JP2001143340A - Cartridge loading device, and recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the increase in the number of components and the complexity of the structure and to eject a tape cartridge from a device through manual operation. SOLUTION: When an ejecting depression member 230 is moved back with a tool 264, a depressing force acts on an ejecting drive member 248 through the ejecting depression member 230. This depressing force generates a driving force for moving the ejecting drive member 248 backward and moment for swinging the ejecting drive member 248 counterclockwise. Consequently, the ejecting drive member 248 swings from a disengagement position to an engagement position to engage a rack part 260 with the tooth part 95 of a cam gear 94 and when the swing is limited by the cam gear 94, the member moves along the pitch line of the rack part 260. Consequently, the cam gear 94 rotates counterclockwise and a carrier loaded with a tape cartridge 12 is moved to a loading/unloading position side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cartridge loading apparatus applied to a recording / reproducing apparatus or the like for loading or unloading a cartridge containing a recording medium such as a magnetic tape. The present invention also relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording or reproducing information on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape built in a cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a computer, a magnetic tape housed in a tape cartridge called a data streamer drive (hereinafter simply referred to as a data streamer) for backing up a storage device such as an HDD (hard disk drive) is used as a recording medium. External storage device is used. As this data streamer, for example, QIC (Quarter-Inch Cartri
dge) Standards are available.

A conventional data streamer conforming to the QIC standard has a loading mechanism for a tape cartridge. This loading mechanism allows a tape cartridge inserted from a device outside to a predetermined position in the device to be housed in the device. To the appropriate recording position,
At this recording position, information is recorded or reproduced on the magnetic tape. When the tape cartridge is removed from the data streamer, the loading mechanism transports the tape cartridge at the recording position to a position where a part of the tape cartridge protrudes outside the device, and ejects the tape cartridge to the outside. There is something to say.

In a data streamer having a loading mechanism as described above, the power is cut off due to a power failure or the like while the tape cartridge is at the recording position, or the loading motor, which is the driving source of the loading mechanism, operates due to a device failure. If it becomes impossible, the tape cartridge cannot be taken out of the apparatus. In such a case, it is necessary to remove the tape cartridge from the apparatus in order to reliably protect the information recorded on the tape cartridge and to continue the recording or reproducing operation by another normally operating data streamer.

In addition, the fact that the recording medium cannot be taken out of the apparatus due to the above-mentioned causes may occur in other recording / reproducing apparatuses having a loading mechanism other than the data streamer. In consideration of this, some recording / reproducing apparatuses such as a magneto-optical disk drive are provided with a manual eject unit for putting a recording medium into an ejected state by a manual operation from outside the apparatus. As such a manual eject unit, for example, there is a unit that rotates a worm from the outside of the apparatus using a tool such as a driver, and rotates a rotating shaft of a loading motor by a worm wheel that meshes with the worm.

[0006]

However, in the recording / reproducing apparatus provided with the manual eject section as described above, it is necessary to incorporate a worm and a worm wheel into the loading mechanism. The number of points increases and the device structure becomes complicated. For this reason, if such a configuration of the conventional manual eject unit is applied to the data streamer, the feature of the data streamer that it is small and has a simple structure is greatly impaired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a cartridge loading device capable of suppressing an increase in size and complexity of an apparatus and allowing a tape cartridge in the apparatus to be manually ejected. It is another object of the present invention to provide a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of suppressing an increase in the number of parts and complicating the structure by using the cartridge loading apparatus, and capable of manually ejecting a tape cartridge in the apparatus.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cartridge loading apparatus movably supported between a detachable position where a cartridge is removably mounted and a recording position for a recording medium contained in the cartridge. A carrier member, and a driving force transmitting unit that is connected to the carrier member and a driving source of the carrier member, and is driven in a discharging operation direction by a driving force from the driving source to move the carrier member to the attachment / detachment position side. An eject pressing member that is supported so as to be able to reciprocate between a preset start end position and a preset end position and that moves from the start end position to the end position side by receiving an external pressing force; and While receiving a pressing force from the outside through, the interlocking movement of the ejection pressing member from the start end position to the end position side is performed. An ejection drive member for moving from a disengagement position to be disengaged with respect to the power transmission means to an engagement position for engagement, moving to the engagement position, changing the movement direction and moving the drive force transmission means in a discharge operation direction; And

According to the above-described cartridge loading apparatus, the eject driving member is driven in conjunction with the movement of the eject pressing member from the start end position to the end position side while receiving the external pressing force via the eject pressing member. By moving from the disengaged position to the engaging position with respect to the force transmitting means to the engaging position, and moving to the engaging position, changing the moving direction, moving along the discharging operation direction and driving the driving force transmitting means in the discharging operation direction, the starting end When the ejecting pressing member at the position is pressed and moved to the end position side, the driving force transmitting means can be driven in the discharging operation direction and the carrier member can be moved to the attaching / detaching position side without using the driving source of the carrier member. Even if the power supply is cut off or the drive source becomes inoperable due to a device failure, etc. When the ejector presses the eject pressing member from the outside of the apparatus and moves the eject pressing member from the start end position to the end position side, the carrier member at the recording position or the intermediate position between the recording position and the attaching / detaching position can be moved to the attaching / detaching position. .

[0010] As a result, the cartridge mounted on the carrier member becomes detachable at the attachment / detachment position, so that the operator can extract the cartridge to the outside of the apparatus.

Here, the discharging operation direction of the driving force transmitting means means, for example, if the driving force transmitting means is constituted by a gear train, the carrier member is moved from the recording position to the attaching / detaching position by the driving force from the driving source. This is the direction that coincides with the rotation direction of the gears constituting the gear train.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cartridge loading apparatus according to the first aspect, the eject driving member can be engaged with an engaged gear which forms at least a part of the driving force transmitting means. A rack portion, which moves from the disengagement position to the engagement position in conjunction with the movement of the eject pressing member from the start end position to the end position side, and engages the rack portion with the engaged gear. In addition, when the rack is moved to the engagement position, the rack is moved along a pitch line to rotate the engaged gear in the discharge operation direction.

According to the cartridge loading device having the above-described structure, the eject drive member engages the rack with the engaged gear in conjunction with the movement of the eject pressing member from the start end position to the end position, and moves to the engagement position. Then, by moving the rack portion along the pitch line and rotating the engaged gear in the discharging operation direction, after the rack portion meshes with the engaged gear of the driving force transmission means, the meshing state is maintained. Since the rack can be moved along the pitch line and the engaged gear can be rotated in the discharge operation direction, even if the drive source such as the motor becomes inoperable, the recording position or the intermediate position between the recording position and the attachment / detachment position can be used. A certain carrier member can be moved to a mounting / dismounting position.

Further, since the driving force transmission means is driven in a state where the ejection drive member is engaged with the engaged gear,
Since there is no loss of driving force due to slippage or the like between the eject drive member and the engaged gear, the drive force transmission means can be efficiently and reliably driven in the discharge operation direction by the eject drive member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the cartridge loading apparatus according to the second aspect, the eject driving member is configured to pivot about a pivot axis parallel to a rotation axis of the engaged gear. And the rack portion is supported so as to be movable in a gear driving direction along a pitch line, and preferentially moves from the disengagement position to the engagement position along the swinging direction by a pressing force from the eject driving member. When movement in the swing direction is restricted by the engaged gear, the gear moves in the gear driving direction.

According to the above-described cartridge loading device, the ejection drive member is preferentially moved from the disengagement position to the engagement position along the swinging direction by the pressing force from the ejection pressing member, and is moved by the engaged gear. When the movement in the moving direction is restricted, the rack is moved from the starting position to the end position by moving the gear in the gear driving direction to move the rack portion from the disengagement position along the swinging direction. After moving to the engagement position and engaging with the engaged gear, the engaged gear can be rotated by changing the moving direction of the rack portion to the gear driving direction.

Therefore, a member for guiding the eject drive member in the swinging direction and a member for restricting the eject drive member that has moved to the engagement position from separating from the engagement position can be eliminated. The configuration can be simplified by reducing the number of parts.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cartridge loading device according to the first, second or third aspect, when the ejection pressing member is released from the pressing force, the ejection pressing member returns to the start end position, and the ejection drive is performed. The member moves from the engagement position to the disengagement position in conjunction with the return operation of the ejection pressing member to the start end position, and when the member moves to the disengagement position, a direction opposite to the direction when the driving force transmission unit is driven To return to the initial standby position corresponding to the start end position.

According to the cartridge loading device having the above-described structure, the eject driving member is disengaged from the driving force transmitting means engaged with the driving force transmitting means in conjunction with the return operation of the eject pressing member to the start end position, and the drive is performed. When the ejection force is released from the force transmission means, the drive force transmission means moves in the opposite direction and returns to the initial standby position, so that when the ejection pressure member stops being pressed, the ejection pressure member automatically moves to the start position. The ejection drive member automatically returns to the initial standby position in conjunction with this operation.Therefore, if the pressing operation of moving the eject pressing member from the start end position to the end position side is repeatedly performed, this pressing operation is performed every time. Then, the carrier member moves to the attaching / detaching position side by an amount corresponding to the operation amount.

Therefore, even when the moving distance from the stop position of the carrier member to the attaching / detaching position is long, or when the stroke cannot be lengthened from the start end position to the end position of the eject pressing member due to restrictions on the size of the apparatus, the operator can press the eject pressing member. The carrier member can be reliably moved to the attachment / detachment position by repeating the pressing operation on.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording / reproducing apparatus according to the first, second, third or fourth aspect, wherein information is recorded on a recording medium of a cartridge mounted on the carrier member and moved to the recording position. Recording / reproducing means for recording or reproducing the information.

According to the recording / reproducing apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the cartridge loading apparatus is used as a cartridge loading apparatus.
By using the described one, the carrier member can be moved to the attaching / detaching position side without using the driving source of the carrier member. Therefore, even if the driving source becomes inoperable while the cartridge is housed in the apparatus, the operator can operate the operator. If the user presses the eject pressing member from outside the apparatus, the carrier member can be moved to the attaching / detaching position and the cartridge can be pulled out of the apparatus.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a data streamer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Structure of Tape Cartridge) First, the structure of the tape cartridge applied to the data streamer according to the present embodiment will be described. The symbols W and D in FIG.
In the following description, the directions along the arrows with H and H are defined as the width direction, the depth direction, and the height direction of the apparatus, respectively.

