JPH11126453A - Corner roller and tape cartridge equipped therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain smooth rotation of a corner roller by providing a reservoir in the center of a corner roller shaft hole, storing a lubricating oil or grease and preventing it from flowing out downward. SOLUTION: The corner roller is provided with a shaft hole 42 penetrated through the body while the corner pin supports the corner roller rotatably through the hole 42. The bore d2 in the center part 45a of the shaft hole 42 is designed to be larger than the bore d1 at both ends 44a in the axial direction of the hole 42, with a reservoir 46 provided for a lubricating oil or grease between the inner circumferential surface in the center part 45a and the corner pin to be inserted into the shaft hole 42, so that friction is reduced between the hole and the corner pin. In addition, the boundary in the shaft hole 42 where the bore d1 changes to the bore d2 and vice versa is designed to be a cycloid shape for example, enabling the injected lubricating oil or grease to be stored in the reservoir 46 and preventing it from flowing out downward to a substrate. As a result, the corner roller is always rotated smoothly, enabling the belt to travel with a constant tension and also by a small driving force.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape cartridge such as a data cartridge for QIC, QIC wide and Travan. In particular, the present invention relates to a mechanical structure of a roller of a belt for running a tape of a tape cartridge. More specifically, the present invention relates to a corner roller capable of storing lubricating oil or grease at a position corresponding to the center of the support shaft of the roller even during running of the belt or under adverse conditions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a cartridge containing a tape-shaped recording medium for recording data (hereinafter, referred to as a tape cartridge), the tape-shaped recording medium runs between a tape supply reel and a tape take-up reel. I have.
The tape travels along a fixed path, that is, is unwound from a tape supply reel, is wound around a pair of spaced guide pins for defining a tape traveling path, and is wound on a tape winding reel. Can be The tape take-up reel is rotationally driven by a drive roller mechanism provided with a drive roll for rotating the belt, and the belt rotation path is determined by the drive roller mechanism and a pair of corner rollers.

[0003] In such a tape cartridge, a belt traveling mechanism for reliably traveling the belt at a high speed or a low speed in the tape cartridge is required. Further, it is necessary that this belt traveling mechanism can be easily and inexpensively manufactured in a manufacturing process. Further, it is necessary to wind the belt around a corner roller and to rotate the belt while maintaining a constant tension with a minimum driving force.

Here, a conventional corner roller will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 4, the corner roller 60
A shaft hole 62 is penetrated through the main body 61, and a corner pin (not shown) is inserted into the shaft hole 62 and is rotatably supported by the corner pin. Outer peripheral surface 63 of corner roller 60
Has an end portion 64 having a predetermined outer diameter, and a central portion 65 having an outer diameter larger than the end portion 64. The belt is engaged with the central portion 65 and a part of the end portion 64. Then, in order to reduce the friction between the corner roller 60 and the corner pin,
Lubricating oil and grease are injected between the corner roller 60 and the corner pin.

[0005]

In a conventional corner roller, the inner diameter (ID) of a shaft hole into which a support shaft or a pin is inserted is constant, and lubricating oil is supplied to the lower portion of the corner roller and the aluminum of the tape cartridge. May flow down on a substrate made of a metal. In such a state, there is a problem that the driving force and the belt tension are reduced until the tape roller is loaded in the recording / reproducing apparatus, the corner roller is rotated, and the grease or the lubricating oil is pulled back by the centrifugal force.

More specifically, as shown by arrows A and B in FIG. 4, lubricating oil and grease flow out from the main body 61 to the end 64 of the corner roller 60 on the substrate side of the tape cartridge. There was a problem like that.

[0007] This problem can be solved by adjusting the viscosity of grease or lubricating oil. However, with such a method, the problem cannot be solved in a poor temperature environment such as a high temperature or a low temperature, that is, the viscosity cannot be adjusted over the entire use temperature cycle of the cartridge.

In other words, in this type of tape cartridge, in order to run a tape-shaped recording medium such as a magnetic tape at a high speed or a low speed, and to perform recording and reproduction on the tape-shaped recording medium, it is necessary to securely use a corner roller. It is necessary to contact Further, in order to keep the driving force and the belt tension constant, it is important to rotate the corner roller smoothly at all times.

An object of the present invention is to provide a corner roller used in a tape cartridge so that the drive belt can be reliably wound around the corner roller even when the running speed of the drive belt is changed. To provide a corner roller in which grease or lubricating oil can be stored at a position corresponding to a substantially central portion of the support pin.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a corner roller in which both ends of a shaft portion of a corner roller have the same inner diameter and a grease or lubricating oil reservoir is provided in a central portion.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tape cartridge using the corner roller thus improved.

