JPS586221B2 - cassette - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cassette in which a recording medium such as a magnetic tape, magnetic wire, or projection film is housed in a housing, and is suitable for use in various types of tape recorders, VTRs, tape players, movie projectors, etc. It is suitable for use in recording and reproducing devices.

The so-called compact cassette used in conventional cassette-type tape recorders, such as Shuyaguchi, has multiple small windows formed on the front of the cassette housing for inserting magnetic heads, vinyl rollers, etc. From there, magnetic heads, vinyl rollers, etc. are inserted into the cassette housing.

Therefore, conventional recording and reproducing devices using this type of cassette require a mechanical structure to move the magnetic head, tape guide, etc., which may result in a complicated structure. They are difficult to adjust, have low accuracy, and can be unreliable.

In particular, since shocks are easily applied to the magnetic head, the magnetic head is likely to pick up noise due to mechanical shocks during recording.

In order to correct such defects, it is conceivable to fix the magnetic head to the base of the tape recorder.

In this case, the tape inside the cassette housing is pulled out from the cassette housing and brought into contact with the magnetic head, and recording or reproduction is performed by running the tape while maintaining this contact state.

Therefore, it is necessary to form a relatively large horizontally elongated opening on the front surface of the cassette housing for pulling out the tape.

Furthermore, in order to prevent the tape from unnecessarily protruding into the cassette case from this horizontally long opening and to prevent dirt and dust from entering the cassette case from this horizontally long opening when not in use, at least the horizontally long opening should be closed when not in use. Preferably, a partially closed opening/closing lid is provided.

According to the present invention, such an opening/closing lid is provided in a cassette housing in an extremely preferable state, and the recording medium can be shifted extremely easily using a recording medium shifter.

Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a tape cassette used in a cassette type tape recorder will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 show a tape cassette 1, and the cassette housing 2 has upper and lower halves 3a, as is conventionally known.
3b.

These upper and lower halves each have wall portions forming the upper and lower walls of the cassette housing 2, and a pair of upper and lower reel holes 5a, 6b are formed in these wall portions.

Also, inside this cassette housing 2, there are a pair of reels 4a, 4.
b are stored at a predetermined interval on the left and right.

These reels 4a and 4b are rotatably supported by the cassette body 2 by fitting the upper and lower ends of the reel hubs 5a and 5b into the reel holes 6a and 6b.

Note that both reels 4a and 4b constitute a so-called single flange reel, and one reel 4a is provided with a reel 7 flange 7a at the upper end of its reel hub 5a.
Further, the other reel 4b is provided with a reel flange 7b at the lower end of its reel hub 5b.

On the other hand, magnetic tape (hereinafter simply referred to as tape).

8 has both ends connected to both reels 4a, 4 as is conventionally known.
The reel hubs 5 a and 5 b are respectively fixedly attached and wound thereon, and in this wound state is housed in the cassette casing 2 .

Note that the stepped portions 2a, 2 at both left and right ends of the front side of the cassette housing 2
A pair of left and right guide rollers 9 a and 9 b are provided between the guide rollers 9 a and 9 b.
is rotatably provided.

The tape 8 is guided by these guide rollers 9 a and 9 b within the cassette housing 2 and extends along the front surface of the cassette housing 2 .

A horizontally long opening 11 is formed in the front surface 10 of the cassette casing 2, through which the tape 8 can be drawn out from the cassette casing, and through which the magnetic head can also be inserted into the cassette casing.

This horizontally long opening 11 is composed of a long hole formed over the entire front surface 10 of the cassette housing 2, and has a vertical width W.
1 is sufficiently larger than the vertical width W2 of the tape 8 and also larger than the vertical width of the head, which will be described later.

Further, a pair of upper and lower notches 12a and 12b for inserting a pinch roller are formed in the wall portions of the upper and lower halves 3a and 3b, which constitute the upper and lower walls of the cassette housing 2, at positions near both left and right ends of the horizontally long opening 11, respectively. ing.

Note that these notches 12a, 12b are configured in a substantially U-shape, and their front sides 12a', 12b' are opened at the horizontally elongated opening 110 and are continuous thereto.

Further, the diameter D of the circular arc portion that is the base of these notches 12a and 12b is sufficiently larger than the diameter of pinch rollers 2γa and 27b, which will be described later.

Incidentally, since the diameter of the pinch roller is usually 10 mm or more, the diameter D1 needs to be, for example, 12 mm or more.

