JPS62189687A - Tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a tape cartridge which excels in the assembling performance with a small number of component members, by forming a lock bar in a body with the bottom wall of a main body case. CONSTITUTION:A coil spring 22 which acts on the tip part 19a of a lock bar 19 presses down the part 19a continuously until a coupling piece 21 on the lower surface of the part 19a is coupled completely into a coupling hole 30 of a shutter 10. At the state of the element 21 is coupled completely into the hole 30, the lower end of the spring 22 held on the upper surface of the part 19a is held by the spring holder seats 25 and 25 provided at the side of a case bottom wall 4. Thus the part 19a is never pressed down unneccesarily.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a tape cartridge having a shutter for opening and closing a tape loading pocket in one body case, and is characterized by a sliding locking means of the shutter.

[Conventional technology]

4 and 5 illustrate a tape cartridge with a shutter to which the present invention is directed, the basic structure of which is known, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-253076. There, a shutter 10 is provided on the outer surface of the bottom wall 4 of the main body case 1 for opening and closing the lower surface of the opening of a tape loading pocket 7 provided on the front surface thereof. When the pocket 7 is not in use, the shutter 10 slides forward to close the lower surface of the opening of the pocket 7. When a tape cartridge is loaded onto the deck, the shutter 0 is slid rearward by a member on the deck side, opening the lower surface of the pocket 7.

In such a tape cartridge, one aspect of the present invention concerns the sliding locking means of the shutter 10.

As a prior art related to this point, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-1879
There is a publication No. 82. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, an opening 17 is provided in the bottom wall 4 of the main body case 1, a lock piece 19 is fitted into the opening so as to be able to move vertically, and a flange provided at the upper end of the lock piece 19 is fitted. 35 to prevent the lock piece 19 from being pulled out downward.

A coil spring 22 is connected between the upper surface of the collar 35 and the upper case 1a.
is inserted, and the lock piece 19 is urged downward by the spring 22 so that the lower end of the lock piece engages with the shutter 10. In this conventional example, the lock piece 19 is a separate member from the lower case 1b, and the biggest drawback is that the number of nine parts increases and the workability of assembly becomes poor.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 60-253076, the present applicant has transparently provided an opening 17 with a long width in the left and right directions in the bottom wall 4 of the main body case 1, as shown in FIG. A lock piece 19 with a small width on the left and right sides whose rear end connects to the bottom wall 4 is arranged in a cantilevered manner in the part, and a tip end 19a of the lock piece 19 is provided.
can move up and down using the base end as a fulcrum. and,
The engaging element 21 provided on the lower surface of the tip portion 19a is connected to the shutter 10.
A form of engagement was adopted.

In this case, since the lock piece 19 is integrally formed with the case bottom wall 4, the structure is simple and the assembly is easy to perform. However, since the lock piece 19 slides to lock and unlock by moving the tip 19a up and down by the elastic deformation of the lock piece itself, the tip engager 21 of the lock piece 19 may become damaged with continued use. It has been found that situations tend to occur where the shutter does not fit securely into the engagement hole (30 or 31) on the shutter side.

In order to further improve this point, the present applicant also interposed a coil spring 22 between the top surface of the tip 19a of the lock piece 19 and the upper case la side, as shown in FIG. An attempt was made to use the spring 22 to press and bias the distal end engager 21 into a downward locking position.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in a configuration in which the coil spring 22 acts elastically on the lock piece 19 that is integrated with the case bottom wall 4.

If the tip 19a of the lock piece 19 is pressed downward more than necessary by the spring 22, the bottom of the lock piece 19 will push down the shutter 10 through the opening 17, causing the case bottom wall 4 and the shutter to be pushed down. 10, which causes disadvantages such as allowing dust to enter. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7(C), the diameter of the coil spring 22 is set at the opening 1.
It is necessary that the lower end of the coil spring 22 is received by the inner surface of the case bottom wall 4 when the distal end engager 21 of the lock piece 19 is engaged with the shutter 10.

