JP2001067753A - Tape guiding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tape guiding device capable of positioning a tape accurately in a transducer without providing a strong tension for the tape. SOLUTION: The tape guiding device 3 guides the travelling of a tape 1 by a tape surface guiding means 5 and a tape height guiding means 23. A bias means 17 is biased toward the tape height guiding means 23 by blowing high pressure air to the tape 1. An air diffusing means 25 diffuses the high pressure air supplied by the bias means 17. Biased by the air, the tape 1 is biased even if the tension is weak.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape guide device useful for accurately positioning a tape with respect to a transducer such as a magnetic head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Magnetic tapes are widely used as recording media for recording and storing information in computers and the like. A general problem in recording signals on a magnetic tape is how to increase the recording density of information per unit area. If the recording density of information per unit area can be improved, it is possible to record a large amount of information on a small recording medium, and it is possible to increase the information transfer speed (information recording speed) to a tape. There are advantages. In order to improve the recording density of the information recorded on the tape, it is necessary to accurately position the tape with respect to a transducer such as a magnetic head and run the tape. If the tape can be accurately positioned with respect to the transducer, the track density recorded on the tape can be increased. If the positioning of the tape relative to the transducer is not accurate and the tape runs meandering relative to the transducer, the track density cannot be increased.

Several techniques are known that are useful for accurately positioning a tape with respect to a transducer.
Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-16119 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-150153
In (G11B15 / 60), the tape is biased in one direction on both sides of the magnetic head, and the tape guide restricts the vibration in the height direction of the tape, thereby positioning the tape with respect to the magnetic head. Is disclosed with high accuracy. In addition, actual opening Hei 04-1
No. 32613 (G11B5 / 86) discloses a technique relating to a tape guiding device using a tapered tape guide to bias a traveling path of a traveling magnetic tape. All of the techniques show good characteristics under the condition that the thickness of the tape is about 18 micrometers or more and the tape tension of 2 Newton or more can be applied.

[0004]

The conventionally known tape guide apparatus has a problem that it is necessary to apply a strong tension to the running magnetic tape in order to accurately position the magnetic tape with respect to the transducer. there were.
If the tension of the magnetic tape is too high, the tape guiding device may damage the surface or edge of the magnetic tape.
The reason that high tape tension is required is that these devices bias the magnetic tape travel path by the difference in the magnetic tape width direction tension, and by biasing the tape travel path, the tape This is because the guide determines the running position of the tape. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a tape guiding device capable of obtaining sufficiently accurate magnetic tape positioning accuracy with respect to a transducer even if the tension is not strong.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a tape guiding device for positioning a tape having a predetermined width and thickness with respect to a transducer, wherein the tape guides the tape in a thickness direction of the tape, and Tape surface guiding means for positioning the thickness direction of the tape with respect to the transducer; bias means for blowing a high-pressure air to the tape to bias a tape traveling path in a width direction of the tape; and A tape height guiding means for guiding the tape in the width direction and positioning the tape in the width direction with respect to the transducer; and a high-pressure air blown out by the bias means diffused in the vicinity of the tape height guiding means. And a tape guiding device characterized by air diffusing means. It is intended.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a tape. The tape 1 runs in the direction shown by the arrow 2. Reference numerals 3 and 4 denote tape guide devices embodying the present invention. 55 is a transducer such as a magnetic head. The transducer 555 records information on the running tape 1 or reproduces information from the tape. 7 and 8 are guide rollers. The guide roller 7 is located upstream of the tape guide device 3 and guides the tape 1 flowing into the tape guide device 3. Guide roller 8
Is located downstream of the tape guiding device 4 and guides the tape 1 flowing out of the tape guiding device 4. The transducer 55 is arranged between the tape guiding device 3 and the tape guiding device 4. The thickness and width of the tape 1 are determined according to an industrial standard for the tape 1. For example, the thickness of the tape 1 is 9 micrometers, and the width is about 12 millimeters.

Reference numerals 5 and 6 denote tape surface guiding means. The tape surface guides 5 and 6 have guide surfaces 19 and 20, respectively. The guide surfaces 19 and 20 position the tape 1 with respect to the transducer 55 in the thickness direction of the tape 1. Reference numerals 9 and 10 denote air blowing holes provided on the tape guide surface 19, and reference numerals 11 and 12 denote air blow holes provided on the tape guide surface 20. The empty blowout holes 9 and 10 constitute bias means 17 provided in the tape guide device 3, and the air blowout holes 11 and 12 constitute bieye means 18 provided in the tape guide device 4. Reference numerals 13, 14, 15, and 16 are air tubes. The air pipe 13 is connected to the air outlet 9, the air pipe 14 is connected to the air outlet 10, the air pipe 15 is connected to the air outlet 11, and the air pipe 16 is connected to the air outlet 12. Air pipes 13, 14,
15 and 16 are connected to high-pressure air sources having different pressures. The air holes 9 and 10 are arranged so that the air hits the tape 1 when air is blown out from the air holes 9 and 10.

