JPH0426975A - Tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention has a main body case that swingably supports a front cover that opens and closes the front of the main body case. This tape cartridge is provided with a locking means for holding the front cover in a closed position between the tape cartridge and the case, and this locking means has been improved.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 7 shows a conventional locking means, in which a T-shaped locking arm 41 is supported on a part of the front surface of the main body case 1 via a shaft 42 so as to be swingable back and forth.
By engaging the engaging claw 43 provided in the middle with the engaging protrusion 44 provided on the inner wall surface of the front plate of the front M40, the front lid 4
0 is locked against inadvertent upward opening (document unknown).

The lower end of the lock arm 41 has a receiving claw 45, and when the tape cartridge is loaded into the deck, the lock release piece 48 on the deck side pushes the receiving claw 45 toward the rear of the case against the spring 46. With this, the tip of the engaging claw 43 enters inside the opening swing locus of the engaging protrusion 44, and the front cover 40 can thereafter be operated to open upward.

FIG. 8 shows details of the shape of the tip of the engaging claw 43. The engaging claw 43 as a whole protrudes in the shape of a bird's beak, but the tip is cut off and slopes upward toward the front of the case. This is the slope 50. This is the engaging claw 43
This is to prevent the two members 43 and 44 from contacting and interfering during the lock release operation in which the two members swing toward the engaging protrusion 44.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional configuration in which the slope 50 is provided at the tip of the engagement claw 43 as described above, the unlocking operation of the lock arm 41 can be performed reliably, but on the other hand, the lock holding function is degraded when the front cover 40 is intentionally opened. cannot be avoided. In the normal state, the engagement protrusion 44 is held and locked by the lower wall 51 that is continuous with the slope 50, but the engagement dimension at this time is extremely small.

In this regard, in the conventional locking means, the upper end edge 50a of the slope 50 is first brought into contact with the relief recess 47 in the locking position, and the lock is maintained by reducing the deviation in the relative position of the engaging claw 43 and the engaging protrusion 44 as much as possible. We are working to ensure that However, if there are variations in the dimensions of each component or uneven stacking errors,
The above measures may not be sufficient, and the engagement protrusion 44 may be stopped by the slope 50 as shown by the imaginary line.

If the front cover 40 is forcibly opened with the engagement protrusion 44 riding on the slope 5o in this way, the front wall will be deflected outward by the reaction force of the slope 50, and the lock will be easily locked. It will come off. Incidentally, in the normal locked state in which the engaging claw 43 is in contact with the lower wall 51, the outward reaction force as described above is not generated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge that can reliably perform both the unlocking operation of the lock arm and the locking of the front cover when not in use by changing the shape of the tip of the engaging claw. .

[Means to solve the problem]

The locking means of the present invention includes a lock arm 10 supported on the main body case 1 side so as to be swingable back and forth, and this lock arm 1.
The lock arm 10 includes a spring 22 that swings and biases the lock arm 10 toward the forward locking position, and an engagement protrusion 11 protruding from the inner surface of the front plate 6a. An engaging claw 14 protruding toward the front plate 6a at
The engaging pawl 14 is formed continuously with a substantially horizontal lower wall 28 that crosses the opening swing locus P of the engaging protrusion 11, and is connected to the front plate 6 in the locked position.
a, and the engagement position 28a of the bottom wall 28 with the engagement protrusion 11 is located further forward of the case than the abutment position 29a of the abutment wall 29 with the front plate 6a. The requirement is that the location be

Note that the swing locus of the outermost end of the engagement pawl 14 is similar to the conventional locking means, such that the swing trajectory of the engagement claw 14 is inward from a virtual arc line passing through the inner end of the engagement protrusion 11 with the swing center of the lock arm 10 as the center of the arc. You will have to set it.

[Effect]

If the engagement position 28a of the lower wall 28 with the engagement protrusion 11 is set further forward of the case than the abutment position 29a of the contact wall 29 with the front plate 6a, the tip of the lower wall 28 will be engaged. Since the engagement protrusion 11 protrudes outward from the opening swing locus P, the engagement dimension Q between the engagement claw 14 and the engagement protrusion 11 is
can be taken in large quantities.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the lower wall 2 is formed substantially horizontally.
8 protrudes outward from the opening swing locus P of the engagement protrusion 11, so that the engagement dimension Q between the engagement claw 14 and the engagement protrusion 11 is sufficient when the front M6 is operated to open. It will be possible to secure it. Therefore, even if there are variations in the dimensions of the members constituting the locking means such as the lock arm 10 and the front M6, or there is a bias in the accumulation error after assembly, the engagement protrusion 1
1 can be stopped by the engaging claw 14, and the slope that causes the front plate 6a of the front cover 6 to climb over is removed from the engaging claw 14, so that the front cover 6 can be securely held as a whole. I can do it.

