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| United States Patent |
6,028,735
|
|
Suzuki
|
February 22, 2000
|
Cassette slant insertion preventing stopper for cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus
Abstract
A cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus in which during an
eject operation of a tape cassette, a cam driven lever 28 is kicked by a
cam 31 and a cassette discharge lever 51 is rotated by the cam driven
lever 28, whereby a tape cassette 1 in a cassette stage is pushed out in a
cassette discharge direction by the cassette discharge lever 51 is
provided with cam lever control mechanism 50 for positionally regulating
the cam driven lever 28 with some degree of freedom within a fixed range
.theta..sub.12 at the intermediate position of a swing range
.theta..sub.11 in which the cam driven lever 28 is rotated by the cam 31.
Therefore, a cam driven lever can be prevented from violently colliding
against a cassette discharge lever in the course of a loading operation of
a tape cassette.
| Inventors:
|
Suzuki; Katsuhiro (Sony Corporation, 7-35 Kitashinagawa 6-chome, Shinagawa-Ku, Tokyo, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
165320 |
| Filed:
|
October 2, 1998 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Apr 16, 1996[JP] | P08-117169 |
| Intern'l Class: |
G11B 015/60 |
| Field of Search: |
360/93,96.1,96.5
242/338-338.4
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
| 5291352 | Mar., 1994 | Nagasawa | 360/85.
|
| 5291354 | Mar., 1994 | Kim | 360/96.
|
| 5323281 | Jun., 1994 | Park | 360/96.
|
| 5493459 | Feb., 1996 | Shiomi | 360/94.
|
| 5497279 | Mar., 1996 | Nishijima et al. | 360/96.
|
| 5566368 | Oct., 1996 | Yamashita | 360/96.
|
| 5659442 | Aug., 1997 | Ojima | 360/96.
|
| 5754360 | May., 1998 | Lee et al. | 360/85.
|
| 5808829 | Sep., 1998 | Lee | 360/96.
|
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 5-28605 | Feb., 1993 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Evans; Jefferson
Parent Case Text
This application is a divisional of prior application Ser. No. 09/048,931
filed Mar. 26, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,883,756 which is a divisional of
prior application Ser. No. 08/834,214, filed Apr. 15, 1997, now U.S. Pat.
No. 5,854,723.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus including:
a cassette insertion port formed on a front panel;
a cassette stage which is reciprocatively moved between a cassette
insertion position at which a tape cassette is inserted from said cassette
insertion port, and a cassette mount position at which the inserted tape
cassette is subjected to recording/reproducing operation;
a cassette press member which is secured to said cassette stage and adapted
to press a tape cassette from the upper side thereof at a position which
is nearer to a cassette discharge direction side than the front lid of the
tape cassette, the tape cassette being inserted from said cassette
insertion port into said cassette stage;
a cassette slant insertion preventing stopper which is secured to said
cassette stage and adapted to relatively press a front lid portion of a
tape cassette from the upper side thereof, the tape cassette being
inserted from said cassette insertion port into said cassette stage,
whereby the tape cassette is prevented from being obliquely inserted in a
forward and upward direction into said cassette stage and wherein said
cassette slant insertion preventing stopper is freely rotatable secured to
a front lid/closing lever which is freely rotatable secured to said
cassette stage; and
a cassette slant insertion preventing mechanism for moving said cassette
slant insertion preventing stopper to the upper side of said cassette
stage when said cassette stage is moved from the cassette insertion port
to the cassette mount position.
2. The cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said cassette slant insertion preventing stopper is burrowed into
the lower side of a top plate of a chassis when said cassette stage is
moved to the cassette insertion position.
3. The cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said cassette slant insertion preventing stopper is escaped onto a
mount table of said cassette stage when said cassette stage is moved to
the cassette mount position.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette type recording/reproducing
apparatus for recording/reproducing information by using a tape cassette,
such as a video cassette recorder or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been known a conventional technique shown in FIGS. 1A to 1J,
which is relating to a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus such
as a video recorder or the like. In the conventional technique shown in
FIGS. 1A to 1C, a cassette discharge lever 25 is secured through a
vertical supporting pin 26 to a bottom plate 6a of a cassette stage 6 so
as to be freely rotatable in directions as indicated by arrows f,f' within
a horizontal plane, and a cam driven lever 28 for rotationally driving the
cassette discharge lever 25 is secured through a horizontal supporting pin
29 to a side plate 6b of a cassette stage 6 so as to be freely rotatable
in directions as indicated by arrows g,g' within a vertical plane. The cam
driven lever 28 is rotationally urged in the direction of the arrow g' by
a torsion coil spring 30 to bring the lower end 28a of the cam driven
lever 28 into contact with the other end 25b of the cassette discharge
lever 25 from the direction of the arrow g' at all times. Further, a cam
31 which is located so as to be overlapped with a horizontal movement
locus of the lower end 28a of the cam driven lever 28 is secured to a
chassis side plate 32.
As shown in FIG. 1A, when a tape cassette 1 is inserted into the cassette
stage 6 from a cassette insertion port of a front panel (not shown) in a
direction of an arrow a, one end 25a of the cassette discharge lever 25 is
pushed in the direction of the arrow a by a front end 1a of the tape
cassette 1, and the cam driven lever 28 is pushed against the torsion coil
spring 30 in the direction of the arrow g by the other end 25b of the
cassette discharge lever 25.
In course of an eject operation of the tape cassette 1 from a cassette
mount position to a cassette insertion position in the direction of the
arrow b by the cassette stage 6, the lower end 28a of the cam driven lever
28 is relatively kicked from the direction of the arrow a by the cam 31 as
shown in FIG. 1B to rotationally drive the cam driven lever 28 in the
direction of the arrow g'. Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, the other end 25b
of the cassette discharge lever 25 is pushed in the direction of an arrow
f' by the cam driven lever 28, and the tape cassette 1 in the cassette
stage 6 is pushed in the direction of the arrow a' by one end 25a of the
cassette discharge lever 25, whereby the tape cassette 1 is violently
pushed out of the cassette insertion port in the direction of the arrow a'
so that the tape cassette 1 can be easily pulled out at the outside of the
front panel.
However, in the above-described prior art, the lower end 28a of the cam
driven lever 28 is brought into contact with the other end 25b of the
cassette discharge lever 25 from the direction of the arrow g' by the
torsion coil spring 30, whereby the lower end 28a of the can driven lever
28 is kept to be overlapped with the cam 31.
Accordingly, in this application, in the course of a loading operation of
the tape cassette 1 from the cassette insertion position to the cassette
mount position in the direction of the arrow a by the cassette stage 6, as
shown in of FIG. 1C, the cam driven lever 28 is once rotated in the
direction of the arrow g against the torsion coil spring 30 by the cam 31,
and then the cam driven lever 28 is violently rotated in the direction of
the arrow g' by the torsion coil spring 30 at the instantaneous time when
the cam driven lever 28 gets over the cam 31 in the direction of the arrow
a, so that the cam driven lever 28 violently collides against the other
end 25b of the cassette discharge lever 25 from the direction of the arrow
g' and it causes an uncomfortable collision noise "click sound" at all
times.
The every-time occurrence of the uncomfortable collision noise as described
above causes questions on the quality of products, and thus this is
unfavorable. In addition, when the cam driven lever 28 violently collides
against the other end 25b of the cassette discharge lever 25 from the
direction of the arrow g' in the course of the loading operation of the
tape cassette 1, the cassette discharge lever 25 is rotationally driven in
the direction of the arrow f' which corresponds to the cassette discharge
direction, and the tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage is displaced by
the one end 25a thereof in the direction of the arrow a' which corresponds
to the cassette discharge direction. Accordingly, there occurs such a
cassette loading miss that the tape cassette 1 is not accurately engaged
with plural cassette positioning pins when the tape cassette 1 is loaded
to the cassette mount position. In order to prevent the positional
displacement of the tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage 6, a clamp force
in the cassette stage 6 is required to be increased. If the clamp force to
the tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage 6 is increased, a strong force
is needed when the tape cassette 1 is manually inserted into the cassette
stage 6, and also a strong force is needed when the tape cassette 1 is
discharged by the cassette discharge lever 25 for ejection. Therefore,
there occurs various problems, for example, the rigidity of the cassette
discharge lever 25 and the cam driven lever 28 must be increased.
The present invention has been implemented to solve the above problems, and
it has an object to provide a cassette type recording/reproducing
apparatus which can beforehand prevent a cam driven lever from violently
colliding against a cassette discharge lever in the course of a loading
operation of a tape cassette.
There has been also known another conventional technique as shown in FIG.
1D, which is relating to a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus
such as a video recorder or the like. In this conventional technique, an
opening/closing lid 5 for opening/closing a cassette insertion port 4 of a
front panel 3 from the inside is secured to a cassette stage 6 through a
supporting pin 7 so as to be freely rotatable in the directions indicated
by arrows c,c', and a cassette press member is constructed by the
opening/closing lid 5.
That is, as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 1D, in such a state that the
cassette stage serving as cassette feeding means is returned to a cassette
insertion position P.sub.1 corresponding to the inside position of the
cassette insertion port 4 from the direction of the arrow a', the
opening/closing lid 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow c' to close
the cassette insertion port 4 from the inside by the opening/closing lid
5. In a cassette loading operation, when the tape cassette 2 is inserted
from the cassette insertion port 4 into the cassette stage 6 from the
direction of the arrow a, the opening/closing lid 5 is pushed and opened
in the direction of the arrow c by the tape cassette 2, and also the tape
cassette 2 is pressed and fixed onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette
stage 6 by the cassette press force in the direction of the arrow d' of
the opening/closing lid 5.
Thereafter, the cassette stage 6 is horizontally retracted from the
cassette insertion position P.sub.1 into the cassette retract position
P.sub.2 in the direction of the arrow a by a cassette loading mechanism
(not shown), and then the cassette stage 6 is vertically descended to the
cassette mount position P.sub.3 in the direction of the arrow b. When the
tape cassette 2 is horizontally loaded to the cassette mount position
P.sub.3, the tape cassette 2 is mounted horizontally onto plural cassette
position pins 8, and the tape cassette 2 is upwardly pushed to the
position of a height H.sub.1 from the bottom plate 6a of the cassette
stage 6. In addition, the tape cassette 2 is pressed and fixed onto the
plural cassette positioning pins 8 by the cassette press force in the
direction of the arrow d' of the opening/closing lid 5, and the front lid
2A of the tape cassette is opened upwardly.
After the cassette loading operation, a magnetic tape in the tape cassette
2 is pulled out from the cassette by the tape loading mechanism and loaded
onto a rotating head drum (not shown) to perform information
recording/reproducing operation. After the information
recording/reproducing operation, the cassette stage 6 is returned in the
directions of arrows b',a' from the cassette mount position P.sub.3 via
the cassette retract position P.sub.2 to the cassette insertion position
P.sub.1 by a reversing operation to the cassette loading operation, and
finally the tape cassette 2 is discharged to the outside of the cassette
insertion port 4. At this time, when the tape cassette 2 is pulled out in
the direction of the arrow a' from the cassette insertion port 4, the
opening/closing lid 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow c' and the
cassette insertion port 4 is automatically closed from the inside, as
indicated by a dotted line of FIG. 1D.
According to the above-described prior art, the cassette insertion port 4
of the front panel 3 is opened/closed from the inside by the
opening/closing lid 5 which is freely rotatably secured to the cassette
stage 6, and reciprocatively moved between the cassette insertion position
P.sub.1 and the cassette mount position P.sub.3 together with the cassette
stage 6, and the opening/closing lid is also used as a cassette press
member for pressing onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 the
tape cassette 2 which is inserted from the cassette insertion port 4 into
the cassette stage 6. Therefore, the number of parts and the number of
fabrication steps can be reduced to promote reduction of the cost. In
addition, a proper portion of the tape cassette 2 which is located at a
rear side a movable space of the front lid 2A of the tape cassette 2 can
be pressed by the opening/closing lid 5, so that the cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus of this prior art has high resistance to
external disturbance or the like.
However, in this prior art, in such a state that the cassette stage 6 is
moved from the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 to the cassette mount
position P.sub.3 in the directions of the arrows a,b to load the tape
cassette 2 to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 as indicated by a solid
line of FIG. 1D, the cassette insertion port 4 of the front panel 3 is
left opened. Therefore, there is such a risk that a next tape cassette 2
is erroneously inserted from the cassette insertion port 4 (i.e., cassette
double insertion), another foreign matter is erroneously inserted from the
cassette insertion port 4 or the like.
The present invention has been further implemented to solve the above
problem, and has another object to provide a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus in which the cassette insertion port of
the front panel is opened/closed from the inside by an opening/closing lid
which is freely rotatably secured to a cassette stage and moved together
with a cassette stage, and which can prevent a cassette double insertion,
etc. in a cassette loading operation in advance.
Further, there has been known another prior art shown in FIG. 1E, which is
relating to the cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus such as a
video recorder or the like. In this prior art, when the tape cassette 2 is
inserted from the cassette insertion port 4 of the front panel 3 into the
cassette stage 6 serving as the cassette feeding means in the direction of
the arrow a, the tape cassette 2 is pressed and fixed onto the bottom
plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 by the cassette press member 5 which is
secured to the cassette stage 6.
Thereafter, the cassette stage 6 is horizontally pulled from the cassette
insertion position P.sub.1 to the cassette retract position P.sub.2 in the
direction of the arrow a by the cassette loading mechanism (not shown),
and then vertically descended to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 in
the direction of the arrow b to horizontally load the tape cassette 2 to
the cassette mount position P.sub.3. At this time, the tape cassette 2 is
horizontally mounted on the plural cassette positioning pins 8, and pushed
upwardly to the height H.sub.1 from the bottom plate 6a of the cassette
stage 6. At the same time, the tape cassette 2 is pressed and fixed onto
the plural cassette positioning pins 8 by the cassette press member, and
the front lid 2A of the tape cassette 2 is upwardly opened.
After the cassette loading operation, the magnetic tape in the tape
cassette 2 is pulled out from the cassette by the tape loading mechanism
and loaded onto the rotating head drum (not shown) to perform the
information recording/reproducing operation. After the
recording/reproducing operation, the cassette stage 6 is returned from the
cassette mount position P.sub.3 through the cassette retract position
P.sub.2 to the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 in the directions of
the arrows b', a' by the counter operation to the cassette loading
operation, and the tape cassette 2 is discharged to the outside of the
cassette insertion port 4.
In the above-described cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus, the
cassette press member 5 must be disposed to be displaced nearer to the
cassette discharge direction side (in the direction of the arrow a') than
the opening/closing space S.sub.1 of the front lid 2A in order to prevent
the interference between the cassette press member 5 and the front lid 2A
of the tape cassette 2.
