JPH0332148B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an eject mechanism for ejecting a cassette installed in a tape player to the outside.

[Technical Background of the Invention] Cassette-type tape players are classified into various types depending on the means for mounting the cassette.
There is a so-called horizontal loading type tape player in which a cassette is inserted horizontally into a pack guide through an insertion slot opened in the ecutition at the front of the tape player, and then the entire pack guide is lowered onto a reel base.

In this type of tape player, in order to remove the cassette from the loading position, the operator activates the eject mechanism by pressing the eject lever, moves back the head that is in contact with the tape in the cassette, and removes the cassette. After making sure that the cassette and head do not collide, the cassette is lifted from the reel base and ejected to the outside of the tape player.

[Problems with the background art] By the way, in the conventional eject mechanism, a pack guide for storing a cassette and a cam or a link mechanism for raising and lowering the pack guide are directly connected to an eject lever. and the eject lever work together. Therefore, the pressing force of the eject lever is directly transmitted to the eject mechanism, and a constant load is always applied as the pushing resistance of the eject lever from the start to the completion of pressing. Therefore, if the operator presses the eject lever forcefully in order to change the cassette or stop the tape player, the lever will end up being pushed all the way in.
As a result, the speed at which the cassette rises from the reel base is faster than the speed at which the head completes its retraction, causing an accident in which the head and cassette collide and are damaged, or ejection becomes impossible.

Of course, in the conventional eject mechanism, the head is moved back immediately after the eject lever starts to be pushed in, and the eject lever is pushed in to a certain depth, but the conventional mechanism simply depends on the position of the eject lever. Since the time lag between the head retraction and the cassette raising is obtained only when the lever is pushed in quickly, the time lag is shortened accordingly, causing the above-mentioned malfunction.

In particular, when it comes to tape players such as car stereos, car drivers often operate the tape player at the same time while driving, and the operation is sometimes rough as they are operated according to the road conditions at the time of driving. The eject lever may be suddenly pressed down with a strong force. Considering these usage conditions, it is recommended to use a tape player that can ensure a time lag between the head retreating and the pack guide rising even during sudden operations. There was strong demand for an eject mechanism.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention was proposed in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and even when a sudden pushing force is applied to the eject lever, the eject lever moves in stages to prevent the head from retreating. To provide an ejection mechanism in which the ejecting and lifting of the cassette are performed sequentially with a certain time lag, the return timing of the head is sufficiently secured, and the cassette can be smoothly ejected.

[Summary of the Invention] The eject mechanism of the present invention includes an eject lever that is attached to the frame of a tape player so as to be movable back and forth, and an operating member that similarly moves in the back and forth direction that can be engaged with the eject lever. A return spring is also attached to the member, and a predetermined stroke of play is provided before the eject lever and the operating member engage.

After the eject lever is pushed in, the pushing resistance of the eject lever is kept low during the play before the eject lever and the operating member engage, and during this play, the head is completely retracted from the cassette. After the eject lever engages with the operating member, a large load corresponding to the return spring of the operating member is applied to the operating force of the eject lever, increasing the pushing resistance of the eject lever. The pushing speed is reduced midway to ensure the timing for the head to retreat.

[Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described based on the drawings.

(1) Configuration An eject lever 4 is attached to the frame 1 using a guide pin 2 and a long hole 3 so as to be movable back and forth. This eject lever is biased toward the front side by a return spring 5 provided between it and the frame.

On the distal end side of the eject lever, an L-shaped link 7 is rotatably provided on the frame by a support shaft 6, and the distal end of the eject lever engages with the lower end of this L-shaped link. That is, before and after the pin-shaped contact part 8 provided at the lower end of the L-shaped link 7,
A pressing part 9 and a locking part 10, which are provided at a constant interval at the tip of the eject lever 4, are positioned so as to be able to engage with each other. Note that a coil spring 7a is stretched between the contact portion 8 and the upper part of the frame.
On the other hand, the upper end of the L-shaped link 7 is connected to the pack guide 1.
The pin 13 of the guide arm 12 supporting the guide arm 1 is connected to the pin 13 of the guide arm 12.

