Sony Corporation

Shintaro Higuchi

Hiroyuki Honma

Shuichi Kikuchi

Masanori Abe

Shinichi Abe

Hiroshi Sekimukai

Hiroshi Meguro

Kazuo Sasaki

Toshiro Kobayashi

Kiyoyuki Miyata

Yoshiyuki Abe

A disc cartridge mounted for movement on a main cartridge body unit housing a magnetic disc, in which the disc cartridge has a shutter member of a U-shaped cross-section for opening/closing a recording/reproducing aperture provided in the main cartridge body unit. The shutter member is provided with first and second guide pieces engaging in the movement guide groove provided in the main cartridge body unit. On a lateral side of the main cartridge body unit,, there are formed first and second inclined guide portions for guiding in the movement guide groove the first and second pieces provided in the shutter member. One of the first and second guide pieces is of a height larger than the other guide piece so that, when the shutter member is mounted on the main cartridge body unit, the guide pieces are prevented from being abutted against the lateral side of the main cartridge body unit to suppress generation of chips from the main cartridge body unit.

Disc cartridge

A cartridge holder is shown which comprises a back portion which has at an inner surface a plurality of cartridge gripping parts by which one sides of cartridges are gripped, a pair of lid portions which are pivotally connected to opposed sides of the back portion through respective major hinge portions; catching and caught portions which are provided at free ends of the lid portions and lock the lid portions when the lid portions are pivoted toward their closed position; and a plurality of extra hinge portions which are defined by the back portion. By roundly flexing the back portion at the major hinge portions, the cartridge gripping parts, that is, the cartridges gripped by these cartridge gripping parts are opened like a fan. Thus, upper ends of the cartridges are separated thereby facilitating handling of the upper ends of the cartridges by the fingers of a user. In order to prevent a swell-out phenomenon of the back portion which would occur when the back portion is roundly flexed, there is provided a swell-out phenomenon suppressing means. In order to prevent removal of the cartridges from the cartridge gripping parts which would occur when vibration and shock are applied thereto under conveying of the holder, there is provided a cartridge retaining rib.

Cartridge holder

A disk cassette including a cassette housing having upper and lower shells in which a freely rotatable disc is accommodated. A shutter is slidably secured in parallel relation to the side surfaces of the cassette housing and opens/closes a head insertion hole formed in the cassette housing. The disk cassette further includes a shutter spring assembly which has one end thereof hooked to the cassette housing and the other end thereof hooked to the shutter and thereby urges the shutter so as to close the head insertion hole. An insertion groove is provided in the cassette housing for inserting the shutter spring assembly thereinto and be covered by the shutter when the shutter closes the head insertion hole.

Spring assembly for biasing shutter of a disk cassette

An attachment structure for a tape body which supports, on reel hubs, a tape body such as a leader tape, etc. to which a magnetic tape is connected. This attachment structure comprises a tape reel provided with a reel hub which takes cylindrical shape provided at the central portion thereof and a clamp member attached to the reel hub, and a tape body connected to the reel hub in the state where the end portion is supported by the clamp member and wound on the outer circumferential surface of the reel hub. The tape body supported by the reel hub is such that the base end portion side serving as root portion of the drawing side from the reel hub is deformed in the winding direction onto the reel hub following the outer circumferential surface of the reel hub. Deformation of the tape body is carried out by thermal deformation or pressure deformation, or thermal deformation and pressure deformation. The root portion serving as the supporting portion side onto the reel hub of the tape body is deformed following the outer circumferential surface of the reel hub, whereby the tape body is wound in the state closely in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the reel hub.

Attachment structure onto tape reel of tape body, attachment method

A method of attachment for a tape body which supports, on reel hubs, a tape body such as a leader tape, etc. to which a magnetic tape is connected. This attachment structure comprises a tape reel provided with a reel hub which takes cylindrical shape provided at the central portion thereof and a clamp member attached to the reel hub, and a tape body connected to the reel hub in the state where the end portion is supported by the clamp member and wound on the outer circumferential surface of the reel hub. The tape body supported by the reel hub is such that the base end portion side serving as root portion of the drawing side from the reel hub is deformed in the winding direction onto the reel hub following the outer circumferential surface of the reel hub. Deformation of the tape body is carried out by thermal deformation or pressure deformation, or thermal deformation and pressure deformation. The root portion serving as the supporting portion side onto the reel hub of the tape body is deformed following the outer circumferential surface of the reel hub, whereby the tape body is wound in the state closely in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the reel hub.

Method of manufacturing a tape cartridge and apparatus for forming a

Tape cartridge

A cover of a tape or data cartridge to be used as an external memory for a computer includes a number of temporary fixture pins integral with a main body of the cover. The pins function to temporarily fix the main body to a base plate of the tape cartridge. The pins are arranged to be engageable respectively with engaging sections formed in the base plate. Each pin includes a first engagement portion for causing the main body to be provisionally fixed to the base plate in a state where the main body is in contact with the base plate, and a second engagement portion for causing the main body to be temporarily fixed to the base plate in a state where the main body is separate from the base plate.

Tape cartridge and assembly method of same cartridge

A cover of a tape or data cartridge to be used as an external memory for a computer includes a number of temporary fixture pins integral with a main body of the cover. The pins function to temporarily fix the main body to a base plate of the tape cartridge. The pins are arranged to be engageable respectively with engaging sections formed in the base plate. Each pin includes a first engagement portion for causing the main body to be provisionally fixed to the base plate in a state where the main body is in contact with the base plate, and a second engagement portion for causing the main body to be temporarily fixed to the base plate in a .state where the main body is separate from the base plate.

Growing community of inventors

Miyagi, Japan

Shintaro Higuchi