JPH08161857A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a tape cassette that can easily fix a thin plate substrate and is less likely to cause damage to a molding die when molding a cassette body. [Structure] A hole 2 is provided on a side surface of a cassette body composed of an upper half 1a and a lower half 1b, and inside the hole 2, a plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a, ... In the tape cassette arranged in the vicinity of one corner, the plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a, ... Are provided on one thin plate substrate 3, and 0.4 mm to 0. The wall portion 5 is formed at intervals of 8 mm, and the wall portion 5 is provided with the notch portion 5a. The thin plate substrate 3 includes a plurality of the terminal contacts 3a,
.. are arranged in the space 4 so as to correspond to the holes 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette, and more particularly to a tape cassette which can easily fix a thin plate substrate and which is unlikely to damage a molding die when molding a cassette body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, improvements in tape cassettes have progressed, and the types of tape cassettes due to differences in tape thickness, types of recording media, etc. can be identified by the difference in the resistance value of the resistors built into the tape cassette, or The IC chip built in the cassette stores it, and the resistance value and the stored contents are electrically read by the mechanism on the deck (recording / playback machine) side, and the deck is optimally recorded according to the type of tape cassette. A tape cassette designed to be controlled in a reproduction state has been considered. When an IC chip is used, in addition to the type of tape cassette described above, it is possible to store information such as a table of contents recorded in the tape cassette.

As a tape cassette improved as described above, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-290568, a hole is formed in the side surface of the cassette body consisting of an upper half and a lower half, and the deck side is detected inside the hole. There is described a tape cassette in which a plurality of terminal contacts that come into contact with the parts are arranged near one corner of the cassette body.

Further, in the above-mentioned tape cassette in which a plurality of terminal contacts are arranged in the vicinity of one corner of the cassette body, the terminal contacts are arranged on the surface of one thin plate substrate and provided on the thin plate substrate. A tape cassette, which is connected to a resistor or an IC chip, and in which the thin plate substrate is fitted and fixed in a groove (spacing) provided in the cassette body, is also considered, and the tape cassette is further miniaturized. Therefore, further thinning of the thin substrate is desired.

[0005]

However, in order to make the width of the groove for fixing the thin plate substrate narrow so as to correspond to the thinning of the thin plate substrate, the mold for molding the cassette body is formed. The portion corresponding to the groove must be a thin plate-shaped portion, but a die having such a thin plate-shaped portion has a problem that the thin plate-shaped portion is likely to be damaged. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-290568 mentioned above describes a tape cassette in which the thin plate substrate is welded to the cassette body by ultrasonic welding or the like without providing the groove. When manufacturing the above-mentioned tape cassette, the number of ultrasonic welding steps is increased, which requires labor and equipment, which is troublesome.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a tape cassette which can easily fix a thin plate substrate and which is unlikely to damage a molding die when molding a cassette body.

[0007]

The present invention provides an upper half 1a.
A hole 2 is provided on the side surface of the cassette body 1 composed of the lower half 1b, and a plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a, which come into contact with the detection section on the deck side, are provided inside the hole 2 near one corner of the cassette body 1. In the arranged tape cassette, the plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a, ... Are provided on one thin plate substrate 3 and are connected to the inner side surface of the cassette body 1 in the order of 0.
Wall portions 5 are formed at intervals of 4 mm to 0.8 mm and cutout portions 5a are provided in the wall portions 5, and the thin plate substrate 3 includes a plurality of the terminal contacts 3a, 3a. The above object is achieved by providing a tape cassette characterized in that it is arranged in the space 4 corresponding to the hole 2.

[0008]

In the tape cassette of the present invention, since the thin plate substrate is fitted between the inner surface of the cassette body and the wall portion, the thin plate substrate can be easily fixed, and Since the wall has the structure in which the cutout is provided, the molding die of the cassette main body corresponds to the gap (groove) and the thin plate-like portion of the mold corresponds to the cutout. The structure can be connected to another part of the mold through the part of the mold, and the strength and durability of the thin plate-shaped part of the mold can be improved.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the tape cassette of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged plan view showing a state in which a thin plate terminal board is fitted in a gap provided in a lower half of an embodiment of a tape cassette of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an appearance of this embodiment. It is a perspective view, (a)
Is a perspective view seen from above, (b) is a perspective view seen from below, FIG. 3 shows the thin plate substrate of the present embodiment, (a) is a side view showing its outer surface, (b) ) Is a side view showing the inner side surface thereof, (c) is a plan view thereof, and FIG. 4 shows the periphery of a gap provided in one corner of the lower half of this embodiment, (a)
Is an enlarged plan view thereof, (b) is a sectional view taken along line XX in (a), and FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the thin plate substrate periphery of this embodiment with a part of the side surface of the cassette body as a section. is there.

