Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Unwinding and rewinding a machine convertible information... – Cartridge system
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-20
2001-05-01
Nguyen, John Q. (Department: 3653)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Unwinding and rewinding a machine convertible information...
Cartridge system
C242S336000, C242S347000, C360S094000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224007
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape cassette, and more particularly, to a shape of its positioning part suitable for, improvement of positioning accuracy in loading the tape cassette to a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus.
2. Related Art
The tape cassette with built-in reels for winding a magnetic tape, when loaded to an apparatus which performs recording and reproduction, is positioned in a way that the reels and the tape cassette casing are positioned independently of each other. That is, the reels are positioned by a reel base of the apparatus, and the tape cassette casing is positioned by a positioning member of the apparatus.
In conventional tape cassettes, the plane or hole by which a tape cassette casing is positioned is generally provided to the outermost side face, i.e. the lowest face of the casing, for example as in D1 or D2 tape cassette described in “
SMPTE Journal
,” March 1986, pp. 358-374. Such a configuration is simplest in construction. Also, such a configuration allows the reference plane or hole to be provided without being much affected by the internal construction, thus suitable for offering thinner tape cassettes.
However, in the above described prior art, accuracy of the reference plane of the tape cassette, especially retention of the accuracy has not been taken into consideration. More specifically, the tape cassette is normally loaded on the apparatus by a cassette loading mechanism. When this is done, the casing surface of the tape cassette is put into sliding contact with the cassette loading mechanism. Repeating such action makes the cassette surface vulnerable to damage. Further, the casing surface is likely to make contact with any foreign matter in transport of the tape cassette or other handling, which could easily lead to deterioration surface accuracy. If surface accuracy of the reference plane of the tape cassette is deteriorates, the tape cassette, when loaded on the apparatus, will result in an incorrect positioning of the tape cassette relative to the apparatus, in which case the tape cassette can no longer be loaded horizontally. As a result, the reels may come into rubbing contact with the casing at the inside of the tape cassette, or the accuracy of the tape guide inside the tape cassette may be negatively effected, resulting in an unstable tape running.
Meanwhile, in recent years, VTRs have been widely used as mini-movies, and increasingly used outdoors. Under such use environments, there is a demand for heavy duty type tape cassettes that will not be damaged even if dropped, besides the need for dust-proof and drip-proof features. Considering such demands from the market, the aforementioned prior art has not been able to provide sufficient adjustments.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a tape cassette which can solve these and other problems and which allows the plane for positioning the cassette to be maintained at high accuracy and ensure the strength of the casing.
The present invention is characterized in that the reference plane for positioning in the axial direction of the tape cassette is provided in a plane a specified amount apart from the outermost surface of the casing.
On the bottom face of the tape cassette, there is partly provided a first recess apart from the bottom face by a specified amount. The first recess is in turn provided with a second recess within a plane. A positioning member by which the tape cassette is positioned in the axial direction when loaded in the apparatus is formed so as to be smaller than the first recess, where axial positioning is done by the inner bottom plane of the first recess. Also, a positioning member by which in-plane positioning of the tape cassette is done is to be fitted to the second recess provided within the first recess. This allows the tape cassette positioning to be accomplished not by the outermost surface of the casing but by an internal plane a specified amount apart therefrom.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3980255 (1976-09-01), Serizawa
patent: 4268877 (1981-05-01), Moris et al.
patent: 4567536 (1986-01-01), Tsuchiya
patent: 5099378 (1992-03-01), Turgeon
patent: 5702062 (1997-12-01), Kaku et al.
patent: 60-125983 (1985-07-01), None
patent: 61-28296 (1986-08-01), None
Inoue Mikihisa
Kaku Nobuyuki
Maehara Yoshimi
Ono Seiji
Hitachi Maxell Ltd.
Nguyen John Q.
LandOfFree
Tape cassette does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Tape cassette, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Tape cassette will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2502666