[First Embodiment] FIGS. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a video tape cartridge.

In Fig. 4, 1 is the main body case, and the plasti
It is made by joining upper and lower cases 1a and 1b made of 70% aluminum with lids together. Tape reels 3 on which the tape 2 is wound are arranged on the left and right sides inside the main body case 1. The tape 2 pulled out from one tape reel 3 is wound onto the other tape reel 3 via tape guides 4 provided on the left and right sides of the front surface of the case. A pocket 5 for tape loading is recessed between the left and right tape guides 4.

A front M6 for protecting the tape is supported so as to be able to swing up and down to open and close the front part of the main body case 1 while closing the front and upper surfaces of the pocket 5. This front cover 6 has a front plate 6
a, a top plate 6b, and a pair of left and right side plates 6c, and a swing shaft 7 is provided protruding from the opposing wall surfaces of both side plates 6c.

By holding the drawing axis 7 between the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b, the front cover 6 can freely swing around the swing axis 7 between a posture in which the front plate 6a closes the front surface of the main case 1 and an upwardly open posture. It is always biased to swing into the closed position by a spring member (not shown) installed between one swing shaft 7 and the main body case 1. In this closed state, the lower end of the front plate 6a is held by the stepped portions 8 of the lower case 1b provided on both sides of the pocket 5.

A front plate 6a is used to open and lock the front cover 6 so that it cannot be operated when the Qi'7' cartridge is not in use.
A locking means is provided between the main body case 1 and the main body case 1.

The locking means mainly includes a lock arm 10 provided on the main body case 1 side, as shown in FIG. 2, and an engaging protrusion 11 integrally provided near the upper end of the inner surface of the front plate 6a.

The lock arm 10 includes a wrench-shaped arm body 12, a pair of support shafts 13 protruding from the left and right sides of the upper end of the arm body 12, and an engaging pawl 14 protruding forward from the upper and lower midpoints of the arm body 12. It is a plastic molded product that integrally includes a receiving claw 15 provided at the lower end of the arm body 12.

The lower case 1b has a lock arm 1 as shown in FIG.
A U-shaped standing wall 16 in plan view is provided to support the 0, and the supporting shaft 13 is dropped from above into each bearing groove 17 which is formed oppositely in the upper end of this standing wall 16, and then further upward. By pressing down the support shaft 13 from above with the holding wall 18 integrated with the case 1a, the support shaft 13 is rotatably sandwiched between the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b, and the entire lock arm 10 is moved around the support shaft 13 at the upper end. It is supported so that it can swing freely in the front and rear directions. In this assembled state, the receiving claw 15 at the lower end of the arm
protrudes into the guide groove 20 on the lower surface of the case through a slit 19 provided on the lower case lb side.

A torsion coil spring 22 is provided for swinging the lock arm 10 forward toward the locked position shown in FIG. A coil portion of the spring 22 is fitted around the support shaft 13, and one end of the spring 22 is rested on a projecting wall 23 on the inner surface of the upper case 1a, and the other end is rested on the arm body 12 side. The coil portion of the spring 22 is housed in a housing portion 24 recessed in the plate surface of the upper end of the arm, as shown in FIG.

The lock arm 10 can be unlocked by moving the receiving claw 15 at the lower end against the spring 22 with the unlocking piece 25 on the deck side, and only in this state can the front lid 6 be opened freely.

An escape recess 26 into which the engagement claw 14 enters is formed on the inner wall surface of the front plate 6a facing the engagement claw 14, and a horizontal engagement protrusion 11 is protruded from the lower end of the relief recess 26. That is, when the engaging protrusion 11 is used as a reference, the engaging claw 14 is positioned above the engaging protrusion 11 and projects toward the inner surface of the front plate 6a.

In FIG. 1, the engaging pawl 14 is formed in the shape of a bird's beak with a horizontal lower wall 28. It has an abutting wall 29 that slopes upward toward the rear. In the locked position, this abutment wall 29
It is set so that the front end of the slit 7 19 and the arm main body 12 are left with a slight gap as shown in FIG. 2.

