GB2075337A - Cleaning tool for the magnetic heads and related parts of a tape recorder or player - Google Patents

Abstract

A cleaning tool (11) for the magnetic heads, and related parts of a tape recorder or player comprises a handle (13) and means for releasably holding a disposable cleaning element (53) e.g. a cleaning bud comprising a stick (55) carrying a wad (57) of cotton. The latter may be a socket into which the stick of the bud is inserted. The cleaning tool may also be provided with a pivotable head member (37) which can be fixed in different inclinations relative to the handle. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Cleaning tool for the magnetic heads and related parts of a tape recorder or player The present invention relates to cleaning tools for magnetic tape recorders and players.

The quality of sound reproduction by such players deteriorates after a period of playing, since oxide and dirt tend to accumulate on the capstan and pinch roller, and the magnetic head or heads of the machine. For consistent reproduction, therefore, it is necessary to clean these parts of the player, and var ious cleaners and cleaning fluids are available on the market.

One common problem with existing cleaners is that after a period of use, the cleaning surface itself becomes clogged with oxide and dirt and its effectiveness decreases. This is especially the case for hand held cleaners having a cleaning pad glued onto a handle, because only a small area of the pad is presented to the part to the cleaned and this area soon becomes soiled.

In one particular kind of cleaner interchangeable head units carrying cleaning pads are provided, which enables one pad to be used for preliminary cleaning of parts and another for removing residual dirt and polishing the magnetic heads. Eventually, however, each cleaning pad will become unduly soiled.

The use of cotton buds together with a cleaning fluid is known for cleaning tape machines, but this can prove awkward because the various parts to be cleaned are not readily accessible in most kinds of machine, particularly in car cassette players, where space is restricted.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a cleaner for a tape machine which can be used to clean effetivelythe parts of the machine.

According to the present invention there is provided a cleaning tool for the magnetic heads and related parts of a tape recorder or player, comprising a handle and means for releasably holding a disposable cleaning element.

It is especially advantageous forthe cleaning ele ments to be provided in the form of cleaning buds, such as cotton cleaning buds which are readily and cheaply available and in consequence the means for releasably holding the cleaning element preferably is adapted to hold the stick of a cleaning bud carrying a cleaning wad at its free end. Suitably this means comprises a socket formed to engage frictionally the stick of a cleaning bud received therein.

For example, at least a portion of the socket may be conical, extending with decreasing diameter from a mouth.

The fact that the buds are easily introduced and removed from the socket and are disposable, means that a fresh bud can be introduced for each cleaning operation.

It is also highly advantageous for the tool to include a head member pivotally connected to the handle and provided with said means for holding a cleaning element, whereby the head member and handle are locatable in different relative positions.

The tool may therefore be set so the cleaning element can reach a magnetic head or other part which needs cleaning which could not otherwise easily have been cleaned.

In addition to providing a cleaning tool, the invention provides a package comprising a tool with a plurality of disposable cleaning elements, such as cleaning buds, and preferably also a container of cleaning solution and, if each of the buds has two wads, means for dividing each stick to provide two cleaning elements.

A further problem with existing cleaners is that it is often difficult to reach all the parts which need cleaning. This is particularly the case for small portable cassette players and for machines fixed in a vehicle.

Cleaners having a pad glued onto a rigid handle are expecially awkward to use. Pivoted cleaners are known which can be set and locked in any one of several possible positions, for example by some kind of latching device. There is also a cleaner having several interchangeable heads each having a cleaning pad glued to one end thereof, and each cranked at a different angle. Both of these cleaners facilitate cleaning of parts which would otherwise be virtually inaccessible, but nevertheless, cleaning may still be difficult or ineffective because the optimum angle for cleaning is unlikely to be attainable amongst the limited number of orientations of the pivoted handle or replaceable heads.

Accordingly, the present invention further provides a cleaning tool for the magnetic heads and related parts of a tape recorder or player, comprising a handle, a head member providing a cleaning surface and being connected to the handle for pivotal movement relative thereto between angular limits, and means operable through manipulation of the handle for locking the head member relative to the handle in any position within the angular limits.

Advantageously, the handle comprises a first part and a second part having the head member pivotally connected thereto, said manipulation comprising relative movement of the handle parts.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a cleaning tool according to the invention, holding a disposable cleaning element; Figure 2 is a view of a cotton bud; Figure 3 is an enlarged exploded view of the tool of Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a plan view of the tool of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a cleaning tool 11 having a handle 13. The handle is formed in two parts: a first part 15 and a second part 17. The first part 15 is of generally cylindrical form with circu lar grooves 19 near one end to facilitate gripping by a user. A spigot 21 extends axially from the other end of part 15, the spigot being threaded at 23 along an intermediate portion of its length.

The second part 17 of the handle is much shorter than the first part. It has a sleeve portion 25 at one end, of the same diameter as the part 15, also formed with grooves 19, and defining an internally threaded bore 27 adapted to receive spigot 21. The other end of the part 17 is bifurcated, with two parallel arms 29 and 31 extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bore 27. The arms 29 and 31 have respective holes 33, 35 towards their free ends, which provide for a pivotal connection with head member 37 of the cleaner.

The head member 37 has a flat projection 39 with a hole 43 and arcuate edge 41 centred on the hole 43.

As seen in Figure 1,the projection 39 is received between the furcations and is pivotallyconnected thereto by means of a rivet 45 extending through the three holes 33,35,43. A nose portion 47 is integral with the projection 39 and is of the same diameter as the part 15, with further grooves 19 on its surface. A socket 49 is formed on the nose portion extending inwardly from a mouth 57 in surface 54 on the free end of nose 47. The socket is conical and as seen in Figures 3 and 4, its diameter decreases slightly away from the mouth 51.

