JPH11232826A - Magnetic tape cartridge utilizing single reel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure the tape pulling out operation in a magnetic tape cartridge utilizing a single reel, whereon a pin-stated tape pulling out means is connected to the tape supplying end, by allowing the tape pulling out means of the standby state so as to be always accurately positioned and held. SOLUTION: A tape pulling out port 4 is opened at the corner part of the main body 1 of a case. A pair of shaft holding parts 15 is provided on the internal upper and lower parts of the tape pulling out port 4, and engaging shaft parts 11 of the upper/lower ends of the tape pulling out means 7 are caught and positioned by both of the shaft holding parts 15. A spring 16 is arranged around a shaft holding part 15, and the holding spring arm 21 is brought into external contact with the engaging shaft part 11, then the engaging shaft part 11 is pressed onto the shaft holding part 15 and positioned and held. Thus, the catching and connecting operations of the tape pulling out means 7 by a catching means of a tape drive are surely executed, and the reliability at the using time is increased as compared with the conventional practice. Since the tape pulling out means 7 is pressurized and held by the spring 16, the tape pulling out means 7 in the standby state is accurately positioned and held also at the long time use, and furthermore, the positional deviation of the tape pulling out means 7 due to the collision against other substances, dropping impact, etc., is also well eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a single-reel type magnetic tape cartridge represented by a magnetic recording medium of a data recorder for a computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a magnetic tape cartridge of this type, a tape pull-out tool is connected to a pay-out end of a magnetic tape, and the tape pull-out tool is captured by a capturing device on a tape drive side. Withdrawal operation from. The tape puller is formed of a plastic sheet having a self-retaining property (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-63940).
And those formed of plastic blocks (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 62
-66486).

[0003]

In a tape puller formed of a plastic sheet, the free end of the sheet is exposed to the tape pull-out port in a state in which the free end of the sheet is cantilevered when the entire amount of the magnetic tape is rewound into the case body. Further, the tape puller itself can be elastically deformed in the sheet thickness direction. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately position and hold the tape puller. This means that the capturing device may fail to capture the tape pull-out device in the use state.

[0004] A tape puller formed of a plastic block does not deform itself and holds a posture in a standby state by a case body, so that the position holding precision is higher than that of a plastic sheet type. However, the tape puller can float slightly in the standby state, and the free end of the tape puller protrudes out of the case when the tape puller is always exposed to the peripheral surface of the case and, for example, receives a drop impact. It is difficult to obtain sufficient reliability because there is room to do so. Since the loading pocket is opened to operate the tape puller, there is also a problem in a place where dust and the like easily enter into the case from there.

[0005] In order to solve such a problem relating to the tape pull-out tool, the present inventors have formed a tape pull-out tool with a pin, and set the tape pull-out tool in a tape pull-out opening provided in a peripheral side wall of a case body. We are developing a form to hold.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic tape cartridge provided with a pin-shaped tape puller, which always holds the tape puller in a standby state accurately, thereby failing to capture and connect the tape puller during use. Without fail. Another object of the present invention is to hold and hold a pin-shaped tape puller in a standby state by a case body and a spring incorporated therein, and to accurately position and fix the tape puller in a standby state even during long-term use. Still another object of the present invention is to hold and fix a spring for holding a pin-shaped tape pull-out tool in standby with a retaining wall formed integrally with a case body, thereby reducing the number of components of the magnetic tape cartridge by that much. It is in.

[0007]

As shown in FIG. 2, the magnetic tape cartridge of the present invention has a box-shaped case body 1 in which a single reel 2 on which a tape 3 is wound is disposed. A pin-shaped tape puller 7 at the feeding end of the tape 3
Are connected. A tape outlet 4 for pulling out the tape puller 7 is opened on the peripheral side wall of the case body 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, bearing portions 15 for receiving engagement shaft portions 11 provided at the upper and lower ends of the tape puller 7 are provided on the inner surface of the upper wall and the inner surface of the bottom wall facing the tape outlet 4. Each is provided. Circumscribing each engagement shaft portion 11,
A spring 16 for positioning and holding the engaging shaft 11 in cooperation with the bearing 15 is provided. The spring 16 is disposed inside the case body 1.