However, when the diameter of the coil spring 22 is increased, the tape 2 tends to abut and interfere with the spring 22 and may be damaged, so it is desirable that the outer diameter of the coil spring 22 be as small as possible. However, when the coil spring 22 is made small in diameter, a considerably large gap g is created between the opening 17 and the lock piece 19 including the tip 19a due to molding, as shown in FIG. (As shown in dl, the lower end of the coil spring 22 falls into the gap g and presses the tip 19a of the lock piece 19 downward more than necessary.)

This tends to lead to a situation where the distal end portion 19a cannot be moved upward to the unlocked position.

Incidentally, in order to eliminate such a problem, the applicant of the present invention, in Japanese Patent Application No. 60-275733, bends only the outer diameter of the lower end of the coil spring 28 to a larger diameter, and makes the spring body part smaller in diameter. A case is shown in which the lower end is received by the bottom wall 4 of the case. but.

In this case, the lower end of the coil spring 22 must be machined into a special shape, and there is still a risk that the tape 2 will come into contact with and interfere with the lower end of the spring whose outer diameter is increased, so there is still room for improvement.

Furthermore, if we pay attention to the example shown in FIG. 7, a gap g is created around the opening 17 and the lock piece 19.

The tip of this gap g is the engagement hole 30, 31 of the shutter 10.
It is connected to the outside via. Therefore, especially when not in use, dust flows through the gap g as shown in Fig. 7 (b).
However, as shown by the arrow P in C1 and FIG.

This gap g is formed by the wall member of the mold that partitions the bottom wall 4 and the lock piece 19, so in order to reduce the gap g, the thickness of the wall member must be reduced.
There is a problem with the strength of the wall member of the mold, and currently the gap g has to be relatively large.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention improves the sliding lock means of the shutter 10 in order to solve the problems of the conventional example.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge in which the shutter 10 can be reliably slid and locked in a fixed position.

An object of the present invention is to obtain a tape cartridge which is easy to assemble with a small number of parts by molding the lock piece 19 integrally with the bottom wall 4 of the main body case 1 in the sliding lock means of the shutter 10. It is in. .

An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge in which a lock piece 19 can be molded integrally with a case bottom wall 4 using a reasonable mold structure in a sliding locking means of a shutter 10.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge that can effectively and reliably prevent dust from entering the case, especially when not in use, in the sliding locking means of the shaft lO.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge in which the coil spring 22 acting on the lock piece 19 in the sliding lock means of the shutter 10 does not interfere with tape running.

An object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge in which the coil spring 22 always acts correctly on the lock piece 19 in the sliding lock means of the shutter 10, and the lock piece 19 does not malfunction.

[Means for solving problems]

The sliding lock means of the shutter 10 according to the present invention is as follows.

A lock piece 19 whose base end is connected to the bottom wall 4 is provided in a cantilevered manner in an opening 17 provided through the bottom wall 4 of the main body case 1, and the tip portion of the lock piece 19 is elastically deformed. 19a
can move up and down within the opening 17. That is, the lock piece 19 is integrally molded with the case bottom wall 4.

Then, a coil spring 22 is installed between the upper surface of the tip 19a of the lock piece 19 and a spring receiving portion on the main body case 1 side located above this, and the spring 22 pushes down the tip 19a and biases it downward. , so that the retainer 2 on the lower surface side of the tip portion 19a
The engagement hole (30 or 31
) to lock the sliding movement of the shutter 10.

Thus, in the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, spring receiving seats 25 and 25 are provided on the opening edge of the opening 17 facing the tip L9a of the lock piece 19, facing inward of the opening 17. Formed protrudingly.

The lower end floor of the coil spring 22 can be received by the spring receiving seats 25 and 725.

[Effect]

That is, the coil spring 22 acting on the tip end 19a of the lock piece 19 operates until the engagement element 21 on the lower surface of the tip end 19a is securely engaged with the engagement hole (30 or 31) of the shutter 10. The tip portion 19a is pressed downward.

