closing 135 has projecting side pieces 36 on the left and right of the front end.
・36 is pivotally connected to the pivots 37, 37 so as to be able to swing open and close, and a helical spring 38 is fitted to one of the pivots 37.
As shown in FIG. °)
is regulated.

Reinforcement ribs 39 , 39 are provided on the inner surface of the opening/closing lid 135 and extend in the front-rear direction at the left and right ends, and these reinforcing ribs 39 , 39 reinforce the opening/closing lid 35 made of thin, flat plastic. When closed on the top surface of the storage chamber 25,
The lower end surfaces of the reinforcing ribs 39, 39 are received and supported by the stepped surfaces 27, 27. Further, leaf springs 40, 40 are fixed near the left and right ends of the inner surface of the opening/closing lid 35, and when the small tape cartridge 2 is stored in the storage chamber 25 and the opening/closing lid 35 is closed, the leaf springs 40, 40 Small tape cartridge 2
elastically presses and supports the upper surface of the This pressing point is located on a line connecting the centers of both tape reels 5 and 6 of the small tape cartridge 2, and prevents rattling during rotation of each tape reel 5 and 6.

The upper surface of the opening/closing unit 135 is connected to the adapter body 20 in the closed state.
It becomes flush with the upper surface 30 of. In such a case, when the adapter 1 is pushed into the recording/playback device in a horizontal position and loaded, the reference plane (usually four corners) on the bottom of the adapter body 20 will be received and supported by the recording/playback device, and the adapter will open/close accordingly. 1
Several places on the upper surface 30 of the adapter body 20 including the upper surface 35 are pressed by the recording/reproducing device to prevent the adapter body 20 from wobbling. In addition, a transparent window 41 for viewing the amount of tape winding is provided at the left end of the opening/closing unit 135 in correspondence with the transparent window 15.
is formed. The opening/closing lid 35 itself may be transparent.

(5) Opening/closing mechanism for front cover of small tape cartridge When using the present adapter 1, after storing the small tape cartridge 2 in the storage chamber 25, the front 116 must be opened so that the tape 4 can be pulled out.

Therefore, in the illustrated example, an engager 42 made of a plate spring extends from near one pivot joint of the opening/closing lid 135 in the closed state of the opening/closing lid 37, and is small when the opening/closing lid 35 is open. The tape cartridge 2 is stored in the storage chamber 25.
As shown in FIG. It was assumed that the engaging claw 42a would engage. When scolded,
When the opening/closing lid 35 is closed against the upper surface of the storage chamber 25 against the helical spring 38, the front lid 16 is automatically kicked upward against the spring member 19 by the engaging claw 42a of the engaging element 42. When the opening angle of about 459 degrees is exceeded, the front cover 16 will open by itself due to the spring member 19, and when the opening/closing cover 35 is closed, the engaging claw 42a will serve as a support to prevent fingers from touching the front cover 16. The front cover 16 is maintained in an open position by absorbing external forces such as the above.

Next, when removing the small tape cartridge 2 from the storage chamber 25, the front end &i 35a of the opening/closing lid 35 comes into contact with the front lid 16 as shown in FIG. The lid 16 is automatically closed.

(6) Closing lid locking mechanism for opening/closing lid Opening/closing lid 3 swing-biased to open position by helical spring 38
5 must be locked so that it does not open when closed.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, L-shaped locking protrusions 44 are provided protruding from the left and right front ends of the inner surface of the opening/closing lid 35, and a sliding knob extending from the upper surface 30 is provided on the upper case 20a of the adapter body 2o. 45 and as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6.

A lock plate 4 that slides left and right together with the knob 45
The locking pieces 47 provided in 6 are connected to each of the aforementioned locking protrusions
44, and this locks the opening/closing lid 35 in the closed position. If the knob 45 is slid in the left and right opposite directions, the opening/closing lid 35 will be unlocked and automatically opened. Note that the engagement surfaces of each of the locking protrusions 44 and each locking piece 47 hold the opening/closing lid 35 against the leaf spring 40. The lock plate 46 is formed into a tapered surface in order to maintain its closing ability without wobbling against the pressing force of the upper case 20a. It is held in the locked position and the unlocked position by contacting and riding over the stopper 49 provided on the inner surface of the locking position.