More specifically, a torsion coil including a holding spring arm 21 circumscribing the engaging shaft portion 11 is provided on a spring receiving projection 26 provided on the inner surface of the upper wall and the inner surface of the bottom wall of the case body 1 as shown in FIG. The coil portions 20 of the spring 16 are externally fitted.
A retaining wall 29 for receiving a part of each holding spring arm 21 is formed integrally with the case body 1, and the retaining wall 29 is
0 is prevented from coming off the spring receiving projection 26.

In a non-use state, a lid 5 for closing the tape outlet 4 is provided. The lid 5 is slidably opened and closed by the case body 1, and is closed and urged by a spring.

As shown in FIG. 4, the tape puller 7 has a connecting shaft 8 around which the tape 3 is wound and connected, an operating shaft 10 provided above and below the connecting shaft 8, and a larger operating shaft 10 than the operating shaft 10. And an engagement shaft portion 11 having a diameter. As shown in FIG. 5, the bearing 15 for receiving the engagement shaft 11 is formed in the upper wall and the bottom wall of the case body 1, respectively.

[0011]

The engagement shaft portions 11 at the upper and lower ends of the tape puller 7 are
The bearing 15 is received and supported by the bearing 15 inside the tape outlet 4, and the engaging shaft 11 is further pressed by the spring 16, so that the tape puller 7 when not in use is securely operated by the cooperation of the bearing 15 and the spring 16. In this case, the positioning accuracy of the tape puller 7 is improved as compared with the conventional tape puller. Even if the tape puller 7 moves due to a drop impact, the tape puller 7 can be returned to and held at an appropriate position by the pressing force of the spring 16. Since the tape puller 7 is always held down and held by the spring 16 formed as an independent component, the position holding accuracy can be maintained even during long-term use.

A pair of torsion coil-shaped springs 16 are arranged on the inner surface of the upper wall and the inner surface of the bottom wall of the case main body 1 corresponding to the respective engaging shaft portions 11 of the tape puller 7.
Each spring 16 can be easily assembled to the upper case 1a and the lower case 1b constituting the case body 1 before assembling the two cases 1a and 1b. On the other hand, in the case of receiving a drop impact, one of the springs 16 is
In order to prevent this, a part of the holding spring arm 21 is received by the retaining wall 29. The retaining walls 29 corresponding to the upper and lower springs 16 are formed integrally with the case body 1 to prevent the number of parts from increasing.

A cover 5 which can be opened and closed by sliding the tape outlet 4
When it is closed, the tape puller 7 when not in use is prevented from being exposed to the outer surface of the case through the tape outlet 4, and dust and the like do not enter from the tape outlet 4. Bearing part 15
Is formed in the upper wall and the bottom wall of the case body 1, there is no room for the holding spring arm 21 to abut and interfere with the bearing portion 15, so that the degree of freedom in designing the spring 16 is increased.

[0014]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of a single reel type magnetic tape cartridge according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, the magnetic tape cartridge has a square box-shaped case main body 1 in which upper and lower cases 1a and 1b are joined together in a lid-like manner.
The tape 3 is wound around one reel 2 disposed inside the case body 1. A tape outlet 4 is opened at one end of the front side wall of the case body 1 and can be opened and closed by a slidable lid 5. The lid 5 is closed and biased by a spring.

In order to pull out the tape 3 wound around the reel 2 to the outside of the case, a tape pulling-out tool 7 is connected to a pay-out end of the tape 3. In FIG. 3, the tape puller 7
Is formed of a metal pin-shaped turning product, and the most of the vertical height is occupied by the small diameter connecting shaft portion 8, and flange-shaped thin section walls 9 are formed on the upper and lower portions of the connecting shaft portion 8, respectively. An operating shaft portion 10 and an engaging shaft portion 11 are integrally formed above and below the partition wall 9. The operating shaft 10 has the same diameter as the connecting shaft 8, and the engaging shaft 11 matches the diameter of the partition wall 9.
The end of the tape 3 is wound around the connecting shaft portion 8 in a loop shape, a C-shaped buffer 12 is fitted around the outer surface of the loop portion, and a C-shaped clamp formed of a thin metal plate is formed on the buffer 12. 13
The tape puller 7 is connected to the tape 3 as shown in FIG. The buffer 12 is interposed to prevent the tape 3 from coming into contact with the circumferential edge of the clamp 13 and being cut off.