The tape cartridge 12 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing 14 which is flattened in the height direction as shown in FIG. Guide grooves 16, 17 extending in the depth direction from the front end surface of the casing 14 are provided at both end surfaces (front end portions) of the casing 14 on the insertion side into the data streamer 10, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3, a first opening 18 is formed at the center of the front end face of the casing 14, and the first opening 18 is formed on the guide groove 17 side (right side) with respect to the first opening 18. Two openings 19 (see FIG. 5) are formed.
A lid member 20 for opening and closing the second opening 19 is disposed in the casing 14, and the lid member 20 is
It is swingably supported at a position for opening and closing the second opening 19 around the center 1 and is urged in a closing direction by an urging member (not shown) such as a torsion coil spring.

As shown in FIG. 3, a protect switch 22 is disposed on the upper surface of the casing 14 near the corner on the guide groove 16 side. The protect switch 22 is movable in the width direction along the upper surface of the casing 14, and the tape cartridge 12 is prohibited or prohibited from recording on the magnetic tape 24 (see FIG. 6) according to the position of the protect switch 22. It is to be released.

At the lower end of the casing 14, as shown in FIG.
Is arranged. Both end portions on the insertion side of the base plate 26 form lower wall portions along the depth direction of the guide grooves 16 and 17, respectively.
U-shaped cutouts 28 and 29 (see FIG. 3) are formed on both side ends of each of them facing the guide grooves 16 and 17, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 6, the tape cartridge 12 guides a pair of tape reels 30 and 31 for winding the magnetic tape 24 into the casing 14 and the magnetic tape 24 extending from the tape reels 30 and 31. A pair of tape guide rollers 32, 33 are rotatably arranged. Here, a pair of tape guide rollers 32 and 33 are arranged at both corners on the distal end side in the casing 14, and guide the magnetic tape 24 so that the magnetic tape 24 is stretched along the distal end surface of the casing 14. ing.

A disk-shaped belt capstan 34 is rotatably disposed in the casing 14 so as to face the first opening 18. As shown in FIG. A part on the outer peripheral side is projected outside the casing 14 through the one opening 18. A belt pulley 36 is coaxially provided below the belt capstan 34 so as to rotate integrally with the belt capstan 34.

In the casing 14, a pair of belt guide rollers 38 and 39 are rotatably arranged so as to be located on the rear end side and outside of the pair of tape reels 30 and 31, respectively. An annular friction belt 40 is provided on the belt guide rollers 38 and 39 and the belt pulley 36.
The friction belt 40 is stretched so as to press against the surface of the magnetic tape 24 wound on the tape reels 80 and 31 respectively. As a result, when the belt capstan 34 rotates, the magnetic tape 24 runs at a speed corresponding to the rotation speed of the belt capstan 34, and in conjunction with this, the magnetic tape 24 rotates together with the tape reels 30 and 31 by the frictional force from the friction belt 40. Then, the magnetic tape 24 stretched between the tape guide rollers 32 and 33 runs along the width direction of the casing 14.

As shown in FIG. 6, a belt capstan 34 and a tape guide roller 32 are provided in the casing 14.
The mirror 42 is arranged so as to face the back surface of the magnetic tape 24 between the mirror 42 and the mirror 42. Further, a mirror 4 is provided on the distal end surface of the casing 14 and the base plate 26, respectively.
2, a light-passing window (not shown) is provided. Also, the BOT (Beginnin) of the magnetic tape 24 is used.
g of Tape) and EOT (End of Ta)
In (pe), through holes (not shown) are formed at predetermined positions in the tape width direction.

(Configuration of Loading Mechanism) Next, the configuration of the loading mechanism in the data streamer according to the present embodiment will be described.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show a data streamer 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The data streamer 10 includes a resin-made chassis 44 as shown in FIG. The chassis 44 is provided with a substantially rectangular bottom plate portion 46 which is long in a depth direction which is an operation direction of the loading mechanism, and is formed at right angles to the bottom plate portion 46 along both long side ends of the bottom plate portion 46. A pair of side plates 48 and 49 bent integrally are provided integrally.

As shown in FIG. 2, a metal carrier 50 and a resin slide plate 52 are arranged on the bottom plate 46 of the chassis 44. Also the chassis 44
A cylindrical motor mounting portion 54 is integrally formed on the bottom plate portion 46 at the rear end side in the depth direction, and a loading motor 56 for driving a cartridge loading mechanism is formed in the motor mounting portion 54. Has been fixed.

A front panel 58 is attached to the front end of the chassis 44 so as to cover the front side of the chassis 44 as shown in FIG. An opening 60 having a shape corresponding to the front end surface of the tape cartridge 12 is formed in the upper part of the front panel 58, and a plate-shaped shielding door 62 is disposed in the opening 60. Here, the shielding door 62 is connected to the front panel 58 via connection shafts (not shown) provided at the upper end portions of both side surfaces, and the opening for opening and closing the opening 60 around the connection shaft. Between the closed position and the closed position. Further, the front panel 58 is provided with an intake portion 64 serving as a cooling air intake and an eject button 66 for ejecting the tape cartridge 12 below the opening 60. In the opening 60 of the front panel 58, a substantially square access window 61 for operating an eject pressing member 230, which will be described later, is formed near the end on the eject button 66 side.

As shown in FIG. 8, a top plate 222 made of a thin metal plate is fixed to the upper end surface of the chassis 44 near the front end.
Are supported in parallel with the upper surface of the bottom plate portion 46. On the lower surface of the top plate 222, rib-shaped guide members 224 extending in the depth direction are arranged at both ends. Further, on the top plate 222, plate springs 226 which are elongated in the depth direction are arranged inside a pair of guide members 224, and both ends of the plate springs 226 are V-shaped so as to protrude below the lower surface of the guide member 224. It is bent in the shape of a letter. Here, the pair of guide members 224 are concave upper surface guide portions 15 provided at both ends of the upper surface of the tape cartridge 12 (see FIG. 1).
Is provided in correspondence with.

The carrier 50 is formed to be long in the width direction. The carrier 50 has a substantially flat base plate portion having a width slightly wider than the tape cartridge 12 at the center in the width direction as shown in FIG. 68 are provided, and base plate portions 6 are provided at both ends in the width direction.
Side plate part 7 bent at right angles to 8
0, 71 are provided. The space between these side plate portions 70 and 71 is slightly wider than the width of the tape cartridge 12 along the width direction.

The slide plate 52 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape which is long in the depth direction as shown in FIG. 2, and is assembled to the carrier 50 such that the upper surface thereof is in contact with the center of the lower surface of the base plate portion 68. Slide plate 5
A guide groove 72 is formed in the upper surface of each of the guide grooves 72 near each corner in the depth direction, and has a substantially L-shaped cross section in a direction perpendicular to the depth direction. Meanwhile, carrier 5
In FIG. 0, four guide claws 74 protruding toward the slide plate 52 are provided corresponding to the four guide grooves 72, and the tips of the guide claws 74 are L-shaped corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the guide groove 72. It is bent in a shape.

When the slide plate 52 is assembled, the guide claws 74 of the carrier 50 are inserted into the guide grooves 72 as shown in FIG. Thus, the carrier 50 and the slide plate 52 are assembled integrally, and relatively slidable in the depth direction within a range limited by the guide groove 72. Also carrier 50
And the slide plate 52 are two coil springs 7
6 and these coil springs 7
6 urges the carrier 50 toward the loading motor 56 (rearward side) with respect to the slide plate 52. Thus, the carrier 50 is held at a position where the guide claws 74 abut against the rear end of the guide groove 72 before the loading of the tape cartridge 12 is started.

In the carrier 50, a stopper member 78 is disposed on the lower surface of the base plate 68 so as to be slidable in the depth direction. The stopper member 78 is formed in an elongated plate shape in the depth direction, and a claw portion 79 bent upward as shown in FIG. 2 is formed at a tip portion on the loading motor 56 side. The claw portion 79 is supported so as to be able to contact and separate from the rear end surface of the carrier 50 in the depth direction. The stopper member 78 is connected to the carrier 50 by a coil spring 80.
The coil spring 80 always biases the stop member 78 toward the front panel 58 (front side). As a result, the stopper member 78 is held at a position where the claw portion 79 contacts the rear end surface of the carrier 50 in a state in which the pressing force from the tape cartridge 12 is not received.

As shown in FIG. 2, the center of the slide plate 52 in the width direction is bent upward in a U-shape, so that the lower surface of the slide plate 52 extends in the depth direction. A concave bridge portion 82 is formed. The slide plate 52 has a rack 8 which is formed to be elongated in the depth direction at an end (left end) on the side plate portion 70 side, and a part of which extends in the depth direction projects rearward.
4 are provided integrally. The rack 84 has teeth 85 at the side end facing the inside of the bridge 82 along the depth direction.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a circular opening 86 is formed in the bottom plate portion 46 of the chassis 44 near the center thereof. Along with the teeth 85 of the rack 84.

A plurality of pairs (four in this embodiment) of a pair of conveyance guide members 88 are provided on the upper surface of the bottom plate portion 46 so as to face each other across the opening 86 in the width direction. . The transport guide member 88 protrudes upward from the bottom plate portion 46, and a distal end side thereof is bent toward the opposing transport guide member 88 side. The transport guide members 88 are arranged on a straight line along the depth direction, and the interval between the pair of transport guide members 88 is the slide plate 52.
Is slightly wider than the width. As shown in FIG. 3, the slide plate 5
2 are arranged. At this time, the slide plate 52
Are locked by the distal ends of at least two sets of the conveyance guide members 88, whereby the slide plate 52
Is restricted from moving in the height direction and comes into contact with the bottom plate portion 46.

On the upper surface of the bottom plate portion 46, as shown in FIG. 2, a rib-shaped guide rail 90 extending along the depth direction between the opening 86 and the transport guide member 88 along the width direction. Is formed. On the other hand, a guide groove 92 corresponding to the guide rail 90 is formed on the lower surface of the slide plate 52 along the depth direction. As shown in FIG. 1, a guide rail 90 is inserted into a guide groove 92 of the slide plate 52 disposed between the pair of transport guide members 88, whereby the slide plate 52 moves only in the depth direction. The movement in the other direction is restricted by the conveyance guide member 88 and the guide rail 90.

As shown in FIG. 1, a substantially cylindrical cam gear 94 is inserted into the opening 86 of the chassis 44 from the lower surface side of the bottom plate portion 46. It protrudes upward from the lower surface. Cam gear 9
4 is rotatably supported by an under plate 96 fastened and fixed to the lower portion of the chassis 44 so as to face the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 46 as shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), the teeth 95 provided on the outer periphery are engaged with the teeth 85 of the rack 84.

As shown in FIG. 5, an intermediate gear 97 having a diameter larger than that of the cam gear 94 is integrally provided between the cam gear 94 and the under plate 96. And a part of a gear train for connecting the rotating shaft to the cam gear 94.