(37) Mechanism for preventing accidental erasure of the tape built into the small tape cartridge In order to prevent the tape 4 built into the small tape cartridge 2 from being erased accidentally, the small tape cartridge 2 has a built-in tape that can be folded off at a position near the left end in the figure of the rear wall 51. An erasure prevention piece 52 is provided. Therefore, even when the small tape cartridge 2 is stored in the storage chamber 25, it is desirable that whether or not the erroneous erasure prevention piece 52 is broken off is indicated on the outer shape of the adapter body 2o.

Therefore, on the rear wall 53 of the adapter main body 2o, the accidental erasure prevention piece in a standard large (VH3 type) tape cartridge is located where it should be, that is, at a position near the left end in the figure.
4 is installed through the inside and outside through □.

A detection member 55 that detects the presence or absence of the erroneous erasure prevention piece 52 of the small tape cartridge 2 and displays it on the window 54 is incorporated into the adapter main body 2o.

In FIGS. 10 to 14, the detection member 55 consists of a slide member 56 and a swing member 57.

The slide member 56 is connected to the lower case 20 of the adapter body 2o.
The lower case 20b is guided by left and right rib-shaped guides 59, 59 protruding from the inner surface of the lower case 20b, and is slidable back and forth on the inner surface of the lower case 20b.

The spring member 60, which is a helical spring supported along the lower case 20b, is biased in the direction of retraction into the adapter body 2o, and the retraction limit is brought into contact with the stoppers 61, 61 connected to the guides 59, 59. This is regulated. Note that the stopper 61 also serves as a receiver for the spring member 60, and
0 restricts the lifting of the slide member 56. The slide member 56 has protrusions 62, 62 extending from side to side on the lower surface and running back and forth in contact with the inner surface of the lower case 20b to reduce sliding resistance. This protrusion 62 may be provided on the lower case 20b side.

The upper end of the swinging member 57 connects to the adapter body 2 via the support shaft 63.
0 is suspended and supported on the inner surface of the upper case 20a, and the support shaft 6
3 as a fulcrum, and a contact terminal 64 protruding from the front side of the lower part faces the position of the accidental erasure prevention piece 52 of the small tape cartridge 2 in the storage chamber 2'5 from the rear. .

An operating arm 65 is cantilevered in the lateral direction from the swinging member 57 and comes into contact with the rear end of the slide member 56 . Note that the support shaft 63 of the swinging member 57 is supported by a plate member 58 that stands up from the case bottom wall 21.

Assume now that the erroneous erasure prevention piece 52 of the small tape cartridge 2 has been broken off. That time.

Since the contact terminal 64 of the swinging member 57 engages in the recess 66 for breaking off the accidental erasure prevention piece of the small tape cartridge 2,
A slide member 56 interlocked with the swing member 57 via an operating arm 65 is completely retracted.

The window 54 of the adapter main body 20 is in a folded-off state without the erroneous erasure prevention piece.

When the small tape cartridge relarge 2 has the accidental erasure prevention piece 52, the contact terminal 64 comes into contact with the accidental erasure prevention piece 52 and is pushed back to the rear side, so that the slide member 5
6 is forcibly moved rearward against the spring member 60, and the rear end surface 56a of the slide member 56 looks into the window 54 and becomes substantially uniform with the outer surface of the rear wall 53 of the adapter body 20.

In other words, the slide member 56 functions as a piece to prevent accidental erasure of a large tape cartridge. Therefore, when the adapter 1 is loaded into the recording/reproducing apparatus, the rear end surface 56a of the slide member 56 is connected to the window 5.
4 and the recording/reproducing device side detects that the tape 4 built into the small tape cartridge 2 is correctly in an erasable state when the child touches the rear end surface 56a. Furthermore, when the rear end surface 56a of the slide member 56 is retracted into the adapter main body 20 and the detector on the recording/reproducing device side passes through the slide member 56, the tape 4 of the small tape cartridge 2 is correctly erased. Detect the state.

Note that the front end upper surface 64a of the contact terminal 64 is as follows.