However, when the engaging element 21 is securely engaged with the engaging hole (30 or 31), the lower end floor of the coil spring 22, which was received on the upper surface of the locking piece tip 19a, is moved toward the bottom wall 4 side of the case. It is now received by the spring receiving seats 25, 25, and the tip portion 19a is not pressed downward more than necessary.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the sliding lock means of the shutter 10 according to the present invention as described above, the opening 17. The entire lock piece 19 and the spring seats 25 are each integrally molded, and the coil spring 22 is the only component that is assembled. The coil spring 22 also does not need to have a special shape. Therefore, one assembly is highly workable and can be carried out at low cost.

Since the coil spring 22 acts to press the tip 19a of the lock piece 19 downward, the engagement hole of the shutter 10 (with the engager 21 on the lower surface of the tip 19a in place)
30 or 31), and does not cause locking failure. Nevertheless, the engaging element 21 is in the engaging hole (30
or 31), the coil spring 2
The upper end of 2 is a spring receiver II provided on the case bottom wall 4 side from the upper surface of the lock piece tip 19a! 25 and 25, the coil spring 22 does not push down the entire lock piece 19 more than necessary.

Therefore, especially when the shutter 10 is not in use, the lock piece 19 does not push the shutter 10 to create a large gap between the case bottom wall 4 and the shutter 10, and the intrusion of dust can be effectively prevented. This is also effective in preventing permanent deformation of the lock piece 19 and the like.

Moreover, the spring receiving seats 25 are formed to protrude inward of the opening 17, and the upper end of the coil spring 22 is received on the inner surface of the case bottom wall 4 facing the opening 17. different. Therefore, the coil spring 2
The outer diameter of No. 2 can also be made smaller. For example, coil spring 22
It is also possible to make the outer diameter of the opening 17 equal to or smaller than the width of the opening 17. Nevertheless, the lower end of the spring 22 falls into the opening 17 as shown in FIG. This will not result in the inability to unlock the lock.

In this way, since the coil spring 22 can be made small in diameter, it is possible to prevent the running tape 2 from contacting and interfering with the spring 22 and causing scratches.

Furthermore, since even the coil spring 22 with a small diameter does not fall into the opening 17, there is no need to make the entire gap g between the opening edge of the opening 17 and the lock piece 19 extremely small. The spring receiving seats 25, 25 and the lock piece tip 1
It is sufficient to narrow the width only between 9a and 9a. Therefore, the strength of the molding die will not deteriorate.

〔Example〕

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a digital recording and reproducing type tape cartridge as an example of a tape cartridge to which the present invention is directed.

In the figure, a main body case 1 is formed by connecting upper and lower plastic cases 1a and 1b with screws or the like, and has hubs 3, 3 around which tapes 2 are wound on the left and right sides of the inside. These hubs 3, 3 are located above drive shaft insertion holes 5, 5 transparently provided in the lower case 1b side, and rotate freely.

There are guide members 6, 6 on the front left and right inside the main body case 1.
A tape loading pocket 7 is recessed in the front of the main body case 1. The tape 2 is led out from one hub 3 to the front of the case via guide members 6, 6, and wound around the other hub 3.

A front cover 9 that covers the front surface of the main body case 1 when not in use is pivotally attached to the main body case 1 so as to be rotatable to open and close, and is biased to a closed position by a spring member (not shown).

A shutter 1o is attached to the outer surface of the bottom wall 4 of the main body case 1 so as to be slidable back and forth. Further, a brake member 11 that comes into contact with each of the hubs 3 is mounted in the main body case 1 so as to be slidable back and forth.

When the tape cartridge is not in use, the front cover 9 covers and protects the outer front surface of the tape 2. The shutter 10 is slid forward by a spring member 12 shown in FIG. 4, and in this state, the sliding movement of the shutter 10 is locked by a sliding locking means 16, which will be described later, to close the lower surface of the opening of the pocket 7.
The drive shaft insertion holes 5 are also closed. Brake member 11
It is also slid to the rear brake position by a spring member 13.

A brake piece 15 extending rearward from the brake member 11
- 15 abuts and engages with the upper end portions of both hubs 3, 3 to prevent rotation of each hub 3, 3.

