JPH0529985B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a rotating lid that covers and protects a tape stretched on the front surface, such as a tape cassette used in a video tape recorder, and that rotates and releases it as necessary. and a tape cassette having a lid locking means which normally prevents rotation of the rotating lid.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a tape cassette 1 used in a video tape recorder (VTR), for example, as shown in FIG.
is provided with a rotating lid 3 that rotates around a shaft 3a to cover and protect the tape 2 (indicated by a two-dot chain line) stretched on the front surface. The rotating lid 3 is normally prevented from rotating by a lid locking piece 4, as shown in an exploded perspective view in FIG. Cassette garage where tape cassette 1 is a VCR (not shown)
When inserted into the cassette garage, the protrusion 5 of the lid lock piece 4 is pushed in the direction of the arrow 6 by a release member (not shown) attached to the cassette garage, and the inner surface of the lid 3 is pushed in the direction of the arrow 6 as shown in FIG. The engagement between the recess provided in the lock piece 4 and the lock pawl 7 provided in the lock piece 4 is released as shown in FIG. 4, allowing the lid 4 to rotate in the direction of the arrow 8 shown in FIG. .

To further explain the operation of the lid lock piece 4 using FIG. 2 (note that FIG. 2 schematically shows only the lower half 8 of the tape cassette 4 for ease of understanding), The piece 4 has a shaft 11 inserted into a recess 10 of the lower half 9 and is rotatably held, is biased by a spring 12 in the direction of the arrow 13, and is in contact with the inner side of the wall 14 of the lower half 9. Also wall 1
The protrusion 5 of the lid locking piece 4 and the lock claw 7 pass through the holes 15 and 16 of the lid locking piece 4, respectively. and arrow 6
When a release member (not shown) enters in the direction, the convex portion 5
is pressed, the lid lock piece 4 is rotated by an amount L in the direction of arrow 17 as shown by the dashed line, and has already been rotated as shown in FIGS.
This is to release the engagement between the lid 3 and the lock pawl 7, which have been explained with reference to the drawings.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional lid locking means as described above, the direction of the lock release operation is the longitudinal direction of the tape cassette, and as schematically shown in FIG. is effective for relatively large tape cassettes, but when considering extremely small tape cassettes, the opening length k of the opening 17 into which the post (not shown) is inserted when drawing out the tape 2. This method is not applicable because the tape 2 becomes small and the tape 2 is difficult to pull out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention proposes an identification locking means that can be applied even to extremely small tape cassettes.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention normally engages with the rotating lid at the engaging end to prevent the rotating lid from rotating, and the lock release member passes through the notch and the groove, and the lock release member passes through the cutout and groove. When the lock release member that enters from the front of the cassette contacts and moves the release end, it disengages from the rotating lid and engages the lid lock that allows the rotation with the rotating lid. The present invention provides a tape cassette characterized in that it has a biasing spring that biases the tape cassette to

Function As in the above structure, since the lock release mechanism is provided in the groove formed between the two side walls separated from each other and between the extension of one of these side walls and the inner surface of the side plate of the rotating lid, the lock release mechanism The cassette can be made compact.

Examples Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail using examples.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment according to the present invention, and shows a state in which a tape cassette 18 is inserted into a cassette garage 19 (a broken cross-sectional view is shown, excluding the top plate provided at the top, etc., for ease of understanding). The rotary lid 21 that covers and protects the tape 20 (indicated by two-dot chain lines) stretched on the front surface of the tape cassette 18 has projections 22, 23, and 24 cut out on the cassette garage 19. Notches 25, 26, 27 are provided, and the protrusions 23,
24 is for positioning the tape cassette 18 in the cassette garage 19 in the insertion direction 28, and the protrusion 22 is a lid lock 2 according to the present invention.
The tape cassette 18 corresponds to the lock release member 9, and at the same time constitutes an erroneous insertion prevention member for regulating the insertion direction of the tape cassette 18 into the cassette garage 19, as will be described later.

Next, the lid locking means will be explained in detail with reference to FIG. 7 which is a partially exploded perspective view, FIG. 8 which is a schematic side view, and FIG. 9 which is a plan view. 7 shows the lower half 28 of the tape cassette 18, excluding the upper half.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, the lid lock 29 is attached to two side walls 33a of the lower half 18a, which are separated from each other.
A tape 20 (indicated by a chain double-dashed line) is rotatably held by a shaft 31 in a recess 30 provided in a recess 33b, and is stretched between the side walls and between the extension 33c and the front surface of one side wall 33b where the protrusion 32 is provided. side plate 2 of the rotating lid 21 in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (shown)
A groove 39 is formed at a position corresponding to the notch 25 into which the unlocking member of the protrusion 22 described above enters by arranging the inner surfaces of the protrusions 1b and 1b apart from each other.
(Schematically shown in section m in FIG. 9), the tape cassette rotates within the thickness direction of the tape cassette.

Then, set the rotation position to the protrusion 3 of the lower half 18a.
2, and is urged to rotate in the direction of arrow 37 in the figure by a leaf spring 34 attached to the wall 33.

