GB2303359A - Tape cassette receiving housing - Google Patents

Description

Tape Cassette Receiving Housing The present invention relates to a tape cassette receiving housing (it is also called a tape cassette carrying housing) which is used for storing or carrying a large-sized heavy tape cassette such as a digital video tape cassette or a digital data tape cassette that is used in a broadcasting station, and in particular to one which can prevent as much as possible the received cassette from moving in an axial direction of a positioning shaft portion formed in the housing and a reel from rotating by an impact upon falling in such a case that the tape cassette receiving housing has been dropped by mistake.

Tape cassettes for business use are enlarged in size for improving the picture quality and for cxtending the recording time. For example, a tape cassette for the digital recording and playback has external dimensions of a lateral width of 366 mm, a longitudinal width of 206 mm and a thickness of 33 mm, and its weight is also extremely heavy.

As a tape cassette receiving housing for receiving a tape cassette for business use ae the above, one shown in Fig. 5 is known.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional tape cassette receiving housing 101.

The tape cassette receiving housing 101 is equipped with a housing proper portion 102 for receiving a tape cassette such as a digital video tape cassette, a lid portion 103 for opening or closing an opening portion of the housing proper portion 102, and a pair of positioning shaft portions (engaging projection portions) 104, 105 forrned on an upper surface of the housing proper portion 102.

The shaft portions 104, 105 are cylindrically formed so as to be smaller in diameter than reel driving holes 114, 115 of a supply reel 112 and a take-up reel 113 of the tape cassette 111.

11 6 116 are gear-like driving ribs constituting the reel driving holes 114, 115.

When the tape cassette 111 is inserted into the housing proper portion 102, as shown in Fig. 6, the shaft portions 104, 105 penetrate into the reel driving holes 114, 115 of the supply reel 112 and the take-up reel 113 of the tape cassette 111, 115 and limit the movement of the tape cassette 111, thereby protecting the tape cassette from the impact upon falling or the like.

Furthermore, Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a condition in which the tape cassette 111 is received in the tape cassette receiving housing 101. In Fig. 23, 117 is a magnetic tape, 118 and 119 are upper and lower flanges of the supply reel 112 and the take-up reel 113. 120 and 121 are upper and lower shells of the tape cassette 111. 122 is a reel holder attached to the upper shell 120. 123 is a reel spring. 124 is a reel plate.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing an interior of the tape cassette will.

In Fig. 7, 125 is a leader tape, and an end portion of the leader tape 125 is clamped by a damper 126 of the take-up reel side, between the damper 126 and a clamper-attaching portion 128 formed on a shaft portion 127 of the take-up reel 113. 131 and 132 are first and second ratchet mechanisms placed on the outer sides of flanges of the supply reel 112 and the take-up reel 112.

The first ratchet mechanism 131 comprises a ratchet tooth 135 formed on an outer periphery of the flange of the supply reel 112 and a ratchet pawl 134 which is to be meshed with the ratchet tooth 133.

Furthermore, the second ratchet mechanism 132 comprises a ratchet tooth 135 formed on an outer periphery of the flange of the take-up reel 113 and a ratchet pawl 136 which is to be meshed with the ratchet tooth 135.

Furthermore, as shown in Pig. 7, when the lid is in a closed condition, the ratchet pawl 134 of the first ratchet mechanism 131 is engaged with the ratchet tooth 133 formed on the supply reel 112, thereby preventing the Supply reel 112 from rotating in a tape delivery direction (a clockwise direction in Fig 7).

On the other hand, the ratchet pawl 136 of the second ratchet mechanism 132 is engaged with the ratchet tooth 135 formed on the take-up reel 113, thereby preventing the take-up reel 113 from rotating in a tape delivery direction (a counterclockwise direction in Pig. 7).

By the way, the above conventional tape cassette receiving housing had the following problems.

(1) When an impact force in a direction (hereinafter referred to as a lateral direction) perpendicular to the axial direction (axial direction of the shaft portions 104, 105) is added by an impact upon falling or the like, the shaft portions 104, 105 function effectively so as to suppress the movement of the supply reel 112 or the take-up reel 113 in the lateral direction. However, when an impact force in the axial direction (referred to as a longitudinal direction) is added, the shaft portions 104, 105 hardly function. Thus, the supply reel 112 or the take-up reel 113 moves in the longitudinal direction in a manner to come off the shaft portions 104, 105.

