JPS6316825B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tape cassette most suitable for application to recording and reproducing devices such as video tape recorders and other various information processing devices.

As is well known, a tape cassette for a video tape recorder is provided with an opening on one side thereof, and a notch continuous with the opening is provided on the bottom surface of the cassette. By attaching this tape cassette to the video tape recorder body, the tape loading guide is inserted into the inside of the tape in the cassette from the notch, and then the tape loading guide is moved from the opening to the outside of the cassette. The tape is pulled out of the cassette and loaded onto a predetermined tape running path.

By the way, in the past, a rotatable lid was provided on the front surface of the opening to prevent the tape from accidentally flying out of the cassette and being damaged. It was configured so that the rotating lid could be rotated and opened when the device was attached to the device.

However, in the past, no consideration was given to preventing dust from entering the inside of the cassette through the notch, so dust that accidentally entered the inside of the cassette could adhere to the magnetic surface of the tape and cause dropouts during recording or playback. There was a defect that could easily cause

The present invention was invented in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and there is no risk of dust etc. adhering to the tape wound along the opening, or of the tape being damaged when opening and closing the lid. The company aims to provide tape cassettes.

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a tape cassette for a video tape recorder will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the tape cassette 1 is composed of a rectangular upper half 2 and a lower half 3 made of synthetic resin, and these upper half 2 and lower half 3 are fitted into each other from above and below. and set screw 4~
It is screwed together at 7 to form an integral housing. A pair of tape reels 8 and 9 are rotatably housed in the tape cassette 1, and a magnetic tape (hereinafter simply referred to as "tape") 10 is wound around both tape reels 8 and 9. In addition,
Both tape reels 8, 9 have their reel hubs 8a, 9
A pair of reel fitting holes 11 provided in the bottom wall 3a of the lower half 3, as shown in FIG.
12 for horizontal positioning. A pair of presser springs 13 are housed in each of the reel hubs 8a, 9a, and a pair of caps 14 are placed over the upper ends of the pair of presser springs 13. When the tape cassette 1 is installed at the cassette mounting position in the video tape recorder main body, a pair of reel drive shafts (not shown) are inserted into the pair of reel hubs 8a and 9a, and at this time, the pivot portions 15 of the pair of caps 14 are inserted into the upper half. Both tape reels 8 and 9 are in contact with the top wall 2a of 2.
is urged toward the reel drive shaft by the presser spring 13, and the lower end surfaces of the respective reel hubs 8a, 9a abut against the positioning surfaces of the pair of reel drive shafts, thereby positioning both tape reels 8, 9 in the vertical direction. It is configured so that

As shown in FIG. 2, an opening 18 is provided on the front surface of the tape cassette 1, extending substantially over the entire width of the cassette. Also, on the bottom wall 3a of the lower half 3, there is a second
This opening 18 is shown in FIGS.
A notch 19 that is continuous is provided. Furthermore, the upper wall 2a of the upper half 2 is provided with an upper notch 20 which is continuous with the opening 18, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the tape cassette 1 normally has its opening 18 covered by a front cover 37, and its upper notch 20 covered by an upper cover 38, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 12. As shown, the opening 18 and the notch 19 are separated by an inner lid 39.

At the edge of the notch 19, as shown in FIG. 3, a partition wall 21 standing vertically from the edge is integrally molded with the lower half. Further, another partition wall 22 symmetrical to this partition wall 21 is integrally molded on the upper surface wall 2a of the upper half 2. When both the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 are fitted together, the upper end surface of the partition wall 21 and the lower end surface of the partition wall 22 are in close contact with each other, and the notch 19 to the upper notch 20 and the inside of the tape cassette 1 are in close contact with each other. are partitioned by partition walls 21 and 22. When fitting the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 together, the tape 10 should be pulled out slightly as shown in FIG. 3 in order not to damage the tape 10. In addition, partition wall 2
As shown in Fig. 8, a pair of positioning holes 17 are formed at both left and right ends of the tape cassette 17, which are opened at the bottom surface of the lower half 3, and are located at the cassette mounting position when the tape cassette is mounted in the video tape recorder body. A pair of positioning pins 16 are inserted into the pair of positioning holes 17 to position the tape cassette.

