JPH107182A - Cassette storage case - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] Even if repeated bending deformation is applied to the vicinity of the base of a reel detent piece, elastic fatigue does not occur, and the reel detent piece has a restoring action to ensure the tape reel detent function. To obtain a cassette storage case that can be operated at a time. SOLUTION: A lower half 1 and an upper half 2 have a cassette insertion opening 3 on one side surface which is united, and a finger insertion opening 19 for taking out a cassette is formed on an upper surface of an upper half 2. In a cassette storage case in which a reel detent member 17 which rises and falls by elastic action on the bottom surface of the lower half 1 is fixed to a reel detent member 9 integrally provided on the base plate 10, the base of the reel detent member 9 is fixed. Slit holes 16, 16 are formed in parallel with the plate 10, and the reel detent piece 11 is erected on a bridge-like connecting portion 17 formed between the slit holes 16, 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cassette storage case suitable for storing a tape cassette such as an audio compact cassette, and more particularly to a cassette insertion / removal opening through a cassette insertion opening formed on one side of the storage case. The present invention relates to a cassette storage case that can be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this kind of cassette storage case is shown in FIG.
9 will be described. FIG. 7 is a perspective view in which the main part of the cassette storage case is separated, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the compact cassette, and FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view of the cassette storage case.

[0003] The cassette storage case is a combined lower half 1
And upper half 2, and lower case 1 is, for example, HIP
The upper half 2 is made of, for example, a plastic molded product of GPPS (polystyrene for general use).

On one side of the lower half 1 and the upper half 2, half-shaped cassette insertion openings 3a and 3b are formed.
The compact cassette 4 shown in FIG. The compact cassette 4 has a pair of tape reels (not shown) rotatably accommodated therein, and the reel hub holes 6, 6 coincide with the pair of openings 5, 5 formed in the cassette housing. Further, one side of the compact cassette 4 has a trapezoidal bulging portion 7 constituting a tape mouse. For this reason,
The lower halves 1 and 2 have guide grooves 8a and 8b for guiding the bulging portion 7 of the compact cassette 4 from the cassette insertion openings 3a and 3b in the depth direction.

[0005] A reel rotation preventing member 9 of the compact cassette 4 is fixed to the bottom surface of the lower half 1. The reel rotation preventing member 9 is made of a relatively flexible plastic molded product of, for example, PP (polypropylene), and has a plurality of caulking fixing holes 10a as shown in FIG.
And a pair of elastically deformable and undulating thin reel detent pieces 11 and 1 integrally formed from the base plate 10.
1 is comprised. The reel detent pieces 11, 1
The intervals of 1 are the reel hub holes 6, 6 of the compact cassette 4.
Corresponds to the interval.

As means for fixing the reel rotation preventing member 9, a plurality of caulking pins 13 are protruded from a concave surface 12 in which a portion to which the base plate 10 is fixed is formed low on the bottom surface of the lower half 1. The pin can be fixed by caulking the tip of the pin through the caulking fixing hole 10a of the base plate 10.

On the other hand, the upper half 2 is formed with a window-like finger insertion opening 14 which is long in the depth direction. The finger insertion opening 14 allows the compact cassette stored in the case to be removed by putting a finger on the compact cassette surface through the finger insertion opening 14 and pushing the cassette in the removal direction. is there.

Thus, in the above-described procedure for assembling the cassette storage case, the reel detent member 9 is caulked and fixed to the bottom surface of the lower half 1, and the lower half 1 and the upper half 2 are positioned using the positioning pieces 15, 15. It is completed by uniting and ultrasonic welding of the joint surface.

When the compact cassette 4 is inserted into the cassette storage case constructed as described above, the reel detent pieces 11, 11 of the reel detent member 9 are elastically deformed from near the base by the insertion of the cassette and pushed down.
When the cassette is fully inserted, the reel detent pieces 11 and 11 correspond to the reel hub holes 6 and 6 of the cassette.
The reel 1 is elastically restored and rises and engages in the reel hub holes 6, 6 so that the rotation of the reel can be stopped.

