Tape cartridge

Claim 1

A cartridge to house a rotatable tape spool, said cartridge comprising a first part and a second part, each part including a rectangular panel of resilient material with upstanding flanges at the first and fourth edges of the respective panels, releasable coupling means on said first and second parts, alignment means to align corresponding flanges of the first and second parts and align said releasable coupling means to couple the first and second parts together to form a closed cartridge with an interior spool chamber to house a spool, a primary access opening comprising aligned gaps in corresponding first flanges at the first edges of the panels, a secondary access opening comprising aligned further gaps in said first flanges which further gaps provide extensions of aligned gaps in second flanges at second edges of said panels, arcuate upstanding walls on each panel to define said spool chamber and position said spool for rotation in the chamber, the upstanding arcuate walls and the flanges on the corresponding first, second, third and fourth edges of the panels substantially preventing flexure of the panel at those edges except in the panels adjacent the gaps of the primary access opening in the first flanges so as to permit flexure of the panels adjacent the gaps of the primary access opening, said releasable coupling means comprising complimentarily toothed upstanding lug means and surface means respectively at the third edges of the first and second panels which third edges lie opposite the first edges thereof, and a rigid upstanding first leg at the first edge of the panel having said lug means, the first leg at the first edge being disposed between the primary access opening and the secondary access opening in the second flange, and a rigid upstanding second leg at the fourth edge of the panel having said lug means, the second leg lying adjacent the first panel edge, shoulder means on the second leg, a rigid upstanding tongue at the fourth edge of the panel not having the lug means, the tongue engaging in a notch in the corresponding flange of the panel having the lug means so as to align the first and second parts, an aperture in the tongue engageable by the shoulder means of the second leg to releasably secure the parts together, said shoulder means being engageable in said aperture as a result of flexure of the first edges of the panels adjacent the primary access opening to convex and concave configuration to make the second leg lie inwardly of the flange of the fourth edge of the panel having the lugs and to make the tongue lie outwardly of the second leg, and an opening in one panel to permit driving engagement of driving means with a spool when housed in said chamber.