JPS5891564A - Video tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the fitting in a guard panel part covering a tape draw-out part, by engaging a side hinge plate hole of a guard panel to a supporting shaft head part. CONSTITUTION:To a recessed part 5 of the front end face of a cassette half 2, a supporting shaft 6 having a square head part 6a is projected. Into a shaft part 6b, a coil spring 9 is inserted, and an end part 9b is fitted into a hole 7c of a supporting shaft receiving hole 7a. As for thickness of a hinge plate of a guard panel, its size is decided so as to be fitted into the recessed part 5, and the head part 6a of the supporting shaft 6 is engaged to the fitting hole.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a videotape cassette, and more particularly to an improvement in the structure around a guard panel of a videotape cassette.

As is well known, video tape recorders (hereinafter referred to as VTRs) that use video tape cassettes (hereinafter referred to as cassettes), such as the Beta format system and the VH8 system, are well known, especially in consumer VTRs. The cassette system has been adopted almost entirely to this day. However, the above beta format method and V,
Cassettes in the HS system are smaller and easier to handle than reel-to-reel video tapes, but
Even so, it is still quite large compared to, for example, a compact computer for audio use. Therefore, VTFL
These large VTRs have also become quite large, and these large VTRs have been extremely inconvenient for users, especially when used in combination with a video camera for portable shooting.

In view of the above circumstances, there has been a shift in the number of portable VTRs in particular.
Several VTRs have been proposed that use cassettes that are even smaller than those used in the Beta format and VH8 systems described above, with the aim of downsizing the VTR or integrating the VTR with a small video camera.

On the other hand, in a videotape cassette, the tape records,
During playback, the tape is generally pulled out of the cassette through a tape pull-out opening on the front surface of the cassette, and this tape pull-out opening is usually provided with a guard panel to protect the tape when the cassette is not in use. This guard panel is desirably formed so as to be biased by a spring means or the like and automatically cover the tape drawer opening when the cassette is not in use, and the existing cassette system described above does not have such a structure. It has been adopted.

This naturally limits the space available for providing the guard panel biasing means, making it impossible to provide the large guard panel biasing means used in the conventional cassettes as described above.

In addition, the guard panel is constructed such that hinge plates erected substantially perpendicularly to the panel body from both ends of the panel body are pivotally supported on two support shafts protruding from both side ends of the cassette half. Generally, the cassette is attached to a half, but as the cassette becomes extremely compact as described above, it becomes impossible to adopt a guard panel support structure around the support shaft that is too large. Therefore, as a result, in conventional small cassettes, for example, thin shaft holes are provided in both the hinge plate of the guard panel and the cassette half, and after combining the guard panel with the cassette half so that both shaft holes are aligned, The method used was to press-fit and implant the pin into the cassette half shaft hole through the hinge plate shaft hole. However, this method of assembling the cassette nozzle and guard panel, which involves the steps of press-fitting and planting the bottles, is extremely inefficient.

In addition, in addition to the method of assembling the cassette nozzle and guard panel as described above, in small cassettes, the hinge plate of the guard panel is also formed thinly, so the support shaft that is inserted through the hinge plate is Naturally, the insertion length becomes shorter, and the guard panel becomes easier to come off from the cassette nozzle. As mentioned above, the miniaturization of cassettes is mainly done to carry VTRs, and therefore, miniaturized cassettes can be used in very casual situations, such as being taken in and out of a clothing pocket by a person carrying a VTR. It is quite conceivable that the person may be treated differently. In view of this, the small cassette must be constructed in such a way that the nine guard panels in particular cannot easily fall off.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the biasing means for biasing the guard panel in the closing direction is formed in an extremely small size, the guard panel is extremely easily attached to the cassette half, and, moreover, it is possible to - It is an object of the present invention to provide a video tape cassette that is difficult to come off.