The swinging member 57 is formed into a recessed arcuate surface so that when the small tape cartridge 2 is inserted into the storage chamber 25 from above, the swinging member 57 is pushed back without prying when it comes into contact with the lower edge of the rear end of the small tape cartridge 2. Further, the lower surface 64b of the front end of the contact terminal 64 is connected to the small tape cartridge 2 from the storage chamber 25.
It is formed into a convex arcuate surface with a smaller curvature than the curvature of the upper surface 64a so that the swinging member 64 can be pushed back smoothly when taken out.

(8) Mechanism for drawing out the tape from the small tape cartridge to the front of the adapter body As already mentioned, when the small tape cartridge 2 is stored in the storage chamber 25 of the one-pronged adapter 1 and the opening/closing 135 is closed, the small tape cartridge 2 is pulled out from the front of the adapter body. However, the lid 16 is set in an open state.

Before loading the adapter 1 into the recording/reproducing apparatus, the tape 4 must be pulled out from the small tape cartridge 2 to the front of the adapter main body 20 to set the tape in the same state as in a standard large tape cartridge.

The tape drawing mechanism will be explained next.

1'5 shows the state immediately after the small tape cartridge 2 is stored in the adapter main body 20. At this stage, the tape 4 built into the small tape cartridge 2 is stretched across the front left and right tape guide members 7. It is being

Inside the adapter body 20, round bottle-shaped tape drawer members 70 and 71 are waiting in a vertical position on the front left and right sides of the storage chamber 25, and when the small tape cartridge 2 is inserted into the storage chamber 25 from above, the tape The drawer members 70 and 71 are relatively connected to the recesses 72 and 7 at the front end of the small tape cartridge 2.
3 from below and enters inside the tape 4 stretched between the tape guide members 7 and 7.

The left tape drawer member 70 is erected and fixed at the tip of a tape drawer arm 76 that swings horizontally about a fixed fulcrum 75 at the base end. The small tape cartridge 2 is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

The lower surface of the bottom wall of the case is recessed in the front part in the left and right width direction, and the downward tip of the tape pull-out arm 76 is between the bottom wall 21 of the case of the adapter body 20 and the bottom wall of the case of the small tape cartridge 2. to be inserted into.

This tape pull-out arm 76 is connected via a link 77 and a relay link 78 to a slide link 79 that slides in the left-right direction. The right side space inside the adapter body 20 has an upper case 2. A bell crank 81 that is horizontally swingable around a fulcrum 80 is supported on the inner surface of Oa.
The base end of the slide link 79 is connected to the short side of the slide link 79 by engagement with the long hole and the bottle.

In addition, the upper case 20 is located in the right side space of the adapter body 20.
A horizontal cam plate 82 along the inner surface of a is fixed. This cam plate 82 has two rows of curved elongated holes 84 running in the front and rear directions.
85, and as shown in FIG. 21, slide links 88 and 89 are arranged in an integrally connected state on the upper and lower sides of the cam plate 82 via pins 86 and 87 passing through the respective long holes 84 and 85,
The upper slide link 88 and the tip of the long side of the bell crank 81 are connected by a link 90. On the other hand, another tape pull-out arm 93 is connected to the bin 91 provided on the lower slide link 89 through a dogleg-shaped long hole 92, and the tape pull-out member 71 on the right side is connected to the lower end of this arm 93. is installed vertically. Then, a tension spring 94 is mounted across the arm 93 and the lower slide link 89,
The tape drawer arm 93 is drawn toward the lower slide link 89 and biased. Further, a notch 95 is provided on the side edge of the tape pull-out arm 93 to engage from the side with one of the bins 86 connecting the upper and lower slide links 88 and 89.

A manual operation lever 96 is attached to the fulcrum 8o of the bell crank 81.
The lever 96 and the bell crank 81 are flexibly connected to each other by engagement with the elongated hole 97 and the pin 98 to allow relative rotation within a certain small angle. A tension spring 99 is installed between both 81 and 96 to urge them toward each other. The tip of the operating lever 96 is connected to the adapter body 2 through a left and right horizontally elongated slit 100 formed in the joint surface of the upper and lower bases 20a and 20b that constitute the adapter body 2o.
0, and a knob 101 is fixed to the protruding end thereof.