Accordingly, in this type of cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus,
the cassette press member 5 can never press the upper portion of the front
lid 2A portion which is the tip of the tape cassette 2, so that no
countermeasure cannot be taken to the insertion of the tape cassette at an
upwardly slant angle (.theta..sub.1) as indicated by a solid line of FIG.
1E to the horizontal reference indicated by a one-dotted chain line of
FIG. 1E when the tape cassette 2 is inserted from the cassette insertion
port 4 into the cassette stage 6 in the direction of the arrow a. A space
S.sub.2 as indicated by a one-dotted chain line of FIG. 1E corresponds to
a horizontal moving space of the cassette press member 5, and thus a fixed
stopper for preventing the slant insertion of the tape cassette 2 cannot
be disposed in the space S.sub.2.
Accordingly, when the tape cassette 2 is violently inserted into the
cassette stage 6 as indicated by the solid line of FIG. 1E, the prior art
has a risk that the tape cassette 2 is obliquely inserted at an upwardly
slant angle (.theta..sub.1) Further, when the tape cassette 2 is loaded to
the cassette mount position as indicated by the dotted line of FIG. 1E
while obliquely inserted into the cassette stage 6, not only the tape
cassette 2 cannot be accurately held by the plural cassette positioning
pins 8, but also it runs on to various guides, resulting in a cassette
loading miss.
Further object of the present invention is to provide a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus which can prevent a tape cassette from
being obliquely inserted into a cassette stage in advance.
There has been further known a conventional technique show in FIG. 1F,
which is relating to a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus such
as a video tape recorder or the like. In this prior art, two types of tape
cassettes 1 and 2 which are different in size (D.sub.1, D.sub.2) can be
properly used. In this type of cassette type recording/reproducing
apparatus, a cassette identifying member 9 for identifying the type (size)
of the tape cassettes 1,2, a cassette insertion guide 10 which is switched
in accordance with the identification result of the cassette identifying
member 9, and a lock lever (not shown) for locking the cassette
identifying member 9 and the cassette insertion guide 10 at a position
which is downwardly escaped (shifted) from the cassette insertion space,
are disposed inside the cassette insertion port 4 which is a laterally
elongated opening formed in the front panel 3.
The cassette stage 6 serving as the cassette feeding means is disposed at
the rear side of the cassette insertion guide 10, and there is disposed a
cassette loading mechanism for reciprocatively moving the cassette stage 6
in the directions of the arrows a,b and a',b' along a substantially
L-shaped moving locus among the cassette insertion position P.sub.1, the
cassette retracting position P.sub.2 at the rear side of the cassette
insertion position and the cassette mount position P.sub.3 at the lower
side of the cassette retracting position. In the cassette loading
operation, the tape cassette 1,2 is selectively inserted from the
direction of the arrow a into the cassette stage 6. At this time, the type
(size) of the tape cassette 1,2 is identified by the cassette identifying
block 9 to switch the cassette insertion guide block 10.
That is, when a large-size tape cassette 2 is inserted, the large-size tape
cassette 2 is identified by the cassette identifying member 9, and the
cassette insertion guide 10 is downwardly escaped from the cassette
insertion space together with the cassette identifying member 9. At the
same time, the cassette identifying member 9 is locked at the lower side
of the cassette insertion space by the lock lever (not shown). On the
other hand, when a small-size tape cassette 1 is inserted, the small-size
tape cassette 1 is guided onto the stage center at the center position in
the right and left directions in the cassette stage 6 by the cassette
insertion guide block 10, so that the small-size tape cassette 1 can be
prevented from being erroneously inserted at a displaced position to the
right or left side in the cassette stage 6 by the cassette insertion guide
block 10.
After the cassette insertion, the cassette loading mechanism is actuated to
horizontally retract the cassette stage 6 from the cassette insertion
position Pi to the cassette retract position P.sub.2 in the direction of
the arrow a, and then the cassette stage is vertically descended in the
direction of the arrow b from the cassette retract position P.sub.2 to the
cassette mount position P.sub.3, whereby the tape cassette 1,2 is
horizontally loaded onto the plural cassette positioning pins while
upwardly floated at the height H.sub.1 from the bottom plate 6a of the
cassette stage 6. At this time, the front lid 1A, 2A secured to the front
end of the tape cassette 1,2 is upwardly opened in the direction of the
arrow b'.
After the cassette loading operation, the magnetic tape in the tape
cassette 1,2 is pulled out from the cassette by the tape loading
mechanism, and loaded onto the rotating head drum (not shown) to perform
information recording/reproducing operation. In the cassette eject
operation after the recording/reproducing operation, the cassette stage 6
is vertically lifted up in the direction of the arrow be from the cassette
mount position P.sub.3 to the cassette retract position P.sub.2 by the
counter operation to the cassette loading operation, and then horizontally
moved in the direction of the arrow a' to the cassette insertion position
P.sub.1 so that the tape cassette 1,2 is discharged to the outside of the
front panel 3 from the cassette insertion port 4 by cassette discharge
means (not shown). At the same time, the lock of the lock lever is
released by the cassette stage 6, and the cassette identifying member 9
and the cassette insertion guide 10 are escaped together into the cassette
insertion space again.
However, in this prior art, the cassette identifying member 9, the cassette
insertion guide 10 and the lock lever for locking these members at the
lower side of the cassette insertion space are provided such places that
an operator can easily see these members in the cassette insertion port 4.
Therefore, the outward appearance of the cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus is remarkably bad. In addition, the
operator can easily touch the cassette identifying member 9, the cassette
insertion guide 10 and the lock lever from the outside of the cassette
insertion port 4. Therefore, if the operator carelessly touches the lock
lever under the cassette loading state to release the lock, the cassette
identifying member 9 and the cassette insertion guide carelessly spring
into the cassette insertion space. Therefore, at the subsequent cassette
eject time, the tape cassette 1,2 collides against the cassette
identifying member 9 and the cassette insertion guide 10, resulting in
such a critical accident that that these members are damaged.
The present invention has been also implemented to overcome the above
problem, and has further object to provide a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus in which a cassette insertion guide and a
cassette identifying member re allowed to be safely accommodated at the
outside of a cassette insertion space under a cassette loading state.
There has been known another cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus
such as a video tape recorder as shown in FIGS. 1G and 1H. This
conventional cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus is suitably
applicable to two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 which are different in
size (D.sub.1, D.sub.2). According to this type of cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus, each of these types of tape cassettes 1
and 2 is selectively inserted from the direction of the arrow a from the
cassette insertion port of the front panel into the cassette stage serving
as the cassette feeding means (not shown), and then the cassette state is
moved from the cassette insertion position to the cassette mount position
to selectively load each of the two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 to the
cassette mount position.
At this time, when the tape cassette 1,2 is inserted from the cassette
insertion port into the cassette stage from the direction of the arrow a,
the tape cassette 1,2 is guided by a cassette guide (not shown), and
positioned at an insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center
P.sub.11 which is the center position of the cassette stage in the right
and left directions. When the tape cassette 1, 2 is selectively loaded to
the cassette mount position by the cassette stage, the tape cassette 1,2
is inserted from the upper side through a pair of positioning reference
holes 14 common to the tape cassettes 1 and 2 into a pair of cassette
positioning pins 8 which are common to the tape cassettes 1 and 2 and
located at the cassette mount position, whereby the tape cassettes 1 and 2
are can be accurately positioned at the insertion reference position
P.sub.12 on the state center P.sub.11 at the cassette mount position.
Accordingly, when each tape cassette 1,2 is selectively inserted from the
direction of the arrow a from the cassette insertion port into the
cassette stage, it is necessary to carry out insertion position detection
to detect whether these tape cassettes 1,2 are accurately inserted to the
insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11 in the
cassette stage. Further, it is necessary to carry out cassette type
detection to detect the type (size) of the tape cassette 1,2 which is
selectively inserted into the cassette stage and perform position control
of a pair of right and left reel tables (not shown) at the cassette mount
position. In the prior art, the insertion position detection and the
cassette type detection of the tape cassette 1,2 are separately performed.
Therefore, the number of parts and the number of fabricating steps are
remarkably large, and thus the manufacturing cost is remarkably high.
In this case, two members being detected (hereinafter referred to as
"detection targets") 15 and 16 which are located at different positions
with respect to the common positioning reference holes 14 to the tape
cassettes 1 and 2 are formed at the front ends 1a and 2a of the tape
cassettes 1 and 2, and two detection members 18 and 19 are provided to a
detection lever 17 which is secured to the cassette stage so as to be
freely rotatable in the directions of the arrows e,e'. Here, two light
reflection type optical sensors 22 and 23 are selectively switched on/off
by two light reflection plates 20 and 21 which are provided to the
detection lever 17 when these detection members 18 and 19 selectively
detect the two detection targets 15 and 16, whereby the insertion position
detection and the type detection of two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2
can be simultaneously performed.
In a case where only one detection lever 17 is used, when a large-size tape
cassette 2 is inserted, the detection member 18 for detecting a small-size
tape cassette 1 is spaced from the front end 2a of the large-size tape
cassette 2, and thus a gap 24 can be formed between the detection member
18 and the front end 2a of the large-size tape cassette 2. Accordingly, in
the loading and eject operations of the large-size tape cassette 2 to and
from the cassette mount position, the front lid of the large-size tape
cassette 2 can be smoothly opened/closed without interfering with the
detection member 18. However, if two detection arms are used to detect the
detection members 18 and 19 of the tape cassettes 1 and 2 separately from
each other, when the large-size tape cassette 2 is inserted, the detection
member of the detection lever for detecting the small-size tape cassette
still suffers interference by the front end 2a of the large-size tape
cassette 2, so that it obstructs the opening/closing operation of the
front lid of the large-size tape cassette.
However, according to the system for selectively detecting the two
detection targets of the two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 by two
detection members 18 and 19 provided to one detection lever 17, for
example, when the large-size tape cassette 2 is inserted, an optical
sensor 22 for detecting a small-size tape cassette is preferentially
turned on in synchronism with the rotation of the detection lever 17 in
the direction of the arrow e, and then an optical sensor for detecting the
large-size tape cassette is turned on. Therefore, it is required that the
small-size tape cassette detecting optical sensor 22 which is once turned
on is switched from the On-state to the Off-state. However, the moving
range of the detection lever 17 is limited, so that it is very difficult
to adjust the switching operation of the small-size tape cassette
detecting sensor 22 in the order of OFF-ON-OFF, and this adjustment work
causes a remarkable increase in cost.
The present invention has been also implemented to solve the above problem,
and has further object to provide a cassette type recording/reproducing
apparatus in which both the insertion position detection and the cassette
type detection of plural types of tape cassettes which are different in
size can be accurately performed with a simple structure.
There has been further known another cassette type recording/reproducing
apparatus such as a video tape recorder or the like as show in FIGS. 1I
and 1J. In this prior art, two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 which are
different in size (D.sub.1 and D.sub.2) are properly used. According to
this type of cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus, when these
types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 are selectively inserted from the cassette
insertion port of the front panel (not shown) into the cassette stage 6
serving as the cassette feeding means in the direction of the arrow a,
these tape cassettes 1 and 2 are positioned in two axial directions at the
insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11 which
is the center position in the right and left directions of the cassette
stage 6.
In this case, with respect to the large-size tape cassette 2, it is
positioned on the stage center P.sub.11 by both right and left side plates
6b of the cassette stage 6, and it is positioned at the insertion
reference position P.sub.12 by a pair of right and left cassette stoppers
11 which are formed at the front end of the bottom plate 6a. On the other
hand, with respect to the small-size tape cassette 1, it is positioned on
the stage center P.sub.11 by a pair of right and left cassette guides 12a
of a pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 which are secured to the
bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6, and it is positioned at the
insertion reference position P.sub.12 by a pair of right and left cassette
stoppers 12b. If the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 still
projects onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6, the large-size
tape cassette 2 cannot be inserted into the cassette stage 6. Accordingly,
in the prior art, the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 are secured
to the lower surface side of the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6
by a pair of right and left leaf springs 13, and when the large-size tape
cassette 2 is inserted into the cassette stage 6, the pair of right and
left stopper blocks 12 are escaped to the lower side of the bottom plate
6a against the pair of right and left leaf springs 13.
The tape cassette 1,2 which is selectively inserted into the cassette stage
6 as described above is cramped on the bottom plate 6a of the cassette
stage 6 by the cassette press member. After the cassette insertion, the
cassette stage 6 is horizontally retracted from the cassette insertion
position to the cassette retract position in the direction of the arrow a
by the cassette loading mechanism (not shown), and then it is vertically
descended to the cassette mount position, whereby the tape cassette 1,2 is
loaded so as to be horizontally mounted on the plural cassette positioning
pins (not shown) provided at the cassette mount position by the cassette
pressing force of the cassette press member.
After the cassette loading operation, the magnetic tape of the tape
cassette 1,2 is pulled out from the cassette by the tape loading
mechanism, and loaded onto the rotating head drum (not shown) to perform
information recording/reproducing operation. After the
recording/reproducing operation, by the counter operation to the cassette
loading operation, the cassette stage 6 is returned from the cassette
mount position via the cassette retract position to the cassette insertion
position, and finally the tape cassette 1,2 is discharged to the outside
of the cassette insertion port.
However, in the prior art, the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 for
positioning the small-size tape cassette 1 at the insertion reference
position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11 are secured to the bottom
plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 by the pair of right and left leaf
springs 13. Therefore, if the rigidity of the leaf springs 13 is low, the
leaf springs 13 would be irregularly deformed due to distortion or the
like if the small-size tape cassette 1 is carelessly strongly inserted
into the cassette stage 6, and the pair of right and left cassette guides
12a or the cassette stoppers 12b are deviated from the normal position, so
that the small-size tape cassette 1 cannot be accurately positioned to the
insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11. If the
position of the tape cassette 1,2 in the cassette stage 6 is inaccurate,
there would occur such a cassette loading miss that the tape cassette 1,2
cannot be accurately mounted on the plural cassette position positioning
pins when the tape cassette 1,2 is loaded to the cassette mount position.
On the other hand, if the thickness or width of the pair of right and left
leaf springs 13 is set to a large value to increase the rigidity thereof
to an excessive value, a cassette push-up force of the stopper blocks 12
which corresponds to the reaction force of the leaf springs 13 is
excessively large, and thus a strong force is needed to insert the
large-size tape cassette 2 into the cassette stage 6, so that it is
remarkably difficult to insert the large-size tape cassette 2.
Accordingly, the insertion degree of the large-size tape cassette 2 is
insufficient, and the large-size tape cassette 2 is loaded while it is not
accurately inserted to the insertion reference position P.sub.12,
resulting in the cassette loading miss in which the large-size tape
cassette 2 cannot accurately mounted on the plural cassette positioning
pins of the cassette mount position.