As described above, in the videotape cassette of the present invention, hinge plates erected substantially perpendicularly to the panel body at both ends of the guard panel are pivoted on support shafts protruding from both ends of the cassette half. In the videotape cassette, at least one of the hinge plates is formed with a rectangular, triangular, etc. engagement hole, and the head of the support shaft corresponding to the hinge plate is engaged with the engagement hole. One end of a coil spring formed so as to transmit the rotation of the support shaft to the hinge plate and arranged with its long axis substantially aligned with the support shaft is fixed to the cassette half, and the other end is fixed to the support shaft. The elasticity of the coil spring in the long axis direction urges the support shaft outward in the axial direction, and the elasticity of the coil spring in the twisting direction biases the support shaft in the direction of closing the guard panel. .

In the videotape cassette of the present invention having the above structure,
The support shaft that supports the hinge plate of the guard panel is biased by a coil spring and elastically fits onto the hinge plate from the inside, making it difficult for the guard panel to separate from the support shaft. However, sometimes the hinge plate is attached from the inside. Since the guard panel can be pushed in, the guard panel can be easily attached to the support shaft without forcibly expanding the hinge plate outward, and of course there is no need for the trouble of installing pins. Also, one end of the coil spring is a cassette half, and the other 6. Since the end is directly fixed to the support shaft and there is no hook or the like on the end, it can be packed into a narrow space.

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

FIG. 1 shows the area around the guard panel support part of a cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is formed to be about the size of a compact cassette for Io, and the front end surface of the cassette half 2 has an opening 3 for drawing out the tape. It is formed. A recess 5 is formed in the upper part near the front edge of one side end 4 of the cassette half 2.
is formed, and a support shaft 6 having a square head 6a projects from this recess 5. FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the mounting portion of the support shaft 6, and as shown in FIG.
b, and a small diameter cylindrical hole 6c is provided on the surface of the head 6a on the shaft portion 6b side. A bag-shaped support bearing part 7 having a cylindrical support bearing part 7a is formed on the back side of the recessed part 5 of the cassette half 2, and a bottom surface 7b of the support bearing part 7a is formed.
is provided with a thin hole 7C similar to the hole 6C of the head 6a. A square portion 7d, which is larger than the head 6a of the support shaft 6 and into which the head 6a can be loosely inserted, is formed in the opening of the support shaft bearing 7a.

As shown in FIG. 1, the guard panel 8 that opens and closes the tape drawer opening 3 of the cassette nozzle 2 has hinge plates 8a and 8b at both ends, and the guard panel 8 has hinge plates 8a and 8b at both ends, and the guard panel 8 has hinge plates 8a and 8b at both ends, and the guard panel 8 has hinge plates 8a and 8b at both ends. The hinge plate 8a is provided with a rectangular engagement hole 8C that engages with the head 6a of the support shaft 6. A recess similar to the recess 5 is formed at the other side end of the cassette half 2 (not shown). A pillar-shaped pin is set up. The hinge plate 8b corresponding to this pin has a circular pin hole 8d into which this pin can be loosely inserted.
is provided.

When the guard panel 8 is assembled to the cassette half 2, the shaft portion 6b of the support shaft 6 is inserted into a coil spring 9 as shown in FIG. 2, and is housed together with the coil spring 9 in the support bearing portion 7a. The coil spring 9 has end portions 9a and 9b bent in the direction of the spring long axis, and when stored in the support shaft bearing portion 7a, one end portion 9a is bent against the head portion 6 of the support shaft 6.
The other end 9b is fitted into the hole 7C of the bottom surface 7b of the support bearing 7a.

After the support shaft 6 is accommodated in the support bearing portion 7a as described above, one hinge plate 8b of the guard panel 8 is assembled to the cassette half 2 by passing the aforementioned pin through the pin hole 8d.

Here, the guard panel 8 is formed to such a length that the inner surfaces of the hinge plates 8a, 8b are almost in close contact with the surface of the recess 5 (the other is not shown) of the cassette half 2, and the coil spring 9 is formed on a support shaft. 6 is set to such a length that it protrudes from the surface of the recess 5 as shown in FIG. It is not possible.

