JPH0419622Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial field of application] The present invention is a cassette mounting device that is most suitable for application to, for example, a front-loading type cassette-type VCR.
This invention relates to a device that enables selective use of different types of cassettes.

[Summary of the idea]

In the present invention, two types of cassettes, large and small, are selectively inserted into a cassette holder through a cassette insertion slot provided on the front panel, and the inserted cassettes are guided by a guide rail provided on the cassette holder. In a cassette mounting device configured to be positioned within a cassette holder, a recess is provided approximately at the center of the lower edge of the cassette insertion opening in the front panel for positioning the small cassette at a position corresponding to the guide rail. This makes it possible to easily position the small cassette at a position corresponding to the guide rail.

[Conventional technology]

Regarding a cassette mounting device that allows selective use of two types of cassettes, large and small, for example, the patent application filed in 1983 by the present applicant
Devices such as those described in US Pat. No. 2,328,62 exist.

The device has a cassette insertion slot on the front panel into which large and small cassettes can be selectively inserted, and holds the cassette inserted through the cassette insertion slot and moves it back and forth between the cassette insertion position and the cassette mounting position. The cassette holder has a movable cassette holder, and a pair of left and right guide rails are provided on the bottom plate of the cassette holder to guide the cassette to a predetermined position on the cassette holder.

Two types of cassettes, large and small, are selectively inserted into the cassette holder from the cassette insertion slot.
At this time, the large cassette is inserted into the cassette holder while its position in the left and right direction is restricted on both sides of the cassette insertion opening. A pair of guide rails within the cassette holder are inserted relatively into a pair of guide grooves provided at the bottom of the large cassette to guide the large cassette to a predetermined position within the cassette holder.

On the other hand, the small cassette is inserted between the pair of guide rails, guided with both left and right sides of the cassette being regulated by the inner sides of the pair of guide rails, and positioned at a predetermined position within the cassette holder.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

According to the above device, the large cassette is inserted into the cassette holder while its position is regulated in the left and right direction on both sides of the cassette insertion opening, so it is difficult to insert the guide rail in the cassette holder into the guide groove of the large cassette. No special positioning required. In other words, simply by inserting the large cassette into the cassette holder through the cassette insertion slot, the guide rail inside the cassette holder will naturally be relatively inserted into the guide groove at the bottom of the large cassette, allowing the guide rail to guide the large cassette. Can receive.

On the other hand, a small cassette is inserted and guided between a pair of guide rails as described above, but since the width of the small cassette is narrower than the width of the cassette insertion slot, it cannot be inserted into the cassette insertion slot like a large cassette. If the cassette is a small cassette and its position is not restricted in the left-right direction, it is necessary to position the cassette at a position corresponding to the pair of guide rails before inserting the cassette into the cassette holder. However, since the guide rail is provided in the shape of the bottom plate of the cassette holder, it is difficult to see from the outside, and in order to insert a small cassette between a pair of guide rails, the position of the guide rail inside the cassette holder must be adjusted from the cassette insertion opening. It is necessary to check the cassette while inserting the cassette, and if the device has an opening/closing door attached to the cassette insertion slot, it is necessary to insert the cassette while relying on the feeling of the hand holding the cassette. Therefore, the small cassette cannot be easily adapted to the guide rail.

If a small cassette is inserted at a position that is misaligned with the guide rail, the small cassette may ride on the guide rail, making it impossible to remove the cassette from the cassette holder, or damaging the small cassette or the cassette loading device. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a cassette mounting device that can easily position a small cassette at a position corresponding to a guide rail within a cassette holder.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a method for positioning a small cassette at a position corresponding to the guide rail in the cassette loading device described above, at approximately the center of the lower edge of the cassette insertion opening in the front panel. It has a recess.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, by simply placing the small cassette in the recess on the lower edge of the front panel, the small cassette can be positioned at a position corresponding to the guide rail of the cassette holder, and after that positioning, the small cassette can be placed in the recess. When the small cassette is inserted into the cassette holder through the cassette insertion opening, the small cassette is surely inserted at a position corresponding to the guide rail, and is positioned within the cassette holder by being guided by the guide rail.

