JPS58150161A - Device for forwarding magnetic tape - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform the most suitable tape forwarding in accordance with the thickness of tapes, by a switching each of the number of revolution of the magnetic tape driving motor and reel driving motor and the vaccum pressure of the tape buffer mechanism by means of control signals from the discriminating index judging means for the index which discriminates the thickness of tapes. CONSTITUTION:When a tape having a length of 3,600 feet is set, a switch 31 is set to the off condition by the groove for discrimination 112 of the feed reel 11 of the tape and a judging circuit 32 detects from the off signal that the tape having a thin tape thickness is set, and then, a running section controlling circuit 23 controls the running speed of the tape so as to reduce the speed based on the output of the circuit 32. Namely, the rotating speed of a capstan motor 18 and reel motors 14 and 15 is reduced and, at the same time, the vacuum pressure of a vacuum blower 22 is also reduced. In this way, the running speed of the tape is switched in accordance with the size of the tape thickness and, therefore, the expansion, cutting, etc., of the tape itself of the 3,600-feet long tape having a thin tape thickness can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a magnetic tape feeding device in a magnetic tape device of a computer or an input/output device, and more specifically to a new tape feeding device that feeds a tape at a speed corresponding to the thickness of the tape. 1.

Conventionally, magnetic tape (hereinafter referred to as tape) used in magnetic tape devices for computer input/output equipment has a length of 7.
These tapes are either 82m (9400 feet), 866m (IQ00 feet), or 188Jll (600 feet).However, all of these tapes have the same thickness and are made using the same tape reel size. For this reason, they are also known as full-size files, half-size files, and quarter-size files.By the way, in recent years, with the increase in the amount of processing information, the tape length has been further increased to 866 m (12
00 ft) has increased to 1098 m (8600 ft) of tape, in this case the tape thickness is! +-4/ Because the size has been standardized, it has been made thinner than the current one. On the other hand, the tape feeding configuration of the magnetic tape device is dependent on the rotational speed of each motor of the chive drive mechanism and the saw/1/drive mechanism, as well as the tape buffer mechanism. Vacuum pressure remains constant regardless of tape thickness. In the case of a thin tape with a tape length of 8,600 feet, the rotational speed of the conventional tape drive (capstan) motor and ripple motor, and the tape suction force are all strong enough to cause the tape to stretch. Accidents such as misalignment or disconnection of recorded information are likely to occur frequently.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a new magnetic tape feeding system that can carry out optimal tape feeding depending on the tape thickness.

According to the present invention, the above object is to provide a tape or a tape reel made from the tape with an index for classifying the thickness of the tape, and to provide a magnetic tape device with means for determining the identification index, and to detect the identification index from the identification index determination means. This is achieved by switching the rotation speeds of the tape drive motor and the RI-1 drive motor and the vacuum pressure of the tape buffer mechanism in accordance with the tape thickness using the control signal.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a magnetic tape device to which the present invention is applied, in which 11 is a supply reel for carrying a tape 18, 18 is a take-up reel, 14 and 15 beams are 1 to motor, 16 17 is a magnetic head, 17 is a capstan, 18 is a capstan motor, 19 and 20 are a pair of left and right tape buffer chambers, GLTI/(vacuum tank, GGA vacuum prower, g8 is a running unit control circuit, 24 and 2
Reference numeral 6 indicates a read and write circuit, g6 indicates an information signal line, and g7 indicates a control signal line.The five-line configuration of 0 or more is the same as in the conventional device.
In response to a control signal from the control device, in parallel with writing or reading data, controls the starting, constant speed rotation, and stopping of the capstan motor 18 in the forward or reverse rotation direction, and controls the suction amount of the vacuum puller 22. In addition, each of the drive control tubes of the micro motors 14, 16 has the function of ensuring that a constant amount of tape buffer is always present in each tape buffer chamber 19, 20.

In addition to the above-described tape running control, the IJ embodiment of the present invention has an additional configuration that determines the thickness of the set tape at the time of initial operation and sets the tape running speed according to the tape thickness. There is. That is, the rotational speed of the capstan motor 18 and the re-p motors 14 and 15 and the vacuum pressure of the vacuum puller 22 are respectively switched by using a tape with a length of 3,600 feet and a tape with a length of 2,400 feet or less, which have different tape thicknesses. In order to vary the running speed, a tape thickness identification index is provided on the tape 12 or the supply 1v11, and means for determining the identification index is provided on the tape device body.

