JPH06176535A - Tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accurately discriminate the cuts for data and video by forming an information identification mark on a leader tape. CONSTITUTION:A magnetic tape 6 and the leader tape 28 are connected with a connection tape 29, and the identification mark 37 is arranged on the leader tape 28 of the magnetic tape for data. The length L2 of this identification mark 37 is made a prescribed length required for interrupting a light transmission hole, and the mark is arranged on the position L1 apart, which is more than 2mm, from the end surface of the magnetic tape 6 for the identification of the tape top and tape end. Thus, the magnetic tape for data is accurately discriminated by providing the identification mark on the leader tape of the magnetic tape for data and detecting the output deterioration on the information mark by a photodetecting mechanism.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cassette, and more particularly to a tape cassette capable of discriminating between a data cassette and a video cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a tape cassette containing a long magnetic tape, a tape winding start position (hereinafter referred to as a tape top) and a winding end position (hereinafter referred to as a tape end). The detection using optical means is performed to detect the.

For example, a light emitting element provided on the drive side faces a hole provided between a pair of tape reels rotatably housed in the cassette body, and a light transmission hole formed on both side surfaces of the cassette body. The tape top and the tape end are discriminated by detecting the detection light from the light emitting element through the light receiving element provided outside the cassette body.

That is, the light transmittance of the magnetic tape is 8 wavelengths.
The output detected by the light receiving element facing the tape reel on the supply side is 60% or more by utilizing that the leader tape connecting this is 60% or less with light of 00 nm to 900 nm. Sometimes, if the output detected by the light receiving element facing the tape end and the tape reel on the winding side is 60% or more, it is determined to be the tape top. When the outputs of both light receiving elements are 60% or less, it means that the magnetic tape is running.

[0005]

By the way, the magnetic tapes having a tape width of 8 mm include those for data and those for video. Both the data tape and the video tape are housed in a common cassette body, and it is difficult to distinguish the two from the appearance. Therefore, when a video tape cassette is used for data, the error rate of the debio tape is lower than that of the data tape, so the recording capacity is insufficient and the necessary data cannot be recorded. There are cases where it cannot be done. Further, a serious problem such as missing of necessary data occurs.

For this reason, it is conceivable to provide an identification hole for identifying these in the cassette body, but not only the cost of modifying the mold for producing the cassette body is required, but also this is detected on the drive side. Since it is necessary to separately provide a detection mechanism for the above, there remains a cost problem.

Therefore, in order to solve such a conventional technical problem, the present invention provides a highly reliable tape cassette capable of instantaneously and surely discriminating a tape cassette for debio and a tape cassette for data with a simple structure. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

A tape cassette according to the present invention comprises a cassette body composed of upper and lower halves, a pair of tape reels rotatably disposed in the cassette body, and one end fixed to each tape reel. And a light emitting element facing the inside of the cassette body when the magnetic tape is completely wound around one of the tape reels. A magnetic tape connected to the leader tape and an intersection of the line connecting the light receiving element provided outside the cassette body with the detection light received from the cassette body through the light transmission hole provided in the cassette body and the leader tape. At least one or more information identification marks that are optically detected are provided on the tape portion provided between the tape and the edge of the tape.

The tape cassette according to the present invention includes a cassette body composed of upper and lower halves, a pair of tape reels rotatably arranged in the cassette body, and a magnetic tape wound around these tape reels. A pair of leader tapes, one end of which is fixed to each tape reel, and a pair of connecting tapes, which connects the other end of the leader tape and the other end of the magnetic tape, and the connecting tape includes: At least one or more information identification marks detected by optical means are provided.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that at least twice as long as the formation pitch of the information identification mark is provided on the leader tape.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the cassette, in which the information identification mark optically detected, receives the light emitting element facing the inside of the cassette body and the detection light from the light emitting element through the light transmission hole provided in the cassette body. A tape portion provided between the intersection of the leader tape and the line connecting the light receiving element provided outside the main body and the edge of the magnetic tape connected to the leader tape, or connecting the leader tape and the magnetic tape Since it is provided on the connecting tape, when the above-mentioned information identification mark is detected by the light detection means provided in the drive, it is determined to be a cassette for data,
If not, it is determined to be a video cassette.

