JPH0584578B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to tape drives, and more particularly to tape drives that simultaneously move multiple tapes by the same amount.

[Prior art]

As an input device that can extremely quickly change the input items displayed on the keyboard, the present applicant has previously developed a tape drive system for a special so-called flat type input device (see the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 124877/1983). . According to its flat tape drive system,
As shown in FIG. 1, a tape 2 on which a large number of input items are written in a matrix is wound from one end around each of a plurality of first rollers 1 arranged in parallel on one plane. The tapes are wrapped together from the other end around a second roller 3 arranged parallel to the first roller, and the first roller 1 is simultaneously rotated by the same amount in the same direction using an appropriate means such as a gear or belt drive. of tape 2 at the same time with the same amount of tape 1
It has a configuration in which a plurality of tapes 2 are wound onto a roller or the second roller 3 is rotationally driven to simultaneously wind a plurality of tapes 2 in the same amount onto the second roller 3. When such a tape drive method is used to change keyboard input items,
By simply moving the tape by one row of the matrix, the display of input items on the keyboard can be quickly changed (page changes), resulting in very satisfactory results, and the number of input items that can be used increases dramatically. You also get benefits. However, if the number of first rollers increases considerably, the amount 4 of the tape wound around the second roller 3 will increase, so there is a risk that errors in tape movement will occur due to tape thickness.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a tape drive device that does not cause any errors in tape movement as described above.

[Structure of the invention]

According to the present invention, a slide bar is provided in place of the second roller, the other ends of the plurality of tapes are fixed together to this slide bar, and the slide bar is slidably driven, so that each of the first rollers The configuration is such that the corresponding tapes are unwound in the same amount at the same time.

〔Example〕

To explain the present invention with reference to the drawings, as shown in FIG. A plurality of first rollers 11 each having a regular polygonal or circular cross section (the one shown is illustrated as a regular pentagonal cross section), a plurality of tapes 12 corresponding to each first roller, and a fixed rotating guide roller 13. ,
The tape 12 is wound from one end around the corresponding first roller 11, guided around the guide roller 13, and the other end 16 of the tape is brought together and fixed to the slide bar 14. Become. From the guide roller 13 to the tape 12
By moving the slide bar 14 in the direction of pulling out the tape (preferably in the direction of the horizontal arrow A), the same amount of tape can be unwound from each first roller 11 at the same time. Therefore, when the slide bar 14 has a regular pentagonal cross section as shown in FIG. , instead of one side surface S of each first roller 11 that had hitherto existed in the input item display plane P', the left-adjacent side surface _S1 (for each first roller) is simultaneously positioned on the plane P'; The input items written on the tape section on side S ₁ are newly displayed (page change of 1 page). If you move the slide bar N steps,
It is possible to change N pages at once.
On the other hand, if the first roller 11 is simultaneously rotated counterclockwise by 72 degrees (Fig. 2), the side surface S ₂ on the right will become flat.
The input items positioned on P' and written on the tape portions located on these side surfaces _S2 are newly displayed. The left rotation of the first roller 11 by 72°×M corresponds to a page change of M pages. As the slide movement drive means and the first roller simultaneous rotation drive means, known suitable means can be used, and a suitable example thereof will be described later in connection with the description of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 to 6.

