Tape cartridge drive with cartridge door opening mechanism

Abstract

A door opening mechanism in a tape drive opens a door on a tape cartridge to expose a portion of the tape for contact with a movable read/write head. The cartridge is inserted endwise into a receptacle in the tape drive housing. The head is moved to a retracted position away from the cartridge so the head avoids interference with the cartridge being inserted into the receptacle. The door opening mechanism includes a rotating lever having outwardly projecting door sensing and cartridge door opening fingers. The two fingers project from the lever at different elevations and angles. A pivot mounts the lever to rotate about an axis essentially normal to the plane of travel of the cartridge into the receptacle. The lever is retained in an inoperative position with the cartridge sensing finger positioned for contact with a portion of the cartridge housing as the cartridge is inserted toward an operating position in the tape drive. The cartridge door opening finger is out of pressure contact with a cartridge door opening tab upon initial contact between the cartridge sensing finger and the cartridge. The fingers rotate in unison about the pivot under an insertion force applied to the cartridge against the cartridge sensing finger. This automatically rotates the door opening finger against the tab to pivot the cartridge door toward an open position. Once the cartridge door is open and the door to the tape drive unit is locked, the read/write head is moved to an operative position applying tension to the tape.