Further, in the present invention, since at least twice the formation pitch of the information identification mark is provided on the leader tape, when a part of the information identification mark is placed on the magnetic tape. However, since the other information identification mark is always on the leader tape, reliable identification can be performed.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tape cassette of the present embodiment includes a cassette body 3 composed of an upper half 1 and a lower half 2, and a pair of tape reels rotatably arranged in the cassette body 3. 4, 5 and a magnetic tape 6 wound around these tape reels 4, 5.

Upper half 1 constituting the cassette body 3
The lower half 2 and the lower half 2 are integrally formed by injection molding or the like into a size sufficient to rotatably accommodate the pair of tape reels 4 and 5 on which the magnetic tape 6 is wound. Then, the upper half 1 and the lower half 2 are made to face each other with their openings facing each other, and are brought into contact with each other, whereby the cassette body 3
Is configured.

A transparent window portion 7 is provided on the upper half of the upper half 1 so that the winding shape of the magnetic tape 6 housed in the cassette body 3 can be visually confirmed from the outside. On the other hand, the lower half 2 has gears 10 formed on the outer circumferences of flanges 8 and 9 provided on the tape reels 4 and 5,
A reel lock member 12 which meshes with the tape reel 11 to prevent the tape reels 4 and 5 from rotating is provided.

Further, the lower half 2 is provided with a light emitting element insertion hole 14 into which the light emitting element 13 constituting the light detecting mechanism provided on the drive side is inserted and which faces the inside of the cassette body 3. The light emitting element insertion hole 14 is formed as a circular hole at a position facing the light emitting element 13 provided on the drive side. In this embodiment, the light-emitting element insertion hole 14 is near the tape pull-out recess 15 cut out on the front surface side of the cassette body 3 into which the drive-side tape pull-out pin is inserted, and the pair of tape reels 4 is provided. , 5
Is provided in the substantially central portion of.

Further, the lower half 2 is provided with cassette positioning holes 16 and 17 for inserting and engaging a cassette positioning pin provided on the drive side to position the tape cassette with respect to the drive. These cassette positioning holes 16 and 17 are formed as circular holes and elliptical holes at both end edges of the opening of the cassette body 3 near the tape pull-out concave portion 15.

Further, the lower half 2 is provided with light transmitting holes 20 and 21 forming an optical path for receiving the detection light from the light emitting element 13 by a pair of light receiving elements 18 and 19 provided on the drive side. Has been. These light transmitting holes 20 and 21 are provided in the side walls 22 and 23 facing the light receiving elements 18 and 19 as square holes each having a side of 2.5 mm. In this embodiment, a line A parallel to the magnetic tape 6 that is linearly drawn through the inside of the tape withdrawing recess 15 of the cassette body 3 through the center of the light emitting element 13 and a line connecting the light emitting element 13 and the light receiving elements 18 and The light transmission holes 20 and 21 are provided at positions where the angles θ ₁ and θ ₂ with B are both 5.5 degrees.

Each of the pair of tape reels 4, 5 has a cylindrical hub 24, 2 around which the magnetic tape 6 is wound.
5 and disk-shaped flange portions 8 and 9 provided only on one side of the hubs 24 and 25. In these tape reels 4 and 5, one end portion of the hubs 24 and 25 on the side where the flange portions 8 and 9 are provided faces a circular mounting hole (not shown) formed in the bottom surface of the lower half 2. Is pivoted by. Also, these tape reels 4, 5
The axial center of the hubs 24 and 25 is pressed by a reel pressing spring (not shown) provided on the upper half 1, so that the rattling of the tape reels 4 and 5 is prevented. It can be suppressed.

On the other hand, the magnetic tape 6 is connected to the other end of a transparent leader tape 28 (the leader tape on the supply side is not shown) fixed at one end to the respective tape reels 4 and 5 by clampers 26 and 27. Has been done. The magnetic tape 6 and the leader tape 28 are connected by a connecting tape 29 called a splice tape, which is transparent and thin and has an adhesive layer formed on one surface. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, after the end faces of the magnetic tape 6 and the leader tape 28 are abutted with each other, the magnetic tape 6 and the leader tape 28 are provided on the back surface opposite to the recording surface with which the magnetic head is in sliding contact. 28 so that
They are connected by the connecting tape 29. The connecting tape 29 is made of the same material as the leader tape 28.