A knob storage notch 102 is formed on the outer surface of the rear wall 53 of the adapter body 20 at approximately the center in the left-right direction, and the rear wall 53 and the right lateral wall 1 are formed at the rear right corner of the adapter body 2o.
A knob storage notch 104 is formed that straddles the virtual ridge line with 03, and the knob 101 is accommodated in the notches 102 and 104, respectively, at the swing end of the operating lever 96. On the other hand, since the notch 104 is open at the corner across the rear wall 53 and the right side wall 103, the knob
At 01, you can put your fingertips on Yongjima from the right side.

Next, to explain its operation, in the state before the tape is pulled out from the small tape cartridge 2 stored in the adapter main body 20, as shown in FIG. are located at the front ends of the curved elongated holes 84 and 85, respectively. When the operating lever 96 is rotated clockwise from this state, the five-bell crank 81 rotates in the same direction as shown in FIG. 16, and the slide link 79 moves to the left, thereby causing the tape The drawer arm 76 is the fulcrum 75
Rotate horizontally counterclockwise.

First, the tape 4 is pulled out forward by the left tape drawer member 70.

Further, as the bell crank 81 rotates clockwise, the vertical slide links 88 and 89 are guided by the elongated holes 84 and 85 and slide rearward thereof, which also causes the tape pull-out arm 93 to horizontally swing. Then, the tape 4 is drawn out forward by the right tape drawing member 71.

At this time, the two elongated holes 84 and 85 have different centers of curvature, and the slide links 88 and 89 change their posture dually within the sliding plane.

Therefore, the trajectory P of the tape guide member 71 at the tip of the tape pull-out arm 93, as shown in FIG. 17, draws an intermediate curved curve with a large curvature at the beginning and a small curvature at the latter half. That is, at the beginning of the tape drawing movement, the forward movement component is large, and in the latter half, the movement component in the right lateral direction is large. Therefore, while the front lid 24 of the adapter main body 20 remains in the closed position, the tape 4 can be pulled out to a large extent laterally and outwardly even if the front and rear spaces inside the front lid 24 are small. Being able to pull out the tape with the front cover 24 closed is extremely helpful in preventing the tape 4 from coming into contact with other objects and being damaged before the adapter 1 is loaded into the recording/playback device. That's an advantage.

Next, one connecting pin 86 of the slide links 88 and 89 is connected to the rear end of the long hole 84, and the other connecting pin 87 is connected to the long hole 85.
When the tape reaches the bending point, the small-diameter upper and lower end portions of the right tape pull-out member 71 are received and supported by the L-shaped insertion portion 106a of the member 106 by the receiver fixed at a position near the right corner of the front end inside the adapter body 20. . As the operating lever 96 is further swung, the vertical slide link 88 and
The tip of the pin 89 rotates clockwise around the bottle 86, and the other bottle 87 moves to the rear end of the elongated hole 85.

Then, as the link rotates, the bin 91 moves toward the rear end of the dogleg-shaped elongated hole 92, so that the tape pull-out arm 93 relatively moves between the tape guide member 71 and the engaging portion 106.
It is forcibly rotated in the counterclockwise direction around the locking point with a. The engaging recess 107 formed on the outer edge of the distal end of the arm 93 is connected to the locking protrusion 10 protruding from the member 106.
8, and thereby the tape drawer arm 93 is fixed in a three-point supported state by the bin 91, the receiver is supported by the member 106, the locking protrusion 108, and the accumulated backlash of the link mechanism is absorbed, and the tape drawer member 71 is fixed to the receiver. is reliably positioned and supported by member 106.

The tape drawer member 70 on the left side has its upper and lower ends at the tape drawer limit, and the receiver disposed at the left corner of the front end inside the adapter body 20 is supported by the L-shaped insertion portion 109a of the member 109 at its upper and lower ends. . Both ends of a click spring 115 having a loop portion in the middle are latched and connected to the clay wall of the adapter body 20 and the tape pull-out arm 76, respectively.

This spring 115 urges the tape pull-out arm 76 to move toward the front pull-out position and the rear retraction position, with the intermediate movement position being the dead center. Therefore, the tape drawer member 70 absorbs the accumulated backlash of the link mechanism, and the receiver is pressed against the engaging portion 109a of the member 109 to be reliably positioned and held at the drawer position, and is well held at the retracted position.

