JP2005050472A - Magnetic tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a magnetic tape cartridge capable of smoothly sliding a reel lock and a projected engaging part during its use. <P>SOLUTION: This magnetic tape cartridge is constructed in such a manner that a reel 2 having a magnetic tape MT wound is rotatably arranged in a cartridge case 1 constituted of upper and lower halves 1B and 1A, a reel lock 3 for locking the rotation of the reel 2 is housed in a cuplike hub 2A of the reel 2 facing the upper half 1B side to open, and a projected engaging part 1E for guiding the reel lock 3 to freely slide is projected in the inner surface of the upper half 1B. The projected engaging part 1E is made of a material at least lower in friction resistance than the material of the upper half 1B. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a magnetic tape cartridge, and more particularly to a magnetic tape cartridge having an improved protrusion-like engaging portion protruding from the inner surface of an upper half of the magnetic tape cartridge.

  In general, a magnetic tape cartridge conforming to the so-called LTO (Linear Tape-Open) standard is known as a magnetic tape cartridge used as an external recording medium for data backup such as a computer. This type of magnetic tape cartridge contains a single reel wound with magnetic tape inside a cartridge case divided into a lower half and an upper half. On one side of the cartridge case, An opening for pulling out the magnetic tape is provided across the lower half and the upper half, to which a leader pin attached to the tip of the magnetic tape is engaged. In addition, an opening for driving the reel is provided at the center of the bottom surface of the lower half to expose the outer surface of the bottom of the hub of the reel.

  The drive unit loaded with this type of magnetic tape cartridge records and reproduces data while pulling out the leader pin from the magnetic tape drawer opening on the side of the cartridge case and unwinding the magnetic tape from the reel. The reel hub is rotationally driven from the reel driving opening, and data is recorded and reproduced while the magnetic tape is rewound onto the reel. Therefore, the magnetic tape cartridge has a reel lock that keeps the reel in a locked state so that the reel rotates only when it is loaded in the drive device, and the reel does not rotate carelessly when it is ejected from the drive device. A release pad for releasing the lock state is provided in a hub formed in a cup shape of the reel.

The reel lock is formed of a resin such as nylon blended with a solid lubricant such as fluorine, graphite or molybdenum disulfide to give lubricity, and is a compression coil spring interposed between the upper half and the reel lock. In order to store the lower end, it has a bottomed cylindrical shape that opens toward the upper half side, and has a projecting engagement portion protruding from the center of the inner surface of the upper half at the center of the inner surface of the bottom. A half-side engaging portion that is always fitted is formed, and a hub-side engaging portion that is detachable from an engaging portion that is formed on the peripheral portion of the bottom inner surface of the reel hub is formed on the peripheral portion of the bottom outer surface. Yes.
The reel lock is configured such that the hub side engaging portion on the outer surface of the bottom portion is engaged with the engaging portion on the inner surface of the bottom portion of the hub by an urging force of a compression coil spring interposed between the upper half and the reel. Keep locked.

The release pad is a plate-shaped member such as a substantially triangular, quadrangular, star-shaped or propeller-shaped member interposed between the top surface of the bottom of the cup-shaped hub of the reel and the lock plate, and the peripheral wall of the cup-shaped hub. Unlocking pins penetrating the bottom of the cup-shaped hub are respectively provided on the lower surfaces of the corners facing the inner surface of each.
Then, this release pad is pushed to the upper half side against the urging force of the compression coil spring, and the hub side engaging portion on the bottom outer surface of the reel lock and the engaging portion on the inner surface of the bottom portion of the hub (hereinafter referred to as “concave engagement”). The locked state of the reel is released when the engagement with the "mating surface" is released.

For example, as described in Patent Document 1, the protruding engagement portion is integrally projected from the inner surface of the upper half by the same material as the upper half (described as “upper case” in Patent Document 1). In addition, as a non-circular engaging portion (described as “lock shaft”) that fits and engages with a half-side engaging portion (described as “square boss”) of a reel lock (described as “lock gear”) It is configured.
The protrusion-like engagement portion and the half-side engagement portion of the reel lock are formed when the reel is locked or when the reel is unlocked. It is configured with a certain amount of clearance so that the engaging portion can slide smoothly.
JP-A-11-149749 (paragraph 0015, FIG. 1 and FIG. 3)

  However, the protrusion-like engagement portion of the conventional magnetic tape cartridge including the magnetic tape cartridge described in Patent Document 1 is projected integrally with the upper half when the upper half is manufactured as described above. The shape engaging portion and the half side engaging portion were not considered so as to be able to slide smoothly. Further, no attempt has been made to suppress the generation of wear powder due to the sliding of these.

