JPH05242574A - Cassette loading device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The number of springs used inside the cassette holder unit can be reduced, the degree of freedom in design and assembly workability can be improved, and the spring for pushing up the cassette receiver can be grounded. To be able to function as well. A plate spring 600 is provided as a member for pressing the cassette receiver 300 against the bottom surface of the cassette 100 when the cassette 100 is mounted on the cassette receiver 300 and lowered to the tape drive section. It is a configuration to be provided in.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cassette for transferring a cassette between a cassette insertion port and a tape drive section inside the device, such as a recording / reproducing apparatus such as a video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to as VTR). The present invention relates to a cassette loading device having a loading mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 6 and 7 show a conventional cassette loading device in principle.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the cassette loading device is viewed from the rear (the cassette insertion port side). Now, when the cassette 1 is lowered from the position of FIG. 6 (A) and transferred to the position of FIG. 6 (B) (cassette loading end position), the cassette receiver 3a supporting the bottom portion of the cassette 1 comes from the bottom face of the cassette. Width t away. This is because the amount of lowering of the carrier 3 which is integrated with the cassette receiver 3a is lowered (t) more than the lowering amount T of the cassette 1. Also,
This is because the lowering amount of the cassette 1 is regulated by the positioning member 6 provided on the chassis body 5. The carrier 3 is provided with a cassette retainer 5, which is pulled by a spring 4 toward the cassette receiver 3a. Thereby, the cassette retainer 5 can sandwich the cassette 1 in the thickness direction together with the cassette receiver 3a. 6B, the spring 4 is slightly stretched because the cassette 1 is lifted by the width t from the cassette receiver 3a as described above.

By the way, at the cassette loading end position, the cassette receiver 3a must maintain a sufficient distance d from the chassis body 5 of the tape drive section, as shown in FIG. 6B. This is to avoid interference between the cassette receiver 3a and the chassis body 5. According to the above-mentioned conventional device, the cassette receiver 3a to the cassette 1
Thus, the height of the entire device increases by the width t that is away from each other.

As a device for solving such a drawback, a cassette loading device as shown in FIG. 7 has been developed. FIG. 7 (A) shows a state in which the cassette is floating, and FIG. 7 (B) shows a state in which the cassette is mounted on the cassette drive unit. This device is devised so that the cassette receiver 9 and the bottom of the cassette 1 can always be kept in contact with each other. A carrier 6 faces the side surface of the cassette 1. The carrier 6 is formed with an opening 6a into which the end of the cassette receiver 9 is inserted. The opening 6a is formed in such a size that the cassette receiver 9 can be slightly moved up and down. The carrier 6 is formed with a cassette retainer 6b, and the cassette 1 can be sandwiched in the thickness direction by the cassette retainer 6b and the cassette receiver 9. For this purpose, a spring 10 is provided between the cassette receiver 9 and the carrier 6.
Is locked so that the cassette 1 can be pinched.
Reference numeral 11 is a guide plate provided at a fixed position. A guide groove (cam groove) 11a is formed in the guide plate 11 so that the carrier 6 can be moved upward and downward.
The boss 6c of the carrier 6 is engaged with this. Figure 2
(C) shows the guide groove 11 a provided in the guide plate 11. When the carrier 6 descends as shown in FIG. 7B, the carrier 6 needs to elastically press the cassette 1 via the cassette presser 6b. For this reason, a spring 12 is attached to the guide plate 11 as shown in FIG. 7C so that the boss 6c is pressed downward.

According to the above apparatus, the cassette receiver 9 and the bottom of the cassette 1 are always in contact with each other, and the width t as shown in FIG. 6 is not required. Therefore, the height of the entire device can be reduced.