The present invention has been also implemented to overcome the above
problem, and has further object to provide a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus in which any tape cassette can be easily
inserted when plural types of tape cassettes which are different in size
are selectively inserted into the cassette stage, and any tape cassette
can be accurately positioned in the cassette stage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first object of the present invention is to provide a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus which can beforehand prevent a cam driven
lever from violently colliding against a cassette discharge lever in the
course of a loading operation of a tape cassette.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus in which the cassette insertion port of
the front panel is opened/closed from the inside by an opening/closing lid
which is freely rotatably secured to a cassette stage and moved together
with a cassette stage, and which can prevent a cassette double insertion,
etc. in a cassette loading operation in advance.
A third object of present invention is to provide a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus which can prevent a tape cassette from
being obliquely inserted into a cassette stage in advance.
A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus in which a cassette insertion guide and a
cassette identifying member are allowed to be safely accommodated at the
outside of a cassette insertion space under a cassette loading state.
A fifth object of the present invention is to provide a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus in which both the insertion position
detection and the cassette type detection of plural types of tape
cassettes which are different in size can be accurately performed with a
simple structure.
A sixth object of the present invention is to provide a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus in which any tape cassette can be easily
inserted when plural types of tape cassettes which are different in size
are selectively inserted into the cassette stage, and any tape cassette
can be accurately positioned in the cassette stage.
In order to attain the first object, according to a first aspect of the
present invention, a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus
according to the present invention includes a cassette insertion port
formed on a front panel, a cassette stage which is reciprocatively moved
between a cassette insertion position at which a tape cassette is inserted
from the cassette insertion port, and a cassette mount position at which
the inserted tape cassette is subjected to recording/reproducing
operation, a cassette discharge lever which is freely rotationally secured
to the cassette stage, and pushed and moved by the cassette which is
inserted through the cassette insertion port into the cassette stage, a
cam driven lever which is freely rotationally secured to the cassette
stage, and serves to rotationally drive said cassette discharge lever in a
cassette discharging direction, a cam which is disposed at a fixed
position on a movement locus of the cam driven which is moved together
with the cassette stage, and kicks the cam driven lever during the
cassette stage being moved from the cassette mount position to the
cassette insertion position, whereby the cassette discharge lever is
rotationally driven in the cassette discharge direction by the cam driven
lever, and control means for positionally regulating the cam driven lever
in a fixed range with some degree of freedom at the middle position in a
swing range in which the cam driven lever is rotated by the cam.
In order to attain the second object of the present invention, according to
a second aspect of the present invention, a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus includes a cassette insertion port formed
on a front panel, a cassette stage which is reciprocatively moved between
a cassette insertion position at which a tape cassette is inserted from
the cassette insertion port, and a cassette mount position at which the
inserted tape cassette is subjected to recording/reproducing operation, an
opening/closing lid which is freely rotatably secured to the cassette
stage so as to be movable together with the cassette stage, closes the
cassette insertion port from the inside thereof through the movement of
the cassette stage to a cassette insertion position, and is pushed and
opened by a tape cassette which is inserted from the cassette insertion
port into the cassette stage, and a double insertion preventing lid which
is evacuated to a lid closing position where the cassette insertion port
is opened when the cassette stage is moved to the cassette insertion
position, and moved to a lid closing position where the cassette insertion
port is closed from the inside thereof when the cassette stage is moved to
the cassette mount position.
In order to attain the third object of the present invention, according to
a third aspect of the present invention, a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus includes a cassette insertion port formed
on a front panel, a cassette stage which is reciprocatively moved between
a cassette insertion position at which a tape cassette is inserted from
the cassette insertion port, and a cassette mount position at which the
inserted tape cassette is subjected to recording/reproducing operation, a
cassette press member which is secured to the cassette stage and adapted
to press a tape cassette from the upper side thereof at a position which
is nearer to a cassette discharge direction side than the front lid of the
tape cassette, the tape cassette being inserted from the cassette
insertion port into the cassette stage, a cassette slant insertion
preventing stopper which is secured to the cassette stage and adapted to
relatively press a front lid portion of a tape cassette from the upper
side thereof, the tape cassette being inserted from the cassette insertion
port into the cassette stage, whereby the tape cassette is prevented from
being obliquely inserted in a forward and upward direction into the
cassette stage, and a cassette slant insertion preventing mechanism for
allowing the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper to the upper side
of the cassette stage when the cassette stage is moved from the cassette
insertion port to the cassette mount position.
In order to attain the fourth object of the present invention, according to
a fourth aspect of the present invention, a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus includes plural types of tape cassettes
which are different in size from one another, a cassette insertion port
formed in a front panel, a cassette stage which is reciprocatively moved
between a cassette insertion position at which the plural types of tape
cassettes are selectively inserted from the cassette insertion port, and a
cassette mount position at which the inserted plural tape cassettes are
subjected to recording/reproducing operation, a cassette insertion guide
which is disposed inside the cassette insertion port, and adapted to
regulate the insertion position of a small-size tape cassette into the
cassette stage, a cassette identifying member which is disposed inside the
cassette insertion port, and is driven by a large-size tape cassette to
allow the cassette insertion guide to escape out of a cassette insertion
space, and control means for moving the cassette insertion guide and the
cassette identifying member to an operation position in the cassette
insertion space when the cassette stage is moved to the cassette insertion
position, and accommodating the cassette insertion guide and the cassette
identifying member at an accommodation position out of the cassette
insertion space when the cassette stage is moved from the cassette
insertion position to a cassette mount position side.
In order to attain the fifth object of the present invention, according to
a fifth aspect of the present invention, a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus includes plural types of tape cassettes
which are different in size from one another, a cassette insertion port
formed in a front panel, a cassette stage which is reciprocatively moved
between a cassette insertion position at which the plural types of tape
cassettes are selectively inserted from the cassette insertion port, and a
cassette mount position at which the inserted plural tape cassettes are
subjected to recording/reproducing operation, detection means for
simultaneously detecting the insertion position and the type of the plural
types of tape cassettes which are selectively inserted from the cassette
insertion port into the cassette stage, first and second detection targets
which are formed at different positions with respect to positioning
reference holes which are common to the plural types of tape cassettes,
the first and second detection targets constituting the detection means, a
double lever mechanism having first and second detection levers which are
freely rotatably secured to the cassette stage, and are rotationally
driven by the first and second detection targets, the double lever
mechanism constituting the detection means, and first and second optical
sensors which are secured to the cassette stage, and adapted to detect the
positions of the first and second detection levers, the first and second
optical sensors constituting the detection means, the first detection
lever comprising a single operating lever, and the second detection lever
comprising a projection for pushing the first detection lever and an
optical shutter for inhibiting a detection operation of the first optical
sensor.
In order to attain the sixth object of the present invention, according to
a sixth aspect of the present invention, a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus includes plural types of tape cassettes
which are different in size from one another, a cassette insertion port
formed in a front panel, a cassette stage which is reciprocatively moved
between a cassette insertion position at which the plural types of tape
cassettes are selectively inserted from the cassette insertion port, and a
cassette mount position at which the inserted plural tape cassettes are
subjected to recording/reproducing operation, a pair of right and left
stopper blocks each having a cassette guide and a cassette stopper for
positioning to an insertion reference position on a stage center a
small-size tape cassette of the plural types of tape cassettes which are
selectively inserted from the cassette insertion port into the cassette
stage, a pair of right and left supporting pins through which the pair of
right and left stopper blocks are freely rotatably secured to the cassette
stage so that the stopper blocks can freely get into and out of the
cassette stage, and a pair of right and left rotational urging means for
moving the pair of right and left stopper blocks into the cassette stage
when a small-size tape cassette is inserted from the cassette insertion
port into the cassette stage, and letting the pair of right and left
stopper blocks escape out of the cassette stage when a large-size tape
cassette is inserted from the cassette insertion port into the cassette
stage.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1A to 1J show cassette discharging mechanisms of conventional
cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus;
FIGS. 2A to 2J are diagrams showing the subject matter of the present
invention when the present invention is applied to a cassette type
recording/reproducing apparatus such as a video cassette recorder or the
like;
FIG. 3 shows a small-size tape cassette in bottom, front and side views;
FIG. 4 shows a large-size tape cassette in bottom, front and side views;
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a cassette loading mechanism;
FIG. 6 is a side view of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a front view of FIG. 5;
FIG. 8 is a partially notched plan view of FIG. 4 to show a cassette double
insertion preventing mechanism;
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view showing an accommodation state of the
cassette double insertion preventing lid;
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional side view showing an aspect when a tape
cassette is inserted into a cassette stage in FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view when a cassette insertion port is
closed by the cassette double insertion preventing lid;
FIG. 12 is a partially notched side view showing an opening time point of
an opening/closing mechanism for opening/closing the cassette double
insertion preventing lid;
FIG. 13 is a partially notched side view showing a time point just before a
lid closing operation of the opening/closing mechanism;
FIG. 14 is a partially notched side view showing a lid closing time point
of the opening/closing mechanism;
FIG. 15 is a partially notched plan view showing a cassette erroneous
insertion preventing mechanism;
FIG. 16 is a front view of FIG. 14;
FIG. 17 is a partially notched side view showing an aspect that a cassette
identifying member is moved to an operation position in a cassette
insertion space by a control lever by returning a cassette stage to a
cassette insertion position;
FIG. 18 is a partially notched side view showing an aspect that a cassette
insertion guide is moved to an operation position in the cassette
insertion space by the cassette identifying member;
FIG. 19 is a partially notched side view showing an aspect that the
cassette identifying member identifies a large-size tape cassette and the
cassette insertion guide is escaped out of the cassette insertion space;
FIG. 20 is a partially notched side view showing an aspect that the
cassette stage is moved from the cassette insertion position to the
cassette mount position side and the cassette identifying member is moved
to an accommodation position out of the cassette insertion space by the
control lever;
FIG. 21 is a partially notched side view showing an aspect that the
cassette insertion guide is moved to the accommodation position out of the
cassette insertion space by the cassette identifying member;
FIG. 22 is a partially notched perspective view showing the cassette
erroneous insertion preventing mechanism;
FIG. 23 is a bottom view showing an aspect that a small-size tape cassette
inserted in the cassette stage is positioned to an insertion reference
position on a stage center by a stopper block;
FIG. 24 is a bottom view showing an aspect that a large-size tape cassette
inserted into the cassette stage is positioned to the insertion reference
position on the stage center;
FIG. 25 is a front view showing an aspect that the stopper block invades
from the lower side into the cassette stage at the maximum level;
FIG. 26 is a front view showing an aspect that the small-size tape cassette
inserted into the cassette stage is positioned on the stage center by the
stopper block;
FIG. 27 is a front view showing an aspect that the stopper block is escaped
to the lower side of the cassette stage by the large-size tape cassette
inserted into the cassette stage;
FIG. 28 is a perspective view showing the stopper block;
FIG. 29 is a partially notched side view showing a cassette press mechanism
of the cassette stage and a cassette slant insertion preventing mechanism;
FIG. 30 is a plan view of the cassette stage of FIG. 29;
FIG. 31 is a partially notched side view showing an aspect that the tape
cassette is prevented from being obliquely inserted into the cassette
stage by the cassette slant insertion preventing mechanism;
FIG. 32 is a partially side view showing an aspect that a cassette slant
insertion preventing stopper is escaped to the front and upward side of
the cassette stage when the tape cassette is loaded to the cassette mount
position;
FIG. 33 is a bottom view showing a cassette insertion and type detection
mechanism secured to the cassette stage;
FIG. 34 is a bottom view showing the insertion position detection and the
type detection of the small-size tape cassette inserted into the cassette
stage;
FIG. 35 is a bottom view showing the insertion position detection and the
type detection of the large-size tape cassette inserted into the cassette
stage;
FIG. 36 is a bottom view showing a double lever mechanism in the cassette
insertion and type detection mechanism;
FIG. 37 is a bottom view showing the insertion position detection and the
type detection of the small-size tape cassette which is performed by the
double lever mechanism;
FIG. 38 is a bottom view showing the insertion position and the type
detection of the large-size tape cassette which is performed by the double
lever mechanism;
FIG. 39 is a plan view of FIG. 35;
FIG. 40 is a plan view of FIG. 37;
FIG. 41 is a plan view of FIG. 38;
FIG. 42 is a plan view of FIG. 33;
FIG. 43 is a side view showing a cassette discharge mechanism;
FIG. 44 is a side view showing an aspect that a cam driven lever is driven
by a cam of the cassette discharge mechanism during the cassette loading
operation;
FIG. 45 is a side view showing an aspect that the cam driven lever is
driven by the cam of the cassette discharge mechanism during the cassette
eject operation;
FIG. 46 is a diagram showing a swing range where the cam driven lever is
driven by the cam, and a swing range with some degree of freedom; and
FIGS. 47A and 47B are perspective views showing the cam driven lever.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Preferred embodiments in which the present invention is applied to a
cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus such as a video cassette
recorder or the like will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 47B.
The same structural portions as FIGS. 1A to 1J are represented by the same
reference numerals, and the duplicative description thereof is omitted.
Description of the Subject Matter of the Present Invention
First, the subject matter of the present invention will be described with
reference to FIG. 2.
In a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus of the present
invention, a tape cassette 1 is inserted in a direction of an arrow a into
a cassette stage 6 through a cassette insertion port of a front panel as
described later, and the tape cassette 1 is reciprocatively moved between
a cassette insertion position and a cassette mount position as described
later. A cassette discharge lever 51 which is pushed by the tape cassette
1 which is inserted through the cassette insertion port into the cassette
stage 6 in the direction of the arrow a, is secured to a bottom plate 6a
of the cassette stage 6 through a support pin 142 so as to be freely
rotatable in the directions of arrows e,e' within a horizontal plane. A
cam driven lever 28 which serves to rotationally drive the cassette
discharge lever 51 in the direction of the arrow e' which corresponds to a
cassette discharge direction is secured to a side plate 6b of the cassette
stage 6 through a support pin 29 so as to be freely rotatable in the
directions of arrows g,g' within a vertical plane. A cam 31 which is
disposed at a fixed position which is overlapped with a movement locus of
the cam driven lever 28 which is moved together with the cassette stage 6,
is secured to a chassis side plate 32. There is further provided control
means 50 for positionally regulating the cam driven lever 28 within a
fixed range .theta..sub.12 at the middle position of a swing range
.theta..sub.11 in which the cam driven lever 28 is rotated by the cam 31.
