JPS5928549Y2 - tape cassette - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tape cassette suitable for use as a tape cassette for, for example, a VTR.

As is well known, in conventional tape cassettes for VTRs, supply and take-up reels wrapped with tape are housed inside, and a front cover is opened and closed in a front opening provided to pull out the tape. installed.

The front lid is normally biased by a front lid spring in a direction to close the front opening.

On the other hand, when the tape cassette is attached to the VTR main body, the front cover is opened by a suitable front cover opening mechanism against the biasing force of the front cover spring, and the tape cassette is passed along the front opening. The tape loaded in the cassette is pulled out to the front of the cassette by the tape loading means.

In addition, uneven engaging parts are formed at approximately equal pitches on the outer peripheries of the flanges of the supply and take-up reels, and a reel lock lever configured to be able to engage with these engaging parts is provided. has been done.

When the tape cassette is not attached to the VTR body, the reel lock lever is engaged with the engaging portion by the biasing force of the reel lock lever spring, so that rotation of the supply and take-up reels is prevented. This prevents the tape from becoming loose.

On the other hand, when the tape cassette is attached to the VTR main body, the reel lock lever is rotated against the biasing force of the reel lock lever spring in conjunction with the opening operation of the front lid, and the above-mentioned engaging portion The reel lock lever is disengaged, thereby leaving the supply and take-up reels rotatable.

By the way, the front cover is configured to be rotated and biased in the vertical direction with respect to the tape cassette, and the reel lock lever is configured to be rotated and biased in the horizontal direction with respect to the tape cassette. Since the directions in which the reel lock lever should be energized are different from each other, the front lid spring and the reel lock lever spring have conventionally been constructed as separate springs that are independent of each other.

Therefore, conventionally, when assembling a tape cassette, these two springs had to be attached separately, which increased the number of parts and assembly man-hours.Furthermore, it was necessary to install the attachment parts for these springs on the tape cassette housing, respectively. As a result, the manufacturing cost of tape cassettes was high.

The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the fulcrum shaft of the front cover and the fulcrum shaft of the reel lock lever are arranged close to each other, and one torsion recoil spring is placed in the center of the fulcrum shaft. The provided coiled winding portion is fitted onto either one of the two fulcrums, and the elastic acting portion of the torsion coil spring is engaged with both the front cover and the reel lock lever. The present invention relates to a tape cassette characterized in that the front cover is rotationally biased to a closed state by a torsion coil spring, and the reel lock lever is rotationally biased to a reel lock state.

With this configuration, the number of parts and the number of assembly steps can be reduced, and the cost of the tape cassette can be reduced.

Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a tape cassette for a VTR will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cassette housing 3 of the tape cassette 1 has a conventional structure, with upper and lower cassette halves 5a.
, 5b.

In this cassette housing 3, a supply reel 7 and a take-up reel 8 are rotatably housed at predetermined positions on the left and right at a distance from each other, and a tape 10 is fixed at both ends to these reels 7 and 8. It is stored wrapped and wrapped.

Both reels 7.8 are composed of reel hubs 7a and 8a, and a pair of flanges 7b and 8b integrally formed at both upper and lower ends of these reel hubs 7a and 8a. Hub holes 12a and 13a are provided in the central lower surfaces of cassettes a and 8a, respectively, and these hub holes 12a are provided in the lower cassette half 5b.

Reel stand insertion hole 12b13b corresponding to 13a respectively
is formed.

Further, a front opening 15 is formed in the front part of the tape cassette 1, and the front opening 15 is opened and closed by a front lid 17, which is rotatably attached to the cassette housing 3 and has a roughly L-shaped cross section. It has become.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, fulcrum shafts 19 projecting inward are integrally provided on both side wall portions 17a of the front lid 17, and the fulcrum shafts 19 are provided with a shaft substantially perpendicular thereto. A protrusion 21 is integrally provided.

A spring 23, which is made of a single linear spring and has a shape as shown in FIG. 4, is attached to the fulcrum shaft 19 and serves as a cassette front cover and a reel lock lever.

More specifically, this spring has a winding part 23a wound in a coil shape in its middle part, a straight part 23b extending from one end of this winding part 23a, and an arc-shaped part extending from the other end of the winding part 23a. This torsion coil spring is composed of a curved portion 23c extending from the curved portion 23c, a straight portion 23d extending from the curved portion 23c, and a bent portion 23e bent at the terminal end of the straight portion 23d.

Note that the curved portion 23c and the straight portion 23d are the elastic acting portion in the present invention.

In the spring 23, the winding portion 23a is fitted to the tip 19a of the fulcrum shaft 19, and the curved portion 23c is connected to the fulcrum shaft 19.
It is mounted on this fulcrum shaft 19 in a state in which it is wound approximately half a turn around the protruding portion 21 of.

The fulcrum shaft 19 is attached with the root 19b passing through a through hole 28 provided at the joining part of the side surfaces of the upper and lower cassette halves 5a and 5b, and the front cover 17 attaches the fulcrum shaft 19 to the cassette housing. It is mounted rotatably around the center.

And the straight part 23b of the spring 23 attached to the fulcrum shaft 19
The tip of the spring 23 is engaged with a recess 25 provided on the lower surface of the upper cassette half 5a as shown in FIG. The front cover 17 is always energized in the direction of closing the front opening 15 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, reel lock levers 30 are disposed near the supply and take-up reels 7.8 at both left and right corners of the cassette housing 3 and on the front opening 15 side. They are each rotatably mounted around a fulcrum shaft 32 which is integrally formed with, for example, the lower cassette nof 5b.

Further, the reel lock lever 30 is integrally provided with an engaging piece 34 that engages with the protrusion 21 of the fulcrum shaft 19, and a reel locking pawl is provided on the opposite side of the engaging piece 34 with respect to the fulcrum shaft 32. A portion 36 and a spring engaging surface 38 are each provided.

