JPH11306724A - Magnetic tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the no. of components of reel rotation braking means for restraining the rotation of a reel in not use to improve the assembling performance. SOLUTION: A single reel 2 winding a magnetic tape is rotatably housed in a cartridge case 3, a reel rotation braking means 20 for permitting the rotation of the reel in use restraining it in not use comprises a brake member 4 movable from/to the reel 2 to restrain its rotation, urging member 5 for urging the braking member 4 to the braking direction, and releasing member 6 movable to move the braking member 4 in the releasing direction according to the chucking operation of a drive side rotation driving means 11 rotating together with the reel 2, and the braking member 4 is integrated with the urging member 5 with a leaf spring.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic tape cartridge, and more particularly, to a magnetic tape cartridge in which a single reel having a magnetic tape wound in a cartridge case is rotatably accommodated, and the reel is not used. The present invention relates to a structure of a reel rotation stopping means that is sometimes set to a rotation stopped state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a magnetic tape cartridge used as a recording medium used for an external storage device such as a computer has a magnetic tape wound around a single reel.
A type in which this reel is rotatably housed in a cartridge case is known. Since this magnetic tape is used for data storage in computers and the like and stores important information, the magnetic tape should be pulled out carelessly so that troubles such as tape jamming do not occur and when not in use such as storage. To prevent the reel from rotating, a reel rotation stopping means for restricting the rotation of the reel is provided.

The reel rotation stopping means includes a stopping member which engages with a part of the reel and restrains the rotation of the reel, and when the cartridge is loaded into a drive such as an external storage device,
The stopping member is provided so as to release the stopped state in accordance with the reel chucking operation by the drive-side rotation driving means.

[0004]

However, in view of demands for improving the operation reliability of the above-described reel rotation stopping means and preventing dust from entering the cartridge case, the stopping member is directly moved by the drive-side rotation driving means. It is conceivable to provide a structure in which the blocking state is released by interposing a release member in the middle instead of the structure in which the release state is released.

In other words, in the non-use state, the magnetic tape is not pulled out by restraining the reel from being inadvertently rotated by the stopping member. When the reel is chucked, the release member moves in conjunction with the operation to release the stop member. In this state, the reel is rotatable, and the magnetic tape can be pulled out and wound up.

[0006] The above-described structure in which the release member is interposed has a problem that as the number of parts increases, assembly becomes complicated, the number of steps increases, and workability decreases. In particular, the installation space of the reel rotation stopping means in the cartridge case is narrow, and it is necessary to dispose an urging member for maintaining the stopped state, so that the assembly is complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic tape cartridge in which the number of components of a reel rotation stopping means is reduced to improve assemblability.

[0008]

According to a magnetic tape cartridge of the present invention which solves the above problems, a single reel on which a magnetic tape is wound is rotatably accommodated in a cartridge case, and the reel is rotated during use. A reel rotation restraining means for permitting and restricting the rotation of the reel when not in use, wherein the reel rotation restraining means moves so as to be able to approach and separate from the reel and restrains the rotation of the reel. An urging member for urging the restricting member in the restricting direction, and a releasing member for rotating integrally with the reel and moving in accordance with the chucking operation of the drive-side rotation driving means to move the restricting member in the releasing direction. And the stopping member and the urging member are integrally formed.

Specifically, a part of the stopping member is formed as an urging member using a leaf spring.

[0010]

According to the present invention as described above, the stopping member and the biasing member of the reel rotation stopping means are integrally provided, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the entire magnetic tape cartridge can be assembled. Can be easily performed.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the magnetic tape cartridge according to the embodiment in a non-use state, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the main part in a use state.

The magnetic tape cartridge 1 has a single reel 2 on which a magnetic tape (not shown) is wound, and an upper case 31.
And a lower case 32 provided with an opening 32a at the center thereof, and a lower case 32 fastened by screws or the like in a cartridge case 3;
The reel 2 is rotatably accommodated. Further, the magnetic tape cartridge 1 includes a reel rotation stopping means 10 for permitting the rotation of the reel 2 when in use and restricting the rotation of the reel 2 when not in use.

