Xerox Corporation

Duo-tang, Inc.

Ampex Corporation

Peter D Doninelli

Howard R Mullin

Dennis C Stark

Marc J Lalouette

Kenneth A Weza

A combination of a tape cassette and a tape drive motor wherein a shaft is connected to a tape reel. A tape reel support is mounted to the housing of the cassette and a tape reel shaft extends through the support. Bearings are carried by the support for rotatably supporting the tape reel shaft and thereby the tape reel on the cassette housing. The motor has a rotor rotatable about an axis with the rotor being loosely mounted in the motor when a cassette is not in the tape drive. In one embodiment of the invention, the rotor carries a magnet which in combination with magnetically attractive material carried by the shaft, operates to connect the rotor to the shaft to effect a driving relationship between the rotor and shaft when the cassette is in the tape drive. The bearings on the cassette for the tape reel shaft served as the sole bearings for the rotor for rotational support when the rotor rotates and drives the shaft and thereby the tape reel. In another embodiment of the invention, one axial end of the rotor is connected to the tape reel shaft and the opposite axial end has a pointed end which engages pivot bearings to render stability to the rotor against possible rotor whip when the rotor is rotating. In this embodiment, the rotor is primarily supported for rotation by the bearings on the cassette and is secondarily supported by the pivot bearings on the motor housing.

Tape cassette and drive motor with rotor rotatably supported by cassette

Disclosed herein is a single piece molded locking snap ring assembly for use in holding looseleaf sheets together as in a two or three-ring binder. The assembly is a one-piece molded construction including an elongated longitudinal base section having upright retaining levers at each end, extending between two pivotally opposed ring support sections. Integral reduced cross section living hinge sections joining the base and ring sections and provide pivotal connection therein. The ring sections carry opposed ring segments for movement toward and away from one another into closed and open positions respectively. Integrally molded locking arms mounted at each end of the ring support sections carry free ends having oblique surfaces for contacting and pushing respective levers outward and projecting ledges having latching surfaces for latching with central channels defined in the levers. Offset ends of separated ring segment pairs and torsional spring members therebetween included in the ring sections provide tension to hold latching ledges in locked position in the latching channels.

Molded binder assembly

A tape cassette has a tape extending from one tape reel around a tape engagement area of the periphery of a guide member and to another tape reel when the tape is in a normal operating position when the cassette is in a tape drive. The cassette includes a tape lift off mechanism which is mounted for rotatable movement around the periphery of the guide member from the normal tape operating position, where the tape lift off mechanism is out of contact with said tape, to a tape storage position where the tape lift off mechanism engages the tape and disengages the tape from at least a portion of the tape engagement area of the guide member when the cassette is removed from the tape drive. In addition to the tape lift off mechanism, a brake mechanism is provided that engages flanges of both tape reels when the cassette is removed from the tape drive to prevent the reels from rotating during storage of the cassette. The brake mechanism is connected to the tape lift off mechanism and is moved by the tape lift off mechanism into engagement with the flanges of both reels when the tape lift off mechanism lifts the tape from the tape guide when the cassette is removed from the tape drive. The brake mechanism is permitted by the tape mechanism to move away from the flanges when the cassette is inserted into the tape drive.

Tape cassette with anti-sticktion mechanism

A tape transport system has a cassette housing with two stationary generally cylindrical guide members. The bottom wall has two openings extending therethrough, each of which receive one end of a respective one of the guide members. Each guide member is bonded to the bottom wall by an epoxy resin which forms the sole connection of each of the guide members to the cassette housing. Each of the guide members has an outer exposed substantially precise registration surface at the one end which is received in the bottom wall opening. A cassette tape drive has a pair of spaced apart substantially precise registration and support surfaces which is of a dimension to engage solely the precise registration surface of a respective one of the guide members. The registration surfaces of the guide members and the cassette tape drive are all aligned in the same plane and form a reference plane.

