JPH1139833A - Magnetic tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a magnetic tape cartridge including a reel brake which serves to apply a sufficient braking action on a reel during the unuse period of the cartridge while facilitating the assembling thereof during the assembling period. SOLUTION: In a reel brake 30, a cylindrical shell part 31 is rotatably supported by a pivot 37 of an upper cartridge 2a and at the same time, it is engaged with a gear part 4b of a reel to be energized to be retained on the reel by a compression coil spring 12 arranged between an engaging arm 35 extended outward radially from the shell part 31 and a spring receiving means 50 formed on an internal wall of the upper cartridge 2a.

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. It can be pulled out by the drawer means and run on the tape,
The present invention relates to a magnetic tape cartridge having a reel brake that engages with the outer periphery of a flange of a reel and locks the reel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a magnetic tape cartridge used as a recording medium of a computer or the like has a single reel wound with a magnetic tape, and the reel is wound inside a cartridge case composed of an upper cartridge and a lower cartridge. There is a magnetic tape cartridge that is movably stored.

When this type of magnetic tape cartridge is not in use, a magnetic tape is completely wound on a reel, and a leader tape attached to the end of the tape (a device such as a computer passes the magnetic tape through a tape path). Is locked to the end face portion of the cartridge case, and the reel is locked by appropriate locking means such as a reel brake so as to prevent unexpected rotation.

The above magnetic tape cartridge used as an external storage device of a computer stores important information, and is configured so that troubles such as tape jamming will not occur as much as possible. As described above, by preventing the reel from being inadvertently rotated by the reel brake as described above, the magnetic tape is prevented from being loosened due to the rotation of the reel during storage or transport of the cartridge, and tape jamming is prevented.

A conventional reel brake will be described below with reference to FIGS. The above-described reel, which is appropriately rotatably mounted inside the cartridge case and has a magnetic tape wound thereon, is a combination of an upper reel having an upper flange having a gear portion formed on the outer periphery of the flange, and a lower reel having a lower flange. It is composed of the body. As shown in FIG.
The gear portion 91 of the upper flange 90 has a reel brake 8
The engaging portion 82 of the engagement arm 81 is a torsion coil spring 6
1 and is configured to engage. The two reel brakes configured as described above are provided so as to face the position sandwiching the reel. The shapes of these two reel brakes are actually slightly different in detail, but the basic configuration is the same.

Accordingly, when the cartridge is not used, the reel is locked by the reel brake 80 appropriately biased by the torsion coil spring 61 so as not to rotate unexpectedly. When the magnetic tape cartridge is in use, the brake release arm 83 facing the inside of the opening 70 is operated by the recording / reproducing device, so that the trunk portion in which the reel brake 80 is inserted into the support shaft 84. The reel rotates about 85 and the lock of the reel is released.

[0007]

However, the torsion coil spring 61 is costly, and its position is not stable because its winding portion 62 is larger than the diameter of the support shaft 84. When the reel brake 80 is mounted, as shown in FIG. 6, a force is applied to the brake engagement side end 63 of the torsion coil spring 61 so as to bend in the direction B in the drawing. Because the end 63 is hooked on the engagement arm 81, the torsion coil spring 61 becomes more unstable. Therefore, the body part 85 of the reel brake 80 did not enter the winding part 62 well, causing many assembly failures, and the suitability for automatic assembly was not particularly good.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provided a reel brake which exerts a sufficient braking action on a reel when a cartridge is not used and which is easy to assemble when assembling. The object is to provide a magnetic tape cartridge.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a single reel on which a magnetic tape is wound is housed in a cartridge case, and a leader tape at the end of the tape is pulled out by a tape pulling means of a recording / reproducing apparatus. A magnetic tape cartridge provided with a reel brake that engages with the outer periphery of the flange of the reel and engages with the reel, wherein the reel brake has a cylindrical body and a spindle of the cartridge case. The compression coil spring is rotatably supported by the compression coil spring disposed between spring support means extending radially outward from the body and spring receiving means formed on the inner wall of the cartridge case. A magnetic tape cartridge which is urged in a direction of engaging with the outer periphery of a flange of a reel and engaging with the reel. More is achieved.

According to the above construction, in the magnetic tape cartridge according to the present invention, since the end of the compression coil spring is locked by the spring receiving means, the positioning and fixing of the compression coil spring during assembly can be easily performed. It is also possible to prevent misalignment when the product is used after completion.

Incidentally, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
The spring receiving means includes a locking protrusion that protrudes in a direction substantially orthogonal to a biasing direction of the compression coil spring so as to lock an end of the compression coil spring. In this case, the compression coil spring can be reliably locked only by inserting the end of the compression coil spring into the locking projection of the spring receiving means.

