US 5,293,283 A · Tape guiding assembly for recording and/or reproducing apparatus employing ultrasonically vibrated tape guides · patentgrep

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Abstract

In a tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus having a guide drum with rotary heads for recording or reproducing signals in slant tracks scanned on a longitudinally transported tape wrapped helically about a circumferential surface of the drum between a tape-entry position and a tape-exit position; a tape-guiding assembly, which may be part of a tape loading device, includes ultrasonically vibrated tape guides engageably by the tape adjacent the tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, auxiliary guide elements angled relative to the vibrated tape guides, respectively, and each being disposed for engagement by the tape between the respective vibrated tape guide and the tape-entry or tape exit position, respectively, with such auxiliary guide elements having respective surface projections extending therefrom at positions therealong corresponding to widthwise portions of the tape at which the rotary heads scan the tape adjacent the tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, so that the surface projections on the auxiliary guide elements relatively increase tension in the tape at the respective widthwise portions for minimizing errors that may arise in the signals recorded or reproduced in the tracks adjacent the tape-entry and tape-exit positions due to vibrations transmitted along the tape from the vibrated tape guides.

Claims30

Dependent claims

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising:

a guide drum with rotary head means thereon moving in a planar orbit coinciding with a circumferential surface of the drum for recording or reproducing signals in slant tracks scanned on a longitudinally transported tape wrapped helically about said circumferential surface between a tape-entry position and a tape-exit position;
and
a tape-guiding assembly including first and second ultrasonically vibrated tape guides engageable by the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, first and second auxiliary guide elements angled relative to said first and second vibrated tape guides, respectively, and being disposed for engagement by the tape between said first vibrated tape guide and said tape-entry position and between said second vibrated tape guide and said tape-exit position, respectively, said first and second auxiliary guide elements having respective surface projections extending therefrom at positions therealong corresponding to widthwise portions of the tape at which said rotary head means scan the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, said first vibrated tape guide and first auxiliary guide element are mounted on a first slider and said second vibrated tape guide and second auxiliary guide element are mounted on a second slider, and said first and second sliders are mounted for movement between unloaded and loaded positions, and means for tensioning the tape so that said surface projections on said auxiliary guide elements relatively increase tension in the tape at said widthwise portions for minimizing error that may arise in the signals recorded or reproduced in said tracks adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions due to vibrations transmitted along the tape from said vibrated tape guides;
and further comprising main loading means for moving said sliders from said unloaded positions to said loaded positions which includes stopper means fixed at each of said loaded positions for determining the position of the respective slider in said loaded position;
and mutually engaging contact means on each of said sliders and on the respective one of said stopper means which are inclined upwardly and forwardly, in the direction of said movement, from a perpendicular orientation to the plane of said movement, for supplying energizing power to said vibrated tape guide on the respective slider when the latter is disposed at said loaded position thereof.

2 more elements

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising:

a guide drum with rotary head means thereon moving in a planar orbit coinciding with a circumferential surface of the drum for recording or reproducing signals in slant tracks scanned on a longitudinally transported tape wrapped helically about said circumferential surface between a tape-entry position and a tape-exit position;
a tape-guiding assembly including:
first and second ultrasonically vibrated tape guides engageable by the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, each of said vibrated tape guides includes a support shaft, a cylindrical bushing slidable on the support shaft which has a plurality of bearing rings spaced apart in the axial direction on the outer surface of said bushing, with at least said bearing rings being of a shock-absorbing material, a tubular tape guide diametrically dimensioned to extend telescopically over said bushing and be supported, at the inner surface of the tubular tape guide, by said bearing rings, and ultrasonic vibration generating means fixed to said tubular tape guide at a side of the latter and being operative to generate an ultrasonic standing wave oscillation in said tubular tape guide with nodes thereof substantially at said bearing rings, a base from which said support shaft extends upwardly, a threaded upper end portion on said support shaft, upper and lower flanges extending around said support shaft at opposite ends of said bushing and projecting beyond the outer surface of said tubular tape guide, spring means about said support shaft between said base and said lower flange, a nut engaged with said threaded upper end portion of the support shaft and being adjustable for displacing said flanges, bushing and tubular tape guide, as a unit along said support shaft against the yieldable resistance of said spring means, a head on said nut and a spacer between said head and said upper flange, said head having a circular rib depending from a lower face thereof, and said spacer having a part-circular arcuate slot receiving a portion of said circular rib so that said upper flange is canted relative to the axis of said shaft,
first and second auxiliary guide elements angled relative to said first and second vibrated tape guides, respectively, and being disposed for engagement by the tape between said first vibrated tape guide and said tape-entry position and between said second vibrated tape guide and said tape-exit position, respectively, said first and second auxiliary guide elements having respective surface projections extending therefrom at positions therealong corresponding to widthwise portions of the tape at which said rotary head means scan the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, and
means for tensioning the tape so that said surface projections on said auxiliary guide elements relatively increase tension in the tape at said widthwise portions for minimizing errors that may arise in the signals recorded or reproduced in said tracks adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions due to vibrations transmitted along the tape from said vibrated tape guides.

