Container for tape-like material

Claim 1

A container for web-like material, especially magnetic tape wound onto one or two rolls or stored in a cartridge, for operation on a drive mechanism, said container being designed to assume an open or closed condition such that said container, when in its open condition is open for access to said rolls or cartridge by said mechanism both at its front and at its top, and when in its closed condition, is closed all around for protection of the tape or cartridge, said container having bottom and top parts and means pivotably connecting said bottom and top parts together, said bottom part having bottom, side and rear walls and means for accommodating the rolls or cartridge, and said top part having at least a top wall with a front wall attached thereto, and said connecting means having means, including pivots and a set of longitudinal guides on said two parts, respectively, for telescoping, in said open position said top part underneath said bottom part, thereby safeguarding said access at a minimum of space, wherein the pivots are rotatable and slidable relatively to the guides and, said guides, with said container in telescoped condition, running parallel to said bottom and top walls, wherein said telecoping means include means for insuring parallelity between said two parts during the telescoping movement, and wherein a second set of guides which run parallel to the first-mentioned set is provided on one of the two container parts, and guide pins for the second set are provided on the other part, arcuate sections of the second set of guides extending around the pivots, the radius of the arc corresponding to the distance between the pivots and the guide pins.