In the tape cassette of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, a hole 2 is provided on the side surface of the cassette body 1 composed of an upper half 1a and a lower half 1b, and inside the hole 2, the deck side is provided. In the tape cassette in which a plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a ··· that come into contact with the detection unit of the cassette main body 1 are arranged in the vicinity of one corner of the cassette body 1, the plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a ·· Provided on the
Between the inner surface of the cassette body 1 and 0.4 mm-0.
Walls 5 are formed with a spacing 4 of 8 mm and
Is provided with a notch portion 5a, and the thin plate substrate 3 is arranged in the space 4 with the plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a, ... Corresponding to the holes 2.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the notch 5a is a locking recess for locking the locking projection 61 of the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 of the tape cassette.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a plurality of the holes 2 are provided for each of the plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a ..., And a plurality of the plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a. Of the plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a .. and the other terminals 3a, 3a.
And are connected via any of the resistors 3b, 3b.

This embodiment will be further described. As shown in FIG. 2, the cassette body 1 includes the upper half 1a.
And a lower half 1b, and a window is provided at one corner of the upper half 1a side, and an erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 is slidably arranged inside the window. A total of four holes 2, 2, ... Are provided on the lower half 1b side of the one corner, and a total of four terminal contacts 3a, 3a. Further, an erroneous erasure prevention identification hole 13 which is opened and closed by sliding the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 is arranged on the bottom surface side of the lower half 1b at the one corner.

The thin plate substrate 3 has a height substantially equal to the height of the lower half 1b, a length that is approximately half the length of the tape cassette in the lateral direction, and a thickness of 0.4 mm to.
The distance is about 0.8 mm, and they are arranged within the above-mentioned interval 4. As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the four terminal contacts 3a, 3a ... Are arranged at equal intervals near one end on the front surface side of the thin plate substrate 3, and the terminal contacts 3a, 3a. 3a
Is embedded so that its surface is flush with the surface of the thin plate substrate 3. Further, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the resistor 3 is provided near the other end on the back surface side of the thin plate substrate 3.
.. are arranged at equal intervals, and the resistors 3b ,.
Each has a predetermined resistance value, as will be described later. Of the terminal contacts 3a, the terminal contact 3a 'from the most end is connected to the three resistors 3b, ... Through the through hole 3c, and the three terminal contacts 3a other than the terminal contact 3a are Are connected to one of the resistors 3b through through holes 3c ,.

The area around the one corner of the lower half 1b is shown in FIG.
Shown in As shown in FIG. 4 (a), the holes 2, 2 ...
Is provided on the inner surface of the side surface of the lower half 1b and 0.
The wall portions 5 are provided at the intervals 4 of 4 mm to 0.8 mm. If the distance 4 is less than 0.4 mm, the thickness of a commercially available thin plate substrate cannot be dealt with, and if it exceeds 0.8 mm, the wall portion 5 becomes too thin and molding failure of the wall portion 5 occurs. Is likely to occur. The wall portion 5 is provided at a portion corresponding to the holes 2, 2, ... In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), five notches 5a, 5a ... It is provided. Of these, the notch portions indicated by 5a 'and 5a' are formed to have a short length. The cutouts 5a, 5a, ... are formed by connecting a thin plate-shaped portion for forming the narrow gap 4 of the molding die to the inner die when the lower half 1b is manufactured. It is provided to increase the strength of the thin plate-shaped portion of the mold and improve the durability of the mold.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the thin substrate 3 and the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 are arranged on the lower half 1b. As shown in FIG. 1, the thin substrate 3 has the terminal contacts 3
Only the side on which a, 3a ... Are arranged is fitted in the space 4. The wall portion 5 suppresses rattling in the front-rear direction on the side of the thin plate 3 on which the terminal contacts 3a, 3a ... Are arranged, and the detection portion on the deck side is the terminal contact 3
It plays a role of a reaction surface when contacted with a, 3a ...

The erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 is arranged further inside the wall portion 5. In FIG. 1, the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 is
A part thereof is shown in a cross section cut at the center in the height direction, and only the lower half 1b side is shown.
The upper half 1a side of the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 is arranged so as to be visible through the window provided in the upper half 1a as shown in FIG. 2, and the erroneous erasure prevention is performed from the outside of the cassette body 1. The piece 6 can be slid in the direction of the arrow in the drawing.