In order to position and hold the tape puller 7 when not in use in an upright position inside the case of the tape outlet 4, the inner surface of the upper wall of the upper case 1a and the inner surface of the bottom wall of the lower case 1b have A bearing portion 15 and a spring 16 for holding and fixing the engagement shaft portion 11 are provided. In FIG. 5, the lower case 1
The bearing portion 15 on the b-side is formed by a bell-shaped recess formed on the inner surface of the bottom wall, and has a vertically inclined vertical guide surface 17 between its front edge and the opening edge of the tape outlet 4. Bearing part 15
Has a partially arcuate receiving wall 15a for receiving the peripheral surface of the engaging shaft portion 11, and the side wall of the concave portion connected to the receiving wall 15a is formed to have a tapered front spreading shape to form a lateral guide surface 18. As shown in FIG. 3, a bearing 15 and a vertical guide surface 17 equivalent to the bearing 15 and the vertical guide surface 17 of the lower case 1b are provided on the upper case 1a side in a vertically symmetric manner. The spacing between the upper and lower bearing portions 15 is slightly larger than the vertical length of the tape puller 7.

In FIG. 1, each spring 16 is provided with a coil 20
Holding spring arm 21 circumscribing engagement shaft 11 from one end of
, And a short latching arm 22 is extended to the other end of the coil portion 20, and is made of a torsion coil type metal wire spring. On the free end side of the holding spring arm 21, a partially arcuate pressing portion 23 that is in close contact with the peripheral surface of the engagement shaft portion 11 and a guide portion 25 that is inclined toward the case side wall 24 are continuously bent and formed.

In order to assemble the spring 16, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, on the inner surface of the bottom wall (and the inner surface of the upper wall) inside the case from the bearing portion 15, a pin-shaped spring receiving projection into which the coil portion 20 is fitted. 26 and a rib 27 for receiving the locking arm 22 in cooperation with the case side wall 24 are provided in a protruding manner. Further, in order to prevent the spring 16 fitted to the spring receiving projection 26 from coming off, a retaining wall 29 for receiving the free end of the holding spring arm 21 near the free end is provided above the concave periphery of the bearing portion 15 on the case side wall 24 side.
Is provided. The retaining portion 29 is composed of a laterally extending wall that is continuous near the base end of the case side wall 4, and has a gap between the bottom wall and the upper wall that allows the holding spring arm 21 to enter. In addition, the tape pull-out tool 7 is pulled out of the case,
When the holding spring arm 21 is free, the spring arm 2
In 1, the guide portion 25 is located on the entry path of the tape puller 7 (see FIG. 6).

At the time of use, the magnetic tape cartridge is loaded into the tape drive with the case side wall 24 as a start end, so that the lid 5 is opened and the tape draw-out opening 4 is opened. At the same time, the reel lock that has prevented the idle rotation of the reel 2 is released. In this state, the catcher on the tape drive side enters the case from the tape pull-out port 4, catches and engages the upper and lower operation shafts 10 of the tape pull-out tool 7, and pulls out the tape 3 through the tape pull-out tool 7. Then, the tape drawer 7 is delivered to the take-up reel on the tape drive side. When the recording or reading of the data on the tape 3 is completed, the tape 3 is rewound on the reel 2. The tape pull-out tool 7 is engaged and captured again by the capturing tool, and is housed in the case body 1 in the original state.

The tape puller 7 supported by the catcher is returned to the tape outlet 4 while being housed therein.
The upper and lower ends are guided by the upper and lower vertical guide surfaces 17 to correct the vertical displacement. At a point in time when the vehicle has passed over the front edge of the bearing 15, the peripheral surface of the engagement shaft 11 comes into contact with the guide 25 of the spring 16 as shown in FIG. 6. Therefore, the holding spring arm 21 is pushed back toward the case side wall 24 against the elastic force, and the engaging shaft portion 11 gets over the guide portion 25 and is received by the receiving wall 15a. At the same time, the pressing portion 23 elastically contacts the engagement shaft portion 11 to press the entire tape pulling tool 7 against the receiving wall 15 a, and the tape pulling tool 7 is held and fixed by the bearing 15 and the spring 16. In the case where the tape puller 7 enters the bearing portion 15 in a state shifted in the lateral direction, the position shift is corrected by the lateral guide surface 18 and the engagement shaft portion 11 is guided to the receiving wall 15a.

