JPS61158088A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate and ensure the switching very much by adopting the structure that an engaging section provided at other position is engaged usually to a slot part comprising a vertical slot provided to any of a plug and a throughhole and a horizontal slot of plural vertical steps. CONSTITUTION:The position of a plug 8 to the throughhole 6 is changed selectively to change the position of a lower end face of the plug 8 to the throughhole 6 in two positions vertically and to change the length of the lower end opening to the throughhole 6 in two ways horizontally. In changing the position of the plug 8 in two ways vertically, since an engaging part 27 of the throughhole 6 is engaged always to the slot 11 of the plug 8, it is possible to change the two way position change vertically by the simple operation that the plug 8 is turned unidirectionally until it is stopped, the plug is pressed vertically at the stopped position for movement and the plug is turned in the same direction further at the position when the movement is stopped. The engaging part 27 is engaged against the elasticity in a click way to engaged parts 15, 16 in horizontal slots 13, 14 of vertical two stages.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention is most suitable for application to, for example, a tape cassette for a video tape recorder, and is particularly applicable to a tape cassette provided vertically in a cassette housing. The device has a through hole and a plug inserted into the through hole so as to be movable up and down and rotatable around a vertical axis, and cassette information is detected based on the up and down position of the plug in the through hole. The present invention relates to a tape cassette constructed as described above.

[Conventional technology]

In this type of tape cassette, the vertical position of the plug in the through hole is detected by an emotion detection sensor on the video tape recorder side, so that various cassette information such as prevention of accidental erasure can be confirmed. . Regarding this, the present applicant previously filed Japanese Patent Application No. 152603/1983.

In this prior invention, the lower end of the plug is formed into a beveled shape by a pair of engaging claws extending in the radial direction, and two step portions are provided vertically spaced apart in the through hole, so that the plug is inserted into the through hole. The vertical position of the plug in the through hole is switched by inserting the plug into the hole while being biased upward by a spring, and by engaging the pair of engaging claws at the bottom end of the plug with either of the two upper and lower steps.・It was configured as follows. When switching the plug from the upper position to the lower position, the plug is pushed down against the spring, the pair of engaging claws are inserted through a pair of slits formed in the lower step, and removed downward from the step. Now move the plug 90° around the vertical axis.
The plug was rotated to engage the pair of locking claws with the lower stepped portion, thereby restricting the movement of the plug that was biased upward by the spring. When switching the plug from the lower position to the upper position, the plug is rotated 90 degrees around the vertical axis so that the pair of locking claws fit into the pair of slits, and the spring moves the plug upward. Ta.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, the above-mentioned prior invention had the following problems.

That is, when switching the plug to the lower position, the pair of locking claws of the plug are removed from the pair of slits in the lower step and the plug is rotated 90'', but if this rotation is not done carefully, the plug will not rotate. If the plug is turned too far, the pair of locking claws will fit into the pair of slits again, and the plug will be pulled back upwards by the spring.Also, when switching the plug to the upper position, the plug must be rotated 90 degrees to remove the pair of locking claws. The retaining claws must fit into the pair of slits in the stepped section, but conversely, it is difficult to fit the pair of engaging claws into the pair of slits.Therefore, the operation of switching the vertical position of the plug in the through hole is necessary. requires a lot of getting used to,
It was difficult to perform the switching operation easily.

Furthermore, since springs are used to vertically position the plug within the through-hole, the number of parts is large, and the work of inserting the plug into the through-hole is time-consuming. Furthermore, the pair of engaging claws formed at the lower end of the plug and the step formed in the through hole are difficult to mold, resulting in a complicated mold structure and high cost.

Furthermore, when vibrations or the like are applied, the plug tends to rotate unexpectedly in the vertical position, making it difficult to reliably position the plug in the vertical position.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a plug that can extremely easily change the vertical position of the plug in the through hole, has a small number of parts, is easy to mold, and is low cost.