Further, a protrusion 35 provided on the inner surface of the rotating lid 21 and an engaging end 36 of the lid lock 29 engage with each other to prevent the rotating lid 21 from rotating in the direction of arrow 37 about the shaft 21a. When the tape cassette 18 is inserted into the cassette garage 19, the protrusion 22 of the cassette garage 19 passes through the notch 25.
The release end 40, which is part of the lid lock 29 and faces the front surface of the tape cassette 18 through the notch 25, enters the previously described groove 39 (through the shaft 31 of the lid lock 29 in FIG. The end portion opposite to the engaging end 36) is rotated against the leaf spring 34, and the protrusion 35 of the rotating lid 21 and the engaging end 36 of the lid lock 29 are rotated against the leaf spring 34.
This is to release the engagement with the

Here, the entry path of the protrusion 22 formed by the notch 25 and the groove located at the corresponding position and provided with the lid lock 29 is formed by the external shape of the tape cassette 18, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 9. It is formed geometrically asymmetrically.
When the tape cassette 18 is inserted into the cassette garage 19 in the normal insertion direction 28 shown in FIG. However, in other cases, for example, when the tape cassette 18 is inserted into the cassette garage 19 with the tape cassette 18 turned front to back or upside down, the outer shape of the tape cassette 18 and the protrusion 22 will come into contact with each other, preventing further insertion. This is to prevent That is, in this case, the protrusion 22 functions as a member to prevent incorrect insertion, and the entry path of the protrusion 22 formed by the notch 25 and the groove 39 also provides the tape cassette 18 with a shape that prevents incorrect insertion into the cassette garage. It is something.

Further, the release of the rotating lid 21 shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Cassette holder in condition 19
As the lid is pushed down and attached to the main unit (not shown), for example, a lid opening member (not shown) provided on the main unit side and relatively raised pushes up the lower end of the rotating lid 21. It is done.
At this time, the lid opening member opens the tape cassette 1 up to the thickness of the side plate 21b of the rotating lid 21 on which the protrusion 35 is provided plus an amount slightly smaller than the width of the groove 39.
It is possible to fit into the bottom of the tape cassette 1 even in a small tape cassette 18.
This allows a reliable lid opening operation while providing sufficient dimensional margin in the longitudinal direction of the lid.

Although not shown, the rotating lid 21 is biased to rotate in the direction opposite to the arrow 37, and is powered by a spring stronger than the plate spring 34 (for example, a torsion coil spring is inserted into the shaft 21a of the rotating lid 21). (also good) is applied. As a result, the tape cassette 18 is taken out from the cassette garage 19 and the engagement between the protrusion 22 and the lid lock 29 is released. It will become locked again.

As described above, according to the present invention, the tape cassette 1
Various functions such as locking the rotating cover 21, opening the rotating cover 21, and preventing erroneous insertion can be added to the front part of the 8 in an extremely compact manner. The length m of the lid locking means in the longitudinal direction of the tape cassette can be configured to be extremely small, and a post (not shown) can be inserted in order to pull out the tape 2 stretched on the front surface even in an extremely downsized tape cassette. Therefore, the length n of the moving opening 38 can be increased, and this type of tape cassette can be formed compactly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional tape cassette;
Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the main parts, Figures 3 and 4.
5 is a plan view showing an outline of a conventional tape cassette, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a tape cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the same essential parts, FIG. 8 is a side view for explaining the same operation, and FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an outline of the tape cassette. 21...Rotating lid, 29...Lid lock, 35...Protrusion,
36...Engagement end.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A rotating lid 21 that covers the front surface of the tape cassette 18 to protect the tape 20 stretched on the front surface of the tape cassette 18.
and two side walls 33a, 33b separated from each other.
and a groove 39 formed between the two side walls and between the extension 33c of one of the side walls and the inner surface of the side plate 21b of the rotating lid 21, and a groove 39 formed from the front surface of the tape cassette 18 into the groove 39. In order to allow the lock release member 22 to enter, a notch 25 is provided at the lower front surface of the rotary lid 21 corresponding to the position of the groove 39, and a notch 25 is provided in the groove 39, which is pivotally supported by the side walls 33a and 33b. The rotating lid 21 rotates in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tape 20 stretched on the front surface of the tape cassette 18.
and a release end 40 facing the front surface of the tape cassette 18 via the notch 25. Together, the rotating lid 21
When the lock release member 22 passes through the notch 25 and the groove 39 and moves the release end 40 entering from the front surface of the tape cassette 18 into contact with the release end 40, the rotation is prevented. Lid 2
1, and a lid lock 29 that allows the rotating lid 21 to rotate; and a biasing spring 34 that urges the lid lock 29 to engage with the rotating lid 21. Characteristic tape cassette 18. 2 Notch portion 25 and corresponding groove portion 3
2. The tape cassette 18 according to claim 1, wherein the entrance path of the lock release member 22 formed by the lock release member 9 is geometrically symmetrical with respect to the external shape of the tape cassette 18.