Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval – Record medium – In container
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-21
2002-06-18
Evans, Jefferson (Department: 2652)
Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval
Record medium
In container
C242S338000, C242S347100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06407886
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape cassette having a slider lock for a DDS (Digital Data Storage), a DAT (Digital Audio Tape), etc.
2. Related Background Art
A conventional tape cassette having a slider lock is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 62-189687. An example of this prior art will be explained referring to
FIG. 10. A
body case
100
includes an upper case
100
a
and a lower case
100
b.
A bottom wall
400
of the body case
100
is provided with a shutter (slider)
101
in a slidable manner, and integrally with a lock member
190
. An engagement portion
210
provided at a front side end
190
a
of the lock member
190
engages with an engagement hole
310
of the shutter
101
. A coil spring
220
for biasing the front side end
190
a
downward in
FIG. 10
is disposed between an inner surface of the upper case
100
a
and an upper surface of the front side end
190
a
of the lock member
190
. The coil spring
220
presses downward the engagement portion
210
of the lock member
190
, thereby locking the shutter
101
. Incidentally, upon a release from the locking by the engagement portion
210
of the lock member
190
, the shutter
101
slides leftward in
FIG. 10
, and similarly engages with an engagement hole
300
and is thus locked.
FIG. 11
shows a slider lock structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 63-34478. This slider lock structure is that a lock member
160
is pressed downward in FIG.
11
(
a
) by a spring arm
221
of a plate spring
211
attached while being bent in an L-shape to a cylindrical tape guide
70
of a lower case
100
b,
thus locking. The plate spring
211
is held such that a fitting portion
230
is inserted into a groove
300
formed in the tape guide
70
. In this case, as illustrated in FIG.
11
(
b
), the fitting portion
230
is formed with an elastic engagement member
270
which overhangs and is fitted by pressure into the groove
300
.
FIG. 12
shows another slider lock structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 4-57264. As shown in FIG.
12
(
a
), a plate spring
201
secured by welding in the vicinity of the center of a lower case
100
b
extends in a cantilever type to a lock member
161
on sides of side ends of the case, and the lock member
161
is pressed by front side ends
202
of the plate spring
201
in a rear-side direction on the sheet surface, thus locking it.
According to the prior art shown in
FIG. 10
, however, the coil spring
220
is unable to exhibit its effect unless the upper and lower cases
1001
,
100
b
are assembled. Therefore, the slider is biased forward by the slider spring. If the locking force is insufficient, there might be a possibility of causing such a trouble that the slider comes off in the assembly process. Further, the coil spring
220
exists in a whole-thicknesswise direction of the inner surface of the case
100
, and hence, if the tape slackens, there might be a possibility in which the tape comes into contact with the coil spring
220
. Moreover, the prior art coil spring is provided with a narrow-pitch portion in the spring element in order to prevent the spring wires from entangling with each other. This leads to an increase in quantity of materials to be used and a rise in manufacturing costs as well.
Further, according to the prior art shown in
FIG. 11A
, the structure for fitting and holding the plate spring
211
to the tape guide is complicated, and therefore the structure of the plate spring
210
becomes also complicated as seen in the fitting portion
230
having the elastic engagement member
270
as shown in FIG.
11
B. Therefore, the plate spring is formed with a difficulty, resulting in a rise in the manufacturing costs.
Moreover, according to the prior art shown in
FIG. 12A
, the plate spring
201
is fitted to the case by welding, and hence, the number of assembling processes increases, which leads to the increase in the manufacturing costs. Further, as shown in
FIG. 12B
, a welding portion
222
of the plate spring
201
is formed in swelling and consequently the spring protrudes from the inner surface of the case, with the result that an adverse influence is exerted on running of the tape. Moreover, the lock members
161
are pressed by the front side ends of the plate spring
201
in the cantilever type, and hence the front side ends
202
become free, whereby a quantity of deformation augments. Therefore, the plate spring protrudes from the inner surface of the case, and there might arise a possibility of exerting the adverse influence on the running of the tape.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a tape cassette having a slider lock and capable of enhancing an assembling characteristic with a construction in which a locking force acts even when assembling cases and a slider does not come off during an assembly process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tape cassette having a slider lock with such a construction that a spring for the slider lock does not protrude toward an inner surface of the case in states of being fitted and deformed, and does not come into contact with a tape.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tape cassette having a slider lock, which is capable of reducing costs for parts and manufacturing costs, wherein a spring for the slider lock is simply structured.
To accomplish the above objects, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a tape cassette comprises a case body including an upper case and a lower case, a recessed portion formed on the side of a lower surface of the case body, a slider so provided in the case body as to be slidable for opening and closing the recessed portion, a lock member positioned at an opening of the lower case to lock the slider in respective positions where the recessed portion is closed and opened, and a biasing member, supported at its two side ends with the opening being interposed therebetween by an inner surface of the lower case, for biasing the slider to a lock position.
In this tape cassette, the biasing member is provided on the side of the lower case, and hence, before being assembled integrally with the upper case, the slider can be surely locked. This locking force prevents the slider from coming off in the assembly process, resulting in an enhanced assembling characteristic. Further, the biasing member supported on both sides with the opening being interposed therebetween biases the lock member positioned at the opening to a non-lock position. Therefore, even when the lock member moves to the non-lock position, resisting the biasing force of the biasing member when unlocked, the biasing member neither protrudes from the inner surface of the case with no particular deformation nor comes into contact with the tape-shaped member within the case body. The tape-shaped member is wound on peripheries of a pair of hubs provided within the case body.
Further, the biasing member may be constructed, when the lock member is in the locking state, so as not to protrude from the inner surface of the lower case. With this construction, when locking by the lock member, the biasing member neither protrudes from the inner surface of the case nor comes into contact with the tape-shaped member.
Support members for supporting the biasing member may be provided on both sides of the opening of the inner surface of the lower case. Based on this configuration, the biasing member is supported by the support members at both ends of the opening and can therefore be attached with a stability to the inner surface of the lower case.
The lock member may have a protruded portion engaged for locking the slider, and the biasing member may be provided in a position corresponding to the protruded portion. The biasing member thereby surely biases the lock member.
The biasing member may be constructed in the form of a plate spring or a wire spring. This ma
Hashizume Kenji
Sato Shin'ichi
Evans Jefferson
TDK Corporation
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