A pair of guide surfaces 23 are formed at both left and right ends of the partition wall 21, as shown in FIG.
Another pair of guide surfaces 24 having the same shape as this guide surface 23 are formed at both left and right ends of the guide surface 2 . The guide surfaces 23 and 24 each have a dogleg shape, that is, they consist of vertical surface portions 25 and 26 that are perpendicular to each other and slope portions 27 and 28 that are slightly inclined, and both the upper and lower halves 2 and 3
The structure is such that the guide surfaces 23 and 24 can be formed simultaneously without producing an undercut when injection molding is performed using a mold. When the upper half 2 is fitted into the lower half 3 from the direction of arrow a in FIG. 8, the guide surfaces 23 and 24 face each other, as shown in FIGS. It is configured to form a pair of guide grooves 31 into which guided pins 81 are inserted. Therefore, upper half 2
Alternatively, when forming the guide groove 31 independently in the lower half 3, it was impossible to mold it with a mold because of the undercut. Since the groove 31 is formed, the guide surfaces 23 and 24 of the guide groove 31
can be molded at the same time when both the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 are injection molded using a mold, resulting in good manufacturability.

A pair of cylindrical tape guide portions 32 are also formed at both left and right ends of the partition wall 22 in front of the guide surface 24, as shown in FIG. The lower end portions of the pair of tape guide portions 32 extend to the bottom wall 3a of the lower half 3 so that no seam occurs in the tape guide portion 32, and the tips of the setscrews 4 and 5 are screwed into the inside thereof. It is configured to be inserted. The tape 10 is guided by a pair of tape guide sections 32 and passed along the opening 18, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5.

A pair of bracket portions 36 are provided at both left and right ends of the front side of the upper half 2, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 8. As shown in FIGS. The pair of bracket portions 36 are provided with a pair of pin holes 42 into which the pair of fulcrum pins 41 of the front lid 37 are inserted. A pair of inclined surfaces 44 are formed on the outer surfaces of the pair of bracket parts 36 from the upper end surface 43 of the bracket part 36 to the edges of the pair of pin holes 42, and the pair of fulcrum pins 41 of the front lid 37 are connected to the eighth It is configured such that it can be inserted into a pair of inclined surfaces 44 in the direction of arrow b in the figure, and a pair of fulcrum pins 41 can be inserted into a pair of pin holes 42 in a click manner. Therefore, the front cover 37 can be easily attached.

On the bottom wall 3a at both left and right ends of the front side of the lower half 3, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9a, there are provided elastic lock claw bodies 46 integrally formed of plastic in a substantially U-shape. ing. A mounting hole 48 is provided in the base end 47 of the lock claw body 46, and a fixing pin 49 provided on the bottom wall 3a is inserted into this mounting hole 48 and then heat-welded. Note that rotation of the base end portion 47 is restricted by a pair of retaining pins 50. The above lock claw body 4
6 forms a claw part 52 having an inclined part 51 as shown in FIG.
3 protrudes to the outside. Incidentally, as the lock pawl body 46, one as shown in FIG. 9b may be used. The lock pawl body 46 shown in FIG. 9b has a proximal end 47 and a pawl portion 52 connected by two spring portions 54 substantially parallel to each other, and has a so-called parallel quadruple link mechanism structure. The motion is almost parallel, and the motion is reliable.

The structure of the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 has been mainly described above on the front side. Next, the front lid 37 and the upper lid 38
The details of the inner lid 39 will be explained. First, the front lid 37 has a substantially U-shape as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and a pair of fulcrum pins 41 are formed on the inner surfaces of a pair of left and right side plates 37a. The pair of fulcrum pins 41 are pivotally supported by the pair of pin holes 42 of the pair of bracket parts 36, so that the front cover 38 can freely rotate. A pair of spring retaining protrusions 56 and 57 are formed on the inner surface of the side plate portion 37a on both the left and right sides of the fulcrum pin 41. A pair of torsion springs 58 are attached to the pair of fulcrum pins 41, and both ends of the pair of torsion springs 58 are latched to the pair of spring locking protrusions 56 and 57 in a slightly torsionally biased state. ing. The spring retaining convex portion 57 is for temporarily retaining one end 58a of the torsion spring 58, and the front cover 37 is attached to the pair of bracket portions 36 from the direction of arrow b in FIG.
When attached to the front edge of the upper half 2, one end 58a of the pair of torsion springs 58 is attached to both left and right ends 5 of the front edge of the upper half 2.
It is designed to be accepted at 9. Therefore, when the front cover 37 is attached to the pair of bracket parts 36, the front cover 37 is rotated counterclockwise about the pair of fulcrum pins 41 in FIGS. 12 and 13 by the pair of torsion springs 58. Become energized.

