JPH0343704B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a pack guide mechanism for a tape player, and relates to an improvement in the connecting portion between a pack guide and a guide arm that supports the pack guide.

[Technical Background of the Invention] A cassette-type tape player enters playback/recording states by inserting two reel shafts that stand upright on its base plate into the shaft holes of the cassette. Various types of cassette mounting means are known, depending on the direction in which the cassette is inserted into the tape player. One of them, which is widely used in car stereos, is to insert a cassette horizontally into a pack guide through an insertion slot opened at the front of the tape player, and then lower the entire pack guide onto the reel base. There is also a so-called horizontal loading type in which the reel shaft is inserted into the cassette.

Loading and unloading of a cassette in such a tape player is carried out by a coordinated operation between a pack guide in which the entire cassette is housed, and a guide arm that supports the pack guide and rotates up and down.

That is, as shown in FIG.
is supported at the tip of a guide arm 2 that rotates around a support shaft 2a supported by a frame F. A pin 3 protruding outward is provided on the tip side of the support shaft 2a of the guide arm 2, and this pin 3 slides on a stepped cam 5 of an eject holding plate 4 provided on the tape player so as to be movable back and forth. are in contact with each other. On the other hand, stoppers 6 are provided on the upper right and left sides of the front end of the pack guide 1 in accordance with the position of the cassette insertion opening formed in the escutcheon of the tape player, thereby regulating the upward position of the pack guide 1. being done.

In such a pack guide mechanism, when the cassette 7 is pushed into the pack guide 1, the pack stopper (not shown) provided at the center of the guide arm 2 moves to the back of the tape player, and in conjunction with this moves the pack stopper (not shown) to hold the eject. Plate 4 is pushed forward. Then, the pin 3 provided on the guide arm reaches the lower part of the step of the cam 5 formed on the eject holding plate 4, and the tip of the guide arm 2 descends around the support shaft 2a supported by the frame F. Rotate to. As a result, the pack guide 1 connected to the tip of the guide arm 2 moves downward while keeping the cassette 7 housed therein, while maintaining a substantially horizontal state, thereby enabling operations such as recording and playback.

[Problems with Background Art] However, in the conventional pack guide mechanism as shown in FIG. 1, the pack guide 1 is formed larger than the cassette 7 so that the cassette 7 can be easily inserted. During recording and playback, the cassette 7 often becomes misaligned in the lowered pack guide 1. In particular, if the cassette 7 shakes up and down within the pack guide 1, the position of the cassette and the head will shift, making it impossible to perform smooth recording and playback operations, and the reliability of the tape player will be significantly reduced. was.

Furthermore, in the horizontal loading type tape player as described above, the positioning of the pack guide 1 when loading or unloading a cassette is done by a stopper 6 provided on the main body side of the tape player. However, in the conventional pack guide support mechanism as shown in Fig. 1,
If there is no play in the connection between the pack guide 1 and the guide arm 2, there is a risk of misalignment between the raised position of the pack guide and the stopper 6 unless the mounting accuracy of both is very high. For example, if the mounting position of the pack guide 1 is too high, the pack guide 1 will rise to the eject position.
may hit the stopper 6 strongly, damaging the pack guide itself or the stopper, or the pack guide 1 may hit the stopper 6 before the guide arm 2 is fully raised, causing the pin 3 of the guide arm to hit the cam of the eject holding plate. There was a problem in that the guide arm 2 could not be engaged with the high part of the guide arm 2, and the guide arm 2 would not be held in the raised position. On the other hand, if the connection position of the pack guide 1 is too low, even if the guide arm 2 rises completely, the pack guide 1 will not rise until it hits the stopper 6, and the cassette ejected from inside the pack guide will be inserted into the cassette on the escutcheon side. It also had the disadvantage that it would get stuck in the mouth, making it impossible to remove it. On the other hand, if the connection with the guide arm 2 is too loose, play may occur between the two.
The lifted pack guide 1 rattles due to vibrations from the outside, causing repeated unnecessary contact with the stopper 6, and the rattling also causes abnormal noise. However, when trying to improve the accuracy of the connection between the pack guide 1 and the guide arm 2,
Manufacturing and assembling each member requires a great deal of effort and time, which is not desirable.

Furthermore, in the conventional mechanism in which the pack guide is movably supported at the tip of the guide arm, a slight gap is left between the pack guide and the cassette so that the cassette can be smoothly attached and removed. Therefore, when the pack guide is lowered to the playback position, the cassette rattles inside the pack guide, causing problems such as displacement of the cassette. This wobbling cannot be resolved no matter how much the pack guide itself is pressed by the guide arm, and some kind of solution has been desired.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and facilitates the insertion of a cassette by accurately positioning the pack guide at the cassette insertion opening. At times,
By directly pressing the cassette inside the pack guide, you can easily insert the cassette. Even if there is a gap between the cassette and the pack guide, you can firmly hold the cassette at the playback position and prevent any misalignment. An object of the present invention is to provide a pack guide mechanism that eliminates sticking.

[Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention includes: a pack guide is attached to the tip of the guide arm using a vertically movable connection part; A rod-shaped protrusion that can be elastically engaged with the guide is provided to protrude toward the pack guide, and when the pack guide is raised, this protrusion is pressed against the stopper of the cassette insertion opening of the pack guide. The structural feature is that when descending, the engagement between the protruding piece and the pack guide is released, and at the same time, the protruding piece presses the cassette inside the pack guide directly from above.

In the present invention having such a configuration, when the pack guide is raised, the pack guide is pressed against the stopper of the cassette insertion opening by the elastic action of the protrusion, thereby accurately positioning the pack guide, and smoothly inserting the cassette. And do it reliably.

When the pack guide is lowered, the engagement between the protrusion and the pack guide is released, and the protrusion directly presses the cassette inside the pack guide to prevent the cassette from shifting or rattling.

By integrally providing the protrusion that acts as a spring on the guide arm, there is no need to provide a separate leaf spring, and the number of parts and assembly man-hours can be reduced.

This effect is achieved.

[Embodiment of the Invention] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Incidentally, the same parts as those of the conventional type shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the pack guide 11 and the guide arm 12 are formed by a hole 11 opened in a vertical surface of a stepped portion 11a formed on the upper surface of the pack guide 11.
A protrusion 12a at the tip of the guide arm 12 is inserted into the guide arm 12, and a protrusion 11c on the pack guide 11 side enters a hole 12b opened in the guide arm 12 from below, thereby being connected. As shown in FIG. 2, two rod-shaped protrusions 13 and 14 are provided from the guide arm 12 toward the pack guide 11, on the left and right sides.
As shown in FIG.
There is a step in between. Also, protrusion 1
3 and 14 are inserted under the upper surface plate of the pack guide 11, and their tips 13a and 14a are bent upward. On the other hand, pack guide 11
is provided with a notch 17 and a hole 18 into which the protruding pieces 13 and 14 enter, and a hole 18a into which the tip 13a of one of the protruding pieces 13 fits.

In the pack guide mechanism of this embodiment constructed in this way, as shown in FIG. 3, when the pack guide 11 containing the cassette 7 is lowered to the recording/playback position, the guide arm 12 At the same time, the tips of the protrusions 13 and 14 provided thereon separate from the top plate of the pack guide 11 and descend, elastically pressing the cassette 7 from above. It can be fixed in place. Thereby, even if the pack guide 11 is a little larger than the cassette 7, the cassette 7 will not be misaligned within the pack guide 11, and recording/reproduction operations can be performed smoothly. At this time, the tips 13 of the protrusions 13 and 14 bent upward
a, 14a come to a substantially horizontal position along the surface of the cassette and press the cassette with their surfaces.

Moreover, when the pack guide of this embodiment is ejected, the protrusions 13 and 14 provided on the guide arm 12 push up the top plate from below, as shown in FIG. Elastically biased. That is, at the time of ejection, the pack guide 11 is pushed upward by the spring force of the protrusions 13 and 14 and is held at a position in contact with the stopper 6. As a result, even if there is play in the connecting portion between the pack guide 11 and the guide arm 12, the protrusions 13 and 14 allow the pack guide 11 to
Since the position of the cassette is always accurately regulated, the cassette can be attached and detached smoothly. Further, since some play may occur in the connecting portion between the pack guide 11 and the guide arm 12, the manufacturing process of each component is simplified.

Further, the protruding piece 1 provided on the guide arm 12
3 and 14 can be formed by cutting and raising a part of the guide arm 12, so the manufacturing cost is low and the manufacturing process is simple.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the cassette from shifting in the pack guide, improve the accuracy of the tape player, and to accurately position the pack guide when inserting and removing the cassette. This has the effect of providing a compact pack guide mechanism.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a conventional pack guide mechanism, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the pack guide and guide arm used in the pack guide mechanism of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are the pack guide mechanism of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows the cassette when it is installed, and FIG. 4 shows the cassette when it is ejected. 1...pack guide, 2...guide arm, 2a...
Support shaft, 3...pin, 4...eject holding plate,
5...Cam, 6...Stopper, 7...Cassette, 11
...Pack guide, 12...Guide arm, 13,1
4... Projection piece, 15, 16... Base end part, 17... Notch,
18...hole, F...frame.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pack guide into which a cassette is inserted and which moves up and down between the cassette insertion position and a playback position, and a pack guide which supports this pack guide and rotates up and down as the pack guide moves up and down. In a pack guide support mechanism equipped with a movable guide arm, the pack guide is attached to the tip of the guide arm using a connection part that can move up and down, and the guide arm has a tip that elastically engages with the pack guide. A flexible rod-shaped protrusion is provided to protrude toward the pack guide, and when the pack guide is raised, the pack guide is pressed against the stopper of the cassette insertion opening, and when the pack guide is lowered, the protrusion and the pack guide are pressed together. A pack guide mechanism characterized in that, at the same time as the engagement with the pack guide is released, the projecting piece directly presses a cassette inside the pack guide from above.