JPH0697548B2 - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is suitable for being applied to a tape cassette for, for example, a video tape recorder, and is preferably attached to a cassette housing in a freely rotatable manner. The present invention relates to a tape cassette in which a lid is biased by a torsion coil spring to close the lid.

[Outline of Invention]

According to the present invention, the upper and lower halves, which are combined from above and below to form a cassette housing, and the front plate and the upper plate have a cross section of approximately L
Of a front lid rotatably pivoted to cover the front surfaces of the upper and lower halves by support shafts formed in a shape and provided respectively on the pair of left and right pivot support plates, and the pair of left and right pivots. The coil portion is inserted into at least one of them, one end of which is locked to the support shaft or a part of the rotation support plate, and the other end of which is adjacent to a rib formed on the inner surface of the front edge of the upper half. In a tape cassette having a torsion coil spring that is locked and locked to bias the front lid in the closing direction, the front lid is attached to the upper half with the torsion coil spring attached in advance to the spindle of the front lid. At the time of temporary fixing, a notch that allows the other end of the torsion coil spring, which is locked to the inner surface of the upper plate of the front lid, to move from the front of the upper half to the inner surface of the front edge of the upper half. It is installed on the front wall of the half and the twist coil When the front lid is temporarily fixed to the upper half by providing a rib that guides the end on the side surface continuously with the notch, the other end of the torsion coil spring is pushed from the inner surface of the upper plate of the front lid to the upper half. It is designed so that it can be correctly transferred to the inner surface of the front edge of the.

[Conventional technology]

First, a conventional example of a tape cassette for a video tape recorder will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

In FIG. 6, a cassette housing 1 is constructed by vertically assembling upper and lower halves 2 and 3, and a front opening 4 of the cassette housing 1 is opened and closed by a front lid 5. The front lid 5 is formed into a substantially L-shaped cross section by a front plate 6 and a top plate 7, and has a pair of left and right pivot shaft plates 8 (one of which is shown in the figure).
A pair of left and right support shafts 9 provided on the left and right sides of the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 are rotatably supported by being sandwiched between the left and right side walls 2a and 3a. A torsion coil spring 10 is inserted into the outer periphery of the support shaft 9 by the coil portion 10a, and one end 10b bent in an arc shape and the other end 10c linearly extended are provided on the support shaft 9 in the vertical direction. Shaped spring locking pin 1
1 and the inner surface of the front edge 2b of the upper half 2 respectively. The torsion coil spring 10 biases the front lid 5 in the direction of arrow a as shown by the solid line, and the front plate 6 of the front lid 5 closes the front opening 4. In the closed state of the front lid 5, the upper plate 7 is located at the front edge of the upper half 2.
It is configured to be stacked on 2b.

Next, on the front end side of the lower half 3, there is provided a pair of support walls 12 that are vertically formed integrally with the lower half 3, and a lock lever 13 is provided at the upper end of the lock lever 13 in the gap between the pair of support walls 12. A pair of support shafts 14 and a pair of recesses 15 at the upper end of both support walls 12.
It is rotatably supported by being fitted inside.
Both support shafts 14 of the lock lever 13 are sandwiched from above by a pair of left and right ribs 16 integrally provided with the front wall 2c of the upper half 2 in a state of facing the upper portions of both support walls 12. . The lock lever 13 is urged to rotate in the direction of arrow b by the torsion coil spring 17 as shown by the solid line, and the convex portion 18 provided on the front end side of the lock lever 13 is provided on the rear surface of the front plate 6 of the front lid 5. The front lid 5 is locked in the closed state by being engaged with the recess 19 provided. When the tape cassette is mounted on the video tape recorder, the lock lever 13 is rotated in the direction of arrow c against the torsion coil spring 17 as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line to lock the front lid 5 in the closed state. Then, the front lid 5 is released and is opened against the torsion coil spring 10 in the arrow d direction as shown by the alternate long and short dash line.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the conventional method of assembling the tape cassette of this type, first, the front lid 5 is temporarily fixed to the upper half 2 and then the upper half 2 is joined to the lower half 3 together with the front lid 5. Was the way to do it. And the conventional tape cassette,
Since the upper plate 7 is superposed on the front end edge 2 on the upper half 2b in the closed state of the front cover 5, the front cover 5 is attached by being inserted from the front of the upper half 2.

