Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

Imation Corporation

James J Wulfing

Robert M Rood

Jon R Clark

David L Hubbling

Jerome V Gagnier

Lee M Langseth

Craig A Bane

Paul D Rumpza

Gregory A Theis

A cartridge for a floppy diskette has a cover shell and a back shell. Fabric liners are provided on the interior of the cartridge so that the floppy diskette is cleaned when it rotates. A lifter is provided on the back shell underneath the fabric liner. A raised region is formed on the inner surface of the cover shell under the fabric liner and opposite the lifter on the back shell. The raised region rises from the plane of the cartridge shell beginning at the periphery and rising until a central raised area is reached. The angle of inclination, .alpha., is less than 20.degree.. This minimizes the likelihood that the raised region will cause an imprint on the floppy diskette, thereby damaging it, if the cover and back shells of the cartridge are squeezed together.

Raised-region having sloped edges under cleaning fabric in flexible

A write protect mechanism includes an indicator element configured for movement within a channel to indicate a write condition and a write protect condition of a data storage diskette. The indicator element can be integrally molded with the diskette housing. The indicator element is disengaged from the housing, rotated approximately ninety degrees, and reinserted in the channel prior to closing the diskette. The diskette permanently retains the indicator element within the channel. The indicator element may include spring members for exerting a bias against structures formed along side walls of the channel during movement. The spring members may include indentations for engaging the structures formed on the side walls. The structures are aligned with positions indicating either the write condition or write protect condition of the diskette.

Write protect mechanism with spring element for data storage diskette

A cartridge including a cover casing, a back casing, and a disc-shaped medium provided between the casings. The cover casing has a centrally-located, raised surface on its interior surface which is chemically and physically integral with the cover casing. When the cartridge is inserted into a drive for reading/writing the medium, a drive pin from the drive contacts the raised surface. The cover casing is comprised of high-impact polystyrene containing silicone.

Recording disc cartridge having centrally-located, integral, raised wear

Front face of a write-protect latch on a disk cartridge

A disk cartridge including a rotatable disk, a cartridge case for housing the disk, and a U-shaped shutter slidably disposed on the front wall of the cartridge case is disclosed. The cartridge case includes upper and lower walls, and a head access opening formed in both walls between a central axis and the front wall to access the disk. The access opening is opened and closed by the shutter which is biased closed. An indented portion is formed on the walls for receiving the shutter. Two tabs are formed in one shutter arm portion and are received in a slot formed in the cartridge case.

Lanced shutter tab for disk cartridges

A tape spool provides resistance to disassembly from shocks caused by rough handling by providing an annular hub projection extending axially of the spool hub to define a shoulder which interacts with an inner radial wall of a disk providing the second flange of the spool. The inner radial wall of the disk defines a central hole surrounding the hub projection, with contact between the radial wall of the disk and the shoulder of the hub restricting radial movement of the disk with respect to the hub. The disk and the hub also may include intermeshing splines which prevent relative rotation of the disk and the hub.

Videocassette tape spool having a wear button

A videotape cassette has a visor-type door, at each end of which is an ear or corner part at which a pin hinges the door to a housing. As in the prior art, the door is biased to either a fully opened or fully closed position. In the novel cassette, the biasing results from a free-standing finger formed in a wall of the housing, which finger acts as a spring against a squarish platform on the inner face of an ear of the door.

Hinged visor-type door for tape cassette

Videocassette tape spool, the wear button of which is a protuberance of a small plastic piece which may serve to lock the parts of the spool together. By using a small piece for the wear button, substantial savings in raw material can be realized since highly wear-resistant plastics tend to be quite expensive. The novel tape spool also can be assembled less expensively compared to tape spools now used in videocassettes.

A tape roller has a plastic sleeve which is journalled between bearings formed in opposing walls of a plastic cassette housing. The wall is cored out around at least one of those bearings so that the bearing is supported only by bridges which bow outwardly to receive an oversize sleeve. Preferably there are two such bridges at the bearing, the thicknesses of which are about 20% that of the wall.

Tape roller for a tape cassette

A prior tape spool comprises two hub parts which are wedged together to pinch a tape leader between the walls of a narrow passage that opens through the tape-winding surface. The novel tape spool differs from the prior tape spool in that the passage pinches the leader only in a region remote from the opening through the tape-winding surface, so that if the leader is accidentally crimped or off center, it would tend to straighten out before emerging from the opening.

Tape spool

The length of tape that can be wound into a videotape cassette such as Betamax or VHS can be increased by modifying the casette to employ the braking mechanism of the invention. This involves a flanged reel in which teeth are formed only in the outer face of one flange, and a brake lever which has a finger formed with a tooth-engaging ramp that is inclined at 30.degree.-60.degree. to the inner face of said flange when the finger fits between adjacent teeth.

Growing community of inventors

Afton, MN, United States of America

James J Wulfing