Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Unwinding and rewinding a machine convertible information... – Including threading
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-29
2003-07-08
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Unwinding and rewinding a machine convertible information...
Including threading
C242S348200, C242S332100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06588694
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to tape drives which use a removable cartridge having a storage tape. More specifically, the present invention relates to a buckle for a tape drive and cartridge that minimizes the likelihood of leader runaway.
BACKGROUND
Tape drives are widely used for storing information in digital form. These tape drives commonly use a storage tape having a thin film of magnetic material which receives the information. Typically, the storage tape is guided with a plurality of tape guides between a pair of spaced apart reels, past a data transducer. The data transducer records information onto the moving storage tape and/or reads information from the moving storage tape.
In one type of tape drive, one of the reels is part of the tape drive, while the other reel is part of a removable cartridge. For this type of tape drive, the reel that is a part of the tape drive is commonly referred to as a take-up reel, while the reel that is a part of the cartridge is commonly referred to as a cartridge reel. With this system, upon insertion of the cartridge into the tape drive, it is necessary to couple the storage tape on the cartridge reel to the take-up reel of the tape drive. Subsequently, the storage tape must be uncoupled from the take-up reel, prior to removing the cartridge from the tape drive.
Typically, a cartridge leader on the storage tape is automatically coupled to a drive leader that is connected to the take-up reel during insertion of the cartridge into the tape drive. The procedure of connecting the drive leader to the cartridge leader is commonly referred to as “buckling” or “coupling”. Subsequently, during ejection of the cartridge, the cartridge leader is unbuckled from the drive leader.
FIGS. 1A and 1B
illustrate a prior art cartridge leader
10
P and a prior art drive leader
12
P at two alternate positions during coupling. In particular,
FIG. 1A
illustrates the prior art leaders
10
P,
12
P prior to coupling and
FIG. 1B
illustrates the prior art leaders
10
P,
12
P coupled together. In this prior art embodiment, the cartridge leader
10
P includes a hoop portion
14
P and a slot portion
16
P, while the drive leader
12
P includes a tab
18
P having a nose
20
P and a neck
22
P. The nose
20
P includes a pair of proximal, opposed edges
23
P that extend away from the neck
22
P, substantially perpendicular to the neck
22
P. Stated another way, the nose
20
P includes a pair of opposed ears
24
P that cantilever away from the neck
22
P
The hoop portion
14
P is dimensioned to enable the nose
20
P and neck
22
P of the drive leader
12
P to pass therethrough. The slot portion
16
P is dimensioned to receive the neck
22
P, but prevent the ears
24
P of the nose
20
P from passing therethrough. Buckling of the two leaders
10
P,
12
P is done by initially tucking the tab
18
P within the hoop portion
14
P as illustrated in FIG.
1
A and subsequently pulling the drive leader
12
P until the neck
22
P slides into the slot portion
16
P of the cartridge leader
10
P as illustrated in FIG.
1
B.
FIG. 1C
illustrates a prior art buckler
26
P that automatically couples the prior art cartridge leader
10
P of a cartridge
28
P to the prior art drive leader
12
P. With this system, the prior art buckler
26
P includes a hook
30
P that fits into a drive leader aperture
32
P (illustrated in
FIGS. 1A and 1B
) in the drive leader
12
P.
The design illustrated in
FIG. 1C
utilizes the movement of the cartridge
28
P into and out of the tape drive to buckle and subsequently unbuckle the cartridge leader
10
P and the drive leader
12
P. More specifically, with this system, the hook
30
P is rotated by the cartridge
28
P during insertion of the cartridge
28
P into the tape drive. At the same time, a take-up motor pulls the drive leader
12
P away from the cartridge
28
P. If the leaders
10
P,
12
P are in good condition and are properly positioned, the neck
22
P of the drive leader
12
P slides into the slot portion
16
P of the cartridge leader
10
P and both ears
24
P slide behind the slot portion
16
P to successfully couple the leaders
10
P,
12
P. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,662,049 and 4,720,913 provide a detailed discussion of this type of tape buckling arrangement.
Unfortunately, this type of buckling operation provides only one opportunity to couple the leaders
10
P,
12
P. The buckling operation will be successful if the leaders
10
P,
12
P are in good condition and are properly positioned. However, one or both of the leaders
10
P,
12
P may not be in the proper position for coupling. For example, the cartridge leader
10
P may not be in the correct position if the cartridge
28
P is inserted too slowly or too quickly into the tape drive. Additionally, the cartridge leader
10
P may be damaged from improper or excessive use and may not be in the correct position. If one or both of the leaders
10
P,
12
P are not in the correct position, the leaders
10
P,
12
P may not securely couple. For example, only a portion of the tab
18
P, e.g. only one of the opposed ears
24
P, may be positioned within the hoop portion
14
P. In this situation, as the neck
22
P of the drive leader
12
P slides into the slot portion
16
P of the cartridge leader
10
P, only one of the ears
24
P is positioned behind the slot portion
16
P of the cartridge leader
10
P. This situation is commonly referred to as a “half-ear situation”.
With the design outlined above, the hook
30
P releases the drive leader
12
P upon insertion of the cartridge
28
even if the leaders
10
P,
12
P are only partly coupled. Subsequently, during movement of the leaders
10
P,
12
P towards the take-up reel, the partly coupled leaders
10
P,
12
P can become uncoupled. This will cause the drive leader
12
P to retract onto the take-up reel. This is commonly referred to as “leader runaway”. Unfortunately, after leader runaway occurs, the tape drive must be disassembled to reposition the drive leader
12
P on the hook
30
P. This can be very expensive. Further, the tape drive can't be used until the drive leader
12
P is repositioned on the hook
30
P. This can be very inconvenient to the customer because of the down time of the tape drive.
Currently, tape drives are being developed that test whether the leaders are securely coupled prior to the buckler releasing the drive leader. In particular, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/515,461, by Kumar Kasetty, entitled “BUCKLING SYSTEM FOR A TAPE DRIVE”, filed concurrently herewith and assigned to Quantum Corporation discloses a buckling system that provides multiple opportunities to couple the drive leader to the cartridge leader. The buckling system includes a detector for testing whether coupling was successful prior to the buckler releasing the drive leader. The contents of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/515,461 are incorporated herein by reference.
Unfortunately, a partly coupled leader can fool the detector. More specifically, in a half-ear situation, one of the ears
24
P of the drive leader
12
P can retain the cartridge leader
10
P sufficiently to fool the detector. Subsequently, however, the one ear
24
P can release the cartridge leader
10
P during movement of the leaders
10
P,
12
P past the tape guides and transducer. This will cause leader runaway.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a buckle for a tape drive and cartridge that resists half-ear situations and other situations in which the leaders are only partly coupled. Another object is to provide a tape drive that automatically and reliably couples and de-couples the storage tape to the take-up reel. Still another object is to provide a tape drive having an improved drive leader that minimizes the likelihood of leader runaway. Another object is to provide a tape drive which is compatible with prior art cartridges.
SUMMARY
The present invention is directed to a combination of a tape drive and cartridge that satisfies these objectives. The tape drive and cartridge include an
Broder James P.
Quantum Corporation
Roeder Steven G.
Schlak Daniel K
Walsh Donald P.
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