When the tape cartridge is loaded into the deck, the shutter 1
0 slides rearward against the spring member 12 and is slidably locked at this position, opening the lower surface of the opening of the pocket 7 and the lower surface of the drive shaft insertion holes 5. Concurrently with this, the front cover 9 is rotated to open upward, and in conjunction with this, the brake member 11 is slid to the front brake release position against the spring member 13, and the brakes of each hub 3 are released. It comes off. With this, the tape on the deck side and the loading pin are engaged with the boke-soto 7, and the drive shaft is engaged with the drive shaft insertion holes 5, 5 from below, respectively, and the tape 2 is placed in a standby state in which it can be pulled out forward.

Between the case bottom wall 4 and the shutter 10, there are two
The present invention is provided with sliding locking means 16 for holding the shutter 10 in a non-slidable manner in front and back positions, and the present invention is characterized by this sliding locking means 16. Next, a specific example will be explained.

[Example 1] Figures 1 to 3 show a sliding opening and hooking means 1 according to the present invention.
6 is shown in the first embodiment.

First, an opening 17 with a long left and right width is provided in the corresponding part of the case bottom wall 4, and a lock piece 19 with a narrow width on the left and right whose base end is connected to the case bottom wall 4 is placed inside the opening 17 in a cantilever shape. The distal end portion 19a of the lock piece 19 can swing in the vertical direction using the proximal end portion of the lock piece 19 as a fulcrum.

The tip portion 19a of the lock piece 19 has a spring receiving protrusion 20 on the upper surface side, and an engaging element 21 protrudes from the lower surface side. The lower end of the coil spring 28 is fitted into the spring receiving protrusion 20, and the lower end of the coil spring 22 is received on the upper surface of the locking piece tip 19a. Strictly speaking, the front and rear portions of the lower end of the coil spring 22 are received by the spring receiving surfaces 23, 23 set at the front and rear of the upper surface of the tip portion 19a. A spring receiving protrusion 24 is formed protrudingly on the inner surface of the earthen wall of the upper case 1a at a position directly above the tip portion 19a, and the upper end of the coil spring 22 is fitted into the protrusion 24 from below, so that the upper end of the coil spring 22 is fitted onto the upper case wall. It is accepted. In reality, the upper end of the coil spring 22 is pre-assembled to the protrusion 24 on the upper case la side so that it cannot be removed, and then when the upper case 1a is placed on the lower case 1b, the lower end of the coil spring 22 is placed on the locking piece 19 side. It is designed to fit into the spring receiving protrusion 20 and be stably mounted.

Thus, the coil spring 22 is installed in a compressed state.

The tip 19a of the locking piece 19 is pressed so that it protrudes downward from the outer surface of the case bottom wall 4 through the opening 17. The spring constant of the coil spring 22 is selected to be an appropriate value that allows the lower end surface of the engager 21 to slightly protrude below the outer surface of the case bottom wall 4.

In the opening 17, spring receiving seats 25 are formed on the left and right opening edges facing the tip 19a of the lock piece 19 so as to protrude inwardly from the opening 17 and facing each other.

The upper surface of each spring receiving seat 25 is set flush with the inner surface of the case bottom wall 4.

On the other hand, the shutter 10 has a main surface plate 26 that is in sliding contact with the outer surface of the case bottom wall 4, and left and right side wall plates 27, 27 that are integrally erected from the left and right ends of the main surface plate 26, and the upper ends of the left and right side wall plates 27, 27. are supported between the left and right side walls of the upper and lower cases la and 1b to prevent handling. Lock piece 1 on main surface Fi26
9, guide grooves 29 are formed on the left and right sides of the lower surface, respectively.

A first engagement hole 30 and a second engagement hole 31 before and after each guide groove 29
and are transparent.