Accordingly, in the cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus of the
present invention, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the tape cassette 1 is
inserted in the direction of the arrow a into the cassette stage 6 through
the cassette insertion port in a cassette loading operation, one end 51a
of the cassette discharge lever 51 is pushed by the direction of the arrow
e by the tape cassette 1, and the cassette discharge lever 51 is rotated
in the direction of the arrow e. The tape cassette 1 is loaded from the
cassette insertion position to the cassette mount position in the
direction of the arrow a by the cassette stage 6, and in the course of the
cassette loading operation, the lower end 28a of the cam driven lever 28
is once rotated in the direction of an arrow g by the cam 31 as shown in
FIG. 2C. At the instantaneous time when the cam driven lever 28 gets over
the cam 31 in the direction of the arrow a, the cam driven lever 28 is
rotated and returned in the direction of the arrow g' by the control means
50. At this time, the lower end 28a of the cam driven lever 28 is stopped
at such as a position as to keep a gap interval 27 from the other end 51b
of the cassette discharge lever 51, whereby the lower end 28a of the cam
driven lever 28 is prevented from coming into forcible contact with the
other end 51b of the cassette discharge lever 51 from the direction of the
arrow g'.
Accordingly, it can be prevented in advance that in the course of the
cassette loading operation, the cam driven lever 28 is violently collided
from the direction of the arrow g' by the other end 51b of the cassette
discharge lever 51, so that an uncomfortable collision sound "click sound"
occurs. Further, there can be prevented in advance such a cassette loading
miss that the tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage 6 is pushed in the
direction of the arrow e' by the one end 51a of the cassette discharge
lever 51 due to the impingement at the collision time and displaced in the
direction of the arrow a', so that the tape cassette 1 are not accurately
engaged with plural cassette positioning pins (not shown) at the cassette
mount position. In order to prevent the positional displacement of the
tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage 6 as described above, it is
unnecessary to take a special countermeasure to increase the clamp force
to the tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage 6, and the clamp force can be
sufficiently weakened.
In the eject operation of the tape cassette 1 from the cassette mount
position to the cassette insertion position in the direction of the arrow
a' by the cassette stage 6, the cam driven lever 28 is relatively kicked
from the direction of the arrow a by the cam 31 as shown in FIG. 2B,
whereby the cam driven lever 28 is rotationally driven in the direction of
the arrow g'. As shown in FIG. 2A, the other end 51b of the cassette
discharge lever 51 is pushed in the direction of the arrow f' by the cam
driven lever 28, and the tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage 6 is pushed
in the direction of the arrow a' by the one end 51a of the cassette
discharge lever 51 to violently push the tape cassette 1 to the outside of
the cassette insertion port in the direction of the arrow a', thereby
facilitating a pull-out operation of the tape cassette at the outside of
the front panel. At this time, the clamp force to the tape cassette 1 in
the cassette stage 6 can be sufficiently weakened. Accordingly, the tape
cassette 1 can be easily inserted into the cassette stage 6 with a weak
force in a cassette insertion operation, also the tape cassette 1 can be
easily discharged with a weak force when the tape cassette 1 is discharged
in the direction of the arrow a' by the cassette discharge lever 51 in the
eject operation, and the rigidity of the cassette discharge lever 51 and
the cam driven lever 28 can be sufficiently reduced.
Embodiments of the Present Invention
Next, the preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be
described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 47B.
Description of Two Types of Tape Cassettes
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a magnetic tape 62 which are wound around a pair
of right and left tape reels 61 having different diameters is accommodated
in each of small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 which are
different in size (the depth in the forward and rearward direction and the
width in the right and left direction) D.sub.1 and D.sub.2 and in
thickness T.sub.1, T.sub.2. Each of these magnetic tapes 62 is passed
along the inner side of the front lid 1A,2A having an inner-and-outer dual
structure which is secured to the front end 1a, 2a of the small-size and
large-size tape cassettes 1, 2. Further, a cut-out 64 having substantially
the same shape is formed at the center portion of the front end 1a, 2a
side of the bottom plate 1c, 2c in which a pair of right and left reel
table insertion holes 63 of the small-size and large-size tape cassettes
1, 2 are formed.
A pair of right and left positioning reference holes 14 are formed at both
the right and left side positions of the cut-out 64 of the bottom plate
1c, 2 of the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2, and it is
commonly used for the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1,2. That
is, the pair of right and left positioning reference holes 14 are
allocated at the right and left sides at the same distance L.sub.1 from
the cassette center P.sub.5 and they are formed at the rearward position
from the front end 1a, 2a at the same dimension L.sub.2. A pair of right
and left slits 65 along both side surfaces 1b,2b of the small-size and
large-size tape cassettes 1,2 which extend from the front lid 1A,2A to the
bottom plate 1c, 2c are formed in parallel to the cassette center P.sub.5
at both the right and left end sides of the small-size and large-size tape
cassettes 1, 2. A lock lever 66 of the front lid 1A, 2A is disposed at the
rear side from the slits 65. In the small-size tape cassette 1, the lock
lever 66 is disposed in only one slit 65. Further, a pair of right and
left detection-target portions 15, 16 which are used to simultaneously
perform the detection of an insertion position in the cassette stage 6 and
the detection of a type (size) as described above are formed on the front
end surface of the bottom plate 1c,2c which is the front end 1a, 2a of the
small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2. Of the pair of the right
and left detection-target portions 15, 16, the detection-target portions
15, 16 at the right side of FIGS. 3 and 4 are formed at the common
position to the reference hole 14, and the detection-target portions 15,
16 at the left side are formed at different positions with respect to the
reference hole 14.
Description of Cassette Stage
As shown in FIGS. 23 to 27, the cassette stage 6 is formed of a metal plate
or the like, and it is constructed to have an upwardly opened and
substantially U-shaped section by a horizontal bottom plate 6a, and a pair
of right and left side plates 6b erecting vertically and upwardly from
both the right and left ends of the bottom plate 6a. A pair of right and
left cassette stoppers 11 for the large-size tape cassette 2 are
integrally formed at both the right and left sides of the rear end of the
bottom plate 6a (the end portion in the arrow a direction). Further, on
the bottom plate 6a are fixed a pair of stopper blocks 12 for guiding the
small-size tape cassette 1 onto the stage center P.sub.11 and position it
to the insertion reference position P.sub.12.
Description of Cassette Loading Mechanism
Next, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, a cassette loading mechanism 71 is disposed
inside of the cassette insertion port 4 of the front panel 3, and the
chassis of the cassette loading mechanism 71 comprises a horizontal
chassis top plate 33 which is integrally formed with and bridged over the
upper portions of a pair of right and left vertical chassis side plates
formed of metal plates or the like, and it is designed to be downwardly
opened and substantially U-shaped in section. A front base 34 serving as a
fixing member which is formed of synthetic resin and designed to be
upwardly opened and substantially U-shaped is horizontally suspended
between the front ends (the end portions in the direction of the arrow a')
of the pair of right and left chassis side plates 32 along the lower end
and both the side edges of the cassette insertion port 4. Further, the
cassette stage 6 is disposed horizontally at the rear position of the
cassette insertion port 4 between the pair of right and left chassis side
plates 32. Respective pairs of right and left L-type guide grooves 72 each
comprising a horizontal passage 72a and a vertical passage 72b which is
hung down from the rear end of the horizontal passage 72a, totally four
L-type guide grooves 72 are formed in the pair of right and left chassis
side plates 32. Rack guide plates 73 are secured in parallel on both the
side surfaces of the end portions of the rear end sides (the end portions
in the direction of the arrow a) of the pair of right and left chassis
side plates 32, and horizontal guide grooves 74 are formed along the upper
end edge sides on the inner side surfaces of the rack guide plates 73.
Further, a pair of right and left rack plates 75 are disposed in parallel
at the inside positions of the pair of right and left rack guide plates 74
on both side surfaces of the pair of right and left chassis side plates
32. Respective pairs of front and rear guide rollers 76 at each of the
front and rear sides, which are fixed at the inside and outside of the
positions near to both the front and rear ends (both ends in the
directions of the arrow a,a') of the rack plates 75, are movably inserted
in one horizontal passage 72a of the L-type guide grooves 72 and the
horizontal guide groove 74, and thus these rack plates 75 are horizontally
slidable along the pair of right and left chassis side plates 32 in the
directions of the arrows a,a' which are the forward and rearward
directions.
A pair of slant guide grooves 77 which are provided at each of front and
rear sides and designed to be slant at a predetermined angle to the
horizontal reference are formed at the front end sides (in the direction
of the arrow a') of the pair of right and left rack plates 75, and these
slant guide grooves 77 are disposed to cross each pair of L-type guide
grooves 72. Further respective pairs of guide rollers 78 at the right and
left sides, totally four guide rollers 78 are movably inserted in each
L-type guide groove 72 and each slant guide groove 77 at the crossing
point of these grooves. Further, a loading motor 80 is fixed through a
motor holder 79 to the inside of the rear end side of one chassis side
plate 32, and a driving shaft 82 which is forwardly and backwardly rotated
through a gear train 81 by the loading motor 80 is horizontally suspended
between the upper portions of the pair of right and left chassis side
plates 32. A pair of right and left pinions 83 which are fixed to both the
right and left ends of the driving shaft 82 are engaged with a pair of
right and left racks 75a which are horizontally formed along the upper end
edges of the pair of right and left rack plates 75.
When the cassette loading mechanism 71 rotates the pair of right and left
pinions 83 forwardly and backwardly through the gear train 81 and the
driving shaft 82 with the loading motor 80 to drive the racks 75a of the
pair of right and left rack plates 75 in the directions of the arrows a,a'
by the pinions 83 in synchronism with each other, the pair of right and
left rack plates 75 are guided along the one horizontal passage 72a of the
L-type guide grooves 72 and the horizontal guide groove 74 and
horizontally and synchronously moved in the directions of the arrows a',a
along the pair of right and left chassis side plates 32. At this time,
each pair of right and left guide rollers 78 of the cassette stage 6 are
synchronously moved in an L-shaped locus in the directions of the arrows
a,b and the arrows a', b' along the horizontal passages 72a and the
vertical passages 72b of the respective pairs of L-type guide grooves 72
of the pair of right and left chassis side plates 32 of each right and
left guide rollers 78 of the cassette stage 6 by each pair of right and
left rack plates 75. As a result, the cassette stage 6 is reciprocatively
moved along the L-shaped locus in the directions of the arrows a,b and the
directions of the arrows a', b' among a cassette insertion position
P.sub.1 indicated by a dotted line, a cassette retract position P.sub.2 as
indicated by a one-dotted chain line to which the cassette is horizontally
retracted, and a cassette mount position P.sub.3 as indicated by a
two-dotted chain line to which the cassette is vertically and downwardly
moved.
Description of Cassette Press Mechanism
As shown in FIGS. 9, 10, 29 and 30, a cassette press mechanism 91 is
mounted at the upper side of the cassette stage 6. The cassette press
mechanism 91 has a opening/closing lid 5 for opening/closing the cassette
insertion port 4 of the front panel 3 from the inside, and a cassette
press lever 92 which is upwardly and downwardly rotated while supporting
the opening/closing lid 5. The cassette press lever 92 is designed to be
downwardly opened and substantially U-shaped in section by a pair of right
and left side plates 92a and a top plate portion 92b through which the
upper end portions of the side plates 92a are horizontally linked, and the
top plate portion 92b is formed on a mount stand of a cassette slant
insertion preventing stopper as described later. The cassette press lever
92 is secured to the rear ends of the pair of right and left side plates
6b of the cassette stage 6 through a pair of right and left horizontal
support pins 93 by the rear ends of the pair of right and left side plates
92a so as to be freely rotatable in the directions of the arrows d,d'
which are the upward and downward directions. The cassette press lever 92
is rotationally urged in the direction of the arrow d' corresponding to a
cassette press direction by a pair of right and left press springs 94
serving as rotational urging means comprising an extension spring to come
into contact with and stop at the pair of right and left stoppers 95 which
are integrally formed on the right and left side plates 6b of the cassette
stage 6.
The opening/closing lid 5 is formed of synthetic resin or the like, and
both the right and left sides of the upper end of the opening/closing lid
5 are secured to the insides of the front ends of the pair of right and
left side plates 92a of the cassette press lever 92 through a pair of
right and left horizontal support pins 7 so as to be freely rotatable in
the directions of arrows c,c' which correspond to the forward and rearward
direction and the upward and downward direction. The opening/closing lid 5
is rotationally urged in the direction of the arrow c' by a pair of right
and left opening/closing lid springs 96 serving as rotational urging means
for closing the lid which comprise torsion coil springs, whereby the
opening/closing lid 5 abuts against stoppers integrally formed at the
insides of the front end of the pair of right and left arm portions 92a,
and stops at the lid closing position of the cassette insertion port 4
shown in FIG. 9.
As shown in FIG. 9, in the cassette press mechanism 91, when the cassette
stage 6 is returned to the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 from the
direction of the arrow a', the opening/closing lid 5 is rotated in the
direction of the arrow c' to the lid closing position at which the lid 5
is positioned substantially vertically.
As shown in FIG. 10, when the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1,2
are selectively inserted from the direction of the as arrow a into the
cassette stage 6 from the cassette insertion port 4 of the front panel 3,
the opening/closing lid 5 is pushed and opened in the direction of the
arrow c against the pair of right and left opening/closing lid springs 96
by the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2, whereby the
opening/closing lid 5 gets on the upper portion of the small-size and
large-size tape cassettes 1,2. At this time, in the course of the lid
opening operation of the opening/closing lid 5 in the direction of the
arrow c, plural projections 5a which are integrally on the back surface of
the opening/closing lid 5 abut against the top plate portion 92b of the
cassette press lever 92 from the lower side, and the cassette press lever
92 is pushed upwardly in the direction of an arrow d against the pair of
right and left press springs 94 together with the opening/closing lid 5.
Further, the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 are pressed and
fixed onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 through the
opening/closing lid 5 by the cassette press force which is a reaction
force of the cassette press lever 92 in the direction of the arrow d'.
Description of Cassette Double Insertion Preventing Mechanism
As shown in FIGS. 8 to 13, a cassette double insertion preventing lid 45 of
a cassette double insertion preventing mechanism 101 is fixed to the rear
end (the end portion in the direction of the arrow a) of the front base 34
through a pair of right and left horizontal support pins 46 so as to be
freely rotatable in the directions of arrows j,j' which correspond to the
upward and downward directions. A pair of right and left opening/closing
mechanisms 47 for opening/closing the cassette double insertion preventing
lid 45 in the directions of the arrows j,j' are secured to both side
surfaces of the pair of right and left chassis side plates 32. Each of
these opening/closing mechanisms 47 comprises a seesaw type driving lever
103 which is mounted to the chassis side plate 32 through a horizontal
support pin 102 so as to be rotationally driven in the directions of
arrows m,m' corresponding to the upward and downward directions, a cam
driven roller 104 which is fixed to the rear end of the driving lever 103,
a cam groove 105 which is formed along the lower edge of the rack plate
75, a driving lever spring 106 serving as rotational urging means which
comprises a tension spring for rotationally urging the driving lever 103
in the direction of the arrow m, a substantially L-shaped cam hole 107
formed at the front end of the driving lever 103, and a cam driven roller
108 which is fixed to both the right and left side surfaces of the
cassette double insertion lid 45 so as to be freely movable in the cam
hole 107. A pair of right and left cam driven rollers 108 are freely
movably inserted into a pair of right and left cam grooves 107 so as to
penetrate through a pair of right and left openings 109 formed which are
formed in a pair of right and left chassis side plates 32.