A pair of lock holes 60 are provided in the lower portions of the pair of side plate portions 37a. Further, a pair of slits 61 are provided at both left and right ends of the lower edge of the front lid 37. The lock hole 60 is arranged at a position facing the claw hole 53 when the front lid 37 is closed, and the slit 61 communicates between the side wall 3b of the lower half 3 and the side plate portion 37a of the front lid 37. has been done.
Therefore, the claw portions 52 of the pair of lock claw bodies 46 protruding from the pair of claw holes 53 engage with the pair of lock holes 60 when the front cover is closed, as shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b. However, when the tape cassette 1 is installed at the cassette installation position in the video tape recorder main body, the pair of lock release pieces 62 provided at the cassette installation position are inserted into the pair of slits 6.
A pair of claws 52 and a lock hole 60 are inserted from 1.
It is configured so that it can be disengaged from the

A pair of pin holes 63 are provided at the upper front side of the pair of side plate portions 37a of the front lid 37, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. On the other hand, a pair of fulcrum pins 64 and 65 are provided at both left and right ends of the upper lid 38, and the pair of fulcrum pins 64 and 65 are inserted into the pair of pin holes 63, so that the upper lid 38
It is said to be freely rotatable around 4. Note that one fulcrum pin 65 is longer than the other fulcrum pin 64, and a substantially C-shaped spacer 66 is click-fitted to the fulcrum pin 65 as shown in FIG. 64 and 65 are both pin holes 63
It is made to stay in place. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the fulcrum pin 65 is provided to protrude from the notch step 67, and when attaching the top cover 38 to the front cover 37, the top cover 38 is first set up as shown by the dashed line in FIG. In this state, the fulcrum pin 65 is inserted into one pin hole 63, and then the upper cover 38 is slightly shifted laterally and the fulcrum pin 64 is inserted into the other pin hole 63. Then, the upper cover 38 is rotated in the direction of arrow c in FIG. 7 to make it horizontal, and the spacer 66 is clicked into the fulcrum pin 65 from the direction of arrow e in FIG.
Since the spacer 66 is used in this way, the upper lid 3
The installation work of 8 is easy and the installation is reliable. The front edge of the upper lid 38 is formed into an arcuate surface 68 as shown in FIG. 7, so that there is no gap between the front edge of the upper lid 38 and the upper edge of the front lid 37. Further, the rear edge of the upper lid 38 is located at the sixth
As shown in FIGS. 8, 7, 12 and 13, the front edge of the upper half 2 is formed into an inclined surface 69, while the front edge of the upper half 2 that contacts the rear edge of the upper lid 38 is formed as an inclined surface 69 as shown in FIGS. As shown in the figure, an inclined surface 70 has the same inclination angle as the inclined surface 69. Therefore, when the upper lid 38 is closed as shown in FIG. 12, no gap is created between the rear edge of the upper lid 38 and the front edge of the upper half 2, and the upper lid 38 is closed as shown in FIG. As shown, it can slide rearward and upward.

