JP3010942B2 - Tape drive - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape recorder
The present invention relates to a tape drive used for a TR or the like, and more particularly, to a configuration of a pinch roller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, competition for reducing the size and weight of tape recorders, video movies, and the like has become intense in line with market demands. Hereinafter, an example of the above-described conventional tape drive device will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a conventional tape drive. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 11 denotes a rubber member, and reference numeral 12 denotes a pinch roller bearing. The pinch roller bearing has a structure in which ball bearings can be used to perform automatic alignment by the clearance between the ball and the inner and outer rings of the ball bearing. Reference numeral 13 denotes an intermediate member between the rubber member 11 and the pinch roller bearing 12, and the rubber member 11 and the intermediate member 13 are fixed by baking or the like. Further, the pinch roller bearing 12 is held near the center of the intermediate member 13 by light press-fitting.
Reference numeral 14 denotes a support shaft, and the rubber member 11 and the intermediate member 13 are rotatably mounted on the support shaft 14 by a pinch roller bearing 12. 15 is a pinch roller bearing 12
And is press-fitted into the intermediate member 13. Reference numeral 16 denotes a sleeve for retaining the pinch roller bearing 12, which is press-fitted into the support shaft 14. 17 is a tape and 18 is a capstan. Reference numeral 19 denotes a state where the rubber member 11 is in contact with the capstan 18.

[0004] The operation of the tape drive device configured as described above will be described below.

As is well known, the tape drive device presses the tape 17 against the capstan 18 with a pinch roller and transports the tape 17 at a predetermined speed by the cooperative action of the two. As shown in FIG. 4, in this type of conventional apparatus, the width of the rubber member 11 in the axial direction is generally sufficiently larger than the width of the tape 17, and the thickness of the rubber member 11 is 1 m.
m or more, the rubber member 1
The tape 17 is transferred while the rubber member 11 is deformed and the cap member 18 is in contact with the rubber member 11.

[0006]

However, in the above configuration, since rubber having a thickness of 0.5 mm or more is used, the rubber is deformed at the time of pressing the pinch roller, and continues to rotate with the deformation. Large deformation loss of rubber,
Tape drive efficiency decreases. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to increase the pinch roller press-fitting force, which has a problem that it greatly hinders reduction in size and weight of the mechanism. Further, since the tape is transferred in a state where the pinch roller and the capstan are in contact with each other, the contact force between the tape and the capstan is reduced by the contact force between the pinch roller and the capstan at the same pinch roller pressing force. Therefore, there is also a problem that the tape driving efficiency is reduced.

[0007] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a tape drive capable of reducing the size and weight of the device.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a tape driving apparatus according to the present invention comprises a capstan driven to rotate, a capstan rotatably supported by a bearing, and a tape-shaped medium interposed therebetween. A pinch roller for transferring the tape-shaped medium by being pressed by
The outer peripheral surface of the pinch roller is made of rubber having a thickness of less than 0.5 mm. Further, the second aspect is characterized in that the pinch roller is pressed against the tape-shaped medium without bringing the pinch roller into contact with the capstan.

[0009]

According to the present invention, since the outer peripheral surface of the pinch roller remains the rubber material by the above-mentioned structure, the rubber deformation loss can be reduced by reducing the rubber thickness. Tape drive efficiency can be realized. As a result, the pinch roller pressing force exerting the maximum load on the mechanism can be reduced, and the mechanism can be reduced in size and weight. Further, by reducing the width of the pinch roller so that the pinch roller does not come into contact with the capstan, all the pinch roller pressing force is pressed against the tape, so that the tape driving efficiency is further improved.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A tape drive according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a tape drive according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a rubber member having a thickness of less than 0.5 mm, and 2 denotes a pinch roller bearing. Has become. Reference numeral 3 denotes an intermediate member between the rubber member 1 and the pinch roller bearing 2, and the rubber member 1 and the intermediate member 3 are fixed by baking or the like. Further, the pinch roller bearing 2 is held near the center of the intermediate member 3 by light press-fitting. Reference numeral 4 denotes a support shaft, and the rubber member 1 and the intermediate member 3 are rotatably mounted on the support shaft 4 by a pinch roller bearing 2. Reference numeral 5 denotes a sleeve for retaining the pinch roller bearing 2, which is press-fitted into the intermediate member 3. Reference numeral 6 denotes a sleeve for retaining the pinch roller bearing 2, which is pressed into the support shaft 4. 7 is a tape and 8 is a capstan.

The operation of the tape drive configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIG.