Further, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
The spring support means is an engagement arm or a brake release arm of the reel brake, and an end of the compression coil spring is locked by a spring locking portion formed on the engagement arm or the brake release arm. Further, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the spring supporting means is a spring locking arm extending radially outward from the body of the reel brake, and a spring engaging arm formed on the spring locking arm. The end of the compression coil spring is locked to the stop.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main part of a magnetic tape cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the magnetic tape cartridge according to one embodiment of the present invention. First, the outline of the magnetic tape cartridge 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The magnetic tape cartridge 1 has a magnetic tape 20 on a single reel 3 in which an upper reel 4 and a lower reel 5 are ultrasonically welded, for example.
And the reel 3 is rotatably housed in the cartridge case 2 in which the upper cartridge 2 a and the lower cartridge 2 b are connected by screws 19.

The upper reel 4 has an upper flange 4a.
And a concave portion 4c is provided at the center thereof. A gear portion 4b is formed on the outer periphery of the upper flange 4a.
A ring-shaped bearing 6 is press-fitted and fixed in an annular rib 4d formed in the concave portion 4c, and a spring plug 7 is press-fitted and fixed in a hole at the center of the bearing. Then, a reel spring 8 attached to the spring plug 7
Presses the reel 3 downward and rotatably holds it.

When the cartridge is not used, the reel 3 is locked by the reel brakes 30, 60 appropriately urged by the compression coil spring 12 so as not to rotate unnecessarily. When the magnetic tape cartridge 1 is not in use, the magnetic tape 20 is completely wound on the reel 3 and the leader tape 21 (the computer device mounts the magnetic tape 20 on the end of the magnetic tape). (Means for introducing the tape into the tape path) is locked to the tip of a hook 18 incorporated near the side of the cartridge.

A lid 13 which can be opened and closed in a cartridge plane direction is provided at an opening portion from which the magnetic tape 20 is pulled out by being urged by a lid spring 15 as appropriate. It is locked by the urged lid lock 14 so that it cannot rotate. On the side opposite to the lid 13, a write protect 17 is incorporated. The leader tape 21 which engages with the engaging means for introducing the magnetic tape 20 into the tape path of the recording / reproducing apparatus is connected to the magnetic tape 20 by, for example, a splice.

The reel brakes 30 and 60 are disposed at both sides of the reel 3 so as to sandwich the reel 3. Since the basic structure of the reel brake 60 forming a pair with the reel brake 30 is substantially the same, a detailed description will be given only to one of the reel brakes 30, and a detailed description of the reel brake 60 will be omitted. The reel brake 30 has a cylindrical body 31 inserted into a support shaft 37 protruding from the inner wall surface of the upper cartridge 2a, and is held rotatably about the support shaft 37. A release arm 34 and an engagement arm 35 extending radially outward from the body 31 are integrally formed on the reel brake 30, and the release arm 34 is provided at an appropriate position on the upper cartridge 2a. The engaging arm 35 is formed so as to face the opening 2 d and extends along the outer periphery of the flange of the reel 3. The swinging end of the engagement arm 35 that engages with the gear 4b of the reel 3 has a gear 4
The tooth portion 36 that can be meshed with b is formed.

Further, the reel brake 30 is provided with a compression spring disposed between a projecting spring engaging portion 33 formed on the engaging arm 35 and a spring receiving means 50 formed on the inner wall of the upper cartridge 2a. By the coil spring 12,
It is urged in the direction of engaging with the gear portion 4b of the reel 3 and engaging with the reel. That is, in the present embodiment,
The engagement arm 35 is configured as a spring supporting means for receiving a spring force acting on the other end of the compression coil spring 12 held at one end by the spring receiving means 50.

The compression coil spring 12 is mounted so that the compression action direction substantially coincides with the radial direction of the reel 3.
One end of the compression coil spring 12 is press-fitted and locked into a spring locking portion 33 protruding from the engagement arm 35 of the reel brake 30, and the other end is inserted into a spring receiving means 50 provided on the inner wall of the upper cartridge 2 a. It is contained and held. Therefore, the reel 3 is always stopped by the rotation of the reel 3 being restrained by the reel brake 30 which is biased by the compression coil spring 12. Then, when pulling out the tape, the release arm 34 of the reel brake 30 is externally opened 2d.
By operating with a member that penetrates, the brake can be released and the tape can be pulled out.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the spring receiving means 50 includes a pair of support walls 50a and 50b extending along the biasing direction of the compression coil spring 12, and a pair of support walls 50a and 50b.
Each of these support walls 50a,
Locking projections 51a and 51b protruding from the opposing surface 50b. Therefore, when the compression coil spring 12 is mounted on the spring receiving means 50, the compression coil spring 12 is inserted from above the spring receiving means 50 so that, for example, the first and second turns from the end side of the compression coil spring 12 are provided. The locking projections 51a and 51b enter between them, and the compression coil spring 12 is locked.