In order to take out the compact cassette 4 from the cassette storage case, a finger is put on the surface of the compact cassette through the finger insertion opening 14 of the upper half 2 and pushed out in the take-out direction, so that the reel detent pieces 11, 1 are pushed out.
1 is elastically deformed and pushed down to pull out the reel hub holes 6 and 6. Thereafter, the cassette protruding from the cassette insertion slot can be taken out by grasping and pulling it out. After the cassette is taken out, the reel detent pieces 11, 11 return elastically and stand up again.

[0011]

By the way, the above-described conventional reel detent member 9 is designed so that the reel detent pieces 11, 11 are pushed down from the vicinity of the base thereof and elastically deformed each time the compact cassette 4 is inserted or removed. However, if repeated bending deformations are concentrated near the bases of the reel detent pieces 11, 11, the material itself will be elastically fatigued. Therefore, in order to obtain durability of the reel detent pieces 11, 11, It is necessary to reduce the thickness near the base or to use a plastic material having high flexibility.

However, reducing the wall thickness near the base of the reel detent piece 11 or using a highly flexible material reduces the effect of the reel detent piece 11 restoring from a deformed state to its original position. I will let you do it. As a result, the reel detent piece 11 cannot be reliably engaged with the reel hub hole of the cassette, and the reel detent function becomes impossible. In other words, in this case, the tape reel of the cassette runs idle under the influence of vibration or the like in the cassette storage case, causing the tape to be loosened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and does not cause elastic fatigue even when repeated bending deformation is applied to the vicinity of the base of the reel detent piece, and also prevents the reel detent. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a cassette storage case in which a piece acts as a restoring member to reliably perform a tape reel rotation preventing function.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a cassette storage case according to the present invention has a cassette insertion opening on one side of a case formed integrally with a lower half and an upper half. A finger insertion opening for taking out a cassette is formed on the upper surface of the half, and a reel detent member integrally fixed to the base plate is fixed to the base plate with a reel detent piece that rises and falls by elastic action on the lower half bottom surface. In the cassette storage case, the reel detent member of the reel detent member is erected on a bridge-shaped connecting portion that is twisted and deformed in the bending deformation direction of the reel detent member.

[0015] With this configuration, the bridge-shaped connecting portion is simultaneously torsionally deformed by the bending action due to the elastic action of the reel detent piece, and the bending deformation generated in the reel detent piece is dispersed. Thereby, elastic fatigue applied to the reel detent piece can be reduced, and durability can be improved. In addition, by restoring the torsional deformation of the bridge-shaped connecting portion simultaneously with the elastic restoration of the reel detent piece, the restoring action of the reel detent piece can be effectively performed.

Further, the bridge-shaped connecting portion is formed by opening slit holes on the left and right sides of the base plate portion of the base on which the reel detent pieces are erected. Thereby, the bridge-shaped connecting portion can be formed simultaneously with the injection molding of the reel detent member.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a cassette storage case according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, taking a storage case of a compact cassette for audio as an example.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main part of the cassette storage case separated, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the assembled state of the cassette storage case. The same components as those of the conventional cassette storage case described with reference to FIG. The description is given with reference numerals.

The cassette storage case is a combined lower half 1
And upper half 2, and lower case 1 is, for example, HIP
The upper half 2 is made of, for example, a plastic molded product of GPPS (polystyrene for general use).

One side of the lower half 1 and the upper half 2 is formed with cassette inlets and outlets 3a and 3b in a half-shape.
The cassette 4 shown in FIG. The compact cassette 4 has a pair of tape reels (not shown) rotatably accommodated therein, and the reel hub holes 6, 6 coincide with the pair of openings 5, 5 formed in the cassette housing.
Further, one side of the compact cassette 4 has a trapezoidal bulging portion 7 constituting a tape mouse. For this reason,
The upper and lower halves 1 and 2 have guide grooves 8a and 8b for guiding the bulging portion 7 of the compact cassette 4 from the cassette entrances 3a and 3b in the depth direction.

On the bottom surface of the lower half 1, a reel rotation preventing member 9 according to the present invention for fixing the reel of the compact cassette is fixed. The reel rotation preventing member 9 is made of a flexible olefin-based plastic molded product such as PP (polypropylene) or PE (polyethylene).
As shown in FIG. 1, a base plate 10 having a plurality of caulking fixing holes 10a, and a pair of elastically deformable and undulating members which are integrally erected from the base plate 10 and have a width in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the base plate 10. Thin reel detent pieces 11, 1
1 is comprised. The reel detent pieces 11, 1
The intervals of 1 are the reel hub holes 6, 6 of the compact cassette 4.
Corresponds to the interval.

