JPH1116319A - Recording tape cartridge and tape driving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a more inexpensive system which can handle high-density recording, by providing, on a sidewall adjacent to a tape reel, an insertion port for a driving roller for rotating the tape reel in abutment against an outer peripheral portion of a recording tape wound on the tape reel. SOLUTION: When a cartridge 1 is inserted into a driving device 20 from a side having corner portions cut off and having inclined portions 18a, 18b formed thereon, driving rollers 22a, 22b are opened in an expanding manner at the inclined portions 18a, 18b by a spring 26, and the cartridge 1 is inserted between them. When driving motors 25a, 25b are activated in this state, the driving motors 25a, 25b are rotationally driven in abutment against a recording tape 8 wound on the driving rollers 22a, 22b, that is, an outer peripheral portion of a tape pack, and the recording tape 8 is caused to travel at a constant speed regardless of the size of the winding diameter of tape reels 7a, 7b. Along with changes of the winding diameter due to traveling of the recording tape 8, both driving rollers automatically move forward and backward to make recording and reproduction proceed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cartridge and a tape drive, and more particularly, to a low-cost system corresponding to high-density recording. The present invention relates to a cartridge and a tape drive for driving the cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A tape cartridge is a so-called belt drive type cartridge characterized by realizing an inexpensive drive price by simplifying the structure of a head and a drive by a linear recording system represented by QIC, and an 8 mm data type. A helical scan method represented by a streamer,
There is a so-called direct drive cartridge characterized by realizing a high recording capacity by precisely controlling the tape running by using a complicated mechanism.

However, each of these methods has the following problems. First, in the case of the belt drive type, there is a problem that the tape tension changes from the time of unwinding the tape to the end of the tape, and stable contact between the tape and the head cannot be guaranteed over the entire area of the tape. . This problem is particularly problematic when the contact between the tape and the head is weak (when the tape tension is low), leading to an error because the data cannot be written or read reliably, and conversely, the contact between the tape and the head is strong. If too long (when the tape tension is high), the wear of the head will be accelerated.

Attempts have been made to control the tape tension to solve such problems, but most of the methods are not perfect. For example, in the method of applying a brake to a tape pack, the total driving force increases,
The recording surface may be damaged. In addition, parts such as a corner roller and a drive roller are required to span the belt.

The helical scan direct drive method has a complicated structure of a head, a complicated system for pulling a tape out of a cartridge and pressing the tape against the head, and a winding diameter for driving a hub by a motor. Therefore, there is a problem that the price of the drive is very expensive because the rotation speed of the hub must be controlled, and the control is difficult.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to solve the technical problems of the conventional tape cartridge and to provide an inexpensive recording tape cartridge and drive. To provide.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has a recording tape and a pair of tape reels for winding the recording tape in a casing comprising a substrate, a side wall, and a top plate. ,
A guide for running the recording tape from one tape reel via the recording / reproducing head insertion section to the other tape reel is provided, and a side wall adjacent to each tape reel is provided with a guide for the recording tape wound around the tape reel. A recording tape cartridge provided with an insertion opening for a driving roller for rotating a tape reel in contact with an outer peripheral portion. And a pair of tape running drive rolls, wherein the drive roll is inserted into the drive roller through the insertion opening of the drive roller when the recording tape cartridge is mounted in the drive device, and wound around a tape reel. The present invention is to provide a tape drive device that is configured to rotate a tape reel in contact with an outer peripheral portion of a recorded recording tape and run the recording tape at a constant speed.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Recording Tape Cartridge 1 of the Present Invention
Is a substrate 2 and a side wall 3a forming a bottom plate, as shown in FIG.
To 3d and top plate 4 formed integrally with side walls 3a to 3d
(Shown in FIG. 2).
In the casing 5, rotating shafts 6a and 6b are erected at predetermined intervals, and a pair of tape reels 7a and 7b are rotatably mounted on the rotating shafts 6a and 6b. A recording tape 8 is wound around 7b.

As the tape reels 7a and 7b, as shown in FIG. 2, a hat-shaped tape reel having a winding shaft 9 and a flange 10 at its lower part can be used, and a flange is also provided at the upper part. It may be a bobbin type. However, in order to reduce the size of a recording tape running drive roll described later, it is desirable that the flange has as small a diameter as possible.

