JPH07296345A - Magnetic head cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] In a magnetic head cleaning device for cleaning the magnetic head 4 by rotating the cleaning roller 100 onto the rotary head drum 1 for recording / reproducing on / from a magnetic tape, a sticky foreign substance adhered to the magnetic head. To allow easy removal. A cleaning roller for cleaning the magnetic head 4 is a cylindrical roller 300 having elasticity.
And an abrasive material 200 that covers the peripheral surface of the roller 300.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning a magnetic head of a rotary head drum for recording / reproducing on / from a magnetic tape in a VTR apparatus or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus for performing recording / reproducing by a helical scan method using a rotating magnetic head such as a VTR device, normal recording or reproduction is performed when foreign matter adheres to a gap portion of the magnetic head. Some of them are equipped with a cleaning device for removing the foreign matter because they are not exposed.

Generally, in this magnetic head cleaning device, a cleaning roller is brought into rolling contact with the peripheral surface of a rotary head drum, and by rotating the drum in this state, the magnetic head and the cleaning roller are rubbed and adhered to the gap of the magnetic head. The foreign matter is removed. Conventionally, as a cleaning roller used in this magnetic head cleaning device, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, a disc-shaped nonwoven fabric 1 impregnated with a binding agent or the like is used.
The roller 100 is formed by stacking about 100 sheets of No. 02, or as shown in FIG. 10, a groove portion (slit) 101 in the longitudinal direction is formed on the peripheral surface (rolling contact surface with the rotary head drum) of the roller 100 made of polyurethane foam. A plurality of the above are formed, and the like. Recently, in order to improve the cleaning performance, a roller 100 made of polyurethane foam as shown in FIG.
A mixture of is also devised.

[0004]

In the conventional magnetic head cleaning roller shown in FIG. 9, the cleaning effect is improved by impregnating the non-woven fabric with a binding agent or the like. However, the cleaning effect is not sufficient, and since a large number of these are stacked, the cost becomes very high. In the case of FIG. 10, the foreign substance accumulated in the gap portion of the magnetic head is aimed to be scraped out due to the step of the groove portion, but there is almost no effect on the foreign substance having adhesiveness. If an abrasive is mixed as shown in FIG. 11, the cleaning effect is significantly improved, but since the polyurethane foam that is the base is too soft, the head gets under the roller during cleaning, and the end of the sliding surface of the magnetic head becomes strong. Rubbed off. For this reason, if cleaning is performed frequently, the shape of the sliding surface of the magnetic head changes to a convex shape, leading to a reduction in output of the magnetic head and a bad contact with the tape. Further, when a recording medium having a weak coating film strength is used, polishing dust generated during polishing may damage the magnetic recording medium.
The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving these problems.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the first invention of the present invention is to install a cleaning roller for cleaning the magnetic head by rolling contact with a rotary head drum for recording / reproducing on a magnetic tape. In the device described above, the cleaning roller is composed of a cylindrical roller having elasticity and a material having abrasiveness which covers the peripheral surface of the roller. In this structure, a non-woven fabric to which fine abrasive grains are attached is used as the material having abrasiveness. Further, as the material having this polishing property, a precision polishing tape coated with fine abrasive grains may be used.

A second aspect of the present invention is an apparatus in which a cleaning roller for cleaning a magnetic head is mounted on a rotary head drum for recording / reproducing on a magnetic tape. A material having abrasiveness and a material having no abrasiveness are alternately arranged. And in this configuration, as a material having abrasiveness, a woven fabric to which fine abrasive grains are attached,
Alternatively, a non-woven fabric is used.

A third invention of the present invention is an apparatus comprising a cleaning roller for cleaning the magnetic head by rolling contact with a rotary head drum for recording / reproducing on a magnetic tape, wherein the cleaning roller is elastic. And a woven cloth covering the peripheral surface of the roller. In this structure, a woven fabric of ultrafine fibers having a fiber diameter of several μm or less is used as the woven fabric.