With respect to the cassette double insertion preventing mechanism 101,
when the cassette stage 6 is returned to the cassette insertion position
P.sub.11 in the direction of the arrow a' as shown in FIG. 9, as shown in
FIG. 12, the cam driven roller 104 gets out relatively in the direction of
the arrow a from the cam groove 105 of the rack plate 75 which is returned
in the direction of the arrow a', so that the drive lever 103 is
rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow m by the driving lever
spring 106, and the cam driven roller 108 is driven in the direction of
the arrow m by the cam hole 107, whereby the cassette double insertion
preventing lid 45 is tilted in a horizontal position in the direction of
an arrow j' and retracted to the lower side of the cassette stage 6.
Next, as show in FIG. 10, when the rack plate 75 of the cassette loading
mechanism 71 is slid in the direction of the arrow a in order to move the
cassette stage 6 in the directions of the arrows a,b from the cassette
insertion position P.sub.1 shown in FIG. 6 through the cassette retract
position P.sub.2 to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 after one of the
small-size and the large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 is selectively inserted
into the cassette stage 6 from the cassette insertion port 4, as shown in
FIGS. 13 and 14, the cam driven roller 104 is passed relatively in the
direction of the arrow a' through the cam groove 105, and the driving
lever 103 is rotationally driven against the driving lever spring 106 in
the direction of the arrow m' by the cam groove 105. At this time, the cam
driven roller 108 is driven in the direction of the arrow m' by the cam
hole 107, and as indicated by a solid line, the cassette double insertion
preventing lid 45 is vertically erected in the direction of the arrow j,
whereby the cassette double insertion preventing lid 45 closes the
cassette insertion port 4 from the inside.
When the cassette double insertion preventing lid 45 is rotationally driven
in the direction of the arrow to the lid closing position as indicated by
a solid line of FIG. 11, the cam driven roller 108 reaches one end 107a of
the cam hole 107 and is locked at it is, so that the cassette double
insertion preventing lid 45 is locked at the lid closing position at it
is. That is, one end 107a of the cam hole 107 is formed of RF which is
R-surface with the support pin 102 at the center thereof, and even when an
external force is applied from the cassette insertion port 4 to the
cassette double insertion preventing lid 45 in the direction of the arrow
a, the external force is received by the support pin 102, so that there
occurs no force for rotating the cassette double insertion preventing lid
45 in the direction of the arrow Therefore, the cassette double insertion
preventing lid 45 can be fixedly locked at the lid closing position.
Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the cassette double insertion preventing lid
45 is offset-OFF to the arrow j' direction side which is the lid closing
direction to the center of the support pin 46. Accordingly, when as
indicated by a one-dotted chain line of FIG. 11, a finger or the like is
carelessly pinched between the tip of the cassette insertion preventing
lid 45 and the chassis top plate 33 in the course of the lid closing
operation of the cassette double insertion preventing lid 45 in the
direction of the arrow j, and the pinched finger or the like is pulled out
in the direction of the arrow a', an escaping force in the direction of
the arrow j' which is the lid closing direction acts on the cassette
double insertion preventing lid 45, and thus the finger or the like can be
safely pulled out in the direction of the arrow a'.
As described above, according to the cassette double insertion preventing
mechanism 101, when the small-size and large-size cassettes 1,2 are
selectively loaded from the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 to the
cassette mount position P.sub.3 by the cassette stage 6, the cassette
insertion port 4 can be closed from the inside by the cassette double
insertion preventing lid 45. In addition, the cassette double insertion
preventing lid 45 can be fixedly locked. Therefore, so-called double
cassette insertion error in which a next tape cassette or foreign matter
is erroneously inserted from the cassette insertion port, can be prevented
in advance. When the small-size and the large-size tape cassettes 1,2 are
ejected from the cassette mount position P.sub.3 to the cassette insertion
position P.sub.1 the cassette double insertion preventing lid 45 is
rotated in the direction of the arrow j' through a counter operation at
the loading time, whereby the it can be retracted to the lower side of the
cassette stage 6 shown in FIG. 9.
Description of Cassette Erroneous Insertion Preventing Mechanism
As shown in FIGS. 15 to 22, the cassette erroneous insertion preventing
mechanism 111 has a pair of rotational right and left cassette
identification members 9 formed of synthetic resin or the like, a cassette
insertion guide 10 and control levers 112. The cassette identification
members 9, the cassette insertion guide 10 and the control levers 112 are
secured to the front base 34 through support pins 113, 46 (common to the
cassette double insertion preventing lid 45) and 114 respectively so as to
be freely rotatable in the directions of arrows n,n' corresponding to the
upward and downward directions, in the directions of arrows o,o' and in
the directions of arrows p,p' respectively. The cassette identification
members 9 are rotationally urged in the direction of the arrow n'
corresponding to the upward direction by an identification member spring
corresponding to the rotational urging means which is formed of a
torsional coil spring, the cassette insertion guide 10 is rotationally
urged in the direction of the arrow o corresponding to the downward
direction by an insertion guide spring 116 corresponding to rotational
urging means which is formed of a leaf spring, and the control lever 112
is rotationally urged in the direction of the arrow p corresponding to the
downward direction by a control lever spring 117 corresponding to
rotational urging means which is formed of a tension coil spring stronger
than the identification member spring 115.
The pair of right and left cassette identification members 9 are disposed
at both the right and left sides inside the cassette insertion port 4, and
the cassette insertion guide 10 and the pair of right and left control
levers 112 are disposed at the positions which are displaced from the pair
of right and left cassette identification members 9 toward the cassette
insertion direction side (the arrow a direction side). Further, the
cassette insertion guide 116 is disposed between the pair of right and
left cassette identification members 9, and the pair of right and left
control levers 112 are disposed at the right and left sides of the pair of
right and left cassette identification members 9. Further, a pair of right
and left projections 118 which are brought into contact with and separated
from a pair of right and left arms 112a which are integrally formed on the
upper end of the right and left sides of the pair of right and left
control levers 112, are formed at the right and left sides of the front
end (the end portion in the arrow a, direction) of the bottom plate 6a of
the cassette stage 6, and the control means 44 is constructed by the pair
of right and left control levers 112 and the projections 118.
A pair of right and left engaging pins 112b which are integrally formed
onto the inside of the upper end of the pair of right and left control
levers 112 are engaged with a pair of right and left engaging pieces 9a
which are integrally formed in a substantially arcuate shape onto the
outside of the upper ends of the pair of right and left cassette
identification members 9, and the pair of right and left engaging pins 9b
which are formed integrally onto the inside of the pair of right and left
cassette identification members 9 are engaged with a pair of right and
left engaging pieces 10a which are integrally formed in a substantially
L-shaped form to both the right and left ends of the cassette insertion
guide 10. The cassette insertion guide 10 is projected toward the cassette
discharge direction side (the arrow a' direction side) from the pair of
right and left support pins 46, and a pair of right and left projecting
portions 119 are integrally formed at the right and left sides of the tip
side of the cassette insertion guide 10. The end surfaces of the pair of
right and left projecting portions 119 in the direction of the arrow a'
are formed on the cassette stopper surface 120, and the inside surf aces
of the pair of these right and left projecting portions 119 are formed on
a pair of right and left cassette guide surfaces 121 to guide the
small-size tape cassette 1 onto the stage center P.sub.11 in the cassette
stage 6.
With respect to the cassette insertion preventing mechanism 111, as shown
in FIGS. 17 and 18, when the cassette stage 6 is returned in the direction
of the arrow a' to the cassette insertion position P.sub.1, the pair of
right and left projections 118 are brought into contact with the arms 112a
of the pair of right and left control levers 112 from the arrow a'
direction, and rotates the pair of right and left control levers 112
against the control lever spring 117 in the direction of the arrow p'
corresponding to the upward direction to lock the control levers 112 as
they are. At this time, following the rotation of the engaging pins 112b
of the pair of right and left control levers 112 in the direction of the
arrow p', the pair of right and left cassette identification-members 9 are
rotated in the direction of the arrow n' corresponding to the upward and
forward direction by the pair of right and left identification member
springs 115, so that the pair of right and left cassette identification
members 9 get into a cassette insertion space 43 from the lower side and
projected from the direction of the arrow n' to the position which is
closest to the cassette insertion port 4. The pair of right and left
engaging pieces 10a of the cassette insertion guide 10 is pushed upwardly
in the direction of the arrow n by the pair of right and left engaging
pins 9b of the pair of right and left cassette identifying members 9 to
rotate the cassette insertion guide 10 against the insertion guide spring
116 in the direction of the arrow o'. Accordingly, the pair of right and
left 119 get into the cassette insertion space 43 at the position where it
is displaced to the direction side of the arrow a by the pair of right and
left cassette identification members 9. Accordingly, the cassette 6 is
returned to the cassette insertion position P.sub.1, whereby the cassette
identification members 9 and the cassette insertion guide 10 are upwardly
moved in the direction of an arrow I to the operation position in the
cassette insertion space 43.
At this time, as indicated by a one-dotted chain line in FIG. 15 and by a
solid line in FIG. 16, if the small-size tape cassette 1 is inserted
substantially along the stage center P.sub.11 when the small-size tape
cassette 1 is inserted in the direction of the arrow a from the cassette
insertion port 4 into the cassette stage 6, both the right and left side
surfaces 1b of the small-sized tape cassette 1 are guided between the pair
of right and left cassette guide surfaces 121 of the cassette insertion
guide 10, and the small-size tape cassette 1 is accurately guided onto the
stage center P.sub.11, whereby the small-size tape cassette 1 can be
accurately inserted to the insertion reference position P.sub.12 in the
cassette stage 6.
At this time, as indicated by a two-dotted chain line in FIG. 15, when the
small-size tape cassette 1 or another similar tape cassette is erroneously
inserted in the direction of the arrow a into the cassette stage 6 from a
position which is greatly deviated from the stage center P.sub.11 to the
right side or left side, the cassette insertion guide 10 is not downwardly
pulled to the lower side of the cassette insertion space 43 even when any
one of the pair of right and left cassette identification members 9 is
pushed by the small-size tape cassette 1. Therefore, the small-size tape
cassette 1 is brought into contact with the cassette stopper surface 120
of any one of the pair of right and left projecting portions 119 of the
cassette insertion guide 10, whereby the erroneous insertion of the
small-size tape cassette 1 or another similar tape cassette can be
prevented in advance.
Next, as indicated by a dotted line in FIGS. 15 and 16, when the large-size
tape cassette 2 is inserted from the cassette insertion port 4 into the
cassette stage 6 in the direction of the arrow a, both the right and left
side surfaces 2b of the large-size tape cassette 2 are guided by both the
right and left side walls 34a of the front base 34, and inserted along the
stage center P.sub.11. At this time, as shown in FIG. 19, the large-size
tape cassette 2 is brought into contact with the pair of right and left
cassette identification members 9 from the direction of the arrow a at the
same time, and these pair of right and left cassette identification
members 9 are rotated against the pair of right and left identification
springs 115 in the direction of the arrow n at the same time. In this
case, at the instantaneous time when the pair of right and left cassette
identification members 9 are slightly rotated in the direction of the
arrow n, the pair of right and left engaging pins 9b are disengaged from
the pair of right and left engaging pieces 10a of the cassette insertion
guide 10 in the direction of the arrow n at the same time, and the
cassette insertion guide 10 is rotated in the direction of the arrow o by
the insertion guide spring 116, whereby the pair of right and left
projecting portions 119 are instantaneously pulled to the lower side of
the cassette insertion space 43. Accordingly, the cassette insertion guide
10 can subsequently smoothly insert the large-size tape cassette 2 to the
insertion reference position P.sub.12 in the cassette stage 6 with no
disturbance of the insertion of the large-size tape cassette 2 by the
cassette insertion guide 10.
Next, when the cassette stage 6 starts to move from the cassette insertion
position P.sub.1 in the direction of the arrow a in order to load the
small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1,2 to the cassette mount
position Pa after the selective insertion of the small-size and large-size
tape cassettes 1,2 into the cassette stage 6, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 21,
the pair of right and left projections 118 of the cassette stage 6 are
separated from the arms 112a of the pair of right and left control levers
112 in the direction of the arrow a. Therefore, the pair of right and left
control levers 112 are simultaneously rotated in the direction of the
arrow p by the pair of right and left control lever springs 117, and the
pair of right and left engaging pins 112b pushes the pair of right and
left engaging pieces 9a of the pair of right and left cassette
identification members 9 in the direction of the arrow p. At this time,
the pair of right and left cassette identification members 9 are rotated
in the direction of the arrow n against the pair of right and left
identification member springs 115, so that the cassette insertion guide 10
is rotated in the direction of the arrow o by the insertion guide spring
116.
Accordingly, immediately after the cassette stage 6 starts to move from the
cassette insertion position P.sub.1 in the direction of the arrow a, the
pair of right and left cassette identification members 9 and the cassette
insertion guide 10 are descended in the direction of an arrow i' to the
lower side of the cassette insertion space 43 from the operation position
where they are ascended in the cassette insertion space 43 by the pair of
right and left control levers 112, and accommodated at the accommodation
position in the front base 34. Thereafter, the pair of right and left
control levers 112 are locked at the rotational position in the direction
of the arrow p as they are by the pair of right and left control lever
springs 117. Therefore, the pair of right and left cassette members
identification members 9 and the cassette insertion guide 10 are locked at
the accommodation position in the front base 34 as they are.
Therefore, in the cassette loading position, the pair of right and left
cassette identification members 9 and the cassette insertion guide 10 are
downwardly pulled to the lower side of the cassette insertion space 43,
and accommodated in the front base 34. Accordingly, it has a very good
outward appearance, and even when a finger or the like is carelessly
inserted through the cassette insertion port 4, it is hard to come into
contact with the cassette identification members 9 or the cassette
insertion guide 10. Further, since the pair of right and left control
levers 112 are urged downwardly, that is, in the direction of the arrow p
by the pair of right and left control lever springs 112, even when a
finger or the like comes into contact with these control levers 112, the
control levers 112 are immediately rotationally returned in the direction
of the arrow p if the finger is detached. Therefore, it can be perfectly
prevented that the cassette identification members 9 and the cassette
insertion guide 10 are locked to be pulled out into the cassette insertion
space 34 by a prank operation. Accordingly, there can be prevented such a
risk that the cassette stage 6 collides against the cassette
identification members 9 or the cassette insertion guide 10 which are
carelessly pulled out into the cassette insertion space 34 at the eject
time of the cassette stage 6, so that these members mutually damage each
other. Therefore, high safety can be kept.