The casing 5 has guides 12 for running the recording tape 8 from one tape reel 7a to the other tape reel 7b via the insertion portion 11 of the recording / reproducing head 21. ing. Guide 12,
Numeral 12 may be any as long as it enables the recording tape to smoothly travel at a predetermined position.
A guide pin, a guide plate, or the like can be used.

The side wall 3 adjacent to the tape reels 7a, 7b
Openings 15a and 15b are opened in b and 3d, and grooves 16a and 16b are formed in the substrate 2 from the openings 15a and 15b in the side walls 3b and 3d toward the rotating shafts 6a and 6b. The tape running drive rollers 22a and 22b can be inserted into the casing 5. Also,
In order to smoothly operate the casing 5 when the casing 5 is mounted on the drive device, the side wall of the casing 5 is formed by removing the corners on both sides of the side wall 3c that is on the front side when the casing 5 is mounted, by removing the inclined portions 18a, It is desirable to form 18b.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a prism for a light source for optically detecting the start point and the end point of the recording tape 8. Instead of optical detection, a method in which a start point and an end point are recorded on a recording tape and read by a head may be used. FIG.
1 shows a state where the cartridge 1 is mounted on the tape drive device 20 of the present invention for driving the recording tape cartridge 1 of the present invention.

The tape drive 20 of the present invention comprises a recording / reproducing head 21 and recording tape traveling drive rollers 22a, 22.
b. Drive roller 22a for running the recording tape,
Reference numeral 22b denotes swing arms 24a, 2a whose base ends are pivotally mounted on substrates of the drive device 20 with shafts 23a, 23b.
4b, the driving rollers 22a, 22
b is formed so as to be independently rotated and driven by the driving motors 25a and 25b.

A pair of swing arms 24a, 24
b is urged by a spring 26 in a direction in which the driving rollers 22a and 22b approach each other. When the recording tape cartridge 1 of the present invention and the drive device 20 are driven, the cartridge 1 is inserted into the drive device 20 from above in FIG.
Is inserted from the side where the corners are cut off to form the inclined portions 18a and 18b. Then, the driving rollers 22a, 22b urged in the approaching direction by the spring 26 are expanded by the inclined portions 18a, 18b, and the cartridge 1
Is inserted.

When the cartridge 1 further advances, the driving rollers 22a and 22b move along the side walls 3b and 3d,
After reaching the openings 15a and 15b, they are inserted into the casing 1 through the openings 15a and 15b and come into contact with the outer peripheral portion of the wound recording tape 8 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the recording head 21 comes into contact with the recording tape 8 when the cartridge 5 is mounted, and the mirror 17 for detecting the tape position becomes a fixed position and is connected to the optical system of the drive device.

In this state, when the drive motors 25a and 25b are started, the drive rollers 22a and 22b rotate to rotate the tape reels 7a and 7b to run the recording tape 8, and the recording or reproducing head 21 performs recording or reproduction. Reproduction can be performed. In the present invention, the driving rollers 22a and 22b
Is wound on the recording tape 8 wound around the tape, ie, the outer periphery of the tape pack, and is driven to rotate.
The recording tape 8 can run at a constant speed regardless of the size of the winding diameter b.

When the recording tape 8 travels and the winding diameter changes, the driving rollers 22a and 22b automatically advance or retreat, and recording and reproduction proceed. It is desirable to drive the take-up tape reel 7b (or 7a) to rotate slightly faster than the sending-out tape reel 7a (or 7b) in order to apply tension to the running recording tape 8. The driving speed can be controlled by switching the applied voltage or adjusting the supplied power by adjusting the pulse width.

In FIG. 1, the driving roller is supported by a swing arm provided with a spring. However, a supporting and moving method other than this method may be used. In FIG. 1, the swing arm for supporting the driving roller is located below the cartridge, but may be located above the cartridge as shown in FIG. In this case, the driving roller 2
The grooves 16a and 16b for inserting the 2a and 22b do not need to be provided in the substrate 2, but are provided in the top plate 4.

