JPS6325581Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention is a tape cassette containing a tape reel wound with magnetic tape, particularly an elastic member for pressing the tape reel against a reel stand when the tape cassette is installed in a magnetic recording/reproducing device. The present invention relates to a tape cassette having a tape cassette.

The structure of a conventional tape cassette will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

In the figure, 1 is the upper case of the cassette, 2 is the lower case of the cassette, 3 is the tape reel around which the magnetic tape is wound, 4 is the protrusion provided above the center of the tape reel 3, 5 is the reel stand, and 6 is the tape reel. 3 is a pressing spring for pressing the reel stand 5; 7 is a fixing hole provided in the pressing spring 6; 8 is a protrusion protruding from the inner wall of the upper surface of the cassette upper case 1; Insert the pressure spring 6 so that
Thereafter, the tip of the protrusion 8 is heated and deformed at a high temperature to deform it as shown in FIG. 3, thereby fixing the pressing spring 6 to the cassette upper case 1. During this fixation, the relative position of the pressure spring 6 with respect to the cassette upper case 1 tends to shift, but even if there is a large play between the protrusion 8 and the fixing hole 7 of the pressure spring 6, the installation span is long, so The relative positions do not shift that much. However, as shown in FIG. 4, since the pressure spring 6 is in the shape of a cross,
Since the pressure spring 6 is applied to the remaining amount viewing window 1', which is transparent so that the remaining amount of tape can be seen, the shape of the viewing window 1' is restricted, and if the viewing window 1' is enlarged, the pressure spring 6 is The drawback was that it was easily visible, detracting from its aesthetic appearance. Therefore, it is conceivable to make the pressure spring 6 T-shaped, but this would shorten the mounting span and cause a problem that the mounting accuracy would deteriorate. Further, since the fixing point exists only on one side of the tape reel 3, the force is not dispersed, and a problem arises in that a large amount of stress is applied to the fixing point.

In view of these problems, the present invention provides a tape cassette that does not apply a large amount of stress to the fixing points, can fully guarantee mounting accuracy, and has a large viewing window without detracting from its aesthetic appearance. It is.

An embodiment of the tape cassette of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the tape cassette of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the same main part, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the main part. A magnetic tape 12 is placed inside the tape cassette 11 formed by the upper half 17 and the lower half 16.
Reels 13 and 14 wound with are housed.
The reels 13 and 14 are connected to both ends 1 of a T-shaped leaf spring 15.
5b, the tape cassette 11 is biased and pressed against the lower half 16 of the tape cassette 11 using the center of the hub as a fulcrum. 18 is a boss for fixing the T-shaped leaf spring 15 provided on the upper half 17; 20 is a boss for fixing the T-shaped leaf spring 15 provided on the upper half 17;
7, and both ends 15b of the T-shaped leaf spring 15 are attached inside the first protrusion 20.
The tip end 15a of the center support part 15c extending perpendicularly from the center of the T-shaped leaf spring 15 is fitted into the center support part 15c to position the T-shaped leaf spring 15. To fix the T-shaped leaf spring 15 to the upper half 17 of the tape cassette 11, as shown in FIG. The boss 18 is fitted into the hole 21, and the boss 18 is heated and deformed to be fixed to the upper half 17. Therefore, even if there is some play between the hole 21 and the boss 18, the mounting accuracy can be maintained and there is no need to increase the mounting span.

Reference numeral 23 denotes a second projection formed on the lower half 16, which abuts against the T-shaped leaf spring 15 when the tape cassette 11 is assembled, as shown in FIG.
Therefore, the stress applied to the T-shaped leaf spring 15 is not applied to the fixing point, but is applied to the second protrusion 23, and the stress that weakens the connection between the upper half 17 and the T-shaped leaf spring 15 is greatly alleviated. This is advantageous for the structure of the cassette.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the remaining tape amount display window 2
Even if 4 is made quite large, the T-shaped leaf spring 15 is not visible, so the aesthetic appearance is not impaired. here,
The tape remaining amount display window 24 is formed on the rear side of the tape cassette 11, that is, the T-shaped leaf spring 1
The necessity of the configuration in which the tip end 15a of the tape cassette 11 extends toward the front side of the tape cassette 11 will be explained below.