The magnetic tape 6 is wound around the tape reel 4 on the supply side for a required length, and is a semi-arcuate tape provided on the peripheral edge of the tape pull-out recess 15 of the cassette body 3. Guided by the guide members 30 and 31, the tape pull-out concave portion 15 is linearly pulled out.

The magnetic tape 6 running in the tape pull-out concave portion 15 functions as an opening / closing lid for protecting the magnetic tape 6 from dust and external force when it is not attached to the drive, and the front lid 32 and the back lid 33. It is covered in a shape that is sandwiched by. When the front lid 32 and the back lid 33 are not attached to the drive, the front lid 32 and the back lid 33 cover the tape pull-out concave portion 15 so as to sandwich the magnetic tape 6, and when attached to the drive, rotate in the direction of arrow C in FIG. Then, the magnetic tape 6 is exposed in the tape pull-out concave portion 15.

The light transmitting holes 20 and 21 provided in the lower half 2 are exposed to the outside on the supporting portions 34 and 35 for rotatably supporting the front lid 32 with respect to the cassette body 3. A rectangular opening hole 36 (one opening hole is not shown) is provided. The opening hole 36 is provided at a position facing the light transmitting holes 20 and 21 when the front lid 32 is opened, and is formed as a hole larger than at least the light transmitting holes 20 and 21.

In particular, in this embodiment, in order to distinguish the data cassette from the video cassette, only the tape cassette containing the data magnetic tape 6 can detect the information detectable by the optical means. Identification mark 37
Is provided on the tape portion. In order to identify whether it is for data or for video, a light detecting mechanism including a light emitting element 13 for detecting the tape top and the tape end and light receiving elements 18 and 19 is used, and information is detected by the fluctuation of the output. That is, the information identification mark 37 is formed of a material having a light transmittance that is substantially the same as the light transmittance of the magnetic tape 6.
This is provided at a predetermined distance from the end surface of the magnetic tape 6 which is a connecting portion with the transparent leader tape 28 having a higher light transmittance than the magnetic tape 6. And these magnetic tapes 6
When the output variation obtained by the difference between the light transmittance of the information identification mark 37 and the light transmittance of the leader tape 28 portion between the magnetic tape 6 and the information identification mark 37 is obtained, it is identified as for data. In other words, the magnetic tape 6 and the information identification mark 37 portion can obtain substantially the same output, but the leader tape 28 portion between them can also obtain a large output, which causes fluctuation in the output. Identifies the time as for data.

Specifically, as with the magnetic tape 6, the wavelength 8
The information identification mark 37 is formed of a material having a light transmittance of 60% or less for light of 00 nm to 900 nm. Examples of materials that satisfy such requirements include magnetic materials such as Co—Ni that compose the magnetic layer of the magnetic tape 6 and metal materials such as carbon black and aluminum. As a method of forming the information identification mark 37, any of silk printing and pad printing, which are used in a general printing technique, can be used, and in addition, a method of coating an ultraviolet curable resin can be used. Further, like the magnetic tape 6, it may be formed by using a vacuum thin film forming technique such as vapor deposition or sputtering. In particular, if the printing technique is used, the information identification mark 37 is printed at a predetermined position by, for example, a printing machine or the like in a final stage state in which the leader tape 28 and the magnetic tape 6 are joined and wound around the tape reels 4 and 5. be able to. Therefore, not only is it very advantageous in terms of productivity, but it is possible to provide the information identification mark 37 later even on a tape cassette that has no identification mark already completed.

Here, the length L of the information identification mark 37
₂ is a light transmission hole 20, 21 provided in the cassette body 3
A minimum length of 3 mm or more is required to completely shut off. The light transmission holes 20 and 2 are defined as 3 mm or more.
Since the opening size of 1 is a square with one side of 2.5 mm, it is usually necessary to have a size of 2.5 mm or more for the complete light transmission hole 20,
21, the tape reel 5 on the take-up side and the tape guide member 3 when the magnetic tape 6 is completely wound on the tape reel 4 on the supply side as shown in FIG.
Since the leader tape 28 part between 1 becomes slanted,
This is because an additional portion is required due to the slant. The length at that time is 3 mm. Therefore, a minimum of 3 mm
It is necessary to be above.

