GB2428863A

GB2428863A - A cleaning cartridge and data transfer apparatus (e.g. tape drive) in which the cartridge is employed

Info

Publication number: GB2428863A
Application number: GB0515730A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Nigel Ronald Evans
Original assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Current assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Priority date: 2005-07-29
Filing date: 2005-07-29
Publication date: 2007-02-07
Anticipated expiration: 2025-07-29
Also published as: GB0515730D0; GB2428863B

Abstract

A cleaning cartridge 20 has a supply spool 23, a take-up spool 24 and an elongate cleaning medium 22 movable from one spool to the other as in a conventional cartridge. When the supply spool has no more medium remaining on it, the medium separates easily from the supply spool. This is so the cleaning cartridge can be used only once. A data transfer apparatus for receiving the cartridge has means for pre-emptively moving the medium away from a data transfer head of the apparatus in response to establishing that separation of the medium from the spool is about to occur.

Description

CARTRIDGES FOR DATA TRANSFER APPARATUS

The invention relates to cartridges for data transfer apparatus, more particularly, but not exclusively, to despoolable cleaning cartridges, and to data transfer apparatus for receiving cartridges.

It is known to provide cartridges for insertion in and removal from data transfer apparatus comprising heads for transferring data between the apparatus and an elongate data recording medium, for example magnetic tape, in the cartridge. The heads gradually become contaminated with use, for example with accumulation of contaminants such as dirt, particulate debris, stains and other residues on operative surfaces of the heads. It is also known to provide cleaning cartridges including elongate cleaning medium that is suited to removing accumulated contaminants from the heads. The cleaning medium can be recordable or non-recordable, and can comprise, for example, virgin magnetic tape, or one of various media having suitable abrasivity and material formulation for removing specific types of contaminant.

Recommendations of manufacturers and suppliers of data transfer apparatus often stipulate that no portion of a recommended cleaning medium should be used more than once, because reuse of cleaning medium can degrade performance of the heads and of the data transfer apparatus, resulting in an increased number of cartridges andlor data transfer apparatuses reported as faulty. In such circumstances, it can be time consuming and difficult for the supplier or manufacturer to determine the cause of the degraded performance.

Some data transfer devices, for example DAT 72 tape drives from HewlettPackard, are adapted to recognize cleaning cartridges and distinguish them from other types of cartridge. These drives are adapted not to rewind cleaning cartridges recognized as such when inserted in the drive, thereby discouraging reuse. Nevertheless, it is presently relatively straightforward for users to rewind dual spool cleaning cartridges by other methods, for example by inserting, say, a pencil or drill bit into the supply spool of a used cleaning cartridge and rotating the supply spool until the cleaning medium is again on the supply spool and ready for reuse.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a cleaning cartridge as claimed in claim 1.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a data transfer apparatus as claimed in claim 7.

In order that the invention may be well understood, various embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing functional elements of a data transfer apparatus in the form of a tape drive; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing selected elements of a drive mechanism of the tape drive and a cleaning cartridge removably insertable in the drive; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing an elongate medium of the cleaning cartridge; Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing a further embodiment of the elongate medium; Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing selected guide elements of the drive mechanism in a partially retracted position; Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing selected guide elements of the drive mechanism in a further partially retracted position; Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing the elongate medium inside the cartridge, with the guide elements of the drive mechanism in a fully retracted position; and Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing a further embodiment of the elongate medium including a despooling indicator.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown data transfer apparatus in the form of a tape drive 10 that includes a drive engine 12 and a drive mechanism 14. The drive mechanism 14 is adapted to receive cartridges 16 containing tape medium, for example comprising magnetic tape or specifically formulated cleaning tape, and includes electrical and mechanical components that receive, position and access tape cartridges 16. The drive mechanism 14 has components to lock a tape cartridge 16 in place, an ejection motor, and data transfer heads in the form of read heads 42, 44 and write heads 46, 48, carried by a rotatable drum 50, for reading and/or writing data to the tape medium. The drive engine 12 is a data processor that is programmed to supervise the operations of the drive mechanism 14. When a readable and writable magnetic tape cartridge is received in the tape drive 10, the drive engine 12 operates to manage the flow of data to be recorded in or read from the magnetic tape cartridge. The tape drive 10 also includes a cartridge type sensor 18 for enabling the drive 10 to identify the type of cartridge 16 that is received in the drive 10, as described in further detail below.

Figure 2 shows schematically a basic layout of selected elements of the drive mechanism 14, and a cleaning cartridge 16a received in the drive mechanism 14. The cleaning cartridge I 6a comprises a cartridge casing 20 substantially enclosing an elongate medium 22, a supply spool 23 and a take up spooi 24. Opposite end portions of the elongate medium 22 are supported about the respective spools 23, 24, and the spools 23, 24 are rotatable such that the elongate medium 22 can be transferred from the supply spool 23 to the take up spool 24.

The elongate medium 22 comprises cleaning medium 22a consisting of a tape medium suitable for removing dirt and debris from the heads 42, 44, 46, 48 of the tape drive 10 when drawn past the heads 42, 44, 46, 48 in contact therewith. The cleaning medium 22a can, for example, consist of a material formulation with abrasive qualities and that is not magnetically recordable by the heads, or alternatively of a standard quality magnetically recordable tape medium that is designated as a cleaning medium for presentation to the heads in virgin condition, or any suitable alternative medium.

