Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

Imation Corporation

David P Smith

Robert A Von Behren

Koichi Sano

David D Madsen

Wolfgang G Schoeppel

Kam Wah Law

Jeffrey W McCutcheon

Christopher J Zwettler

Dean E Sitz

Anthony B Ferguson

Daniel Charles Egan

Mary R Hable

Randy S Bay

David L Tussey

William L Howard, Jr

R Galen McCrea, Jr

Saurin J Shah

Karunasena A Alahapperuma

The data cartridge drive belt of this invention comprises a layer of a low stiffness belt material and a layer of a high stiffness belt material. By inserting the belt into the tape cartridge so that the high stiffness belt material is adjacent to the tape pack and the low stiffness material is away from the tape pack the neutral axis in the belt is shifted toward the tape pack.

Composite data cartridge drive belt

The present invention provides a novel one-piece capstan for a tape cartridge which provides good static dissipative properties and wear resistance. The capstan material of the present invention has a charge decay time of no more than 5 seconds as measured according to Mil B-81705C standard. The capstan material also has a flexural modulus of at least 200,000 psi (1379 MPa). The capstan comprises a hard, dimensionally stable polymer and a static dissipating polymer. The capstan also has an improved structure and geometry which enables the part to be easily molded, reduces drive force requirements with a reduction of material from the prior art design, but with no significant loss of performance properties.

One piece capstan for a tape cartridge

A belt-driven tape cartridge with reduced tape pack deformation and more spatially homogeneous tape tension. The belt driven tape cartridge has a supply side tape hub and a winding side tape hub both rotatably mounted on the base. The tape is wound around the hubs to form a tape pack about each hub. A drive roller is rotatably mounted on the base. First and second rollers are rotatably mounted on the base. The drive belt is engaged on the drive roller, the tape pack on the supply side tape hub, the first and second corner rollers, and the tape pack on the winding side tape hub. The pack belt is engaged between the first and second corner rollers and disposed on the inner side of the drive belt. The drive belt has a width less than a width of the pack belt such that tape pack deformation is reduced and the tape tension is more spatially homogeneous.

Belt-driven data cartridge with reduced tape pack deformation

A pack belt or similar mechanism is provided in a two hub, belt-driven data cartridge to press against the tape pack on the take-up hub side of the cartridge when approximately half of the tape has wound onto that hub. The added load from this pressure reduces the speed of the tape-up hub, which in turn reduces the speed differential between the two hubs. Since the speed differential between the hubs causes a gradient in tape tension (bow-tie) as the tape is moved from BOT to EOT, this reduces or eliminates the bow-tie. Adjustment of the relative tensions between the drive belt and the pack belt allows adjustment of the bow-tie, ranging from the normal bow-tie, to near zero bow-tie, to a negative bow-tie. Coating one side each of the drive belt and the pack belt, then having the coated side of the drive belt contact the uncoated side of the pack belt further reduces bow-tie. Combining the pack belt with self-acting hydrodynamically lubricated guides significantly improves the efficiency of the cartridge/drive system at low tape travel speeds.

Belt-driven data cartridge with pack belt

A drive belt for a belt-driven recording tape cartridge, wherein the drive belt has inside and outside major surfaces which comprise a plurality of bubble burst discontinuities. Processes for making drive belts with bubble burst discontinuities are also described.

Drive belt textured with bubble burst discontinuities for use in

A corner belt guide roller for use in a belt driven tape cartridge is disclosed. The roller controls drag on the driving belt to maintain magnetic tape tension and reduce variability in the cartridge operation. The guide roller is mounted on a pivot pin through an inner cylindrical surface. The inner cylindrical surface has an oriented controlled texture including axial splines. This enables the guide roller to have controlled friction with its pivot pin, and provide a predetermined constant amount of drag to the driving belt to improve the consistency of the tape cartridge operation.

Drive belt corner guide roller with structured inner surface for a data

A belt driven reel-to-reel tape cartridge includes two tape guides for guiding the tape to and from respective tape reels. The tape guides have a large radius of curvature and are flanged to form a long trough to guide and align the tape to improve tape tracking. This also provides hydrodynamic lift by creating an air film between the tape and the tape guide to reduce the friction between the tape backside and the tape guide. The radius of curvature can be constant or can vary from a larger radius at the ends to a smaller radius in the middle.

Tape guide for a data cartridge

A thin, continuous, flexible drive belt for a belt-driven data cartridge. The belt has a rectangular rib which extends longitudinally along the center of the face of the belt that contacts a tape pack contained within the cartridge. The ribbed belt allows the tape pack to operate at greater transport speeds and acceleration rates by creating a pair of air channels extending the full length of the contact area between the belt and tape pack, resulting in effective removal of air at the belt/tape pack interface.

Ribbed-belt for belt-driven tape pack

In a tape which is driven by an elastic pretensioned belt, discontinuities such as embossings in the surface of the belt promote the release of air from between the belt and the underlying tape, thus minimizing variations in tape tension and tape speed.

Growing community of inventors

Hudson, WI, United States of America

David P Smith