JP3651649B2 - Single reel type magnetic tape cartridge - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a single reel type magnetic tape cartridge represented by a magnetic recording medium of a computer data recorder, and is an improved door structure for opening and closing a tape outlet.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In order to prevent foreign matters such as dust from entering the inside of the case when not in use, there is a single reel type magnetic tape cartridge in which the outer surface of the tape outlet can be closed and held by a door (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-63940). ). There, the left and right horizontally long tape outlets opened in the front of the case are closed by a swingable door. The door is closed and urged by a torsion coil spring fitted on the swing shaft, and is held closed by a lock mechanism provided between the swing base end of the door and the case body. it can.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Thus, in the door structure in which the tape outlet is opened and closed with a swingable door, the door in the open state projects greatly outward from the front surface of the case body. For this reason, it is inevitable that the degree of freedom in designing the arrangement of the mechanism such as the tape loading mechanism on the tape drive side and the tape transport mechanism is inevitably lowered, and there is a limit to simplifying and speeding up the structure of the tape drive.
[0004]
In order to simplify the structure and improve the function of the tape drive, the present inventors examined changing the door structure into a sliding door and opening and closing the door within the outline of the case body. A sliding door type door can be realized without any problems. However, in the case of a single reel type magnetic tape cartridge, the tape drawer fixed to the end of the tape is kept waiting in the case, and this is pulled out of the case by the loading mechanism. There is a problem in that the opening / closing stroke of the door increases accordingly.
[0005]
Specifically, when the opening / closing stroke of the door becomes large, it becomes difficult to optimize the arrangement of springs for closing and energizing the doors and the range of change in tension of the springs when opening and closing. When the opening and closing stroke of the door is small, the door can be closed and urged without any hindrance by the normal form of the torsion coil spring with the spring arms connected to both ends of the coil part. By doing so, it can be set as intended by the designer. However, as the opening / closing stroke increases, the opening stroke of the pair of spring arms of the torsion coil spring tends to be insufficient. In particular, when the torsion coil spring is arranged in an upright position on the inner surface of the case body, the vertical dimension of the spring arm must be smaller than the vertical dimension of the inner surface of the case body, so the door opening / closing stroke is If it exceeds the vertical dimension, the opening / closing stroke of the pair of spring arms will be insufficient.
[0006]
As the door opening / closing stroke increases, the amount of displacement of the spring arm also increases, and the amount of change in tension of the spring increases accordingly. For this reason, even if there is no problem in using the normal form of a torsion coil spring with regard to the opening and closing stroke of the spring arm, an extreme tension difference occurs between the door opening and the door closing, and the spring deteriorates during long-term use. Cheap. The change width of the tension can be reduced by increasing the number of turns of the coil portion. However, as the number of turns increases, the longitudinal thickness of the torsion coil spring increases. Therefore, a sufficient space must be secured inside the case body only to accommodate the torsion coil spring, and the outer shape of the case body increases accordingly. Incidentally, even if a compression spring or a tension spring having a small coil diameter is used, it is difficult to reduce the accommodation space, and it cannot contribute to downsizing of the case body.
[0007]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a single-reel type magnetic device having a sliding door-like door comprising a door that slides open and close a laterally long tape outlet, and a torsion coil spring that closes and urges the door. To obtain a tape cartridge.
Another object of the present invention is to further reduce the size of a magnetic tape cartridge by arranging a door spring using a guide groove for slidingly guiding a door.
Still another object of the present invention is to reliably prevent the door spring arranged in the guide groove and the door from interfering with each other in a state where the door is opened, and to provide reliable operation of the door structure compactly assembled. It is to ensure sex.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the magnetic tape cartridge of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 7, a door 5 that opens and closes a tape outlet 4 provided on the front surface of the case body 1 is provided along the inner surface of the front wall 6 of the case body 1. The guide groove 31 is slidably guided and supported by the door spring 20 disposed in the guide groove 31. The door 5 is integrally provided with a main surface wall 11 that closes the tape outlet 4 and a side wall 12 that protrudes to the side of the main surface wall 11. The door spring 20 includes two coil portions 21 and 21 adjacent to the left and right, a bridging portion 22 connecting the coil portions 21 and 21, and two spring arms 23 projecting from the coil portions 21 and 21.・ It is equipped with 24 integrally. One of the spring arms 23 and 24 is engaged with a spring hook 15 provided on the side wall 12 and the other is hooked with a spring hook 17 provided on the case body 1 so as to be slidable relative to each other. A cutout portion 14 for receiving both coil portions 21 and 21 when the door is opened is cut out in the side wall 12. A guide surface 30 is provided between the side end of the side wall 12 and the notch 14 to guide the coil portion 21 to the notch 14.
