CASSETTE STORING CASE

Abstract: A cassette 5 with longitudinal and transverse dimensions similar to each other is housed in a cassette storing case which can prevent housing of a cassette into the housing case in an incorrect direction and identify a dedicated cassette storing case corresponding to a cassette, while assuring the function of preventing positional shift during stacking. The cassette storing case 1 includes an indicating portion 15 provided on the top surface 1a of the housing case. The indicating portion 15 has a protrusion-and-recess pattern, similar to a design on the cassette, which indicates a housing direction. The cassette storing case 1 further includes a stopper portion 17, provided on the bottom surface 1b of the housing case, for engaging with part 16 of the indicating portion 15 to regulate positional shift when housing cases are stacked with each other.

Description: The present invention relates to the structure of a cassette storing case that houses, for example, a magnetic tape cassette (also called a magnetic tape cartridge) in which a single reel with magnetic tape wound thereon is rotatably housed within a cassette case. A magnetic tape cassette in which a single reel with magnetic tape wound thereon is rotatably housed in a flat cassette case having a generally square flat form, and a disk cassette in which a disk is rotatably housed in a flat cassette case having a generally square flat form, have recently been used to back up data stored on memory for computers. These cassettes vary in form, depending on manufacturers. However, a wide variety of cassettes with similar outside dimensions are manufactured to provide for interchangeability between library units of different manufacturers. There are cases where cassettes of different types are archived or used together. For example, an LTO cassette and a DLT cassette are used in approximately the same applications. The LTO cassette and the DLT cassette are approximately the same in width, but the LTO cassette is smaller in inserting-direction length and height than the DLT cassette. These cassettes are usually housed in their dedicated cassette storing cases when not being used, such as when being conveyed, when being archived, etc. In addition, the cassette is provided with a recording member, such as a bar code label, a memory chip, etc., for identifying the recorded contents. The cassette is housed in the cassette storing case in a fixed direction so that the recording member, such as a bar code, etc., can be read out even in the housed state. Furthermore, the cassette and the cassette storing case are generally provided with a structure for regulating positional shift when stacked, in order to enable transfer, transportation, and conveyance when stacked. For instance, the cassette is provided on the bottom surface with protrusions and the cassette storing case is provided on the top surface with recesses. When they are stacked, the protrusions are fitted into the recesses to regulate positional shift between them. Hence, most of the cassettes are similar in longitudinal and transverse dimensions, and it is troublesome to identify the longitudinal and transverse lengths of a cassette and house the cassette into a housing case in a fixed direction. Because of this, there is a problem that housing of a cassette in an incorrect direction will disable reading of the aforementioned recording member. To prevent housing of a cassette in an incorrect direction, it is possible to provide protrusions, such as reverse-insertion preventing ribs, etc., in a cassette storing case so that when inserted in an incorrect direction, the cassette is projected by the protrusions and thus the lid of the housing case is not closed. However, there will be a fear of a cassette being damaged, if the user closes the lid forcibly without being aware of an error in the housing direction. Furthermore, if cassettes of different kinds, slightly different in outside dimensions but similar in form, are used together, it will become difficult to identify a dedicated cassette storing case corresponding to each cassette. Thus, there will also be a fear that (1) a cassette will be housed in an incorrect housing case, (2) a cassette or a housing case will be damaged, and (3) archiving will be confused. From WO 98/49684A there is known a data storage disk cartridge having a dual housing structure comprising an inner housing contained within an outer housing, said inner housing accommodating an optical disk. The outer housing comprises a top half and a bottom half joined together by using techniques such as adhesive bonding, ultrasonic welding, screws, and compression or snap fitting to form a fixed enclosure for the inner housing. The outer housing acts as a special carrier for the inner housing, wherein the inner housing can only be automatically retracted through one open end of the other housing by a corresponding disk drive. The bottom half of the outer housing of the cassette storage case is provided with a key structure preventing wrong insertion of a disk cartridge into a disk drive system. A viewing window is provided in the top half of the outer housing of the dual housing structure, said viewing window allowing an identification area formed on the inner housing to be viewed from outside the outer housing. The present invention has been made in view of the points mentioned above. Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a cassette storing case which is capable of preventing a cassette from being housed in an incorrect direction and easily identifying a dedicated cassette storing case corresponding to a cassette, while assuring the function of preventing positional shift that would be caused during stacking. The objective of the present invention mentioned above is solved by a cassette storing case suitable for housing a cassette having the features of claim 1 or 6. Further preferred embodiments are laid down in the dependent claims. The description above discloses several embodiments. In the following, some advantages of some embodiments are discussed. According to one embodiment of the cassette storing case, the top surface of the housing case is provided with the indicating portion having a protrusion-and-recess pattern, similar to a design on the cassette, which indicates a housing direction. With the indicating portion, these cassette storing cases have the following advantages: the corresponding relationship between the cassette storing case and a cassette to be housed can be easily identified at a glance; the cassette housing direction can also be easily recognized; housing of a cassette in an incorrect direction can be prevented even when it has longitudinal and transverse dimensions close to each other; and the cassette storing cases also have the function of preventing positional shift that would be caused during stacking. In addition, according to a further embodiment, the cassette storing case includes a stopper portion, provided on the bottom surface of the housing case, for engaging with part of the indicating portion to regulate positional shift when housing cases are stacked with each other. In this case, the cassette storing case can be made structurally simpler, because the indicating portion can also be used for preventing positional shift. According to another embodiment, the cassette storing case includes a protrusion and a recess, provided on the top and bottom surfaces of the housing case at positions corresponding to the protrusion and recess of the cassette, for engaging with the protrusion and recess of the cassette. In this case, positional shift can be regulated when the cassette or housing cases are stacked. Positional shift can also be regulated when the cassette is placed on the housing case for the purpose of display. In the following, the present invention is explained in greater detail with respect to several embodiments thereof in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIGS. 1A and 1C are perspective views of the top surface side of a cassette storing case according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the bottom surface side of the cassette storing case according to the first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the state in which a cassette has been housed in the cassette storing case of FIG. 1 and a lid has been opened; FIG. 3 is a part-sectional view of the state in which two cassette storing cases have been stacked; FIG. 4A is a perspective view of the top surface side of a cassette storing case according to a second embodiment; FIG. 4B is a perspective view of the bottom surface side of the cassette storing case according to the second embodiment; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the state in which a cassette has been placed on the cassette storing case of FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is a part-sectional view of the state in which the cassette and two cassette storing cases have been stacked; First and second embodiments will hereinafter be described with reference to the drawings. First Embodiment Fig. 1A shows a perspective view of the top surface side of a cassette storing case in the first embodiment and Fig. 1B shows a perspective view of the bottom surface side of the cassette storing case in the first embodiment. Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the state in which a magnetic tape cassette has been housed and a lid opened. Fig. 3 shows a part-sectional viewof the state in which cassette storing cases have been stacked. The cassette storing case 1 consists of a lower case main body 11 and an upper lid member 12 connected to the main body 11 through a thin connecting portion 13 so that it can be freely opened and closed with respect to the main body 11. Within the cassette storing case 1, a cassette (or a magnetic tape cassette) 5 shown in Fig. 2 is housed. In the case main body 11, a vertical wall 11b is erected in the rear end of a flat bottom plate 11a. In addition, right and left side walls 11c are erected inside the side ends of the bottom plate 11a so that they become lower in height toward the front portion of the bottom plate 11a. Furthermore, a front wall 11d is formed low down in the front end of the bottom plate 11a. The space inside these walls 11b to 11d is used for housing the cassette 5. Also, a finger hanging portion 11e is formed to protrude from the front central portion of the bottom plate 11a. On the other hand, in the lid member 12, the flat top plate 12a is connected at one end thereof to the upper edge of the vertical wall 11b of the case main body 11 through the thin connecting portion 13 so that it is freely rotatable with respect to the main body 11. Also, side walls 12c are erected in both side portions of the top plate 12a, and a front wall 12d is erected in the front endof the topplate 12a opposite to the thin connecting portion 13. Dimensions are set so that the side walls 12c and front wall 12d of the lid member 12 are fitted onto the side walls 11c and front wall 11d of the case main body 11; the lower ends of the side walls 12 of the lid member 12 abut the top surface of the bottom plate 11a; and the bottom plate 11a and the top plate 12a are parallel with each other in the closed state of the lid member 12. The lower central portion of the front wall 12d of the lid member 12 is provided with a cutout 12e corresponding to the finger hanging portion 11e of the case main body 11. The front surface of the front wall 12d extends in taper form toward the cutout 12e, and in the closed state of the lid member 12, the upper end of the finger