2 more elements

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising:

a guide drum with rotary head means thereon moving in a planar orbit coinciding with a circumferential surface of the drum for recording or reproducing signals in slant tracks scanned on a longitudinally transported tape wrapped helically about said circumferential surface between a tape-entry position and a tape-exit position, said tape extending between supply and take-up reels in a cassette,
a tape-guiding assembly including:
first and second ultrasonically vibrated tape guides engageable by the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, first and second auxiliary guide elements angled relative to said first and second vibrated tape guides, respectively, and being disposed for engagement by the tape between said first vibrated tape guide and said tape-entry position and between said second vibrated tape guide and said tape-exit position, respectively, said first and second auxiliary guide elements having respective surface projections extending therefrom at positions therealong corresponding to widthwise portions of the tape at which said rotary head means scan the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, said first vibrated tape guide and first auxiliary guide element are mounted on a first slider and said second vibrated tape guide and second auxiliary guide element are mounted on a second slider, and said first and second sliders are mounted for movements between unloaded positions, in which said vibrated tape guides and auxiliary guide elements are engageable with the tape in said cassette, and loaded positions, in which said first vibrated tape guide and auxiliary guide element and said second vibrated tape guide and auxiliary guide element are disposed adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively;
main loading means for moving said sliders from said unloaded positions to said loaded positions so that said vibrated tape guides and auxiliary guide elements withdraw the tape from the cassette and wrap the tape about the circumferential surface of the guide drum between said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, and
means for tensioning the tape so that said surface projections on said auxiliary guide elements relatively increase tension in the tape at said widthwise portions for minimizing errors that may arise in the signals recorded or reproduced in said tracks adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions due to vibrations transmitted along the tape from said vibrated tape guides, said means for tensioning the tape including at least one auxiliary loading guide element;
and further comprising a support arm carrying said auxiliary loading guide element adjacent one end of said support arm and being mounted for angular movements about a pivot axis adjacent the other end of the support arm between an unloaded position in which said auxiliary loading guide element is engageable with the tape in the cassette and a loaded position in which said auxiliary loading guide element also withdraws tape from the cassette and forms, in the withdrawn tape, a bight directed laterally away from said guide drum between the cassette and said loaded position of the first vibrated tape guide, a driving arm connection with said main loading means to be driven thereby, a pair of pivotally connected links extending between said driving arm and said support arm and being relatively angularly movable between an extended condition and a contracted condition, and limiter spring means urging said links to said extended condition for moving said support arm to said loaded position thereof when said main loading means move said sliders to said loaded positions of the latter, said links being moved to said contracted condition against the force of said limiter spring means when the tape tension in said bight exceeds a predetermined value, whereupon, said support arm is free to move substantially toward said unloaded position thereof for relieving the excess tension in the tape, and
said main loading means including counter-rotatable first and second drive rings extending around said guide drum, first and second guide rails along which said first and second sliders are movable between said unloaded and loaded positions thereof, and drive links pivotally connected between said first and second drive rings and said first and second sliders, respectively;
and gear transmission means for angularly turning said driving arm in response to turning of one of said drive rings and having torque limiting means interposed therein.

