JPH03192588A - Optical tape cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent an optical tape from being sensitized to external light in its state ejected from a recording/reproducing device and to easily check a used length by forming a cartridge body by a light shielding material and arranging an optical tape using length display means on the outside. CONSTITUTION:Since the cartridge body 1 is formed by a material for interrupting light having at least the photosensitive wavelength of an optical recording layer of an optical tape 2, the optical recording layer of the tape 2 can be prevented from being sensitized to external light such as solar light and various illuminating light and erased even in the case of ejecting the body 1 from the recording/reproducing device. When the tape 2 is used and the wound amount of the reel 3 is changed, an arm 14 is oscillated so that a roller 13 comes into contact with the tape 2 on the reel 3 based upon the exciting force of a spring 17 and an indicator 19 is oscillated due to the oscillation of the arm 14, so that the using length of the tape 2 can be displayed and easily checked from the outside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an optical tape cartridge that accommodates an optical tape on which optical recording and/or reproduction is performed.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, various types of optical discs for optically recording and/or reproducing have been proposed, such as a read-only type, a write-once type that allows desired recording only once, and a rewritable type. In particular, in recent years, the development of rewritable optical disks such as magneto-optical disks has been actively promoted.

On the other hand, in parallel with optical disks, research is also being conducted on optical recording media such as optical cards and optical tapes. Among these, an optical tape is basically formed by forming an optical recording layer on a long film-like base material to optically record information using a magneto-optic effect or a photochromic phenomenon.

The above-mentioned optical tape, for example, is housed in a cartridge, similar to a magnetic tape for a VTR (video tape recorder), and the area near the recording/reproducing area is pulled out from the cartridge, and the track, which is the information recording path, is inserted into the cartridge. It is conceivable to perform recording/reproduction by setting the optical tape in a direction inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the optical tape.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in a cartridge for magnetic tape, since it is necessary to check the amount of magnetic tape used, at least a portion of the cartridge is generally transparent. However, when a photochromic material or the like is used as the optical recording layer in an optical tape, if the cartridge is provided with a transparent part, the optical recording layer will be exposed to sunlight or various types of illumination light when the cartridge is removed from the recording/playback device. It is easily exposed to external light and recorded information may be lost.

On the other hand, if the optical tape cartridge is colored black or otherwise provided with light-shielding properties, it is possible to prevent the optical tape from being exposed to external light, but the amount of optical tape used can be checked when the optical tape is removed from the recording/playback device. The problem arises that it cannot be done.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, an optical tape cartridge according to the present invention houses an optical tape having an optical recording layer therein, and is made of a material that blocks at least light in the wavelength range to which the optical recording layer is sensitive. the cartridge body,
The cartridge is characterized by comprising a display member disposed outside the cartridge body for displaying the amount of optical tape used, and a display member driving means for driving the display member according to the amount of optical tape used. be.

[For production]

According to the above configuration, since the cartridge body is provided with a light shielding property, the optical tape is prevented from being exposed to external light, and the usage amount of the optical tape is displayed by the display means disposed outside the cartridge body. Therefore, even when the optical tape cartridge is removed from the recording/reproducing apparatus, the user can easily determine the usage amount of the optical tape by visual inspection.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on FIGS. 1 to 4.

As shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 2(c) and FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), the optical tape cartridge according to this embodiment includes a cartridge body 1, and an optical tape 2 is accommodated in the cartridge body 1. ing. The cartridge body 1 is made of a light-shielding material such as a resin colored black, and is designed to prevent the optical tape 2 from being exposed to light.

Inside the cartridge body 1, a pair of left and right reels 3 and 4 are arranged in symmetrical positions, and the reels 3 and 4 are attached to the cartridge body 1.
They are each rotatably attached to the camera back.

Each longitudinal end of the optical tape 2 is fixed to the reels 3 and 4, and both reels 3 and 3 are connected to each other through a pair of guides 5 and 6 provided at two corresponding corners of the cartridge body 1.
- The optical tape 2 is unwound or wound up between the four spaces.

An opening/closing lid 7 is attached to the side of the cartridge body 1 where the guides 5 and 6 are provided so as to be openable and closable, and when the optical tape cartridge is loaded into a recording/reproducing device (not shown), the opening/closing lid 7 is opened by a loading mechanism. The optical tape 2 is pulled out.

As shown in FIG. 3, the optical tape 2 is in the form of a film (for example,
The base material 8 has a thickness of approximately several tens of μm. The base material 8 is
For example, it is made of a polymer resin having light transmittance and heat resistance, such as polyethylene terephthalate. On the base material 8, for example, a fulgide-based photochromic material (with a photosensitive wavelength of 494 nm) as shown in the following chemical structural formula (I) is provided.
) is provided. However, Me is a methyl group (C)I,), X is S, 0 or NR (R is CH
3, etc.).