〔Example〕

The present invention is described below as a cassette type that can be used with two types of cassettes of different sizes.
An embodiment applied to a VTR cassette mounting device will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front panel 1 of the cassette loading device has a plurality of operating knobs 20a, 20.
A substantially rectangular cassette insertion opening 2 is provided together with the cassette opening 2. The width of the cassette insertion slot 2 is formed to be approximately the same as the width of the large cassette 40 of the large and small cassettes 40 and 41 that are selectively inserted. An inclined surface 7 is provided.

At approximately the center of the lower edge of the cassette insertion slot 2 of the front panel 1, there is a recess 3 having a width approximately the same as the width of the small cassette 41, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4B.
5 is formed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, both sides 35a of the recess 35 are connected to a pair of left and right guide rails 23, which will be described later.
It is made to correspond to the positioning reference plane 25 on the inner side of. Therefore, when the small cassette 41 to be inserted into the cassette holder 10 is placed in the recess 35 as shown in FIG. The small cassette 41 is positioned at a position corresponding to the positioning reference plane 25 of the pair of guide rails 23 in the cassette holder 10 (see FIG. 3).

At the bottom of the recess 35 are shown figures 1, 4A, and 4.
As shown in Figure B, a sloped surface 36 is formed that slopes upward from the lower front of the front panel 1, and is configured to smoothly guide the small cassette 41 to be inserted into the inside of the cassette insertion slot 2. There is.

A support member 3 is integrally formed on the inner lower edge of the cassette insertion opening 2 to prevent the inserted large and small cassettes 40 and 41 from falling downward.

The support member 3 includes a pair of substantially trapezoidal left and right support portions 3a corresponding to a pair of left and right reel stand insertion notches 33 provided on the front end side of the bottom plate 22 of the cassette holder 10, and the above-mentioned support portions 3a provided in the center thereof. It has a recess 3b corresponding to the central front end 22a of the bottom plate 22. The end portion 5 of the support member 3 is located at a position slightly lower than the front edge portions 33a of both notches 33 of the bottom plate 22 of the cassette holder 10, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. This prevents the lower edges of the rear ends 43 of the large and small cassettes 40, 41 from getting caught on the end 5 of the support member 3 when the cassette holder 10 is moved back from the cassette mounting position to the cassette insertion position, which will be described later. This is to prevent this. As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3, FIG. 4A, and FIG. 4B, the upper surface of the support portion 3a is formed with an inclined surface 4 that slopes upwardly and gently. The large and small cassettes 40 and 41 are guided upward, and as described above, the end 5 of the support member 3 is connected to the bottom plate 22 of the cassette holder 10.
Due to being placed lower, the small cassette 4
1, the front end 41b of the small cassette 41
This prevents the lower edge of the cassette holder 10 from getting caught on the front edge 33a of the bottom plate 22 of the cassette holder 10. Further, both support portions 3a of the support member 3 prevent the small cassette 41 from tilting and getting caught on the front edge 33a of one of the notches 33, especially when the small cassette 41 is inserted.

The cassette holder 10, which holds large and small cassettes 40 and 41 inserted from the cassette insertion opening 2, has three guide rollers 11 attached to each of its left and right sides 10a, which are fixed vertically on a chassis (not shown). The holder support plates 13 are loosely fitted and supported in three approximately L-shaped guide grooves 14 provided on a pair of left and right holder support plates 13, respectively. The cassette holder 10 guided by these guide rollers 11 and guide grooves 14 is driven by a drive mechanism (not shown) to face the cassette insertion opening 2 of the front panel 1 and hold large and small cassettes 40 and 41. The cassette insertion position where the cassettes are selectively inserted, and the inserted large and small cassettes 40 and 41 are placed on a pair of left and right reel stands 17.
It is configured to reciprocate in the directions of arrows a and b in FIG. 1 along a substantially L-shaped movement locus between the cassette mounting position and the cassette mounting position. The pair of left and right reel stands 17 are mounted on a pair of left and right moving stands (not shown) that are reciprocated along a pair of left and right guide rails (not shown) that are horizontally mounted on a chassis (not shown). It is attached integrally with a pair of left and right reel stand motors (not shown).

Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a pair of left and right guide rails 23 are arranged on the upper part of the bottom plate 22 of the cassette holder 10 so that they are distributed left and right with respect to the center of the cassette holder 10 in the left and right direction. are arranged in parallel. Both guide rails 23 are molded from synthetic resin, and are screwed onto the bottom plate 22 with a plurality of screws 24, respectively. A pair of inner surfaces of these guide rails 23 are positioning reference surfaces 2 for large and small cassettes.
It is composed of 5. Note that there is a tapered surface 26 at the end of both of these positioning reference surfaces 25 on the front panel 1 side.
is formed.

Then, when the small cassette 41 is selectively inserted horizontally from the cassette insertion opening 2 into the cassette holder 10 which has been returned to the cassette insertion position as shown in FIG.
The small cassette 41 is guided by the guide rails 23 and inserted between the two guide rails 23, and the left and right side surfaces 41a of the small cassette 41 are regulated by the positioning reference surfaces 25 and positioned.

On the other hand, when the large cassette 40 is selectively inserted into the cassette holder 10, the large cassette 4
Both guide rails 23 are relatively inserted into a pair of left and right guide grooves (not shown) provided at the lower part of 0, and the inner surfaces of both guide grooves (not shown) are regulated by both positioning reference surfaces 25. position.

As shown in FIG. 1, on the upper front surface of the cassette holder 10, an opening/closing door 30 for opening and closing the cassette insertion slot 2 from the inside is rotatably supported on the cassette holder 10 by a pair of left and right pivot pins 30a. has been done.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained. Figure 2,
As shown by solid lines in FIG. 3, when the small cassette 41 is placed in the recess 35 of the front panel 1, the small cassette 41 is positioned at a position corresponding to the pair of guide rails 23 in the cassette holder 10. In this state, slide the small cassette 41 upward along the slope 36 of the recess 35 toward the opening/closing door 30 installed inside the cassette insertion slot 2, and insert the small cassette 41 at a point near the opening/closing door 30 as shown in FIG. As shown by the chain line, the small cassette 41 is held approximately horizontally, and the door 30 opens and closes the small cassette 41.
When the small cassette 41 is pushed open and pushed into the cassette holder 10, the small cassette 41 is guided by the tapered surfaces 26 of the pair of guide rails 23 and inserted between the two guide rails 23, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. The small cassette 41 is positioned at a predetermined position on the cassette holder 10 while its left and right side surfaces 41a are regulated by the positioning reference surface 25.

Note that when the small cassette 41 is inserted into the cassette holder 10, the small cassette 41 is attached to the pair of support portions 3a of the support member 3 as shown by solid lines in FIG. 4A.
The cassette holder 10 is guided by the inclined surfaces 4 provided at each side and rides on the bottom plate 22 of the cassette holder 10 located at a higher position than the end 5 of the support part 3a, and then the bottom plate of the cassette holder 10 is placed in a horizontal state as shown by the dashed line. The cassette pressing plate 2 moves on the cassette holder 10 as shown in FIG. 4B.
It is mounted in the cassette holder 10 with its vertical position restricted by the cassette 9. Therefore, due to the inclined surface 4 of the support member 3, when the small cassette 41 is inserted into the cassette holder 10, the lower edge of the front end 41b of the small cassette 41 is attached to the bottom plate 22 of the cassette holder 10.
can be prevented from getting caught on the front edge 33a.

Next, the large cassette 40 is inserted into the cassette holder 10 by pushing open the opening/closing door 30 while regulating its position in the left and right direction at both sides 2a of the cassette insertion slot 2, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. , a guide groove provided at the bottom of the large cassette 40 (not shown)
The guide rail 23 is inserted into the large cassette 40.
is guided to a predetermined position within the cassette holder 10.