As described above, when the left and right tape drawer members 70 and 71 are moved diagonally to their forward movement limits and fixed,
This position corresponds to the original position of the front left and right tape guide members in a standard large tape cartridge, and the tape 4 is stretched between the left and right tape drawer members 7o and 71. When the adapter 1 is loaded into the recording/reproducing apparatus in this state, the front lid 24 of the adapter body 1 is opened and the tape 4 is pulled out toward the front rotary head in the tape loading bin of the recording/reproducing apparatus.

(9) Mechanism for fixing the small tape cartridge in the adapter storage chamber When the small tape cartridge 2 is stored and the adapter 1 is loaded into the recording/playback device, one drive shaft on the recording/playback device side is attached to the bottom wall 21 of the adapter body 2o. The tape reel 5 is fitted into the hub hole of the tape reel 5 on the feeding side of the small-sized checker 7'car (IJ) 2 through the drive shaft insertion hole 22 provided therethrough, and the tape reel 5 is pushed up.

At this time, it is necessary to prevent the small tape cartridge 2 from floating up within the storage chamber 25.

To this end, the bin 110 is erected on the slide link 79 for moving the left tape drawer arm 76, and the base end of the lock arm 111 is rotatably supported on the inner surface of the upper case 20a of the adapter body 20.

The two pronged ends of the lock arm 111 are connected to the bottle 11O, and the lock piece 112 is connected to the base end of the lock arm 111. In the state before the operation lever 96 operates to draw out the tape, the lock piece 112 is closed as shown in FIG.
does not face the storage chamber 25, but the lock piece 112 moves toward the storage chamber 2 as shown in FIGS.
5, and the lock piece 1 is inserted into the semicircular recess 113 formed on the outer surface of the rear wall 51 of the small tape cartridge 2.
12 is inserted to fix the small tape cartridge 2.

(10) Mechanism control lever 9 to prevent forgetting to operate the tape drawer
If the user forgets to pull out the tape in step 6 and loads the adapter 1 into the recording/playback device, the tape 4 cannot be pulled out from the front of the adapter 1, so the recording/playback device will not operate.Therefore, the user will miss out on a long-awaited recording opportunity. Therefore, it is necessary to notify the user as soon as possible that the tape withdrawal operation is being performed. Furthermore, it is necessary to clearly identify the cause of the inoperation of the recording/reproducing device.

Furthermore, in the adapter l shown in FIG. 8, a lamp insertion hole 116 into which a tape end detection lamp is inserted is provided in the front right and left center portion of the bottom wall 21, and the tape 4 is inserted into the lamp before the tape draw-out operation. Since it runs above the hole 116, if the adapter 1 is loaded into the recording/reproducing apparatus as it is, the lamp inserted into the lamp insertion hole 116 will hit the tape 4 and damage the tape 4. Therefore, in this respect as well, it is desirable to prevent the adapter 1 from being loaded into the recording/reproducing apparatus when the tape ejecting operation is forgotten.

Therefore, in the present invention, 1W is attached to the bottom wall 21 of the adapter body 20.
1. A misloading prevention groove 117 is cut in a straight line from the front edge 21a of the bottom wall 21 to the lamp insertion hole 116, and the recessed part 11 is formed at the lower end of the front cover 24 on the extension line of the groove 117.
form 8. Originally, when the adapter 1 is correctly loaded into the recording and reproducing device, the detector on the recording and reproducing device side slides into the groove 117 to allow the adapter 1 to be loaded. This is to prevent the adapter 1 from being completely loaded into the recording/reproducing apparatus when it is loaded with the front and back or top and bottom sides reversed.

Then, as shown in FIG. 22, at a position in front of the storage chamber 25 in the adapter main body 20.

Guide 120 the movable member 119 on the inner surface of the bottom wall 21
Spring member 121 that guides and biases the slide in the left and right direction.
, and the upright piece 12 is installed on the left end of the movable member 119.
2 is positioned so that it interferes with the swing locus of the tip of the left tape pull-out arm 76. In the state shown in FIG. 15 before the tape pull-out operation, the arm 76 and the upright piece 1
22, the movable member 119 is shifted to the right against the spring member 121, and the right end portion 119a of the movable member 119 closes the erroneous loading prevention groove 117. Therefore, under this condition, even if the adapter 1 is loaded into the recording/reproducing apparatus in the correct orientation, the detector on the recording/reproducing apparatus side will not be aligned with the movable member 1.
19, so the adapter 1 cannot be completely pushed into the recording/reproducing apparatus in the same way as when the adapter 1 is loaded backwards or upside down.