hanging portion 11e engages with the cutout 12e of the lower end of the tapered surface and is exposed. To keep the closed state of the lid member 12, an engagement structure (not shown), consisting of a protrusion and a recess which engage with each other in the closed state, is provided between the side walls 11c of the case main body 11 and the side walls 12c of the lid member 12, or between the front wall 11d of the case main body 11 and the front wall 12d of the lid member 12. In the aforementioned cassette 5 that is housed within the housing case 1, a single reel (not shown) with magnetic tape wound thereon is rotatably housed within a generally square cassette case 51 which has longitudinal and transverse dimensions similar to each other. As shown in Fig. 2, the cassette case 51 consists of an upper half and a lower half, made of plastic. The cassette case 51 has flat top and bottom surfaces. An opening 52 is formed in one of the side surfaces of the cassette case 51 to pull out one end of the magnetic tape from the cassette case 51 and is opened or closed by a slide door 53. Also, in the front surface of the cassette case 51, a region 54 is formed into the shape of a shallow recess so that a bar code label, etc., can be pasted. The top surface of the cassette 5 has an arrow indication 5a, formed into the shape of a recess, which indicates a direction in which the cassette 5 is inserted into an external recording-reproducing unit. The front portion of the top surface of the cassette 51 has a design including a protrusion-and-recess pattern 5b (in the illustrated case, a mountain-shaped pattern overall) that functions as a holding portion when the cassette 5 is inserted or pulled out. In addition, the top surface of the cassette case 51 has four regulating recesses 55 for regulating positional shift when a plurality of cassettes 5 are stacked, at the front right and left end portions and rear right and left end portions. On the other hand, the bottom surface of the cassette case 51 has four regulating protrusions 56 (see Fig. 6 to be described later) at the same positions corresponding to the regulating recesses 55 in the top surface of the cassette case 51. When two cassettes 5 are stacked, the regulating protrusions 56 on the bottom surface of the upper cassette 5 are fitted into the regulating recesses 55 in the top surface of the lower cassette 5 so that positional shift is regulated in the longitudinal and transverse directions. The cassette 5 is housed in a housing direction where the inserted end of the cassette 5 is housed in the rear end portion (near the thin connecting portion 13) of the cassette storing case 1. In the cassette storing case 1, at least the part of the front wall 12d of the lid member 12 is transparently formed so that a bar code label, etc., on the pasting region 54 of the cassette 5 can be read out. In the housing case 1, the top surface 1a of the lid member 12 has an indicating portion 15, similar to the design on the cassette 5 mentioned above, which has a protrusion-and-recess pattern indicating the housing direction of the cassette 5 (see Fig. 1). More specifically, in the top surface 1a of the housing case 1, the central portion is formed into a shallow recess 15c, leaving behind the circumferential frame portion. In the front end portion, near the thin connecting portion 13c, of the recess 15c, an arrow indication 15a is formed with a protrusion pattern. The arrow indication 15a is similar to the arrow indication 5a indicating the inserting direction of the top surface of the cassette 5. In the rear end portion of the recess 15c, a protrusion-and-recess pattern 15b is formed and similar to the protrusion-and-recess pattern 5b which becomes the holding portion of the cassette 5 mentioned above. The indicating portion 15 enables recognition of the regular housing direction of the cassette 5 into the housing case 1. The four right-angled corners of the recess 15c in the indicating portion 15 of the top surface 1a of the housing case 1 are provided as stopper recesses 16 for regulating positional shift during stacking. On the other hand, the bottom surface 1b (see Fig. 1B) of the housing case 1 is provided with four stopper protrusions 17 in the form of a key at positions corresponding to the stopper recesses 16 in the top surface 1a. The stopper protrusions 17 are fitted into the right-angled stopper recesses 16 so that positional shift can be regulated when two housing cases 1 are stacked together. In Fig. 1C, stopper recesses 16a are formed in the top surface of the housing case 1, and stopper protrusions (not shown) that are fitted into the stopper recesses 16a are formed on the bottom surface of the housing case 1. In the stacked state of two housing cases 1, as shown in Fig. 3, the stopper protrusions 17 on the bottom surface 1b of the upper housing case 1 are fitted into the stopper recesses 16 which are part of the indicating portion 15 in the top surface 1a of the lower housing case 1. In the case where the height of the stopper protrusion 17 is lower than the depth of the stopper recess 16, the bottom surface 1b of the upper housing case 1 and the top surface 1a of the lower housing case 1 are stacked in contact with each other so that the stopper protrusion 17 is held by the longitudinal and transverse edges of the stopper recess 16. Thus, the positional shift, in the longitudinal and transverse directions, of the upper housing case 1 is regulated and the stacked state is maitained. In the case where the height of the stopper protrusion 17 is higher than the depth of the stopper recess 16, the bottom surface 1b of the upper housing case 1 and the top surface 1a of the lower housing case 1 are stacked with a gap formed therebetween. Note that the protrusion-and-recess configuration may be reversed from the aforementioned case. That is, the top surface 1a and bottom surface 1b of the housing case 1 may have stopper protrusions and a stopper recess, respectively. The first embodiment has a uniform design, because it utilizes part of the indicating portion 15 to regulate positional shift during stacking. Second Embodiment Fig. 4A shows a perspective view of the top surface side of a cassette storing case according to a second embodiment and Fig. 4B shows a perspective view of the bottom surface side of the cassette storing case according to the second embodiment. Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of the state in which a magnetic tape cassette has been placed on the cassette storing case. Fig. 6 shows a part-sectional view of the state in which the magnetic tape cassette and two cassette storing cases have been stacked. The fundamental structure of the second embodiment and a magnetic tape cassette 5, excluding the case main body 11 of a cassette housing 1 and the top surface 1a and bottom surface 1b of a lid member 12, are the same as the first embodiment, so the same reference numerals will be applied to the same parts to omit a description of the same parts. On the top surface 1a of the lid member 12 of the housing case 1, there is provided an indicating portion 25, similar to the design on the cassette 5 mentioned above, which has a protrusion-and-recess pattern indicating a housing direction. In the indicating portion 25 of the second embodiment, the top surface 1a is formed approximately flat and an arrow indication 25a, similar to the arrow indication 5a on the top surface of the aforementioned cassette 5 indicating the inserting direction of the cassette 5, is formed with a recess pattern in the rear portion of the lid member 12. Also, a protrusion-and-recess pattern 25b, similar to the protrusion-and-recess pattern 15b that becomes the holding portion of the aforementioned cassette 5, is formed in the front portion of the lid member 12. The indicating portion 25 enables recognition of the regular housing direction of the cassette 5 into the housing case 1. In addition, the top surface 1a of the housing case 1 is provided with four stopper recesses 26 at positions corresponding to the four regulating recesses 55 which regulate positional shift on the top surface of the cassette 5 when the cassettes 5 are stacked with each other. On the other hand, the bottom surface 1b of the housing case 1 is provided with four engageable stopper protrusions 27 at positions corresponding to the stopper recesses 26 on the top surface 1a. With this arrangement, two cassettes 5, or two housing cases 1, are held with each other so that positional shift can be regulated, when they are stacked. In the state in which the cassette 5 has been placed on the housing cases 1, as shown in Figs. 4A, 4B, and 5, regulating protrusions 56 on the bottom surface 1b of the cassette 5 engage with the stopper recesses 26 in the top surface 1a of the housing case 1 to regulate positional shift. When the housing cases 1 are stacked with each other, the stopper protrusions 27 on the bottom surface 1b of the upper housing case 1 are fitted into the stopper recesses 26 in the lower housing case 1. Thus, the positional shift, in the longitudinal and transverse directions, of the upper housing case 1 is regulated and the stacked state is maintained. In the second embodiment, the structure for regulating positional shift of the cassette 5 placed on the housing case 1 temporarily or for display is used as the structure for regulating positional shift when housing cases 1 are stacked together. According to the first and second embodiments, the top surface of the lid member 12 of the housing case 1 has the indicating portions 15 and 25 having a configuration similar to the design (i.e., the arrow indication 5a and protrusion-and-recess pattern 5b) corresponding to the housing direction of the cassette 5. Therefore, the first and second embodiments have the following advantages: the correspondence between the housing case 1 and a cassette of a type to be housed in the housing case 1 can be easily recognized at a glance; housing in an incorrect direction can be prevented, because the housing direction can also be easily recognized by causing the designs of the housing case 1 and the cassette 5 to coincide with each other with respect to the housing direction; and damage to the cassette 5 and the housing case 1, which results from housing of the cassette 5 into a different housing case 1 and housing of the cassette 5 in an incorrect direction, can be prevented. When taking out the cassette 5 from the housing case 1, the operation of opening the housing case 1 can be performed by pressing the finger hanging portion 11e downward with one of the hands and lifting the lid member 12 upward with the other hand. Thus, since there is no need to hold both sides of the bottom portion of the case main body 11 with one of the hands, the opening and closing operations are facilitated. Note that the indicating portion 15 provided in the top surface 1a of the housing case 1 may be either the arrow indication 15a or the protrusion-and-recess pattern 15b. Similarly, the indicating portion 25 may be either the arrow indication 25a or the protrusion-and-recess pattern 25b. Also, instead of forming the finger hanging portion 11e in the front central portion of the bottom plate 11a, finger hanging portions may be formed in the front right and left portions. In that case, it is preferable to provide an engagement structure, which engages with the front end of the bottom plate 11a of the case main body 11 to maintain the closed state of the lid member 12, in the lower end of a member which extends downward from the lower central portion of the front wall 12d of the lid member 12.

