Cassette loading device

Abstract: There is disclosed a cassette loading device of a compact, lightweight, thin type for use in a video movie or the like. An opening lever is pivotally mounted on a stand, and is engaged in a cam groove with a top plate. With this arrangement, the opening lever is accommodated within a longitudinal dimension of a cassette, and therefore the loading device in the direction of the longitudinal dimension of the cassette can be greatly reduced. The cassette is moved through the pivotal movement of the top plate and arms, and with this arrangement operating switches and so on can be easily mounted on a plane of projection of the top plate. Therefore, the positional stability of the cassette loading device can be achieved, and the number of component parts can be reduced, thereby achieving a compact, lightweight construction of the cassette loading device.

Description: This invention relates to a cassette loading device for use, for example, in a video apparatus for recording and/or reproducing video signals and the like on a magnetic tape. It is desirable to make video apparatuses compact and lightweight, and therefore it is also desirable that a cassette loading device, which is one constituent element of a video apparatus, is made compact and lightweight. A conventional cassette loading device will now be described. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the conventional cassette loading device in a cassette loading/unloading position, Fig. 9 is a side-elevational view showing a tape guide portion in a cassette-down position of the conventional cassette loading device, Fig. 10 is an enlarged top plan view showing the positional relationship between an opener of the cassette loading device and a cassette, and Figs. 11 and 12 are a side-elevational view and a cross-sectional view of the cassette loading device in the cassette-down position, respectively. In Fig. 8, the cassette 101 has a lid 101a, and a cassette holder 102 releasably holds the cassette 101. Each of a first arm 103 and a second arm 104 is supported for pivotal movement at one end thereof and for sliding movement at the other end thereof, and the two arms 103 and 104 are pivotally engaged with each other generally at their central portions. A stand 105 has the axis of pivotal movement of the first arm 103, and a sliding groove for the second arm 104. A spring 106 is engaged with the first and second arms 103 and 104, and urges the cassette holder 102 from the cassette-down position (Figs. 9 and 11) toward the cassette loading/unloading position (Fig. 8). Biasing springs 107 are fixedly secured at their one ends to the cassette holder 102. An opener 108 is pivotally connected at one end 108a to the cassette holder 102, and is engaged with a slide pin 103a of the arm 103. A guide 109 serves to prevent a magnetic tape 100 from running on a cylinder 111 when the magnetic tape 100 is slack, thereby preventing the magnetic tape 100 from being damaged. An outer shell 110 pivotally supports the guide 109. The operation of the conventional cassette loading device of the above construction will now be described. First, in the condition shown in Fig. 8, when the cassette 101 is inserted into the cassette holder 102 in a direction of the arrow A, the distal end of the opener 108 is disposed between the cassette 101 and the lid 101a as shown in Fig. 10. When the cassette holder 102 is manually moved toward the cassette-down position (Figs. 9 and 11), the slide pin 103a of the arm 103 moves along a slide groove in the cassette holder 102, and the engagement portion of the opener 108 is pivotally moved about its end 108a in a direction of arrow B in response to the movement of the slide pin 103a, thereby opening the lid 101a. Upon further movement of the cassette holder 102, if the magnetic tape 100 is slackened, the magnetic tape 100 moves toward the cassette-down position (Fig. 9) along the guide 109 without interfering with the cylinder 111. In the cassette-down position shown in Fig. 12, the cassette holder 102 is locked at a predetermined position of the device body by a lock mechanism (not shown), and the cassette 101 is engaged with positioning pins 112 on the device body, and is urged by the biasing springs 107 in the direction of arrow B, so that the cassette 101 is loaded and fixed at a predetermined position. At this time, the guide 109 is engaged with the cassette lid 101a, and is pivotally moved about a pivot axis 109a as shown in Fig. 9 to be disposed between the cassette lid 101a and the cylinder 111. Then, when the lock mechanism is released, the first and second arms 103 and 104 are pivotally moved by the biasing force of the spring 106, so that the cassette holder 102 is returned to the position shown in Fig. 8 where the cassette 101 can be loaded and unloaded from the cassette holder 102. At this time, the guide 109 is released from the bias of the cassette lid 101a, and is returned to its initial position, and then the lid 101a is closed. A problem with the above conventional construction is that, since the guide 109 is mounted on the outer shell 110, it is difficult to precisely position the guide 109 relative to the cylinder 111, and a gap between the guide 109 and the cylinder 111 must be secured, which results in a problem that the device can not be of a compact construction. Also, the cassette lid 101a must be opened at an early time, and a good margin of freedom in the design of the opener 108 is not obtainable. JP-A-2 012 644, GB-A-2 093 258 and JP-A-1 320 665 each disclose a cassette loading device for a video apparatus. In JP-A-2 012 644, the cassette loading device includes, according to the preamble of claim 1, a guide means for preventing the magnetic tape of a cassette from running on a cylinder when the tape is slack during movement of a cassette holder in which a cassette containing the magnetic tape is loaded from a first position at which the cassette can be loaded/unloaded from the cassette holder to a record position where signals can be recorded on or reproduced from the magnetic tape. However, in each case the position of the guide means is fixed relative to the position of the cassette holder when in its second position. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cassette loading device which can positively guide a magnetic tape and which has a simple, compact design. The present invention is characterised in that the device includes means for moving said guide means away from said cassette in response to movement of the cassette holder when said cassette holder is moved to said second position. With this construction, in response to the movement of the cassette, the tape guide can be moved in such a manner that the tape guide is so positioned as to prevent the slackened magnetic tape from running on a cylinder until a lower edge of the magnetic tape passes an upper edge of the cylinder, thereby preventing damage to the magnetic tape, and also the tape guide can be moved into the gap between the cassette lid and the cylinder. Therefore, the gap between the cylinder and the cassette lid can be reduced, thereby achieving a compact and thin construction for the cassette loading device. The features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the drawings, of which:- Fig. 1A is a side-elevational view of a preferred embodiment of a cassette loading device of the present invention in a cassette loading/unloading position; Fig. 1B is a fragmentary, side-elevational view of the device in the cassette loading/unloading position; Fig. 2A is a plan view showing a tape guide portion of the device; Fig. 2B is a side-elevational view showing the tape guide portion; Fig. 3A is a fragmentary, side-elevational view of the device in the cassette loading/unloading position; Fig. 3B is a perspective view of the device in the cassette loading/unloading position; Fig. 3C is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an essential portion of the device; Figs. 4A to 4C are fragmentary, side-elevational views showing the operation of an opening lever portion of the device; Figs. 5A and 5B are side-elevational views showing the operation of the tape guide portion of the device; Fig. 5C is an enlarged side-elevational view showing the operation of the tape guide portion of the device; Fig. 6A is a top plan view showing the tape guide portion of the device; Fig. 6B is a side-elevational view showing the tape guide portion of the device; Fig. 7A is a side-elevational view of the device in a cassette-down position; Fig 7B is a fragmentary side-elevational view of the device in the cassette-down position; Fig 7C is a perspective view of the device in the cassette-down position; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional cassette loading device in a cassette loading/unloading position; Fig. 9 is a side-elevational view showing a tape guide portion of the conventional device in a cassette-down position; Fig. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an opener portion of the conventional device; Fig. 11 is a side-elevational view of the conventional device in the cassette-down position; and Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional device in the cassette-down position. In Figs. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B, the reference numeral 1 denotes a cassette; 1a a lid of the cassette 1; 1b a magnetic tape; 2 a pair of right and left cassette holders; 3 a top plate; 4 arms; 5 stands; 6 up-springs, and 7 an opening lever. Each cassette holder 2 is pivotally supported at its support portion 2a on the arm 4, and is slidably engaged at its support portion 2b in a cam groove 3c of the top plate 3. The top plate 3 is pivotally supported at its support portions 3a on the stands 5. The arm 4 is pivotally supported at its support portion 4a on the top plate 3, and is slidably engaged at its support portion 4b in a slide groove 5a of the stand 5. The up-spring 6 is engaged with an engagement portion 3b of the top plate 3, and is pivotally engaged with a support portion 4c of the arm 4. The opening lever 7 is pivotally supported at its support portion 7a on the stand 5, and a pin 8a formed on the top plate 3 is slidably engaged in a cam groove 7b of the opening lever 7. The reference number 8 denotes a cylinder, 9 a first plate fixedly secured to the stand 5 by screws, 10 a second plate pivotally supported by a pin 12 on the first plate 9, 11 a tape guide fixedly mounted on the second plate 10, and 13 a spring urging the second plate 10 in a direction of arrow C. The operation of the above cassette loading device of this embodiment will now be described with reference to Figs. 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A to 3C, 4A to 4C, 5A to 5C, 6A, 6B and 7A to 7C. First, when the cassette 1 is inserted into the cassette holders 2 in a direction of Arrow A, the distal end of the opening lever 7 is disposed in such a position as to positively engage the lid 1a of the cassette 1, as shown in Figs. 3A and 3C. Then, when the top plate 3 is manually pushed in a direction of arrow F, the top plate 3 is pivotally moved about the support portions 3a, and each arm 4 is pivotally moved about one end 4a while the other end 4b thereof slides along the slide groove 5a, so that each support portion 2a is moved in a direction of arrow B. At this time, since the other end 2b of each cassette holder 2 slides along the cam groove 3c of the top plate 3 in the direction of the arrow B, the cassette holders 2 move parallel in the direction of arrow B. At this time, as shown in Figs. 4A to 4C, the opening lever 7 is pivotally moved about the support portion 7a along the cam groove 7b in response to the angular movement of the pin 8a, and the distal end of the cassette lid la abuts