On both left and right sides of the front surface of the horizontally long opening 11, there are lids 30a, 3.
0b is provided so as to be openable and closable, and covers the front surface on both the left and right sides thereof.

These lids 30a, 30b have a support portion 31 having a U-shaped cross section.
a, 3lb.

The stepped portions 2a and 2b at both left and right ends of the cassette housing 2
Axial pins 32a, 3 integrally provided on the upper surface of the
2b is fitted into the holes formed in the support parts 31a and 31b, so that these support parts and, by extension, the lid body 30
a and 30b are rotatably supported by the cassette housing 2'.

The return wire springs 33a, 33b are inserted into the gaps between the step portions 2a, 2b at both left and right ends and the support portions 31a, 31b, and are wound around the shaft pins 32a, 32b. The lid body 3 is
0a and 30b are each energized in the closing direction.

Note that the left and right notches 12a, 12 are formed in the walls of the upper and lower halves 3a, 3b constituting the upper and lower walls of the cassette housing 2.
An opening 13a for inserting a tape pad or the like is provided in the center between the openings 13b and 13b for inserting a positioning pin or the like on both sides of the insertion opening 13a.
3c are formed respectively.

These notches 12a, 12b and openings 13a, 1
A partition wall 14 is provided on the back side of the upper and lower halves 3b and 13c.
a, 3b are each integrally formed.

Next, a cassette type tape recorder for using the tape cassette 1 constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 10.

6 to 8 show a tape recorder in which a tape 8 is pulled out from inside the cassette housing 2 to the front during recording or playback, and the cassette housing 2 is attached to the cassette attachment part of the tape recorder main body 21. An erasing head 22, a recording head 23, and a reproducing head 24 are arranged in front of the recording head 22, respectively.

In addition, since this case shows a dual capstan type tape recorder, the above head groups 22, 23, 2
4, a pair of capstans 25a,
25b are arranged respectively.

Furthermore, a tape guide 2 is installed near the capstan 25b.
6b is placed.

Note that the cassette 1 is inserted into the cassette mounting portion of the tape recorder main body 21 from above to below (that is, from above to below in FIG. 7).
When mounted face to face, a pair of left and right pinch rollers 27a,
27b are relatively inserted into the pair of left and right notches 12a and 12b from the lower half 3b side of the cassette housing 2.

Therefore, these pinch rollers are located inside the tape 8 in the state shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 6 within the cassette housing 2.

The pinch rollers 27a and 27b may be rotatably supported by pinch levers 28a and 28b which are rotatably supported on the tape recorder main body 21 by fulcrums 29a and 29b.

The tips of the pinch levers 28a, 28b are slightly extended and bent, and tape shift pins 34a, 34b are protruded from these tips.

Note that these tape shift pins 34a and 34b are
As shown in the figure, the portion in contact with the tape 8 may be made medium-thin, and this portion may be used as tape guides 35a and 35b.

After the cassette is loaded as described above, for example, when a recording or playback operation is performed, the pair of pinch levers 28
a, 28b is connected to the fulcrum 2 by its drive mechanism (not shown).
9a and 29b, one lever 28a rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 6, and the other lever 28b rotates clockwise in FIG. 6.

When the pinch levers 28a, 28b rotate in this way, the pair of pinch rollers 27a, 27b and the pair of tape shift pins 34a, 34b, which are attached near the tips of these levers, also rotate in the same way.

Note that when the tape shift pins 34a, 34b rotate, these pins push the lids 30a, 30b against the elasticity of the returning linear springs 33a, 33b.

For this purpose, these lids rotate around the fulcrum A of the support portion 31a>31b and open from the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 6 to the position shown by the solid line.

At the same time, as mentioned above, the pair of pinch rollers 27a
, 27b rotate, these pinch rollers 27a,
27b is a horizontally long opening 11 from a pair of notches 12a and 12b.
cassette housing 2 and is pulled out to the front of the cassette housing 2.

These pinch rollers 27a, 27b are connected to a pair of capstans 25a, 25b as shown by solid lines in FIG.
Crimp each.

At this time, the tape 8 is attached to the pair of pinch rollers 27a, 27
b, the cassette housing 2 is pulled out from the horizontally elongated opening 11 to the front of the cassette housing 2 in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. Contact.

Also, since the tape 8 is hung on the tape shift pins 34a and 34b, these shift pins 3
4a and 34b regulate the winding angle of the tape 8 around the capstans 25a and 25b.