[0007]

However, according to the apparatus of FIG. 7, the spring 12 (for pressing the carrier 6 downward) and the spring 10 (the cassette receiver 9 are pulled upward with respect to the carrier 6). To keep). Moreover, the spring 10 includes the guide plate 11 and the carrier 6.
It is located in the gap. For this reason, very complicated work is required to attach and replace the spring 10. Normally, the guide plate 11 and the carrier 6 are unitized as a cassette holder as a whole and inserted into the VTR,
Although it may be pulled out, if such a structure and the above-described spring 10 are present in the gap between the components, it is inconvenient for the assembly work. It also limits the degree of freedom in design.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the number of springs used inside the cassette holder can be reduced, and the degree of freedom in design can be improved.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cassette loading device capable of improving assembly workability.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a frame having a cassette receiver is driven so that a first position where the frame is partially exposed to the outside of the device and the entire frame is allowed to enter the inside of the device. A horizontal drive mechanism for horizontally moving to the second position, and a vertical drive mechanism for lowering the cassette receiver to a third position which is a tape drive unit in a state where the frame is at the second position. In the provided cassette loading device,

When the cassette receiver is in the third position, one end is attached to the chassis of the tape drive unit as a member for maintaining the contact state between the cassette receiver and the bottom of the cassette. The end portion is provided with a spring that biases the cassette receiver in the third position upward.

[0011]

According to the above-mentioned means, the spring which establishes the contact state between the cassette receiver and the bottom surface of the cassette is one spring provided on the chassis body.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram shown to facilitate understanding of each component configuration. Reference numeral 200 denotes a chassis body equipped with a reel stand, a rotary head drum, a tape drive mechanism, and the like, and a cassette drive member at a predetermined position where the cassette 100 is loaded has a cassette positioning member 201 for controlling the height of the cassette. It is provided.

Reference numeral 300 denotes a cassette receiver, on which the cassette 100 can be placed. The cassette receiver 300 has a wing piece 301 standing upright as shown in FIG. 2 on a side portion thereof, and an outer surface of the wing piece 301 is provided with a shaft 302 horizontally protruding. FIG. 2 shows the wing piece on the right side as viewed from the rear (cassette insertion side),
The left and right have the same structure. This shaft 302 is used for the carrier 4
00 longitudinal hole 401. Carrier 400
Is a substantially plate-like shape along the side of the cassette receiver 300 and with planes orthogonal to each other.

A coil spring 311 is attached to the shaft 302. One end of the spring 311 is locked to a protrusion of the wing piece 301 and the other end is locked to a protrusion 402 of the carrier 400. And normally, the cassette receiver 300
Is rotated by the spring 311 about the shaft 302 in the counterclockwise direction. This spring 311
Are provided for stabilizing the attitude of the cassette receiver 300 and for a pop-up mechanism described later. This mechanism will be described later. With the above structure, the cassette receiver 300 and the carrier 400 are maintained in an integrated state.

Next, the carrier 400 will be described. The carrier 400 is provided with pins 403 and 404 protruding toward the side plate of the frame 500, and the pins 403 and 404 enter into the cutout grooves 501 formed in the frame 500. The notch groove 501 has a pin 403,
The movement in the downward direction (vertical direction) 404 is permitted, and the movement in the front-back direction (horizontal direction) is restricted. However, the frame 500 is provided with the carrier lock member 502, and since the lock member 502 is adapted to engage with the recess 405 formed at the lower end of the front edge of the carrier 400, the carrier 400 is unnecessarily inadvertent. Frame 5
It does not fall downward from 00. Locking member 50
The shaft 2 is attached to the frame 500 by a shaft 503 so that the tip of the spring 2 moves in a fixed direction.
Energized by 4. This biasing force allows the lock member 502 to engage with the recess 405 of the carrier 400. This unlocking will be described later.

When the lock of the lock member 502 is released, the carrier 400 is disengaged from the frame 500.
You can descend to slide down. At this time, the cassette retainer 411 provided on the carrier 400 is driven so as to sandwich the edge of the cassette placed on the cassette receiver 300 together with the cassette receiver, and when the cassette 100 is located in the tape drive unit, it is stable. Then, the cassette 100 can be pressed down.
FIG. 1B shows a state in which the cassette 100 is located in the tape drive section, as viewed from the rear, and FIG. 1C is a side view.