The loading motor 56 transmits torque to the cam gear 94 via the gear train including the intermediate gear 97 when the loading mechanism operates, and rotates the cam gear 94 clockwise or counterclockwise. In the data streamer 10 of the present embodiment, when the cam gear 94 rotates clockwise, the slide member is moved to the loading motor 56 side (rear).
When the cam gear 94 rotates counterclockwise, the slide plate 52 slides toward the front panel 58 (forward).

At this time, the carrier 50 corresponds to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, when the tape cartridge 12 is not mounted, it moves integrally with the slide plate 52, but as shown in FIG.
2 is mounted, a positioning operation in the depth direction, which will be described later, is performed immediately before the slide plate 52 reaches the movement limit on the rear end side of the movable stroke. (Forward)
It slides slightly to the side.

As shown in FIG. 7, the tooth portion 95 of the cam gear 94 is provided at its lower portion with an entire peripheral portion 95A having teeth continuously formed at a predetermined pitch over the entire outer peripheral surface. In addition, a sector portion 95B having teeth formed only on a portion along the circumferential direction is provided on the upper side. here,
The tooth portion 85 of the rack 84 is the one rearmost tooth 85A.
Except for (see FIG. 3), all the remaining teeth can mesh with both the entire peripheral portion 95A and the sector portion 95B of the cam gear 94. The tooth portion 85A is provided in the sector portion 9 of the cam gear 94.
The tooth width is made thinner than the remaining teeth so as to be able to mesh only with 5B.

The cam gear 94 is provided with an upright wall portion 218 that is curved in a substantially spiral shape around the axis of the cam gear 94 on the inner peripheral side of the sector portion 95B.
The inner peripheral surface 18 has a cam surface 21 whose radius of curvature changes continuously.
9 is set. An opening 218A is formed in the upright wall portion 218 near an end opposite to the sector portion 95B, and the opening 218A serves as an entrance for a cam follower 220 described later. The cam surface 219 has a cam profile in which the radius of curvature continuously decreases from the clockwise end to the counterclockwise end when viewed from above.

On the other hand, on the lower surface of the slide plate 52,
As shown in FIG. 3, a cam follower 220 protruding downward near the front end is provided so as to face the teeth 85 of the rack 84. The cam follower 220 has a substantially rhombic cross section when viewed from above, and is arranged so that the center thereof in the width direction substantially coincides with the axis S of the cam gear 94. As shown in FIG. 22, a sliding surface 221 formed of a smooth convex curved surface is formed at the front end of the cam follower 220.

The side plate portions 70 and 7 of the carrier 50
Lock lock members 98 and 99 shown in FIG. These locking lock members 98 and 99 are connected to the lever plate 10 made of a metal plate.
0, 101 and engaging pins 102, 10 projecting from the outer side surfaces of the lever plates 100, 101 along the width direction.
3 is provided. Here, the engagement pin 102 of the one (left) engagement lock member 98 is longer than the engagement pin 103 of the other (right) engagement lock member 99.

Here, one lever plate 100 and the other lever plate 101 are symmetrical to each other via a plane (DH plane) defined by the depth direction and the height direction. Lever plate 100,
Reference numeral 101 denotes a lever that extends long in the radial direction about the connection shaft 106 and extends forward and backward about the connection shaft 106.

As shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, a large circular bearing 104 is bored at an intermediate portion between the engaging pins 102 and 103 and the rear end of the lever. On the other hand, connection shafts 106 (only the connection shaft 106 of the side plate portion 70 is shown in FIG. 2) are provided upright on the inner side surfaces of the side plate portions 70 and 71, respectively. ing. These connecting shafts 106 are inserted into the bearing holes 104 of the lever plates 100 and 101, respectively, and a ring (not shown) having a diameter larger than that of the bearing holes 104 is fitted to the tip of the outer peripheral surface. As a result, the locking lock members 98 and 99 are supported so as to be swingable about the connecting shaft 106 between a predetermined release / restriction position and a locking / release position.

Openings 108 are formed in the base plate 68 of the carrier 50 along the inner surfaces of the side plates 70 and 71, respectively. Locking lock member 9
As shown in FIG. 3, the 8,99 lever plates 100 and 101 are inserted through the opening 108 and supported so as to be movable in the height direction.

The side plates 70, 7 of the carrier 50
As shown in FIG. 2, a long hole 110 is drilled in the same direction along the connecting shaft 106 as shown in FIG. In the elongated hole 110, the engaging pins 10 of the locking lock members 98 and 99 are inserted.
2 and 103 are inserted, and the tip ends of the engaging pins 102 and 103 project outside the side plate portions 70 and 71.
Here, the elongated holes 110 are provided in the lever plates 100 and 101.
Side plate 7 even if
0 and 71 are provided corresponding to the swing range of the lever plates 100 and 101 so as not to interfere with the engaging pins 102 and 103.

As shown in FIG. 8, a lever plate 10 is provided at the rear swinging end of the lever plates 100 and 101.
There is provided a latch release portion 112 which is inclined obliquely upward with respect to the longitudinal direction of 0, 101 and has a tapered shape whose shape along the surface direction becomes narrower toward the distal end portion.

The front swinging ends of the lever plates 100 and 101 are formed in a substantially T-shape. The front swinging ends project upward with respect to the longitudinal direction of the lever plates 100 and 101. Locking claw portion 114 and a slider portion 116 protruding downward are provided. Locking claw 114
7 has a surface shape curved substantially J-shaped rearward as shown in FIG. 7, and a contact piece bent at right angles inward at the tip end of the locking claw portion 114. 115 are formed. The slider portion 116 is bent inward along a straight line extending in the radial direction, and has a substantially rectangular plate shape elongated in the radial direction. Both ends in the longitudinal direction of the slider portion 116 are bent so as to be inclined upward with respect to the center portion, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 8, engaging pins 102 and 103 are provided on the upper end surfaces of the lever plates 100 and 101, respectively.
A pressing portion 117 formed of a convex curved surface is formed in the vicinity of the upper portion. The pressing portion 117 includes a locking lock member 98,
When 99 moves to the lock / release position where the lock claw 114 locks the tape cartridge 12, the lower surface of the tape cartridge 12 abuts.

On the other hand, at the rear ends of the side plate portions 70 and 71, as shown in FIG. 2, a projection-shaped engaging piece 118 protruding outward is formed. The coil portion of the torsion coil spring 120 is fitted into the locking piece 118. One end of the torsion coil spring 120 is bent in an L-shape, and locks the lower ends of the side plates 70 and 71. The other end of the torsion coil spring 120 is pressed against the engaging pins 102 and 103 from above. Thereby, the torsion coil spring 120 is connected to the lever plate 1.
00, 101 in the counterclockwise direction, that is, lever plate 1
The front swing ends of 00 and 101 are urged downward.

As shown in FIG. 8, the bottom plate 46 is provided with a locking lock member 98,
A concave storage groove 122 is formed in each of the portions opposing the first and second grooves 99. As a result, the lever plates 100 and 101 at the attachment / detachment position are inserted into the storage groove 122 near the slider portion 116 by the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 120, and the release / restriction position at which the slider portion 116 contacts the bottom surface of the storage groove 122 Is held in. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the lever plates 100 and 101 make the tip of the latch release portion 112 protrude above the upper surface of the base plate portion 68, and make the locking claw portion 114 lower than the upper surface of the base plate portion 68. Side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bottom plate portion 46 is provided with a convex plate support portion 124 inside the storage groove 122 along the width direction. A lock plate 126 having a substantially T-shape along both directions is fixedly fastened to the top surface of the plate support portion 124, and one end of the lock plate 126 extends above the storage groove 122. As shown in FIG. 8, the contact piece 115 of the locking claw 114 of the lever plate 100 at the release / restricted position comes into contact with the lock plate 126. Thereby, the carrier 50 and the slide plate 52 at the attachment / detachment position are restrained from moving backward.

Also, as shown in FIG. 8, an inclined surface 128 is formed in the storage groove 122 of the bottom plate portion 46 so as to face the lower surface of the slider portion 116 at the mounting / dismounting position at the upper end of the inner wall on the rear end side.
Are formed. As shown in FIG. 7, a sliding guide surface 130 extending along the depth direction from the rear end of the storage groove 122 is provided on the upper surface of the bottom plate portion 46 so as to correspond to the slider portion 116. The sliding guide surface 130 is the storage groove 1
22 extends from the rear end to a position corresponding to the recording position, which is the limit of movement of the carrier 50 to the rear.
In FIG. 0, a convex lifting guide 132 is formed at a position corresponding to a predetermined lifting position set between the attachment / detachment position and the recording position. The cross section along the depth direction of the lifting guide 132 has a substantially trapezoidal shape with both ends gently inclined.

A switch lever 134 shown in FIG. 2 is arranged on the inner surface of the side plate portion 48 of the chassis 44. The switch lever 134 has an elongated plate shape, and a connection shaft 186 protruding along the width direction is provided on the outer surface near the center in the longitudinal direction, and a projection 137 is provided on the rear side of the connection shaft 136. Is provided.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, a circular bearing hole 138 is formed in the one side plate portion 48 at a position slightly forward from the center in the width direction, and at the rear side of the bearing hole 138. A restriction opening 140 is formed in a circumferential direction around the bearing hole 138. The switch lever 134 inserts the connecting shaft 136 into the bearing hole 138 in the side plate portion 48 and inserts the projection 137 into the restriction opening 140. As a result, the switch lever 134 is
Is pivotally supported by the side plate portion 48 around the center, and the swing range is limited by the protrusion 137 and the restriction port 140.

At the rear end of the switch lever 134, a switch pressing portion 142 bent inward from the upper end surface of the switch lever 134 is provided as shown in FIG. The upper end of the switch pressing portion 142 is formed by a plane facing upward. On the other hand, a micro switch 144 is disposed on the side plate portion 48 above the switch pressing portion 142 as shown in FIG. The push button 144A of the micro switch 144 is located on the movement locus of the switch pressing portion 142.

The switch lever 134 and the side plate portion 48
As shown in FIG. 8, they are connected by a coil spring 146, which urges the switch lever 134 counterclockwise. Thus, when the locking lock member 98 is at the release / restriction position, the switch lever 134 is held at the ON position where the switch pusher 142 pushes down the push button 144A to turn on the microswitch 144.

The switch lever 134 can be moved clockwise to an off position with respect to the switch pressing portion 142. When the switch lever 134 moves to this off position, the push button 144A projects and the micro switch 144 is turned off. It has become. Here, the micro switch 144 controls the loading motor 56 when the loading of the tape cartridge 12 is started. When the micro switch 144 is turned off from on, a loading start signal is output to a control circuit (not shown) to load the loading motor 56. A driving current is supplied to the motor 56, and the loading motor 56 rotates in the normal rotation direction.