Since the recording or playback state is obtained by the above operation,
The tape 8 thus drawn out is driven by the rotation of one reel 4b and a pair of capstans 25a and 25b, which are appropriately driven, as is conventionally known, and runs at a predetermined speed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. , during this traveling, the head group 22
, 23, 24, the desired recording or reproduction is performed.

In this case, if the cassette housing 2 is mounted upside down, that is, with the upper half 3a facing downward, the pair of reels 4a and 4b are in opposite positions, that is, the other reel 4a
is replaced so that it is located on the right side of FIG.

Therefore, during recording or reproduction, the tape 8 runs in the opposite direction to the pair of reels 4a, 4b in order to be wound onto the other reel 4a.

Note that when the tape 8 is fast forwarded or rewinded, the pair of pinch rollers 27a and 27b naturally return to the positions shown by the imaginary lines in FIG. 6, and the lids 30a and 30b are also closed at the positions shown by the imaginary lines. Therefore, the tape 8 is returned to the state shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 6, and the pair of guide rollers 9a, 9b
The vehicle will travel in exactly the same way as in the conventional case.

Furthermore, in the case of a single capstan type rather than a dual capstan type, one of the capstans 25a and the pinch roller 27a is naturally unnecessary.

However, in order to obtain an appropriate wrap angle of the tape 8 with respect to the head etc., a tape shifter which also serves as a tape guide may be provided in place of the pinch roller 27a.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Trajectory Xa when 0b opens and closes around fulcrum A
. There is.

Therefore, the heads 22, 23, 24 and the capstan 25a,
25b so as not to come into contact with the lids 30a, 30b,
It can be arranged with good space factor.

Further, in this embodiment, a tape guide 26b is fixedly attached to the mechanical chassis of the tape recorder main body 21, and the tape 8 pulled out of the cassette housing 2 is guided by this tape guide 26b.

On the other hand, there is also a structure in which the height of the pair of guide rollers 9a59b inside the cassette housing 2 is regulated by, for example, a height regulation guide on the mechanical chassis, and these guide rollers 9a and 9b also serve as the tape guide 26b. Part 10 mentioned below
It can be considered as shown in the figure.

However, if this is done, the structure will become more complicated, making adjustment difficult and potentially reducing accuracy.

FIG. 9 shows another example of the tape shift pin 34b, in which the tip of the shift pin 34b is bent toward the cassette 1 side.

In this way, when the cassette 1 is installed from above, the tape 8 is guided by the bent portion 36b of the shift pin 34b, and the tape 8 can be prevented from being caught on the tip of the shift pin 34b.

Note that the shift pin 34a is also the same as the shift pin 34 described above.
Of course, the same structure as in case b can be used.

FIG. 10 shows another example of the mounting structure for the guide roller 9b.

Holes 37a and 37b are provided in the stepped portions 2a and 2b at the right end of the cassette housing 2, respectively, passing through the holes 37a and 37b vertically.

A pin 38b to which the guide roller 9b is fixed is rotatably supported by the cassette housing 2 through these holes 37a and 37b.

The pin 38b can be raised and lowered by a certain distance in the axial direction so as to be able to protrude from the outer surfaces of the stepped portions 2a and 2b.

On the other hand, a pressing plate 40 for pressing the pin 38b is provided on the upper wall 39 of the cassette mounting portion of the tape recorder main body 21 and is urged downward by a spring 41, and on the lower wall 42, A height reference pin 43 is provided.

Note that the upper wall 39 may be provided on the lid of the cassette mounting section or the like.

According to the above configuration, when the cassette 1 is mounted and its position is regulated with respect to the tape recorder main body 21, the pin 38b
is also placed on the height reference pin 43 and its position is regulated in the vertical direction.

Moreover, since this pin 38b is elastically pressed by the pressing plate 40, the position of the guide roller 9b is also regulated with respect to the tape recorder main body 21.

Conventionally, when the cassette 1 was positionally regulated with respect to the tape recorder main body 21, the internal guide roller was indirectly positionally regulated with respect to the tape recorder main body 21 via the cassette housing 2.

However, according to the configuration shown in FIG. 10, the positions of both the guide roller 9b and the cassette 10 are directly regulated by the cassette mounting section, so the positional relationship of the tape with respect to the head and other mechanisms is accurately regulated. Good running conditions can be obtained.

Note that the guide roller 9a can also have exactly the same structure as the guide roller 9b.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, further modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, the present invention is not limited to tape recorders;
It is applicable to cassettes used in TRs, tape players, movie projectors, and other various recording and/or reproducing devices.