[0012]

A corner roller according to the present invention is provided with a shaft hole penetrating in the axial direction, and has a main body around which the above-mentioned belt is wound on the outer peripheral surface. Then, the inner diameter of the central portion of the shaft hole in the axial direction is increased, and a reservoir for storing lubricating oil or grease is provided. The corner rollers are
Since the lubricating oil or grease does not flow downward, it is smoothly rotated.

Further, the tape cartridge according to the present invention comprises a substrate mechanism having a substrate, a cover mechanism accommodating a tape supply reel and a tape take-up reel around which the tape-shaped recording medium is wound, and a tape-shaped recording medium. At least one guide pin for guiding, and a corner roller around which a drive belt for driving at least one of the tape supply reel and the tape take-up reel is wound. The corner roller has a main body in which an axial hole penetrated in the axial direction is provided and a belt is wound around the outer peripheral surface. Then, the inner diameter of the central portion of the shaft hole in the axial direction is increased, and a reservoir for storing lubricating oil or grease is provided. Lubricating oil or grease is injected into this reservoir. The corner rollers are
Since the lubricating oil or grease does not flow downward, the belt is smoothly rotated, and the belt runs at a constant tension with a small driving force.

Here, the inner diameter of the central portion of the shaft hole in the axial direction is formed larger than the inner diameters of both ends. The boundary between the central portion and the both ends is formed on a smooth surface. Further, a cross section of the shaft hole in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction is formed in a substantially circular shape.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a corner roller according to the present invention and a tape cartridge using the corner roller will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a belt-driven tape cartridge to which the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tape cartridge 10 includes a substrate mechanism 11 and a cover mechanism 12 for accommodating a tape-shaped recording medium supply / winding mechanism 13 between the substrate mechanism 11.
And a belt drive mechanism 14 for driving the drive belt 31.

The substrate mechanism 11 has a substrate 15 on which guide pins 1 for guiding a magnetic tape 22 are provided.
6, a lid 17 for closing a recording / reproducing opening 18 for exposing the magnetic tape 22 to the outside when not in use, a screw 19 for fixing the cover mechanism 12 to the substrate mechanism 11, and a magnetic tape 22. A pair of guide pins 21 for guiding to extend to the opening 18 and a pair of rotating shafts 23 for the take-up reel 24 and the supply reel 26 are provided. The cover 17 is urged by a cover spring (not shown) in a direction to close the recording / reproducing opening 18. Further, a flange 25 is attached to the take-up reel 24, a flange 27 is attached to the supply reel 26, and the magnetic tape 22 is unreeled from the supply reel 26 and is passed through the guide pins 25a and 25b. hand,
It is wound on a take-up reel 24.

The take-up reel 24 is rotated so that the magnetic tape 2
The drive belt 31 that runs the second belt 2 runs while being guided by the first corner roller 32a and the second corner roller 32b. The first corner roller 32a is rotatably supported by the first corner pin 33a, and the second corner roller 32a.
b is rotatably supported by the second corner pin 33b. Each of the corner rollers 32a and 32b is
Shaft holes into which 3a and 33b are inserted are provided therethrough, and these shaft holes are lubricated with lubricating oil or grease. The drive roller mechanism 35 is brought into contact with a drive shaft (not shown) for running the drive belt 31 at a high speed or a low speed on the side of the recording / reproducing apparatus on which the tape cartridge 10 is loaded, and rotational driving force is transmitted. The drive belt 31 is wound around a drive sleeve 34 of the drive roller mechanism 35. The drive belt 31 has a loop shape and travels around a path fixed by the drive roller mechanism 35, that is, a path determined by the corner rollers 32a and 32b and the drive roller mechanism 35.

The cover mechanism 12 includes a cover 37. The cover 37 has an erroneous recording preventing member 38 for inhibiting recording and a detecting member for guiding detection light to an end detecting mirror 40 of the magnetic tape 22. A window 39 is provided, and the cover 37 is screwed to the substrate 15.

Here, the corner rollers 32a and 32b to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The corner rollers 32a and 32b replace the corner rollers 60 shown in FIG. In addition,
Hereinafter, the corner rollers 32a and 32b are simply referred to as corner rollers 33, and the corner pins 33a and 33b are simply referred to as corner pins 33.