At the time of this attachment, the other end 10c of the torsion coil spring 10 attached to the support shaft 9 of the front lid 5 is locked to the inner surface of the top plate 7 as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. , Arrow e
As shown in the direction, the front lid 5 is horizontally moved from the front of the upper half 2 and attached. Therefore, the other end of the torsion coil spring 10
10c once overcame the lower end edge of the front wall 2c of the upper half 2 against the spring force thereof and is locked to the inner surface of the front end edge 2b of the upper half 2.

However, since the torsion coil spring 10 is locked to the spring locking pin 11 of the support shaft 9 by one end 10b thereof, the other end 10c
If the other end 10c is twisted when passing over the lower end edge of the front wall 2c of the upper half 2, the other end 10c is likely to tilt in the direction of arrow f due to the relationship between the winding direction of the coil portion 10a and the locking structure of the one end 10b. , The other end 10c slides on the lower edge of the front wall 2c and rides on the rib 16 or the rib 16 as shown by the solid line.
It often entered into the gap between them. Then, in a state where the other end 10c of the torsion coil spring 10 is not properly locked to the inner surface of the front end edge 2b of the upper half 2, the upper half 2 having the front lid 5 attached thereto may be coupled to the lower half 3. If it happens, the other end of the torsion coil spring 10
10c is sandwiched between the support wall 12 and the rib 16 so that the upper and lower halves 2 and 3 are not completely fitted, or the other end 10c that has entered the gap between the ribs 16 interferes with the operation of the lock lever 13. There was an inconvenience.

For this reason, conventionally, after temporarily fixing the front lid 5 to the upper half 2, it is inspected whether the other end 10c of the torsion coil spring 10 is in a normal state, and if there is any abnormality, this is related to the normal state. The work to stop it was necessary. And this is extremely troublesome because it has to be done manually, and when the tape cassette is automatically assembled by an automatic assembly machine, the above-mentioned operation interrupts the automatic assembly, so that the work efficiency is improved. It was extremely bad.

Therefore, the present invention is intended to properly transfer the other end of the torsion coil spring from the inner surface of the upper plate of the front lid to the inner surface of the front edge of the upper half when temporarily fixing the front lid to the upper half. .

[Means for solving problems]

According to the present invention, in the tape cassette described above, a notch portion continuous with a side surface of the rib is provided on a front wall of the upper half at a front end edge portion of the upper half with which the other end of the torsion coil spring is locked, The other end of the torsion coil spring locked to the inner surface of the upper plate in a state where the torsion coil spring is attached to the spindle of the front lid is attached to the side surface of the rib from the front of the upper half through the cutout portion. By shifting it to the inner surface of the front edge of the upper half while controlling it,
The front lid is temporarily fixed to the upper half in a state where the upper plate is superposed on the front edge of the upper half.

[Action]

According to the present invention, when the front lid is inserted from the front of the upper half, the front wall of the upper half is provided with the notch continuous with the side surface of the rib, so that the front lid is locked to the inner surface of the upper plate of the front lid. It is not necessary for the other end of the torsion coil spring to ride over the lower end edge of the front wall against the spring force, and the other end is regulated by the side surface of the rib through the notch and is extremely correctly placed on the inner surface of the front end edge of the upper half. Will be migrated. Therefore, there is no possibility that the other end of the torsion coil spring rides on the rib due to the twisting when riding over the lower edge of the front wall of the upper half,
The other end can always be reliably locked on the inner surface of the front edge of the upper half.