In addition to the above embodiment, the tape pull-out tool 7 may be formed of a plastic molded product. The connection structure of the tape 3 to the tape pull-out tool 7 is not limited to the embodiment. For example, the connection shaft portion 8 is formed in a cylindrical shape having the same diameter as the partition wall 9, and a clamp groove is provided on the peripheral surface thereof. The tape end and the clamp may be press-fitted into the groove. The engagement shaft portion 11 does not need to be a round shaft, and may be formed in a polygonal cross section. Similarly, the recessed shape of the bearing 15 can be changed to a triangle, a trapezoid, or the like, and the bearing 15 can be formed by providing a projection on the upper wall or the bottom wall. The spring 16 can be formed by a leaf spring.
If necessary, the upper and lower latching arms 22 can be integrally connected by a vertical arm, and the spring 16 can be reduced to one. In this case, the retaining wall 29 on the upper case 1a side can be omitted. A protrusion is provided on the wall surface of the retaining wall 29 on the side in contact with the holding spring arm 21 so as to restrict the swing limit of the holding spring arm 21 in the expanding direction.
The position of the holding spring arm 21 can be regulated. The opening position of the tape outlet 4 may be any corner as long as it is near the four corners of the case.

[0022]

According to the present invention, bearings 15 are provided above and below the tape outlet 4, and the bearings 15 receive the engaging shafts 11 at the upper and lower ends of the tape puller 7. Further, a spring 16 is provided in the vicinity of the bearing portion 15, and the engaging shaft portion 11 is pressed by the holding spring arm 21 so that the bearing portion 1
5 and the spring 16 cooperate so that the tape puller 7 can always be properly positioned and held. Therefore, the tape puller 7 can be reliably captured and connected by the tape drive capturing device, and the reliability in use can be improved as compared with the conventional example. Since the tape puller 7 is pressed and held by the spring 16, the tape puller 7 in the standby state can be accurately positioned and held even during long-term use. In addition, the position of the tape puller 7 due to a collision with another object or a drop impact can be reduced. Can be resolved well.

The upper and lower engaging shaft portions 11 are formed by a pair of upper and lower springs 16.
In this embodiment, the springs 16 can be easily assembled to the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b, and the upper and lower cases 1a and 1b can be easily assembled. If the retaining wall 29 for preventing the springs 16 from falling off is formed integrally with the case body 1, the number of components of the magnetic tape cartridge can be prevented from increasing, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced accordingly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional plan view of the magnetic tape cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a tape outlet.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tape pull-out tool.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bearing unit.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 1, showing a housed state of the tape drawer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 case main body 2 reel 3 tape 4 tape pull-out port 5 lid 7 tape pull-out tool 11 engaging shaft portion 15 bearing portion 20 coil portion 21 holding spring arm 29 retaining wall

Claims (4)

[Claims] A tape (3) is provided inside a box-shaped case body (1).
And one reel 2 on which a tape 3 is wound.
A pin-shaped tape pull-out tool 7 is connected to a pay-out end of the magnetic tape cartridge, and a tape pull-out port 4 for pulling out the tape pull-out tool 7 is opened on a peripheral side wall of the case body 1; Engagement shaft portions 1 provided at the upper and lower ends of a tape puller 7 on the inner surface of the upper wall and the inner surface of the bottom wall of the case body 1 facing the outlet 4.
Bearing portions 15 are provided to receive the engaging shaft portions 11, respectively.
The spring 16 for positioning and holding in cooperation with the
Single reel type magnetic tape cartridge installed inside the 2. A coil of a torsion coil type spring 16 including a holding spring arm 21 circumscribing the engaging shaft portion 11 on each of the spring receiving projections 26 provided on the inner surface of the upper wall and the inner surface of the bottom wall of the case body 1. Each of the retaining portions 20 is externally fitted, and receives a part of the holding spring arm 21 to prevent the coil portion 20 from coming off from the spring receiving projection 26.
2. The single reel type magnetic tape cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic tape cartridge is formed integrally with the case body 1. 3. A cover 5 for closing the tape outlet 4 in a non-use state is slidably supported on the case body 1, and the cover 5 is closed and urged to move freely by a spring. 3. The single-reel magnetic tape cartridge according to 1 or 2. 4. A tape puller 7 includes a connecting shaft portion 8 around which the tape 3 is wound and connected, an operating shaft portion 10 provided above and below the connecting shaft portion 8, and a member having a larger diameter than the operating shaft portion 10. Coaxial part 1
The bearing portion 15 for receiving the engagement shaft portion 11 is provided in the case body 1.
The single-reel magnetic tape cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the upper wall and the lower wall are respectively depressed.