Tape clamping device for tape-containing cassettes

Claim 1

A tape clamping device for a tape-containing cassette having a cassette housing with a pair of identical openings extending through the housing, a pair of reel hubs each having an aperture rotatably mounted within the housing coaxial with each of said openings and having a plurality of teeth extending inwardly from the inner wall of the aperture and adapted to mesh in use with a driving means provided in a tape recording and reproducing apparatus, the device comprising a plate-like member and a pair of laterally spaced limbs connected at one end to said plate-like member and extending substantially at right angles to the plane of said plate-like member and insertable through a space between adjacent ones of said teeth of one of said hubs and into one of said openings and removable therefrom, the longitudinal dimension of said limbs being substantially equal to the axial dimension of said one opening of the cassette housing, and the transverse dimensions of said limbs at the forward end thereof being slightly greater than the cross-sectional dimension of said one opening and at a portion intermediate their ends being slightly greater than a cross-sectional dimension defined by a locus of the inner end of said teeth by rotation of the hub and smaller than the cross-sectional dimension of said aperture of the hub, said limbs being capable of bending slightly toward each other upon insertion into said one opening and restoring to the original condition upon removal therefrom, whereby the intermediate portion of the limbs is disposed between adjacent ones of said teeth while the forward ends of the limbs engage the rear end portion of said one opening when the limbs are fully inserted thereinto.