In this case, when the tape cartridge is not in use, the lock piece 19 is urged to slide forward by the aforementioned spring member 12, so that the distal end engager 21 of the lock piece 19 moves as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. As shown in FIG. When a tape cartridge is loaded onto the deck, a member on the deck side is guided from the front into the guide groove 29 and comes into contact with the engaging element 21 engaged with the second engaging hole 31, causing the engaging element 21 to By pushing up against the coil spring 22, the sliding lock is once released, and the member on the deck side first comes into contact with the rear end 29a of the guide groove 29, causing the shutter 10 to slide rearward. Then, at the retraction limit of the shutter 10, the engaging element 21 is moved to the first engaging hole 3.
0, thereby slidingly locking the shutter 10 in the rear open position to maintain the lower surface of the pocket 7 in an open state.

The tip end 19a of the lock piece 19 is pressed downward by a coil spring 22, but when the engager 21 is securely engaged with the first or second engagement hole (30 or 31), the coil spring The left and right portions of the lower ends of the springs 22 are received by the spring receivers 25 on the side of the case bottom wall 4, and do not act to push the tip portion 19a further down. Therefore, the lower surface of the lock piece 19 does not press the shutter 10. As a result, a large gap does not occur between the case bottom wall 4 and the shutter 10, especially in the unused state shown in FIG. 1 where the engaging member 21 is fitted into the second engaging hole 31.

In addition, especially in the state shown in FIG. 1 in which the engaging element 21 is fitted into the second engaging hole 31, there is a gap g'
However, the area directly above this gap g° was closed by an overhanging portion 32 formed on the tip 19a of the lock piece 19.

[Another embodiment example]

In the illustrated example, the sliding lock means 16 are provided on the left and right sides, but it is also possible to provide only one sliding lock means 16 at an appropriate location. Depending on the setting location, the opening 17 may be formed horizontally on the left or right, and the lock piece 19 may be formed into a horizontally long shape.
It can also be formed to be narrow in the front and back and long in the left and right sides. A spring receiver 24 for receiving the upper end of the coil spring 22 is provided on the lower case lb side.

The coil spring 22 may be pre-assembled and attached to the lower case 1b. Although it is preferable that the shutter 10 is slidably locked in two positions, front and rear, it may be slidably locked only in at least one of the two positions, for example, in a backward sliding position where the lower surface of the pocket 7 is opened. The spring member 12 that urges the shutter 10 to slide forward is not essential.

Further, the upper surface of the spring receiving seat 25 may not be flush with the inner surface of the case bottom wall 4, but may have a slight step above and below.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view of the main part, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main part,
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the main parts, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the whole, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the entire internal structure. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional side view corresponding to FIG. 1 showing a conventional example. FIG. 7 shows a comparative example of the sliding lock means tried before completing the present invention, and FIG. 7(a) is a plan view;
Figure 7(b) is a vertical side view, Figure 7(C) and Figure 7(d)
) are vertical front views, respectively. l...Body case. 1a... Upper case. 1b...lower case. 4...Bottom wall of the main case. 10...Shutter. 16...Sliding locking means. 17...Opening. 19...Lock piece. 19a... Tip of lock piece. 20... Spring receiving protrusion. 21... Engagement element. 22...Coil spring. 25...Spring catch seat. 30, 31...Engagement hole. Inventor: 1) Takashi Patent Applicant: Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. Figure 7 (C)
) 1a Figure 7(d) Figure 7(a) Figure 7(b)

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A tape cartridge in which a shutter 10 for opening and closing the lower surface of a tape loading pocket 7 provided on the front surface of the tape cartridge is attached to the outer surface of the bottom wall 4 of the main body case 1 so as to be slidable back and forth. The proximal end is inserted into the opening 17 provided through the bottom wall 4.
A lock piece 19 connected to the lock piece 19 is arranged in a cantilevered manner so that the tip end 19a of the lock piece 19 can move up and down. Between the receiving part and the tip part 1
A coil spring 22 is attached to press and bias the engaging element 9a to a downward movement position in which the engaging element 21 provided on the lower surface of the engaging element 21 fits into the engaging hole of the shutter 10 in a fixed position, and locks the opening 17. On the edge of the opening facing the tip 19a of the piece 19, spring receiving seats 25 for receiving and supporting the lower end of the coil spring 22 are formed in opposing shapes so as to protrude inward of the opening 17. A tape cartridge characterized by: