Tape cartridge drive with cartridge door opening mechanism

A tape cartridge door opening mechanism for use in a tape drive unit to open a door on the cartridge to expose a portion of the tape for contact with a read/write head, the cartridge door being of the type that includes a closure for the exposed portion of a tape, a pivot about which the closure rotates to expose the tape, and a door opening tab on a side of the pivot axis opposite from the closure and against which a force is applied to rotate the closure to its open position, the door opening mechanism comprising:

• a rotatable lever having an outwardly projecting door sensing finger and an outwardly projecting cartridge door opening finger, the two fingers projecting from the body of the lever at different elevations and at different angles;
• pivot means for mounting the lever in the tape drive unit near the end of the travel of the cartridge into the tape drive unit, the pivot means allowing the body of the lever to rotate about an axis essentially normal to the plane of travel of the cartridge into the tape drive unit;
• and
• means for retaining the lever in an inoperative position in which the cartridge sensing finger is in position for contact with a portion of the cartridge housing as the cartridge housing travels toward an operating position in the tape drive unit and in which the cartridge door opening finger is out of pressure contact with the cartridge door tab upon initial contact between the cartridge sensing finger and the cartridge housing;
• the fingers being rotatable in unison about the pivot upon an insertion force applied to the cartridge against the cartridge sensing finger, the door opening finger being at an angle relative to the door sensing finger such that the insertion force applied to the cartridge sensing finger causes the door opening finger to rotate and apply pressure to the cartridge door opening tab to pivot the closure portion of the cartridge door toward an open position.