〔Example〕

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 FIGS. 1 to 5. The same parts as those of the conventional example described in the above [Prior Art] are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a notch 22 is provided in the front wall 2c of the upper half 2 at the front end edge 2b of the upper half 2 to which the other end 10c of the torsion coil spring 10 is locked. ing. The notch 22 is formed so as to be continuous with the side surfaces 16a of the pair of ribs 16, and the tip end side 22a of the notch is substantially V-shaped. As shown in FIG. 4A, the notch depth H of the notch 22 is slightly shorter than the height to the inner surface of the upper half 2,
The tip side 22a of the notch 22 is slightly stepped from the inner surface of the upper half 2. The rib 16 is, as described in the conventional example,
It is provided integrally with the front wall 2c of the upper half 2 in a state of facing the upper portions of the pair of support shaft walls 12 of the lower half 3 shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the pair of support shaft walls 12 are substantially U-shaped, and the lock lever 13 is arranged in the gap between the pair of support walls 12. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 24 is a reel, and a tape 25 wound around the reel 24 is wound around the front opening 4 by a tape guide 26.

Next, assembly of the tape cassette configured as described above will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 4A, before the front lid 5 is temporarily fixed to the upper half 2, the torsion coil spring 10 is previously attached to the coil portion 10a.
Is inserted into the outer circumference on the tip end side of the support shaft 9, and its one end 10b
Is locked to the spring locking pin 11, and the other end 10c is the top plate 7
It is locked to the inner surface of. In this state, while sliding the support shaft 9 of the front lid 5 on the lower end edge of the side wall 2a of the upper half 2, the front lid 5 is horizontally moved from the front toward the upper half 2 as indicated by the arrow g. To insert. At this time, since the front wall 2c of the upper half 2 is provided with the cutout portion 22, the other end 10c of the torsion coil spring 10 is inserted into the upper half 2 through the cutout portion 22. Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, the spindle 9 of the front lid 5 is slid on the lower edge of the side wall 2a of the upper half 2 and is inserted in the direction of the arrow g up to the stepped portion 27. The end 10c is smoothly transferred to the inner surface of the front end edge 2b of the upper half 2, and the top plate 7 of the front lid 5 is moved to the upper half 2.
The front lid 5 is overlaid on the front end edge 2b of the above, and the insertion of the front lid 5 into the upper half 2 is completed.

At this time, the other end 10c of the torsion coil spring 10 is cut into the cutout 22
Since it is inserted into the upper half 2 through the other end 10c
Never rides on the rib 16 due to the twisting when overcoming the front wall 2c of the upper half 2, and the other end 10c is always correctly locked on the inner surface of the front edge 2b of the upper half 2. Since the tip end side 22a of the cutout portion 22 is formed in a substantially V-shape, even if the other end 10c of the torsion coil spring 10 is slightly twisted from the beginning, the other end 10c is smoothly and surely guided. Further, at this time, the notch 22 is formed on the side surface 16a
As shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 5, the other end 10c of the torsion coil spring 10 has a rib 16 and a side surface 16a.
While being guided by, it is surely transferred onto the inner surface of the front end edge 2b of the upper half 2. The tip side 2a of the notch 22 is the upper half 2
Since there is a slight step from the inner surface of the front lid 5, even if the front lid 5 moves in the direction of arrow h when the front lid 5 is temporarily fixed to the upper half 2 shown in FIG. The end 10c is regulated by the tip side 22a of the cutout portion 22. Therefore, there is no concern that the front lid 5 will be separated from the upper half 2.

As a result of the above, the front lid 5 is temporarily fixed to the upper half 2, and thereafter the front lid 5 does not fall below the upper half 2. That is, 4B
In the temporarily fixed state shown in the figure, the front lid 5 is rotationally biased by the torsion coil spring 10 in the direction of arrow a, which is the closing direction, but the top plate 7 of the front lid 5 has the front edge 2b of the upper half 2. Since the upper lid 2 is brought into contact with the upper portion, the rotation of the front lid 5 in the arrow a direction is restricted, and the front lid 5 is held (temporarily fixed) by the upper half 2.