In FIG. 8, the magnetic tape 12 in the tape cassette 11 is pulled out of the tape cassette 11 while reaching the reel 14 from the reel 13, and is wound around a head (not shown) on the apparatus side, where a signal is recorded or reproduced. In order to run while the magnetic tape 12
It becomes necessary to detect the beginning and end of the
Now, FIG. 8 shows that almost no magnetic tape 12 is wound on the reel 14. That is, the magnetic tape 12 can no longer run from the reel 14 to the reel 13. In this way, in order to know the end or beginning of the magnetic tape 12, the reel 13 of the magnetic tape 12,
The post 2 in the tape cassette 11 is formed by forming a certain section from the joining part with the tape cassette 11 with a material that transmits light.
5, 26 and the corresponding reels 13, 13, respectively, whether the tapes 12a, 12b transmit light;
There is a way to make a judgment based on whether or not it is possible. This can be detected depending on whether the light from the light sources 27 and 28 provided in the device passes through the magnetic tapes 12a and 12b and reaches the phototransistors 29 and 30, which are light detection means. becomes.
However, in the method of detecting the beginning and end of a magnetic tape using light as described above, it is necessary to configure the optical detection means so that it does not malfunction due to external light. However, even when the tape cassette 11 is installed in the apparatus, it is desirable that the remaining tape amount display window 24 be visible from the outside of the apparatus, but the light entering through the remaining tape amount display window 24 must not cause the light detection means to malfunction. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
4 are separated from each other, that is, the tip end 15a of the T-shaped leaf spring 15 extends toward the front side of the tape cassette 11, as shown in FIG.

Next, another embodiment of the tape cassette of the present invention will be explained based on FIGS. 9 to 11. T
The shape plate spring 15 is fixed to the upper half 17,
Positioning is performed by a first protrusion 31 formed on the upper half 17. Further, a second protrusion 32 formed on the lower half 16 is in contact with the T-shaped leaf spring 15. The shapes of the first protrusion 31 and the second protrusion 32 are shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, respectively. The first protrusion 31 and the second protrusion 32 each have a substantially semicircular shape, and have a substantially circular outer shape when assembled, and the phototransistor 29 and phototransistor inserted from the bottom of the tape cassette 11 It is configured to wrap around the support base 3 that supports the support plate 29. Further, the first protrusion 31 and the second protrusion 32 are provided with recesses 34 and 35, respectively, and the recesses 3
An opening 36 is formed at 4 and 35, and serves as an optical path from light sources 27 and 28 provided in the device. Note that the contact surface of the first protrusion 31 with the second protrusion 32 is 31a, and the contact surface of the T-shaped leaf spring 1 of the first protrusion 32 is 31a.
The contact surface with 5 is 32a.

As is clear from the above explanation, the tape cassette of the present invention can maintain mounting accuracy even when using a T-shaped leaf spring with a short installation span, and a large amount of stress is applied to the fixing point of this T-shaped leaf spring. It also allows for a large viewing window and does not detract from the aesthetics.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a conventional tape cassette, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the reel presser spring of the tape cassette, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the fixing part of the reel presser spring of the tape cassette, Fig. 4 is a plan view of a tape cassette, Fig. 5 is a plan view of a tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the main part of the tape cassette, and Fig. 7 is a diagram of the reel presser spring of the tape cassette. FIG. 8 is a plan view of a tape cassette according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the main portion of the tape cassette, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are views of the same tape. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the shape of a protrusion of the cassette. 15...T-shaped leaf spring, 16...Lower half, 1
7... Upper half, 20, 30... First protrusion, 2
3, 32...Second protrusion, 24...Tape remaining amount display window.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A pair of reels rotatably housed in a housing consisting of an upper half and a lower half and wound with magnetic tape; a leaf spring that is elastically biased and has one or more openings in a central support portion between the two ends; a convex portion that engages with the opening on an inner wall of the upper half; The inner wall of the lower half has a first protrusion that can substantially position the leaf spring by engaging with a part of the outer shape, and a second protrusion that abuts a part other than the opening of the central support part. The central support portion is engaged with the first protrusion and the convex portion is press-fitted into the opening, or after the convex portion is inserted, the tip of the convex portion is heated and deformed to cause the leaf spring to A tape cassette characterized by being fixed to the upper half. (2) A utility model according to claim 1, characterized in that the leaf spring is T-shaped and the central support portion extends from the center of both ends toward the front surface of the casing. tape cassette.