3-6 show preferred embodiments of the invention.
The tape drive device 20 according to this embodiment has a rotation center axis 27 located on a common plane P as in the embodiment shown in FIG. A plurality of elongated first rollers 21 exhibiting a regular pentagonal cross section, a plurality of tapes 22 corresponding to each first roller, extending parallel to the first rollers and rotatable on a frame (not shown) of the device 20. a fixed rotary guide roller 24 mounted on the frame of the apparatus, another fixed rotary guide roller 25 rotatably mounted on the frame of the apparatus adjacent to the guide roller 24 and extending parallel to the first roller; a movable rotating guide roller 26 that extends substantially horizontally (FIG. 3) and can reciprocate in the direction of arrow B; and a first roller that is located between guide rollers 25 and 26 and can reciprocate horizontally in the direction of arrow B It consists of an elongated slide bar 23 extending in parallel. The tape 22 is wrapped around the corresponding first roller 21 from one end thereof, and the other end 32 of the tape is held together and fixed to the slide bar 23. Also, tape 22
starts from each first roller 21 and runs together around a fixed guide roller 24, then around a movable guide roller 26, and then around another fixed guide roller 25 to the slide bar 23. ing. In order to avoid contact between the tape bundles 22' passing around the guide roller,
In the illustrated preferred embodiment, guide rollers 24,2
The central axes 28 and 29 of 6 are located on the same horizontal plane,
Another guide roller 25 is another guide roller 24,
26, and its central axis 31 is located above the horizontal plane. However, it goes without saying that the invention is not limited to this example.

Preferably, the slide bar 23 and the movable guide roller 26 move integrally, and an example of their driving is described in the fourth example.
As shown in the figure. The moving drive device 30 in FIG. 4 consists of a lightweight concave carriage 32, on both side walls 33 of which support the shaft 29 of the movable guide roller 26 and to which both ends of a slide bar are fixed. The carriage 32 can reciprocate horizontally in the direction of arrow B (FIG. 3) by means of a guide bracket 35 that engages with a pair of guide rods 34 provided on the tape drive device 20, and moves the carriage 32 to the right (FIG. 3). This movement is achieved by winding a wire 36 fixed to the carriage 32 around a fixed rotary pulley 37 driven by a step motor or pulse motor 38. Note that the carriage 32 is guided by a carriage side wall 33 as shown in FIG. 4A instead of the guide rod 34 and guide bracket 35 shown in FIG.
This may be effected by means of guide wheels 41 journalled in the guide wheels 41 and guideways 42 of the device 20 engaging these wheels, or by other suitable guiding means.

Next, any known means may be used to drive all the first rollers 21 (FIG. 3) to rotate by the same amount and in the same direction at the same time, and an example thereof is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The illustrated rotary drive means is a tape drive device 20.
A gear 44 of the same diameter fixed to one side of the central shaft 27 of the first roller 21 rotatably mounted on a frame 43 (FIG. 6) of A step or pulse motor 46 is connected to its gear 44 via a clutch 47 for positive drive. When the belt 45 is rotated counterclockwise (FIG. 6) by the motor 46, all the first rollers 21 are simultaneously rotated counterclockwise by the same amount (FIG. 3).

Finally, each first roller 21 (third
In order to remove the tape slack that may occur in the tape 22 between the slide bar 23 and the slide bar 23,
Each tape is kept taut by a tension roller or the like (not shown), or by biasing each first roller in the counterclockwise (Figure 3) direction by any known suitable biasing means such as a spring means or an elastomer. It is a good idea to apply back tension.

To explain the operation of the tape drive device 20 shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the operation method is almost the same as that in FIG. 2, but in the case of FIG. 3, if the slide bar is moved by the same amount, This differs from the one shown in FIG. 2 in that twice the amount of tape is unwound from the first roller than in the case of FIG. Therefore, if the length of the stroke S of the slide bar is set to the same value, in the device shown in Fig. 3, approximately twice the amount of tape is wound around each first roller compared to the device shown in Fig. 2. The amount of information written to or to be stored on the tape can therefore be approximately doubled.