[0008]

In the magnetic head cleaning device according to the first aspect of the present invention having the above-described structure, the cleaning roller is brought into contact with the rotary head drum, and the rotary head drum is rotated in this state. The fine abrasive particles adhered to or applied to the surface lightly polish the surface of the magnetic head in almost the same state as the actual running state with the magnetic tape, so that the shape of the sliding surface of the magnetic head is not significantly changed. It is possible to easily remove the sticky foreign matter attached to the magnetic head.

In the magnetic head cleaning device of the second aspect of the invention, the cleaning roller is brought into rolling contact with the rotary head drum, and the rotary head drum is rotated in this state, so that the polishing surface of the surface of the cleaning roller becomes
At the same time as the surface of the magnetic head is lightly polished, the non-polished surface removes polishing dust, so that the sticky foreign matter attached to the magnetic head can be easily removed without damaging the magnetic recording medium.

Further, in the magnetic head cleaning device of the third invention, the cleaning roller is brought into rolling contact with the rotary head drum, and the rotary magnetic head drum is rotated in this state, whereby the surface of the woven cloth of the cleaning roller is The ultrafine fibers wipe off the front surface of the magnetic head in almost the same state as the actual running state with the magnetic tape, so the sticky foreign matter adhered to the magnetic head can be easily removed without changing the shape of the sliding surface of the magnetic head. Can be removed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is VT
2 shows a rotary head drum around which a magnetic tape is wound in a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus such as R. The rotary head drum 1 is a fixed drum 2 and a rotary drum which is rotated at a high speed with respect to the fixed drum 2 as is apparent from FIG. A magnetic head 4 for recording / reproducing on / from a magnetic tape is attached to the rotating side drum 3, and its tip portion slightly protrudes from the peripheral surface of the drum.

Reference numeral 5 is a magnetic head cleaning device for cleaning the magnetic head 4 of the rotary head drum 1. In this magnetic head cleaning device 5, an arm 8 is attached to a fixed substrate 6 so as to be rotatable about a shaft 7. A cleaning roller 100 is rotatably supported on the tip of the arm 8. This cleaning roller 1
As is apparent from FIG. 2, the structure of the pivotal support portion of 00 is configured by rotatably attaching the cleaning roller 100 via the collar 10 to the shaft column 9 planted at the tip of the arm 8. Reference numeral 11 is a washer for preventing the cleaning roller 100 from coming off.

The cleaning roller 100 is always pressed against the peripheral surface of the rotary head drum 1 by the force of a torsion coil spring 12 arranged between the fixed substrate 6 and the arm 8 to be brought into rolling contact therewith. When the rotary drum 3 of the rotary head drum 1 is rotated while the cleaning roller 100 is in rolling contact with the cleaning roller 100, the tip of the magnetic head 4 protruding from the circumferential surface of the drum and the cleaning roller 100 are rubbed with each other. The foreign matter adhering to the magnetic head 4 is removed, that is, the magnetic head is cleaned.

Further, the cleaning roller 100 is separated from the rotary head drum 1 when the tape cassette is completely loaded, that is, when the tape cassette C is inserted into the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus and the loading operation is started. The moving rod 13, which is a part of the loading mechanism, moves forward in the direction of arrow a in synchronism with the movement of the moving rod 1.
3 is pressed, whereby the cleaning roller 100
Moves away from the peripheral surface of the rotary head drum 1 against the force of the torsion coil spring 12 (state of FIG. 1B). Therefore, the cleaning roller 100 does not hinder the winding operation of the magnetic tape around the rotary head drum 1 and the tape running.
Further, when the tape cassette is ejected, the moving rod 13 is moved backward in synchronization with the unloading operation, so that the cleaning roller 100 is brought into rolling contact with the peripheral surface of the rotary head drum 1 by the force of the torsion coil spring 12 as described above. Return to the state.