4 except that the swing arms 24a and 24b are located above the cartridge 1 and the arrangement of the tape reels 7a and 7b is different.
It has the same function as the cartridge 1 of FIG. Furthermore, by making the radius of the drive roller equal to or larger than the change amount of the radius of the tape pack, and making the thickness of the drive roller equal to or less than the gap in the housing,
The cut portion for inserting the drive roller of the cartridge can be formed only on the side surface of the cartridge.

When using a recording tape 8 having a recording layer that is not damaged by the contact of the driving rollers 22a and 22b, the tape reel 7a is moved so that the recording layer is on the outside as shown in FIG. 7b, the recording head 10 can be applied from the outside. However, if there is a possibility that the recording layer is damaged, the recording head is wound around the tape reels 7a, 7b so that the recording layer is on the inside. It is also possible to adopt a system in which the head 10 is provided inside as shown by a two-dot broken line in FIG.

Further, a stopper for suppressing the rotation of the tape pack for preventing the tape pack from being loosened when the cartridge is removed from the drive device may be provided. The drive roller is preferably made of a soft material that does not damage the tape surface. For example, a material such as urethane rubber can be used.

[0022]

【Example】

(Example 1) A plastic housing and a base plate of a commercially available belt-driven mini data cartridge are cut as shown in FIG. 1 and run with a tape drive device as shown in FIG. 2, and the tape transfer is repeated without any problem. I was able to. The tape speed at this time was 120 inches / second.

(Embodiment 2) Using a commercially available belt-driven cartridge, the drive roller and the corner roller were removed together with the shaft, and the tape reel shaft was removed from the shaft 140.
It was replanted at a position where it could be wound 0 feet (426 m). The commercially available cartridge has a rollable length of 1000 feet (305 m), but when the tape is wound around this cartridge, 1,400 feet (426 m) can be wound. When this cartridge was cut into a housing and a base plate as shown in FIG. 4 and run by a motor driver as shown in FIG. 4, the tape transfer could be repeated without any problem. The tape speed at this time was 120 inches / second.

[0024]

As described above, in the tape cartridge according to the present invention, the same size as the conventional cartridge can be wound 1.4 times as long and the number of parts can be reduced. A cheaper cartridge can be realized. In the tape drive device of the present invention, the cartridge of the present invention has a very simple structure having only a head for recording and reproduction, two motors for transporting the tape, and a simple motor driver, and allows the cartridge of the present invention to travel without problems. Is possible. Therefore, according to the tape cartridge and the tape drive device of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a tape recording system having a recording capacity higher than the conventional one at substantially the same cost or lower.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the cartridge of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the cartridge of the present invention is mounted on a drive device.

FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal sectional view showing a tape reel unit of the cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the cartridge of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cartridge 2 Substrate 3a-3d Side wall 4 Top plate 5 Casing 7a, 7b Tape reel 8 Recording tape 10 Recording / reproducing head 18a, 18b Inclined part 20 Drive device 22a, 22b Drive roller 24a, 24b Swing arm 25a, 25b Drive motor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A recording tape, a pair of tape reels for winding the recording tape, and a tape from one of the tape reels via a recording / reproducing head insertion section in a casing comprising a substrate, a side wall, and a top plate. A guide for running the recording tape is provided on the reel, and an insertion port of a drive roller for rotating the tape reel by contacting the outer peripheral portion of the recording tape wound on the tape reel is provided on a side wall adjacent to each tape reel. A recording tape cartridge provided. 2. It has a pair of tape running drive rolls,
The drive roll, when the recording tape cartridge according to claim 1 is mounted in a drive device, is inserted into the cartridge from an insertion opening and abuts on the outer peripheral portion of the recording tape wound around the tape reel, thereby causing the tape reel to contact the tape roll. A tape drive device configured to rotate the recording tape so that the recording tape runs at a constant speed. 3. A tape running drive roll is held movably in the lateral direction and elastically urged, and moves in a direction in which the tape running drive roll expands with the loading of the cartridge, thereby enabling mounting of the cartridge. 3. The tape drive device according to claim 2, wherein the tape drive device is configured to be automatically inserted into the inside of the cartridge from the insertion opening of the drive roller when the device is mounted in a fixed position.