The tape 7 is capstaned 8 by a pinch roller.
In this embodiment, the thickness of the rubber member 1 is set to less than 0.5 mm, and the tape width and the pinch roller width are set. Is substantially equal, the tape 7 is transported in a state where the rubber member 1 and the capstan 8 do not come into contact with each other even if the rubber member 1 is deformed when the pinch roller is pressed.

Conventionally, it has been considered that the tape driving is performed by transferring the tape 7 in a state where the rubber member 1 and the capstan 8 are in contact with each other. It has been found by an experimental study that the tape driving force is represented by the following equation.

T = μ (P−Pc) −Φ (1) where μ: friction coefficient between the tape and the capstan P: pinch roller pressing force Pc: the pinch roller presses the capstan Force T: Tape driving force Φ: Force applied in the tape running direction by the pinch roller load From the equation (1), to improve the tape driving force at the same pinch roller pressing force, (A) improve μ,
It is conceivable to (a) lower Φ and (c) lower P _c . Among them, those caused by the shape of the pinch roller are (a) and (c).

In (a), Φ is a force applied by the pinch roller load in the tape running direction, and is mainly caused by deformation loss of the rubber portion on the outer peripheral surface of the pinch roller. FIG.
Is a graph of the relationship between rubber thickness and pinch roller pressure. As shown in FIG. 2, it was found from an experiment that the inflection point was around 0.5 mm, and that the tape driving efficiency was sharply improved at less than 0.5 mm. As a method of reducing the deformation loss of the rubber portion, it is conceivable to increase the hardness by changing the material of the rubber portion in addition to reducing the thickness of the rubber portion. However, when the outer peripheral surface of the pinch roller is made of an elastic material having a hardness greater than that of rubber as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-263643, the tape may be gradually displaced upward or downward from the pinch roller. This is likely to occur, and the area in which the tape runs stably becomes narrower, which necessitates an improvement in the precision of the equipment, which leads to a significant increase in cost. However, if a pinch roller having a thickness of less than 0.5 mm on the outer peripheral surface of the pinch roller is used as shown in this embodiment, the tape running stability is equivalent to that of the conventional one because the outer peripheral surface of the pinch roller has the rubber portion. The force Φ applied by the pinch roller load in the tape running direction can be reduced while ensuring the performance, and high tape drive efficiency can be realized without improving the precision of the device.

In (c), Pc is a force generated at a portion where the pinch roller contacts the capstan when the pinch roller is pressed. Therefore, if the pinch roller and the capstan do not contact each other when the pinch roller is pressed, Pc =
0, and the tape drive efficiency is improved. FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between the pinch roller width and the tape driving force. In FIG. 3, when the pinch roller width is smaller than the tape width,
That is, it can be seen that the tape driving force when the pinch roller width is 10 mm is larger than when the pinch roller and the capstan are in sufficient contact (pinch roller width = 18 mm). That is, when the pinch roller and the capstan are not in contact with each other when the pinch roller is pressed as in the present embodiment, Pc = 0, and the tape driving efficiency is improved from the equation (1) and the experimental results.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the outer circumferential surface of the pinch roller is made of a rubber material, and the rubber loss can be minimized by reducing the rubber thickness. Further, by adopting a structure in which there is no contact between the capstan and the pinch roller, all the pressure force of the pinch roller is pressed against the tape, so that a high tape drive efficiency can be realized while ensuring the tape running stability.

In this embodiment, the width of the pinch roller is substantially equal to the tape width, but may be smaller than the tape width. Alternatively, the capstan and the pinch roller may be prevented from directly contacting each other by reducing the thickness of the rubber.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, high tape drive efficiency can be achieved while ensuring tape running stability, so that the pinch roller pressing force exerting the maximum load on the mechanism can be reduced. And the mechanism can be reduced in size and weight.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a tape drive device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between a thickness of a pinch roller rubber and a tape driving force.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between a tape driving force and a pinch roller width.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a tape drive in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rubber member 2 Pinch roller bearing 3 Intermediate member 4 Support shaft 5 Sleeve 6 Sleeve 7 Tape 8 Capstan

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 15/29

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A capstan that is driven to rotate, and a pinch roller that is rotatably supported by a bearing and that transfers the tape-shaped medium by being pressed by the capstan across a tape-shaped medium; An outer peripheral surface of the pinch roller is made of rubber having a thickness of less than 0.5 mm. 2. A tape drive according to claim 1, wherein said pinch roller is pressed against a tape-shaped medium without bringing said pinch roller into contact with a capstan.