The lower end of the switch lever 134 is
A cam surface 148 is formed at a portion on the front side of the connection shaft 136 as shown in FIG. The cam surface 148 is formed to be elongated along the radial direction around the connecting shaft 106,
A first level portion 150 and a second level portion 151 having relatively different heights in the circumferential direction are provided at the front end portion and the rear end portion, respectively. Here, the first level portion 150 at a relatively high position corresponds to the on position of the switch lever 134, and the second level portion 151 at a relatively low position corresponds to the off position of the switch lever 134. ing.

As shown in FIG. 7, the cam surface 148 of the switch lever 134 is pressed against the distal end of the engaging pin 102 projecting outside the side plate 70 through the elongated hole 110. At this time, when the locking lock member 98 is at the attachment / detachment position together with the carrier 50, the engagement pin 102 comes into pressure contact with the first level portion 150 of the cam surface 148, and the engagement lock member 98 and the carrier 50 move from the attachment / detachment position to the recording position ( FIG.
When the engagement pin 102 moves to the second level portion 151 from the first level portion 150, the switch lever 134 at the ON position swings to the OFF position in conjunction with the engagement pin 102.

A slide stopper 152 shown in FIG. 2 is arranged below the cam surface 148 of the switch lever 134 on the inner surface of the one side plate portion 48. The slide stopper 152 is movably supported between a contact position shown in FIG. 7 along the depth direction and an insertion position that is a predetermined distance behind the contact position. The slide stopper 152 is integrally provided with a block-shaped spacer portion 153 (see FIG. 2) at a central portion in the longitudinal direction.

On the other hand, an L-shaped opening 154 is formed in the side plate portion 48 so as to face the tip end of the switch lever 134 and the slide stopper 152 as shown in FIG. In this opening 154, a slide stopper 152 is provided.
Are inserted movably in the depth direction. The slide stopper 152 is a coil spring 15
5 (see FIG. 15), and is urged in the direction of the insertion position by the restoring force of the coil spring 155. A stopper pin 156 is provided on the outer surface of the switch lever 134 in correspondence with the spacer portion 153 of the slide stopper 152. The stopper pin 156 can be moved in the height direction into the opening 154 of the side plate portion 48. Has been inserted.

On the inner surface of the side plate portion 48 of the chassis 44, as shown in FIG.
60 are arranged. The opening / closing lever 160 has a substantially L-shaped surface shape. A connecting shaft 162 projecting in the width direction is provided on the outer surface of the opening / closing lever 160 near a bent portion along the surface direction. Three limiting projections (not shown) are provided around the shaft 162.

As shown in FIG. 7, a circular bearing hole 164 is formed in the side plate portion 48 in correspondence with the opening / closing lever 160, and three circular holes are formed along the circumferential direction around the bearing hole 164. Guide groove 166 is formed. The opening / closing lever 160 rotatably inserts the connection shaft 162 into the bearing hole 164 of the side plate portion 48 and also inserts three limiting projections into three guide grooves 166 of the side plate portion 48, respectively.
Thus, the opening / closing lever 160 is swingably supported between a door open position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 8 and a door closed position indicated by a two-dot chain line. The opening / closing lever 160 is connected to the side plate portion 48 by a coil spring 168, and the coil spring 168 biases the opening / closing lever 160 toward the door closing position.

As shown in FIG. 8, the opening / closing lever 160 is provided with a connecting groove 170 at an end on the front side with respect to the connecting shaft 162. One end of the connection groove 170 has the opening / closing lever 16.
0, and is curved substantially in a V-shape from the opening end toward the connection shaft 162 side. Opening / closing lever 16
A support shaft (not shown) is provided on the inner surface of the support shaft 162 at the rear end of the connection shaft 162 so as to protrude along the width direction. 174 is rotatably arranged.

Here, when the opening / closing lever 160 moves from the door closing position to the door opening position, the guide roller 174 moves downward so that the upper end slightly projects from the upper surface of the base plate portion 68. When the opening / closing lever 160 returns from the door opening position to the door closing position, the guide roller 174 moves upward, and most of the guide roller 174 except for a part on the lower end side is supported above the base plate portion 68.

On the other hand, the shielding door 62 shown in FIG. 2 is integrally provided with a connecting pin 172 (see FIG. 8) projecting in the width direction above the side end surface on the side plate portion 48 side. Reference numeral 62 denotes a connecting pin that is slidably inserted into the connecting groove 170. Accordingly, when one of the shielding door 62 and the opening / closing lever 160 swings, the connecting pin is connected to the connecting groove 170.
Relative to the inside, the shielding door 62 and the opening / closing lever 160
A component force along the swinging direction is applied to the other of the two. As a result, the shielding door 62 and the opening / closing lever 160 always swing together with one swinging operation, and the other swings.

Specifically, when the shield door 62 is swung from the closed position to the open position, the opening / closing lever 160 swings from the door closed position to the door open position, and the open / close lever 160 is moved from the door closed position to the door open position. Swinging the shield door 62 from the closed position to the open position. Therefore, the shielding door 62
It is urged to the closing position by the opening / closing lever 160 urged to the door opening position, and closes the opening 60 of the front panel 58 before the tape cartridge 12 is inserted into the apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lid member 2 of the tape cartridge 12 is placed on one end (right side) of the base plate 68 on the side of the side plate 71.
The opening / closing member 176 is arranged corresponding to 0. The opening / closing member 176 is formed of a thin metal plate, and has a substantially L-shaped surface along the depth direction. The opening / closing member 176 has a lower end portion fastened to the base plate portion 68 by a screw or the like, and an upper end portion thereof has an arm portion 178 projecting forward in the depth direction and having a distal end portion bent outward. The arm portion 178 has a width corresponding to the guide groove 17 of the tape cartridge 12 in the height direction.

The opening / closing member 176 brings the arm portion 178 into contact with the outer end portion 20 A of the lid member 20 when the tape cartridge 12 is mounted on the carrier 50 at the attachment / detachment position shown in the figure. Thereafter, the opening / closing member 176 swings the lid member 20 at the closed position to the open position in conjunction with the movement of the tape cartridge 12 to the rear end side, and the mounting position at the time when the mounting of the tape cartridge 12 is completed. (FIG. 5
(See FIG. 2), the lid member 20 is swung to the open position.

On the bottom plate portion 46 of the chassis 44,
As shown in FIG. 1, the elevating guide portions 1 inside the pair of sliding guide surfaces 130 and the sliding guide surfaces 130 are provided.
A pair of positioning tables 180 are integrally provided on the rear side with respect to 32. The positioning table 180 is formed in a plate shape protruding upward from the bottom plate section 46, and has a reference for positioning the tape cartridge 12 in the height direction during recording and reproduction as shown in FIG. A level surface 182 is formed.

The reference level surface 182 is formed by a plane defined by the width direction and the depth direction, and is located at substantially the same position as the upper surface of the base plate portion 68 of the carrier 50 or at a position slightly higher in the height direction. Here, the position in the height direction of the reference level surface 182 is set corresponding to a reference position in the height direction of the magnetic head 210 (see FIG. 5) that can be moved in the height direction described later. The reference level surface 182 is processed so as to have as high a smoothness as possible in order to increase the positioning accuracy. The positioning table 180 has an inclined guide surface 184 that is inclined downward from the front end of the reference level surface 182.

As shown in FIG. 7, the positioning table 180 has a reference position surface 186 extending upward from the rear end of the reference level surface 182 in the height direction. The reference position surface 186 is formed by a plane defined by the width direction and the height direction. Here, the position of the reference position surface 186 in the depth direction is set corresponding to the position of the magnetic head 210, and the reference position surface 186 is also processed so as to have as high a smoothness as possible to enhance positioning accuracy. Have been.

(Configuration of Recording / Reproducing Section) Next, the configuration of the recording / reproducing section in the data streamer according to the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the bottom plate 46 of the chassis 44 has a cylindrical shape at the center between the pair of positioning tables 180 in the width direction and slightly behind the positioning table 180 in the depth direction. Roller post 188 is disposed. The roller posts 188 are supported by a motor mount substrate 190 (see FIG. 3) disposed on the lower surface side of the bottom plate portion 46. The motor mount substrate 190 is formed in the bottom plate portion 46 as shown in FIG. The roller post 188 is projected upward from the bottom plate portion 46 through the opening 192.

The motor mount board 190 is provided so as to be movable in the depth direction within a predetermined moving range, and the motor mount board 190 is provided on the bottom plate 46 near the rear end.
The torsion coil spring 194 that urges the spring forward is disposed. Thereby, the motor mount board 190 is
When the tape cartridge 12 is not at the recording position, the tape cartridge 12 is held at the front end of the movement range.

A drive motor (not shown) is attached to the lower surface of the motor mount board 190. In this drive motor, the rotating shaft is inserted into the roller post 188, and the tip of the rotating shaft projects from the roller post 188. As shown in the figure, a belt capstan 3 of the tape cartridge 12
The disk-shaped drive roller 196 corresponding to No. 4 is fixed. A friction ring 197 made of rubber is arranged on an outer peripheral portion of the drive roller 196.

The drive roller 196 presses the outer peripheral surface of the friction ring 197 against the belt capstan 34 of the tape cartridge 12 at the recording position, as shown in FIG. As a result, the torque from the drive motor is transmitted to the belt capstan 34 via the drive roller 196, and the magnetic tape 24 runs in a direction corresponding to the rotation direction of the drive motor.

On the bottom plate portion 46, as shown in FIG. 1, a round rod-shaped guide rod 198 is erected at an intermediate portion between the roller post 188 and one (right) side plate portion 49 in the width direction. . The guide rod 1 is provided on the bottom plate portion 46.
A substantially cylindrical support shaft portion 200 is provided on the rear side of the vehicle 98 so as to protrude in the height direction. The support shaft 200 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and an opening is formed in a part of the outer peripheral surface. Support part 2
No. 00 is arranged such that the side facing the guide rod 198 becomes an opening. As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, a screw shaft-shaped lead screw 202 is rotatably supported.

The bottom plate 46 is provided integrally with a cylindrical motor housing 204 which is opened downward at the lower side of the support shaft 200. A stepping motor 206 and a gear train (not shown) for connecting the rotation shaft of the stepping motor 206 and the lead screw 202 are arranged. Here, a stepping motor 206 is a control circuit (not shown).
, And the motor is accurately rotated by a rotation amount proportional to the number of drive pulses in a direction corresponding to the polarity of the drive pulse output from the control circuit.