The bent portion 23 of the spring 23 attached to the fulcrum shaft 19 of the front lid 17 is attached to the spring engaging surface 38 of the reel lock lever 30.
f is engaged, and the reel lock lever 30 is always urged clockwise in FIG. 3 about the fulcrum shaft 32 by the urging force of the curved portion 23c and the straight portion 23d of the spring 23.

In addition, the flanges 7b and 8b of the supply and take-up reel 7.8
Teeth portions 7c and 8c are formed on the outer periphery of the reel lock lever 30, respectively, and are arranged at equal pitches. Normally, the claw portion 36 of the reel lock lever 30 is moved by the urging force of the spring 23.
8c to prevent rotation of the supply and take-up reel 7.8.

Next, the operation of the tape cassette 1 will be described.

First, when tape cassette 1 is installed in the VTR body, V
The front lid 17 is rotated about the fulcrum shaft 19 by a predetermined front lid opening mechanism provided on the TR main body, and the front opening 15 is opened.

At this time, as the front cover 17 rotates, the protrusion 21 of the fulcrum shaft 19 rotates in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2, and this protrusion 21 presses the engagement piece 34 of the curry lock lever 30.

As a result, the reel lock lever 30 moves against the spring force of the curved portion 23C and the straight portion 23d of the spring 23, and the fulcrum shaft 3
2 in a counterclockwise direction in FIG.

As a result, the claw portion 36 of the reel lock lever 30 is disengaged from the tooth portions 7c, 8c of the supply and take-up reel 738, and as a result, these reels 7.8 become freely rotatable.

Immediately after this, the tape 10 that has passed through the front opening 15 is pulled out to the front of the cassette and loaded by a tape loading mechanism provided in the VTR main body.

Further, when the tape cassette 1 is removed from the VTR main body, the front cover 17 is attached to the winding portion 23a of the spring 23 and the straight portion 23.
b and the biasing force of the curved portion 23c, the front opening 15 is biased to rotate in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 about the fulcrum shaft 19, and the front opening 15 is closed.

At this time, as the fulcrum shaft 19 rotates, the protrusion 21 is rotated in the direction of the arrow A, so the reel lock lever 30
The claw portion 36 of the spring 23 is connected to the curved portion 23c and the straight portion 23d.
It is rotated clockwise in FIG. 31 about the fulcrum shaft 32 by the applied force.

As a result, the claws 36 engage the teeth γc, 8C of the supply and take-up reels 7.8, respectively, and these reels 7.
8 is locked and rotation is prevented.

As is clear from the above description, the spring 23 has a winding portion 23a that acts as a spring for the cassette front lid, and a straight portion 2.
3b and the curved portion 23c, and the curved portion 23c and the straight portion 23d, which act as a reel lock lever spring for biasing the reel lock lever 30, are integrated.

Therefore, according to the tape cassette 1, the cassette front lid spring and the reel lock lever spring are combined into one spring 23.
Since the tape cassette is used for both purposes, the number of parts and the number of assembly steps can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the tape cassette can be reduced.

In addition, since the spring 23 is provided with the bent portion 23e,
In the assembly process of the tape cassette 1, when the upper and lower cassette halves 5a and 5b are brought together, even if the reel lock lever 30 is at its maximum position in the release direction (see the imaginary line in FIG. 30 and is reliably placed on the engagement surface 38 side.

Therefore, assembly of the tape cassette 1 is easy.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to one embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be modified in various ways.

For example, the spring 23 shown in FIG. 4 may be changed into various shapes, and is basically a spring that constantly biases the front lid in the direction of closing and a spring that biases the reel lock lever. It may be of any shape.

As described above, the present invention arranges the fulcrum shaft of the front cover and the fulcrum shaft of the reel lock lever close to each other, and uses one torsion coil spring with a coiled winding portion provided at its center to support both of the above-mentioned. The torsion coil spring is fitted onto either one of the fulcrums, and the elastic acting portion of the torsion coil spring is engaged with both the front lid and the reel lock lever, so that the front lid is brought into a closed state by this one torsion coil spring. Since the reel lock lever is rotationally energized and energized to the reel lock state, the front cover and the J-role lock lever can be energized in predetermined directions with one spring. The number of parts can be reduced.

However, in the tape cassette assembly process, only one spring needs to be installed instead of installing the cassette front cover opening/closing spring and the reel locking spring individually as in the past, which reduces assembly man-hours and reduces work. Efficiency can be improved.

Therefore, it is possible to reduce the cost of the product.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a tape cassette for a VTR, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tape cassette, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main parts of the tape cassette, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view of the main parts of the tape cassette, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a spring in which the cassette front lid biasing spring and the reel locking spring are integrated. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1...
・Tape cassette, 15... Front opening, 17.
...Front cover, 19...Fulcrum shaft, 21...
...Protrusion, 23...Spring, 23a...
... Winding part, 23b... Straight part, 23c...
. . . Curved portion that is an elastic acting portion, 23d . . . Straight portion that is an elastic acting portion, 23e . . . Bent portion, 2
3f...bent portion, 30...reel lock lever 32...fulcrum shaft, 34...engaging piece.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The fulcrum shaft of the front cover and the fulcrum shaft of the reel lock lever are arranged close to each other, and one torsion coil spring is fitted into one of the two fulcrums by means of a coiled winding portion provided at its center. the elastic acting portion of the torsion coil spring is engaged with both the front lid and the reel lock lever, and the one torsion coil spring rotationally urges the front lid to a closed state; Above reel lock lever
A tape cassette characterized in that the reel is rotationally energized to a locked state.