JPS63206942A - Optical recording/reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize the highly accurate recording/reproducing tasks by transferring an optical tape while floating it over the guide face of a tape guide member by means of an air film without producing many recessing/projecting parts on the tape with injection of air. CONSTITUTION:A uniform air film F is formed over a wide area between a tape guide face 9 of a tape guide member 8 and an optical tape 1 by the air sprayed through air supply holes of small diameters via plural grooves 12. Thus the tape 1 is uniformly floated over the face 9 in a wide area by the film F. Thus, the tape 1 can run with no touch to the face 9. In such a way, many recessing/projecting parts produced by the spray of air can be avoided on the tape 1. Thus the focus margin of a laser beam is increased to the tape 1 and therefore the recording/reproducing characteristics can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an optical recording/reproducing device most suitable for application to, for example, an optical VTR.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides an optical recording and reproducing device that optically records and reproduces information on an optical tape using an optical head. By running the tape floating above the tape guide surface, highly accurate recording and playback can be performed.

[Conventional technology]

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-3404 is known as an optical VTR that optically records and reproduces information on an optical tape, which is an optical window element, using an optical head.

In this conventional example, a tape guide member having an aperture for irradiating the laser beam of the optical head is arranged on the same side as the optical head, and an air blowing member is arranged on the opposite side of the tape guide member, sandwiching the optical tape. Air is ejected directly onto the back surface of the optical tape (the surface opposite to the recording surface) from a large number of small circular air ejection holes, and the air pressure presses the recording surface of the optical tape against the tape guide surface of the tape guide member. The optical tape is made to slide on the tape guide surface.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in this conventional example, since the recording surface of the optical tape slides directly on the tape guide surface, the recording surface is damaged by sliding at an early stage, and the life of the optical tape is significantly shortened. Due to changes in the surface roughness of the tape, temperature and humidity, etc., sticks and slips occur in the running optical tape, and the running of the optical tape tends to become unstable.

If the running of the optical tape is not stable, tracking by the optical head cannot be guaranteed, and the accuracy of recording and reproduction deteriorates.

In addition, since air is injected directly onto the optical tape from a large number of small circular air ejection holes, in the opening section of the tape guide member where the laser beam is irradiated, there are small Many circular irregularities occur.

Note that this is because the pressure of the air decreases at the moment it is injected from the air jet hole. On the other hand, recording and reproduction are performed using a micron-order spot of a laser beam irradiated onto an optical tape from an optical head, and if many micron-order irregularities occur on the optical tape, the focus margin of the laser beam on the optical tape will be affected. becomes severe, and recording and playback characteristics deteriorate.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the present invention allows the optical tape to be guided by the tape guide member using an air film without causing many irregularities on the optical tape due to air jets. An object of the present invention is to provide an optical recording/reproducing device that can be moved while floating above a surface.

[Means for solving problems]

The optical recording and reproducing device according to the present invention includes a tape guide member that guides the optical tape facing the optical head,
A plurality of grooves are provided on the tape guide surface of this tape guide member,
At the bottom of each of these grooves, one or more small-diameter air supply holes narrowed to the groove width are provided, and after the air supplied from the air supply holes fills the plurality of grooves, each groove is opened. Air is uniformly blown from the entire opening to form a uniform air film over a wide area between the tape guide surface and the optical tape, and this air film causes the optical tape to float above the tape guide surface as it travels. It is configured to allow

[Effect]

According to the optical recording/reproducing device according to the present invention, since the air supply hole has a small diameter narrowed to the groove width, the air supplied from the small diameter air supply hole has a pressure increase at the moment it enters the groove. It decreases and spreads into the groove.

As a result, once the air is filled in the groove, it is blown out uniformly from the entire opening of the groove, and a uniform air film is formed over a wide area between the tape guide surface and the optical tape.

Therefore, since air is not directly injected onto the optical tape from the small-diameter air supply hole, there is no possibility that a large number of irregularities will be generated on the optical tape due to the air injection. Moreover, the optical tape is run in a non-contact state, floating uniformly over a wide area from the tape guide surface due to the air film.

〔Example〕

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an optical VTR will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, FIG. 5 shows the entire optical VTR. An optical tape 1, which is a tape-shaped recording medium, is composed of a photosensitive element. This optical tape 1 is connected to a supply reel 2 and a take-up reel. The hook is passed between the tape guide 4 and the tape guide 4 as appropriate.

The optical tape 1 is configured to run at a constant speed in the direction of arrow a by the rotation of a capstan 5, a pinch roller 6, and a take-up reel 3 (and supply reel 2). An optical head 7, which is a head for recording and reproducing the optical tape 1, is arranged close to the recording surface 1a of the optical tape 1 in a non-contact state. In addition, the optical head 7
A fixed tape guide member 8 facing the optical tape 1 is arranged on the back surface (the surface opposite to the recording surface) lb side of the optical tape 1.

Note that this tape guide member 8 is provided with the back surface 1 of the optical tape 1.
A tape guide surface 9 is provided for guiding the tape b.

Therefore, the optical tape 1 is run at a constant speed in the direction of arrow a with the clearance to the optical head 7 kept constant by the tape guide surface 9 of the tape guide member 8, and from the optical head 7 to the recording surface 1a of the optical tape 1. The optical tape 1 is optically recorded and reproduced in a non-contact manner using a micron-order spot of an irradiated laser beam.