Further, in order to rotate the reel in the conventional magnetic tape cartridge, it is necessary to push the reel lock to the upper half side to release the lock of the reel. Since the fitting with the half-side engaging portion is configured with a certain degree of clearance, the reel lock may be inclined and moved during the pushing operation.
When the reel rotates with the reel lock tilted in this manner, a part of the hub side engaging portion that was not sufficiently moved is provided on the top surface of the bottom of the cup-shaped hub of the rotating reel. There was a problem that abnormal noise was generated by contact / interference with the engagement surface, and a problem that abrasion powder was generated.

  In order to prevent the reel lock from being inclined obliquely with respect to these problems, the clearance between the protruding engagement portion and the half-side engagement portion can be reduced, or the protruding engagement portion and the half-side engagement can be reduced. In order to reduce the frictional resistance of the part, it was considered to apply grease or silicone oil. However, when the clearance is reduced, the slidability is deteriorated, and there is a problem that wear powder is easily generated between the protruding engagement portion and the half-side engagement portion. Further, when grease or the like is applied, the magnetic tape may be adversely affected by being scattered in the cartridge while the magnetic tape cartridge is being used.

  The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic tape cartridge in which the reel lock and the protruding engagement portion can smoothly slide when the cartridge is used.

  As a result of diligent research, the present inventor has found that the above problem can be solved by using a material with a low frictional resistance for the protrusion-like engaging portion, and has completed the present invention.

  That is, in the magnetic tape cartridge of the present invention, a reel around which a magnetic tape is wound is rotatably disposed in a cartridge case composed of an upper half and a lower half, and the reel opens toward the upper half side. In the hub having a cup shape, a reel lock for locking the rotation of the reel is accommodated, and a protrusion-like engaging portion that slidably guides the reel lock is protruded from the inner surface of the upper half. In the magnetic tape cartridge, the protrusion-like engagement portion is formed of a material having a lower frictional resistance than a material constituting at least the upper half.

  According to the magnetic tape cartridge configured as described above, the engaging portion protruding from the inner surface of the upper half is made of a material having a lower frictional resistance than a material constituting at least the upper half. The reel lock can be smoothly slid when the tape cartridge is used. That is, since the slidability between the protruding engagement portion and the reel lock is improved, the clearance between them can be reduced. In addition, as described above, since it becomes difficult for friction to occur between the protrusion-like engaging portion and the half-side engaging portion of the reel lock, the reel lock is prevented from being inclined obliquely, and abnormal noise is generated and the protrusion-like engagement is caused. Generation of wear powder due to friction between the part and the half-side engaging part of the reel lock can be suppressed.

  In the magnetic tape cartridge of the present invention, a reel around which a magnetic tape is wound is rotatably disposed in a cartridge case composed of an upper half and a lower half, and the reel opens toward the upper half side. In the hub having a cup shape, a reel lock for locking the rotation of the reel is accommodated, and a protrusion-like engaging portion for slidably guiding the reel lock is protruded on the inner surface of the upper half. A magnetic tape cartridge, wherein the protruding engagement portion is made of polyoxymethylene (POM), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). It is characterized by being.

According to the magnetic tape cartridge configured as described above, the engaging portion protruding from the inner surface of the upper half includes polyoxymethylene (POM), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE). Alternatively, since it is formed using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), it can be formed integrally with the upper half, and these materials are protruding engagements made of the upper half material. Since the frictional resistance is smaller than that of the object, the reel lock can be smoothly slid when the magnetic tape cartridge is used. That is, since the slidability between the protruding engagement portion and the reel lock is improved, the clearance between them can be reduced.
As a result, it is possible to suppress the phenomenon that the reel lock tilts obliquely, the generation of abnormal noise during the rotation of the reel, and the generation of wear powder due to the sliding of the protruding engagement portion and the half lock engagement portion of the reel lock. it can.
Polyoxymethylene (POM), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is welded, insert-molded, two-color molded, or snap-stopped. Thus, it can be molded integrally with the upper half.

  According to the present invention, the reel lock can be smoothly slid when the magnetic tape cartridge is used. In addition, this makes it possible to reduce the clearance between the reel lock and the protrusion-like engagement portion, so that it is possible to prevent the generation of abnormal noise and the generation of wear powder.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, a first embodiment of the magnetic tape cartridge of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. This magnetic tape cartridge prevents the reel lock from being inclined obliquely, and allows the protrusion-like engagement portion and the half-side engagement portion of the reel lock to slide smoothly. The material of the joint portion is formed of a material having a lower frictional resistance than a material constituting at least the upper half. In the drawings to be referred to, FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing components of a magnetic cartridge tape, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a structure inside the cup-shaped hub of the reel shown in FIG.