[Means for solving problems]

A first aspect of the present invention is that in the tape cassette described above, one of the outer circumferential surface of the plug and the inner circumferential surface of the through hole has a vertical groove and a plurality of upper and lower stages connected to the vertical groove. A groove portion consisting of a horizontal groove is provided, and an engaging portion that is engaged with the groove portion is provided on the other side, and by engaging this engaging portion with the vertical groove, the plug can be moved up and down within the through hole. The plug is movable, and by rotating the plug around the vertical axis, the engaging portion is selectively engaged with the horizontal grooves in the plurality of upper and lower stages, and the plug is positioned in the plurality of upper and lower stages within the through hole. This tape cassette is characterized in that it is configured to allow

Further, in a second aspect of the present invention, the engaging portion is constituted as an engaging portion having elasticity, and the engaging portion having elasticity is arranged in the plurality of upper and lower horizontal grooves of the groove portion to resist the elasticity. This tape cassette is characterized in that it is provided with a click-lock engaged portion that is engaged.

[For production]

According to the above-mentioned technical means, the engaging part provided in the other is always engaged with the groove formed by the vertical groove provided in either the plug or the through hole and the horizontal grooves in multiple stages above and below. Therefore, when switching the plug to multiple positions up and down in the through hole, the plug is rotated around the vertical axis and moved up and down while being guided by the engagement between the groove and the engaging part. . Therefore, the plug is not rotated too much, and the switching operation can be performed extremely easily and reliably.

Moreover, since the groove and the engaging part are engaged in a direction perpendicular to the vertical axes of the plug and the through hole, the number of parts can be reduced as no spring is required, and the molding process is extremely easy. It is easy, the mold structure can be simple, and the cost is low.

Furthermore, since the elastic engaging portion is engaged with the click locking engaged portion against the elasticity, the plug does not rotate unexpectedly at multiple positions above and below, and the plug can be reliably positioned in multiple positions above and below.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a tape cassette for a video tape recorder will be described based on the drawings.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, the cassette housing l of the tape cassette consists of upper and lower halves 2.
A pair of left and right reels 4 on which magnetic tape (not shown) is wound are rotatably housed inside. Further, a front cover 5 is rotatably attached to the front end of the cassette housing 1. Furthermore, two through holes 6 and one through hole 7 are vertically formed at the left and right positions on the front side and at the center position on the rear side of the cassette housing 1, respectively. These through holes 6.about.7 serve as positioning holes for positioning the cassette housing 1 when the tape cassette is installed in a video tape recorder. Plugs 8 and 9 are inserted into these through holes 6.7, respectively.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3B, the plug 8 to be inserted into the through hole 6 is molded into a cylindrical shape from synthetic resin.
A crank-shaped groove 11 is formed on the outer circumferential surface near the lower end and extends approximately 180". This groove 11 is connected to the vertical a12 and both upper and lower ends of the vertical 4$12, and extends in opposite directions. Extending horizontal 413.14 with two upper and lower stages
It consists of As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, within the horizontal groove 13.14 is a click-lock engaged portion 15.16 (
(hereinafter simply referred to as an engaged portion) is formed. Further, on the outer peripheral surface of the plug 8, on the opposite side of the vertical groove 12, a vertical slit 17 is formed extending to both the upper and lower end surfaces, and furthermore, on both the upper and lower end surfaces of the plug 8, there are grooves 18 and 19 for inserting a screwdriver, etc.
are formed in the same direction. Note that a chamfer 20 is provided on the lower end circumferential surface of the plug 8.

On the other hand, the through hole 6 into which the plug 8 is inserted is formed by cylindrical portions 22.23 integrally molded with the upper and lower halves 2.3 molded from synthetic resin being butted against each other from above and below.