At approximately the center of the eject lever 4, there is a support shaft 1.
4, a link 15 extending toward the front is rotatably attached to the support shaft 14, and a cam follower 16 protruding toward the frame is provided at the tip of the link 15. A cam hole 17 into which the cam follower 16 is inserted is opened in the frame, and a tapered cam 18 having a higher back part is formed in the inner part of the cam hole 17. The position of this cam hole 17 corresponds to the position of the cam follower when the eject lever is at the front end, and the position of the tapered cam corresponds to the position of the cam follower when the eject lever is pushed in. . The link 15 is urged downward by a spring 19 so that its cam follower moves over the lower edge of the cam hole and the tapered cam.

On the other hand, an operating member 20 is attached to the frame, with the eject lever in between, so as to be movable back and forth via the guide pin 2 and the elongated hole 21 of the operating member. The operating member 20 is biased toward the front side, similarly to the eject lever, by a return spring 22 provided between the operating member 20 and the frame. This operating member 20 has an engagement hole 24 having a stepped portion 23 at its front end, into which an engagement pin 25 provided on the link 15 of the eject lever is inserted. For example, the engagement pin 25 protrudes coaxially with the cam follower from the opposite side of the link 15, and is inserted into the engagement hole 24 of the operating member 20 through an arc-shaped insertion hole 26 opened in the eject lever. It has been inserted. Also, the distance from the front end of the engagement hole 24 to the stepped portion 23 is set larger than the outer diameter of the engaging pin 25, so that when the eject lever is returned to the front, the engagement pin and the stepped portion It is formed such that a predetermined distance 〓 exists between .

A switch 27 for releasing the head pressure is fixed to the tip of the eject lever 4 in the frame 1. This switch 27 has a contact 28 that tends to protrude at all times due to a spring, and a switch plate 29 is provided opposite the contact 28. This switch plate 29 is provided coaxially with the L-shaped link 7, and has an engaging portion 29a formed integrally therewith, and when the eject lever returns to the front, the locking portion 10 at the tip thereof can be engaged with.

On the other hand, on the top plate portion of the guide arm 12,
A guide groove 30 extending in the front-rear direction is formed, and a pack stopper 31 that engages with the cassette is slidably incorporated therein. The shaft 32 on this pack stopper 31 and the link 3 provided on the pack guide
3 is a torsion type reversing spring 3.
4 is provided. The tip of the reversing spring 34 is rotatable around the shaft 32, and the base is also rotatably inserted into a hole at the tip of the link 33. The link 33 is attached to a support shaft 35 at its base, and the central portion of the link 33 and the operating member 20 are connected by an operating rod 36.

(2) Operation The eject mechanism of this embodiment having such a configuration operates as follows.

Cassette equipment status...Fig. 1 When the pack guide 1 is lowered onto the reel base and is in a play state such as playback or recording,
The eject lever 4 is located at the frontmost position, and the cam follower 16 of the link 15 provided thereon is
The engagement pin 25 of the link 15 is located at the front end of the cam hole 17 formed on the frame 1, and the engagement pin 25 of the link 15 is located within the step 23 on the front side of the engagement hole 24 formed on the operating member 20. positioned.

At this time, the locking part 10 at the tip of the ejector lever pulled by the return spring moves to the engaging part 2.
9a, the switch plate rotates toward you around the shaft 14, and presses the contact 28 against the spring, so the switch 27
When turned on, the head is held in a forward position.

At the same time, since the abutment part 8 of the L-shaped link is located on the front side of the support shaft of the link 7,
The L-shaped link 7 is biased clockwise by the force of the coil spring 7a disposed between the contact portion 8 and the frame, and the guide arm 12 and pack guide 11 connected thereto are also pushed downward. Being held down.

At the start of eject...Dotted chain line in Figure 1 During the eject operation, when the eject lever is pushed, the eject lever 4 moves forward by itself to the rear side against the force of its return spring, and as shown in Figure 1. As shown by the chain line in B, the locking part 10 at the tip no longer presses the engaging part 29a, so the switch plate 29 becomes free, and the switch 27 becomes OFF because its contact 28 protrudes by the force of the spring. starts retreating.

