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AssigneeVerbatim Corporation
InventorsDonald Stanley, Kenneth Sheppard, Ritchie J. Lee
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A drive roller for a belt-driven tape cartridge is molded of composite polymeric material in a single step to include outer segment and inner segment integrally formed together with a radial web segment between the outer and inner segments to provide highly concentric operating surfaces on the outer segment and in the inner segment. Electrical conductivity throughout the molded drive roller is provided by including in the composite material a quantity of carbon powder, and selective shrinkage of the composite material during cooling from molding temperatures provides desirable bearing surface within the inner bore through the inner segment. Thrust bearing surfaces at the ends of the inner segment engage mating bearing surfaces that include lubricant traps to inhibit migration of lubricant away from the bearing surfaces of the drive roller. Stepped inner bore and axially spaced corresponding stepped axle diameters promotes lower frictional drag, provides a reservoir for lubricant, and facilitates removal of the molded component from its molding cavity.
A method for molding within a mold cavity a homogeneous drive roller having a body of concentric configuration with an outer segment that includes an upper region of largest outer diameter and a lower region of smaller outer diameter than the outer diameter of the upper region and that includes a crowned outer surface which is concentric with the upper region of largest diameter, and with an inner segment including an internal bore concentric with the outer diameters of the upper and lower regions, and with a web segment interposed in radial orientation in integral formation between the outer and inner segments near the crowned outer surface of the lower region of the outer segment, the method comprising the steps of:
A method for molding within a mold cavity a homogeneous drive roller having a body of concentric configuration with an outer segment that includes an upper region of largest outer diameter and a lower region of smaller outer diameter than the outer diameter of the upper region and that includes a crowned outer surface which is concentric with the upper region of largest diameter, and with an inner segment including an internal bore concentric with the outer diameters of the upper and lower regions, and with a web segment interposed in radial orientation in integral formation between the outer and inner segments near the crowned outer surface of the lower region of the outer segment, and wherein the mold cavity includes a mandrel disposed therein to form the internal bore in the inner segment, the method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.