Special receptacle or package – For holding a machine readable recording medium – For holding a tape cassette
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-07
2001-06-05
Sewell, Paul T. (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
For holding a machine readable recording medium
For holding a tape cassette
C206S493000, C206S001500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241093
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette accommodation case which is suitable for inserting and housing a tape cassette such as an audio compact cassette or the like, and in particular, to a slide type cassette accommodation case which inserts and stores a cassette in a transverse direction from an insertion opening formed on one side of the cassette accommodation case.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in a cassette accommodation case for inserting and housing an audio compact cassette, a slide type cassette accommodation case has been practically used which inserts and stores a cassette in a transverse direction from an insertion opening formed on one side of the cassette accommodation case.
FIG. 1
to
FIG. 5
each show a structure of a conventional slide type cassette accommodation case.
In these figures, a reference numeral
1
denotes a cassette accommodation case, and an audio compact cassette (hereinafter, referred simply to as cassette)
10
is inserted in a transverse direction from an insertion opening
2
formed on one side of the case, and then, is stored in the cassette accommodation case
1
.
First, a structure of the cassette
10
will be briefly described below. A cassette housing
11
of the cassette
10
is formed with hub driving shaft insertion holes
12
on its right and left sides. A pair of hubs
14
for winding a magnetic tape
13
are rotatably housed in an interior of the cassette housing
11
correspondingly to these hub driving shaft insertion holes
12
.
A front side of the cassette housing
11
is formed with an opening portion
15
where the magnetic tape
13
is exposed. In the cassette housing
11
, a tape traveling path is formed such that the magnetic tape
13
guided from one hub (a supply side hub)
14
passes through the opening portion
15
, and then, is taken up around the other hub (a take-up side hub)
14
.
A magnetic head or the like is inserted into the opening
15
from a cassette deck side, and in order to thicken a thickness of an insertion part such as the magnetic head or the like, the front side of the cassette housing
11
is formed with trapezoid-like bulged portions
16
which are bulged up and down, that is, in its both sides.
The bulged portions
16
are formed with capstan shaft insertion holes
19
and positioning reference holes
20
which are symmetrically situated with respect to left and right.
The cassette accommodation case
1
, in which the cassette
10
is inserted, is constructed in a manner of combining an upper half
1
A and a lower half
1
B. The upper half
1
A is a plastic molding product which is molded of e.g., a GPPS (general purpose polystyrene) material; on the other hand, the lower half
1
B is a plastic molding product which is molded of e.g., a HIPS (high impact proof polystyrene) material. The upper half
1
A and the lower half
1
B are integrally made in a state of being combined with each other by ultrasonic welding or the like.
One side face of the cassette accommodation case
1
is formed with an insertion opening
2
which is wholly opened, and the cassette accommodation case has a structure in which the cassette
10
is slidably inserted and stored in a transverse direction from the insertion opening
2
.
The cassette accommodation case
1
is constructed so that the cassette
10
is stored therein in a state that there is almost no gap. For this reason, in the interior of the cassette accommodation case
1
, each of upper and lower halves
1
A and
1
B is formed with concave or recess grooves
3
a
and
3
b
for receiving the bulged portions
16
of the cassette
10
in the transverse direction, that is, a cassette inserting direction at its inner surface side.
These recess grooves
3
a
and
3
b
are symmetrically formed at both sides in the cassette inserting direction, and thereby, the cassette
10
can be inserted regardless of the orientations or directions of the cassette
10
.
More specifically, FIG.
4
A and
FIG. 5A
show a state that the bulged portion
16
is situated to a cassette inserting direction left side and that the cassette
10
is inserted into the cassette accommodation case
1
. On the other hand, FIG.
4
B and
FIG. 5B
show a state that the bulged portion
16
is situated to a cassette inserting direction right side and that the cassette
10
is inserted into the cassette accommodation case
1
. As described above, it is possible to insert and store the cassette
10
in the cassette accommodation case
1
even if the cassette
10
is situated to whichever directions, and thereby, a user has no need of confirming the direction of cassette
10
every when inserting the cassette
10
into the case
1
. Further, the user can smoothly insert the cassette
10
into the case
1
at one-time try in the dark or under various environment.
In the cassette accommodation case
1
, the recess grooves
3
a
,
3
b
forming portion is formed thin in its wall thickness, and a thin wall portion obtained by forming the recess groove
3
a
,
3
b
is formed on both right and left sides in the cassette inserting direction. This serves to reduce a consumption amount of plastic which is used as a molding material, and to lower its cost, and further, to achieve a weight reduction of the cassette accommodation case.
A long slot-like opening portion
4
is formed in the cassette inserting direction at the substantially central portion of an upper surface of the cassette accommodation case
1
, that is, the upper half
1
A. In the case of taking the cassette
10
out of the cassette accommodation case
1
, the user inserts a finger (e.g., a thumb) into the opening portion
4
so as to push out the cassette
10
.
Further, the cassette accommodation case
1
is provided with a stopper member
5
for preventing the cassette
10
from suddenly jumping out in a state that the cassette
10
is accommodated or housed in the cassette accommodation case.
The stopper member
5
is formed integrally with the lower half
1
B in a state of projecting therefrom, and is provided with an engaging protrusion
5
a
at its distal end portion. When the cassette
10
is inserted into and housed in the cassette accommodation case
1
, the engaging protrusion
5
a
of the stopper member
5
is engaged with an edge of a hole
18
having an erroneous erase preventive detection pawl
17
of the cassette
10
as shown in
FIG. 5
, and thereby, the cassette
10
is held in a lightly locked state in the cassette accommodation case
1
. Thus, it is possible to prevent the cassette
10
from suddenly jumping out (slipping-off) of the cassette accommodation case
1
.
As described before, the cassette accommodation case
1
has a structure capable of inserting the cassette
10
regardless of directions of the cassette
10
. For this reason, the stopper member
5
, that is, stopper members
5
(L) and
5
(R) are symmetrically formed on both right and left sides in the cassette inserting direction so as to correspond to the above structure.
More specifically,
FIG. 5A
shows a state that the bulged portion
16
is situated on the cassette inserting direction left side and that the cassette
10
is inserted into and housed in the cassette accommodation case
1
. In this case, the engaging protrusion
5
a
of the stopper member
5
(R) on the cassette inserting direction right side is engaged with (fitted in) the hole
18
of the cassette
10
so as to hold the cassette
10
(at this time, the stopper member
5
(L) on the cassette inserting direction left side is elastically deformed so as to be released from the cassette
10
).
On the other hand,
FIG. 5B
shows a state that the bulged portion
16
is situated on the cassette inserting direction right side and that the cassette
10
is housed in the cassette accommodation case
1
. In this case, the engaging protrusion
5
a
of the stopper member
5
(L) on the cassette inserting direction left side is engaged with (i.e., fitted in) the hole
18
of the cassette
10
so as to hold the cassette
10
(at this t
Kananen Ronald P.
Luong Shian
Rader Fishman & Grauer
Sewell Paul T.
Sony Corporation
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