Reference numerals 21 and 22 denote tape height guiding means.
The tape height guides 21 and 22 are provided in the tape guides 3 and 4, respectively. Tape height guiding means 21, 2
2 comprises smooth planes 23,24. Plane 23,
24 is perpendicular to the guide surfaces 19 and 20, respectively. The flat surfaces 23 and 24 receive the lower edge 27 of the tape 1 biased by the biasing means 17 and 18 and position the tape 1 with respect to the transducer 55 in the height direction of the tape 1. The lower edge 27 of the tape 1 always runs while contacting the planes 23, 24. 25, 26
Is an air diffusion means. The air diffusion means 25, 26
The tape guide device 3 is provided at the boundary between the flat surface 23 and the guide surface 19 and the tape guide device 4 at the boundary between the flat surface 24 and the guide surface 20. The air diffusion means 25 and 26 are provided on the guide surface 1.
9 and 20, one of the holes is on the guide surface 19 side, and the other is on the tape surface guiding means 5,
Behind six.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the structure of the tape guide device 3. As shown in FIG. The tape guiding device 3 includes a tape surface guiding unit 5, a biasing unit 17, a tape height guiding unit 21, and an air diffusing unit 25. The biasing means 17
The air outlet holes 9 and 11 are provided. An air pipe 13 is connected to the air blowing hole 9, and an air pipe 14 is connected to the air blowing hole 10. Air tube 13,
The air pipe 14 is supplied with high-pressure air from high-pressure air sources having different pressures. The air diffusing means 25 includes three holes 28, 29, 30. Air diffusion means 2
5 is provided at the boundary between the flat surface 23 of the tape height guiding means 21 and the guiding surface 19 of the tape surface guiding means 5.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the bias means 17 and the air diffusion means 25. Air tube 1 of FIG.
A high-pressure air source having a different pressure is connected to the 3 and the air pipe 14. When the pressure of the high-pressure air source connected to the air pipe 13 is higher than the pressure of the high-pressure air source reminiscent of the air pipe 14, the pressure of the air blown out to the air blowing hole 10 is reduced. The pressure of the air blown out from the blowout hole 9 becomes higher. The tape 1 is lifted from the guide surface 19 at the air blowing holes 9 and 10 by the high-pressure air blown from the air blowing holes 9 and 10. Tape 1
Is lifted from the guide surface 19 by the air blowing holes 9,
It depends on the pressure of the high-pressure air blown out from 10. Tape 1
When the pressure of the high-pressure air blown out from the air blowout hole 9 is higher than the pressure of the high-pressure air blown out from the air blowout hole 10, the floating amount becomes larger at the air blowout hole 9. Then, the tape 1 tilts as shown in FIG.
As a result, the running path of the tape 1 is biased in the direction shown by the arrow 31. Therefore, the lower edge 27 of the tape 1 always runs in contact with the flat surface 23 of the tape height guiding means 21. 32 is an enlarged view of a portion of the air diffusion means 25 near the guide surface 19. As shown in an enlarged view of the portion, the lower edge 27 of the tape 1 and the flat surface 23 are in close contact with each other. Trying to pull away from 19. At this time, the air near the lower edge 27 is diffused by the air diffusion means 25. Then, the force of separating the tape 1 from the guide surface 19 by the high-pressure air near the lower edge 27 is reduced, and the position of the lower edge 27 relative to the guide surface 19 and the position relative to the plane 23 are stabilized.