[0009]
The guide groove 31 is defined by the front wall 6 of the case body 1 and the guide wall 16 provided on the inner surface of the front wall 6. The spring hooks 15 and 17 provided on the guide wall 16 and the side wall 12 are respectively formed with long grooves in the vertical direction, and the latching pieces 25 and 26 that engage with both spring hooks 15 and 17 are connected to the springs. Formed at the tips of the arms 23 and 24.
[0010]
[Action]
When the door spring 20 is formed of a torsion coil spring having a specific structure including the two coil portions 21 and 21, the expansion and contraction displacement strokes of the pair of spring arms 23 and 24 are compared with a torsion coil spring having a normal form. Can be secured sufficiently. In particular, as shown in FIG. 4, when the pair of spring arms 23, 24 are elastically deformed symmetrically when the door is opened, the expansion / contraction stroke of both spring arms 23, 24 can be maximized. Further, the two coil portions 21 and 21 can secure a necessary and sufficient number of coil turns, and the two coil portions 21 and 21 are arranged adjacent to each other on the left and right, so that the front and rear thickness of the door spring 20 can be reduced. The door spring 20 can be disposed without any trouble in the guide groove 31 that slides and guides the thin door 5.
[0011]
The pair of spring arms 23 and 24 are hooked so as to be slidable relative to the spring hooks 15 and 17 provided on the case body 1 and the side wall 12 of the door 5, respectively. The door spring 20 can be displaced up and down. This is to absorb the dimensional change in the vertical direction when the spring arms 23 and 24 are expanded and contracted to ensure a larger expansion / contraction stroke of the spring arms 23 and 24. In such a spring latching structure, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, when the door spring 20 slides down to the lower side of the guide groove 31, the side wall 12 when the door is opened contacts the coil parts 21 and 21. As a result, the coil portions 21 and 21 may be deformed so as to be crushed. For this purpose, a cutout 14 is formed in the side wall 12, a guide surface 30 is provided at the side end of the cutout 14, and the coil portions 21 and 21 are guided to move to the cutout 14 by the guide surface 30 when the door is opened. Thus, interference between the door spring 20 and the door 5 is prevented.
[0012]
【Example】
1 to 7 show an embodiment of a single reel type magnetic tape cartridge according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, the magnetic tape cartridge has a rectangular box-shaped case main body 1 formed by joining upper and lower cases 1a and 1b in a lid-like manner, and the tape 3 is attached to one reel 2 arranged inside the case main body 1. Wrapped. A tape outlet 4 is opened at one end of the front wall 6 of the case body 1. The tape outlet 4 can be opened and closed by a door 5 that can be freely opened and closed. As shown in FIG. 1, a notch 18 for receiving the receiving portion 13 of the door 5 is provided at the front end of the case side wall facing the tape outlet 4.
[0013]
In order to pull out the tape 3 wound around the reel 2 out of the case, a tape drawing tool 7 is connected to the feeding end of the tape 3. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, after the end of the tape 3 is wound around the upper and lower middle portions of the pin-shaped tape drawing tool 7, the buffer and the C-shaped clip 8 are attached to the portion of the tape. The tape drawing tool 7 is connected to the end of the tape 3 by sequentially fitting and fitting. Holding portions 9 that are elastically deformable integrally with the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b are provided on the inner side near the side wall of the tape outlet 4, and the shaft portions at both upper and lower ends of the tape drawing tool 7 are engaged with these holding portions 9. By holding together, the tape drawing tool 7 can be held on standby in a vertical posture. The loading member provided in the tape drive captures the shaft portion between the clip 8 and the upper and lower holding portions 9, and pulls out the tape drawer 7 out of the case, or pulls the tape 3 in parallel with the rewinding of the tape 3. The ejector 7 is engaged with the holding portion 9 in a press-fit manner and returned into the case. In order to allow the loading member to enter and exit, the tape outlet 4 has a large opening in the horizontal direction.
[0014]
In FIG. 7, the door 5 is formed of a thin plate-like plastic molded product integrally formed with a main surface wall 11 that opens and closes the tape outlet 4 and a side wall 12 that projects from the side of the main surface wall 11. A receiving portion 13 that is relatively slid by an operation protrusion on the tape drive side is provided on the outer surface of the side edge on the close start end (right end in the figure) side of 11. The upper edge of the side wall 12 located on the opening start end (left end as viewed in the figure) of the door 5 is recessed in a stepped manner with respect to the upper edge of the main surface wall 11 to form a notch 14, which is continuous with the side edge. Thus, a downwardly inclined guide surface 30 is provided. The wall surface on the back surface side of the notch portion 14 is provided so as to drop slightly from the back surface of the main surface wall 11, and a spring hook portion 15 formed by a vertically long groove is provided in a penetrating manner at substantially the center of the paragraph surface. The reason why the paragraph surface is provided is to receive one spring arm 24 of the door spring 20 described later. In order to avoid contact interference between the coil portion 21 of the door spring 20 and the door 5 when the door is opened, the notch portion 14 is provided.