As shown in FIG. 3, a head carriage 208 is arranged on the guide rod 198 on the outer peripheral side so as to be slidable in the height direction. This head carriage 208
Has a magnetic head 210 attached to the front end.
At the rear end of the head carriage 208, there is provided a meshing portion 212 projecting rearward in the depth direction, and a side portion of the meshing portion 212 facing the lead screw 202 has a tooth portion meshing with the lead screw 202. Are formed.

A restricting member 214 is provided upright on the bottom plate portion 46 so as to contact the side surface of the meshing portion 212 opposite to the tooth portion. As a result, the engagement portion 212 is
Movement in the rotation direction about the center 98 is restricted, and the engagement portion 212 is held at a position where it engages with the lead screw 202. The head carriage 208 is connected to the bottom plate portion 46 by a coil spring 207. The coil spring 207 urges the head carriage 208 downward, so that the head carriage 208 is loosely engaged with the lead screw 202 and the engagement portion 212. To prevent displacement in the height direction.

When the stepping motor 206 is driven to rotate the lead screw 202, the head carriage 208 moves the magnetic head 21 in a direction corresponding to the rotation direction of the lead screw 202 by a distance corresponding to the amount of rotation.
It moves together with 0 with high precision. Magnetic head 2
An MR (magnetoresistive) type 10 is used.

On the bottom plate portion 46 of the chassis 44, an optical sensor 47 (see FIG. 6) in which a light source and a photoelectric element are integrated is arranged corresponding to the mirror 42 of the tape cartridge 12. As shown in FIG. 7, an optical waveguide member 216 is arranged on the bottom plate portion 46 so as to correspond to the mirror 42 of the tape cartridge 12. The optical sensor 47 emits light emitted from the light source during recording and reproduction. The light is irradiated on the mirror 42 through the optical waveguide member 216, and the light reflected by the mirror 42 and passing through the through hole of the magnetic tape 24 is detected by the photoelectric element, and the BOT and EOT of the magnetic tape 24 are detected.
Are respectively detected.

(Configuration of Manual Eject Unit) Next, the configuration of the manual eject unit in the data streamer according to the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5, an eject pressing member 230 is arranged between the bottom plate 46 of the chassis 44 and the under plate 96 (see FIG. 10). The ejection pressing member 230 is formed in an elongated plate shape in the depth direction, and is supported so as to be movable in the depth direction.

As shown in FIG. 10, a rib 45 bent downward at the front end of the bottom plate portion 46 of the chassis 44 is integrally formed. The rear surface of a front panel 58 (see FIG. 2) attached to the chassis 44 is in close contact with the outer surface of the rib 45. Here, the insertion hole 47 is formed in the rib 45 along the depth direction as shown in FIG.
The through hole 47 is provided in the front panel 5.
8 access window 61.

As shown in FIG. 11, a rib-shaped guide projection 232 is integrally provided on the upper surface of the ejection pressing member 230 along the longitudinal direction at the end on the side plate portion 49 side (right side). On the other hand, on the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 46, as shown in FIG.
Are provided corresponding to the guide projections 232. The eject pressing member 230 arranged so as to be in contact with the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 46 has the guide protrusion 232 slidably inserted into the guide groove 234. As a result, the eject pressing member 230 can move only in the depth direction.

Further, between the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 46 and the upper surface of the under plate 96, a space slightly thicker than the eject pressing member 230 is formed along the height direction as shown in FIG. The ejection pressing member 230 arranged in this space is
6 restricts the movement in the height direction so that the guide projection 232 does not fall out of the guide groove 234.

The ejection pressing member 230 includes a rib 45
A substantially pyramid-shaped engaging recess 231 is formed in the rear end surface of the side so that the cross-sectional area decreases toward the bottom side. The ejection pressing member 230 has a rear end face shown in FIG.
5 and a movable end position within a predetermined distance behind the start position shown in FIG. The ejection pressing member 230 closes the insertion hole 47 by the rear end surface at the start end position, and connects the engagement recess 231 formed on the rear end surface to the insertion hole 47. The ejection pressing member 230 is connected to the chassis 44 by a coil spring 238 as shown in FIG. 10, and is urged by the coil spring 238 toward the start position.

On the upper surface of the eject pressing member 230, a concave storage portion 24 is formed on the cam gear 94 side along the loss direction.
0 is formed on the bottom surface of the storage section 240, as shown in FIG.
Are provided integrally. The height of the connection protrusion 242 is equal to the depth of the storage section 240. The ejection pressing member 230 has a storage portion 2 on the side of the connection protrusion 242.
An opening 244 is formed so as to penetrate the side wall of the forty. An opening 244 is provided on the side wall of the housing 240.
A stopper 246 having a substantially semicircular shape protruding into the storage part 240 is formed on the distal end side.

In the space between the bottom plate portion 46 and the under plate 96, an ejection drive member 248 is disposed at an intermediate portion between the ejection pressing member 230 and the cam gear 94 as shown in FIG. Eject drive member 248
Is formed in an elongated plate shape, and an elongated sliding groove 250 is formed in the rib side along the longitudinal direction along the longitudinal direction of the eject drive member 248.

On the other hand, a cylindrical sliding shaft 252 is provided upright on the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 46 of the chassis 44 as shown in FIG. 10, and the sliding shaft 252 moves the eject drive member 248. The groove 250 is inserted so as to be relatively slidable. As a result, the ejection drive member 24
8 can be moved in the longitudinal direction of the sliding groove 250 by being guided by the sliding shaft 252, and can also be moved in the swinging direction about the sliding shaft 252.

A holding member 256 is provided on the distal end surface of the sliding shaft 252.
Are fastened and fixed by screws 259. Presser bracket 25
A flange 257 is integrally formed at an end of the sixth member 6. On the outer peripheral side of the sliding shaft 252, the flange 2 of the holding metal fitting 256 is provided.
A friction spring 258 is arranged between the end surface 57 and the lower surface of the ejection drive member 248 so as to be in a compressed state. At this time, the ejection driving member 24 is driven by the restoring force of the friction spring 258 in a compressed state.
8 is pressed against the lower surface of the bottom plate portion 46. As a result, a frictional resistance corresponding to the restoring force of the friction spring 258 acts on the ejection drive member 248 during movement in the longitudinal direction.

As shown in FIG. 11, the ejection drive member 248 has a cam gear 9 at the side end on the cam gear 94 side.
A rack member 260 is provided which can be engaged with the lower side (entire peripheral portion 95A) of the fourth tooth portion 95. 7 teeth are arranged along a pitch line P _L to the rack member 260. Here, the rack member 260 has its bitch line P _L
Are provided so as to be parallel to the longitudinal direction of the sliding groove 250.

As shown in FIG. 11, the ejection drive member 248 has a portion near the tip of the side end opposite to the rack member 260 inserted into the storage portion 240 of the ejection pressing member 230. At this time, as shown in FIG. 10, the ejection drive member 248 is
It is arranged between the bottom portion of the camera. Here, the bottom plate 46
Is slightly longer than the thickness of the ejection drive member 248.

The vicinity of the rack 260 of the ejection drive member 248 is inserted between the lower surface of the bottom plate 46 and the upper surface of the intermediate gear 97. The rack 260 of the eject drive member 248 is movable toward the cam gear 94 and the rear through the gap between the bottom plate 46 and the intermediate gear 97.

The rack member 2 of the ejection drive member 248
As shown in FIG. 11, a connection piece 262 protruding in the width direction corresponding to the connection protrusion 242 of the ejection pressing member 230 is provided on the side end surface opposite to the side 60. A long connecting groove 263 is formed in the center of the connecting piece 262 along the width direction, and one end of the connecting groove 263 is connected to the connecting piece 26.
2 is open to the tip surface.

The connection book 263 of the ejection drive member 248
Inside, as shown in FIG.
30 connecting projections 242 are slidably inserted. Here, the ejection driving member 248 moves the rack member 260 in the swing direction about the sliding shaft 252 to the cam gear 94.
(See FIG. 11) and rack member 2
60 can be moved between an engagement position (see FIG. 12) where the gear 60 meshes with the tooth portion 95 of the cam gear 94.

When the ejection drive member 248 is at the detached position as shown in FIG. 11, the connection protrusion 242 is held near the end of the connection groove 263 on the rack 260 side, and as shown in FIG. Eject drive member 2
When 48 swings to the engagement position, it slides near the open end of the connection groove 263. Also, the ejection drive member 248
Are connected by a connecting protrusion 242 inserted into the connecting groove 263 so as to move integrally with the eject pressing member 230 in the depth direction.

When the ejection drive member 248 is in the detached position as shown in FIG. 11, the vicinity of the distal end of the connecting piece 262 is inserted into the opening 244 of the ejection pressing member 230, and on the opposite side to the rack member 260. Is brought into contact with the stopper portion 246. At this time, the bottom plate 46
The slide shaft 252 erected on the ejector drive member 248
Abuts the end of the sliding groove 250 on the tip side,
The connection protrusion 242 of the ejection pressing member 230 is held near the bottom of the connection groove 263 of the ejection drive member 248.

(Operation of Embodiment) Next, the operation of the data streamer 10 according to the present embodiment configured as described above during loading and recording / reproduction will be described.

First, the operator operates the tape cartridge 1
2 is the shield door 62 in the closed position shown in FIG.
To the shielding door 62 by the tape cartridge 12.
Is pressed backward. Thereby, the tape cartridge 1
2, the shielding door 62 moves into the chassis 44 through the opening 60 while swinging from the closed position to the open position. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, the open / close lever 160 swings to the door open position in conjunction with the shield door 62, and the open / close lever 1
The guide roller 174 supported by 60 moves to a position where its upper end protrudes from the upper surface of the base plate 68 of the chassis 44. As a result, the lower surface of the tape cartridge 12 inserted into the chassis 44 is in contact with the guide roller 174, and is positioned at a predetermined position in the height direction by the guide roller 174. At this time, the lower surface of the tape cartridge 12 is
, The opening / closing lever 160 is held at the door open position, and the opening / closing lever 160 holds the shielding door 62 at the open position.

When the tape cartridge 12 is inserted into the chassis 44, the pair of guide members 224 of the top plate 222 engage with the pair of upper surface guide portions 15 of the tape cartridge 12, as shown in FIG. The movement of the tape cartridge 12 in the width direction is restricted, and the center of the tape cartridge 12 is
Match with the center of 0.

When the tape cartridge 12 is inserted further backward from the position shown in FIG.
2 is mounted on the base plate portion 68 of the carrier 50 whose lower surface is at the attaching / detaching position (see FIG. 1), and a pair of side plate portions 70, 71 of the carrier 50.
Inserted inside. At this time, the tape cartridge 1
2, a top plate 22 as shown in FIG.
The second leaf spring 226 is in pressure contact with the leaf spring 226, and the leaf spring 226 urges the tape cartridge 12 downward so that the tape cartridge 12
Is pressed against the base plate 68.