Next, the structure of the cleaning roller 100 will be described in more detail. In the first invention of the present invention,
As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning roller 100 includes a cylindrical roller 300 formed of a porous and elastic material, for example, polyurethane, and an abrasive material 200 covering the peripheral surface of the roller. Become. The abrasive material 200 is a sheet-like material having a proper hardness in which fine abrasive grains are adhered to a non-woven fabric having a three-dimensional mesh structure, and an adhesive agent is applied to the surface of the cylindrical roller 300. It is fixed by etc. The fine abrasive grains attached to this non-woven fabric may be any of aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, chromium oxide, iron oxide, silicon carbide, and the size thereof is 2 μm or less, preferably 1 μm or less so as not to roughen the surface to be polished. Use a homogeneous one.

During the cleaning of the magnetic head 4 by the cleaning roller 100, the fine abrasive grains 110 adhering to the non-woven fabric always lightly polish the surface of the magnetic head, so that the foreign matter adhering to the magnetic head 4 is removed. To be removed. In this case, even foreign matter having tackiness is surely removed, and even a normal foreign matter having no tackiness has a cleaning effect more than conventional. In addition, since the non-woven fabric with a three-dimensional mesh structure effectively collects polishing dust in the cloth,
The cleaning effect can be maintained for a long time without clogging. Incidentally, the polishing force of the cleaning roller is prevented from becoming excessively strong by suppressing the pressure force applied to the rotary head drum to about 10 g, and wear of the magnetic head is prevented.

Further, in the case of the double structure of the elastic material and the abrasive sheet as described above, the magnetic head comes into contact with the non-woven fabric having an appropriate hardness, so that the actual tape does not get inside the roller. It is polished in the same state as when running. Further, since this non-woven fabric is supported by a material having elasticity, it can be rolled and contacted with the rotary head drum while always maintaining parallelism.

Next, the effect of the cleaning roller of this example will be described. The experiment was carried out using a commercially available 8 mm VTR device. First, quick-drying oil-based ink (so-called magic ink) is applied to the sliding surface (tape contact surface) of the magnetic head mounted on the rotary head drum of this VTR device and dried. Since this ink is hardened and fixed on the sliding surface of the magnetic head, a state in which foreign matter is attached to the sliding surface of the magnetic head is reproduced in a pseudo manner. 2 with these treatments
The conventional polyurethane cleaning roller shown in FIG. 10 and the cleaning roller of this example shown in FIG. 3 are attached to each of the VTR devices, and loading and unloading are repeated to find out how many times the magnetic head slides. It was compared whether the ink on the moving surface was removed. As the cleaning roller of this example, a non-woven fabric to which aluminum oxide having a grain size of 0.5 μm was attached was wound around the peripheral surface of the conventional cleaning roller. As a result of this experiment, the conventional cleaning roller could not remove the ink even after 10 times of loading and unloading, whereas the cleaning roller of the present example could almost completely remove the ink. .

Next, as another embodiment, FIG. 4 shows an example in which the cleaning roller comprises a cylindrical roller having elasticity and a precision polishing tape covering the peripheral surface of the roller.
That is, the cleaning roller 100 of the present example comprises a cylindrical roller 300 molded of a porous and elastic material such as polyurethane, and an abrasive material 200 covering the peripheral surface of the roller. Abrasive material 20
Reference numeral 0 is a precision polishing tape, which is applied to one surface of the base film 202 with a polishing paint 201 made of fine abrasive grains via a binding agent or the like, and is often used for finishing the final surface of the magnetic head. It is fixed by an agent.

During cleaning of the magnetic head 4 by the cleaning roller 100, the polishing surface of the precision polishing tape 200 always lightly polishes the surface of the magnetic head, thereby removing the foreign matter adhering to the magnetic head 4. . In this case, even foreign matter having tackiness is surely removed, and even a normal foreign matter having no tackiness has a cleaning effect more than conventional. Incidentally, the polishing force of the cleaning roller is prevented from becoming excessively strong by suppressing the pressure force applied to the rotary head drum to about 10 g, and wear of the magnetic head is prevented.

Further, in the case of the double structure of the elastic material and the precision polishing tape as described above, the magnetic head contacts the precision polishing tape having an appropriate hardness, so that the actual tape does not get inside the roller. It is polished in the same state as when running. Further, since this precision polishing tape is supported by a material having elasticity, it can be rolled and contacted with the rotary head drum in a state where the parallelism is always maintained.