As illustrated in Figure 3, the cleaning medium 22a includes a leader portion 22b attached to the take up spool 24 in known manner, for example by clamping. The opposite end of the elongate medium 22 includes a trailer portion 22c. The leader and trailer portions 22b, 22c are connected to the cleaning medium 22a in known manner, for example by splicing. Optionally, the leader andlor trailer portion 22b, 22c could be omitted. In contrast to known cartridge devices, the distal trailing end of the elongate medium 22 closest the supply spool 23 is not attached to the supply spool 23. Therefore, in use in cleaning operations, after no elongate medium 22 remains for the supply spool 23 to pay out, the trailing end of the elongate medium 22 easily separates from the supply spool 23 in response to continuing rotation of the take up spool 24.

In an alternative embodiment shown in Figure 4, the distal trailing end of the elongate medium 22 attaches to the supply spool 23, and a region of weakness 28 is provided in the elongate medium 22 close to the trailing end. The region of weakness 28 allows the elongate medium 22 to separate from the supply spool 23 in response to continuing rotation of the take up spooi 24, without significant resistance to the separation.

The tape drive mechanism 14 is shown in Figure 2 with the elongate medium 22 fully deployed for data transfer operations. The tape drive mechanism 14 includes tape guides 30, 34, 38, 40. As is well known in rotary-scan recording technology, the tape guides 30, , 34, , 38, 40 are movable from locations within an access area 41 (broken lines) in the casing 20 of a loaded cartridge 1 6a so as to deploy the elongate medium 22 into the positions shown in Figure 2. In this deployed position, the elongate medium 22 contacts the heads 42, 44, 46, 48 as the elongate medium 22 is drawn past the rotating drum 50 in the direction of arrow A. One of the guides 38 is a pinch roller that presses the elongate medium 22 into contact with a capstan 52 for controlling the passage of the elongate medium 22 past the drum 50. Guide posts 54, 56 of the cartridge 16a are fixed in the cartridge casing 20. The elongate medium 22 is supported by the guide posts 54, 56 when in its fully retracted position inside the cartridge 16a.

The cartridge 1 6a includes a cartridge type identifier 26, for example in the form of at least one aperture having a predetermined shape, size and/or position on the cartridge casing 20. The identifier 26 is detectable by the cartridge type sensor 18, which identifies the cartridge 16a to the drive 10 as a cleaning cartridge of the despoolable type, that is, arranged to allow a trailing end of the elongate medium 22 to separate from the supply spool 23 in normal use after the elongate medium 22 has been exhausted. The sensor 18 can include resiliently mounted switch actuators (not shown) and operate, for example, according to principles used in known DDS tape drives to recognise cartridge type. In this arrangement, the apertures formed in a predetermined arrangement in the casing of a cartridge 16 loaded in the tape drive 10 cause the switch actuators of the sensor 18 to rise or be depressed to provide a pattern of switch connections and disconnections recognisable by the tape drive 10.

The tape drive 10 is adapted to calculate a present annular thickness T (Figure 2), or alternatively annular area, of the elongate medium 22 presently remaining on the supply spool 23 and/or a present length of the elongate medium 22 presently remaining on the supply spool 23. The calculations can be made by the drive engine 12, based for example on the rotational speed of the spindle (not shown) of the tape drive 10 engaging the supply spool 23, the rotational speed of the capstan 52, the nominal thickness of the elongate medium 22 and the known external diameter (or alternatively circular area) of the supply spool 23.

During operation of the tape drive 10 with the cleaning cartridge 16a loaded in the drive mechanism 14, the cartridge type sensor 18 signals to the drive engine 12 that the type of cartridge loaded in the drive 10 is a despoolable cleaning cartridge I 6a, based on sensing of the cartridge type identifier 26. When the calculated remaining annular thickness T, annular area, or length of the elongate medium 22 reaches a predetermined threshold value, this is taken by the tape drive 10 as an indication of imminent despooling.

Responsive to such a detected indication of despooling in combination with the detected presence of the despoolable cartridge 16a in the drive mechanism 14, the drive engine 12 pre-emptively moves the elongate medium 22 away from the drum 50 and the heads 42, 44, 46, 48 prior to the separated trailing end of the elongate medium 22 reaching the heads 42, 44, 46, 48. This pre-emptive movement of the heads 42, 44, 46, 48 mitigates potential undesirable effects, for example contamination effects, of a separated free distal end of the elongate medium 22 passing close to or in contact with the heads 42, 44, 46, 48. Optionally, the drive engine 12 also controls the drive mechanism 14 to pre- emptively slow or stop rotation of the drum 50.

Referring to Figure 5, the elongate medium 22 is shown partially retracted away from the heads 42, 44, 46, 48. The pre-emptive movement of the elongate medium 22 into a partially retracted position is effected by the drive engine 12 controlling the drive mechanism 14 to move the tape guide 30 to support the elongate medium 22 at a location away from the heads 42, 44, 46, 48, withdrawing the support of tape guide 34 and leaving pinch roller tape guide 38 and tape guide 40 in their deployed positions. This arrangement allows continued control of the elongate medium 22 by the drive engine 12 via the capstan 52 with the elongate medium 22 in a partially retracted position.