When the tape cartridge 12 moves backward while sliding on the base plate portion 68, as shown in FIG. 15, the front end surface of the tape cartridge 12 is moved to the claw portion 79 of the stopper member 78 disposed on the lower surface of the chassis 44. , And slides the slide member 78 rearward, and a pair of locking lock members 98,
The latch lock members 98 and 99 are slightly rotated clockwise about the connecting shaft 106 while coming into contact with the latch release portion 112 at 99. Further, in conjunction with the insertion operation of the tape cartridge 12, the opening / closing member 176 arranged on the side plate portion 71 swings the cover member 20 from the closed position to the open position to open the second opening portion 19.

When the operator moves the tape cartridge 12 further rearward, the tape cartridge 12 slides the stopper member 78 further rearward and presses the pair of latch release portions 112 to lock the lock members 98 and 9.
9 is rotated clockwise. As a result, the lock members 98 and 99 swing from the release / restraint position to the lock / release position, and the lock member 98 locks the lock plate 126 as shown in FIG. The pawl portion 114 is moved upward to separate from the lock plate 126. At the same time, the carrier 50 can move from the attachment / detachment position to the recording position side, and moves from the attachment / detachment position to the recording position side by the pressing force from the tape cartridge 14. At this time, the upper ends of the locking lock members 98 and 99 are inserted into the cutouts 28 and 29 of the tape cartridge 14, respectively.

On the other hand, in the state shown in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16, the engaging pin 102 of the locking member 98 is in pressure contact with the first level 150 of the cam surface 148 of the switch lever 134. 134 is the micro switch 14 by the urging force of the coil spring 146.
4 is held at an ON position where the ON state is established. At this time, the slide stopper 152 is held at the contact position when the switch lever 134 is in the ON position, and at this contact position, the rear end face of the spacer portion 153 is pressed against the stopper pin 156 of the switch lever 134. . This prevents the slide stopper 152 from moving toward the insertion position.

Locking members 98 and 99 and carrier 5
17 is moved from the position shown in FIG. 16 to the position shown in FIG. 17 by pressing the tape cartridge 14 toward the recording position, the leading end of the lower surface of the slider portion 116 of the locking lock members 98 and 99 is It contacts the inclined surface 128. On the other hand, the engagement pin 102 of the locking member 98 slides from the first level portion 150 on the cam surface 148 to the second level portion 151. Thereby, the switch lever 13
4 swings from the on position to the off position by the component force from the engagement pin 102 as shown in FIG. 17, and changes the microswitch 144 from the on state to the off state. At this time, the slide stopper 152 is
The spacer 55 is moved from the contact position to the insertion position by the urging force of 55, and the spacer 153 is inserted below the stopper pin 156. Thereby, the switch lever 134 in the off position is
Is prevented from swinging toward the ON position.

The locking lock member 98 at the recording position
When the user moves to the attaching / detaching position, the slide stopper 152
The cam surface 148 is restrained at a position slightly higher than the stopper pin 156 by the
6 moves along the depth direction to the vicinity of the boundary between the second level portion 151 and the first level portion 150 without contacting the second level portion 151 of the cam surface 148, and the torsion coil spring 120 moves near this boundary portion. Locking piece 118 that locks
2 (see FIG. 2) is brought into contact with a projection 158 provided at the rear end of the slide stopper 152. From this state, when the locking lock member 98 further moves to the attaching / detaching position side, the slide stopper 152 moves from the insertion position to the contact position side by the pressing force from the locking piece 118, and the locking lock member 98 moves to the attaching / detaching position. When it reaches, it moves to the contact position. As a result, the switch lever 134 returns to the ON position by the urging force of the coil spring 146, and presses the first level portion 150 of the cam surface 148 against the stopper pin 156.

When the microswitch 144 is turned off, the control circuit (not shown)
6 is driven to rotate in the normal rotation direction. Accordingly, the cam gear 94 rotates clockwise by the torque from the loading motor 56. When the slide plate 52 is in the detached position as shown in FIG.
Is meshed with one rearmost tooth 85A of the rack 84. When the cam gear 94 rotates clockwise from this state, the cam gear 94 holds the slide plate 52 and the carrier 50 on the recording position side (rear side) while maintaining the meshing state with the rack 84 by the entire peripheral portion 95A and the sector portion 95B. Slide to.

When the carrier 50 moves from the position shown in FIG. 17 to the recording position side, the locking lock members 98 and 99 slide the slider portion 116 on the inclined surface 128 of the storage groove 122 and integrally with the carrier 50. And move to the recording position side. As a result, while the locking lock members 98 and 99 swing clockwise about the connecting shaft 106, the locking claw 114 inserted into the cutouts 28 and 29 of the tape cartridge 14 is moved toward the leading end of the tape cartridge 14. Move to As shown in FIG. 18, when the slider 116 reaches the vicinity of the upper end of the inclined surface 128, the locking lock members 98, 99 are locked by the locking claw 114.
4 to the locking / release position for locking the notches 28, 29. As a result, the tape cartridge 14 enters a latch state in which the tape cartridge 14 moves integrally with the carrier 50 in the depth direction. The locking lock members 98 and 99 respectively press the pressing portions 117 against the lower surface of the tape cartridge 14.

When the slide plate 52 and the carrier 50 are further moved from the position shown in FIG. 18 to the recording position by the driving force from the loading motor 56, the locking lock members 98 and 99 move the sliders as shown in FIG. The part 116 is moved from the inclined surface 128 onto the sliding guide surface 130. Thereby, the locking lock members 98 and 99 are
While sliding the slider portion 116 on the sliding guide surface 130, the slider portion 116 moves to the recording position side integrally with the carrier 50. At this time, the locking lock members 98 and 99 cause the pressing portion 117 to abut against the lower surface of the tape cartridge 12 urged downward by the leaf spring 226 of the top plate 222, and the tape according to the height difference of the sliding guide surface 130. The position of the leading end of the cartridge 12 is adjusted in the height direction.

The locking lock members 98 and 99 are shown in FIG.
20A, the tape cartridge 12 is held at a position in contact with the base plate portion 68 in a section of the sliding guide surface 130 before the elevating guide portion 132, and as shown in FIG. Reaches the elevating guide part 132, the slider part 116 moves upward along the sliding guide surface 130, and the tip part of the tape cartridge 12 is moved upward by the pressing part 117. As a result, the tape cartridge 12 is tilted upward in the traveling direction, and the leading end of the lower surface of the tape cartridge 12 is separated from the base plate 68.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 20C, when the slider portion 116 reaches the top of the elevating guide portion 132, the locking lock members 98 and 99 push the tip of the tape cartridge 12 by the pressing portion 117. Move to the highest upper limit position. At this time, the amount of movement of the tape cartridge 12 in the height direction is set to be about 0.15 mm.
The height of the distal end of the lower surface 2 is slightly higher than the reference level surface 182 of the positioning table 180.

The locking members 98 and 99 are similar to those shown in FIG.
(A) As shown in FIGS.
The tape cartridge 12 is held at the upper limit position until the leading end of the tape cartridge 12 reaches the reference level surface 182 of the positioning table 180 along the depth direction.
To bring the leading end of the lower surface of the tape cartridge 12 into contact with the reference level surface 182. At this time, the tape cartridge 12 is attached to the leaf spring 226 of the top plate 222.
Is pressed against the reference level surface 182 by the biasing force from When the tape cartridge 12 moves to a position near the position shown in FIG. 21A, the lower surface of the tape cartridge 12 separates from the guide roller 174 of the opening / closing lever 160 (see FIG. 8). As a result, the opening / closing lever 160 returns to the door closed position by the urging force of the coil spring 168, and in conjunction with this, the shielding door 62 swings from the open position to the closed position to close the opening 60.

The carrier 50 further moves the tape cartridge 12 in contact with the reference level surface 182 to the recording position side, as shown in FIGS. To the reference position surface 186. Thus, the tape cartridge 12 is positioned in the height direction by the reference level surface 182 and is also positioned in the depth direction by the reference position surface 186.

On the other hand, when the tape cartridge 12 reaches the vicinity of the position shown in FIG. 21B, the cam gear 94 engages only the teeth of the sector portion 95B with the teeth 85A of the rack 84 as shown in FIG. The rotational force is transmitted to the rack 84, and at the same time, the starting end of the cam surface 219 is brought into contact with the sliding surface 221 of the cam follower 220. At this time, the belt capstan 34 of the tape cartridge 12
Has reached slightly before the drive roller 196.

Thereafter, the cam gear 94 which rotates clockwise.
Moves the cam surface 219 to the sliding surface 22 of the cam follower 220 while detaching the sector portion 95B from the tooth at the tip of the rack 84.
Slide 1 Here, the radius of curvature of the cam surface 219 decreases from the start end to the end. Therefore,
As the cam gear 94 rotates clockwise and the sliding surface 221 of the cam follower 220 relatively slides from the start end to the end of the cam surface 219, the slide plate 52 moves rearward.

When the sliding surface 221 of the cam follower 220 slides from the start end of the cam surface 219 to an intermediate portion with the end,
The tape cartridge 12 moves to the position shown in FIG. At this time, the belt capstan 34 of the tape cartridge 12 contacts the drive roller 196, and the magnetic head 210 contacts the magnetic tape 24 through the second opening 19.

The cam gear 94 further rotates clockwise, and the sliding surface 221 of the cam follower 220 is rotated as shown in FIG.
Slides from the middle to the end of the cam surface 219, and the carrier 50 and the tape cartridge 12 move rearward together with the slide plate 52. At this time, the tape cartridge 12 presses the drive roller 196 by the belt capstan 34, and the drive roller 196
23 is moved rearward against the urging force of the torsion coil spring 194 (see FIG. 3), and is moved to a recording position where the front end surface contacts the reference position surface 186 of the positioning table 180 as shown in FIG. . Also, the magnetic head 210
Presses against the magnetic tape 24 linearly stretched along the leading end surface of the tape cartridge 12 in the initial state,
The magnetic tape 24 is moved to both sides of the rear end of the tape cartridge 14 of about 2.2 mm at the pressure contact portion. As a result, the magnetic head 210 can obtain an appropriate pressing force against the magnetic tape 24.

The loading motor 56 is moved by moving the slide plate 52 backward by the action of the cam surface 219 of the cam gear 94 and the cam follower 220.
Without changing the torque of the slide plate 52.
Can be moved with a larger force than when the gear is moved by the cam gear 94 and the rack 84. Accordingly, the spring constant of the torsion coil spring 194 for urging the drive roller 196 forward can be sufficiently increased,
The pressing force (frictional force) between the belt capstan 34 and the drive roller 196 can be made sufficiently large so that no slip occurs between the rollers even when the drive roller 196 is rotated at high speed.