[0015]
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the door 5 is slidably guided along a guide groove 31 defined by a front wall 6 of the case body 1 and a guide wall 16 disposed opposite to the inner surface of the front wall 6. The tape outlet 4 is supported and opened. The front wall 6 and the guide wall 16 are formed integrally with the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b, respectively, and slide along the side wall 12 and the main surface wall 11 continuously up and down at the joint surfaces of the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b. To do. However, in the portion facing the tape outlet 4, the guide groove 31 guides only the upper and lower ends of the main surface wall 11. The distance between the front and rear of the guide groove 31 is set slightly larger than the thickness of the main surface wall 11 of the door 5. In order to latch one spring arm 23 of the door spring 20, a spring hooking portion 17 having a vertically long groove is provided on the guide wall 16 on the lower case 1 b side. The upper end opening of the spring hook 17 is closed by the guide wall 16 on the upper case 1a side.
[0016]
The door spring 20 is disposed inside the guide groove 31 in order to close the door 5 and urge it to move freely. In FIG. 7, the door spring 20 includes two coil portions 21, 21 adjacent to the left and right, a bridging portion 22 that connects the front ends of the coil portions 21, 21, and the rear ends of the coil portions 21, 21. It consists of a kind of torsion coil spring made of a spring wire material that is integrally formed with the two left and right spring arms 23 and 24, so that a pair of spring arms 23 and 24 can generate a spring force in an expanding direction. It is obscene. At the projecting ends of the pair of spring arms 23, 24, hooking pieces 25, 26 in opposite directions are bent and formed. One hooking piece 26 engages with the spring hooking part 15 of the door 5, and the other hooking piece 25 engages with the spring hooking part 17 of the guide wall 16. The front-rear thickness dimension of the coil portion 21 is slightly smaller than the front-rear distance between the front wall 6 and the guide wall 16.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 5, the door 5 in the unused state receives the spring force of the door spring 20 and is urged to move toward the closing side, thereby closing the tape outlet 4. The coil portion 21 of the door spring 20 in this state is received by the upper wall of the guide groove 31. When the magnetic tape cartridge is loaded into the tape drive, the receiving portion 13 provided at the right end of the door 5 comes into contact with the operation protrusion on the tape drive side, so that the door 5 is operated to open against the urging force of the door spring 20. . During this time, the door spring 20 is elastically deformed so that the spring arms 23 and 24 come close to each other, and the respective latching pieces 25 and 26 are moved along the spring hooks 15 and 17 by the amount of increase in the longitudinal dimension component. Slide down to absorb dimensional changes. In a state in which the door 5 is completely opened, the pair of coil portions 21 and 21 move to the innermost portion of the guide groove 31 as shown in FIG. The coil portions 21 and 21 in this state are accommodated between the notch portion 14 and the upper wall of the guide groove 31, and the side wall 12 enters the space below the coil portions 21 and 21. Thereafter, the tape drawing tool 7 is captured by the loading member and pulled out of the case.
[0018]
Since the spring hooks 15 and 17 are formed as long grooves in the vertical direction, the latching pieces 25 and 26 are positioned at the lower ends of the grooves of the spring hooks 15 and 17 as shown in FIG. 1 when the door is closed. Sometimes. If the door 5 is opened in such a case, the coil portions 21 and 21 may be crushed by the side wall 12 or the door 5 may not be opened completely. In order to avoid this kind of trouble, a guide surface 30 is provided between the side end of the side wall 12 and the notch 14. When the guide surface 30 comes into contact with the lower peripheral surface of the coil portion 21, the entire door spring 20 receives an upward component force and gradually slides upward. Therefore, the coil portion 21 rides on the notch portion 14 while relatively moving along the guide surface 30. Accordingly, the coil portions 21 and 21 can be accommodated in the notch portion 14 in a state where the door 5 is completely opened regardless of the position of the door spring 20 in the vertical direction in the guide groove 31.