  The magnetic tape cartridge shown in FIG. 1 is a magnetic tape cartridge compliant with the so-called LTO standard, and a magnetic tape MT is wound beforehand in a cartridge case 1 divided into a lower half 1A and an upper half 1B. A single reel 2, a reel lock 3 and a compression coil spring 4 for keeping the rotation of the reel 2 in a locked state, a release pad 5 for releasing the locked state of the reel 2, a lower half 1A and an upper half 1B A slide door 6 that opens and closes the magnetic tape outlet 1C formed on one side of the cartridge case 1, a torsion coil spring 7 that biases the slide door 6 to the closed position of the magnetic tape outlet 1C, an erroneous erasure prevention claw 8, and an IC A chip 9 and the like are incorporated.

  The reel 2 shown in FIG. 1 has a cup-shaped hub 2A having a bottomed cylindrical shape that opens to the upper half 1B side, and the release pad 5, the reel lock 3 and the compression coil in the hub 2A. The springs 4 are sequentially assembled. The outer surface of the bottom surface 2B of the hub 2A is exposed to the outside through a circular opening 1D formed at the center of the bottom surface of the lower half 1A, and a face gear (not shown) is not shown around the outer surface of the bottom surface 2B. Is formed. This face gear meshes with a drive face gear (not shown) on the drive device side in which the magnetic tape cartridge is loaded in order to rotate the reel 2. A metal plate (not shown) that is attracted by a magnet (not shown) on the drive device side is inserted inside the face gear on the bottom surface 2B of the hub 2A.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the bottom surface 2B of the hub 2A of the reel 2 has three lead-out holes 2C that lead out lock release pins 5B protruding from the bottom surface of the pad body 5A of the release pad 5 described later. Is formed. These lead-out holes 2C are arranged at equal intervals in the vicinity of the inner peripheral wall 2D of the hub 2A along the arrangement circumference of a predetermined radius according to the LTO standard, and are within the gear width of the face gear of the bottom surface 2B of the hub 2A. Is open. Further, on the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the bottom surface 2B, there are three engaging portions arranged in the central portion between the three lead-out holes 2C, and radial blade lines are formed on the upper surface of each engaging portion. A concave-convex engaging surface 2E having a triangular cross section is formed. Further, a plurality of reinforcing ribs 2F extending vertically along the axial direction are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the hub 2A. The reinforcing rib 2F is formed so as to avoid at least the opening portions of the lead-out holes 2C.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the release pad 5 is formed in a substantially equilateral triangular plate shape whose corners are arcuate, and is interposed between the bottom surface 2 </ b> B of the hub 2 </ b> A and the reel lock 3. 5A, and on the lower surface of each corner portion, three columnar lock release pins 5B respectively inserted into three lead-out holes 2C formed on the bottom surface 2B of the hub 2A are arc-shaped at the corner portions. It protrudes continuously from the peripheral surface 5C. A spherical protrusion 5D is formed at the center of the pad main body 5A so as to make point contact with a spherical protrusion (not shown) formed at the center of the outer surface of the bottom of the reel lock 3. Furthermore, three chuck insertion holes 5E are formed in the pad main body 5A so as to be disposed at the intermediate portion between the spherical protrusion 5D and each corner portion.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the reel lock 3 has a disc-shaped plate body 3A that can be accommodated in a cup-shaped hub 2A of the reel 2, and a cup-shaped hub 2A is provided at the periphery of the lower surface thereof. A concave-convex engaging surface 3B having a triangular cross section having a radial blade line that can be engaged and disengaged with the concave-convex engaging surface 2E is formed. Further, a cross-shaped half-side engaging portion 3C into which a protruding engaging portion 1E protruding from the inner surface central portion of the upper half 1B is inserted is protruded from the upper surface central portion of the plate body 3A. Yes. The reel lock 3 is urged downward by a compression coil spring 4 that is externally attached to the half-side engaging portion 3C and interposed between the upper half 1B, and the concave-convex engaging surface 3B on the lower surface thereof is a cup. Engaging with each of the concave and convex engaging surfaces 2E on the bottom 2B of the hub 2A.

  In the present invention, the protruding engaging portion 1E is made of a material having a lower frictional resistance than the material of the upper half 1B, and can be integrally formed by welding with the material of the upper half 1B. It is formed using possible materials. Examples of such a material include polyoxymethylene (POM), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and polycarbonate (which can be integrally formed by welding, insert molding, or two-color molding with the material of the upper half 1B. PC) and polyethylene (PE). In addition, when polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is used, it can be molded integrally with the upper half 1B by performing snap fastening (outsert molding). As the polycarbonate, it is preferable to use a fluorine-containing polycarbonate in consideration of lowering the compatibility of the weldability and the frictional resistance.