(2) When the supply reel 112 or the take-up reel 113 is in an inclined condition as shown in Pig. 8 and moves in the longitudinal direction by the addition of an impact force in the longitudinal direction, end portions of the upper and lower flanges 118, 119 of the supply reel 112 or the take-up reel 113 are brought into abutment with the upper and lower shells 120, 121. With this, the end portions of the upper and lower flanges 118, 119 are deformed, thereby damaging tape edges of the magnetic tape 117 positioned at the end portions.

(3) When a force in a rotational direction is added to the supply reel 112 and the take-up reel 113 by the vibration upon the product transportation or the like, the end portion of the leader tape 125 may have slipped off from a space between the clamper-attaching portion 128 formed on the shaft portion 127 of the - take-up reel 113 and the damper 126 attached to the attaching portion 128.

The reason will be explained as follows.

The supply reel 112 and the take-up reel 113 try to alternately rotate in a tape delivery direction and a tape take-up direction by the vibration upon the production transportation.

However, as is mentioned hereinabove, the supply reel 112 and the take-up reel 113 are prevented by the first and second ratchet mechanisms 131, 132 from rotating in the tape delivery direction and permitted to rotate only in the tape take-up direction.

By the way, upon shipping of the product, the magnetic tape is scarcely wound around the take-up reel 113, and, in contrast, it is fully wound around the supply reel 112. Therefore, a difference will occur in moment of inertia, between the take-up reel 113 and the supply reel 112, and a force to rotate in the tape take-up direction of the supply reel 112 is far greater than a force to rotate in the tape take-up direction of the take-up reel 113.

By the way, as is mentioned hereinabove, the rotation in the tape delivery direction of the tape take-up reel 113 is suppressed by the second ratchet mechanism 132.

Therefore, the leader tape 125 of which end portion is clamped by the damper 126 to the take-up reel 113 is intermittently pulled by the supply reel 112.

With this, for example, the end portion of the leader tape 125 relatively easily comes off the space between the clamperattaching portion 128 and the damper 126, in relation to a distance for clamping the leader tape or the like between the clamper-attaching portion of the shaft portion 127 of the take-up reel 113 and the damper 126 attached to the attaching portion 128.

Furthermore, as is mentioned hereinabove, the supply reel 112 and the take-up reel 113 are to be rotated only in the tape take-up direction by the first and second ratchet mechanisms 131, 132. Therefore, the inner diameter side of the magnetic tape 117 which is wound about the supply reel 112 is pulled to the tape take-up side, and the outer diameter side moves in the tape delivery direction by the rotation of the take-up reel 113.

Therefore, a so-called cinching will occur at a position where the balance of the tape winding pressure is bad.

The present invention aims to provide a tape cassette receiving housing which solves the above conventional problems by suppressing the movement of a tape cassette in a housing and the rotations of a supply reel and a take-up reel and which enables it to sufficiently produce a protective effect against an impact in the longitudinal direction as well as an impact in the lateral direction.

According to the present invention, there is provided a tape cassette receiving housing that is equipped with a housing proper portion for receiving a tape cassette, with a lid portion for opening or closing an opening portion of the housing proper portion, and with a shaft portion which penetrates into a reel driving hole of the tape cassette received in the housing proper portion and has an elastic body that is brought into a close contact with an inner peripheral surface of the reel driving hole when the shaft portion is inserted into the reel driving hole, wherein that the elastic body has a hollow cylindrical portion and a flat circular plate portion that is formed with a hole for removing air when the elastic body is brought into contact with the shaft portion.

A tape cassette receiving housing according to the invention has the above-mentioned constitution. Therefore, when a tape cassette is received in the housing proper portion, the shaft portions penetrate into the reel driving holes of the tape cassette, and the outer periphery of the elastic body formed on the shaft portion is brought into a close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the reel driving hole, thereby suppressing the movement of a tape cartridge in an axial direction.

Therefore, even when, for example, the tape cassette receiving housing is dropped by mistake and thereby an impact force is added to a tape cassette in an axial direction. as shown in Fig. 8, end portions of upper and lower flanges of a supply reel and a take-up reel can be previously prevented from impacting against upper and lower shells by the movement of the tape cassette in the axial direction, thereby the end portions of the upper and lower flanges can be previously prevented from deforming, and thereby tape edges of a magnetic tape which are positioned at the end portions can be previously prevented from receiving damage.

Furthermore, the rotation of the supply reel and the takeup reel is suppressed by the elastic body. Therefore, an end portion of a leader tape can be prevented from coming off a damper.

Furthermore, the supply reel and the take-up reel are prevented from rotating in the tape take-up direction as well as in the tape delivery direction (the rotation in the tape take-up direction is not prevented by the conventional ratchet mechanism). Therefore, it is impossible that an inner diameter side and an outer diameter side of a magnetic tape wound around the supply reel are pulled in opposite directions and that thereby a balance of the tape winding pressure becomes lost. With this, the occurrence of cinching caused by the lost balance of the tape winding pressure can be prevented.

