Tape cartridge having a single use cleaning leader which utilizes

Abstract

A tape having a first portion (preferably a magnetic tape portion for recording video, audio, or computer data), and a cleaning leader attached to the first portion, and a tape cartridge including such a tape. The leader includes one or more cleaning solvent modules, each of which is preferably a thin pouch containing cleaning solvent designed to rupture when squeezed between rollers of a tape player transport mechanism (or in the tape cartridge). Preferably, several cleaning solvent modules are evenly spaced along the leader, to expose tape player heads to periodic bursts of solvent during cleaning. A leader control mechanism prevents translation of the leader through the player's tape transport mechanism following the first play of the leader therethrough (or the first play therethrough in a particular direction). The leader control mechanism can include a nodule mounted to the leader so that during rewinding of the tape, the nodule will lock into depressions in the reel on which the leader is wound. Alternatively, the leader control mechanism includes catches (which engage a notch or shoulder along the leader), and/or an electrically conductive strip on the magnetic tape (which can be sensed by a sensor in a tape player to enable the player to respond by preventing its tape transport mechanism from transporting the cleaning leader past the heads). The cartridge can include two pressure rollers that are initially held or biased together so as to burst solvent modules of a leader passing between them. A nodule at the trailing end of the leader engages the rollers, and causes the rollers to become permanently separated so that they do not engage the following magnetic tape portion.