The mechanism including the cassette holder 411 will be described in more detail. The cassette retainer 411 is a lever-shaped member that extends in the vertical direction, and has a head 412 on one end side.
Is projected toward the cassette receiver 300 side, and the foot portion 413 on the other end side is bent and projected toward the frame 500 side. Further, the upper and lower intermediate portions include a shaft 414 on the front and rear sides.
Is provided. The shaft 414 is supported by a bearing 406 provided on the side surface of the carrier 400. Further, on the spine above the shaft 414 of the cassette retainer 411, a projection 41 penetrating an opening 407 formed in the carrier 400.
6 is integrally formed. Also, the cassette holder 411
A spring locking portion 417 is formed above the shaft 414 on the cassette receiving 300 side, and one end of a spring 418 is locked to the locking portion 417. The other end of the spring 418 is locked by a locking portion 408 provided on the carrier 400 below the shaft 414. Therefore, the cassette holder 411 is biased in the counterclockwise direction in FIGS. 1A and 1B about the shaft 414. However, when the carrier 400 is in the raised position, the cassette retainer 411 is actuated by the action of the foot portion 413 and the first cam portion 511 protruding from the frame 500.
The posture (A), that is, the state in which the head 412 does not press the cassette 100 is maintained. But the frame 500
In contrast, when the carrier 400 slides down,
The foot portion 413 of the cassette retainer 411 has the first cam portion 511.
The position restriction by is released. In addition, the second cam portion 512 formed to project to the inner surface side of the frame 500,
Since the tip end of the protrusion 416 of the cassette retainer 411 rides up, the cassette retainer 411 is rotationally driven in the posture shown in FIG. 1B. That is, the head 412 acts so as to press the cassette 100 toward the cassette receiver 300. At this time, the spring 418 also attracts the cassette retainer 411.

In the above description, the mechanism for holding the cassette 100 on the cassette receiving 300 side has been described. Next, a mechanism will be described in which the cassette receiver 300 is pushed up to the cassette 100 side while the cassette 100 is mounted on the tape drive unit to maintain the contact state between the cassette receiver 300 and the bottom of the cassette 100.

In this system, a simple means is used as a means for elastically pressing the cassette receiver 300 toward the cassette 100 side. That is, one end of the leaf spring 600 is
It is only attached to the chassis main body 200 of the cassette drive unit. FIG. 1A shows a state where the other end of the leaf spring 600 is not displaced, and FIGS. 1B and 1C show the cassette receiver 300.
Shows the state in which the other end of the leaf spring 600 is pressed and displaced due to the drop of.

According to the above configuration, the cassette receiver 30
As a means for pushing up the cassette receiver 300 and bringing it into contact with the bottom portion of the cassette 100 when 0 falls, a leaf spring 600 provided in the chassis body 200 is used.
Only. At the position of the spring 600, the peripheral space is wide and the assembling work becomes easy. Further, since the leaf spring 600 electrically contacts the cassette receiver 300 and the chassis body 200, it also functions as a ground member. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to attach a spring for urging the cassette receiver 300 upward to the gap between the components in the frame as in the conventional case, the degree of freedom in designing the device is increased.

Further, the horizontal drive mechanism of the frame 500, the vertical drive mechanism of the cassette receiver 300, and the pop-up mechanism in the above system will be described.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a tray constituted by the frame 500. A rack is formed on the lower edge of this tray.
A horizontal drive gear 701 provided at a fixed position of the equipment casing is meshed with it. Therefore, by rotating the horizontal drive gear 701, reciprocating movement of the frame 500 can be controlled from the first position, which is partially exposed to the outside of the device, to the second position, which is inside the device. Frame 50
When 0 is in the second position, cassette receiver 300
It is designed to be located above and opposite the tape drive. Further, the edge of the carrier 400 is designed to mesh with the vertical drive gear 702.

FIG. 4A shows a side view. A horizontal drive gear 701 (not shown in FIG. 2B) meshes with the lower rack of the frame 500.
As shown in FIG. 4A, when the frame 500 enters the housing 800 of the device and reaches the second position, the vertical drive gear 70 is applied to the teeth formed on the leading edge of the carrier 400.
Two mesh. Further, at this time, the lock member 502 that integrates the frame 500 and the carrier 400 collides with the protrusion 703 provided at a fixed position inside the device. As a result, the locked state of the lock member 502 and the carrier 400 is released, and the carrier 400
Is ready to descend. Here, the vertical drive gear 702 meshing with the carrier 400 is rotationally controlled, so that the carrier 400 descends together with the cassette receiver 300 and the like, and the cassette 100 mounted on the cassette receiver 300 is mounted on the tape drive unit. It will be.