Furthermore, upon falling or the like, in case that an impact force is added to a tape cassette in a direction (lateral direction) perpendicular to the axial direction, the elastic body acts as a shock absorber, thereby protecting the supply reel and the take up reel against an impact.

The present invention is further described hereinafter with reference to the following description of an exemplary embodiment and the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tape cassette housing described for reference; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the reference tape cassette housing; Pig. 3 is a perspective view of the elastic body of the invention; Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing an attached condition of the elastic body; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional example; Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the conventional example; Pig. 7 is a plan view showing an interior of a tape cassette; and Pig. 8 is a sectional view showing problems of the conventional example.

Figs. 1 and 2 show a tape cassette receiving housing described for reference.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view in a condition that the lid of the tape cassette receiving housing is opened.

A tape cassette receiving housing 1 is equipped with a housing proper portion 2 which receives a tape cassette 111 and made of plastic, a lid portion 4 which is attached to a side portion of the housing proper portion 2 through a thin-thickness hinge portion 3, and a pair of cylindrical shaft portions (engaging projection portions) 5, 6 for positioning a cassette, which shaft portions are formed on an upper surface of the housing proper portion 2.

The shaft portions 5, 6 have elastic bodies 7 which are brought into a close contact with inner peripheral surfaces of the reel driving holes 114, 115 when the shaft portions 5, 6 are inserted into reel driving holes 114, 115 of the tape cassette 111.

The elastic body 7 is an elastic material such as rubber, plastic or the like as shown in Fig. 3, and is formed in a cylindrical shape and generally the same in length as the length (height) of the shaft portions 5, 6.

An inner diameter of the cylindrical elastic body 7 is the same as or slightly smaller than an outer diameter of the shaft portions 5, 6.

Furthermore, an outer diameter of the cylindrical elastic body 7 is formed so as to be slightly larger than an inner diameter of the reel driving holes 114, 115 of the tape cassette 111.

The cylindrical elastic bodies 7 are fixed under a condition that they are forced into an outer periphery of the shaft portions 5, 6.

Furthermore, when the tape cassette 111 is inserted into the housing proper portion 2, as shown in Fig. 2, the shaft portions 5, 6 penetrate into the reel driving holes 114, 115 of the tape cassette 111 and outer peripheral surfaces of the elastic bodies 7 are brought into a close contact with inner peripheral surfaces of the reel driving holes 114, 115.

Therefore, even when a tape cassette receiving housing is dropped by mistake and a force for moving the tape cassette 111 in an axial direction of the shaft portions 5, 6 is added by a impact force upon falling or the like, the movement of the tape cassette 111 in an axial direction of the shaft portions 5, 6 is suppressed by a frictional resistance between the both members and the rotation of the supply reel and the take-up reel of the tape cassette 111 is suppressed.

Fig. 3 shows that the elastic body 7 is formed with a cylindrical portion 7a and an upper surface plate 7d which is formed so as to cover the upper end of the cylindrical portion 7a.

A hole 7e for removing air ie formed at a center portion of the upper surface plate 7d.

Furthermore, as is shown in Fig. 4, the lower end of the cylindrical portion 7a is outwardly folded, then the cylindrical portion 7a is put on the shaft portion 5,6, and then the folded portion is unfolded to thereby attach the elastic body 7 to the shaft portion 5, 6.

Attention is directed to Application No.

95014872.5 (Publication No. 2,284,409) from which this case is divided and Applications Nos. (Publication No. ) and gublication No. ). These applications claim tape cassette receiving housings with different forms of elastic body.

Claims (3)

C L A I X S

1. A tape cassette receiving housing that is equipped with a housing proper portion for receiving a tape cassette, with a lid portion for opening or closing an opening portion of the housing proper portion, and with a shaft portion which penetrates into a reel driving hole of the tape cassette received in the housing proper portion and has an elastic body that is brought into a close contact with an inner peripheral surface of the reel driving hole when the shaft portion is inserted into the reel driving hole, wherein that the elastic body has a hollow cylindrical portion and a flat circular plate portion that is formed with a hole for removing air when the elastic body is brought into contact with the shaft portion.

2. A tape cassette receiving housing according to claim 1, wherein the hollow cylindrical portion has an end portion which is to be outwardly folded before the elastic body is put on the shaft portion and is to be unfolded after the elastic body is put on the shaft portion.

3. A tape cassette receiving housing constructed substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.