Figure 6, shows an alternative arrangement with the elongate medium 22 partially retracted similarly to the Figure 5 arrangement, except that in addition the support of the pinch roller tape guide 38 is also withdrawn, and tape guide 40 is moved further towards the cartridge 16a. While control of the elongate medium 22 by the capstan 52 is not possible in the partially retracted position of Figure 6, the separated trailing end of the elongate medium 22 will not be drawn as close to the heads 42, 44, 46, 48 following separation from the supply spool 23.

Figure 7 shows a still further alternative arrangement in which the elongate medium 22 has been retracted into the cartridge 16a, and the tape guides 30, 34, 38, 40 have been fully withdrawn. This maximizes protection of the heads 42, 44, 46, 48 from a separated free end of the elongate medium 22.

In an alternative embodiment, a predefined medium despooling indicator 60 is provided on the elongate medium 22, as shown schematically in Figure 8. The despooling indicator marks a location on the elongate medium 22, for example on the trailer portion 22c, to provide the necessary warning of an approaching end of the elongate medium 22. The despooling indicator 60 could for example be a transparent or translucent window in the elongate medium 22. In this alternative embodiment, the tape drive 10 is provided with an appropriate sensor, for example an LED sensing system such as is known for detecting beginning of medium in DDS tape drives from HewlettPackard.

In a further embodiment, the cartridge type indicator 26 can be provided in similar manner to the despooling indicator 60, and optionally the despooling indicator 60 and cartridge type indicator 26 can be combined so as to perform both end of media warning and cartridge identification functions, provided that a suitable sensor is provided on the tape drive 10.

Embodiments of the invention provide a convenient manner of discouraging undesirable reuse of cleaning tapes.

Claims

Claims: 1. A cleaning cartridge for insertion in and removal from a data

transfer apparatus, the cartridge comprising: a supply spool and a take up spool; and an elongate medium comprising a cleaning medium for cleaning at least one data transfer head of the data transfer apparatus, a portion of the elongate medium being supported about the supply spool; wherein, in response to rotation of the take up spooi until after no elongate medium remains for the supply spool to pay out, the elongate medium separates from the supply spool without significant resistance to the separation.
2. A cleaning cartridge as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elongate medium is not attached to the supply spooi.
3. A cleaning cartridge as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elongate medium is attached to the supply spool so as to be detachable from the supply spool without significant detachment resistance.
4. A cleaning cartridge as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the elongate medium on the spools is enclosed inside a casing of the cartridge.
5. A cleaning cartridge as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising an identifier for identifying to a data transfer apparatus that the cartridge is a despoolable cartridge wherein the elongate medium is arranged to separate from the supply spool without significant resistance to the separation.
6. A cleaning cartridge as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a predefined medium despooling indicator on the elongate medium.
7. A data transfer apparatus for receiving a despoolable cartridge comprising an elongate medium, the data transfer apparatus comprising at least one data transfer head and being operable to: detect an indication of despooling of the medium; and in response to detecting a said indication of despooling, move the elongate medium away from the or each head.
8. A data transfer apparatus as claimed in claim 7, operable to i) identify that a despoolable cartridge is received in the data transfer apparatus, the despoolable cartridge comprising an elongate medium having a trailing end portion arranged to separate from the cartridge's supply spool without significant resistance to the separation, and ii) determine that a predetermined annular thickness or area of the elongate medium presently remains on the supply spool of a said despoolable cartridge and/or a that predetermined length of the elongate medium presently remains on the supply spool of a said despoolable cartridge.
9. A data transfer apparatus as claimed in claim 8, operable to perform the determination of annular thickness or area of the elongate medium presently remaining and/or of the length of the elongate medium presently remaining, using the rotational speed of a supply spool spindle of the data transfer apparatus and the rotational speed of a capstan of the data transfer apparatus.
10. A data transfer apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the detection of a said indication of medium despooling comprises detection by the data transfer apparatus of a predefined medium despooling indicator on the elongate medium.
11. A data transfer apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 10, operable in response to detecting a said indication of medium despooling, to at least partially retract the elongate medium away from the or each head towards the cartridge.
12. A data transfer apparatus as claimed in claim 11, further operable in response to detecting a said indication of medium despooling, to retract the elongate medium away from the or each head and into the cartridge.
13. A data transfer apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 12, comprising a rotary head drum carrying the or each head.
14. A data transfer apparatus as claimed in claim 13, operable in response to detecting a said indication of medium despooling, to slow or stop rotation of the rotary head drum.
15. A data transfer apparatus for receiving cartridges each comprising an elongate medium, the data transfer apparatus comprising: at least one data transfer head; means for automatically establishing that separation of a trailing end of an elongate medium from a supply spool of a received cartridge is about to occur; and means for pre-emptively moving the elongate medium away from the or each head in response to the establishing that the separation of the trailing end is about to occur.