The reel 2 has a bottomed cylindrical reel hub 21 around which a magnetic tape is wound around an outer periphery, and a lower flange portion 22 and an upper flange which protrude radially from the outer periphery of the upper and lower ends of the reel hub 21, respectively. The reel hub 21 and the lower flange 22 are integrally formed of a synthetic resin, and are connected to the upper flange 23 by, for example, ultrasonic welding. The lower portion of the reel hub 21 is closed at the center by a bottom wall 21a, and a reel gear 24 for rotating the reel 2 is engraved in an annular shape on an outer peripheral portion of a lower surface of the bottom wall 21a. Plate 25 made of annular metal plate for vacuum suction
Is attached. The reel gear 24 and the reel plate 25 of the reel 2 are arranged so as to face the opening 32 a on the bottom surface of the cartridge case 3.

The drive-side rotary drive means 11 includes an annular drive gear 13 and a magnet (not shown) on the upper end surface of the rotary shaft 12, and the chucking operation is performed on the loaded magnetic tape cartridge 1. The rotary shaft 12 moves upward, and the drive gear 13
4, and the magnet plate sucks the reel plate 25 to maintain the meshing state.

Next, the mechanism of the reel rotation stopping means 10 will be described. The reel rotation restraining means 10 includes a restraining member 4 which moves up and down so as to be able to contact and separate from the reel 2.
And a biasing member 5 provided integrally with the stopping member 4 and a releasing member 6 for moving the stopping member 4 in a releasing direction.

The bottom wall 21a of the reel 2 has three insertion holes 2 penetrating vertically through the reel gear 24.
6 are arranged at equal intervals on the circumference, and three locking projections 27 are erected on the upper surface of the bottom wall 21a at equal phases on the circumference at a different phase position from the insertion hole 26, This locking projection 2
The tip of 7 is formed as a mountain-shaped tapered surface. Note that three or more insertion holes 26 and locking projections 27 may be arranged. The reel 2 shown in FIG. 2 shows a state where only the bottom wall 21a is cut off.

The restraining member 4 is formed entirely of a plate material, and has three radially extending arms 42 on the outer periphery of a central curved disk portion 41. It is bent. The tip of the locking projection 27 can be inserted and locked between the locking portions 43 on both sides.

Further, on the outer periphery of the disk portion 41 of the restraining member 4, a biasing member 5 is integrally provided between the arm portions 42 by a plate spring extending in a radial direction.

A holding portion 33 is erected in an inner surface of the upper case 31 of the cartridge case 3 in an annular shape, and the holding member 4 is provided in a deep first groove portion 33a provided at a lower end thereof.
The distal end of the arm portion 42 is vertically movably inserted, and the distal end of the urging member 5 is locked in the shallow second groove 33b.

As a result, the stopping member 4 is restricted so as not to rotate, and is installed so as to be capable of moving toward and away from the bottom wall 21a of the reel 2 without rotating. The urging member 5 is elastically deformed and urges the disc portion 41 of the stopping member 4 downward.

The release member 6 is vertically movably interposed between the stop member 4 and the bottom wall 21a of the reel hub 21. Arm portions 62 are provided at three places on the outer periphery of the center disk 61.
Are formed to extend in the radial direction, and on the lower surface of the distal end of the arm portion 62, a rectangular rod-shaped push-up portion 63 extending vertically is provided. Each push-up portion 63 is provided on the reel hub 21.
Are respectively inserted into the insertion holes 26 opened in such a manner as to be able to move in and out, and the ends thereof are connected to the reel gear 24 on the lower surface of the reel hub 21.
It is located facing the teeth. At this time, the locking projections 27 are located between the arms 62. Note that the push-up portion 63 may have a round bar shape.

In the center of the upper surface of the disk portion 61 of the release member 6, a protrusion 64 is formed extending upward, and its tip is provided on a spherical surface, and the disk portion of the restraining member 4 is curved in a convex shape. 41 is in contact with the center of the concave bottom surface.

When the release member 6 is at the lowest position (FIG. 1), the lower end surface of the push-up portion 63 is located substantially at the tooth tip of the reel gear 24. The release member 6 is pushed up by a predetermined stroke amount in accordance with the engagement of the drive gear 13 (FIG. 3). The release member 6 rotates integrally with the reel 2 by fitting the push-up portion 63 into the insertion hole 26.

The lower surface of the disk portion 41 of the stopping member 4 presses the projection 64 of the release member 6 downward by the urging force of the urging member 5. Through sliding contact. As a result, mutual positioning, prevention of displacement, and the like are achieved.