A projection 24 is formed at the upper end of the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion 22 on the upper half 2 side, with which the slit 17 of the plug 8 is engaged. Moreover, on the upper part of the cylindrical part 23 of the lower half 3,
A pair of slits 25 are formed vertically from the upper end of the cylindrical portion 23.
An elastic arm portion 26 is formed in a portion of the arm portion 26 . As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, an engaging portion 27 having a notch having a substantially triangular cross section is formed on the upper portion of the arm portion 26 so as to protrude toward the inner circumferential surface side. . That is, the engaging portion 27 can be elastically displaced in the radial direction of the through hole 6 by the arm portion 26 formed by the pair of slits 25 . As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a recess 28 is provided near the lower end of the arm portion 26 on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion 23.
is formed, and this recess 28 allows the arm portion 26 (that is, the engaging portion 27) to be elastically displaced more effectively. Then, the engaging portion 27 is engaged with the vertical groove 12 and the horizontal grooves a13, 14 of the plug 8, and the horizontal grooves 13, 14.
Inside, the engaging portion 27 resists elasticity and engages the engaged portion 1 of the plug 8.
5 and 16 in a click-like manner. Note that when the cylindrical portions 22.23 of the upper and lower halves 2.3 are butted together to form the through hole 6, the protrusion 24 of the cylindrical portion 22 and the engaging portion 27 of the cylindrical portion 23 are connected as shown in FIG. 3A. The positional relationship (angle θ) is the positional relationship (angle θ) between the slit 17 of the plug 8 and the engaged portion 16 of the lower horizontal groove 14.
is equal to

According to the plug 8 and the through hole 6 configured as described above, first, the slit 1 of the plug 8 is inserted into the protrusion 24 of the two upper halves.
7 and the plug 8 is inserted into the through hole 6 from the lower end surface. When the plug 8 is vertically inserted with the plug 8 positioned by the engagement between the slit 17 and the protrusion 24, the engagement portion 27 on the lower half 3 side is pressed by the chamfered portion 20 of the plug 8, and the engagement The portion 27 is displaced outward against elasticity. When the plug 8 is further inserted, the slit 17 of the plug 8 is disengaged from the protrusion 24, and at the same time, the engaging portion 27 is elastically restored and engaged in the horizontal groove 14 in the lower stage of the plug 8. At this time, since the positional relationship between the protrusion 24 and the engaging part 27 in the through hole 6 is the same as the positional relationship between the slit 17 and the engaged part 16 in the plug 8, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 3A, The engaging portion 27 is accurately engaged with the engaged portion 16 in the lower horizontal groove 14 of the plug 8. Therefore, the plug 8 into the through hole 6
The insertion of the plug 8 is extremely easy, and the plug 8 is thus positioned at the upper level within the through hole 6.

Next, insert a screwdriver or the like into the insertion groove 18 on the upper end surface of the plug 8, and rotate the plug 8 approximately 90 degrees around the vertical axis as shown in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 3A. The engaging portion 16 disengages from the engaging portion 27, and the engaging portion 2
7 is located at the lower end of the vertical a12. If the plug 8 is pressed downward here, the plug 8 will move to the engaging portion 27.
is moved vertically while being engaged with the vertical groove 12, and the engaging portion 27 is positioned at the upper end of the vertical groove 12 and stopped. Then, when the plug 8 is further rotated approximately 90 degrees around the vertical axis as shown by the arrow a direction 9 in FIG. 3B, the engaging portion 2
7 is engaged with the upper horizontal groove 13, and the engaging portion 27 is click-engaged with the engaged portion 15 within the horizontal groove 13 against elasticity. As a result, the plug 8 is positioned at the lower level within the through hole 6.

When switching the vertical position of the plug 8 from the lower stage to the upper stage using the through hole 6, insert a screwdriver or the like into the insertion groove 19 on the lower end surface of the plug 8 from the lower half 3 side, and then move the plug 8 by the above-mentioned reverse operation. move it.

As described above, by selectively switching 7Ll the plug 8 within the through hole 6 between the position shown in FIG. 2A and the position shown in FIG. The length to the lower end opening of the through hole 6 is changed to two stages, long and short.