As shown in Figure @17 (when the tape is pulled out, the movable member 119 is shifted to the left by the spring member 121 and the erroneous loading prevention groove 117 opens, so in this case, the adapter l can be pushed into the recording/playback device and loaded. become.

In addition, in the illustrated example 9, the incorrect loading prevention groove 117 is
0, the erroneous loading prevention groove 117 may be provided on the left and right side walls of the adapter body 20. Further, the arrangement of the lamp insertion holes 116 is not limited to the illustrated example, and the design can be changed freely, such as by providing two lamp insertion holes transparently on the left and right sides of the front of the bottom wall 21 of the adapter body 20.

Further, the movable member 119 may be linked to the tape drawer member 71 on the right side, or may be linked to an intermediate link mechanism that moves the left and right tape drawer members 70 and 71. tape cartridge 2
When the operation of pulling out the tape 4 from the adapter body 20 to the front of the adapter body 20 is completed, the part 119a of the movable member 119
It is sufficient as long as it can be removed from the erroneous loading prevention groove 117.

(11) Drive mechanism for the tape reel of a small tape cartridge in a recording and reproducing device When the adapter 1 is loaded into the recording and reproducing device, the drive shaft on the recording and reproducing device side is the left and right drive shafts that are transparently provided in the bottom wall 21 of the adapter body 20. The drive shaft that has entered the insertion holes 22 and 23 and the drive shaft insertion hole 22 on the left side engages with the hub hole of the tape reel 5 on the feeding side of the small tape cartridge 2. However, the take-up side tape reel 6 of the small tape cartridge 2 and the drive shaft insertion hole 23 on the right side are separated, and a mechanism for rotationally driving the tape reel 6 is required.

To this end, a drive gear 124 has a hub hole 123 that is substantially the same as the hub hole of the tape reel in a large tape cartridge, as shown in FIG. is installed freely in the radial direction, and the small tape cartridge 2
A gear part 11 formed on the outer periphery of the lower flange 10 of the tape reel 6 on the winding side, and an idle gear 12 having two upper and lower gear parts 125a and 125b in the same manner as the drive gear 124.
5, and the upper gear part 125 of the idle gear 125
a to the drive gear 124 in a freely thrusting manner, and the lower gear part 1
25b are meshed with the gear portion 11 of the take-up tape reel 6, respectively.

The idle gear 125 is suspended from the lower side of a movable bracket 126 attached to the inner surface of the upper case of the adapter body 20 via a support shaft 127 so as to be able to move up and down within a certain range, and is biased upward by a compression coil spring 128. It is. Therefore, when the small tape cartridge 2 is inserted into the storage chamber 25 of the adapter main body 20 from above, even if the reel gear part 11 does not mesh well with the lower gear part 125b of the idle gear 125, the idle gear 125 is temporarily moved by the spring 128. When the idle gear 125 starts to drive and the meshing phase matches, the idle gear 125 is automatically pulled up and becomes in a normal meshing state.

As shown in FIG. 15, the bracket 126 is rotatable around the axis W of the tape reel 6 on the second take-up side within a certain angular range, and is attached to the upper case 2 by engaging the bin 129 and the elongated hole 130.
0a, and is urged to move by a tension spring 132 so as to cut into the drive gear 124 and the reel gear portion 11 in a pattern. Therefore, the idle gear 125
is always meshed with the reel gear part 11, and then the drive gear 12
The gear 124 closely follows the free movement of the gear 124, and meshes with the gear 124 while always absorbing the play.

