Special receptacle or package – For holding a machine readable recording medium – For holding a tape cassette
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-16
2002-09-24
Gehman, Bryon P. (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
For holding a machine readable recording medium
For holding a tape cassette
C206S387120
Reexamination Certificate
active
06454093
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette storage case preferable for storage of a tape cassette, such as audio compact cassette, and more particularly to a slide-type cassette storage case in which a cassette to be stored is inserted laterally from an insertion port provided on a side of the cassette storage case and stored therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
A compact cassette for use in audio equipment or the like is stored in a cassette storage case made of plastic or the like when it is not used.
Although various types of the conventional cassette storage cases have been developed, the inventor of the present invention has proposed a new cassette storage case as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. HEI10-139087.
This cassette storage case is a slide-type cassette storage case in which a cassette is inserted laterally through an insertion port provided on one side thereof and stored therein.
This conventional slide-type cassette storage case will be described with reference to
FIGS. 9-11
.
In
FIGS. 9-11
, reference numeral
11
shows a cassette storage case and an audio compact cassette
1
(hereinafter, referred to simply as a cassette) is inserted laterally into the cassette storage case
11
through an insertion port
14
provided on one side thereof and stored therein.
First, a structure of the cassette
1
is described briefly. a case
2
of the cassette
1
has a thin casing structure in which a reel driving shaft insertion hole
3
is formed on each of the right and left sides. A pair of tape reels
5
corresponding to the reel driving shaft insertion holes
3
for winding a magnetic tape
4
are rotatably accommodated within the cassette case
2
.
An opening portion
6
through which the magnetic tape
4
is exposed is formed in a front portion of the cassette case
2
. Within the cassette case
2
, a tape travelling path is formed such that the magnetic tape
4
from one side of the tape reel
5
(supply side reel) is wound up by the other side of the tape reel
5
(windup side reel) as the magnetic tape
4
passes through the opening portion
6
.
A magnetic head and the like are inserted into the opening portion
6
from a cassette deck side. To cope with the thickness of the insertion portion of the magnetic head and the like, trapezoidal expanded portions
7
, which are expanded from both upper and lower surface sides, are formed at the front portion of the cassette case
2
.
Further, capstan shaft insertion holes
8
and positioning reference holes
9
are formed symmetrically on the right and left sides of the expanded portions
7
.
The cassette storage case
11
into which the cassette
1
is to be inserted is comprised of a upper half
12
and a lower half
13
that are joined together. The upper half
12
is plastic molding product molded from, for example, GPPS (general purpose polystyrene) material, and the lower half
13
is plastic molding product molded from, for example, HIPS (impact-resistant polystyrene) material. The upper half
12
and the lower half
13
are joined together by means of ultrasonic waves and the like.
Then, the insertion port
14
is provided on one side surface of the cassette storage case
11
. The cassette
1
is inserted laterally (in the longitudinal direction of the cassette case 2) through the insertion port
14
and stored therein.
The cassette storage case
11
is so constructed as to accommodate the cassette
1
almost without any clearance. Thus, the inside the cassette storage case
11
includes concave grooves
15
,
16
for accommodating the expanded portions
7
of the cassette
1
are formed on inner surface sides of the upper half
12
and lower half
13
in the lateral direction (cassette insertion direction).
Further, an opening portion
17
of an oblong-shape in the cassette insertion direction is formed in a central portion of the upper half
12
of the cassette storage case
11
. When the cassette
1
is to be taken out from the cassette storage case
11
, a finger (for example, thumb) is inserted through the opening portion
17
to push the cassette
1
out of the insertion port
14
.
Inside the cassette storage case
11
, a stopper piece
18
is provided to prevent the cassette
1
from unexpectedly jumping out of such a cassette storage state. The stopper piece
18
is formed integrally with the lower half
13
and includes an engaging protrusion
18
a
provided at a tip portion thereof. When the cassette
1
is stored in the cassette storage case
11
, the engaging protrusion
18
a
of the stopper piece
18
engages with an error erase preventing detection hole (not shown) provided in the back of the cassette case
2
. As a result, the cassette
1
is held in a lightly locked state in the cassette storage case
11
, thereby preventing the cassette
1
from unexpectedly jumping out (slipping out) of the cassette storage case
1
.
Further, a reel stopper member
19
is provided inside the cassette storage case
11
to prevent an unnecessary rotation of the tape reels
5
in the cassette
1
, thereby preventing the magnetic tape
4
from becoming loose.
The reel stopper member
19
is a molded plastic product molded from, for example, polypropylene (PP) material, in which reel stopper portions
19
b
corresponding to reel driving shaft insertion holes
3
of the cassette
1
are formed on a base plate portion
19
a
thereof. Then, the base plate portion
19
a
is crimped to form crimping protrusions
20
provided substantially in a center portion of the inner surface of the lower half
13
.
Then, when the cassette
1
is inserted into the cassette storage case
11
, the reel stopper portions
19
b
are subjected to elastic deformation so that they are pushed down by the cassette
1
. When the cassette
1
is completely accommodated in the cassette storage case
11
, the reel stopper portions
19
b
are elastically return to an erect state because the reel driving shaft insertion holes
3
of the cassette
1
correspond to the reel stopper pieces
19
b
. As a result, the reel stopper portions
19
b
engage with the engaging protrusions
5
a
on an inner circumference of the tape reel
5
, thereby blocking the rotation of the tape reel
5
.
As described above, the conventional cassette storage case
11
is comprised of three parts including the upper half
12
, the lower half
13
and the reel stopper member
19
. As for the assembly procedure, first, the reel stopper member
19
is crimped to the lower half
13
and after that, the upper half
12
and the lower half
13
are fused together by ultrasonic waves.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Because the conventional cassette storage case
11
requires a complicated assembly process, production efficiency is low, which results in higher production cost.
When fusing the upper half
12
and the lower half
13
together with ultrasonic waves, a warp occurs due to uneven thickness of the upper half or lower half, so that the fusion between the upper half and lower half is not uniform. Consequently, there occurs a difference of step in the fused state or protrusion of the fusion, thereby a number of defective products being produced and production efficiency largely dropping.
Because the slide-type cassette storage case
11
has such a structure, when the cassette
1
is stored, a protrusion
10
on a side surface portion
2
a
of the cassette
1
comes into contact with a deep wall portion
12
d
of the upper half
12
, as shown in FIG.
7
. When stored, there is a large gap between the side surface portion
2
a
of the cassette
1
and the deep wall portion
12
d
. As a result, the cassette
1
is loose in the case so that a stabilized storage state cannot be achieved.
Further, the cassette storage case
11
has to be formed in a size large enough for completely accommodating the cassette
1
. In the above described structure in which the protrusion
10
of the cassette
1
comes into contact with the deep wall portion
12
d
, the length in the cassette insertion direction needs to be increased by
Gehman Bryon P.
Kananen, Esq. Ronald P.
Rader & Fishman & Grauer, PLLC
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