Claims: Cassette storing case (1) suitable for housing a cassette (5) comprising a case main body (11), a lid member (12), and a connecting portion (13) connecting same, said lid member (12) being freely rotatable with respect to the main body (11), an indicating portion (15, 16) provided on a top surface (1a) of said storing case (1) and indicating a housing direction of the cassette, wherein said indicating portion (15) comprises an arrow indication (15a) and/or a protrusion-and-recess pattern (15b) having a design adapted to respectively correspond to a design of an arrow indication (5a) and/or a protrusion-and-recess pattern (5b) provided on a top surface of said cassette (5), and a stopper portion (17) provided on a bottom surface (1b) of said storing case (1) engageable with a corresponding part (16) of said indicating portion (15) of a neighbouring case to prevent positional shift when stacking storing cases (1) onto each other. Cassette storage case (1) according to claim 1, characterized by a shallow recess (15c) formed in the top surface (1a) of the housing case (1) as part of the indicating portion (15) providing a circumferential frame portion, wherein corner portions of the recess (15c) in the indicating portion (15) are provided as stopper recesses (16). Cassette storage case (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the stopper portions (17) are adapted to fit with the stopper recesses (16) to regulate positional shift during stacking of storing cases. Cassette storage case (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that a height of the stopper portions (17) is lower than a depth of the stopper recesses (16), wherein the bottom surface (1b) of an upper storage case (1) and the top surface (1 a) of a lower storage case (1) are stacked in contact with each other. Cassette storage case (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that a height of the stopper portions (17) is higher than a depth of the stopper recesses (16), wherein the bottom surface (1b) of the upper storage case (1) and the top surface (1 a) of the lower storage case (12) are stacked with a gap formed therebetween. Cassette storing case (1) suitable for housing a cassette (5), comprising a case main body (11), a lid member (12), and a connecting portion (13) connecting same, said lid member (12) being freely rotatable with respect to the main body (11), an indicating portion (25) provided on a top surface (1a) of said storage case (1) for indicating a housing direction of the cassette (5), wherein said indicating portion (25) comprises an arrow indication (25a) and/or a protrusion-and-recess pattern (25b) provided for indicating a housing direction of the cassette corresponds to a design of an arrow indication (5a) and/or a protrusion-and-recess pattern (25b) provided on a top surface of the cassette (5), and a protrusion (27) and a recess (26) being respectively provided on top (1a) and bottom (1b) surfaces of said storing case (1), said protrusion (27) and said recess (26) being provided at positions to be engageable with a corresponding protrusion and recess of a neighbouring case and to be engageable with a protrusion (56) and a recess (55) provided on top and bottom surfaces of a neighbouring cassette (5) for preventing positional shift when cassettes (5) and/or housing cases (1) are stacked. Cassette storage case (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that the top surface (1a) of the cassette storing case (1) is provided with four stopper recesses (26) at positions corresponding to four regulating recesses (55) of the cassette (5). Cassette storage case (1) according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the bottom surface (1b) of the storing case (1) is provided with four engageable stopper protrusions (27) at positions corresponding to the stopper recesses (26) on the top surface (1a).

Inventors: MORITA KIYOO, MORITA, KIYOO, MORITA, Kiyoo, Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
Applicants: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO LTD, FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
Application year: 1999
Main classification: G11B23
IPC codes: G11B23, G11B33, B65D85, B65D21