JPS5914951Y2 - video tape cassette - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement of a videotape cassette that includes a casing in which a videotape is housed and a guard panel provided on the front surface of the casing.

A videotape cassette has a casing that stores the videotape, and the front side of the casing, which has an opening for drawing out the tape, is designed to prevent the tape exposed in the opening from being touched by hands when handling the cassette. A guard panel for this purpose is pivotally mounted.

This guard panel is locked in the closed position by a locking mechanism to prevent it from being opened inadvertently when handling the cassette.

Conventionally, this locking mechanism is located in a special space provided on the front side of the casing.

Therefore, in conventional videotape cassettes, the width of the casing becomes large, which hinders miniaturization of the videotape cassette.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a videotape cassette with a locking mechanism arranged on the front surface of the casing.

In the video tape cassette according to the present invention, a guard panel locking member is disposed at the lower front of the casing so as to be movable between an unlocked position and a locked position, and is provided with an elastically biased guard panel locking member in the locked position. The guard panel is characterized in that an engaging member is provided at the lower part of the back surface of the guard panel for receiving the locking member in the locking position and engaging with the locking member.

Note that the locking member needs to be placed at a position where it does not interfere with the operation of the pinch roller and guide for pulling out the video tape from the casing.

In the videotape cassette according to the present invention, since the locking mechanism is disposed between the casing and the guard panel, there is no need to provide a special space in the casing, and the cassette can therefore be miniaturized.

Hereinafter, a videotape cassette according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The videotape cassette has a casing 2 in which a videotape 1 is housed, and an opening 3 for pulling out the tape is provided on the front surface of the casing 2.

A guard panel 4 is pivotally attached to the front surface of the videotape cassette 2 in order to cover the tape draw-out opening 3 when the cassette is not in use.

This guard panel 4 has both ends 4a and 4b pivoted on both left and right sides of the cassette 2, like a conventional guard panel, and can take two positions: a closed position that covers the opening and an open position that exposes the opening. It looks like this.

When the guard panel 4 is in the open position, the pinch rollers and guides of the video device are inserted into the opening 2 so that the tape 1 can be pulled out of the opening.

A vertical wall 5 is provided on the front surface of the casing 2 at a position that does not interfere with the tape pulling operation by the pinch rollers and guide.

This vertical wall 5 extends downward from the lower surface of the front end of the earthen wall 6 of the casing 2 .

A locking member mounting base 8 for mounting a locking member 7 (not shown in FIG. 1) is provided at the lower part of the front surface of the vertical wall 5.

This locking member mounting base 8 is provided with a notch 10 for receiving a retaining member 9 arranged at the lower part of the back surface of the guard panel 4.

Therefore, when the guard panel 4 is in the closed position, the mounting base 8 of the casing 2 and the engagement member 9 of the guard panel 4 are aligned.

As shown in FIG. 2, the locking member 7 is formed of an elongated plate-like member made of an elastic material, and is mounted at one end on a mounting base 8 and extends from there into a notch 10.

The other end 11 of the locking member 7 extending into the notch 10 is connected to the third
As is clear from the figure, it is bent downward, and the side edge 12 of this bent end on the guard panel side is provided with an inclination for insertion.

The engagement member 9 is provided with a hole 13 that receives and engages the end portion 11 of the locking member 7.

The end portion 11 of the locking member 7 is inserted into the hole 13 of the engaging member 9 when the guard panel 4 moves from the open position to the closed position.
This is done automatically in the following manner.

That is, when the guard panel 4 rotates toward the closed position,
The edge of the retaining member 9 on the casing 2 side abuts the side edge 12 of the end 11 of the locking member 7.

Then, since this side edge 12 is inclined as described above, the end portion 11 is gradually lifted up by the action of this side edge 12 and rides on the engaging member 9 (as shown by the broken line in FIG. 3).

In this state, when the guard panel moves further toward the casing, the end portion 11 finally connects to the hole 13 of the engagement member 9.
The lock state shown in FIG. 2 is reached.

Since the side edge of the end portion 11 opposite to the side edge 12 is straight, when the locking member and the engaging member are locked, the lock is released by the lock release means described later. It won't come off easily except when the time comes.

Next, the means for releasing the locking member will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The release means 14 shown in FIG. 4 is a simple pin-like member fixed within the video device.

The release means 14 is inserted into the hole 13 when the cassette is loaded into the video apparatus and moved downward.
The end 1 of the locking member 7 is brought into contact with the locking member 7 through the
1 from the solid line position to the dashed line position.

In this way, the engagement between the end portion 11 and the hole 13 is released, and the lock is released.

The guard panel can then be moved from the closed position to the open position.

Typically this movement is effected by spring means (not shown) biasing the guard panel from a closed position toward an open position.

The release means may be of the type 15 whose direction of action is horizontal, as shown in FIG.

When using this type of release means 15, the locking member 7
It is necessary to provide a member 16 with an inclined surface that performs the same function as the side edge 12 of the end portion 11 on the side edge of the end portion 11 .

When the release means 15 comes into contact with the inclined surface of this member 16 (for example, through a notch provided below the front surface of the guard panel 4) and pushes this member 16, the end 11 of the locking member 7 rises from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the broken line, and the engagement between the end portion 11 and the hole 13 is released.

The above-mentioned release means 14 and 15 are arranged to automatically release the lock when the cassette is loaded into the video device.

In the above embodiments, the cassette, that is, the locking member moves relative to the release means, but the release means may be moved relative to the locking member.

As explained above, in the videotape cassette of the present invention, the locking mechanism of the guard panel is arranged in the gap between the guard panel and the front of the casing, so it is necessary to provide a space in the cassette specifically for arranging the locking mechanism. Therefore, the cassette has a compact structure.

Also, since the locking mechanism is located at the position mentioned above,
It has a simple structure consisting of an elastic plate and a retaining member having a hole that engages with the elastic plate.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the videotape cassette according to the present invention with the guard panel removed, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing the guard panel locking mechanism provided on the videotape cassette shown in FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a locking member used in the locking mechanism shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for releasing the locking mechanism, and FIG. It is an explanatory view showing another cancellation method. 1... Video tape, 2... Casing, 4... Guard panel, 7... Locking member, 9... Engaging member .

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] (1) A casing with a videotape stored inside;
A videotape cassette comprising a guard panel provided on the front side of the casing, which is arranged at the lower front side of the casing so as to be movable between an unlocked position and a locked position, and elastically biased to the locked position. The video is characterized in that a guard panel locking member is provided, and a retaining member for receiving the locking member in the locking position and engaging with the locking member is arranged at the lower rear side of the guard panel. tape cassette. (2) The locking member is made of an elastic material, and the locking member is biased to the locked position by its own elasticity. videotape cassette.