If the eject lever continues to be pressed,
As shown by the dashed lines in FIGS. 1A and 1C, the engaging pin 25 of the link provided therein hits the step 23 of the engaging hole 24 of the operating member, and the operating member starts moving forward together with the eject lever. At this time, until now, the spring load of the return spring of the operating member is added to the light push-in resistance of the return spring of the eject lever alone, and this becomes a large resistance to the push-in operation. After consciously applying additional operating force to overcome this resistance, the forward speed of the eject lever will be temporarily delayed.

Advancement of the operating member...Fig. 2 After that, when the eject lever moves further together with the operating member, the pressing portion 9 formed on the eject lever is pressed against the contact portion 8 of the L-shaped link 7.
The L-shaped link 7 at the tip of the eject lever rotates about the support shaft 6, and the guide arm 12 and pack guide 11 connected to the upper end of the eject lever are also pulled upward.

At this time, the cam follower 16 attached to the eject lever 4 via a link moves forward on the cam hole 17 formed in the frame. At the same time, the engagement pin 25 on the opposite side of the link of the eject lever 4 is inserted through the step 23 of the engagement hole 21 formed in the operation member 20.
While pressing the operating member 20, proceed to the back.

On the other hand, if you push in the eject lever 4,
The operating member 20 interlocked with this is the operating rod 3.
Link 33 on guide arm 12 via 6
, the link 33 is moved to the reversing spring 34
It rotates to the back while compressing it, and as shown in FIG.
Proceed to a position where it lines up with .

Return of operating member and ejection complete...3rd
When the guide roller 16 reaches the taper cam 18 provided on the frame and moves upward as the eject lever is pushed in, the link 15 rotates upward, and the engagement pin 25 provided thereon is operated. It comes off from the step 23 of the engagement hole formed in the member 20. Then, the operation member 20 that has been engaged with the eject lever until now,
The force of the return spring 22 forcefully pushes the link 3 back toward you, so the operating rod 36 connected to the operating member 20 moves the link 3
3 also rotates toward you, and at the same time, the pack stopper 31 releases the compressed reversing spring 3.
The cassette in the pack guide 11 is pushed back forward by the repulsive force of 4, and the cassette in the pack guide 11 is ejected forward by the forces of both the reversing spring 34 and the return spring of the operating member 20.

Even if the operating member returns to the front in this way and the cassette is ejected, the pushing force of the operator is still applied to the eject lever 4.
is in a state where it is pushed all the way into the tape player, as shown by the chain lines in FIGS. 3A and 3C. Pushed by this, the contact portion 8 of the L-shaped link 7 is also located at the innermost end, and the force of the coil spring 7a is actuated counterclockwise here, so that the L-shaped link and the guide that interlock therewith are moved. The arm 12 and the pack guide 11 are also pushed up to the highest position where the cassette can be ejected, and are locked in the raised position by a locking mechanism (not shown).

After that, when the pushing force on the eject lever is released, the eject lever 4 returns to the front by the force of the return spring 5, as shown by the solid line in FIG. It stops at the position where it hits the contact part 8 of the L-shaped link.

(3) Effects of Example As mentioned above, in this example, the operating force on the eject lever changes in two stages, so the operator of the eject lever changes the operating force according to the stage. This causes a delay in the pushing operation, making it difficult to push the lever in rapidly, and forcing the lever to be operated naturally to a certain extent. As a result, a predetermined time lag is ensured from when the eject lever starts pushing in until the cassette rises, and the head can retreat during that time, so even when a sudden pushing force is applied,
This eliminates the inconvenience of the head and cassette colliding with each other.

Moreover, in this embodiment, when the eject lever is pushed all the way in, the engagement between the eject lever and the operating member is automatically released by the tapered cam of the frame, and the operating member is used for its own return operation along with the pull stopper. Since the cassette is pulled forward by the action of a spring, it has the advantage that the cassette can be taken out more smoothly compared to the conventional mechanism in which the cassette is not ejected until the ejection lever is released.

[Other Embodiments] In the illustrated embodiment, the pack guide is raised by further rotating the L-shaped link after the eject lever engages and presses the operating member. , the pack guide may be raised by an operating member pressed by an eject lever.

In addition, in the illustrated embodiment, the operating member is connected to the reversing spring on the guide arm side so that the cassette can be ejected without waiting for the return of the eject lever, but the operating member has other roles as well. It is also possible to simply act as a push-in resistance for the eject lever.