According to the cassette erroneous insertion preventing mechanism 11 as
described above, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the support pins 113 of the
cassette identification members 9 and the support pins 114 of the control
levers 112 are separately disposed and the acting point distance L.sub.11
from the support pin 114 of the control lever 112 is set to be longer than
the acting point distance L.sub.12 from the support pin 113 of the
cassette identification member 9 to the engaging pin 9b, whereby a
rotational angle of the control levers 112 which is required to rotate the
cassette identification members 9 can be reduced. The depth dimension of
the overall cassette erroneous insertion preventing mechanism 11 in the
direction of the arrow a,a' can be greatly reduced, and thus the depth
dimension of the cassette stage 6 in the directions of the arrows a,a' can
be increased. Particularly, the loading and ejecting operations of the
large-size tape cassette 2 can be performed with high stability. Further,
the arms 112a of the control lever 112 can be shortened, and the friction
area between the arms and the projections 118 of the cassette stage 6 can
be reduced, so that resistance to wear can be enhanced.
Description of Stopper Block
Next, as show in FIGS. 23 to 28, a pair of right and left stopper blocks 12
which are formed of synthetic resin or the like and molded in a
symmetrical shape at the right and left sides are inserted into the pair
of right and left openings 35 which are formed in the bottom plate 6a of
the cassette stage 6, and disposed so as to be equally shared to the right
and left sides with respect to the stage center P.sub.11. Both the right
and left side ends which corresponds to the outsides of the pair of right
and left stopper blocks 12 are fixed between a pair of projection pieces
36 which are vertically bent downwardly from the bottom plate 6a by a pair
of right and left horizontal support pins 41 so as to be freely rotatable
in the directions of the arrows h,h' which correspond to the upward and
downward directions. Further, a pair of right and left cassette guides 12a
are symmetrically formed integrally onto the upper surfaces of the pair of
right and left stopper blocks 12, and on these upper surfaces, a pair of
right and left cassette stoppers 12b which comprise vertically-shaped ribs
are integrally formed at the end portions of the cassette insertion
direction side (the arrow a direction side) at the inner positions of the
cassette guides 12a. A slant surface 12C which is gradually upwardly
oblique in the cassette insertion direction (the arrow a direction) is
integrally formed at the end portion at the cassette discharge direction
side (the arrow a' direction side) on the upper surfaces of the pair of
right and left stopper blocks 12, and stopper pieces 12d are integrally
formed at the end portions in the cassette discharge direction side on the
lower surfaces of the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12.
The axial lines P.sub.13 of the pair of right and left support pins 41 are
set in the range of 0.degree. to 90.degree. with respect to the stage
center P.sub.11 which is the cassette insertion direction. In this case,
the axial lines P.sub.13 of the pair of right and left support pins 41 are
set to have a taper angle .theta..sub.11 so that they are tapered in the
cassette insertion direction (the direction of the arrow a) with respect
to the stage center P.sub.11. Accordingly, the pair of right and left
stopper blocks 12 are designed so as to freely move into and out of the
cassette stage 6 in the directions of the arrows h,h' from the lower side
of the bottom plate 6a. By the pair of right and left torsional coil
springs 42 serving as the rotational urging means which are inserted and
secured to the outer peripheries of the pair of right and left support
pins 41, these right and left stopper blocks 12 get into the cassette
stage 6 from the direction of the arrow h as shown in FIG. 25 to bring the
stopper piece 12d into contact with the bottom plate 6a from the lower
side and stop it. Accordingly, in such a state that these right and left
stopper blocks 12 get into the cassette stage 6 from the direction of the
arrow h, the pair of right and left cassette stoppers 12b are upwardly
offset OF.sub.1 from the pair of right and left support pins 41.
The pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 are constructed as described
above, and as shown in FIG. 25, before the cassette is inserted into the
cassette stage 6, the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 gets into
the cassette stage 6 from the direction of the arrow h by the pair of
right and left torsional coil springs 42, and these cassette stoppers 12b
are upwardly projected to the position corresponding to a predetermined
height H.sub.11. As shown in FIG. 32, the height H.sub.11 is set to be
higher than the height at which the small-size tape cassette 1 is upwardly
floated from the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 when it is loaded
onto the plural cassette positioning pins 8 of the cassette mount position
P.sub.3. That is, if the cassette stoppers 12b are downwardly detached
from the bottom plate 1c of the small-size tape cassette 1 when the
small-size tape cassette 1 is loaded to the cassette mount position
P.sub.3 and upwardly floated with respect to the bottom plate 6a, there is
a probability that the cassette stoppers 12b cannot restore to the
original engagement positions of the bottom plate 6a of the small-size
tape cassette 1 when the small-size tape cassette 1 is mounted on the
bottom plate 6a again at the cassette eject time. However, the above
inconvenience would never occurs if the height H.sub.11 is set to be
higher than H.sub.1.
Next, as shown in FIGS. 23 to 26, when the small-size tape cassette 1 is
inserted from the direction of the arrow a substantially onto the stage
center P.sub.11 in the cassette stage 6, the pair of right and left
stopper blocks 12 are pushed by the bottom plate 1c of the small-size tape
cassette 1, slightly rotated in the direction of the arrow h' against the
pair of right and left torsional coil springs 42, and stopped at the stage
that the cassette guides 12a and the cassette stoppers 12b are in a
substantially vertical position. The pair of right and left cassette
guides 12a guide the right and left side surfaces 1b of the small-size
tape cassette 1 to position the small-size tape cassette 1 onto the stage
center P.sub.11, and also the pair of right and left cassette stoppers 12b
are relatively inserted into the pair of right and left slits 65 of the
small-size tape cassette in the direction of the arrow a' to position the
front end 1a of the small-size tape cassette 1 to the insertion reference
position P.sub.12. At this time, one cassette stopper 12b pushes the lock
lever 66 of the small-size tape cassette 1 in the direction of the arrow
a' to release the lock of the front lid 1A.
At this time, the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 are freely
rotatably secured to the bottom plate 6a by the pair of right and left
support pins 41 which are set in the range of 0.degree. to 90.degree. with
respect to the stage center P.sub.11, and further the cassette stoppers
12b are offset-OF.sub.1 upwardly with respect to the support pins 41.
Therefore, even when the small-size tape cassette 1 violently collides
against the pair of right and left cassette stoppers 12b, these cassette
stoppers 12b are not escaped in the direction of the arrow h' which
corresponds to the downward direction, and also the small-size tape
cassette 1 can be received firmly. Accordingly, the front end 1a of the
small-tape cassette 1 can be positioned to the insertion reference
position P.sub.12 with high precision at all times. In this case, if the
pair of right and left support pins 41 are designed to have a tapered
angle .theta..sub.11 so that they are tapered in the cassette insertion
direction (the direction of the arrow a) as shown in FIG. 22, the
small-size tape cassette 1 is brought into contact with the pair of right
and left cassette stoppers 12b from the direction of the arrow a. When a
thrust force is applied to the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 in
the direction of the arrow a, the pair of stopper blocks 12 are mutually
attractively approached to each other by the amount corresponding to the
backlash of the pair of right and left support pins 41, and both the right
and left side surfaces 1b of the small-size tape cassette 1 are pinched by
the pair of cassette guides 12a from both the right and left sides,
whereby the small-size tape cassette 1 can be positioned onto the stage
center P.sub.11 with high precision.
Next, as shown in FIGS. 24 and 26, when the large-size tape cassette 2 is
inserted from the direction of the arrow a into the cassette stage 6, the
tip 2a thereof gets over the slant surfaces 12c of the pair of right and
left stock blocks 12, and the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 are
intensively escaped against the pair of right and left torsional coil
springs 42 in the direction of the arrow h' until they are put under the
bottom plate 6a. Accordingly, the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12
never obstruct to insert the large-size tape cassette 2, and thus the
large-size cassette tape 2 can be smoothly inserted into the cassette
stage 6 in the direction of the arrow a. At this time, the pair of right
and left cassette guides 37 formed on the bottom plate 6a are relatively
inserted from the direction of the arrow a' into the pair of right and
left slits 65 of the large-size tape cassette 2, and the large-size tape
cassette 2 is positioned onto the stage center P.sub.11. When the front
end 2a of the large-size tape cassette 2 abuts against the pair of right
and left cassette stoppers 11 on the bottom plate 6a to be positioned to
the insertion reference position P.sub.12, the pair of right and left
cassette guide pieces 37 relatively pushes the pair of right and left lock
levers 66 in the direction of the arrow a' to release the lock of the
front lid 2A.
Accordingly, since the pair of right and left torsional coil springs 42
which serve to rotationally urge the pair of stopper blocks 12 in the
direction of the arrow h may merely produce such a weak force as to
support the dead weight of the stopper blocks 12, the force with which the
pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 upwardly lifts the small-size and
large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 under the reaction force of the these
torsional coil springs, can be reduced extremely. As described above, the
clamp force to press and fix the small-size and large-size tape cassettes
1,2 onto the bottom plate 6a by the cassette press lever 92 can be
sufficiently reduced. Accordingly, the insertion operation of the
small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 into the cassette stage 6
can be easily performed with very weak force, and also the small-size and
large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 can be easily inserted and accurately
positioned to the insertion reference position P.sub.12.
Description of Cassette Slant Insertion Preventing Mechanism
Next, as shown in FIGS. 29 to 32, the cassette slant insertion preventing
mechanism 49 has a cassette slant insertion preventing stopper 48 and a
lid opening/closing lever 131 which are formed of synthetic resin or the
like. The front lid opening/closing lever 131 is secured to the right and
left side plates 6b of the cassette stage 6 through a pair of right and
left horizontal support pins so as to be freely rotatable in the
directions of arrows k,k' corresponding to the upward and downward
directions, and the rear end (the end portion of the arrow a direction
side) 48a of the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper 48 is secured
to the upper end 131a of the front lid opening/closing lever 131 through a
pair of right and left horizontal support pins 133 so as to be freely
rotatable in the directions of arrows q,q' corresponding to the upward and
downward directions.
A hook portion 131b which is commonly engageable with the front lids 1A,2A
of the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1,2 from the lower side is
integrally formed at the position which is at the lower end side of the
front lid opening/closing lever 131 and near to the center thereof.
Further, plural engaging projections 48a onto the top plate portion 92b of
the cassette press lever 92 which serves as a stopper support portion are
integrally formed to the front end (the end portion in the arrow a'
direction side) of the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper 48 so
as to be spaced from one another at intervals in the right and left
directions. Plural guide surfaces 48b are formed so as to extend from the
plural projections 48a to the lower surface of the cassette insertion
preventing stopper 48, and plural semi-circular projections 48c which abut
against the lower surface of the chassis top plate 33 serving as a stopper
press portion are integrally formed on the upper surface of the cassette
slant insertion preventing stopper 48 so as to be spaced from one another
at intervals in the right and left direction.
As shown in FIGS. 29 and 31, before insertion of the cassette into the
cassette stage 6, the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper 48 and
the front lid opening/closing lever 131 are rotated in the direction of
the arrow k'0 due to their dead weight, and the plural projections 48a of
the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper 48 are mounted on the top
plate portion 92b. As shown in FIG. 31, the small-size and large-size tape
cassettes 1, 2 are selectively inserted from the cassette insertion port 4
in the direction of the arrow a. If the small-size and large-size tape
cassettes 1, 2 are obliquely inserted at an upwardly oblique angle
.theta..sub.1 with respect to the horizontal reference as indicated by a
solid line when the tape cassettes 1, 2 are selectively inserted into the
cassette stage 6 in the direction of the arrow a while the opening/closing
lid 5 is pushed and opened in the direction of the arrow c by these tape
cassettes 1, 2, the front lids 1A,2A of the small-size and large-size tape
cassettes 1, 2 are brought into contact with the plural guide surfaces 48c
of the cassette slant insertion preventing stoppers 48 obliquely from the
lower side to thereby push up the cassette slant insertion preventing
stopper 48 in the direction of the arrow q'. At this time, the plural
projections 48d of the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper 48 abut
against the lower surface of the chassis top plate 33 from the lower
surface, and the floatation of the cassette slant insertion preventing
stopper 48 in the direction of the arrow q' is prevented.
The front lids 1A,2A of the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2
are guided by the plural guide surfaces 48a, and held down in the
direction of the arrow r corresponding to the forward and downward
direction, thereby preventing the slant insertion of the small-size and
large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 into the cassette stage 6 in advance. The
small-size and large-size which are selectively inserted into the cassette
stage 6 are horizontally pressed and fixed onto the bottom plate 6a by the
cassette press force of the cassette press lever 92. After the cassette
insertion, when the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 are
selectively loaded to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 from the
direction of the arrow b as shown in FIG. 32 after the small-size and
large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 are horizontally retracted from the
cassette insertion position P.sub.1 to the cassette retract position
P.sub.2 in the direction of the arrow a, as show in FIGS. 5 to 7, the
front lid opening/closing lever 131 is relatively pushed up in the
direction of the arrow b' by the front lid opening/closing plate 134 which
is integrally formed with one rack guide 73 and fixed at a fixed position,
whereby the front lid opening/closing lever 131 is rotated in the
direction of the allow k.
The cassette slant insertion preventing stopper 48 is pushed out in the
direction of the arrow k by the front lid opening/closing lever 131, and
the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper 48 is pushed up from the
direction of the arrow k onto the top plate portion 92b of the cassette
press lever 92 by the guide surface 48. At the same time, a part of the
front lid 1A,2A of the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 is
hooked by a hook portion 131b of the front opening/closing lever 131,
whereby the front lids 1A, 2A are opened in the direction of the arrow k.
That is, the front opening/closing lever 131 can smoothly open the front
lids 1A,2A while retracting the cassette slant insertion preventing
stopper 48 from the inside of the opening/closing space S.sub.1 in the
direction of the arrow k rearwardly and upwardly. The small-size and
large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 which are selectively loaded from the
direction of the arrow b to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 are
selectively held onto the plural cassette positioning pins 8 at the
cassette mount position P.sub.3 through the common reference hole 14,
whereby the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 are pushed up
(floated) to the height H.sub.1 above the bottom plate 6a of the cassette
stage 6. At the same time, the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1,
2 are accurately pressed and horizontally fixed onto the plural cassette
positioning pins 8 by the cassette press force of the cassette press lever
92.
In FIG. 31, by fixing a leaf spring member or the like for elastically
pressing the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper 48 downwardly at
the lower side of the chassis top plate 33, the small-size and large-size
tape cassettes 1, 2 can be more effectively prevented from being obliquely
inserted in a forward and upward direction.