(12) Mechanism for winding the tape pulled out onto the tape reel of a small tape cartridge by lever operation The tape 4 pulled out from the small tape cartridge 2 is moved by lever operation to return the tape drawer members 70 and 71 from the front position to the original position. At this time, the small tape cartridge 2 must be wound up by Tape Reel Co., Ltd. For this purpose, a mechanism is provided to take up and rotate the take-up tape reel 6 only when the operation lever 96 is returned to the counterclockwise direction.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, a lever fulcrum 8 is provided on the tip side of the operating lever 96 integrally with the lever 96.
A bracket 13 fixes a fan-shaped gear 134 that rotates around 0, a rotating shaft 135 is set upright at a predetermined value within the adapter body 20, and the upper end of the rotating shaft 135 is fixed to the upper case 20a.
6, the lower ends are rotatably supported by bearings 137 of the lower case 20b, and a sector gear 134 is mounted on the upper part of the rotating shaft 135.
A pinion gear 138 that constantly meshes with the 0-rotation shaft 13 is fixed.
A large-diameter gear 139 is fixed to the lower end of the rotating shaft 135, and a swinging arm 140 is loosely fitted and supported at the upper and lower middle of the one-rotation shaft 135.
A support shaft 141 is fixed downward to the tip of the support shaft 14.
1, large and small gears 142 and 143 are loosely fitted in the upper and lower positions, respectively. The upper large gear 142 engages with the drive gear 124 in a detachable manner, and the lower small gear 143 engages with the large diameter gear 13.
The arrangement is such that it always meshes with 9.

A friction plate 145 made of synthetic resin is interposed between the upper and lower large and small gears 142 and 143', and the friction plate 145 is elastically held between the large and small gears 142 and 143 by a compression spring 146 attached to the lower end of the support shaft 141. A friction clutch 147 is configured that transmits power only with torque below a certain level.

The lower surface of the fan-shaped gear 134 has small-diameter arc-shaped recessed cam surfaces 149 and 150 at both ends. A circular arc cam surface 151 concentric with the gear center is formed in the middle.

A cam follower 152 that contacts these cam surfaces is loosely fitted and supported on the rotating shaft 135, and a helical spring 153 is interposed between the cam follower 152 and the arm 140, and a weak spring 155 that pulls the arm 140 outward. Attach.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 25, when the operation lever 96 is in the position before the tape drawer operation, the cam follower 1
52 faces the recessed cam surface 149 at one end of the fan-shaped gear 134 and the cam follower 152 is allowed to move freely, so the swing arm 140 is pulled by the tension spring 155 and the gear 14
2 has come off from the drive gear 124.

Next, in order to pull out the tape, the operating lever 96 is swung clockwise as shown in FIG. 26.

Since the sector gear 134 also rotates in the same direction, the cam follower 1
52 rides on the arcuate cam surface 151 and rotates counterclockwise. At this time, the swing arm 140 is prevented from swinging outward any further by a stopper (not shown).

When the operating lever 96 is swung to the tape withdrawal end position, the cam follower 152 is disengaged from the arcuate cam surface 151 and rotated back clockwise along the other recessed cam surface 150, as shown in FIG. Even in this state, the swing arm 140
(It does not move, and the gear 142 is disengaged from the drive gear 124. Therefore, even if the adapter 1 is loaded into the recording/reproducing device and the drive gear 124 is rotated by the drive shaft on the recording/reproducing device side, power is not transmitted to the gear 142.) Not done.

However, when the adapter 1 is removed from the recording and reproducing apparatus after use and the operating bar 96 is swung counterclockwise, the cam follower 152 is forcibly rotated clockwise and rotated in the opposite direction, as shown in FIG. Since the swing arm 140 rides on the arcuate cam surface 151, the swing arm 140 swings against the spring 155 due to the tensile force of the helical spring 153, and the gear 142 at the tip of the swing arm 140 meshes with the drive gear 124.

When the operation lever 96 is returned and swung as it is, the rotation of the pinion gear 138 that meshes with the fan-shaped gear 134 is transmitted to the drive gear 124 through each gear group, and the S number tape reel 6 is moved through the idle draggy 7-125. and rotate in the tape winding direction. In reality, the tape reel 6 rotates approximately five times due to the combination of large and small gears. As a result, the tape 4 drawn out to the front surface of the adapter body 20 as the left and right tape drawing members 70 and 71 enter is wound onto the tape reel 6 without slack.

However, if, for example, the tape 4 is fully wound on the S-feed tape reel 6, the amount of tape winding will be greater than the amount of tape being pulled out. In such a case, the above-mentioned friction clutch 1
47 is activated to prevent undue tension from being applied to the tape 4.