Next, after the front lid 5 is temporarily fixed to the upper half 2 as described above, the upper half 2 is placed on the lower half 3 along with the front lid 5 vertically from the top in the direction of the arrow i as shown in FIG. 4C. If it is lowered and joined, the pair of support shafts 9 will be attached to both side walls of the upper and lower halves 2, 3.
It is sandwiched by stepped portions 27, 28 of 2a, 3a and is rotatably supported. And as shown in FIG. 3, upper and lower halves 2, 3
The cassette housing 1 is formed by the combination of the above, and the assembly of the tape cassette is completed. After the assembly is completed, the biasing of the front lid 5 by the torsion coil spring 10 and the locking and unlocking of the front lid 5 by the lock lever 13 are performed in the same manner as in the conventional example.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and various effective modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, in the embodiment, a pair of left and right rotation support plates are provided at both left and right ends of the front lid, but a front lid in which a front plate and a top plate extend further left and right than these rotation support plates may be used. Further, the torsion coil spring may be attached to one or both of the support shafts.

The present invention is not limited to tape cassettes for video tape recorders, but can be applied to tape cassettes for various recording / reproducing devices that record or reproduce various information by various recording or reproducing methods.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, when the front lid is temporarily fixed to the upper half, the other end of the torsion coil spring is extremely correctly moved from the inner surface of the upper plate of the front lid to the inner surface of the front edge of the upper half. be able to. Therefore, after temporarily fixing the front lid to the upper half, it is not necessary to inspect whether the other end of the torsion coil spring is in a normal state or to relock the coil coil if there is an abnormality, and Assembly can be done very easily. Further, when the tape cassette is automatically assembled by the automatic assembling machine, the automatic assembling can be continuously carried out without being interrupted by the above-mentioned work, so that the working efficiency is remarkably improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 5 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a tape cassette for a video tape recorder,
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main part of the upper half as viewed from the inside, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main part of the lower half, and FIG. 3 is III-III of FIG.
A line sectional view, FIGS. 4A to 4C are side views of main parts for explaining a method of assembling the tape cassette, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of the main parts when the upper half is viewed from the inside. FIGS. 6 and 7 show a conventional example of a tape cassette for a video tape recorder. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of an essential part, and FIG. 7 is an essential part of the upper half viewed from the inside. It is a top view. In the reference numerals used in the drawings, 1 ... Cassette housing 2 ... Upper half 2b ... Front edge 2c ... Front wall 3 ... Lower half 5 ... Front lid 6 ... Front plate 7 ... Top plate 8 ... Rotating support plate 9 ... Spindle 10 ... Torsion coil spring 10a ... Coil part 10b ... One end 10c ... Other end 11 ... Spring locking pin 12 ... Support wall 13 ... Lock lever 14 …… Spindle 16 …… Rib 16a …… Side 22 …… Notch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A top half and a bottom half that are combined from above and below to form a cassette housing, and a support shaft that is formed into a substantially L-shaped cross section by a front plate and a top plate and that is provided on each of a pair of left and right rotation support plates. A front lid rotatably pivoted to openably and closably cover the front surfaces of the upper and lower halves, and a coil portion thereof is inserted into at least one of the pair of left and right supporting shafts, and one end thereof is the supporting shaft or the rotating shaft. A torsion coil that is locked to a part of the support plate and has its other end adjacent to a rib formed on the inner surface of the front end edge of the upper half to urge the front cover to rotate in the closing direction. A tape cassette having a spring, wherein a notch portion is provided in a front wall of the upper half adjacent to a side surface of the rib at a front end edge portion of the upper half to which the other end of the torsion coil spring is locked, The torsion coil on the spindle of The front end edge of the upper half is regulated by the side of the rib from the front of the upper half through the notch from the other end of the torsion coil spring locked to the inner surface of the upper plate with the spring attached. The tape cassette, wherein the front lid is temporarily fixed to the upper half in a state where the upper plate is superposed on the front end edge of the upper half by shifting the upper lid to the inner surface of the upper half.