5 more elements

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising:

a guide drum with rotary head means thereon moving in a planar orbit coinciding with a circumferential surface of the drum for recording or reproducing signals in slant tracks scanned on a longitudinally transported tape wrapped helically about said circumferential surface between a tape-entry position and a tape-exit position, said tape extending between supply and take-up reels in a cassette;
a tape-guiding assembly including:
first and second ultrasonically vibrated tape guides engageable by the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, first and second auxiliary guide elements angled relative to said first and second vibrated tape guides, respectively, and being disposed for engagement by the tape between said first vibrated tape guide and said tape-entry position and between said second vibrated tape guide and said tape-exit position, respectively, said first and second auxiliary guide elements having respective surface projections extending therefrom at positions therealong corresponding to widthwise portions of the tape at which said rotary head means scan the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, said first vibrated tape guide and first auxiliary guide element are mounted on a first slider and said second vibrated tape guide and second auxiliary guide element are mounted on a second slider, and said first and second sliders are mounted for movements between unloaded positions, in which said vibrated tape guides and auxiliary guide elements are engageable with the tape in said cassette, and loaded positions, in which said first vibrated tape guide and auxiliary guide element and said second vibrated tape guide and auxiliary guide element are disposed adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively;
means for tensioning the tape so that said surface projections on said auxiliary guide elements relatively increase tension in the tape at said widthwise portions for minimizing errors that may arise in the signals recorded or reproduced in said tracks adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions due to vibrations transmitted along the tape from said vibrated tape guides,
main loading means for moving said sliders from said unloaded positions to said loaded positions so that said vibrated tape guides and auxiliary guide elements withdraw the tape from the cassette and wrap the tape about the circumferential surface of the guide drum between said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, said main loading means including guide rails having surfaces on which said first and second sliders are respectively slidable between said unloaded and loaded positions, and stopper means fixed at each of said loaded positions for determining the position of the respective slider in said loaded position;
and further comprising mutually engageable contact means on each of said sliders and on the respective one of said stopper means for supplying energizing power to said vibrated tape guide on the respective slider when the latter is disposed at said loaded position thereof, said mutually engageable contact means being disposed at an end surface of said respective slider and a surface of the respective stopper means which comes into abutting relation therewith in response to movement of said respective slider to said loaded position thereof and which are inclined upwardly and forwardly, in the direction of said movement, from a perpendicular orientation to said surface of the respective guide rail.

3 more elements

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising:

a guide drum with rotary head means thereon moving in a planar orbit coinciding with a circumferential surface of the drum for recording or reproducing signals in slant tracks scanned on a longitudinally transported tape wrapped helically about said circumferential surface between a tape-entry position and a tape-exit position;
a tape-guiding assembly including:
first and second ultrasonically vibrated tape guides engageable by the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, each of said vibrated tape guides includes a support shaft, a cylindrical bushing slidable on the support shaft which has a plurality of bearing rings spaced apart in the axial direction on the outer surface of said bushing, with at least said bearing rings being of a shock-absorbing material, a tubular tape guide diametrically dimensioned to extend telescopically over said bushing and be supported, at the inner surface of the tubular tape guide, by said bearing rings, and ultrasonic vibration generating means fixed to said tubular tape guide at a side of the latter and being operative to generate an ultrasonic standing wave oscillation in said tubular tape guide with nodes thereof substantially at said bearing rings, a base from which said support shaft extends upwardly, a threaded upper end portion on said support shaft, upper and lower flanges extending around said support shaft at opposite ends of said bushing and projecting beyond the outer surface of said tubular tape guide, spring means about said support shaft between said base and said lower flange, a nut engaged with said threaded upper end portion of the support shaft and being adjustable for displacing said flanges, bushing and tubular tape guide, as a unit along said support shaft against the yieldable resistance of said spring means, a head on said nut and a spacer between said head and said upper flange, said head having a circular rib depending from a lower face thereof, and said spacer having a part-circular arcuate slot receiving a portion of said circular rib so that said upper flange is canted relative to the axis of said shaft,
first and second auxiliary guide elements angled relative to said first and second vibrated tape guides, respectively, and being disposed for engagement by the tape between said first vibrated tape guide and said tape-entry position and between said second vibrated tape guide and said tape-exit position, respectively, said first and second auxiliary guide elements having respective surface projections extending therefrom at positions therealong corresponding to widthwise portions of the tape at which said rotary head means scan the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, said first vibrated tape guide and first auxiliary guide element are mounted on first slider and said second vibrated tape guide and second auxiliary guide element are mounted on a second slider, and said first and second sliders are mounted for movement between unloaded and loaded positions, and
means for tensioning the tape so that said surface projections on said auxiliary guide elements relatively increase tension in the tape at said widthwise portions for minimizing errors that may arise in the signals recorded or reproduced in said tracks adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions due to vibrations transmitted along the tape from said vibrated tape guides;
and further comprising main loading means for moving said sliders from said unloaded position to said loaded position which includes stopper means fixed at each of said loaded positions for determining the position of the respective slider in said loaded position.