As shown in FIG. 6, a pair of spring locking portions 71 are provided at both left and right ends of the lower surface of the upper lid 38. As shown in FIG. A pair of spring locking portions 72 are also provided at both left and right ends of the inner surface of the front lid 37. A pair of tension springs 73 are installed between the pair of spring locking parts 71 and 72, and the upper lid 38 is urged to rotate in the direction of arrow d in FIG. 6 by the pair of tension springs 73. There is. A pair of bracket parts 74 are also provided at both left and right ends of the lower surface of the upper lid 38, which are located slightly closer to the center than the pair of spring locking parts 71 and adjacent to the rear edge of the upper lid 38. A pair of fulcrum pins 76 and 77 provided at both left and right ends of the inner lid 39 are pivotally supported in a pair of pin holes 75 provided in the pair of bracket portions 74, and the inner lid 39 is supported by both fulcrum pins 76 and 77, respectively. It is said to be freely rotatable around 77. Note that one of the fulcrum pins 76 is provided to protrude from the notch step 78 and is configured to be longer than the other fulcrum pin 77. When attaching the inner cover 39 to the upper cover 38, first insert the fulcrum pin 76 into one pin hole 75.
, then shift the inner cover 39 slightly laterally and insert the fulcrum pin 77 into the other pin hole 75 . Then, a substantially C-shaped spacer 79 is click-fitted onto the fulcrum pin 76 from the direction of arrow f in FIG. By doing so, the work of attaching the inner cover 39 becomes easier and the attachment is ensured. Further, one side surface of the pair of bracket portions 74 forms a pair of sloped surface portions 74a that are continuous with the sloped surface 69 formed at the rear edge of the upper lid 38, and when the upper lid 38 moves rearward and upward, this pair of sloped surface portions 74a are continuous. The inclined surface portion 74a of the upper half 2 is configured to come into sliding contact with the inclined surface 70 of the upper half 2.

As shown in FIG. 6, a pair of bracket portions 80 are protrudingly provided near the lower end of the inner cover 39 at both left and right ends of the outer surface (the surface facing the notch 19) of the inner cover 39. A pair of guided pins 81 that are inserted into the pair of guide grooves 31 are provided at the distal ends of the pair of bracket parts 80 to protrude toward the sides of the inner lid 39.

By the way, at the lower end of the front lid 37, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, an edge plate 84 is formed, and normally this edge plate 84 closes a part of the front side of the notch 19 as shown in FIG. The lower edge of the edge plate 84 comes into contact with the inner surface of the tip end of the edge plate 84 to define a space between the opening 18 and the notch 19 . The inner surface of the tip of the edge plate part 84 forms an inclined surface 85 as shown in FIGS. 37 can be opened smoothly.

The details of the front cover 37, upper cover 38, and inner cover 39 have been described above, but when assembling these, first attach the inner cover 39 to the upper cover 38, and then attach the inner cover 39 to the upper cover 38.
is attached to the front cover 37. Then, attach the front cover 37 to the eighth
It is attached to the pair of bracket parts 36 of the upper half 2 from the direction of arrow b in the figure. At this time, the pair of guided pins 81 of the inner lid 39 are inserted into the pair of guide grooves 31 from their upper ends.

Next, the reel lock device 87 provided within the tape cassette 1 will be explained. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, this reel lock device is provided at the center of the rear side of the tape cassette 1.
As shown in the drawings and FIG. 11, it consists of a pair of left and right first claws 88, a second claw 90 having a pair of left and right claws 89, and a torsion spring 91. A pin hole 92 is provided in each of the pair of first claw bodies 88, and a pair of right and left support pins 93 are provided protruding from the bottom wall 3a of the lower half 3. The pin holes 92 of the pair of first claw bodies 88 are inserted into support pins 93, respectively, so that the first claw bodies 88 are rotatable. On the other hand, the second claw body 90 is placed on the bottom wall 3a, and its left and right sides are sandwiched by a pair of left and right guide plate portions 94 projecting from the bottom wall 3a. The second pawl body 90 is guided by a pair of guide plate portions 94 and is slidable on the bottom wall 3a in the front-rear direction. An elongated hole 95 is provided in the bottom wall 3a between the pair of guide plate portions 94 and is longitudinally elongated in the front-rear direction, into which a lock release pin 103, which will be described later, can be inserted.

Specifically, the pair of first claw bodies 88 are approximately T-shaped as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, and have a claw portion 97 at the tip, and a pressed portion 98 and a spring at both left and right ends. It has a receiving part 99. Also, the spring receiving part 99
The back side forms a stopped portion 100. On the other hand, the second claw body 90 has a main body part 101 in which the pair of claw parts 89 are provided in a V-shape in front thereof, a spring support pin 102 is protruded from the upper surface of this main body part 101, and the lower surface A pin hole 104 into which the lock release pin 103 is inserted is provided. Further, the rear surface of the main body portion 101 constitutes a pressing portion 105 .
The pair of first claw bodies 88 and second claw bodies 90 are made of plastic, and in particular, the second claw bodies 90 are made of plastic.
The pair of claw portions 89 of 0 are elastically formed into a V-shape.