The details of the above-described reel detent pieces 11, 11 and the base plate 10 are shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. 3. One of the reel detent pieces 11 will be described. The portion of the plate 10 is provided in parallel with the position where the
One slit hole 16 is formed. The slit holes 16, 16 are formed so as to protrude a predetermined length from the width of the reel rotation preventing piece 11.

That is, between the slit holes 16, 16, a connecting portion 17 having both ends integrally connected to the base plate 10.
a, a bridge-shaped connecting portion 17 having 17a is formed;
The reel rotation preventing piece 11 is provided upright on the bridge-shaped connecting portion 17.

The bottom surface of the lower half 1 to which the above-described reel detent member 9 is fixed is a thin portion 1b leaving a U-shaped thick portion 1a on the side of the cassette entrance 3a and the side from the guide groove 8a side. A guide rib 18 having a shape surrounding the base plate 10 of the reel rotation preventing member 9 is formed on the thin portion 1b, and the base plate 10 is positioned by the guide rib 18. The guide rib 18 is formed at a height equal to or less than the same plane as the thick portion 1a. Then, the caulking fixing hole 10a of the base plate 10 is formed on the thin portion 1b surrounded by the guide rib 18.
Is formed.

The finger insertion opening formed in the upper half 2 is denoted by reference numeral 19, and this opening 19 is
The guide rib 18 is formed as an opening that is larger than the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the guide rib 18.
That is, the finger insertion opening 19 also serves as an opening for inserting the reel rotation preventing member 9.

In assembling the cassette storage case of the present invention thus configured, the lower half 1 and the upper half 2 are combined using the positioning pieces 15 and 15, and the bonding surface is ultrasonically welded to form the storage case. After that, the reel rotation preventing member 9 can be inserted from the finger insertion opening 19 of the upper half 2. The inserted reel rotation preventing member 9 is the base plate 1.
0 is positioned by the guide rib 18, and at the same time, the swage fixing hole 10 a of the base plate 10 is engaged with the swage pin 13. After that, the tip of the caulking pin 13 is caulked to fix the reel rotation preventing member 9. The end of the crimped pin 13 that has been crimped is at a height that does not protrude above the guide rib 18. The assembly of the cassette storage case described above is performed by an automatic machine.

As another method of caulking and fixing the reel rotation preventing member 9 to the bottom surface of the lower half 1, as in the case of the conventional example, the lower half 1 is joined before the upper half 2 is combined.
Of course, it is also possible to fix the reel rotation preventing member 9 to the bottom surface by caulking.

When the compact cassette 4 is inserted into the cassette storage case described above, the reel detent pieces 11 of the reel detent member 9 are elastically deformed and pushed down by the insertion of the cassette as shown in FIG. This state will be described with reference to FIG. 5. The reel rotation preventing piece 11 is elastically deformed in the vicinity of the base and is pushed down.
7 undergoes torsional deformation. That is, the reel detent piece 1
1 is not concentrated only in the vicinity of the base, but is dispersed by causing torsional deformation in the bridge-shaped connecting portion 17 without concentrating.
The elastic fatigue applied to the steel sheet is significantly reduced.

In this way, when the reel detent piece 11 is pushed down correspondingly to the reel hub hole 6 of the cassette when the cassette is inserted as far as it will go, the reel-shaped detent piece 11 has an elastic restoring action and a bridge-like shape. Since the torsional deformation of the connecting portion 17 is restored, the reel detent piece 11 can be independently restored to the upright posture, thereby engaging with the reel hub holes 6 and 6 to reliably prevent the reel from rotating. Can be done.