[0019]
At the time of assembling the magnetic tape cartridge, the engaging piece 26 of one spring arm 24 is engaged with the spring engaging portion 15 from the back side of the side wall 12, and then the door 5 is inserted into the guide groove 31 and loaded. The door 5 and the door spring 20 can be easily assembled only by inserting the latching piece 25 of the spring arm 23 into the spring hooking portion 17 on the lower case 1b side. Further, since the door spring 20 hooked on the both spring hook portions 15 and 17 is in a state of being easily expanded and deformed in a state in which the door 5 is closed, the upper case 1a is changed to the lower case at the final stage of the assembly process. When assembled to 1b, the door spring 20 does not jump out of the lower case 1b, and the assembly can be facilitated.
[0020]
In addition to the above-described embodiment, the notch portion 14 can be formed on the lower edge side of the side wall 12, and the door spring 20 can be arranged upside down. The spring hooks 15 and 17 can be formed by pin-shaped protrusions or arc-shaped ribs, in addition to being formed by grooves. In this case, the latching pieces 25 and 26 can be omitted from the door spring 20. If necessary, the door 5 can be formed of a metal plate. The guide wall 16 can be formed by protruding from one of the lower case 1b and the upper case 1a.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
In the present invention, since the tape outlet 4 is opened and closed by the sliding door type door 5, the door 5 can be prevented from greatly projecting to the outer surface of the case body 1 when the tape outlet 4 is opened. As a result, the degree of freedom in designing the device on the tape drive side can be improved. Since the door spring 20 for closing and energizing the door 5 is formed by a torsion coil spring having a specific structure including two coil portions 21 and 21, the expansion and contraction strokes of the pair of spring arms 23 and 24 can be sufficiently achieved. While ensuring, the number of turns of the coil part 21 can be ensured sufficiently. Accordingly, the door 5 can be reliably closed and operated in spite of the large opening / closing stroke of the door 5 corresponding to the tape drawing form unique to this type of magnetic tape cartridge. 5, the durability of the door spring 20 can be improved, and the reliability of the magnetic tape cartridge can be increased.
[0022]
By arranging the pair of coil portions 21 and 21 adjacent to each other on the left and right, the door spring 20 can be arranged inside the guide groove 31 of the thin plate-like door 5, thereby making the case body 1 smaller. To achieve a compact magnetic tape cartridge. While opening the door 5, the guide surface 30 provided on the side wall 12 forcibly guides the coil portions 21, 21 to the notch portion 14, and the door 5 contacts and interferes with the door spring 20. Since the door spring 20 is accommodated in the guide groove 31 for the door 5, the door 5 can be opened and closed without hindrance.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partially broken front view showing a state in the middle of opening of a door.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a magnetic tape cartridge.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view showing a holding structure for a tape drawing tool.
FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view with the door open.
FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway front view with the door closed.
6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a door structure.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case body 4 Tape outlet 5 Door 6 Front wall 11 Main surface wall 12 Side wall 15 * 17 Spring hook part 20 Door spring 21 Coil part 22 Bridge part 23 * 24 Spring arm 30 Guide surface 31 Guide groove

Claims (2)

A door 5 for opening and closing the tape outlet 4 provided on the front surface of the case body 1 is slidably guided and supported by a guide groove 31 provided along the inner surface of the front wall 6 of the case body 1. A single reel type magnetic tape cartridge closed and biased by a door spring 20 disposed;
The door 5 is integrally provided with a main surface wall 11 that closes the tape outlet 4 and a side wall 12 that protrudes to the side of the main surface wall 11.
The door spring 20 includes two coil portions 21 and 21 adjacent to the left and right, a bridging portion 22 connecting the coil portions 21 and 21, and two spring arms 23 projecting from the coil portions 21 and 21.・ It is equipped with 24 integrally,
One of the spring arms 23 and 24 is hooked to a spring hook 15 provided on the side wall 12 and the other is hooked to a spring hook 17 provided on the case body 1 so as to be slidable relative to each other.
A cutout portion 14 for receiving both coil portions 21 and 21 when the door is opened is formed in the side wall 12,
A single reel type magnetic tape cartridge in which a guide surface 30 is provided between the side end of the side wall 12 and the notch portion 14 to guide the coil portion 21 to the notch portion 14. A guide groove 31 is defined by the front wall 6 of the case body 1 and the guide wall 16 provided on the inner surface of the front wall 6.
Spring hooks 15 and 17 provided on the guide wall 16 and the side wall 12 are respectively formed with long grooves in the vertical direction,
2. A single reel type magnetic tape cartridge according to claim 1, wherein hooking pieces 25 and 26 engaging with both spring hooks 15 and 17 are formed at the tips of the spring arms 23 and 24, respectively.

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