Here, the welding means that a thermoplastic resin is melted by heat and is adhered to an object by performing pressurization and cooling. As welding in the present invention, high-frequency welding, thermal welding, or ultrasonic welding is used. Etc. can be used. Here, high-frequency welding refers to a welding method using a high-frequency dielectric heating method, and ultrasonic welding refers to transmission of ultrasonic vibration from a resonance body called a horn to a heated object to generate strong frictional heat. A method of generating and welding. Further, the thermal welding is a method of heating and welding by heat conduction from a heat source outside the object to be heated, and includes hot air welding, hot plate welding, impulse welding, iron welding and the like.
In insert molding, an insert part such as a projecting engagement portion 1E is loaded in a mold, and then a resin is injected, and part or all of the insert part is wrapped with a molten resin and solidified. Refers to an injection molding method that produces a composite part in which resin and resin are integrated. Outsert molding is molding in which an outsert part such as a projecting engagement portion 1E is inserted into the upper half 1B after molding. This method includes snapping.
The two-color molding refers to an injection molding method in which an integral member is molded using two colors or two types of resins.
In the case where the upper half 1B is manufactured using the material having low frictional resistance with the reel lock, the material is applied to the mold of the upper half 1B regardless of welding, insert molding, two-color molding or the like. It goes without saying that it can be produced as a unit by elution and molding.

  Further, the shape of the projecting engagement portion 1E is a shape that fits with the reel lock 3, and may be any shape as long as the reel lock does not rotate in the circumferential direction. It can be formed in a single-letter shape or a circular shape having a gear portion into which the protruding engagement portion 1E of the upper half 1B and the half-side engagement portion 3C of the reel lock 3 are fitted.

  Next, the sliding state between the projecting engagement portion 1E and the half-side engagement portion 3C, which are formed using a material having a lower frictional resistance than the upper half 1B according to the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1 showing that the protrusion-like engaging portion 1E and the half-side engaging portion 3C slide, and FIG. FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view showing a state before the reel lock 3 is pushed to the upper half 1B side by the release pad 5;

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the half-side engagement portion 3C of the reel lock 3 and the protrusion-like engagement portion 1E of the upper half 1B have a certain clearance C (for example, 0.1 mm) so that they can easily slide. The reel lock 3 is urged by a compression coil spring 4 in a direction away from the upper half 1B. Accordingly, the hub 2 engaging portion 3B of the reel lock 3 is engaged with the concave / convex engaging surface 2E to fix the reel 2.

  Next, FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a state in which the magnetic tape cartridge 1 is loaded and used in a drive device (not shown). First, an engagement pin (not shown) of the drive device pushes up the unlocking pin 5B of the release pad 5 and pushes the reel lock 3 toward the upper half 1B against the urging force of the compression coil spring 4. By separating the concave and convex engaging surface 3B of the reel lock 3 from the concave and convex engaging surface 2E in the hub 2A, the reel 2 is brought into a rotatable state. That is, when the reel lock 3 is pushed up together with the release pad 5 by the engagement pin of the drive device, the half-side engagement portion 3C of the reel lock 3 and the protruding engagement portion 1E of the upper half 1B slide in the approaching direction. To do. If the friction between the half-side engagement portion 3C of the reel lock 3 and the protrusion-like engagement portion 1E of the upper half 1B is small during this sliding, they can slide smoothly. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of abnormal noise and the generation of wear powder generated between them.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the component of a magnetic cartridge tape. It is a top view which shows the structure in the cup-shaped hub of the reel shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A when the magnetic cartridge tape disassembled in FIG. 1 is assembled, and (a) is a diagram illustrating a state before the reel lock is pushed, and (b) is a reel. It is a figure which shows the mode after a lock | rock was pushed.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cartridge case 1A Lower half 1B Upper half 1E Protruding engagement part 2 Reel 2A Hub 3 Reel lock 3C Half side engagement part 4 Compression coil spring 5 Release pad

Claims (1)

In a cartridge case composed of an upper half and a lower half, a reel on which a magnetic tape is wound is rotatably arranged, and in a hub that has a cup shape of the reel that opens toward the upper half side, A magnetic tape cartridge that houses a reel lock for locking the rotation of the reel, and a projecting engagement portion that slidably guides the reel lock is provided on the inner surface of the upper half,
The magnetic tape cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion-like engagement portion is formed of a material having a lower frictional resistance than a material constituting at least the upper half.

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