Figure 2 shows this tape thickness identification index and a method for determining it.
An example is shown in which a tape thickness identification groove 112 is formed on the back side of a supply reel of a 3600-foot long tape, that is, on the device setting surface that has a write protection groove ill, and corresponds to the identification groove 112 on the device main body side. The switch 81 with a sliding rod and the discrimination circuit 821 are provided with the switch 81 and the discrimination circuit 821. And when a tape less than 2400 feet long is set,
Since the tape does not have an identification groove, the switch 81 is turned on, and the discrimination circuit 82 discriminates that the tape is thick based on the on signal, and controls the traveling section control circuit 88 by its output. Set the tape running speed to the same speed as before. In short, capstan motor 1B
, I+-/I/The rotational speed of the motors 14 and 15 and the vacuum pressure of the vacuum puller 82 are set to the previous values. However, when an 8600 foot F length tape is set, the switch 81 is turned off by the identification groove 11g of the supply Lee/L/ll, and this off signal turns the discrimination circuit 8 off.
2 detects that a thin tape is set, and based on this output, the running unit control circuit 28 controls the tape running speed to be slow. In short, capstan motor 1
8 and the reel motors 14 and 15, and at the same time reduce the vacuum pressure of the vacuum blower 22. In this way, the tape running speed is switched depending on the tape thickness. Figure 8 shows a modification of the tape thickness identification index and its discrimination means, and the BOT marker at the tip of the tape for a 3600 foot length tape is used as the identification index. A marker 122 similar to the BOT marker 121 is provided at a position in front of the BOT marker 121, and a reflection type optical sensor and a discrimination circuit corresponding to the identification marker 122 are provided on the main body side of the apparatus as identification determination means (not shown). The related operations of these identification markers, optical sensors, and discrimination circuits are the same as those shown in FIG. 2 above.

Furthermore, as another modification of tape thickness identification and discrimination, the above-mentioned identification grooves and markers are formed by changing their positions depending on the size of the tape thickness.

One method is to form an identification hole near the tip of the tape and install a transmission optical sensor9, and another method involves color-coding the tip of the tape, which is not involved in information recording, and determining the thickness of the tape based on the wavelength classification of the reflected light. .

As is clear from the above description, the tape feeding device of the present invention is configured to determine the thickness of the tape used and automatically set the tape running speed according to the thickness. Tape elongation and cutting accidents caused by thin tape can be completely eliminated. Therefore, there is a tendency to reduce the tape thickness and increase the tape length KTo
It is extremely useful for application to magnetic tape devices for computer input/output equipment.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of a magnetic tape device for a computer terminal to which the present invention is applied, and FIGS. 2 and 8 are specific examples of the tape thickness identification index and its discrimination means in the present invention. FIG. ll: supply reel, 12: tag, 13: take-up reel -
Le, l 4-tei? and l5: reel motor, l8: capstan motor, 19
and 2o: tape buffer chamber, 22: vacuum floor, 23: running section control circuit, 31: identification switch, 82: discrimination circuit, 112: tape thickness identification groove, 12
2: Marker for tape thickness weave 3. 1 toe!・'-Q Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a tape feeding configuration of a magnetic tape device of a computer input/output device, an index for identifying tape thickness is provided on the magnetic tape or a tape reel wound with the magnetic tape,
A means for determining the identification index of the magnetic tape device KIII is provided, and a control signal from the identification index determination means determines the rotational speed of the magnetic tape drive motor and the RI-μ drive motor and the vacuum pressure of the tape buffer mechanism according to the tape thickness. A magnetic tape feeding device characterized in that the magnetic tape feeding device is configured to switch between the two. (2) Claim (1) characterized in that the tape thickness identification index is comprised of a light reflective marker affixed to the starting end of the magnetic tape, and the tape thickness identification index discrimination means has an optical sensor. The magnetic tape feeding device described in . (8) The tape thickness identification indicator has a groove formed on the back surface of the tape reel, and the tape thickness identification indicator has a mechanical switch that turns on and off in response to the presence or absence of the tape thickness identification groove. A magnetic tape processing apparatus according to claim (1).