Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval – Record medium – In container
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-14
2002-08-06
Renner, Craig A. (Department: 2652)
Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval
Record medium
In container
C242S343200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06430004
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape cassette having a pair of reels, on which a magnetic tape is wound, in a cassette holder, and particularly, to a reel-locking mechanism to lock and unlock a pair of reels by controlling their rotation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional tape cassette used for a device such as a video tape recorder (hereafter, called as VTR), a VTR integrated with a camera, or the like is generally provided with a reel-locking mechanism to control (lock and unlock) rotation of a pair of reels, on which a magnetic tape is wound, when the device is not used. A configurations, shown, for example, in
FIG. 13
to
16
has been well known for the reel-locking mechanism of such a tape cassette.
FIG. 13
shows an exploded view of a conventional tape cassette
1
for recording and reproducing. It comprises a cassette housing
2
having a upper shell
2
a
and a lower shell
2
b
which are laid superposed one another; a pair of reels
3
a
,
3
b
accommodated in the cassette housing
2
; a magnetic tape
4
which is fixed at both ends to both the reels
3
a
,
3
b
, and wound properly; a reel-locking mechanism
9
to control the rotation of the pair of reel
3
a
,
3
b
; and so on. The lower shell
2
b
of the cassette housing
2
is provided with two hub holes
5
a
,
5
b
, in which the pair of supply side reel
3
a
and take-up side reel
3
b
are loosely fitted, and on which the reels are rotatably supported.
In addition, the front portion of the cassette housing
2
is provided with a loading opening portion
6
into which the guide pin of the loading mechanism (not shown) and so on enter, and tap inserting holes
7
a
,
7
b
open to the outside at both outer sides of the opening portion
6
. Guiding portions
8
a
,
8
b
to guide the magnetic tape
4
are also installed inside the holes
7
a
,
7
b
, respectively. Thus, the tape
4
drawn out from the supply side reel
3
a
is guided through the tape inserting hole
7
a
on one outer side to the outside of the cassette housing
2
to cross the loading opening portion
6
. And, the tape
4
enters through the tape inserting hole
7
b
on the other outer side, again, into the cassette housing
2
to be wound around the take-up side reel
3
b.
The rear portion of the cassette housing
2
is provided with the reel-locking mechanism
9
disposed opposing almost the midway portion between a pair of reels
3
a
,
3
b
. The reel-locking mechanism
9
prevents the slack in the magnetic tape
4
by locking both reels
3
a
,
3
b
, when the tape cassette
1
is not used, to stop the rotation of the reels. The reel-locking mechanism
9
comprises a reel-locking main body
10
slidably supported by the lower shell
2
b
; a pair of reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
swingablly provided in the reel-locking main body
10
; a spring for sliding
13
to urge the reel-locking main body
10
toward the reels
3
a
,
3
b
; and a reel-locking spring
14
to impart spring force to a pair of reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
.
The reel-locking main body
10
is provided with a pair of axis portions
10
a
,
10
b
; the bottom surface with guide grooves
10
c
; and the top surface with guide bumps
10
d
. A pair of reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
are swingably supported on the pair of axis portions
10
a
,
10
b
of the reel-locking main body
10
, as shown in FIG.
14
. The reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
have pawl portions
11
a
,
12
a
, respectively and are biased to be always open to the outside by spring force of the reel-locking spring
14
.
The reel-locking spring
14
has a configuration where a pair of torsion springs are connected to compose one integrated body. The reel-locking spring
14
has a pair of coil portions
14
a
,
14
b
disposed at the right and left sides; a U-shaped connection portion
14
c
connecting one end of the coil portions
14
a
,
14
b
; and spring, pieces
14
d
,
14
e
provided at the other end of the respective coil portions
14
a
,
14
b
. A pair of coil portions
14
a
,
14
b
of the reel-locking spring
14
is loosely engaged with the outside of a pair of axis portions
10
a
,
10
b
with which the pair of reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
are engaged.
Rotating force in the reel-locking direction is given to the respective reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
by engagingly stopping spring pieces
14
d
,
14
e
at both right and left ends of the reel-locking spring
14
into the pair of reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
. At this time, the connection portion
14
c
of the reel-locking spring
14
is put on the upper surface of the reel-locking main body
10
. Elasticity is imparted to the spring pieces
14
d
,
14
e
at both ends by connecting right and left coil portions
14
a
,
14
b
at the connection portion
14
c
. Thereby, swing force is given to the pair of reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
.
The reel-locking mechanism
9
with such a configuration is installed in a predetermined location of the cassette housing
2
as shown in
FIG. 15
to control (lock and unlock) rotation of the pair of reels
3
a
,
3
b
. The reel-locking main body
10
of the reel-locking mechanism
9
is guided by main body guide ribs
15
a
,
15
b
provided in the upper and lower shells
2
a
,
2
b
, as shown in
FIG. 16
, and movably supported in the front to rear direction (perpendicular to the direction connecting the centers of the pair of reels
3
a
,
3
b
) of the tape cassette
1
. That is, the main body guide rib
15
b
of the lower shell
2
b
is engaged with a guide groove
10
c
of the reel-locking main body
10
. The main body guide rib
15
a
of the upper shell
2
a
is engaged with the guide projected portion
10
d
. And, the reel-locking main body
10
is always urged forward by the coil spring
13
one end of which sits in the rear surface of the cassette housing
2
.
In addition, on both sides in the left to right direction (direction perpendicular to the front to rear direction) of the main guide ribs
15
a
,
15
b
of the cassette
2
are provided a pair of right and left locking piece guide ribs
16
,
16
extending in the front to rear direction at a predetermined space. Cam portions
16
a
,
16
a
whose tips are made to fan out one another are provided in the inside of the pair of locking pieces guide ribs
16
,
16
. Contacting portions
11
b,
12
b
of the pair of reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
urged by spring force of the reel-locking spring
14
come in contact with the cam portions
16
a
,
16
a.
In addition, as shown in
FIG. 16
, in order to hold the inside of the cassette housing
2
to the light, the upper shell
2
a
is provided with a window portion
17
formed from colorless transparent plastic material. The upper shell
2
a
with such the window portion
17
has been generally manufactured by injection molding using a double color die. Such a die has been usually provided with a partition in order to prevent colored opaque resin composing the main body portion of the upper shell
2
a
from entering into the window portion
17
during manufacturing. The partition forms a concave portion
17
a
in the upper shell
2
a.
The operation of the reel-locking mechanism having the above configuration will be described below.
FIG. 15
describes the reel-locking mechanism
9
, and shows a state that the tape cassette
1
is loaded to a cassette deck (not shown). In this case, when the tape cassette
1
is loaded to the cassette deck, and a reel-unlocking member
18
(See
FIG. 16
) provided in the cassette deck enters into the reel-locking main body
10
. As a result, the reel-locking main body
10
is moved backward (the rear side of the cassette deck
1
) against spring force of the coil spring
13
.
Therewith, the pair of reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
are respectively guided by the cam portions
16
a
of the locking piece guide ribs
16
to be swung toward the reel-locking main body
10
against the spring force of the reel-locking spring
14
. Thereby, the pawl portions
11
a
,
12
a
of the pair of reel-locking pieces
11
,
12
are respectiv
Frommer William S.
Frommer & Lawrence & Haug LLP
Renner Craig A.
Ryan Matthew K.
Sony Corporation
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