Next, the effect of the cleaning roller of this example will be described. This experiment was also conducted using a commercially available 8 mm VTR device. Then, as in the case of the above-described embodiment, first, a quick-drying oil-based ink is applied to the sliding surface (tape contact surface) of the magnetic head mounted on the rotary head drum of this VTR device to dry it, and this treatment Two VTRs with
The conventional polyurethane cleaning roller shown in FIG. 10 and the cleaning roller of the present example shown in FIG. 4 are attached to each of the apparatuses, and loading and unloading are repeated to find out how many times on the sliding surface of the magnetic head. Was compared to see if the ink was removed. For the cleaning roller of this example, a mesh 10000 abrasive tape wound around the peripheral surface of the conventional cleaning roller was used. As a result of this experiment, the conventional cleaning roller was not able to remove the ink even after repeating loading and unloading 10 times, whereas the cleaning roller of the present example was 6
It was possible to almost completely remove it by repeating the process twice.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. That is, the cleaning roller 100 of the present example is a non-abrasive cylindrical roller 300 formed by using a porous and elastic material, for example, polyurethane, and an abrasiveness that covers a part of the peripheral surface of the roller. Composed of material 200. The abrasive material 200 is used for the cleaning roller 10
The cleaning roller 1 is formed at a plurality of locations (three locations in this example) at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction of 0.
The peripheral surface of 00 has a structure in which an abrasive material and a non-abrasive material are alternately arranged. Incidentally, this abrasive material 200
May be formed over the entire width in the thickness (height) direction of the cleaning roller 100 as shown in FIG. 5, or may be formed in a width smaller than the thickness of the cleaning roller 100 as shown in FIG.

The abrasive material 200 is a woven cloth or a non-woven cloth having a three-dimensional mesh structure, to which fine abrasive grains are attached, in the form of a sheet having an appropriate hardness. It is fixed to the surface of 300 with an adhesive or the like.
The fine abrasive grains attached to this cloth are aluminum oxide, silicon oxide,
It may be any of chromium oxide, iron oxide, silicon carbide, etc., and its size is 2 μm so as not to roughen the surface to be polished.
Hereinafter, a homogeneous material having a thickness of preferably 1 μm or less is used.

During the cleaning of the magnetic head by the cleaning roller 100, the fine abrasive particles adhering to the cloth always lightly polish the surface of the magnetic head, thereby removing foreign matters adhering to the magnetic head. .
In this case, even foreign matter having tackiness is surely removed, and even a normal foreign matter having no tackiness has a cleaning effect more than conventional. Incidentally, the polishing force of the cleaning roller is prevented from becoming excessively strong by suppressing the pressure force applied to the rotary head drum to about 10 g, and wear of the magnetic head is prevented.

Further, in the case where the polishing material and the non-polishing material are alternately arranged in this way, after the magnetic head is ground with the polishing material, the polishing dust is collected by the non-polishing material, Since it is removed, it does not damage the recording medium having a weak coating film strength.

Next, the effect of the cleaning roller of this example will be described. This experiment was also performed using a commercially available 8 mm VTR device. Then, as in the case of the above-mentioned embodiment, first, the quick-drying oil-based ink is applied to the sliding surface (tape contact surface) of the magnetic head mounted on the rotary head drum of this VTR device to dry it, and this treatment is performed. The conventional polyurethane cleaning roller shown in FIG. 10 and the cleaning roller of this example shown in FIG. 5 are attached to each of the two VTR devices subjected to the above procedure, and loading and unloading are repeated. Then, it was compared whether the ink on the sliding surface of the magnetic head was removed. For the cleaning roller of this example, a woven cloth to which aluminum oxide having a grain size of 0.5 μm is attached is used.
The conventional cleaning roller attached to about half the area of the peripheral surface was used. As a result of this experiment, the conventional cleaning roller could not remove the ink even after 15 times of loading and unloading, whereas the cleaning roller of the present example could almost completely remove the ink. .