The engaging projection 6a of the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 is engaged with one of the cutouts 5a ', and the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 is closed by the erroneous erasure prevention identifying hole 13. Is locked to. The two notches 5a ', 5a' among the notches 5a, 5a ... Improve the durability of the mold as described above, and thus the locking projection 6a is thus formed.
Also plays a role as a locking recess for locking the. When the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 is slid in the direction of the arrow and moved to the open position of the erroneous erasure prevention identification hole 13, the locking projection 6a is locked with the other of the notches 5a '. Then, the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 is locked at the closed position of the erroneous erasure prevention identification hole 13. The open / closed state of the erroneous erasure prevention identification hole 13 is also detected by the detector on the deck side to identify whether or not the tape cassette is in the recordable state. If the erroneous erasure prevention identification hole 13 is closed, it is determined that recording is possible, and if it is open, it is determined that recording is not possible.

As shown in FIG. 5, the pressing rib 7 is provided so as to protrude from the upper half 1a toward the side of the thin plate substrate 3 on which the terminal contacts 3a, 3a ... Are provided. The height thereof is substantially equal to the height of the lower half 1b. Further, the holding plate 8 is provided so as to project from the upper half 1a at a position corresponding to the end of the thin plate substrate 3 on the side where the terminal contacts 3a, 3a ... Are not provided, and the cassette body thereof. The cutout portion 8a is provided on one side surface side. The pressing plate 8 has a height such that the lower end edge 8b thereof is lower than the upper end edge of the thin plate substrate 3 when the tape cassette is assembled. In this embodiment, a pair of the pressing plates 8 are provided, and the cutout portions 8a are formed on both of them.

The reel lock member 10 is shown in FIGS.
0, a pair of protrusions 10a,
The front part has a substantially isosceles triangular prism shape in which 10a is formed and a hole 10d is formed in the lower surface, and a plate-shaped rear part on which the spring locking projection 10b and the spring guide piece 10c are provided in a protruding manner. The pair of protrusions 10a, 10a are integrally provided on the respective lower ends of the equal isosceles triangular prism so as not to elastically deform, and their tip ends are positioned above or below the reel lock member 10. The reel lock member 10 is provided so as to be located within the outline of the reel lock member 10 when viewed from below.

As shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 7, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the spring 11 has a coil portion wound in a vine shape at the center thereof, and the coil portion has a terminal end and a starting end. 180 °
The pair of both ends 1 are linearly stretched in opposite directions.
The torsion springs are designated as 1a and 11a. The coil portion is formed such that the inner diameter thereof is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the spring locking projection 10b, and the pair of both end portions 1 is formed.
1a and 11a are bent at approximately 90 ° in the unlocking direction Q of the reel lock member 10 when the spring 11 is incorporated in the tape cassette. And
The spring 11 includes the coil portion and the both end portions 11a, 1
The contact point with 1a is locked to the spring locking projection 10b so that it is sandwiched in the gap between the spring guide piece 10c and the spring locking projection 10b in the reel lock member 10, and the both ends 11a, 11a are The tip end portions 11a, 11a of the spring guide locking plates 11, 11 are respectively locked.

The pair of spring locking guide plates 12 and 12 are
As described above, the both end portions 11a, 11a of the spring 11 are locked and the sliding movement of the reel lock member 10 is guided. As shown in FIGS. The half 3 is projected in parallel from the inner surface of the half 3 with a width of the reel lock member 10 and the tip portions 11a, 11a thereof are at both ends 1 of the spring 11 in the locked state of the reel lock member 10.
The positions are 1a and 11a.

Further, the pair of pressing plates 8 projecting from the inner surface of the upper half 1a of the cassette body 1,
8 faces the outside of the spring locking guide plates 12, 12 and has lower end edges 8b, 8b thereof.
Is formed so as to be lower than the upper edge of the thin plate substrate 3, and the upper edge and the inner side surface of the thin plate substrate 3 are pressed by one of the pair of pressing plates 8 and 8, and the spring 11 is held by both of them.
Of the spring locking guide plate 1
It is pressed from above so as not to come off from the upper edge of 2,12. A reel lock member pressing plate 14 is provided so as to project from the inner surface of the upper half 2 of the cassette body 1, and the reel lock member 1 is slid when the reel lock member 10 is slid.
It is designed to prevent 0 from tilting.

When the tape cassette is inserted into a cassette deck (not shown), the mechanism on the deck causes the detector on the deck to detect the resistance value between the terminal contacts 3a 'and the other terminal contacts 3a ,. , The resistance value of one of the resistors 3b) is detected, the resistance value is compared with preset data to identify the type of the tape cassette, and the deck is controlled to an optimum recording / playback state. To record and play back.