3 more elements

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising:

a guide drum with rotary head means thereon moving in a planar orbit coinciding with a circumferential surface of the drum for recording or reproducing signals in slant tracks scanned on a longitudinally transported tape wrapped helically about said circumferential surface between a tape-entry position and a tape-exit position, said tape extending between supply and take-up reels in a cassette,
a tape-guiding assembly including:
first and second ultrasonically vibrated tape guides engageable by the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, first and second auxiliary guide elements angled relative to said first and second vibrated tape guides, respectively, and being disposed for engagement by the tape between said first vibrated tape guide and said tape-entry position and between said second vibrated tape guide and said tape-exit position, respectively, said first and second auxiliary guide elements having respective surface projections extending therefrom at positions therealong corresponding to widthwise portions of the tape at which said rotary head means scan the tape adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively, said first vibrated tape guide and first auxiliary guide element are mounted on a first slider and said second vibrated tape guide and second auxiliary guide element are mounted on a second slider, and said first and second sliders are mounted for movement between unloaded and loaded positions, and wherein in said unloaded position, said vibrated tape guides and auxiliary guide elements are engageable with the tape in said cassette, and in said loaded position, said first vibrated tape guide and auxiliary guide element and said second vibrated tape guide and auxiliary guide element are disposed adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, respectively;
main loading means moving said sliders from said unloaded positions to said loaded positions so that said vibrated tape guides and auxiliary guide elements withdraw the tape from the cassette and wrap the tape about the circumferential surface of the guide drum between said tape-entry and tape-exit positions, said main loading means including stopper means fixed at each of said loaded positions for determining the position of the respective slider in said loaded position, and
means for tensioning the tape so that said surface projections on said auxiliary guide elements relatively increase tension in the tape at said widthwise portions for minimizing errors that may arise in the signals recorded or reproduced in said tracks adjacent said tape-entry and tape-exit positions due to vibrations transmitted along the tape from said vibrated tape guides, said means for tensioning the tape including at least one auxiliary loading guide element;
and further comprising a support arm carrying said auxiliary loading guide element adjacent one end of said support arm and being mounted for angular movements about a pivot axis adjacent the other end of the support arm between an unloaded position in which said auxiliary loading guide element is engageable with the tape in the cassette and a loaded position in which said auxiliary loading guide element also withdraws tape from the cassette and forms, in the withdrawn tape, a bight directed laterally away from said guide drum between the cassette and said loaded position of the first vibrated tape guide, a driving arm connected with said main loading means to be driven thereby, a pair of pivotally connected links extending between said driving arm and said support arm and being relatively angularly movable between an extended condition and a contracted condition, and limiter spring means urging said links to said extended condition for moving said support arm to said loaded position thereof when said main loading means move said sliders to said loaded positions of the latter, said links being moved to said contracted condition against the force of said limiter spring means when the tape tension in said bight exceeds a predetermined value, whereupon, said support arm is free to move substantially toward said unloaded position thereof for relieving the excess tension in the tape, and
said main loading means including counter-rotatable first and second drive rings extending around said guide drum, first and second guide rails along which said first and second sliders are movable between said unloaded and loaded positions thereof, and drive links pivotally connected between said first and second drive rings and said first and second sliders, respectively;
and gear transmission means for angularly turning said driving arm in response to turning of one of said drive rings and having torque limiting means interposed therein.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.