Accordingly, when the compression coil spring 12 is mounted, one end of the compression coil spring 12 is first pressed into the spring locking portion 33 formed on the engagement arm 35 and locked, and then the spring receiving portion on the upper cartridge 2a side is locked. By inserting the other end of the compression coil spring 12 into the means 50 from above, the operation can be performed smoothly and easily, and the insertion work does not take time as in the case of using a conventional torsion coil spring. Thus, the suitability for automatic assembly is improved.

As described above, the magnetic tape cartridge 1 of the present embodiment includes the engagement arm 35 of the reel brake 30.
The upper cartridge 2a is provided with a spring receiving means 50 capable of engaging the end of the compression coil spring 12 for urging in the direction of engaging with the gear portion 4b and engaging with the reel. The coil spring 12 can be fixed. In addition, since the position of the compression coil spring 12 does not shift during use of the completed magnetic tape cartridge 1, a stable urging force can be generated, and there is no possibility of malfunction. Therefore, an inexpensive compression coil spring 12 can be used instead of the conventional torsion coil spring, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the engagement arm 35 is used as a spring supporting means for receiving a spring force acting on the other end of the compression coil spring 12 held at one end by the spring receiving means 50. 34, a spring locking portion may be formed, and the compression coil spring 12 may be arranged between the spring locking portion and the spring receiving means provided on the upper cartridge 2a.

Further, like the reel brake 41 shown at the upper right of FIG.
The spring receiving portion 42 is provided as a spring supporting means on the back surface of the spring receiving portion 42, and the spring receiving portion 33 is projected from the spring receiving portion 42, so that the spring receiving portion 42 A compression coil spring 12 can be arranged between them.

Further, like the reel brake 40 shown at the lower left of FIG.
In addition to the above, a spring receiving arm 38 extending radially outward from the body 31 of the reel brake 40 is provided as spring support means.
, The compression coil spring 12 can be arranged between the spring receiving arm 38 and the spring receiving means 55 provided on the upper cartridge 2a.

In this case, the spring receiving arm 3 with respect to the trunk is
Since the extension angle of 8 can be set arbitrarily, the degree of freedom in the layout of the spring receiving means 55 provided in the upper cartridge 2a is increased, and the narrow space in the upper cartridge 2a can be used effectively. Therefore,
The degree of freedom in designing the used compression coil spring 12 is also increased.

Incidentally, the structure of the spring receiving means in the magnetic disk cartridge of the present invention is not limited to the structure of the spring receiving means in the above embodiment, and it goes without saying that various structures can be adopted.

[0028]

As described above, according to the magnetic cartridge of the present invention, since the end of the compression coil spring is locked by the spring receiving means, the positioning and fixing of the compression coil spring during assembly are easy. It is also possible to prevent positional deviation when the product is used after the product is completed. Further, since the position of the compression coil spring does not shift during use of the completed magnetic tape cartridge, a stable urging force can be generated, and there is no possibility of malfunction. Furthermore, an inexpensive compression coil spring can be used instead of the conventional torsion coil spring, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a magnetic tape cartridge provided with a reel brake which exerts a sufficient braking action on the reel when the cartridge is not used and which is easy to assemble when assembling.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main part of a magnetic tape cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the magnetic tape cartridge according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a main part of the magnetic tape cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part of a magnetic tape cartridge according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a main part of a conventional magnetic tape cartridge.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a conventional magnetic tape cartridge.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Magnetic tape cartridge 2 Cartridge case 3 Reel 4b Gear part 12 Compression coil spring 20 Magnetic tape 30 Reel brake 33 Spring locking part 34 Release arm 35 Engagement arm 36 Tooth part 50 Spring receiving means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A single reel on which a magnetic tape is wound is accommodated in a cartridge case, and a leader tape at a tape end is pulled out by a tape pulling means of a recording / reproducing apparatus so that the tape can run. A magnetic tape cartridge having a reel brake that engages with an outer periphery of a flange and locks with a reel, wherein the reel brake has a cylindrical body that is rotatably supported by a spindle of the cartridge case, A compression coil spring disposed between spring support means extending radially outward from the body and spring receiving means formed on the inner wall of the cartridge case engages the outer periphery of the flange of the reel and engages with the reel. A magnetic tape cartridge urged in a locking direction.