When assembling the magnetic tape cartridge 1, the upper case 31 is placed upward, and the urging member 5 is fitted in accordance with the first and second grooves 33a, 33b of the holding portion 33.
After placing the stop member 4 integrated with the release member 6, the release member 6
2 in a state in which the push-up portion 63 of FIG.
Is assembled upside down, and then the lower case 32 is joined, so that the screws can be easily fastened from the lower surface.

The operation of the reel rotation stopping means 10 will be described. FIG. 1 shows a state where the magnetic tape cartridge 1 is not used, for example, in a storage state. In this state, the urging force of the urging member 5 causes the stopping member 4, The release member 6 and the reel 2 have moved to the lower case 32 side of the cartridge case 3, and the opening 32 a at the center of the lower case 32 is closed by the reel 2. The release member 6 has a lower surface formed on the bottom wall 21 of the reel hub 21.
The push-up portion 63 is in the lowest position where it abuts, and its leading end protrudes so as to coincide with the tooth tip position of the reel gear 24, and the stopping member 4 abutting on the projection 64 of the release member 6 also descends. In this position, the tip of the locking projection 27 of the reel 2 is engaged with the locking portion 43 to restrict the rotation of the reel 2 when not in use, thereby preventing the magnetic tape from being pulled out.

When the reel 2 is rotated in the rewinding direction and the magnetic tape is rewound to the final end, a leader pin (not shown) fixed to the end of the magnetic tape is locked to a part of the cartridge case 3. Thus, the rotation of the reel 2 is stopped, but in this state, the rotation position of the locking projection 27 and the position of the locking portion 43 of the restraining member 4 are set to match.

On the other hand, when the cartridge shown in FIG. 3 in which the magnetic tape cartridge 1 is loaded in the drive is used, the rotating shaft 12 of the drive-side rotating drive means 11 approaches the bottom surface of the reel 2 and the driving gear 1 is moved by the chucking operation.
When the gear 3 meshes with the reel gear 24 and moves the reel 2 slightly upward and holds it, the tooth tip of the drive gear 13 comes into contact with the tip of the push-up portion 63 of the release member 6 to push it up. Along with this, the projection 64 of the release member 6 pushes up the disk portion 41 of the stopping member 4 while elastically deforming the disk portion 41 against the urging force of the urging member 5 by the leaf spring, and moves the locking portion 43 along the groove portion 33a. To move it upward in the release direction. Thereby, the locking portion 4
The engagement between the lock projection 3 and the locking projection 27 is released, and the reel 2 is rotatable.

Then, the magnetic tape is pulled out or wound up by the drive of the recording / reproducing apparatus, and the reel 2 is wound up.
When the reel rotates, the release member 6 rotates integrally with the reel 2, while the stopping member 4 is in a fixed state integrally with the cartridge case 3 side and does not rotate. It rotates with low friction and low wear with respect to the stop member 4. Thereby, the rotation resistance of the reel 2 is reduced, and the generation of abrasion powder can be reduced due to the small number of sliding portions.

The release member 6 in the above embodiment is made of a low friction and low wear material. For example, it is formed of POM (polyoxymethylene), PC (polycarbonate) resin, PC resin added with graphite, ABS resin, ABS resin added with graphite, nylon resin added with molybdenum disulfide, or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional front view of a magnetic tape cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention in a non-use state.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the magnetic tape cartridge of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of the magnetic tape cartridge of FIG. 1 in a used state;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 magnetic tape cartridge 2 reel 3 cartridge case 4 stopping member 5 urging member 6 release member 10 reel rotation stopping means 11 drive side rotation driving means 12 rotation shaft 13 drive gear 21 reel hub 21a bottom wall 24 reel gear 26 insertion hole 27 locking projection 33 Holder 33a, 33b Groove 41 Disk 42 Arm 43 Locking 61 Disk 62 Arm 63 Push-up 64 Projection

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A reel rotation stopping means which rotatably accommodates a single reel wound with a magnetic tape in a cartridge case, permits rotation of the reel when in use, and restricts rotation of the reel when not in use. A magnetic tape cartridge comprising: a reel rotation restricting means, a restricting member that is movable to and away from the reel to restrict rotation of the reel, and a biasing member that biases the restricting member in a restricting direction. And a release member that rotates together with the reel and moves in accordance with the chucking operation of the drive-side rotation drive unit to move the stop member in the release direction. The stop member and the urging member A magnetic tape cartridge formed integrally. 2. The magnetic tape cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a part of the stopping member is formed as an urging member using a leaf spring.