By the way, when switching the plug 8 between upper and lower stages as described above, since the engaging part 27 of the through hole 6 is always engaged with the groove part 11 of the plug 8, the plug 8 can be moved in one direction until it is stopped. It is possible to switch between the upper and lower two-stage positions by an extremely simple operation of simply rotating it, pressing it vertically at the stopped position to move it, and further rotating it in the same direction at the stopped position. Furthermore, in the horizontal grooves 13° and 14 in the upper and lower two stages, the engaging portion 27 is engaged with the engaged portions 15 and 16 in a clicking manner against elasticity, so that the plug 8 is
The step position is very reliably positioned and the plug 8 cannot be rotated unexpectedly in this position.

Next, detection of cassette information based on the upper and lower positions of the plug 8 will be described. That is, when the tape cassette is installed in the video tape recorder, the through hole 6 of the cassette housing 1 is fitted into the positioning bin 30 on the video tape recorder side, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, and the cassette housing 1 is positioned. A detection pin 32 is provided within the positioning bin 30 and is biased upward by a spring 31 . Here, when the plug 8 is in the upper position as shown in FIG. 2A, the tip of the detection pin 32 does not reach the lower end surface of the plug 8, so the detection pin 32 remains in the upper position, and therefore the positioning pin 30 A pair of holes 33 provided at the bottom of the photo sensor 34 are opened and the photosensor 34 is activated.

Next, when the plug 8 is in the lower position as shown in FIG. 2B, the tip of the detection pin 32 comes into contact with the lower end surface of the plug 8, and the detection pin 32 is pushed down. Then, the pair of holes 33 are closed by the lower end of the detection pin 32,
The photosensor 34 is switched to non-operation and it is detected that the plug 8 is in the lower position.

Next, the through hole 7 provided at the center position on the rear side of the cassette housing l and the plug 9 inserted into the through hole 7 are connected to the fourth
It is formed as shown in the figure.

Note that these through holes 7 and plugs 9 are connected to the upper and lower halves 2.3.
The only difference is the length of the cylindrical portion 22.23 and the length of the plug 9, which are integrally molded with the through hole 6 and the plug 8, and the rest are completely the same. The same applies to information detection. Therefore, the explanation thereof will be omitted.

By the way, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a recess 36 notched toward the rear end of the cassette housing 1 is formed at the opening periphery of the two upper halves of the through hole 7. That is, when the plug 9 is in the upper position as shown by the solid line in FIG. 4, the upper end surface of the plug 9 is flush with the upper surface of the upper half 2, and in this state, the head of the plug 9 is The head of the plug 9 protrudes within the recess 36 and can be seen from the rear end of the cassette housing 1 (from the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5). Further, when the plug 9 is in the lower position as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 1 cannot be seen at all from the rear end. Therefore, even when the tape cassette is stored in a case, storage shelf, etc., the vertical position of the plug 9 within the through hole 7 can be easily determined, and the cassette information can be confirmed.

Next, FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the above-mentioned plug 8.9. That is, while the above-mentioned plug 8°9 has a crank-shaped groove 11 on its outer circumferential surface, the plug 38 of this embodiment has a vertical groove 39 on its outer circumferential surface, and is connected to both upper and lower ends and the center of this vertical groove 39. A groove portion 43 is provided, which is made up of horizontal grooves 40, 41, and 42 in three stages, upper, middle, and lower, extending on both sides in the circumferential direction. In addition, the horizontal grooves 40, 4
Engaged portions 44, 45 and 46 similar to those described above are formed within 1.degree. 42, respectively. According to the third plug, the vertical position of the plug 38 in the through hole 6.7 can be switched to three stages: top, middle, and bottom, and the content of the cassette information can be increased.

In addition, since horizontal lines 840, 41, and 42 are provided on both sides of the outer peripheral surface in the circumferential direction, when positioning the plug 38 in the upper, middle, and lower three stages, the plug 38 can be rotated in either direction around the vertical axis. It's okay.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various effective changes can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, in the embodiment, a groove is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the plug and an engaging portion is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the through hole, but conversely, an engaging portion is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the plug and an engaging portion is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the through hole. A groove may be provided on the surface. Furthermore, the horizontal grooves are not limited to the upper and lower two stages and the upper, middle, and lower three stages shown in the embodiment and other embodiments, but can be changed to those having various numbers of stages and shapes. Furthermore, the elastic engaging portions, click locking engaged portions, etc. shown in the embodiments can be changed into various shapes.