A torsion spring 91 is inserted into the spring support pin 102 of the second claw body 90, and both left and right ends of this torsion spring 91 are in contact with a pair of spring receiving portions 99 of a pair of first claw bodies 88. . Therefore, the pair of first claw bodies 88 are centered around the pair of support pins 93.
In FIG. 1, the second pawl body 90 is biased to rotate in the direction of arrow g and in the direction of arrow h, respectively, while in FIG. 11, the second pawl body 90 is biased in the direction of arrow i.

Note that the stopped portion 100 of the pair of first claw bodies 88 is normally in contact with the rear wall 3c of the lower half 3, and rotation in the directions of arrows g and h in FIG. 11 is prevented. In this state, the pair of claw portions 97 are adapted to engage with the pair of ratchet portions 106 provided on the outer periphery of the lower reel flange portions 9b of the pair of tape reels 8, 9, respectively. However, the pair of claws 97 are designed to engage at a position slightly above the straight line L connecting the center O of the tape reels 8, 9 and the pair of support pins 93 in FIG. The tape reel 9 is prevented from rotating counterclockwise in FIG. 11, and the tape reel 9 is prevented from rotating clockwise in FIG.

Further, a stopper portion 107 is provided on the bottom wall 3a of the lower half 3 in a protruding manner in front of the second claw body 90 as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. Movement in the direction of arrow i is normally prevented by this stopper portion 107. In this state, the pair of claw portions 89 are engaged with both ratchet portions 106 of both tape reels 8 and 9. Note that when the pair of pawls 97 and the pair of pawls 89 are respectively engaged with the ratchet portion 106 (the state shown by solid lines in FIG. 11), the pressed portions 9 of the pair of first pawls 88
8 and the pressing part 105 of the second claw body 90, a predetermined gap is formed between the pair of claw parts 97 and the pair of claw parts 89, as will be made clear in the explanation of the operation described later. The timing is shifted back and forth.

The configuration of the reel lock device 87 has been described above, and now the erroneous erasure prevention device 115 will be described.
This accidental erasure prevention device 115 is provided at the rear corner of the lower surface of the tape cassette 1, as shown in FIG. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, a square hole 116 is formed vertically in the corner of the tape cassette 1, and a block 1 formed in the shape of a rectangular frame made of plastic is inserted into the square hole 116.
17 is fitted so as to be movable up and down. Square hole 116
The lower end of the bottom wall 3a and rear wall 3 of the lower half 3
The first notches 118 are formed to communicate with each other in c.
and the second notch 119, respectively, so that an erroneous erasure prevention detection piece (not shown) provided at the cassette mounting position can be inserted from either the first notch 118 or the second notch 119. has been done. In other words, when preventing erroneous erasure, block 11
7 upwardly as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 15 to open the first notch 118 and the second notch 119. In addition, when erasing, use the insertion hole 120.
Insert a pin or the like and push down the block 117 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 15 to open the first notch 1.
18 and the second notch 119 are closed. In FIGS. 14 and 15, 121 is an engagement recess formed on the inner surface of the square hole 116, and 122 is an engagement recess formed on the inner surface of the square hole 116.
7, which is the engagement protrusion 12.
2 engages with the engagement recess 121 when preventing erroneous erasure,
It is adapted to engage with the second notch 119 during erasing.

Next, the operating conditions of the tape cassette 1 constructed as described above will be explained. As shown in FIG. 12, the tape cassette 1 is normally constructed such that the tape 10 passed along the opening 18 is connected to the front cover 37 on the front side, the inner cover 39 on the back side, and the upper cover 38 on the upper end. They are each covered and occluded by. Therefore, in this state, there is no risk of the tape 10 being damaged by dust or the like, and the tape cassette 1 is extremely reliable. At this time, a pair of fulcrum pins 7 provided at the upper end of the inner lid 39
6 and 77 are pivotally supported by a pair of pin holes 75 of a pair of bracket parts 74 adjacent to the rear edge of the upper lid 38, and the lower end of the inner lid 39 is connected to an edge plate part provided at the lower end of the front lid 37. Since it is in contact with 84, the inner lid 39
crosses diagonally between the opening 18 and the notch 19, and a slightly wider space 108 is formed behind the tape 10. Therefore, even if the front cover 37 and the inner cover 39 are closed with the tape 10 slightly slack, the tape 10 will not close the front cover 37 and the inner cover 3.
There is no risk of damage caused by 9.