At the time of the eject operation, the frame 500 is replaced by the equipment casing 80 by the reverse process of the above loading operation.
Partially exposed from the 0 opening. When the ejection is completed, the cassette 100 should be easily replaced. For this reason, in the eject completed state, a pop-up mechanism is provided for facilitating the insertion and removal of the cassette 100 by lifting the cassette receiver 300 obliquely upward from the outside of the device.

In the pop-up mechanism, the cassette receiver 30
In the longitudinal hole 304 of the winglet 301 of 0, the traction lever 321
The pin 322 on one end side of is engaged. Tow lever 3
The other end of 21 extends horizontally toward the inside of the device,
Locking portion 323 formed so as to be bent upward
Have. The locking portion 323 is designed to lock with the fixing portion 805 around the opening inside the device housing 800 when the ejection is completed. FIG. 4 (A) shows immediately before the completion of ejection, and FIG. 4 (B) shows when ejection is completed. When the ejection is completed, the wing piece 301 of the cassette receiver 300 is pulled toward the back of the device because the locking portion 323 is locked to the fixed portion 805. For this reason, the cassette receiver 300 uses the shaft 302 as a fulcrum and the spring 3
A pop-up operation is obtained as shown in FIG. 4 (B) against the force of 11.

FIG. 5A shows a state in which the frame 500 and the like are moved to the upper position of the tape drive unit in order to land the cassette 100 on the tape drive unit inside the apparatus, and FIG. 5B shows the tape drive unit. The state where the cassette is loaded in the section is shown. As can be seen from this state, in this system, the leaf spring 600 has the cassette receiver 3
00 is pushed upward and brought into contact with the bottom portion of the cassette 100, so that no extra gap is generated unlike the conventional case.
There is no factor that increases the thickness of the device in the height direction. Only the leaf spring 600 provided on the chassis body 200 obtains this function. At the position of the leaf spring 600, the peripheral space is wide and the assembling work is easy. The leaf spring 600 also functions as a ground member because it electrically contacts the cassette receiver 300 and the chassis body 200. Furthermore, the spring 311 that originally forms a part of the pop-up mechanism works together with the leaf spring 600 to push the cassette receiver 300 upward. The range of movement by this pushing up is defined by the opening 407 formed in the carrier 400. These two springs 6
Due to the actions of 00 and 311, the cassette receiver 300 (cassette 100) is stably maintained in a horizontal posture. The leaf spring 600 is not limited to a plate shape and may have another shape. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the frame and the carrier are described as separate bodies, but the frame itself may be allowed to descend as a whole. In this case, the cassette retainer is attached to the frame, and the biting portion is formed on the inner wall of the housing.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the number of springs used inside the cassette holder unit can be reduced, the degree of freedom in design and the assembling workability can be improved, and the cassette holder The push-up spring can also function as a ground member, and the number of parts can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view showing a main part of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view shown for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial side view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a part of the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a structural explanatory view of a conventional cassette loading device.

FIG. 7 is a configuration explanatory view of a conventional cassette loading device.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... Cassette, 200 ... Chassis body, 201 ... Cassette positioning member, 300 ... Cassette receiver, 301 ...
Wing piece, 302 ... Shaft, 311 ... Spring, 321 ... Traction lever, 400 ... Carrier, 411 ... Cassette retainer, 500
... frame, 600 ... leaf spring, 701 ... horizontal drive gear,
702 ... Vertical drive gear, 800 ... Housing.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A frame having a cassette receiver is driven to be horizontal at a first position where the frame is partially exposed to the outside of the device and a second position where the entire frame is penetrated into the device. And a vertical drive mechanism that lowers the cassette receiver to a third position, which is a tape drive unit, in a state in which the frame is in the second position. Cassette holding means provided on a frame or a carrier included in the frame, and acting so as to sandwich the cassette placed on the cassette receiver together with the cassette receiver in association with the downward movement of the frame or the carrier. When the cassette receiver is in the third position, one end of the tape drive unit chassis is attached to the chassis. And attached, the other end, a cassette loading apparatus characterized by comprising a spring for biasing said cassette receiving the third position upward.