Also, t! The tape pull-out link mechanism reaches its operating limit a little before the operation lever 96 reaches the return end (approximately 7 degrees), but the bell crank 81 and operation lever 96 are flexible due to the engagement between the long hole 97 and the pin 98. Since the operation lever 96 can further swing against the spring 99, the winding operation can be performed even after the tape drawer members 70 and 71 are set in and out.

The take-up tape reel 6 is rotated approximately half a turn. Therefore, the tape 4 is wound and tightened with a tension that corresponds to the set torque of the friction clutch 147.

As explained above, according to the present invention, after storing the small tape cartridge 2 in the adapter main body 20, the tape 4 is transferred from the small tape cartridge 2 to the adapter main body 20.
If you forget to pull it out to the front of the adapter and push the adapter into the recording/playback device, part 1 of the movable member 119
19a closes the erroneous loading prevention groove 117, so the adapter body 20 is inserted into the recording/reproducing apparatus with the adapter body 20 facing forward or backward or upside down.
cannot be loaded into the recording/playback device. Therefore, it is convenient for the user to quickly notice that an operational error has occurred when loading the adapter, and to instantly understand the cause of the failure to load the adapter.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an adapter and a small tape cartridge according to the present invention as seen from the rear side, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of them as seen from the front side. Figure 3 is a plan view mainly showing the storage chamber for the adapter;
The figure is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B in Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C in Fig. 3.
Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line D-D in Figure 3, Figure 8 is a partially cutaway side view of the storage chamber with the lid open, and Figure 9 is a small tape removed from the storage chamber. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing how to remove the cartridge. 10 to 14 illustrate a mechanism for preventing mistaken tape erasure built into a small tape cartridge, with FIG. 10 being a perspective view and FIG. 11 being a plan view thereof. Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line E-E in Fig. 11, Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line F-F in Fig. 11, and Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line F-F in Fig. 11.
It is a longitudinal side view corresponding to the figure. 15 to 20 show the tape drawer mechanism, FIG. 15 is a plan view showing the state before the tape drawer operation, FIG. 16 is a plan view showing the state in the middle of the tape drawer operation, and FIG. 17 is a plan view showing the state before the tape drawer operation. A plan view showing the state after the tape drawer operation,
Fig. 18 is a sectional view taken along the line GG in Fig. 17, Fig. 19 is a sectional view taken along the line H-H in Fig. 17, Fig. 20 is a schematic perspective view of the tape drawer link mechanism, and Fig. 21 is a tape drawer link. It is an exploded perspective view showing a part of a mechanism. FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the mechanism for preventing forgetting to pull out the tape, viewed from the front side of the adapter body. Figures 23 to 28 show the tape monitoring mechanism, Figure 23 is a longitudinal sectional view of the main parts, Figure 24 is a perspective view of the main parts, and Figures 25 to 28 show the movement of the operating lever. 1@25 is a plan view showing the relationship between the tape check mechanism and the tape monitoring mechanism over time, and FIG. 1@25 is before the tape is drawn out, FIG. 26 is during the tape drawing, FIG. 27 is when the tape is drawn out, and FIG. 28 is the operating lever. The state in which the tape is being wound by the return operation is shown. 1...Adapter. 2...Small tape cartridge. 4...Tape. 20...Adapter body. 21...Bottom wall of the adapter body. 25...Storage room. 70.71...Tape drawer member. 96...Operation lever. 116... Lamp insertion hole 116° 117... Misloading prevention groove. 119...Movable member. 119a: Part of a movable member. 121...Spring member. 122... Standing piece. Figure 26 Figure 28

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) The adapter main body 20, which has substantially the same external shape as a large tape cartridge, is provided with a storage chamber 25 in which a small tape cartridge is removably stored. In adapters for small tape cartridges that have means for pulling out on the front. The adapter body 20 has a groove 117 to prevent incorrect loading. A part 119a of the movable member 119 is attached to the adapter body 20.
The posture in which the erroneous loading prevention groove 117 is closed and the erroneous loading prevention groove 11
When the tape 4 is not pulled out from the small tape cartridge 2, a part 119a of the movable member 119 closes the erroneous loading prevention groove 117, and the tape 4 is removed from the small tape cartridge 2. An adapter for a small tape cartridge, characterized in that a part 119a of a movable member 119 is removed from an erroneous loading prevention groove 117 when the adapter is pulled out to the front of the adapter body 20.