Furthermore, if the pack guide starts to rise after a predetermined time lag after the eject lever and the operating member engage, it is possible to change the eject lever pushing force in three stages. be.

Furthermore, the disengagement between the eject lever and the operating member does not necessarily require the eject lever to be in the depressed state, but it is also possible for both to move forward and return together.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, in the present invention, since play is provided in the operation of the eject lever, the time for releasing the cassette tape from the head can be secured, and the tension on the head of the cassette tape can be reduced. This has the effect of making it possible to prevent damage.

In particular, according to the present invention, since the operating force of the eject lever is varied and a strong pushing force is required in the latter half of the operation, the eject lever is not pushed in all at once, but due to resistance. Since there is a momentary delay when the head returns, sufficient time can be secured for the return timing of the head, and the cassette tape can be ejected smoothly and reliably.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows the eject mechanism of the present invention when the cassette is installed, and Figure 2 shows the same when the eject mechanism is operated.
FIG. 3 shows the state when the ejection is completed, and A is a side view from the frame side, B is a side view of the switch portion, and C is a plan view. 4 is a side view of the frame 1 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a side view of the eject lever 4, and FIG. 6 is a side view of the operating member 20. 1... Frame of tape player, 2... Guide pin, 3... Long hole, 4... Eject lever,
5... Return spring, 6... Support shaft, 7... L
Shape link, 7a... Spring, 8... Contact part, 9... Pressing part, 10... Locking part, 11... Pack guide, 12... Guide arm, 13... Pin, 14... Support shaft , 15... link, 16... cam follower, 17... cam hole, 18... taper cam, 19... spring, 20... operating member, 2
1...Long hole, 22...Returning spring, 23...
...Stepped portion, 24...Engagement hole, 25...Engagement pin, 2
6...Insertion hole, 27...Switch, 28...Contact, 29...Switch plate, 29a...Engaging portion, 30...Guide groove, 31...Pack stop, 32...Shaft, 33...Link, 34... Reversing spring, 35... Support shaft, 36... Operation rod.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An eject lever 4 is disposed on the side surface of the frame 1 of the tape player so as to be movable back and forth, and a guide arm 12 is attached to the eject lever 4 so as to be rotatable relative to the tape player. A pack guide 11 is supported by the guide arm 12, which is connected directly or indirectly and is movable up and down relative to the tape player. A head retracting means is provided for retracting the head to a position where it does not interfere with lifting and lowering, and as the cassette is inserted into the pack guide, the guide arm 12 is rotated downward, and the pack guide 11 is lowered to the tape play position and ejected. The lever 4 is moved to the front side, and the guide arm 12 is rotated upward by the pushing operation of the eject lever 4 to raise the pack guide to the cassette insertion position, and at the same time, the head retracting means is activated to retract the head. In the tape player, the eject lever 4 is provided with a return spring 5 that biases it toward the front, and an operating member 20 is attached to the side of the eject lever 4 and attached to the frame 1.
This operating member 20 is disposed so as to be movable back and forth.
There is a return spring 2 that urges this toward the front.
2 is provided, and engaging means 23 to 25 are provided between the eject lever 4 and the operating member 20, and these engaging means 23 to 25 push the eject lever 4 into the tape player in a predetermined manner. What is claimed is: 1. An eject mechanism for a tape player, wherein the eject mechanism engages the eject mechanism when the eject lever is in position, and the eject lever operates a head retracting means before engaging the operating member. 2. The means for engaging the eject lever 4 and the operating member 20 is formed in the operating member 20 with an engaging hole 24 having a stepped portion 23, and an engaging pin 25 is inserted into the engaging hole 24 on the eject lever 4 side. 2. The tape player ejection mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the distance from the front end of the engagement hole 24 to the stepped portion 23 is set larger than the outer diameter of the engagement pin 25. 3. An engagement pin 25 is provided on a link 15 rotatably attached to the eject lever 4, and a cam follower 16 provided on this link 15 is inserted into a cam hole 17 having a tapered cam 18 formed on a side surface of the frame 1. Claim 2 inserted in
Tape player eject mechanism as described in section.