In the closed state, as shown in FIG. 9a or 9b, the claw portions 52 of both locking claw bodies 46 lock into both lock holes 6 of both side plate portions 37a of the front lid 37.
0 to prevent the front lid 37 from being opened inadvertently.

On the other hand, when the tape cassette 1 is installed in the video tape recorder main body, the front cover 37 rotates upward as shown in FIG. 13, the top cover 38 slides rearward and upward, and the inner cover 39 moves upward. Move backward while rotating. Therefore, the front and back sides of the tape 10 are open. That is, when the tape cassette 1 is inserted into, for example, a cassette holder of a video tape recorder main body, the pair of left and right unlocking pieces 62 provided on the cassette holder etc.
9a and 9b, the front cover 37 is inserted into the pair of left and right slits 61 from the direction of the arrow j. Then, both lock release pieces 62 press the inclined portions 51 of the claw portions 52 of both lock claw bodies 46, and both claw portions 52 are pressed by arrows K in FIGS. 9a and 9b.
direction, and both claw portions 52 and both lock holes 60 are disengaged.

Next, when the tape cassette 1 is moved downward as shown in FIG.
6 are inserted into both positioning holes 17 as shown in FIG. 13, and the tape cassette 1 is positioned. In addition, the front lid 37 is pushed up by a pair of left and right protrusions 109 provided at the cassette mounting position.
The front lid 37 rotates upward against the pair of torsion springs 58 and the pair of tension springs 73, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 13. At this time, the upper lid 38 slides rearward and upward as shown in FIG. 13 while the sloped surface portions 74a of the pair of left and right bracket portions 74 are guided by the sloped surface 70 of the upper half 2, and finally the upper half 2 Climb onto the top of the. Further, the inner cover 39 is pulled up diagonally upward by the sliding movement of the upper cover 38 while the pair of left and right guided pins 81 are guided by both guide grooves 31, so that the inner cover 39 rotates upward and moves rearward. Therefore, at this time, the lower end of the inner cover 39 rises while drawing a gentle circular arc trajectory that is nearly vertical, so that the lower end of the inner cover 39 does not come into contact with the back surface of the tape 10. As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 12, the pair of left and right tension springs 73 are normally located on the sides of the pair of left and right tape guide sections 32, but when the cassette is attached, the
As shown in the figure, when the tape 10 is pulled out by a pair of left and right tape pull-out rollers (not shown) provided at the cassette mounting position, a pair of tension springs 73 obstruct the tape 10 being pulled out. It will never become.

The front cover 37, the upper cover 38, and the inner cover 39 are opened as described above, but since the upper cover 38 and the inner cover 39 are opened in conjunction with the opening operation of the front cover 37, There is no need to provide any special protrusions or the like at the cassette mounting position for opening the upper lid 38 to the inner lid 39. Furthermore, when the front cover 37, upper cover 38, and inner cover 39 are opened, they are in a horizontal state above the tape cassette 1, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the tape cassette 1 according to this embodiment can improve the space factor at the cassette mounting position, and is suitable for downsizing video tape recorders.

When the cassette is installed, the lock release pin 103 provided at the cassette installation position passes through the long hole 95 of the lower half 3 and into the second position, as shown in FIG.
is inserted into the pin hole 104 of the claw body 90. This lock release pin 103 is linked with an operation button (not shown) of the video tape recorder. For example, when the video tape recorder is set to playback mode, the lock release pin 103 moves forward in the direction of arrow l in FIG. 10. Therefore, the second claw body 90 moves back and forth against the torsion spring 91 from the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 11 to the position shown by the two-dot chain line. At this time, since the pair of claws 89 of the second claw body 90 are pressed by the ends of the pair of guide plate parts 94 and approach each other, the pair of claws 89
and a ratchet portion 10 of a pair of tape reels 8 and 9.
The respective meshes with 6 come off extremely smoothly.