Now, the operation of the tape drive device 20 as applied to a keyboard input device will be explained. In this case, keyboard input items can be quickly changed.
That is, in the illustrated rest position (FIG. 3), the input items written on the tape portion on the upper surface S of each first roller 21 located on the display plane P' are displayed in a matrix on the keyboard. ing. If the item you wish to input is displayed on the keyboard, press the switch corresponding to the desired item among the switches (not shown) arranged in a matrix corresponding to the input item, and the information will be displayed using a conventionally known method. Outputs corresponding to desired items are output from the keyboard using the address, memory, control section, etc. On the other hand, if the item you want to input is flat
If it is not displayed on plane P', press the start button (not shown) to activate motor 38 and move carriage 32 (and therefore slide bar 23 and moving guide rollers) until the desired item is positioned on plane P'. 26) Move to the right (Figure 3). In this case, the clutch 47 of the roller drive means is disengaged to allow the first roller to rotate freely. If it is necessary to wind the tape 22 around the first roller 21 in order to position a new desired input item on the plane P', the clutch 39 of the carriage drive means is disengaged and the tape 22 is moved as shown in FIGS. All the first rollers 21 are rotated counterclockwise by the roller drive means until the desired item is positioned on the plane P' (Fig. 3).
let The entire stroke S between the rest position and the maximum stroke position (chain line position) of the slide bar 23
The length of the tape 22 is set so that all input items are selectively displayed while moving.

Note that the number of fixed guide rollers 24, 25 and movable guide rollers 26 is not limited to the number shown in FIG. 3. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, fixed guide rollers 51, 52, 53 and a movable guide roller 5
4 and 55, the slide bar 23 may be arranged. In this case, compared to the one in FIG. 2, four times the amount of tape is unwound from the first roller with the same amount of slide bar movement.

Although the operation of the present invention applied to a keyboard input device has been described above, the tape drive device of the present invention is not limited to a keyboard. For example, if the tape is a magnetic tape and one or more magnetic heads are provided corresponding to the surface S of the first roller, it can be applied to a magnetic recording/reproducing device, or if the tape is a microfilm and a microfilm reader is provided at an appropriate location. If so, it can be applied to a microfilm retrieval device, and can be used in various other applications such as a telephone set, a telephone exchange, and an input device for a centralized information management/processing system.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Due to the above-described configuration, the present invention has the advantage that errors in tape movement do not occur at all, and a necessary tape portion can be accurately positioned at a predetermined position on the first roller.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing the principle of the flat type tape drive device previously developed by the applicant. Second
The figure is a schematic side view showing the principle of an embodiment of the tape drive device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a tape drive according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an example of means for integrally moving the slide bar and the moving guide roller in the apparatus shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 4A is a partial view showing another example of the guide means of FIG. 4. FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway top view showing an example of means for simultaneously driving the first rollers of FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway view showing the relationship between the belt and gears as seen along the - line in FIG. 5. Figure 7 is the third
FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing another example of the tape moving means shown in the figure. 11, 21...First roller, 12, 22...Tape, 13, 24, 25, 51, 52, 53...
Fixed rotation guide roller, 14, 23... Slide bar, 26, 54, 55... Moving rotation guide roller, 32... Carriage, 44... Gear, 45...
…belt.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of first rollers located substantially on a common plane and extending substantially parallel to each other, a fixed rotating guide roller, a movable slide bar, and each first roller.
A plurality of tapes wrapped around a roller from one end thereof, guided around a rotating guide roller, and held together at the other ends and fixed to a slide bar, and the first roller are simultaneously rotated by the same amount and in the same direction. A tape drive device comprising a first drive means and a second drive means for moving a slide bar. 2. The tape drive device according to claim 1, wherein the first roller has a substantially regular polygonal cross section or a circular cross section. 3. a plurality of first rollers located substantially on a common plane and extending substantially parallel to each other, one or more fixed second rotating guide rollers, one or more movable third rotating guide rollers, Slide bar and each first
wrapped around the roller from one end thereof, and the second
A plurality of tapes guided alternately around a rotating guide roller and a third rotating roller, the other ends of which are held together and fixed to a slide bar, and a first drive that simultaneously rotates the first roller by the same amount and in the same direction. and second drive means for moving the slide and the third rotating guide roller. 4. The tape drive device according to claim 3, wherein the first roller has a substantially regular polygonal cross section or a circular cross section. 5. The tape drive device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the second drive means moves the slide bar and the third rotating guide roller integrally.