Next, details of the tape guide member 8 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

First, the tape guide surface 9 has a width Wt slightly larger than the width W1 of the optical tape 1, and is provided in a vertical and laterally elongated shape along the front surface of the tape guide member 8. Then, the tape guide surface 9
Tape height regulating surfaces 11 perpendicular to the tape guide surface 9 are formed along both upper and lower edges of the tape guide surface 9, and the tape guide surface 9 has a generally U-shaped cross section. The tape guide surface 9 is provided with the running direction of the optical tape 1 (arrow a
A plurality of grooves 12 are provided parallel to the direction).

The bottom portion 12a of each of these grooves 12 is provided with one or more air supply holes 13 having a small diameter D1 narrowed relative to the groove width W thereof. That is, W,>D. The cross-sectional shape of the air supply hole 12 may be either the U-shape shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 or the V-shape shown in FIG. 4. Then, the back surface of these plurality of air supply holes 13 (groove 1
2), a plurality of air supply passages 14 connected to air supply means (not shown) are provided.

The tape guide member 8 is constructed as described above, and as shown in FIGS. It is supplied from the direction indicated by the arrow.

Then, since the air supply hole 13 has a small diameter narrowed to the groove width W, the air supplied from the small diameter air supply hole 13 enters the groove 12 as shown by arrow C. The pressure decreases and spreads within the groove 12. As a result, after air is once filled in the groove 12, it is blown out uniformly from the entire opening 12a of the groove 12, as shown by arrow d, and a large area is created between the tape guide surface 9 and the optical tape 1. A uniform air film F is formed over the entire area.

However, the tension of optical tape 1, air supply pressure, groove 1
By appropriately setting the width, length and depth of the optical tape 2 and the number of grooves 12 according to the width and thickness of the optical tape 1, the air film F
The clearance q can be set to a predetermined value.

As a result, the optical tape l is kept at a uniform and constant clearance q from the tape guide surface 9 over a wide area by the air film F.
It travels in the direction of arrow a in a non-contact state floating on the ground.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the air forming the air film F between the tape guide surface 9 and the optical tape 1 is
As shown, the optical tape 1 is centered in the vertical height direction by flowing out from the vertical gaps 15 between the upper and lower height regulating surfaces 11 and the upper and lower edges 1c of the optical tape 1.

Since the clearance G between the tape guide surface 9 and the optical tape 1 is constant, the clearance between the optical head 7 and the optical tape 1 is also kept constant.

As a result of the above, the optical tape 1 can be run in the direction of arrow a in a non-contact state with respect to the tape guide surface 9 of the tape guide member 8 without generating many irregularities on the optical tape 1 due to air jetting. As a result, the focus margin of the laser beam on the optical tape 1 is increased, the life of the optical chip 11 is increased by preventing sliding damage to the recording surface 1a of the optical tape 1, and the running of the optical tape is stabilized without causing any snacks or slips. It is possible to aim for improvement, etc.

Next, FIGS. 6 to 8 show modified examples of the grooves 12, and in FIG. 7 and 8 show a combination of a plurality of grooves 12 having portions parallel and portions perpendicular to the running direction of the optical tape 1 (direction of arrow a).

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various effective changes can be made based on the technical idea of the invention.

Furthermore, this invention is not limited to optical VTRs,
It is applicable to various optical recording and reproducing devices.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the optical recording/reproducing device of the present invention has the following features:
The air blown out from the small-diameter air supply hole through multiple grooves forms a uniform air film over a wide area between the tape guide surface of the tape guide member and the optical tape, and this air film allows the optical tape to Since the optical tape is run in a non-contact state in which it floats uniformly over a wide area from the tape guide surface, many unevennesses caused by air jets are not generated on the optical tape. Therefore, the focus margin of the laser beam with respect to the optical tape can be increased, and recording and reproduction characteristics can be improved.

Moreover, since the optical tape is run without contacting the tape guide surface of the tape guide member, there is no possibility that the recording surface of the optical tape will be damaged by sliding at an early stage due to the tape guide surface. The lifetime of optical tape can be significantly increased. Moreover, since the optical tape does not come into contact with the tape guide surface, sticks and slips do not occur on the running optical tape due to changes in the surface roughness of the optical tape or temperature/humidity, and the running of the optical tape is stabilized. Therefore, tracking by the optical head can be guaranteed, and highly accurate recording and reproduction can be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main parts, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along arrow nn in FIG. 1, and FIG. An enlarged sectional view taken along arrow m-m in the figure,
FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the whole, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are front views of modified examples. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings,
−−−−−−−−・−・−・−・Optical head 8−・−−
−−−−−−−−−−～−−−・Tape guide member 9−・
−・−・・−・・−Tape guide surface 12・−・−1−−−
---Groove 13 ---- Air supply hole F ---- Air film. ■ Figure 1 Figure 5 Pig @ cold 1 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An optical recording and reproducing device for optically recording and reproducing an optical tape using an optical head, comprising: a tape guide member that guides the optical tape facing the optical head; A plurality of grooves are provided on the tape guide surface of the tape guide surface, and one or more small-diameter air supply holes narrowed to the width of the groove are provided at the bottom of each of these grooves, and the air supplied from the air supply holes is transferred to the plurality of air supply holes. After filling the grooves, the air is uniformly blown out from the entire opening of each groove to form a uniform air film over a wide area between the tape guide surface and the optical tape. 1. An optical recording/reproducing device characterized in that the optical tape is moved while being lifted from a tape guide surface.