FIG. 4 is a graph schematically showing the vibration of the lower edge 27 with respect to the plane 23. In the graph shown in FIG. 4, the vertical axis represents amplitude V (unit is meter), and the horizontal axis represents time (unit is second). The tape used is 9 micrometers thick, 12 millimeters wide, runs at a speed of 5 meters per second, and has a tension of about 1 Newton. The measuring method shown in FIG. 4 is a method in which a device for enlarging and observing the lower edge 27 of the tape 1 is provided near the transducer 55 shown in FIG. 1, and the position of the lower edge 27 is measured over time. is there. A solid line 34 is an example in which the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is implemented, and a broken line 35 is an example in which the air diffusion means 25 shown in FIG. 1 is deleted as a comparative example. The elimination of the air diffusion means 25 means that the holes 28, 29, 30 shown in FIG.
Is not provided. According to FIG.
It can be seen that the provision of No. 5 stabilizes the position of the lower edge 27 of the tape 1 and consequently reduces the vibration of the tape 1 in the width direction (height direction). Further, since the biasing means 17 is made of high-pressure air, even when the tape 1 is run in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, no damage such as one-sided elongation of the tape 1 is observed, and good results can be obtained. did it.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of the air diffusing means 25 of the tape guide device 3 shown in FIG. The air diffusing means 25 of the tape guiding device 3 includes three holes 28, 29, and 30. Holes 28, 29, 30
It is on the guide surface 19 of the tape guiding means 5 and penetrates the tape guiding means 5.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the air diffusing means comprises grooves 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 shown at 42. Each groove is provided in the tape height guiding means 21. The top of each groove forms a plane 23. The air diffusing means 42 shown in FIG. 6 has the same operation and effect as the air diffusing means 25 shown in FIG. That is, the high-pressure air blown out from the air blowing holes 9 and 10 is diffused in the tape 1 running along the guide surface 19 at the lower edge 27 of the tape 1 to stabilize the running of the tape 1. An advantage of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is that the tape surface guiding means 5 having the guiding surface 19 does not require complicated processing.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the biasing means 7 of the tape guiding means 3 is provided outside the tape surface guiding means 5. Further, the bias means 7 is provided on the upstream side with respect to the guide surface 19 in the running direction of the tape 1. As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the bias means 7 is provided with two air blowing holes 9 and 10, and high-pressure air is supplied to the air blowing holes 9 and 10 from the air pipes 13 and 14. It is supposed to be. An advantage of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 is that the guide surface 19 can be machined smoothly, since it is not necessary to perform extra machining on the guide surface 19.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
The difference from the embodiment shown in FIG.
0 is connected to a negative pressure source through an air pipe 43. Therefore, air is always positively sucked out of the holes 28, 29, 30. Therefore, when the action of the air diffusion means 25 is further strengthened and the running speed of the tape is low, the tape 1
Run more stable. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the tape guide device 3 and the tape guide device 4 are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the transducer 55. However, when the running speed of the tape 1 is low, sufficient positioning accuracy of the tape 1 can be obtained with either one of them. As described above, the tape guide device embodying the present invention biases the tape traveling path by blowing high-pressure air onto the tape. Therefore, a sufficient bias can be obtained without applying excessive tension to the tape. If the tape travel path is biased, it is relatively easy to position the tape in the width direction relative to the transducer. Further, high-pressure air blown to the tape to bias the tape traveling path is diffused by the air diffusion means. Therefore, unnecessary vibration of the tape due to the high-pressure air does not occur.

[0016]

According to the present invention, there is provided an effect that a tape guide device capable of obtaining sufficiently accurate tape positioning accuracy with respect to the transducer can be obtained even if the tape tension is not high.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment in detail;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating effects.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 tape 3 tape guiding device 5 tape surface guiding means 17 biasing means 23 tape height guiding means 25 air diffusing means 55 transducer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A tape guide device for positioning a tape having a predetermined width and thickness with respect to a transducer, wherein the tape guides the tape in the thickness direction of the tape, and transmits the tape in the thickness direction to the transducer. Tape surface guiding means for positioning with respect to the tape, bias means for biasing the running path of the tape in the width direction of the tape by blowing high-pressure air to the tape, and guiding the tape in the width direction of the tape. And a tape height guiding means for positioning the tape in the width direction with respect to the transducer, and an air diffusing means for diffusing high-pressure air blown out by the biasing means near the tape height guiding means. Tape guide device characterized by the following: 2. The tape surface guide means has a guide surface for guiding the surface of the tape, and the tape height guide means has a flat surface for guiding an edge of the tape. The tape according to claim 1, wherein the biasing means biases a running path of the tape toward the plane of the tape height guiding means by blowing high-pressure air onto a surface of the tape. Guidance device 3. The air diffusion means is a hole provided on a guide surface of the tape surface guide means, and the air diffusion means is sprayed on the tape by the bias means between the guide surface of the tape guide means and the tape. 3. The tape guide device according to claim 2, wherein the supplied high-pressure air is diffused. 4. The tape guide according to claim 2, wherein the air diffusion means is provided at a boundary between a guide surface of the tape surface guide means and a plane of the tape height guide means. apparatus 5. The air diffusion means is a groove provided in a plane of the tape height guide means, and is blown to the tape by the bias means between the guide surface of the tape guide means and the tape. 3. The tape guide device according to claim 2, wherein the high-pressure air is diffused. 6. The air diffusing means is connected to a negative pressure source for diffusing high pressure air blown to the tape by the biasing means between the guiding surface of the tape guiding means and the tape. The tape guide device according to claim 3 or 5, wherein