Tape drive and cassette with precise registration

In a tape drive system, a cassette comprises a pair of spaced apart flangeless hubs and an access opening between the hubs. Each hub is provided with a cap of magnetically attractive material. Each hub receives a rotatable spindle which has a magnetic portion at its upper end. There are abutting surfaces on each hub and spindle which act as registration surfaces to provide a contiguous but non engaging relationship between the spindle magnetic portion and the hub cap of magnetically attractive material. The magnetic attraction between the magnetic portion of each spindle and its respective hub is the sole force urging each hub into engagement with its respective spindle. The abutting registration surfaces are located on each spindle relative to the bottom wall of the cassette so as to suspend its respective hub between the housing top and bottom walls. On each side of the access opening, there is mounted a cylindrical guide member which has a stationary flange at each end and a stationary central grooved portion between the flanges. The grooved surface comprises concave grooves providing a surface roughness average between 20 and 40 microinches. Each of said hubs has a tape engagement portion which has a tape center line axially located at the center thereof and each of the guide members has a tape center line axially located thereon at the center of said grooved central portion. When connected to a tape drive, the tape center line of each of the guide members and the hubs are substantially aligned with each other in the same plane. The tape extends in a tape transport path from one hub directly to and engaging the grooved central portion of one guide member and across the access opening directly to and engaging the grooved central portion of the other guide member and directly to the other hub. The guide members are the sole members in the cassette engaged by the tape in the tape transport path between said hubs.

High speed tape transport system

Disclosed herein is a hinge binder device for retaining paper goods and the like. The device includes an anchoring member having leg portions for retaining the goods and a locking member for releaseably locking the leg portions. The locking member includes a support member, a wing member, and a hinge for pivotally connecting the support and wing members. Additionally, the locking member includes a release for releaseably locking the support and wing members. The leg portions are adapted for compatible fit between the wing and support members, and in one embodiment include molded teeth which engage mating teeth on the support and wing members for a secure fit. In a preferred embodiment, the anchoring member includes a plurality of leg portions for use with multi-hole punched paper goods. The locking member includes a plurality of corresponding wing members hinged to the support member for locking the leg portions.

Hinge binder device

A high speed tape transport cassette comprises a pair of spaced apart flangeless hubs and an access space between the hubs. On each side of the access space, there is mounted a cylindrical guide member which has a stationary flange at each end and a stationary central grooved portion between the flanges. The grooved surface comprises concave grooves extending in a direction transverse to the axis of the guide and providing a surface roughness average between 20 and 40 microinches. The tape extends in a tape transport path from one hub directly to and engaging the grooved central portion of one guide member and across the access opening directly to and engaging the grooved central portion of the other guide member and directly to the other hub. The guide members are the sole members in the cassette engaged by the tape in the tape transport path between the hubs. Each hub is provided with a cap of magnetically attractive material and is loosely mounted in the cassette for free axial movement between the top and bottom walls of the cassette.

High speed transport cassette

Disclosed herein is a molded locking snap ring assembly for use in holding looseleaf sheets together as in a two or three-ring binder. The assembly is preferably a one-piece molded construction including an elongated longitudinal base section having upright retaining levers at each end, extending between two pivotally opposed ring support sections. Integral reduced cross section hinge sections joining the base and ring sections provide pivotal connection therein. The ring sections carry opposed ring segments for movement toward and away from one another into closed and open positions respectively. Integrally molded locking arms mounted at each end of the ring support sections carry free ends having oblique surfaces for contacting and pushing respective levers outward and projecting ledges having latching surfaces for latching with central channels defined in the levers. Offset ends of separated ring segment pairs and torsional spring members therebetween included in the ring sections provide tension to hold latching ledges in locked position in the latching channels.

To measure the protrusion of a magnetic transducing head from a head-supporting and tape-guiding structure of the rotary drum-type, for example, a known gauge means is mounted on a base arranged to ameliorate excessive bearing pressure against the head and damage thereto and to the gauge apparatus.

Growing community of inventors

Morgan Hill, CA, United States of America

Peter D Doninelli