By the way, the front ends of the large and small cassettes 40 and 41 selectively inserted into the cassette holder 10 are brought into contact with a pair of left and right stoppers 27 provided on the front end of the bottom plate 22, as shown in FIG. The front end positions of these large and small cassettes 40 and 41 are aligned. On the other hand, whether these selectively inserted cassettes are the large cassette 40 or the small cassette 41 is determined by a cassette type discrimination sensor (not shown), and the interval between the two reel stands 17 is automatically adjusted. . At the same time, cassette holder 1
After the cassette 40 is pulled horizontally backward from the cassette insertion position, the large and small cassettes 40, 40 are moved forward in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 41 are selectively attached to both reel stands 17. Note that when the cassette holder 10 is vertically lowered, the large and small cassettes 4
The cassette lids 42 of Nos. 0 and 41 are opened by a lid opening means (not shown).

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various effective changes can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, in the embodiment, a pair of guide rails 23
Although the configuration is such that the small cassette 41 is guided to a predetermined position within the cassette holder 10 by inserting the small cassette 41 between the two, one guide rail is provided approximately at the center of the bottom plate 22 of the cassette holder 10. The small cassette 41 may be guided to a predetermined position within the cassette holder 10 by inserting the guide rail into a guide groove provided at the bottom of the small cassette 41.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the opening/closing door 30 is configured to be rotated upward by the large and small cassettes 40, 41 inserted. Alternatively, the opening/closing door 30 may not be provided.

Further, the present invention is not limited to a cassette mounting device for a cassette type VTR, but can be applied to various cassette mounting devices for various other cassette type recording/reproducing devices, information processing devices, etc.

[Effect of idea]

According to the present invention, the small cassette can be positioned at a position corresponding to the guide rail of the cassette holder by simply placing the small cassette in the recess on the lower edge of the front panel. After positioning, the small cassette is inserted into the cassette holder through the cassette insertion opening while being placed in the recess, so that the small cassette can be reliably guided by the guide rail. Therefore, in order to align a small cassette with the guide rail in the cassette holder, it is necessary to insert the cassette while checking the position of the guide rail from the cassette insertion opening as in the past, or to adjust the position of the cassette by relying on the feeling of the hand holding the cassette. There is no need for alignment, and small cassettes can always be inserted accurately with smooth and reliable operation.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the small cassette from being incorrectly inserted in a position that is out of alignment with the guide rail.
It is possible to prevent the small cassette from becoming impossible to remove from the cassette holder and damage to the small cassette or the cassette mounting device due to the small cassette being inserted in the wrong position.

Moreover, according to the present invention, the lower edge of the cassette insertion opening on the front panel also serves as a positioning member for the small cassette, so there is no need to use any special member for positioning the small cassette. be.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 4B show an embodiment of the present invention, with Figure 1 being an exploded perspective view of the main parts, and Figure 2 showing a state in which a small cassette is placed in a recess in the front panel. Figure 3 is a diagram showing the operation of inserting large and small cassettes into the cassette holder, Figure 4A is a diagram showing the operation of inserting large and small cassettes into the cassette holder.
4B are views showing the operation of inserting the small cassette into the cassette holder. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1...Front panel, 2...Cassette insertion slot, 10...Cassette holder, 22...Bottom plate, 23...Guide rail, 35...Recess, 40...Large cassette ,41...
...It's a small cassette.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A cassette insertion slot provided on the front panel, a cassette holder that reciprocates between a cassette insertion position and a cassette mounting position, and a guide rail provided on the bottom plate of the cassette holder. cassettes of two sizes, large and small, are selectively inserted into the cassette holder from the cassette insertion opening, and the inserted cassettes are guided by the guide rail and positioned within the cassette holder. A cassette mounting device characterized in that a recess for positioning a small cassette at a position corresponding to the guide rail is provided approximately in the center of the lower edge of the cassette insertion opening of the front panel.