against a surface 7c of the opening 7, and is pivotally moved to be opened along the surface 7c. At this time, the tape guide 11 is disposed at the position shown in Figs. 2A and 2B until the lower edge of the magnetic tape 1b passes past the upper end of the cylinder 8 (see Fig. 5A), and the tape guide 11 prevents the magnetic tape 1b from running on the cylinder 8 when the magnetic tape 1b is slack, thereby preventing damage to the magnetic tape 1b. At this time, the cassette lid 1a abuts against the distal end of the tape guide 11, so that the tape guide 11 is deformed in a direction of arrow D; however, since the tape guide 11 is formed by a coil spring, it is returned to its initial condition because of its restoring force after the cassette lid 1a passes it. Then, when the top plate 3 moves to the position shown in Figs. 5B and 5C, an end surface 3d of the top plate 3 abuts against an end surface 10a of the second plate 10 (Fig. 2A), and the second plate 10 is pivotally moved about the pin 12 in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow C, and is brought into a position shown in Figs. 6A and 6B. When the top plate 3 is further pivotally moved, the cassette 1 is transferred to a cassette-down position in Figs. 7A to 7C, and is engaged with positioning pins 14 on the device body to be loaded at a predetermined position. In this position, the top plate 3 is locked at the predetermined position of the device body by a lock mechanism (not shown). In this position, each arm 4 is urged about the support portion 4a in a direction of arrow E by the up-spring 6, and this urging force is transmitted to the cassette holder 2 since the other end 4b of the arm 4 is not restrained by the slide groove 5a, thereby urging the cassette 1 in a direction to fix the same to the device body. At this time, the lid la of the cassette 1 is in a fully-opened condition. When the lock mechanism is released, the top plate 3 is urged to be pivotally moved by the biasing force of the up-springs 6 in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow F as shown in Figs. 7A to 7C, and this movement causes the cassette holders 2 to move parallel in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow B via the arms 4, so that the cassette holders 2 are returned to the position of Figs. 1A and 1B while the cassette can be loaded on and unloaded from the cassette holders 2. At this time, the lid 1a of the cassette 1 is moved in a manner reverse to the above cassette-down movement, and abuts against the distal end of the tape guide 11, so that the tape guide 11 is deformed in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow D; however, when the tape guide 11 becomes disengaged from the cassette lid 1a, the tape guide 11 is returned to the initial condition because of its spring force. As described above, in this embodiment, while maintaining the precise positioning between the tape guide 11 and the cylinder 7, the tape guide 11 is moved in response to the pivotal movement of the top plate 3. With this arrangement, the extent to which the cassette lid la is opened during the cassette-down operation can be reduced, and therefore the cassette loading device of a thin construction can be provided. Further, since the tape guide 11 is formed by a coil spring, the tape guide 11 is highly resistant to a plastic deformation during the cassette-down operation. Further, the pivotal point 7a of the opening lever 7 is provided at the stand 5, and the opening lever 7 is moved in response to the pivotal movement of the top plate 3. With this arrangement, the opening lever 7 can be provided outside of the cassette 1. Further, the cassette holders 2 are moved in response to the pivotal movement of the top plate 3 via the arms 4, and therefore in the cassette-down position, the cassette holders 2 can be urged by the biasing force of the up-springs 6 in a direction to fix the cassette 1 to the device body, and operating switches and so on can be mounted at the plane of projection of the top plate 3. Further, the up-springs 6 are of a spiral shape, and therefore the longitudinal dimension of the cassette holder can be reduced, and the device can be of a compact size.

Claims: A cassette loading device comprising: a cassette holder (2) for receiving a cassette (1) having a magnetic tape (16) contained therein; guide means (9, 10, 11) for guiding said magnetic tape (16) during movement of said cassette holder (2) from a first position where said cassette (1) can be loaded on and unloaded from said cassette holder (2) to a second position where signals are recorded on or reproduced from said magnetic tape (1), said guide means (9, 10, 11) preventing the magnetic tape (16) from running on a cylinder (8) when said tape (16) is slack; characterised in that the device includes means (3d) for moving said guide means (9, 10, 11) away from said cassette in response to movement of the cassette holder (2) when said cassette holder (2) is moved to said second position. A cassette loading device a claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said guide means (11) comprises a first member (10), pivotally mounted on a body (9) of the device, and a guide member (11) of a resilient material mounted on said first member (10) so as to guide said magnetic tape (16). A cassette loading device as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that said guide member (11) comprises a coil spring. A cassette loading device as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that said guide member (11) comprises a plate-like resilient member.

Inventors: KONISHI AKIO, SHIOKAWA HIROSHI, URA TOSHIKAZU, YOSHIO HIDEAKI, KONISHI, AKIO, SHIOKAWA, HIROSHI, URA, TOSHIKAZU, YOSHIO, HIDEAKI
Applicants: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC IND CO LTD, MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1992
Main classification: G11B15
IPC codes: G11B15