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EP0159591A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Tape cassette player

Assignee: Sony Corp
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Filing: 1985-04-03
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2005-04-03
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Abstract

Abstract A tape cassette comprises a cassette housing (1) having an upper section (2), a lower section (3), a pair of reel hubs (5a, 5b) rotatably accommodated therein for winding a magnetic tape (6) therearound, and a front opening through which the tape (6) is engageable with a recording and/or reproducing head. The lower section (3) is formed with a pair of openings (4a, 4b) for respectively receiving reel shafts for rotating the hubs (5a, 5b) and thereby driving the tape (6), and the upper section is formed with a recess (10, 12). A tape player with which the cassette cooperates is provided with a holder (14b) for the cassette, with a loading hook (11a) engageable in the recess (10, 12) in the upper cassette section, and with an arrangement of cams and levers for moving the loading hook (11a) between an ejection position wherein the tape cassette can be manually inserted partway into or removed from the cassette holder (14b) and a loaded position wherein an inserted cassette is fully drawn into the holder (14b), and for moving the holder (14b) between an upper position wherein a cassette can be loaded into or ejected from the holder (14b) and a lower position wherein a cassette loaded into the holder (14b) engages a tape drive.

Inventors

  • 👤 Masao Ohyama
  • 👤 Yoshinori Yamamoto
  • 👤 Kenichi Horikawa
  • 👤 Kenji Kawakami

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-05 02:41
CPC Classifications
G; G11; G11B; G11B23/00; G11B23/02; G11B23/04; G11B23/08; G11B15/00; G11B15/675; G11B23/087

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim 146 words
A tape cassette characterized in a cassette housing (1) having an upper section (2) and a lower section (3}; at least one reel hub (5a, 5b) for winding therearound a magnetic tape (6), said hub (5a, 5b) being rotatably accommodated in said cassette housing (1); said lower section (3) being formed with at least one opening (4a, 4b) for receiving a reel shaft for rotating said hub (5a, 5b) and thereby driving said tape (6); said housing being formed with a front opening through which said tape (6) is engageable with a recording and/ or reproducing head; and said upper section (2) being formed with a contoured engagement portion (10, 12) engageable with loading means (11a) formed on recording and/or reproducing apparatus when said cassette housing (1) is loaded into said apparatus, whereby said loading means (11a) can move. said cassette housing (1) within said apparatus.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 146 words
A tape cassette characterized in a cassette housing (1) having an upper section (2) and a lower section (3}; at least one reel hub (5a, 5b) for winding therearound a magnetic tape (6), said hub (5a, 5b) being rotatably accommodated in said cassette housing (1); said lower section (3) being formed with at least one opening (4a, 4b) for receiving a reel shaft for rotating said hub (5a, 5b) and thereby driving said tape (6); said housing being formed with a front opening through which said tape (6) is engageable with a recording and/ or reproducing head; and said upper section (2) being formed with a contoured engagement portion (10, 12) engageable with loading means (11a) formed on recording and/or reproducing apparatus when said cassette housing (1) is loaded into said apparatus, whereby said loading means (11a) can move. said cassette housing (1) within said apparatus.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 17 words
A tape cassette according to claim 1, characterized in that said engagement portion (10, 12) ist concave.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 32 words
A tape cassette according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said engagement portion (10, 12) comprises a planar bottom wall and a planar front wall defining a right dihedral angle.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 60 words
A tape cassette according to any one of calims 1 - 3, characterized in that said upper section (3) has left and right edges respectively on opposite sides of said front opening and said engagement portion defines a groove (10, 12) located at least in a portion of said upper section (2) which is intermediate said left and right edges.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 60 words
A tape cassette according to any one of calims 1 - 3, characterized in that said upper section (3) has left and right edges respectively on opposite sides of said front opening and said engagement portion defines a groove (10, 12) located at least in a portion of said upper section (2) which is intermediate said left and right edges.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 26 words
A tape cassette according to any one of claims 1 - 4, characterized in that said engagement portion (10, 12) is adjacent to said front opening.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 87 words
A tape cassette according to any one of claims 1 - 5, characterized in that said engagement portion (10, 12) is elongated in a left-to-right direction towards left and right edges of said cassette housing (1) respectively on opposite sides of said front opening, further comprising front lid means (8) pivotably attached to said cassette housing (1)and movable between a closed position wherein it covers aid front opening and an open position wherein it uncovers said front opeing, said lid means (8) being elongated in said left-to-rightdirection.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 28 words
A tape cassette according to any one of claims 1 - 6, characterized in that said engagement portion (10, 12) has a vertical height of substantially 0.5 mm.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 45 words
A tape cassette according to any one of claims 1 - 7, characterized in that said engagement portion (10, 12) is in the form of a groove having a bottom wall and a front wall, said walls having planar surfaces defining a right dihedral angle.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 134 words
Recording and/or reproducing apparatus, characterized in: a cassette holder (14b); hook means (11a) engageable with an engagement portion ( 1 0, 12) formed on an upper surface of a tape cassette inserted into said holder (14b); means for moving said hook means (11a) between an ejection position (A') wherein a tape cassette can be manually inserted partway into or removed from said holder (14b) and a loaded position (A) wherein an inserted cassette is fully drawn into said holder (14b); and means for moving said holder (14b) between a load/ eject position (D') wherein a cassette can be loaded into or ejected from said holder (14b) and a tape drive position (D) wherein a cassette loaded into said holder (14b) engages tape drive means, whereby a recording and/ or reproducing operation can be performed.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 134 words
Recording and/or reproducing apparatus, characterized in: a cassette holder (14b); hook means (11a) engageable with an engagement portion ( 1 0, 12) formed on an upper surface of a tape cassette inserted into said holder (14b); means for moving said hook means (11a) between an ejection position (A') wherein a tape cassette can be manually inserted partway into or removed from said holder (14b) and a loaded position (A) wherein an inserted cassette is fully drawn into said holder (14b); and means for moving said holder (14b) between a load/ eject position (D') wherein a cassette can be loaded into or ejected from said holder (14b) and a tape drive position (D) wherein a cassette loaded into said holder (14b) engages tape drive means, whereby a recording and/ or reproducing operation can be performed.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 41 words
Apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said hook means (11a) comprises a flexible arm (25) biased for engagement with said engagement portion (10, 12) and capable of being flexed in order to become disengaged from said engagement portion.(10, 12).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 60 words
Apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that said hook means (11a) comprises a loading hook (26) having outer substantially planar surfaces defining a dihedral angle that does not exceed a right angle and a portion of said hook (26) in the vicinity of the vertex (V) of said angle being engageable with said engagement means (10, 12).
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 12 words
Apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that said angle is acute.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 91 words
Apparatus according to any one of claims 9 - 12, characterized in that at least one of said hook means (11a) and said holder (14b) is formed with a beveled surface (27) and the other of said hook means (11a) and said holder (14b) is formed with a portion (14c) engageable with said beveled surface (27) in such a manner as to cause disengagement of said hook means (11a) from said engagement portion -(10, 12) in response to a pull on said cassette to effect removal thereof from said holder (14b).

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