Description of Cassette Insertion and Type Detection Mechanism
Next, as shown in FIGS. 33 to 42 a cassette insertion and type detection
mechanism 14 for selecting the insertion position and type of the
small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 which are selectively
inserted into the cassette stage 6 is secured to the lower portion of the
bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6. The cassette insertion and type
detection mechanism 141 is designed so that as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the
common detection target portions 15,16 at one end side of the respective
pairs of right and left detection target portions 15,16 which are formed
in the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 are detected by one
common detection lever 51, and the first and second detection target
portions which are arranged at different positions at the other end side
are detected by a double lever mechanism 55 comprising first and second
detection levers 51 and 52. The two detection levers 51 which are
symmetrical between the right and left sides are formed of metal plates or
the like, and the second detection lever 52 at the double lever mechanism
55 is formed of synthetic resin or the like.
One detection lever 51 and the first and second detection levers 51, 52 of
the double lever mechanism 55 are fixed in the neighborhood of both the
right and left ends of the lower portion of the bottom plate 6a of the
cassette stage 6 through the vertical support pins 142 so as to be freely
rotatable symmetrically in the directions of the arrows e,e' on the
horizontal plane. Accordingly, the first and the second detection levers
51, 52 of the double lever mechanism 55 are freely rotationally secured to
the common support pin 142. The two detection levers 51 at both the right
and left sides are rotationally urged in the direction of the arrow e' by
the pair of right and left tension coil springs 144 serving as the
rotational urging means, and the second detection lever 52 of the double
lever mechanism 55 is rotationally urged in the direction of the arrow e'
by the torsion coil spring 145 serving as the rotational urging means. A
pair of light reflection type optical sensors 22 are secured to the lower
portion of the bottom plate 6 at the side of one detection lever 51 while
the sensors are put face down, and two pairs of light reflection type
optical sensors 22, 23 for detecting the positions of the first and second
detection levers 51 and 52 respectively are secured to the lower portion
of the bottom plate 6a at the side of the double lever mechanism 55 while
the sensors are put face down. Further, light reflection plates 56 and 57
are secured to the totally three detection levers 51 and 52, and a
projection 53 for pushing the first detection lever 51 in the direction of
the arrow e and an optical shutter 54 for inhibiting the operation of the
optical sensor 22 for detecting the position of the first detection lever
51 are integrally formed with the second detection lever 52 of the double
lever mechanism 55. The optical shutter 54 is designed so as to be movable
in a space between the optical sensor 22 and the light reflection plate 56
in the directions of the arrows e,e'. Further, one end 51a which is the
inner side end of each of the two detection levers 51 at both the right
and left sides is constructed as a detection portion, and the projection
53 in the second detection lever 52 of the double lever mechanism 55 is
constructed as a detection portion. The one ends 51a of the two detection
levers 51 and the projection 58 of the second detection lever 52 are
vertically projected into the cassette stage 6 at the front side of the
front end (the end portion in the arrow a direction side) of the bottom
plate 6a of the cassette stage 6.
In the cassette insertion and type detection mechanism 141, as shown in
FIGS. 33, 36 and 39, totally three detection levers 51, 52 are rotated and
restored in the direction of the arrow e' by the tension coil spring 144
and the torsion coil spring 145 before the cassette insertion into the
cassette stage 6. As shown in FIGS. 34, 37 and 40, when the small-size
tape cassette 1 is correctly inserted from the arrow a direction to the
insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.1 in the
cassette stage 6, a pair of right and left detection target portions 15 of
the small-size tape cassette 1 abuts against the one ends 51a serving as
the detection target portions of the pair of right and left detection
levers 51 from the direction of the arrow a, and the pair of right and
left detection levers 51 are rotated in the direction of the arrow a
against the tension coil spring 145. At this time, the pair of right and
left light reflection plates 56 of the pair of right and left detection
levers 51 are moved to the lower side of the pair of right and left
optical sensors 22, so that the pair of right and left optical sensors 22
are turned on to detect the rotational positions of the pair of right and
left detection levers 51 by the pair of right and left optical sensors 22,
thereby simultaneously performing the type detection indicating that the
inserted cassette is a small-size tape cassette 1 and the insertion
position detection indicating that the small-size tape cassette 1 is
correctly inserted to the insertion reference position.
Next, as shown in FIGS. 35, 38 and 41, when the large-size tape cassette 2
is correctly inserted in the direction of the arrow a to the insertion
reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11 in the cassette
stage 6, the pair of right and left detection target portions 16 of the
large-size tape cassette 2 abuts against the one end 51a serving as the
detection portion of one detection lever 51 and the projection 53 serving
as the detection portion of the second detection lever 52 of the double
lever mechanism 55 from the direction of the arrow a. At this time, the
one detection lever 51 is simply rotated in the direction of the arrow e
in the same manner as described above, and one optical sensor 22 is turned
on. However, in the double lever mechanism 55, the second detection lever
52 is first rotated against the torsion coil spring 145 in the direction
of the arrow e around the common support pin 142.
The optical shutter 54 of the second detection lever 52 preferentially
moves to the lower side of the optical sensor 22 in a space between the
optical sensor 22 and the light reflection plate 56 to inhibit the
operation of the optical sensor 22 (to inhibit the shift from OFF to ON
and lock the optical sensor to OFF state), and at the same time the
projection 53 of the second detection lever 52 abuts against the
projection 58 of the first detection lever 51 from the direction of the
arrow e to push and move the first detection lever 51 against the tension
coil spring 144 around the common support pin 142 in the direction of the
arrow e. The light reflection plate 57 of the second detection lever 52 is
moved to the lower side of the optical sensor 23 to turn on the optical
sensor 23, and the rotational position of the second detection lever 52 is
detected by the optical sensor 23. On the other hand, the light reflection
plate 56 of the first detection lever 51 which is pushed and moved in the
direction of the arrow e is also moved to the lower side of the optical
sensor 22. However, the optical shutter 54 which preferentially moves has
stopped below the optical sensor 22, so that the optical sensor 22 is kept
in OFF state.
Accordingly, when the large-size tape cassette 2 is correctly inserted to
the insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11 in
the cassette stage 6, the two optical sensors 22 and 23 are turned on to
simultaneously perform the type detection indicating that the inserted
cassette is a large-size tape cassette 2 and the insertion position
detection indicating that the large-size tape cassette 2 is correctly
inserted to the insertion reference position P.sub.12. In addition, since
at this time the second detection lever 51 is pushed and moved in the
direction of the arrow e by the projection 53 of the first detection lever
52, as shown in FIGS. 38 and 41 the rotational angle of the first
detection lever 51 in the direction of the arrow e is increased, and the
one end 51a thereof is separated in the direction of the arrow a from the
front lid 2A of the large-size tape cassette 2, thereby forming a gap 24
therebetween. Accordingly, when the large-size tape cassette 2 is loaded
to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 to open the front lid 2A after the
cassette insertion as described above, or when the large-size tape
cassette 2 is ejected from the cassette mount position P.sub.3 to close
the front lid 2a, the front lid 2A can be smoothly opened/closed with no
interference with the one end 51a of the first detection lever 51.
According to the cassette insertion position and type identification
mechanism 141 as described above, the insertion position detection and the
type detection of the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 can be
performed by commonly applying the first and second detection levers 51,
52 of the double lever mechanism 55 to these cassettes. Therefore, the
number of parts and the number of steps can be reduced, and the saving of
the space and the reduction of the cost can be performed. In addition,
when the second detection lever 52 performs the insertion position
detection and the type detection of the large-size tape cassette 2, the
operation of the optical sensor 22 for the first detection lever 51 which
is used to perform the insertion position detection and the type detection
of the small-size tape cassette 1 is inhibited by the optical shutter 54
of the second detection lever 51. Therefore, the operations of the two
optical sensors 22, 23 for detecting the positions of the first and second
detection levers 51 and 52 are made clear, and a cumbersome adjustment
work in a fabrication process is unnecessary. Further, when the large-size
tape cassette 2 is inserted, the first detection lever 51 is pushed and
moved by the projection 53 of the second detection lever 52 to violently
separate the one end 51a of the first detection lever 51 from the front
lid 2A of the large-size tape cassette 2. Therefore, the front lid 2A can
be smoothly opened/closed with no interference of the one end 51a of the
first detection lever 51. The optical sensors 22, 23 used for the cassette
insertion and type detection mechanism 141 are not limited to the light An
reflection type optical sensors, but a light transmission type optical
sensor may be used.
Description of Cassette Discharge Mechanism
Next, as shown in FIGS. 33 to 47B, in the cassette discharge mechanism the
pair of right and left detection levers 51 and 52 are also used as a
cassette discharge lever, and in the following description, these
detection levers 51, 52 are described as cassette discharge levers 51, 52.
The pair of right and left cam driven levers 28 for driving the pair of
right and left cassette discharge levers 51, 52 are secured to the pair of
right and left side plate portions 92a of the cassette press lever 92 in
the cassette stage 6 through the pair of right and left horizontal support
pins 29 so as to be freely rotatable in the directions of the arrows g,g'
on the vertical plane. The pair of right and left cam driven levers 28 are
suspended at the lower side of the pair of right and left support pins 29,
and the pair of cams 31 comprising rollers are rotationally freely secured
in a horizontal moving locus of the directions of the arrows a,a' of the
lower ends 28a of the pair of right and left cam driven levers 28 inside
the pair of right and left chassis side plates 32 shown in FIGS. 4 to 8.
At this time, as shown in FIGS. 47A to 47B, a pair of right and left cam
driven levers 28 are formed of synthetic resin, and a contact portion 39
to the other end 51b of the cassette discharge lever 51 is integrally
formed at the inside position of the lower end 28a which is brought into
contact with the cam 31, and the a leaf spring portion 38 which is bent
substantially upwardly in a wavelike form from the side surface of the
arrow g direction side of the contact portion 39. Further, a stopper pin
38a which is in parallel to the axial direction of the support pin 29 is
integrally formed at the upper end of the leaf spring portion 38, and a
securing hole 28b for the support pin 29 is formed at the upper end of
each of the pair of right and left cam driven levers 28. Further, two
stoppers 40a, 40b for positionally regulating the stopper pins 38a within
a fixed range at two positions on the peripheries of the support pins 29
are formed at the lower end edges of the pair of right and left side
plates 92a of the cassette press lever 92 to which the pair of right and
left cam driven levers 28 are freely rotationally secured through the pair
of right and left support pins 29. The leaf spring portion 38, the stopper
pin 38a and the two stoppers 40a, 40b constitute the control means 50 for
positionally regulating the cam driven levers 28 at the intermediate
position within its swing range and with some degree of freedom in a fixed
range.
That is, the swing range .theta..sub.11 shown in FIG. 46 is set so that the
lower end 28a of the cam driven lever 28 can keep a suitable over-lap
amount OV with the cam 31 which is horizontally moved relatively in the
directions of the arrows a,a', and also the cam driven lever 28 can be
smoothly rotated in the directions of the arrows g,g' by the cam 31 which
is horizontally moved relatively in the directions of the arrows a,a', and
the control means 50 serves to positionally regulate the cam driven lever
28 at the intermediate position within the swing range .theta..sub.11 and
with some degree of freedom within a fixed range .theta..sub.12.
According to the cassette discharge mechanism, as shown in FIGS. 34 and 35,
when the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 are selectively
inserted from the direction of the arrow a to the insertion reference
position P.sub.12 in the cassette stage 6, the pair of right and left
cassette discharge levers 51 are symmetrically rotated in the direction of
the arrow e, and the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 are
pressed and fixed onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 by the
cassette press force of the cassette press lever 92, whereby the pair of
right and left cassette discharge levers 51 are stopped at the rotational
position in the direction of the arrow e.
At this time, when the cam driven lever 29 is rotated in the direction of
the arrow g' until it reaches the position as indicated by a solid line in
FIG. 44, the stopper pin 38a abuts against one stopper 40b, and the
further free rotation of the cam driven lever 28 in the direction of the
arrow g' is regulated, so that the cam driven lever 28 is stopped at the
position indicated by the solid line. The stop position of the cam driven
lever 28 indicated by the solid line is the maximum value in the direction
of the arrow g' of the swing range .theta..sub.12 having the degree of
freedom which is indicated by the solid line in FIG. 46, and at this time,
as shown in FIG. 44, a fixed gap is kept between the contact portion 39 of
the cam driven lever 28 and the other end 51b of the cassette discharge
lever 51.
Next, when the cam driven lever 28 is rotated in the direction of the arrow
g until it reaches the position indicated by a one-dotted chain line in
FIG. 44, the stopper pin 38a abuts against the other stopper 40a, and the
further free rotation of the cam driven lever 28 in the direction of the
arrow g is regulated, whereby the cam driven lever 28 is stopped at the
position indicated by one-dotted chain line. The position of the cam
driven lever 28 indicated by the one-dotted chain line is set to the
maximum value in the direction of the arrow g of the swing range
.theta..sub.12 having the degree of freedom indicated by the one-dotted
chain line in FIG. 46.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 44, when the cassette stage 6 is horizontally
moved from the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 in the direction of the
arrow a in order to load to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 the
small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1,2 which are selectively
inserted into the cassette stage 6, the cam 31 relatively abuts against
the lower end 28a of the cam driven lever 28 from the direction of the
arrow a' in the course of the movement, and the cam driven lever 28 is
rotated in the direction of the arrow g from the stop position indicated
by a solid line to the stop position indicated by a one-dotted chain line.
Subsequently, through the relative movement of the cam 31 in the direction
of the arrow a', the cam driven lever 28 is further rotated in the
direction of the arrow g from the stop position indicated by a one-dotted
chain line to get over the cam 31. At this time, the leaf spring portion
38 is slacked against elasticity, and the restoring force of the cam
driven lever 28 in the direction of the arrow g' is charged to the leaf
spring portion 38.
At the instantaneous time when the cam driven lever 28 gets over the cam 31
moving relatively in the direction of the arrow a', the cam driven lever
28 is rotationally returned in the direction of the arrow g' by the
restoring force charged to the leaf spring portion 38. However, at the
instantaneous time when the cam driven lever 28 passes over the stop
position indicated by a one-dotted chain line in the direction of the
arrow g', the stopper pin 38a is separated from the stopper 40a in the
direction of the arrow g', and the restoring force of the cam driven lever
28 in the direction of the arrow g' by the leaf spring portion 38 is
extinguished. Therefore, the reverse rotational force of the cam driven
lever 28 in the direction of the arrow g' is very weak, and the cam driven
lever 28 is highly stably stopped at the stop position indicated by the
solid line at the instantaneous time when the cam driven lever 28 is
rotated in the direction of the arrow g' until the stop position indicated
by the solid line and the stopper pin 38a abuts against the stopper 40.