Further, as the recording medium, a magnetic tape, a magnetic wire, a tape-like body such as a projection film, a linear body, and various other members can be used.

Further, the number of reels provided within the cassette housing does not necessarily have to be two (that is, a pair of left and right reels); for example, a cassette in which the recording medium is wound around one reel may be used.

As described above, in the present invention, a horizontally long opening that can be at least partially covered by the opening/closing lid is formed on the front surface of the cassette housing, so that the recording medium can be pulled out of the cassette housing from this horizontally long opening to perform recording or playback. It becomes possible to do so.

Therefore, it is possible to use a recording/playback device in which the heads necessary for recording or playback and the guides necessary for running the recording medium are fixed to the main body of the recording/playback device, which improves the accuracy and reliability of recording or playback. can be improved.

In particular, since it is possible to prevent mechanical shock from being applied to the head, it is possible to eliminate the possibility that the recording head will pick up noise due to mechanical shock.

Also, since there is a horizontally long opening on the front of the cassette case,
As in the case of conventional compact cassettes, it is also possible to insert the head into the cassette housing for recording or reproduction, thus providing high compatibility.

In addition, since the opening/closing lid is rotatably supported in the vicinity of both left and right ends of the horizontally elongated opening with the vertical direction as an axis, and opened/closed in the plane direction of the upper and lower walls, the opening/closing operation is relatively easy. It also has a good space factor.

Moreover, even if the cassette is configured so that it can be used by turning it upside down, it is relatively easy to create a configuration in which there is no need to particularly increase the space in the cassette mounting section of the main body of the recording/reproducing apparatus.

Further, the portions of the cassette housing corresponding to the pair of removed portions are covered by a pair of opening/closing lids.

Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the recording medium from unnecessarily protruding out of the cassette housing from the opening when not in use, and to prevent dirt and dust from entering the cassette housing from the opening.

Further, a pair of cutout portions are formed in the upper and lower walls of the casing near both left and right ends of the horizontally long opening, and these cutouts are connected to the horizontally long opening.

Therefore, the recording medium can be pulled out or pulled back from the cassette housing simply by inserting the recording medium shifter into this cutout and moving it to the front of the cassette housing, or by performing the reverse operation. Therefore, the above-mentioned shifting of the recording medium can be carried out extremely easily, and the cassette can also be used in the same way even if the cassette is turned upside down.

In addition, since a pair of opening/closing lids are provided on the left and right sides of the horizontally long opening, even if the length of each opening/closing lid is relatively short, the horizontally long opening can be covered by approximately twice the length of each opening/closing lid. Since the length of the opening/closing lid can be made relatively short, the opening/closing operation of the opening/closing lid is easier and the space factor is also better.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a tape cassette used in a cassette-type tape recorder, and FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of the tape cassette, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the cassette. , Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in Figure 1, Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in Figure 1, and Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in Figure 1.
6 is a plan view of the main parts of the cassette tape recorder with a part of the cassette cut away, showing the state in which the tape cassette shown in FIG. 1 is used in the cassette tape recorder; Figure 7 is a front view seen from line
The figure is a side view corresponding to the state viewed from the line ■1■ in Figure 6 showing another example of the tape shift pin, and Figure 10 is a side view taken from the line X-X in Figure 1 showing another example of the guide rogue. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to the viewed state. Also, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1 is a cassette, 2 is a cassette,
is a cassette case, 3a and 3b are upper and lower halves, 4a and 4
b is a reel, 8 is a magnetic tape, 10 is a front face of the cassette housing, 11 is a horizontally long opening, 12a, 12b are notches, 27a
, 27b is a vinyl roller, 30a, 30b is a lid body, 28
A and 28b are pin levers, and 34a and 34b are tape shift pins.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A cassette in which a recording medium is housed in a housing, comprising: (a) a horizontally long opening formed in the front surface of the housing;
(b) a pair of cutouts provided in the upper and lower walls of the housing in the vicinity of both left and right ends of the horizontally long opening and connected to the horizontally long opening; (c) upper and lower parts near both the left and right ends of the horizontally long opening; A pair of opening/closing lids are provided, each of which is rotatably supported with the direction as an axis, and opens and closes in the surface direction of the upper and lower walls,
The cassette is characterized in that the pair of opening/closing lids are configured to cover at least a portion of the horizontally long opening corresponding to the pair of cutout portions in the closed state.