A microswitch (not shown) that operates when the carrier 50 moves to the recording position is arranged in the chassis 44. The control circuit stops the loading motor 56 in synchronization with a signal from the microswitch. . At this time, the control circuit stops the loading motor 56 at a timing such that the cam gear 94 slightly rotates clockwise even after the tape cartridge 12 abuts on the reference position surface 186. As a result, the carrier 50 has two coil springs 76 (see FIG. 2).
Move slightly forward with respect to the slide plate 52 against the urging force of. As a result, the restoring force of the coil spring 76 acts on the carrier 50, and the tape cartridge 12 receiving this restoring force moves the tape cartridge 12 to the reference position surface 18.
6 and is reliably held at the recording position without being affected by vibration, tilt of the apparatus, or the like.

When the tape cartridge 12 is moved to the recording position by the above-described loading operation, the control circuit (not shown) rotates the drive roller 196 by the drive motor (not shown) to cause the magnetic tape 24 to run, and the light is transmitted to the recording tape. The BOT of the magnetic tape 24 is detected based on a signal from the sensor 47. The control circuit is a magnetic tape 24
Is detected, the magnetic head 210 is caused to travel on the magnetic tape 24 so as to come into contact with the recording start position defined by the BOT of the magnetic tape 24, and then the apparatus enters a standby state until an operation request is issued from a computer such as a server. Becomes

When an operation request corresponding to information recording or information reproduction is issued from the computer, the control circuit operates to move the magnetic tape 24 from the BOT side to the EOT side and to execute the EOT operation.
The operation of moving the magnetic head 24 to the BOT side is alternately repeated, and the magnetic head 2 is synchronized with the running reversal of the magnetic tape 24.
10 is moved up and down in the height direction (tape width direction), so that the magnetic tape 24 moves along the spiral track.
To record or reproduce information. When the recording operation or the reproducing operation is completed, the control circuit returns the device to the standby state.

When the eject button 66 on the front panel 58 is pressed while the apparatus is in the standby state, the control circuit drives the loading motor 56 to rotate in the reverse direction. As a result, the slide plate 52 moves from the recording position to the attachment / detachment position side in reverse to the loading operation, and the carrier 50 and the tape cartridge 12 move to the attachment / detachment position side integrally with the slide plate 52.

When the slide plate 52 moves from the recording position to the attachment / detachment position side, the locking cartridges 98 and 99 operate in reverse to the loading operation.
Is moved up from the reference level surface 182, and then moves down from the reference level surface 182 along the depth direction. When the tape cartridge 12 returns to the position shown in FIG. 21A, the guide roller 174 is pressed downward by the tape cartridge 12 and the open / close lever 1 is opened.
60 swings from the door closed position to the door open position, and in conjunction with this, the shielding door 62 swings from the closed position to the open position, and the opening 60 is opened.

When the tape cartridge 12 moves to the position where the rear end of the tape cartridge 12 projects from the opening 60 to the outside of the chassis 44, the slide stopper 152 that has restrained the switch lever 134 at the off position is engaged with the locking piece 118 of the carrier 50 ( 2), and slides from the insertion position to the contact position. Thereby, the switch lever 1
34 returns to the on position shown in FIG. 16 by the urging force of the coil spring 146, and the microswitch 144 is turned on. The control circuit stops the loading motor 56 after a lapse of a predetermined time since the micro switch 144 is turned on.

When the carrier 50 returns to the attachment / detachment position, the locking lock members 98 and 99 swing by the urging force of the torsion coil spring 120 to the release / restriction position shown in FIG. After detaching from the base plate portion 26 of the tape cartridge 14 through the portions 28 and 29, the locking claw portion 114 locks the lock plate 126 thereafter. As a result, the latch state of the tape cartridge 14 is released, the tape cartridge 14 can be extracted from the carrier 50, and the tape cartridge 14 is restrained at the mounting / removing position of the carrier 50. At this time, since the rear end of the tape cartridge 12 protrudes outside from inside the chassis 44, the operator can grasp the rear end of the tape cartridge 12 and extract the tape cartridge 12 to the outside. The opening / closing member 176 is moved in conjunction with the removal operation of the tape cartridge 12.
The second opening 1 is separated from the lid member 20 by the lid member 20.
9 is closed.

Next, the data streamer 1 of the present embodiment
The operation at the time of manual ejection at 0 will be described.

In the data streamer 10 of this embodiment, when the tape cartridge 12 is at the recording position, the tape cartridge 12 is housed in the chassis 44 so as not to be exposed to the outside.
The latch 2 in which the tape cartridge 12 is locked by the pair of lock members 98 and 99 even when the tape cartridge 2 is located between the recording position and the detachable position and a part of the tape cartridge 12 is exposed to the outside. It is in a state. For this reason, if the loading motor 56 becomes inoperable for some reason, the operator cannot remove the tape cartridge 12 to the outside of the apparatus unless the tape cartridge 12 is in the attachment / detachment position shown in FIG.

In the data streamer 10 of the present embodiment, even when the loading motor 56 becomes inoperable in a state where the tape cartridge 12 is not at the attachment / detachment position, the operator can manually operate the ejection press member 230 and the ejection drive member 248. By manually operating the eject portion, the tape cartridge 12 can be moved to the mounting / removing position together with the carrier 50.

For example, when the tape cartridge 12 is at the recording position shown in FIG.
When the operation of the operation tool 6 becomes inoperable, the operator first prepares an elongated rod-shaped operation tool 264 as shown in FIG. Here, the tool 264 may be any tool as long as it can be inserted into the access window 61 and the insertion hole 47 and has a required length and strength. For example, a bar-shaped tool made of a driver, metal, resin, wood, or the like is used. Can be used.

The operator inserts the tool 264 into the chassis 44 through the access window 61 of the front panel 58 and the insertion hole 47 of the rib 45, and inserts the tip of the tool 264 into the ejection pressing member 230 as shown in FIG. It is inserted into the engagement recess 231. Thereafter, when the operator presses the eject pressing member 230 backward with the tool 264, the eject pressing member 230
It starts moving rearward in the depth direction against the urging force of. Here, the ejection drive member 248 has the configuration shown in FIG.
Pressing force F _F from the eject suppression member 230 through the connecting projections 242 as shown in acts to the connecting piece 262. The pressing force F _F, as well as produce a propulsion force for moving back along the Ijiekuto drive member 248 in the depth direction, the eject driving member 2 around the slide shaft 252
A moment is generated which causes 48 to swing counterclockwise.

On the other hand, a magnitude movement resistance corresponding to the restoring force of the friction spring 258 is applied to the ejection suppressing member 230 in the depth direction. This allows
Eject drive member 248 which receives the pressing force F _F is preferentially moves from the disengaged position along the swing direction around the slide shaft 252 to the engaged position. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, when the ejection drive member 148 moves slightly from the start end position to the end position side integrally with the ejection pressing member 230, the ejection drive member 248 swings from the disengagement position to the engagement position, and meshes the rack 260 with the teeth 95 of the cam gear 94. At this time, the rack portion 260 is supported so that the pitch line P _L is parallel to the depth direction.

When the eject drive member 248 swings to the engagement position as shown in FIG. 12, the cam gear 94 restricts the swing around the sliding shaft 252 in the counterclockwise direction. After the eject drive member 248 swings to the engagement position and the eject push member 230 further moves to the end position along the depth direction, the rack 260 and the teeth 95 of the cam gear 94 are Move along the pitch line P _L , that is, along the depth direction, while maintaining the meshing state. Thereby, the cam gear 94
Rotates in the counterclockwise direction with the discharge actuating direction by receiving a driving force along the pitch line P _L from the rack portion 260.

When the cam gear 94 rotates counterclockwise while the carrier 50 is at the recording position shown in FIG.
According to the relative sliding operation between the cam surface 219 and the cam follower 220, the slide plate 52 is connected to the coil spring 76 connecting the carrier 50 and the slide plate 52.
(See FIG. 2) by the urging force (front panel 58).
Side). As a result, the teeth 95 of the cam gear 94
Is a rack 84 provided integrally with the slide plate 52.
Meshes with the tooth portion 85. When the cam gear 94 further rotates counterclockwise from this state, the carrier 50 and the tape cartridge 12 move backward together with the slide plate 52 by a distance proportional to the rotation amount of the cam gear 94.

When the eject pressing member 230 moves to the end position shown in FIG. 13 along the depth direction, the eject pressing member 230 comes into contact with a stopper (not shown) provided on the chassis 44 and is prevented from moving backward. At this time, the ejection drive member 248 has moved to a position where the rearmost tooth of the rack 260 engages with the tooth 95 of the cam gear 94.

When the eject pressing member 230 moves to the terminal position and the operator pulls out the tool 264 from the inside of the chassis 44, the eject pressing member 230 starts to move from the terminal position to the start position by the urging force of the coil spring 238. Here, the ejection drive member 248 includes
Pressing force F _R from the ejection pressing member 230 through the connecting projections 242 as shown in FIG. 13 is applied to the connecting piece 262. The pressing force F _R is the eject drive member 248
, And a moment to swing the eject drive member 248 clockwise about the slide shaft 252.

On the other hand, as described above, the ejection pressing member 230 is provided with the friction spring 25 in the depth direction.
8, the ejection drive member 248, which has received the pressing force F, moves preferentially from the engagement position toward the disengagement position along the swinging direction about the sliding shaft 252. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, when the ejection drive member 148 moves slightly from the end position to the start position side integrally with the ejection pressing member 230, the ejection drive member 248 Swings from the engaged position to the disengaged position, and separates the rack 260 from the teeth 95 of the cam gear 94.

Thereafter, when the ejection pressing member 230 is further moved to the start position by the urging force of the coil spring 238, the ejection driving member 248 is integrated with the ejection pressing member 230 in the depth direction while being held at the detached position. When the eject pressing member 230 returns to the start position as shown in FIG.
The ejection drive member 248 also returns to the initial standby position.

In the data streamer 10 of the present embodiment, the carrier 50 and the tape cartridge 12 are moved to the attachment / detachment position by the operator repeating the pushing operation of moving the ejection pushing member 230 from the start position to the end position about three times. It can be moved. As described above, the latch state of the tape cartridge 12 by the locking lock members 98 and 99 is released in conjunction with the movement of the carrier 50 from the recording position to the attaching / detaching position.

Also, when the carrier 50 and the tape cartridge 12 are located at an intermediate position between the recording position and the attaching / detaching position, the carrier 50 stops the pressing operation for moving the eject pressing member 230 from the start position to the end position. Needless to say, the tape cartridge 12 mounted on the carrier 50 can be moved to the attachment / detachment position by performing the operation only in accordance with the distance from the position to the attachment / detachment position.