Further, the optical recording material 1i10 may include a spiropyran-based photochromic material (sensitivity wavelength: 750 nm) as shown by the following chemical structural formula (It).

A reflective film 11 made of a metal film or the like is provided on the optical recording layer 10, and a protective film 12 made of, for example, an ultraviolet curable resin is provided on the reflective film 11. 11 is sealed by a base material 8 and a protective film 12.

In FIG. 2(a), a roller 13 is in contact with the optical tape 2 wound around one of the glue rolls 3. In FIG. The roller 13 is rotatably supported at one end of an arm 14 which is bent in a roughly slit shape. The arm 14 is connected at its bent portion to a support shaft 15 (having the role of display member driving means) extending in the thickness direction of the cartridge body 1. Support shaft 1
5 is rotatably supported by the cartridge body 1.

A spring 17 is stretched between the other end of the arm 14 and a hook-shaped projection 16 provided on the cartridge body 1, so that the biasing force of the spring 17 presses the roller 13 against the optical tape 2 on the reel 3. It has become.

An inwardly depressed recess 18 (having a light shielding property) is provided approximately at the center of the front cover portion of the cartridge body 1. One end of the support shaft 15 penetrates the bottom wall of the recess 18 and projects into the recess 18 , and a pointer 19 as a display member that swings along the surface of the cartridge body 1 is attached to this projecting end.
is installed. Further, a scale 20 is formed by stamping or the like on the bottom wall portion of the recess 18 in correspondence with the swinging range of the pointer 19.

As a result, the arm 14 swings according to the usage amount of the optical tape 2, and the pointer 19 swings together with the arm 14 within the recess 18, so that the usage amount of the optical tape 2 is displayed. . Further, a transparent cover 21 is provided on the recess 18, which is substantially flush with the front cover portion of the cartridge body 1 and protects the pointer 19 and scale 20. Note that the cartridge body 1 may be provided with a label 22 that displays a predetermined indication (not shown).

In the above configuration, when the cartridge main body 1 is loaded into a recording/reproducing device (not shown), the opening/closing lid 7 is opened by the loading mechanism, the optical tape 2 is pulled out, and the optical tape 2 is loaded into a predetermined recording/reproducing section. Then, desired information is recorded on the optical recording layer 10 by, for example, irradiating a laser beam of a predetermined wavelength through the base material 8 shown in FIG. or,
During reproduction, information is detected based on laser light that passes through the optical recording layer 10 and is reflected by the reflective film 11. Note that information is recorded and reproduced, for example, on a track T-- which is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of the optical tape 2, as shown in FIG.
It is carried out along T...

In this embodiment, since the cartridge body 1 is formed of a light-shielding material, even when the cartridge body 1 is taken out from the recording/reproducing apparatus, the optical recording layer 10 of the optical tape 2 is exposed to external light such as sunlight or various types of illumination light. Information will not be erased by exposure to light. Moreover, as the optical tape 2 is gradually used and the amount of wrapping around the reel 3 changes, the arm 14 swings based on the urging force of the spring 17 so that the roller 13 comes into contact with the optical tape 2 on the reel 3. is,
By swinging the pointer 19 accordingly, the usage amount of the optical tape 2 is displayed. Therefore, even when the cartridge main body 1 is removed from the recording/reproducing apparatus, the usage amount of photons-12 can be easily grasped.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the optical tape cartridge according to the present invention has the following features:
In addition to accommodating an optical tape having an optical recording layer therein,
a cartridge body made of a material that blocks at least light in the photosensitive wavelength range of the optical recording layer; a display member disposed outside the cartridge body that displays the amount of optical tape used; and display member driving means for driving the display member.

As a result, the cartridge body is provided with light-shielding properties, which prevents the optical tape from being exposed to external light such as sunlight or various types of illumination light, and also allows the amount of optical tape used to be placed outside the cartridge body. Since the information is displayed by the display means, the user can easily know the usage amount of the optical tape by visual inspection even when the optical tape cartridge is removed from the recording/reproducing apparatus.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 4 show one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1(a) is a schematic plan view of the optical tape cartridge. Figure (b) is a schematic front view of the same. FIG. 2(a) is a schematic plan view of the optical tape cartridge in which the front cover portion and the opening/closing cover are omitted. Figure (b) is a schematic front view of the same. FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the optical tape. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the optical recording layer. 1 is a cartridge body, 2 is an optical tape, 8 is a base material, 0 is an optical recording layer, 5 is a support shaft (display member driving means), and 9 is a pointer (display member).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Use of a cartridge body that houses an optical tape having an optical recording layer therein and is made of a material that blocks at least light at the wavelength sensitive to the optical recording layer, and an optical tape that is disposed outside of the cartridge body. An optical tape cartridge comprising: a display member that displays the amount of optical tape used; and display member driving means that drives the display member according to the amount of optical tape used.