However, since the support shaft 6 is supported by the coil spring 9, when the cassette half 2 is pushed inward, the head 6a enters into the square portion 7d of the opening of the support bearing 7a.
The head 6a can be retracted to such an extent that the outer surface thereof is flush with the surface of the recess 5. In this state, the hinge plate 8a of the guard panel 8
When the guard panel 8 is moved to a position where the engagement hole 8C is aligned with the head 6a of the support shaft 6 while pressing the head 6a of the support shaft 6 with the inner surface end of the support shaft 6, the support shaft 6 is moved inward by the action of the coil spring 9. The head 6a of the hinge plate 8a engages with the engagement hole 8C of the hinge plate 8a. In this way, the hinge plates 8a and 8b at both ends of the door panel 8 are pivotally supported, and the tape draw-out opening 3 is assembled with the cassette half 2 so as to be freely openable and closable.

When the guard panel 8 is swung to open the tape draw-out opening 3, the support shaft 6 is also rotated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. Therefore, a twisting force is applied to the coil spring 9 whose both ends are fixed to the support shaft 6 and the cassette half 2, and the coil spring 9 resists this force and moves the support shaft 6 as indicated by the arrow
Try to rotate it in the opposite direction. Therefore, even if the guard panel 8 is opened when the cassette 1 is inserted into a recording/reproducing device such as a VTR, the guard panel 8 dynamically returns to the closed position.

If you want to set the deflection of the support shaft 6 in the direction of closing the guard panel more strongly as described above, when installing the guard panel 8, when pushing the support shaft 6 forward, set the support shaft 6 to the second position. Just twist it slightly in the direction of arrow A in the figure.

In the above embodiment, the other hinge plate 8b of the guard panel 8 is pivotally supported by a simple fixed pin, but it is of course possible to support both hinge plates by the support shaft 6 as described above. do not have.

Further, in the above embodiment, the end portion 9a of the coil spring 9,
9b is the hole 5c in the head 6a of the support shaft 6.

The spindle 6 is fixed to the cassette half 2 by fitting into the hole 7c in the bottom surface 7b of the spindle support 7a. 16a
be tapered (Fig. 3), or support shaft 2
Steps are formed on the heads 26a of the heads 16a of FIG.

If it is formed to match the shape of the coil spring 26a, it becomes unnecessary to fit both ends of the coil spring into the support shaft or the cassette herb.

Furthermore, the method of fixing both ends of the coil spring is not limited to that in the above embodiment, and when a support shaft as shown in FIG. 3 or 4 is used, for example, as shown in FIG. 5. The coil spring 3 is
The end portion 39a of 9 may be fixed to the support shaft or the cassette half side. In such a case, the coil spring 39 can have a completely normal shape.

Furthermore, the shape of the head of the support shaft is not limited to a rectangular shape, but may be of any shape as long as it can transmit the rotational force of the support shaft to the guard panel.
For example, it may be formed into a triangular shape.

As described in detail above, the present invention provides a videotape cassette in which the guard panel is easily assembled into the cassette half, the biasing means for the guard panel is formed small, and the guard panel is difficult to come off. It is very effective in reducing the size of cassettes, and its practical value is extremely high.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a part of another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a part of still another embodiment of the present invention. 2...Cassette half 3...Tape drawer opening 6, 16.26...Spindle 6a, 16a, 26a...Spindle head 7...
・Support bearing tree 8... Guard panel 8a... Hinge plate 8C... Engagement hole 9.39... Coil spring 9a, 9b, 39a... End of coil spring Fig. 3 16 Fig. 5 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] The guard panel that covers the tape drawer opening has hinge plates that are erected almost perpendicularly to the panel body from both ends of the panel body. In a videotape cassette pivotally supported on a support shaft, an engagement hole is formed in at least one of the hinge plates, and the rotational force of the support shaft is transmitted to the support shaft corresponding to the hinge plate. a head that engages with the engagement hole so as to be able to do so, and fixing one end of a coil spring arranged substantially along the long axis to the support shaft to the cassette half, and fixing the other end to the support shaft; The coil spring urges the support shaft outward so that the head elastically fits into the engagement hole of the hinge plate, and also urges the guard panel in one direction toward opening and closing. A videotape cassette characterized by being biased as follows. −