Note that the present invention is not limited to tape cassettes for video tape recorders, but can be applied to tape cassettes for various recording and reproducing devices that record or reproduce various types of information using various recording and reproducing methods.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to extremely easily and reliably perform the switching operation of the plug to the upper and lower positions in the through hole, so that the switching operation of the plug according to the molding information and the detection of the information can be performed very easily and reliably. There will be no mistakes in
Extremely easy to handle and highly reliable.

Moreover, since no springs are particularly required, the number of parts is small.
Inserting the plug into the through hole is extremely easy. Further, both the plug and the through hole can be easily molded using a mold with a simple structure, and are extremely low cost.

Furthermore, since the plug does not rotate unexpectedly at multiple positions above and below, the plug can be reliably positioned at multiple positions above and below.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a tape cassette for a video tape recorder, in which FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the plug and the through-hole portion, and FIGS. 2A and 2B are the inside of the through-hole. The sectional views, FIGS. 3A and 3B, showing the switching state of the plug are shown in FIG. 2A II[A-I[
[A line and FIG. The figure is a perspective view of a plug in another embodiment. In addition, in the reference numerals used in the drawings, 1-.
7-・・・−−−−1−=・Through hole 8.9−・・−−−
---1...-Plug 11------------
---Groove portion 12-------------1--Vertical grooves 13, 14----Horizontal grooves 15, 1
6--------Click locking engaged part 27
--------・--・-11--------Engaging portion 38-・
−・−−−−−−−−−−−Plug 39−・・−・−
-11----11--Vertical grooves 40, 41, 4
2---------1 horizontal groove 43-----11-----
-----------Groove portions 44, 45, 46------
- It is an engaged part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The cassette casing has a through hole provided vertically, and a plug inserted into the through hole so as to be movable up and down and rotatable around the vertical axis. , in a tape cassette configured such that cassette information is detected based on the vertical position of the plug in the through hole, a vertical groove is formed on either the outer circumferential surface of the plug or the inner circumferential surface of the through hole; A groove portion consisting of a plurality of upper and lower horizontal grooves connected to the vertical groove is provided, an engaging portion is provided on the other side to be engaged with the groove portion, and this engaging portion is engaged with the vertical groove. The above-mentioned plug is made vertically movable within the above-mentioned through-hole, and by rotating the above-mentioned plug around the vertical axis, the above-mentioned engaging portion is selectively engaged with the above-mentioned horizontal grooves in the plurality of upper and lower stages. A tape cassette characterized in that the tape cassette is configured to be positioned in a plurality of upper and lower stages within the through hole. 2. A through hole provided vertically in the cassette case, and a plug inserted into the through hole so as to be movable up and down and rotatable around the vertical axis, In a tape cassette configured such that cassette information is detected depending on the vertical position of the plug, either one of the outer circumferential surface of the plug and the inner circumferential surface of the through hole has a vertical groove and is connected to the vertical groove. a groove portion consisting of a plurality of upper and lower horizontal grooves; an engaging portion that engages with the groove portion is provided on the other side; and by engaging the engaging portion with the vertical groove, the plug passes through the plug. The plug is movable up and down within the hole, and by rotating the plug around the vertical axis, the engaging portion is selectively engaged with the horizontal grooves in the plurality of upper and lower stages, and the plug is moved within the through hole. The engaging portion is configured to be positioned in a plurality of upper and lower stages, and the engaging portion is configured as an engaging portion having elasticity, and the engaging portion having elasticity is configured to resist elasticity in the horizontal groove of the plurality of upper and lower stages of the groove portion. A tape cassette characterized in that it is provided with a click-locking engaged part that is engaged with the click-locking part.