Figure 1 shows the tool 11 with a cleaning element 53. The element shown is a cotton cleaning bud having a stick 55 with a cotton cleaning wad 57 fixed on one end thereof. Figure 2 shows the kind of cleaning bud which is commonly sold in chemists' shops, comprising a stick 55 with wads 57 on both ends of the stick. Each bud can be cut near the two wads, for example by a razor blade, to provide two disposable cleaning elements.

The cut end of a stick can be inserted in the mouth 51 of the socket which is so sized as to engage the stick frictionally: the slightly conical shape assists in this engagement. As an alternative, it would be possible to provide a spring clip or other means for retaining the stick in the socket.

To set the head member 37 at the desired angle so that wad 57 can clean a particular magnetic head or the capstan or roller of the machine, the first part 15 of the handle is unscrewed from the second part to release the head member 37. The member 37 is now free to pivot through a range of angles, limited by the straight side edges of projection 39 on the member engaging the handle. For the tool shown, the head member can pivot through about 2200, and can be set anywhere between the two limits. The head member can be locked in the set position through manipulation of the handle, as follows. The spigot 21 on the handle part 15 is screwed into bore 27, so that the free end 59 of the spigot advances towards the head member. There is thus movement of the first part 15 of the handle relative to the second part 17.Eventually the end 59 of the spigot, which acts as a locking surface, reaches and engages the arcuate edge 41 of the head member 37, locking the member 37 in the set position. The cotton bud 57 can now be dampened with cleaning fluid and intro duced to a cassette recorder or player to perform a cleaning operation. The angle of the head member relative to the handle can be adjusted from time to time as desired for reaching and cleaning effectively the magnetic heads, pinch roller and capstan of the machine. When the wad has become soiled, or after use, it can be removed from the socket, discarded, and replaced by a fresh wad.

The cleaning tool described above can conve niently be packaged and sold with several cotton cleaning buds with wads at each end, a blade for cutting the sticks of the buds, and a bottle of cleaning fluid.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that disposable cleaning elements other than cotton buds could be used. Also a tool adapted for use with cotton buds need not be capable of pivoting as described above. Furthermore, a pivoted cleaner which can be set at any desired angle within angular limits could be provided with a non-disposable type of cleaner.

Claims (22)

1. A cleaning tool for the magnetic heads and related parts of a tape recorder or player, comprising a handle and means for releasably holding a disposable cleaning element.

2. A cleaning tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means is adapted to hold the stick of a cleaning bud carrying a cleaning wad at its free end.

3. A cleaning tool as claimed in claim 2, wherein said means comprises a socket formed to engage frictionally the stick of a cleaning bud received therein.

4. A cleaning tool as claimed in claim 3, wherein at least a portion of the socket is conical, extending with decreasing diameter from a mouth.

5. A cleaning tool as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a head member pivotally connected to the handle and provided with said means for holding a cleaning element, whereby the head member and handle are locatable in different relative positions.

6. A cleaning tool as claimed in claim 5, wherein the head member can be located in any position relative to the handle between angular limits of said pivotal movement.

7. Acleaning tool as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the handle comprises a first part and a second part having the head member pivotally connected thereto, relative movement of said parts serving to lock the head member in position relative to the handle.

8 A cleaning tool asclaimed in claim 7, wherein said relative movement serves to bring a locking surface of the first part o & the handle into engagement with the head member.

9. A cleaning todays claimed in claim 8, wherein said locking surface is formed on a spigot extending from the first handle part and projecting through a bore provided in the second handle part.

10. A cleaning tool as claimed in claim 9, wherein the bore and the spigot are complementarily screw threaded and wherein said relative movement comprises rotation.

11. A cleaning tool as claimed in claims 8 or 9, wherein the second part of the handle is bifurcated to receive a projection on the head member, said projection having an arcuate edge presented to and engageable by the spigot.

12. A package comprising a cleaning tool as claimed in any preceding claim and a plurality of disposable cleaning elements.

13. A package according to claim 12, wherein the cleaning elements comprise respectively cleaning buds each having a cleaning wad carried on a stick.

14. A package according to claim 12, wherein the cleaning elements comprise cleaning buds each having two cleaning wads carried at opposite ends of a stick, the package further comprising means for dividing each stick as required to provide two cleaning elements from each cleaning bud.

15. A package according to any one of claims 12 to 14, further comprising a container of cleaning solution.

16. A cleaning tool for the magnetic heads and related parts of a tape recorder or player, comprising a handle, a head member providing a cleaning surface and being connected to the handle for pivotal movement relative thereto between angular limits, and means operable through manipulation of the handle for locking the head member relative to the handle in any position within the angular limits.

17. A cleaning tool as claimed in claim 16, wherein the handle comprises a first part and a second part having the head member pivotally connected thereto, said manipulation comprising relative movement of the handle parts.

18. A cleaning tool as claimed in claim 17, wherein the locking means comprises a locking surface on the first part of the handle, said relative movement serving to bring the surface into engagement with the head member.

19. A cleaning tool as claimed in claim 18, wherein said locking surface is formed on a spigot extending from the first handle part and projecting through a bore provided in the second handle part.

20. A cleaning tool as claimed in claim 19, wherein the bore and the spigot are complementarily screw threaded and wherein said relative movement comprises rotation.

21. A cleaning tool as claimed in claim 19 or 20, wherein the second part of the handle is bifurcated to receive a projection on the head member, said projection having an arcuate edge presented to and engageable by the spigot.

22. A cleaning tool substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.