In order to take out the compact cassette 4 from the cassette housing case, a finger is put on the surface of the compact cassette through the finger insertion opening 19 of the upper half 2 and pushed out toward the cassette insertion opening, so that the reel rotation stopper 1
Although the direction in which 1 is pushed down is reversed, the bridge-like connecting portion 17 is twisted and deformed by elastic deformation of the reel rotation preventing piece 11 to be pushed down, the reel hub holes 6 and 6 are pulled out, and then the cassette protruding from the cassette insertion slot is grasped. It can be taken out by pulling it out. After taking out the cassette, the reel rotation stopper 11 elastically returns together with the bridge-shaped connecting portion 17 and stands up again.

As described above, the cassette storage case according to the present invention is provided with
Even if repeated bending deformation is applied to the vicinity of the base due to the undulating operation, the bridge-shaped connecting portion 17 can be twisted and deformed, and the bending deformation force received on the reel detent piece 11 can be dispersed. There is an advantage that the generated elastic fatigue can be reduced, the durability can be improved, and the function of preventing the tape reel in the stored state from rotating can be reliably performed for a long period of time.

The bridge-shaped connecting portion 17 opens two slit holes 16 on the left and right sides of the base plate 10 at the base where the reel detent piece 11 is erected when the reel detent member 9 is injection-molded. Can be easily formed.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

The bridge-like connecting portion 17 shown in the embodiment is
Although the case where the cross-section is square with the same thickness as the base plate 10 is shown, the cross-section of the bridge-shaped connecting portion 17 is not limited. For example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2B, the cross-section is a bridge-shaped connecting portion 20 having an elliptical ellipse in a horizontal arrangement in the arrangement of the thickness of the base plate 10 and a connecting portion with the base plate 10 meandering in the horizontal direction. It may be configured to have the parts 20a, 20a. With this configuration, since the meandering portions 20a, 20a simultaneously undergo bending deformation as well as torsion deformation, elastic fatigue applied to the bridge-shaped connecting portion 20 can be reduced, and durability can be improved.

Although the embodiment has been described in connection with the case where the present invention is applied to the cassette housing case of a compact cassette for audio, the present invention can also be widely applied to the cassette housing case of a digital video cassette (DVC). In this case, a guide for guiding the trapezoidal bulge of the cassette is not required on the inner surface side of the case.

[0036]

As described above, the cassette storage case of the present invention has a structure in which the reel detent piece is erected on the bridge-like connecting portion which is torsionally deformed in the bending direction. The bending deformation is dispersed without concentrating only on the reel detent piece, so that the elastic fatigue generated on the reel detent piece can be reduced and the durability can be improved. As a result, it is possible to reliably perform the undulating operation of the reel detent piece, to reliably perform the tape reel detent function of the stored cassette for a long time, and to obtain a highly reliable cassette storage case. effective.

In addition, the bridge-shaped connecting portion is easily formed by opening two slit holes on the left and right sides of the base plate portion of the base on which the reel detent piece is erected during the injection molding of the reel detent member. Can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cassette storage case according to the present invention in a separated state.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of an assembled state of the cassette storage case.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a reel rotation preventing piece and a base plate.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the reel rotation preventing piece in a bending deformation state.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the reel rotation preventing piece in a bending deformation state.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of another example of the bridge-shaped connecting portion. It is a b, AA line expanded sectional view.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional cassette storage case in a separated state.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a compact cassette.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view of an assembled state of a conventional cassette storage case.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 lower half, 2 upper half, 4 compact cassette, 9 reel detent member, 10 base plate, 11
Reel stop piece, 16 slit hole, 17 bridge-like connecting part, 17a connecting part, 19 finger insertion opening, 2
0 Bridge-shaped connecting part, 20a meandering part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A case having a cassette insertion opening on one side surface of a case formed integrally with a lower half and an upper half, and a finger insertion opening for taking out a cassette is formed on an upper surface of the upper half. In a cassette storage case in which a reel detent member that rises and falls by elastic action on a half bottom surface is fixed to a reel detent member integrally provided on a base plate, the reel detent member of the reel detent member is the reel. A cassette storage case, wherein the cassette storage case is provided upright at a bridge-like connecting portion which is twisted and deformed in a bending deformation direction of a rotation preventing piece. 2. The cassette storage case according to claim 1, wherein the bridge-like connecting portion is formed by opening slit holes on the left and right sides of the base plate portion of the base on which the reel detent piece is erected. A cassette storage case.