When the front li6 is opened upward in a state of non-use, the engagement protrusion 11 swings upward and is stopped by the engagement claw 14, thereby locking the front li6 from opening any further upward. In order to ensure this lock holding operation and further prevent interference with the operation when the lock arm 10 is unlocked, the present invention has a feature in the shape of the tip of the engagement claw 14.

That is, when the opening swing locus P of the engagement protrusion 11 is used as a reference in FIG. The engagement position 28a with the escape recess 26 is set to be located forward of the case from the abutment position 29a of the abutment wall 29 with the escape recess 26. By setting this shape, first, when the front cover 6 is operated to open, the engagement dimension Q between the engagement protrusion 11 and the engagement claw 14 is sufficiently secured, and the engagement protrusion 11 is prevented from climbing over the lower wall 28. Definitely prevent it.

Further, when assuming that the axial center of the support shaft 13 is the center of a circular arc and a circular arc line passing through the inner protruding end 11a of the engagement protrusion 11, the protruding end of the lower wall 28 is positioned radially inward from this. This is because when the lock arm 10 is operated to release the lock, the engaging claw 14
This is to prevent the engagement protrusion 11 from interfering with each other.

According to the shape of the tip of the engagement claw 14, when the front cover 6 is inadvertently attempted to open, the engagement protrusion 11 can be reliably stopped by the horizontal lower wall 2B, and the lock arm Even if there were dimensional variations in the front cover 10 or the front cover 6, or if there was a bias in the accumulation errors, the front cover 6 could always be kept locked in the normal state. Furthermore, since the engaging protrusion 11 is stopped by the horizontal lower wall 28, it is possible to eliminate the tendency of the engaging protrusion to climb over, which is accompanied by deflection and deformation of the front plate, which was observed in conventional locking means.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention in which the tip shape of the engaging claw 14 is changed.
This embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the contact wall 29 is formed into a convex arc surface.

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention in which the tip shape of the engaging claw 14 is further changed, and the contact wall 29 explained in FIG.
The second embodiment was the same as the first embodiment except that the and lower wall 28 were connected to each other via a protruding wall having a small radius, and the engagement position 28a with the engagement protrusion 11 was located on the protruding wall.

In this way, the lower wall 28 of the engaging claw 14 only needs to be approximately horizontal.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the tape cartridge according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a side view showing the shape of the tip of the engaging claw, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view showing the locking means. Figure 3 is A in Figure 2.
- A sectional view and FIG. 4 are a schematic plan view of the whole. FIG. 5 is a side view of the main parts of a second embodiment of the tape cartridge according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a side view of the main parts of a third embodiment of the tape cartridge according to the present invention. 7 and 8 show conventional locking means, with FIG. 7 being a vertical side view and FIG. 8 being an enlarged side view of the main parts. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Body case, 6...Front cover, 6a...Front plate, 10...Lock arm, 11...Engaging protrusion, 14. ...Engagement claw, 22...Spring, 28...Bottom wall, 28a...Engagement position, 29...Abutment wall, 29a...Abutment Current position, P ・Opening swing locus, Q ・ ・ ・ Engagement dimension. Inventor: Hiroyoshi Takagi Patent applicant: Hitachi Maxell, Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The main body case (1) has a front lid (
6) is swingably supported, and the front plate (
6a) and the main case (1), the tape cartridge is provided with a locking means for holding the front cover (6) in a closed position, the locking means being able to swing back and forth toward the main case (1). A lock arm (10) supported by the lock arm (10), a spring (22) that swings and biases the lock arm (10) toward the forward locking position, and a locking member protruding from the inner surface of the front plate (6a). The lock arm (10) includes an engaging claw (14) that protrudes toward the front plate (6a) above the engaging projection (11).
), and the engaging claw (14) has a substantially horizontal lower wall (28) that crosses the opening swing locus (P) of the engaging protrusion (11), and a lower wall (28) that is continuous with the lower wall (28). and a contact wall (29) that contacts the front plate (6a) first in the locked position, and the engagement position (28a) with the engagement protrusion (11) on the bottom wall (28) is Front plate (6a) at abutment wall (29)
A tape cartridge characterized in that the tape cartridge is located in front of the case from a contact position (29a) with the tape cartridge.