Information tape cassette
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorSei Jinsenji
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tape cassette which automatically brings the tape into direct engagement with the detection head and into indirect engagement with the drive wheel of a machine when the tape cassette is pushed in one direction into the machine. Disposed in the cassette is a rotary roller which is brought, at the flanges provided on its outer periphery, into engagement with the drive wheel and driven thereby. The rotary roller cooperates with other guide members to maintain at the appropriate tension an endless belt which backs up the inner side of a portion of the tape which is paid out from one of the cores and wound onto the other core.
Claims8
An information tape cassette for a machine having a tape head and a driving capstan, said cassette comprising a case formed therewith with a first, a second and a third opening, wherein when the cassette is positioned in the machine said first opening faces the tape head, said second opening faces the driving capstan, and said third opening faces a different possible location for a driving capstan, a pair of cores rotatably disposed in said case and each having means for securing thereto one end of a continuous length of a tape so that the tape can be wound on the cores in roll form and a paid-out portion of the tape can connect the rolls of tape wound on the cores, and an endless belt and means for confining the belt to move along a path in which the belt backs said paid-out portion of the tape and brings said paid-out tape portion into a position in which it faces said first opening of the case so as to be engaged by the head facing said first opening from outside the case when the cassette is positioned in the machine, said belt partially engaging under a predetermined tension a portion of the outer periphery of each of the rolls of said tape formed on said cores, said confining means comprising a plurality of guide members arranged such that the endless belt trained about said guide members can move along said path, said guide members comprising at least a first and a second rotary roller arranged such that the endless belt is trained over said rollers, with the paid-out portion of the tape being over the belt portions trained on the rollers, and said first and second rollers face and are adjacent to said second and third case openings respectively, said first roller engaging said driving capstan when the cassette is in position in the machine and said second roller being disposed to engage a driving capstan disposed at said different location, whereby the first rotary roller can be driven by said driving capstan and said second rotary roller can be engaged and driven by another driving capstan in the same or a different machine.
A tape cassette for a tape machine having a tape head and tape driving means, said cassette comprising:
- a case having a plurality of side openings and a side aperture;
- a pair of spaced-apart cores rotatably mounted in the case, each core having means for securing thereto one end of a continuous length of tape which can be wound in roll form on each core so as to leave a paid-out tape portion connecting the rolls of tape wound on the cores;
- a plurality of guide rollers rotatably mounted in the case, each guide roller being adjacent to and facing a different one of said case openings;
- an endless belt trained on said guide rollers and engaging each of the rolls of tape on said cores at a predetermined tension, said endless belt further engaging the paid-out tape portion at a location adjacent to and facing said case aperture, with the paid-out tape portion being between the belt and each opening and between the belt and the aperture, whereby the paid-out tape portion can be accessed through said aperture by said head from outside the case and any of said guide rollers can be accessed by said tape driving means through any of said openings to thereby rotate the rolls of tape wound on the cores and to move the paid-out tape portion with respect to said case aperture and said tape head.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.