The tape cassette of this embodiment is constructed as described above, the thin plate substrate can be easily fixed, and the molding die is unlikely to be damaged when the cassette body is molded.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, an IC chip may be arranged instead of the resistors 3b, ... The cutouts 5a ′, 5 functioning as locking recesses of the locking protrusions 6a of the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6.
The a ′ is formed so as to have a different shape from the other cutouts 5a, 5a ... (The point where the length is shortened and the taper portion is formed), but the cutouts 5a ′, 5a are not necessarily formed.
It is not necessary to make a ′ different from the other cutouts 5a, 5a. Further, the terminal contacts 3a, 3a, ...
The number and the position of is not limited to the number and the position in the above embodiment, and can be arbitrarily determined according to the detector on the deck side. Further, it is preferable that the holes 2, 2, ... Are provided for each of the terminal contacts 3a, 3a, ..., However, it is not always necessary to provide for each of the terminal contacts 3a, 3a ,. With respect to other points, it is possible to make a convenient change without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The tape cassette of the present invention is a VHS video tape cassette, 8 mm
It is needless to say that the present invention is applicable to tape cassettes such as VTR tape cassettes and is not limited to the type of tape cassette.

[0027]

According to the tape cassette of the first aspect of the present invention, since the thin plate substrate is fitted between the inner surface of the cassette body and the wall portion, the thin plate substrate can be easily fixed. You can Further, a notch is provided in the wall portion, and a thin plate-shaped portion of the molding die of the cassette main body corresponding to the interval at which the thin plate substrate is fitted is inserted through the portion of the die corresponding to the notch. Since the structure can be connected to another part of the molding die and the strength and durability of the molding die can be improved, damage to the molding die is less likely to occur when molding the cassette body. be able to.

According to the tape cassette of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the tape cassette of the first aspect, the cutout portion of the wall portion also functions as a locking concave portion of the erroneous erasure prevention piece. The structure of the tape cassette can be simplified, its assembly can be facilitated, and the raw materials can be saved.

According to the tape cassettes of claims 3 and 4, in addition to the effect of the tape cassette of claim 2, since holes are provided for each terminal contact, each terminal contact is reliably partitioned. Therefore, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection because each of the detection units on the deck side comes into contact with a terminal contact other than the terminal contact that should be originally contacted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged plan view showing a state in which a thin terminal board is fitted in a gap provided in a lower half of an embodiment of a tape cassette of the present invention.

2A and 2B are perspective views showing an appearance of an embodiment of a tape cassette of the present invention, FIG. 2A is a perspective view seen from above, and FIG. 2B is a perspective view seen from below.

3A and 3B show a thin plate substrate of an embodiment of the tape cassette of the present invention, wherein FIG. 3A is a side view showing an outer side surface thereof, FIG. It is a top view.

4A and 4B show the vicinity of a gap provided in one corner of the lower half of an embodiment of the tape cassette of the present invention, FIG. 4A being an enlarged plan view thereof, and FIG. FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the periphery of a thin plate substrate of an embodiment of the tape cassette of the present invention, with a part of the side surface of the cassette body being a cross section.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an embodiment of a tape cassette of the present invention, and shows a reel and a reel lock member to be stored.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing a reel and a reel lock member of one embodiment of the tape cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the reel lock member of one embodiment of the tape cassette of the present invention as seen from below.

FIG. 9 is a reel of an embodiment of the tape cassette of the present invention,
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the relationship among a reel lock member, a pressing plate, a spring locking guide plate, and a spring.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the relationship among a reel lock member, a retainer plate, a spring locking guide plate, and a spring in one embodiment of the tape cassette of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 cassette body 1a upper half 1b lower half 2 hole 3 thin board 3a terminal contact 3b resistance 4 interval 5 wall 5a cutout 6 erroneous erasure prevention piece 6a locking projection

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A hole 2 is provided in a side surface of a cassette body 1 composed of an upper half 1a and a lower half 1b, and inside the hole 2, a plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a for contacting a detection unit on the deck side.
.. are arranged in the vicinity of one corner of the cassette body 1, and the plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a ..
A wall portion 5 is provided on the upper surface of the cassette body 1 with an interval 4 of 0.4 mm to 0.8 mm between the inner surface of the cassette body 1 and a cutout portion 5a. The thin plate substrate 3 is arranged in the space 4 with the plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a ... Corresponding to the holes 2. 2. The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein the cutout portion 5a is a locking recess for locking the locking projection 61 of the erroneous erasure prevention piece 6 of the tape cassette. 3. The hole 2 includes a plurality of the terminal contacts 3a,
A plurality of terminal contacts 3 are provided for each 3a ...
are provided on the one thin plate substrate 3 together with a plurality of resistors 3b, 3b.
, and the other terminal contacts 3a, 3a ... Are the resistors 3b, 3b.
The tape cassette according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tape cassette is connected via any of the above. 4. The hole 2 includes a plurality of the terminal contacts 3a,
A plurality of terminal contacts 3 are provided for each 3a ...
.. together with an IC chip, the thin substrate 3
The plurality of terminal contacts 3a, 3a, ...
The tape cassette according to claim 1 or 2, which is connected to each of the IC chips.