Accordingly, the gap 27 is kept between the contact portion 39 of the cam
driven lever 28 which is reversely rotated in the direction of the arrow
g' and the other end 51b of the cassette discharge lever 51, and the
contact portion 39 of the cam driven lever 28 does not abut against the
other end 51b of the cassette discharge lever 51 from the direction of the
arrow g'. Even if the contact portion 39 abuts against the other end 51b
in the direction of the arrow g', the impact at that time is very weak,
and thus there occurs no uncomfortable impact sound "click sound".
Accordingly, it can be prevented in advance that since the contact portion
39 of the cam driven lever 28 strongly impinges against the other end 51b
of the cassette discharge lever 51 from the direction of the arrow g', the
cassette discharge lever 51 is carelessly rotated in the direction of the
arrow e' corresponding to the cassette discharge direction in the course
of the cassette loading operation, so that the small-size and large-size
tape cassettes 1, 2 in the cassette stage 6 are carelessly displaced in
the direction of the arrow a' to induce the loading miss of the small-size
and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2. Further, since the contact portion 39
of the cam driven lever 28 does not strongly collide against the other end
51b of the cassette discharge lever 51 from the direction of the arrow g',
the left time of the cam driver lever 28 and the cassette discharge lever
51 can be increased. Particularly, the cam driven lever 28 can be formed
of synthetic resin or the like, and it can be manufactured at a low cost.
Next, as shown in FIG. 45, when the cassette stage 6 is horizontally moved
to the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 in the direction of the arrow
a' in order to eject the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2
from the cassette mount position P.sub.3 to the cassette insertion
position P.sub.1 by the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2, the
cam 31 abuts against the lower end 28a of the cam driven lever 28 from the
direction of the arrow a in the course of the movement, and the cam driven
lever 28 is rotated in the direction of the arrow g' from the stop
position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 44 to the position shown in
FIG. 45. At this time, the contact portion 39 of the cam driven lever 28
strongly pushes the other end 51b of the cassette discharge lever 51, and
the pair of right and left cassette discharge levers 51 are simultaneously
rotated in the direction of the arrow e', whereby the small-size and
large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 in the cassette stage 6 are discharged in
the direction of the arrow a' by a fixed distance. The discharge stroke of
the small-size and large-size tape cassettes 1, 2 in the direction of the
arrow a' is dependent on the thickness T.sub.1, T.sub.2, etc. of these
tape cassettes 1, 2. The discharge stroke of the small-size tape cassette
1 is set to be large, and the discharge stroke of the large-size tape
cassette 2 is set to be small. As shown in FIG. 45, when the cam driven
lever 28 is rotated in the direction of the arrow g', the leaf spring
portion 38 is slacked against its elasticity, and the restoring force of
the cam driven lever 28 in the direction of the arrow g is charged to the
leaf spring portion 38. At the instantaneous time when the cam driven
lever 28 gets over the cam 31 in the direction of the arrow a', the cam
driven lever 28 is rotationally returned in the direction of the arrow g
by the restoring force.
The embodiments of the present invention are described above. However, the
present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various
modifications may be made on the basis of the technical concept of the
present invention. For example, application of the present invention is
not limited to a video cassette recorder, and it may applied to various
kinds of cassette type recording and reproducing apparatuses.
The cassette type recording and reproducing apparatus of the present
invention has the following effects.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a cassette type
recording and reproducing apparatus in that in a tape cassette ejecting
operation, the cam driven lever is kicked by the cam, and the cassette
discharge lever is rotated by the kicked cam driven lever, whereby the
tape cassette in the cassette stage is pushed out in the cassette
discharge direction by the cassette discharge lever is provided with
control means for positionally regulating the cam driven lever with some
degree of freedom in a fixed range and at the intermediate position of the
swing range in which the cam driven lever is rotated by the cam.
Therefore, it can be prevented in advance that the cam driven lever
violently collides against the cassette discharge lever in the course of
the cassette loading operation to produce an uncomfortable sound "click
sound", and the tape cassette in the cassette stage is pushed and
displaced by the cassette discharge lever due to the impact of the
collision, so that the tape cassette cannot be accurately mounted to the
plural cassette positioning pins (not shown) at the cassette mount
position to induce a cassette loading miss. In order to prevent the
positional displacement of the tape cassette in the cassette stage, no
special countermeasure to increase the clamp force of the tape cassette in
the cassette stage is unnecessary, and rather the camp force can be
sufficiently reduced. Accordingly, the tape cassette may be discharged
with a weak force by the cassette discharge lever at the eject time, and
the rigidity of the cassette discharge lever and the cam driven lever is
not necessary to be increased, so that reduction in cost and enhancement
in reliability can be achieved.
Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the cam
driven lever is formed of synthetic resin or the like, and the cam driven
lever is positionally regulated with some degree of freedom in a fixed
range by the leaf spring portion which is integrally formed with the cam
driven lever and the plural stoppers which are formed in the cassette
stage, so that the cam driven lever can be positionally regulated
accurately with some degree of freedom in the fixed range with a small
number of parts and a small number of fabrication steps and in a simple
structure.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the cassette
stage is returned to the cassette insertion position, the cassette
insertion port of the front panel is closed by the opening/closing lid
secured to the cassette stage, and the cassette double insertion
preventing lid is evacuated to the lid opening position. When the cassette
stage is moved from the cassette insertion position to the cassette mount
position, the cassette double insertion preventing lid is moved from the
lid opening position to the lid closing position so that the inside of the
cassette insertion port is closed by the cassette double insertion
preventing lid. Therefore, the cassette double insertion, etc. can be
prevented in advance when the tape cassette has been loaded, thereby
enhancing the safety of the apparatus.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the
opening/closing lid is also used as the cassette press member for pressing
the tape cassette in the cassette stage, so that the number of parts and
the number of fabrication processes can be reduced, and the cost can be
reduced.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the cassette double
insertion preventing lid is opened/closed by the opening/closing mechanism
which is driven by the cassette loading mechanism, so that the loading
motor is also used as the cassette double insertion preventing lid to
perform the opening/closing operation and thus the construction can be
simplified. In addition, the cassette double insertion preventing lid can
be opened/closed at a good timing which is synchronized with the movement
of the cassette stage, and thus there occurs no risk that the cassette
stage and the cassette double insertion preventing lid collide against
each other and thus they are damaged together, resulting in enhancement of
the safety.
According to the sixth aspect of present invention, the apparatus is
designed so that the front lid portion of the tape cassette into which the
cassette slant insertion preventing stopper secured to the cassette stage
is inserted is relatively pushed from the upper side to prevent the
forwardly and upwardly slant insertion of the tape cassette into the
cassette stage in advance. Therefore, there never occurs such a loading
miss that the tape cassette is loaded while it is carelessly obliquely
inserted into the cassette stage, and the reliability and safety are
enhanced. In addition, when the tape cassette is loaded from the cassette
insertion position to the cassette mount position by the cassette stage,
the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper is escaped to the upper
side of the cassette stage, so that the front lid of the tape cassette can
be smoothly opened with no interference with the cassette slant insertion
preventing stopper.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when the cassette
stage is moved to the cassette insertion position, the cassette slant
insertion preventing stopper is burrowed into the lower side of the top
plate of the chassis. Therefore, when the cassette slant insertion
preventing lever is about to be pushed up by the tape cassette which is
inserted in the forwardly upwardly slant direction into the cassette
stage, the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper abuts against the
top plate of the chassis to prevent the cassette slant insertion
preventing stopper from being upwardly floated. Therefore, it is not
necessary to support the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper with
a complicated mechanism, so that the construction can be simplified and
the cost can be reduced.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, when the cassette
stage is moved to the cassette mount position, the cassette slant
insertion preventing stopper is escaped onto the mount table of the
cassette stage. Therefore, when the tape cassette is loaded to the
cassette mount position, the tape cassette is prevented from interfering
with the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper even when it is
floated upwardly from the cassette stage.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the cassette slant
insertion preventing stopper is freely rotatably secured to the front lid
opening/closing lever which is freely rotatably secured to the cassette
stage. Therefore, when the tape cassette is loaded to the cassette mount
position by the cassette stage and the front lid of the tape cassette is
upwardly opened by the front lid opening/closing lever, the cassette slant
insertion preventing stopper can be easily escaped out of the front lid
opening/closing space by the front lid opening/closing lever, so that the
front lid opening/closing lever can be also used as the driving lever of
the cassette slant insertion preventing stopper. Accordingly, the number
of parts and the number of fabrication steps can be reduced, and the cost
can be also reduced.
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, when the cassette
stage is moved from the cassette insertion position to the cassette mount
position side, the accommodation control means is actuated to
automatically accommodate the cassette insertion guide and the cassette
identifying member from its operation position in the cassette insertion
space to the accommodation position out of the cassette insertion space.
Therefore, under the cassette loading state, the cassette insertion guide
and the cassette identifying member are little seen from the outside of
the cassette insertion port. Accordingly, the outward appearance is
remarkably better, and there can be beforehand prevented such an accident
that an operator carelessly touches the cassette insertion guide, the
cassette identifying member or the like to carelessly jump out these
members from the cassette insertion space, so that the tape cassette
carelessly collides against the cassette insertion guide, the cassette
identifying member or the like in the cassette eject operation, and
damages these members. Therefore, the reliability and safety can be more
enhanced.
According to the eleventh and twelfth aspects of the present invention,
when the cassette stage is moved from the cassette insertion position to
the cassette mount position, the control lever is driven by the control
lever urging means so that the cassette identifying member and the
cassette insertion guide which are moved to the operation position in the
cassette insertion space are accommodated at the accommodation position
out of the cassette insertion space. Therefore, the cassette insertion
guide and the cassette identifying member can be accommodated at the
accommodation position out of the cassette insertion space in the cassette
loading operation with a simple construction. In addition, the control
lever and the cassette insertion guide are driven by the urging means to
perform the accommodation operation. Therefore, the operation can be
surely performed, and these members are never jumped out of the cassette
insertion space even when the operator carelessly touches these members.
Accordingly, the reliability and the safety can be more enhanced.
The two cassette identifying members are disposed at two positions which
are in the neighborhood of both the right and left ends of the cassette
insertion port, and the cassette insertion guide is escaped out of the
cassette insertion space only when the pair of right and left cassette
identifying members are simultaneously driven by the large-size tape
cassette. Therefore, even when only one of the cassette identifying
members is driven to erroneously insert the small-size tape cassette or
the like from a position which is greatly deviated to the right or left
side of the cassette insertion port, the erroneous insertion of the
small-size tape cassette can be surely prevented by the cassette insertion
guide, and thus the reliability is very high.
According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, when plural
types of tape cassettes which are different in size are selectively
inserted into the cassette stage, two detection targets which are formed
at different positions with respect to the positioning reference holes
which are common to these tape cassettes are detected by the two detection
levers of the double lever mechanism respectively, whereby the insertion
position detection and the type detection of the tape cassette are
simultaneously performed. In this case, for example, when a large-size
tape cassette is inserted and the second detection lever is actuated, the
first detection lever is pushed by the second detection lever to move the
first detection lever to a position where it does not interfere with the
large-size tape cassette. In addition, the operation of the position
detecting optical sensor of the first detection lever is inhibited by an
optical shutter plate of the second detection lever. Therefore, the
insertion position detection and the type detection of the tape cassette
can be simultaneously performed by only the two detection levers and the
optical sensor. Accordingly, the cost can be reduced and the space can be
saved because the number of parts and the number of fabrication steps can
be reduced, and also the reliability can be enhanced because the number of
optical sensors is reduced. Further, when a large-size tape cassette is
detected, the first detection lever is pushed by the second detection
lever, and the operation of the optical sensor for detecting the first
detection lever is inhibited by the optical shutter of the second
detection lever. Therefore, it is unnecessary to adjust the position of
the optical sensor, and thus the fabrication is facilitated.
According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the first and
second detection levers are freely rotatably fixed around the common
supporting pins of the cassette stage, so that the number of parts and the
number of fabrication steps are reduced, and thus the cost can be reduced.
Accordingly to the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, the first
detection lever is also used as a cassette discharge lever, so that the
number of parts and the number of fabrication steps can be reduced, and
thus the cost can be reduced.
According to the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, the pair of
right and left stopper blocks are freely rotatably secured to the cassette
stage by the pair of right and left supporting pins. Therefore, these
stopper blocks never suffers deformation such as distortion or the like
due to external force, and the pair of right and left rotational urging
means may merely produce weak force with which the dead weight of the
stopper blocks can be supported. Accordingly, in the case where the
large-size tape cassette is inserted into the cassette stage, the pair of
right and left stopper blocks can be easily escaped out of the cassette
stage, and the large-size tape cassette can be easily inserted into the
cassette stage with the weak force. On the other hand, in the case where
the small-size tape cassette is inserted into the cassette stage, even
when the small-size tape cassette is carelessly violently pushed in, the
cassette guide and the cassette stoppers are prevented from being deviated
from the normal position in the cassette stage because there never occurs
any deformation such as distortion or the like in the pair of right and
left stopper blocks. Therefore, when plural types of tape cassettes which
are different in size are selectively inserted into the cassette stage,
any tape cassette of these tape cassettes can be easily inserted, and any
tape cassette can be accurately positioned in the cassette stage, so that
the loading miss of the plural tape cassettes can be prevented beforehand.
According to the seventeenth aspect of the present invention, the
supporting pins of the pair of right and left stopper blocks are set in
the range of 0.degree. to 90.degree. degrees with respect to the insertion
direction. Therefore, when the small-size tape cassette is positioned to
the insertion reference position by the pair of right and left cassette
stoppers, the pair of right and left stopper blocks are hardly escaped,
and thus the small-size tape cassette can be positioned with high
precision.
According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, the pair of
right and left stopper blocks are formed with slant surfaces for escape
from the large-size tape cassette. Therefore, not only the force of the
rotational urging means can be weakened, but also the insertion of the
large-size tape cassette into the cassette stage can be easily performed
with weak force.
According to the nineteenth aspect of the present invention, the pair of
right and left stopper blocks are freely rotatably secured to the lower
portion of the bottom plate of the cassette stage by the pair of right and
left supporting pins disposed at the outside of these stopper blocks in
the right and left directions, and the cassette guides and the cassette
stoppers are offset upwardly from the pair of right and left supporting
pins in such a state that the cassette guides and the cassette stoppers of
the pair of right and left stopper blocks are projected to the upper side
of the bottom plate by the pair of right and left rotational urging means.
Therefore, when the small-size tape cassette is positioned to the
insertion reference position by the cassette guide of the pair of right
and left stopper blocks, the pair of right and left stopper blocks are
upwardly rotationally urged, and thus they are not escaped downwardly, so
that the small-size tape cassette can be positioned with high precision.
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