The corner roller 32 is, as shown in FIG.
The shaft holes 42 are respectively penetrated through the main body 41, and the corner pins 33 are connected to the corner rollers 3 through the shaft holes 42.
2 is rotatably supported. Outer peripheral surface 4 of corner roller 32
3 has an end portion 44 having a predetermined outer diameter and a central portion 45 having an outer diameter larger than the end portion 44. Drive belt 31
Are engaged with the central portion 45 and a part of the end portion 44.

The corner roller 32 has a shaft hole 4
2 are penetrated as described above, but the inner diameter of the shaft hole 42 differs from that of the corner roller shown in FIG. 4 and changes in the axial direction. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the inside diameter of both ends 44 a in the axial direction of the shaft hole 42 is d1, and the central portion 45 of the shaft hole 42 in the axial direction.
The inside diameter of a is d2 which is larger than d1. A reservoir 46 into which lubricating oil or grease is injected is provided in a space defined by the inner peripheral surface of the central portion 45 a of the shaft hole 42 and the outer peripheral surface of the corner pin 33. That is, lubricating oil or grease is injected into the reservoir 46 to reduce the friction between the corner roller 32 and the corner pin 33. The boundary where the inner diameter of the shaft hole 42 changes from d1 to d2 or from d2 to d1 has a smooth surface, for example, a substantially cycloid shape.

Therefore, unlike the conventional corner roller, the injected lubricating oil and grease can be prevented from remaining in the reservoir 46 and flowing out to the substrate 15 below, and the tape using the corner roller 32 can be prevented. In the cartridge 10, the corner roller 32 always rotates smoothly, and the belt can be run with a constant tension and a small driving force.

The corner roller 32 is formed of a plastic material having excellent wear resistance. Further, the case has been described where the cross section of the corner roller 32 in the direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the shaft hole 42 is formed in a substantially circular shape, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may have another shape.

The corner roller to which the present invention is applied and the tape cartridge using the same have been described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It can be transformed into any shape.

[0026]

According to the present invention, since the lubricating oil or grease is stored in the reservoir provided at the center of the shaft hole of the corner roller, the lubricating oil or grease is prevented from flowing downward. Therefore, in a tape cartridge using a corner roller, the corner roller always rotates smoothly, and the belt can run with a constant tension and a small driving force.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a tape cartridge to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a corner roller to which the present invention is applied, specifically, a view of a corner roller provided with a reservoir.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the corner roller shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a conventional corner roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 tape cartridge, 11 board mechanism, 12 cover mechanism, 22 magnetic tape, 24 take-up reel, 26
Supply reel, 31 drive belt, 32a, 32b corner roller, 33a, 33b corner pin, 35 drive roller mechanism, 41 shaft portion, 42 shaft hole, 43 outer peripheral surface, 4
4 end, 45 center, 46 reservoir

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A corner roller on which a belt of a tape cartridge is wound, wherein a shaft hole penetrated in an axial direction is provided, and a main body on which the belt is wound is provided on an outer peripheral surface. The inner diameter of the central part in is increased,
A corner roller for use in a tape cartridge, wherein a storage portion for storing lubricating oil or grease is provided. 2. An inner diameter of a central portion of the shaft hole in the axial direction is larger than inner diameters of both end portions.
The described corner roller. 3. The corner roller according to claim 2, wherein a boundary between the central portion and the both end portions has a smooth surface. 4. The corner roller according to claim 2, wherein a cross section of the shaft hole in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction is formed in a substantially circular shape. 5. A substrate mechanism having a substrate, a cover mechanism accommodating a tape supply reel and a tape take-up reel around which a tape-shaped recording medium is wound, and at least one guide pin for guiding the tape-shaped recording medium. A corner roller around which a drive belt for driving at least one of the tape supply reel and the tape take-up reel is wound, wherein the corner roller is provided with an axial hole penetrated in an axial direction; A tape cartridge having a main body on which the belt is wound on an outer peripheral surface, an inner diameter of a central portion of the shaft hole in the axial direction is increased, and a storage portion for storing lubricating oil or grease is provided. 6. An inner diameter of a central portion of the shaft hole in the axial direction is larger than inner diameters of both end portions.
The tape cartridge as described. 7. The tape cartridge according to claim 6, wherein a boundary between the central portion and the both ends has a smooth surface. 8. The tape cartridge according to claim 7, wherein a cross section of the shaft hole in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction is formed in a substantially circular shape. 9. The tape cartridge according to claim 8, wherein lubricating oil or grease is injected into said reservoir.