EP0526078A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Tape cassettes and a method of assembly thereof
Assignee: Brother Industries Ltd
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Filing: 1992-07-21
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-07-21
Abstract
Abstract A plurality of tape cassettes are provided. Each cassette contains tape (34, 36, 38) of a different width for the printing thereon of characters by a tape writing machine. Each cassette comprises an upper casing (52a, 52b) selected from N upper casings of different shape, combined with a lower casing (78a, 78b) selected from M lower casings of different shape. Each cassette comprises a different combination of said M lower casings and N upper casings. Each of said N upper casings is combinable with each of said M lower casings. N and M are positive integers with one of them, at least, being greater than 1. <IMAGE>
Inventors
- 👤 Yoshiaki C/O Brother Kogyo K. K. Nagao
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 00:09
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J32/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
95 words
A plurality of tape cassettes each containing tape (35, 36, 38) of a different width, each cassette comprising an upper casing (52a, 52b) selected from N upper casings of different shape, combined with a lower casing (78a, 78b) selected from M lower casings of different shape, each of said cassettes comprising a different combination of said M lower casings and N upper casings and each of said N upper casings being combinable with each of said M lower casings, N and M being positive integers with one of them, at least, being greater than 1.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
102 words
A tape cassette comprising an upper casing (52a, 52b), a lower casing (78a, 78b) and at least one tape (34, 36, 38), said upper casing being arranged to combine with lower casings of at least two different shapes and said lower casing being arranged to combine with upper casings of at leat two different shapes, said upper casing and said lower casing being selected according to their shapes whereby, when combined to form said tape cassette, said upper casing and said lower casing define a housing of an internal shape appropriate to the width of said at least one tape contained therein.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
A tape cassette as claimed in claim 2, wherein said upper casings (52a 52b) have a guide rib (86) defining said shape of said upper casings corresponding to tape width.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
A tape cassette as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein said lower casings (78a, 78b) have spools (56) and outer walls (88) defining said shape of said lower casings corresponding to tape width.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
74 words
A tape cassette as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said upper and lower casings (52a, 52b, 78a, 78b) are provided with means (80, 84) for the identification of their respective shapes, whereby when the cassette is, in use, associated with a tape writing machine, the machine is able to identify the shape of the upper and lower casings to determine the width of tape (34, 36, 28) contained in the cassette.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
A cassette as claimed in claim 5, wherein said identification means (80, 84) comprise shaped portions of the upper and lower casings.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
A tape cassette as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein said identification means (80, 84) comprise projections.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
52 words
A tape writing machine containing a cassette as claimed in any of claims 5 to 7, wherein the machine is provided with sensors (A, B) for identifying the shape of the upper and lower casings from the identification means to determine the width of tape (34, 36, 38) contained in the cassette.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
51 words
A tape writing machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein the sensors (A, B) comprise at least one pair of radiation sensors and receivers, the or each receiver being arranged to sense whether or not radiation from a respective radiation sensor is obstructed by said tape cassette identification means (80, 84).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
60 words
A tape writing machine as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9, further comprising character size selection means for selecting a character size, and processing means (40) for identifying tape width based on a signal from said sensor means, said processing means being arranged to determine whether the selected character size will fit a tape of the identified tape width.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
36 words
A tape writing machine as claimed in claim 10, further comprising indication means (20) for indicating when said processing means (40) determines that the selected character size will not fit a tape of the identified width.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
130 words
A method of assembling a tape cassette from an upper casing (52a, 52b) and a lower casing (78a, 78b), the upper casing being combinable with lower casings of M different shapes and the lower casing being combinable with upper casings of N different shapes, the method comprising determining the width of at least one tape (34, 36, 38) to be received in the cassette, selecting an upper casing from said N different upper casing shapes and a lower casing from said M different lower casing shapes, which selected upper and lower casings will, when combined, define a cassette casing of an internal shape appropriate to the determined tape width, and forming the cassette casing by combining the selected upper and lower casings with said at least one tape received therein.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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