According to the data streamer 10 of the present embodiment described above, the ejection drive member 238 receives the pressing force from the tool 264 via the ejection pressing member 230 while the ejection pressing member 230 moves from the start position to the end position. The rack member 260 swings from the disengagement position to the engagement position in conjunction with the movement to the side, meshes the rack member 260 with the teeth of the cam gear 94, and moves to the engagement position to move rearward along the pitch line P _L to move the cam gear. By rotating the ejection gear 94 in the discharging operation direction, the ejection gear 230 at the start end position is only pushed and moved to the end position side, and the cam gear 94 is used without using the torque from the loading motor 56.
Can be moved in the discharge operation direction to move the carrier 50 to the attachment / detachment position side. Therefore, even when the power supply is cut off or the loading motor 56 becomes inoperable due to a device failure or the like while the cartridge is stored in the device. The operator presses the ejection pressing member 248 using the tool 264.
Is pressed to move the eject pressing member 248 from the start end position to the end position, the carrier 50 at the recording position or at an intermediate position between the recording position and the detachment position can be moved to the detachment position.

As a result, the tape cartridge 12 mounted on the carrier 50 becomes detachable at the attachment / detachment position, so that the operator can pull the tape cartridge 12 out of the apparatus.

When the tape cartridge 12 is manually ejected, the rack 2 of the ejection drive member 248 is
Since the cam gear 94 is rotated in the discharge operation direction in a state where the gear 60 is engaged with the gear 95 to be engaged with the teeth 95 of the cam gear 94, the driving force due to slip or the like is generated between the rack 260 and the teeth 95 of the cam gear 94. Since no loss occurs, the cam gear 94 can be efficiently and reliably rotated in the discharge operation direction by the ejection drive member 248.

The data streamer 1 of the present embodiment
0, when the tape cartridge 12 is manually ejected, the ejection driving member 248
From the detached position along the swinging direction by the pressing force from 30 to the engaged position preferentially swinging movement when the cam gear 94 to move in the swinging direction is limited to the rear along the pitch line P _L By moving the rack 260 from the disengaged position to the engaged position by merely pressing the eject pressing member 230 to move it from the start position to the end position, the rack 260 is engaged with the teeth 95 of the cam gear 94, Part 26
0 direction the movement direction along the pitch line P _L in the (depth direction)
Alternatively, the cam gear 94 can be rotated in the discharge operation direction.

Therefore, a member for guiding the ejection drive member 248 in the swinging direction and a member for restricting the ejection drive member 248 moved to the engagement position from moving away from the engagement position can be eliminated. The configuration can be simplified by reducing the number of parts of the apparatus. In the data streamer 10 of the present embodiment, the ejection pressing member 230
Moves to the end position and is released from the pressing force from the tool 264, the ejecting pressing member 230 returns to the starting position by the urging force of the coil spring 238, and the returning operation of the eject pressing member 230 to the starting position is performed. When the ejection drive member 248 moves away from the cam gear 94 in conjunction with it and moves forward in the depth direction to return to the initial standby position, the ejection of the ejection pressing member 230 by the tool 264 is stopped. 23
0 automatically returns to the start position, and in conjunction with this, the eject drive member 248 automatically returns to the initial standby position. Therefore, the pressing operation of moving the eject pressing member 230 from the start position to the end position is repeated. If performed, each time the pressing operation is performed, the carrier 50 moves to the attaching / detaching position side by the amount corresponding to the operation amount.

Therefore, even when the moving distance from the stop position of the carrier 50 to the attachment / detachment position is long, or when the stroke cannot be lengthened from the start end position to the end position of the eject pressing member 230 due to restrictions on the size of the apparatus, the operator presses the eject pressing member. By repeatedly pressing the member 230, the carrier 50 can be reliably moved to the attachment / detachment position.

In the above description, the ejection pressing member 230 and the ejection driving member 2 according to the present embodiment are described.
The manual eject unit provided with the data streamer 10
However, the manual eject unit according to the present embodiment is configured to apply a driving force from a driving source such as the loading motor 56 in addition to the data streamer 10 to the carrier member by a torque transmission unit such as a gear train. The present invention is also applicable to other recording / reproducing apparatuses that transmit and automatically load the cartridge mounted on the carrier member into the apparatus.

In this embodiment, the eject drive member 248 is provided with a rack 260, and the rack 260 is moved with the cam gear 9 in conjunction with the movement of the eject pressing member 230.
After engaging with the teeth 95 of the fourth gear, the moving direction of the rack 260 is changed to rotate the cam gear 94 in the discharging operation direction. However, in order to rotate the cam gear 94 in the discharging operation direction, the ejection driving member is required. It is not always necessary to provide the rack portion 260 in the 248. For example, an eject drive member 248 is provided for a sector gear or a disk-shaped entire peripheral gear,
After engaging these gears with the cam gear 94, these gears may be rotated along the pitch circle to rotate the cam gear 94 in the discharge operation direction.

Further, a rack may be provided on the driving force transmitting means, and the rack of the driving force transmitting means may be driven in the discharge operation direction by a sector gear or a disk-shaped full-circumferential gear provided on the eject drive member 248. Further, it is not necessary to transmit the driving force of the ejection driving member 248 by meshing the gears. For example, the ejection driving member 248 is brought into pressure contact with a roller provided in the driving force transmission means, and the ejection driving is performed by the frictional force generated therebetween. The driving force may be transmitted from the member 248 to the roller.

[0164]

As described above, according to the cartridge loading device of the present invention, the size and complexity of the device can be suppressed and the tape cartridge in the device can be ejected by manual operation.

According to the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, by using the cartridge loading apparatus,
In addition to suppressing an increase in the number of components and a complicated structure, the tape cartridge in the apparatus can be ejected by manual operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a data streamer according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing a state before a tape cartridge is mounted.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a loading mechanism of the data streamer shown in FIG. 1 in an exploded manner.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state before a tape cartridge is mounted.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configuration of the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where a carrier on which a tape cartridge is not mounted is moved to a recording position.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a configuration of the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state where a carrier on which a tape cartridge is mounted is moved to a recording position.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a tape cartridge applied to the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a configuration inside a chassis in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view showing the configuration of the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state in which a shielding door of a front panel is opened by a tape cartridge.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state immediately before a tape cartridge is mounted on a carrier.

FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an eject pressing member and an eject driving member in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the eject pressing member and the eject driving member in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state where the eject pressing member is at the start end position.

FIG. 12 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the eject pressing member and the eject driving member in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which the eject pressing member has slightly moved from the start end position to the end position side. Is shown.

FIG. 13 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the eject pressing member and the eject driving member in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state where the eject pressing member has moved to the end position.

FIG. 14 is a plan view for explaining the operation of the eject pressing member and the eject driving member in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state where the eject driving member swings to the detached position.

FIG. 15 is a side cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the locking lock member and the switch lever in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state immediately after the tape cartridge abuts on the locking lock member. Is shown.

FIG. 16 is a side cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the locking lock member and the switch lever in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where the locking lock member releases the restraint of the carrier. I have.

FIG. 17 is a side cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the locking lock member and the switch lever in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state where the switch lever has moved from an on position to an off position. I have.

FIG. 18 is a side cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the locking lock member and the switch lever in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows a state where the locking lock member locks the tape cartridge. I have.

FIG. 19 is a side cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the locking lock member and the switch lever in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which the engagement pin of the locking lock member moves from the cam surface of the switch lever. This shows a state in which the user has separated.

FIG. 20 is a side view for explaining a positioning operation for the tape cartridge in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a side view for explaining a positioning operation for the tape cartridge in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a plan view showing a recording / reproducing unit, a cam gear, and a cam follower in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state at the time of starting driving of the tape cartridge by the cam gear and the cam follower. I have.

FIG. 23 is a plan view showing a recording / reproducing unit, a cam gear, and a cam follower in the data streamer according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a state at the time of completion of driving of the tape cartridge by the cam gear and the cam follower. I have.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 data streamer (recording / reproducing device) 12 tape cartridge (cartridge) 24 magnetic tape (recording medium) 94 cam gear (driving force transmitting means, engaged gear) 97 intermediate gear (driving force transmitting means) 210 magnetic head (recording / reproducing means) 230 eject pressing member 248 eject driving member 260 rack unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] A carrier member movably supported between a detachable position where the cartridge is removably mounted and a recording position for a recording medium contained in the cartridge; and the carrier member and a drive source of the carrier member. Respectively, and a driving force transmitting unit that is driven in a discharge operation direction by a driving force from the driving source to move the carrier member to the attachment / detachment position side, between a preset start end position and a preset end position. An eject pressing member that is supported so as to be able to reciprocate and moves from the start position to the end position by receiving a pressing force from the outside; and an eject pressing member that receives a pressing force from the outside via the eject pressing member. From the disengagement position where the member is disengaged from the driving force transmitting means in conjunction with the movement of the member from the start end position to the end position side, to the engagement position where the member is engaged And an eject drive member that moves and changes the moving direction when moved to the engagement position, and drives the driving force transmitting means in the discharge operation direction. 2. The eject drive member has a rack portion that can be engaged with an engaged gear that constitutes at least a part of the drive force transmitting means, and the eject push member is moved from the start end position to the end end. In conjunction with the movement to the position side, the rack portion moves from the disengagement position to the engagement position, and the rack portion meshes with the engaged gear. When the rack portion moves to the engagement position, the rack portion moves along the pitch line. 2. The cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engaged gear is rotated to rotate the engaged gear in the discharge operation direction. 3. The eject drive member is movable in a swing direction about a swing axis parallel to a rotation axis of the engaged gear and in a gear drive direction along a pitch line of the rack portion. Supported, and is moved preferentially from the disengagement position to the engagement position along the swing direction by the pressing force from the eject drive member, and movement in the swing direction is restricted by the engaged gear. 3. The cartridge loading device according to claim 2, wherein the cartridge loading device moves in the gear driving direction. 4. The eject pressing member returns to the start position when the pressing force is released, and the eject drive member engages in conjunction with the return operation of the eject pressing member to the start position. Moving from the position to the disengagement position, moving to the disengagement position, moving in a direction opposite to a direction in which the driving force transmitting means is driven, and returning to an initial standby position corresponding to the start end position. Item 4. The cartridge loading device according to item 1, 2 or 3. 5. A cartridge loading apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, and a recording apparatus for recording or reproducing information on or from a recording medium of a cartridge mounted on said carrier member and moved to said recording position. A recording / reproducing apparatus, comprising: reproducing means.