Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Unwinding and rewinding a machine convertible information... – Including threading
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-24
2003-12-02
Rivera, William A. (Department: 3654)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Unwinding and rewinding a machine convertible information...
Including threading
C242S348200, C156S073400, C156S580200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06655623
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a leader tape fixedly attached to a leading end of a tape, such as a magnetic tape for data recording and a cleaning tape for head cleaning, for enabling the tape to be pulled out of a cartridge body, and a tape cartridge incorporating the leader tape.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the tape cartridge of the above-mentioned kind, which incorporates a leader tape, a tape cartridge
31
shown in
FIG. 11
has been conventionally proposed. The tape cartridge
31
is a one reel-type recording medium cartridge, and is comprised of a cartridge body
2
having an upper half
2
a,
a lower half
2
b,
and a lid
2
c,
a single reel
3
, and a magnetic tape
4
(see
FIG. 13
) for data recording wound around the reel
3
and accommodated in the cartridge body
2
. A leader tape
35
is fixedly attached to the magnetic tape
4
, for enabling the tape
4
to be pulled out of the cartridge body
3
by a record/playback device, not shown. As shown in
FIGS. 12A
,
12
B and
13
, this leader tape
35
is comprised of a tape body
11
having one end thereof fixedly attached to the magnetic tape
4
, a pin
12
attached to the other end of the tape body
11
, and engaging hooks
13
,
13
fixed to respective opposite ends of the pin
12
. As shown in
FIG. 15
, the tape body
11
has the other end folded such that it surrounds the periphery of the pin
12
, and leading end portions
11
b
of the other end folded are welded to an opposed tape surface of a root portion
11
a
(see
FIG. 13
) of the tape body
11
between the one end fixed to the magnetic tape
4
and the folded portion.
In making the leader tape
35
, the leading end portions
11
b
are welded to the root portion
11
a
by respective horns X
11
for ultrasonic welding. More specifically, first, the leading end portions
11
b
of the tape body
11
are folded such that they surround the periphery of the pin
12
, and brought into contact with the root portion
11
a.
Then, as shown in
FIG. 15
, the horns X
11
each having a prism shape are brought into contact with the respective surfaces of the leading end portions
11
b,
and ultrasonic waves are delivered from the horns X
11
with the leading end portions
11
b
being urged against the root portion
11
a.
Each horn X
11
has knurls formed on a welding surface (abutment surface via which the horn X
11
abuts on the corresponding leading end portion
11
b
) thereof at a pitch of about 0.6 mm. Therefore, the leading end portions
11
b
and the root portion
11
a
are brought into firm contact with each other at the top of each knurl, and are progressively melted and mixed, starting with portions in such a firm contact with each. The portions melted to each other (melted portion) progressively spread until adjacent melted portions overlap each other to cause an area of each leading end portion
11
b
urged by the corresponding horn X
11
and an area at the root portion
11
a
in contact with the urged area (welded area W
11
in
FIG. 15
) to be entirely welded and mixed to each other. Then, the melted and mixed portions solidify when they cool to normal temperature. This causes each leading end portion
11
b
and the root portion
11
a
to be integrated with each other in the respective above-mentioned areas (welded area W
11
in FIG.
15
), whereby the attachment of the pin
12
to the tape body
11
is completed. In forming the leader tape
35
, as described above, the horns X
11
having a prism shape are used for welding. Therefore, as shown in
FIG. 14
, each welded area W
11
where each leading end portion
11
b
and the root portion
11
a
are welded to each other and a corresponding non-welded portion V
11
where the leading end portion
11
b
and the root portion
11
a
become apart from each other are divided by a boundary line L
11
in the form of a straight line perpendicular to the direction of the length of the tape body
11
. Further, the welding surface of the horn X
11
has a size which extends beyond an edge E
1
of the tape body
11
, and hence the leading end portion
11
b
and the root portion
11
a
are welded to each other all over the area between the boundary line L
11
and the edge E
1
. This process completes the leader tape
35
. After this, the leader tape
35
is fixedly attached to the leading end of the magnetic tape
4
, the magnetic tape
4
is wound around the reel
3
, and then the resulting assembly is received in the cartridge body
2
, whereby the tape cartridge
31
is completed.
However, the conventional leader tape
35
suffers from the following problems: The boundary line L
11
dividing between the welded area W
11
and the non-welded area V
11
is in the form of a straight line perpendicular to the direction of the length of the tape body
11
. Therefore, when the pin
12
is pulled via the hooks
13
,
13
in a direction indicated by an arrow C
1
in
FIG. 15
to pull out the magnetic tape
4
, stress is concentrated on a portion of the tape body
11
which is very short with respect to the direction of the length of the tape (portion of the boundary line L
11
). This can cause breakage of the leading end portion
11
b
along the boundary line L
11
or in the vicinity thereof, as shown in FIG.
16
.
Further, in the conventional leader tape
35
, as shown in
FIG. 17A
, the leading end portion
11
b
and the root portion
11
a
are welded to each other all over the area between the boundary line L
11
(not shown in this figure) and the edge E
1
to cause the leading end portion
11
b
and the root portion
11
a
to be substantially completely integrated with each other in the welded area W
11
, through solidifying, after being melted to each other, so that the thickness of the tape body
11
(root portion
11
a
) undergoes a sudden change at the edge E
1
. Therefore, when the pin
12
is pulled in the direction of an arrow C
2
in
FIG. 15
, stress is also concentrated on the portion of this edge E
1
. This may cause breakage of the root portion
11
a
at the edge E
1
or in the vicinity thereof, as shown in FIG.
17
B.
Further, in the conventional leader tape
35
, as shown in
FIG. 15
, the horns X
1
each having a pin
12
side corner thereof scarcely chamfered (e.g. horns X
11
each having the corner whose cross-sectional shape is in the form of arc having a radius of 0.1 mm or smaller) are used to effect the welding, and therefore, stress is concentrated on a portion along the boundary line L
11
. As a result, the residual stress itself of the portion along the boundary line L
11
becomes large. This can also cause breakage of the leading portion
11
b
at the boundary line L
11
or in its vicinity, as shown in
FIG. 16
, when the pulling-out of the magnetic tape
4
is repeatedly carried out. Further, the welding with each horns X
1
having the corner thereof scarcely chamfered forms a juncture of the leading end portion
11
b
between the welded area W
11
and the non-welded area V
11
, in a manner corresponding to the corner of horn X
11
. Therefore, when the pin
12
is pulled in the direction indicated by the arrow C
2
in
FIG. 15
to forcibly expand a juncture angle &thgr; formed between the welded area W
11
and the non-welded area V
11
, stress is concentrated at the very narrow boundary line L
11
, causing breakage at the portion along the boundary line L
11
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a leader tape which is capable of preventing breakage thereof when a tape is pulled out by the leader tape, and a tape cartridge incorporating the leader tape.
To attain the above object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a leader tape including a leader tape body having one end fixed to a tape, for enabling the tape to be pulled out of a cartridge body, and a pin member attached to the leader tape body, for pulling out the tape therewith, the leader tape body having a portion thereof on a side of another end opposite to the one end, the portion being folded such that the folded po
Kaneda Hiroshi
Kotegawa Kenji
Kouzu Cyoutarou
Shinkawa Shintaro
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
Rivera William A.
TDK Corporation
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