Actually, the output waveforms obtained by the light receiving elements 18 and 19 were taken when the length L ₂ of the information identification mark 37 was 2 mm (FIG. 4) and 3 mm (FIG. 5). As a result, since the magnetic tape 6 and the information identification mark 37 both have a light transmittance of 60% or less, the output voltage should be 0 mV when the light transmitting holes 20 and 21 are completely closed. However, when the length L ₂ of the information identification mark 37 is 2 mm, an output of about 1.3 mV is obtained, and it can be seen that the light transmission holes 20 and 21 are not completely closed. On the other hand, in the case of 3 mm, the output voltage is about 0 mV, and the light transmission hole 20,
It is impossible to completely close 21. Therefore, if the information identification mark 37 is set to 3 mm or more, the light transmission holes 20,
21 can be completely closed.

The information identification mark 37 must be provided at a position having a length L ₁ from the end face of the magnetic tape 6 which is a connecting portion with the leader tape 28. With such a length L ₁ , since the light transmittance of the leader tape 28 is 60% or more, the light transmitting holes 20 and 21 are completely opened.
With a length of mm, the light emitting element 13 outputs 100% (the output of the magnetic tape 6 and the information identification mark 37 is 0%.
However, if the output is 60% or more, the tape top and tape end can be discriminated.
The length is 0.6 = 1.8 mm, which is 2 mm in consideration of safety. In the L ₁ portion, a connecting tape 29 is attached to the back side of the leader tape 28, and this connecting tape 29 has a light transmittance of 60% or more for light having a wavelength of 800 nm to 900 nm like the leader tape 28. Since it is formed of the material
An output of over 60% at 19 is guaranteed.

The information identification mark 37 is not limited to any position as long as it is 2 mm or more from the end face of the magnetic tape 6, and the line B shown in FIG. 2, the tape reel 5 on the winding side, and the tape. It is necessary to form the tape between the guide member 31 and the intersection D with the leader tape 28. That is, when the information identification mark 37 is provided on the tape reel 5 side with respect to the intersection D, as shown in FIG.
When the tape top shown in FIG.
This is because the tape is wound around the tape reel 5 before being detected by 9. In this embodiment, the tape length L from the end surface of the magnetic tape 6 to the intersection D in the state of the tape top of FIG. 2 is about 65 mm.

The number of the information identification mark 37 is not limited to one, but two or more may be provided under the above conditions. For example, when there is one information identification mark 37,
When the output of the information identification mark 37 is reduced once, it is identified as being for data, and the information identification mark 37 becomes 2
In two cases, it is identified as being for data when there are two output drops. The information identification mark 37 is
Not only the leader tape 28 on the take-up side but also the leader tape 28 on the supply side under the above-mentioned conditions. This makes it possible to instantly discriminate between data and video when the drive is mounted in any of the states.

By the way, the leader tape 28 on which the above-mentioned information identification mark 37 is formed is manufactured as follows. First, a leader tape 38 made of a long transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET),
As shown in FIG. 6, the information identification mark 39 is formed under the above-mentioned conditions.

In this embodiment, the information identification mark 39 is formed by coating carbon black as a pigment so as to have a length of 5 mm.

Next, as shown in FIG.
After winding it up to 0, one end thereof is pulled out, and a tape reel 41 on the supply side and a tape reel 4 on the winding side are provided in the middle thereof.
2 is arranged at a position which is twice (180 mm) the required length (90 mm) as a leader tape. A plurality of these tape reels 41 and 42 are provided in a one-to-one set in order to improve productivity.

Then, the leader tape 38 between the pair of tape reels 41 and 42 is set by a cutter (not shown).
Cutting is performed at the positions of arrows E, F, and G in FIG. As a result, the leader tapes 28 on the winding side and the supplying side can be obtained at the same time.

Particularly, in the cutting, since the information identification mark 39 can be provided at a relatively rough position between the end surface of the magnetic tape 6 and the intersection D, it is not necessary to perform the cutting with high precision. . Therefore,
A leader tape with high dimensional accuracy is not required, cutting can be performed with high productivity, and the assembling accuracy is also improved.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, an information identification mark 39 having a width of 3.0 mm is 2.0 m on the leader tape 38.
You may make it provide continuously at m intervals. By doing so, the alignment as shown in FIG. 7 becomes unnecessary, and the alignment of the information identification mark 39 becomes unnecessary, so that the productivity can be further improved.

The specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made. In the example above,
Although the information identification mark 37 is formed on the leader tape 28, the data tape and the video cassette can be instantly and accurately identified by forming the information identification mark 37 on the connection tape 29.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, as with the leader tape 28, light of wavelength 800 nm to 900 nm is emitted at 60 nm.
The information identifying mark 43 having a length of 3 mm is formed on the connecting tape 29 formed of a material having a light transmittance of at least%.
Are continuously formed so that the transparent portion becomes 2 mm. At this time, the length of the information identification mark 43 is set to 3 mm or more from the same viewpoint as in the above-described embodiment, and the distance is also set to 2 mm or more. And this connection tape 2
9 is at least the formation pitch P of the information identification mark 43.
The leader tape 28 is provided with a length (10 mm) that is twice the length (5 mm in this example). In the portion overlapping the magnetic tape 6, the transparent portion between the information identification marks 43 overlaps the magnetic tape 6, but since the back surface of this transparent portion is the magnetic tape 6, the magnetic tape As in No. 6, the light transmittance is 60% or less, and there is no problem in terms of output.

As described above, the leader tape 28 has a length at least twice the formation pitch P of the information identification mark 43.
If it is provided above, even if the information identification mark 43 comes on the boundary line between the leader tape 28 and the magnetic tape 6, as shown in FIG. 8, one information identification mark 43 is surely placed on the leader tape 28. Will be provided. Therefore, this information identification mark 43 is applied to the light receiving elements 18, 19
It is possible to instantly identify the cassette for data by performing the detection.

[0040]

As is apparent from the above description, in the tape cassette according to the present invention, the information identification mark which is optically detected at a relatively rough position is provided on the tape portion, so that the drive is When the recording / reproducing mode is set, the information identifying mark can be instantly read, and the data and video tape cassettes can be identified based on the output variation. As described above, since the information identification mark is simply formed on the tape portion, a data-only tape cassette can be provided at low cost. Therefore, a video tape cassette is not accidentally used for data, and necessary recording information can be recorded on the data magnetic tape without omission, greatly improving reliability. .

Further, in the tape cassette according to the present invention, since the information identifying mark indicating that the tape cassette is for data is formed on the connecting tape, it is easy to use the data only by changing the connecting tape. The tape cassette can be provided. Further, since only the connecting tape is changed, the assembly cost and the component cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a tape cassette to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cassette body with the upper half removed.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of an essential part showing a formation position of an information identification mark.

FIG. 4 is an output waveform diagram in the light emitting element when the information identification mark is 2 mm.

FIG. 5 is an output waveform diagram in the light emitting element when the information identification mark is 3 mm.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a leader tape on which information identification marks are sequentially formed.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a cutting position of a leader tape on which an information identification mark is formed.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan view of an essential part showing an example in which an information identification mark is formed on a connecting tape.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a leader tape showing an example in which information identification marks are continuously formed at predetermined intervals.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Upper half 2 ... Lower half 3 ... Cassette body 4, 5 ... Tape reel 6 ... Magnetic tape 13 ... Light emitting element 14 ... Light emitting element insertion hole 18, 19・ ・ ・ Light receiving element 20,21 ・ ・ ・ Light transmitting hole 28 ・ ・ ・ Leader tape 29 ・ ・ ・ Connecting tape 37,39,43 ・ ・ ・ Information identification mark

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cassette main body composed of upper and lower halves, a pair of tape reels rotatably disposed in the cassette main body, and a magnetic tape connected to the other end of a leader tape whose one end is fixed to each tape reel. When the magnetic tape is completely wound around one of the tape reels, the light emitting element facing the inside of the cassette body and the detection light from this light emitting element are provided to the cassette body. In the tape portion provided between the intersection of the leader tape and the line connecting the light receiving element provided outside the cassette body that receives light through the transmission hole, and the edge of the magnetic tape connected to the leader tape. A tape cassette comprising at least one information identification mark that is optically detected. 2. A cassette body composed of upper and lower halves, a pair of tape reels rotatably arranged in the cassette body, a magnetic tape wound around these tape reels, and one end fixed to each tape reel. And a pair of connecting tapes that connect the other end of the leader tape and the other end of the magnetic tape to each other. The connecting tape is at least detected by optical means. A tape cassette comprising one or more information identification marks. 3. The tape cassette according to claim 2, wherein the leader tape is provided with a length at least twice the formation pitch of the information identification marks.