Further, when the second claw body 90 moves forward to the position shown by the dashed line in FIG.
is removed from both ratchet parts 106, and the second
The pressing part 105 of the claw body 90 is the pair of first claw bodies 8
8 begins to press the pressed portion 98. When the second claw body 90 moves forward to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 11, the pair of first claw bodies 88 moves forward to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. The pair of claw portions 97 and the pair of ratchet portions 106 are disengaged, and the pair of tape reels 8 and 9 are unlocked.

On the other hand, when the video tape recorder is placed in the stop mode, the lock release pin 103 moves back to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. At this time, the second claw body 9
0 moves back to the position shown by the dashed line in FIG. 11, the pair of first claw bodies 88 move back to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. The claw portion 97 and the pair of ratchet portions 106 first engage with each other. Next, the second claw body 90
11, when the pair of pawls 89 move back to the position shown by the solid line in FIG.
06, both tape reels 8 and 9 rotate slightly in the direction of arrow m and the direction of arrow n in FIG. 11, respectively. Therefore, when only the pair of first pawls 88 are used as in the conventional reel lock device, when the pair of first pawls 88 rotates back and engages with both the ratchet parts 106, both The tape reels 8 and 9 rotated slightly in the directions opposite to the arrows m and n directions in FIG. 11, and the tape 10 bussed along the opening 18 became slack. According to the method, such slack of the tape 10 does not occur at all.

When the tape cassette 1 is removed from the main body of the video tape recorder, the operating conditions of the front cover 37, upper cover 38 and inner cover 39 are completely reversed to those described above. That is, the front lid 37 is fitted with a pair of torsion springs 58.
The upper cover 38 and the inner cover 39 are respectively closed in conjunction with the rotation of the front cover 37. The pair of torsion springs 58 are connected to the upper lid 3 by a pair of tension springs 73.
This is not necessarily necessary when the rotation moment of 8 is increased, and the front lid 37 can also be rotated in the closing direction using only the pair of tension springs 73.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. Further, the present invention is applicable not only to tape cassettes for video tape recorders, but also to tape cassettes for various other information processing devices.

As described above, in the present invention, the tape that is passed around the opening is closed by the front cover, the top cover, and the inner cover, so that there is no possibility that dust or the like will adhere to the tape or that the tape will be damaged.

In addition, since the tape is closed with three lids, the front lid, the top lid, and the inner lid, a relatively large space is secured inside these lids, and the tape wrapped around the opening becomes loose. Even if such a situation occurs, sufficient clearance can be maintained between each lid and the tape when the lids are opened and closed, and the tapes will not be damaged when the lids are opened and closed. Therefore, a tape cassette with high safety and reliability can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

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 a perspective view of the tape cassette when it is not installed, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same when the tape cassette is installed. Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the same as the above, Figure 4 is a plan view of the same as the above, Figure 5 is a bottom view of the same as the above, Figure 6 is a perspective view of the front cover, upper cover and inner cover, and Figure 7 is the upper cover. Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing an enlarged front part of the tape cassette, Fig. 9a and Fig. 9b are explanatory diagrams for explaining the installation situation.
The figure is a horizontal sectional plan view showing the locked state of the front lid, Figure 10 is an exploded perspective view of the reel locking device, and Figure 11 is an exploded perspective view of the reel locking device.
The figure is a plan view of the same as above, FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line XII-XII of FIG. ,
FIG. 15 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view of the same as above. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1...tape cassette, 8, 9...tape reel, 10...
... magnetic tape, 18 ... opening, 19 ... notch, 31 ... guide groove, 37 ... front cover, 38 ... upper cover, 39 ... inner cover, 81 ... guided pin.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An opening is formed on one side of a tape cassette containing a tape reel, a cutout continuous with the opening is formed on the bottom surface of the cassette, and the tape of the tape reel is wound along the opening. In the tape cassette, a front lid that can be opened and closed covers the front surface of the tape wound along the opening;
A tape cassette comprising: a top lid that covers the top of the tape; and an inner lid that faces the front lid and covers the back of the tape.