In this example, a woven cloth having fine abrasive grains adhered thereto is used as the abrasive material, but a non-woven fabric having fine abrasive grains adhered thereto may be used, or a porous urethane may be used. Fine abrasive grains may be directly applied or vapor-deposited on the to form abrasive portions and non-abrasive portions alternately.

Further, FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. That is, the cleaning roller 100 of this example
Comprises a cylindrical roller 300 made of a porous and elastic material, for example polyurethane, and a woven cloth 210 covering the peripheral surface of the roller. As shown in FIG. 8, the woven cloth 210 is a cloth in which ultrafine fibers having a fiber diameter of several μm or less are bundled and woven, and the cylindrical roller 300 is used.
It is fixed to the surface of the adhesive with an adhesive or the like.

When the magnetic head 4 is cleaned by the cleaning roller 100, the ultrafine fibers of the woven cloth 210 always wipe the surface of the magnetic head, thereby removing the foreign matter adhering to the magnetic head 4. In this case, even foreign matter having tackiness is surely removed, and even a normal foreign matter having no tackiness has a cleaning effect more than conventional. In addition, since the woven cloth made by weaving the ultrafine fibers effectively collects the polishing dust in the cloth, the cleaning effect can be maintained for a long time without clogging.

Further, in the case of the double structure of the elastic material and the ultrafine fiber woven cloth as described above, the magnetic head contacts the woven cloth having an appropriate hardness, so that the actual tape does not go into the inside of the roller. It is cleaned in the same condition as when driving. Further, since this woven fabric is supported by a material having elasticity, it can be rollingly contacted with the rotary head drum in a state where the parallelism is always maintained.

Next, the effect of the cleaning roller of this example will be described. This experiment was also conducted using a commercially available 8 mm VTR device. Then, as in the case of the above-described embodiment, first, a quick-drying oil-based ink is applied to the sliding surface (tape contact surface) of the magnetic head mounted on the rotary head drum of this VTR device to dry it, and this treatment is performed. Two VTRs with
The conventional polyurethane cleaning roller shown in FIG. 10 and the cleaning roller of the present example shown in FIG. 7 are attached to each of the apparatuses, and loading and unloading are repeated to find out how many times on the magnetic head sliding surface. Was compared to see if the ink was removed. As the cleaning roller of this example, an extra fine fiber woven cloth having a fiber diameter of 2 μm was wound around the peripheral surface of the conventional cleaning roller. As a result of this experiment, the conventional cleaning roller loads,
Although the ink could not be removed even after repeating the unloading 10 times, the cleaning roller of this example could almost completely remove the ink after repeating 10 times.

[0033]

As described above, in the magnetic head cleaning device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the cleaning roller is brought into rolling contact with the rotary head drum, and the rotary head drum is rotated in this state to perform cleaning. The minute abrasive particles adhered to or applied on the surface of the roller always lightly polish the surface of the magnetic head in almost the same condition as the actual running state with the magnetic tape, so the shape of the sliding surface of the magnetic head should be changed significantly. Without, it is possible to easily remove the sticky foreign matter attached to the magnetic head.

In the magnetic head cleaning device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the cleaning roller is brought into rolling contact with the rotary head drum, and the rotary head drum is rotated in this state, whereby the polishing surface of the surface of the cleaning roller. However, while lightly polishing the surface of the magnetic head,
Since the non-polished surface removes polishing dust, the sticky foreign matter attached to the magnetic head can be easily removed without damaging the magnetic recording medium.

Further, in the magnetic head cleaning device according to the third aspect of the present invention, the cleaning roller is brought into rolling contact with the rotary head drum, and the rotary head drum is rotated in this state, whereby the woven cloth surface of the cleaning roller is The ultrafine fibers wipe off the surface of the magnetic head in almost the same state as the actual running state with the magnetic tape, so it is easy to remove sticky foreign substances attached to the magnetic head without changing the shape of the sliding surface of the magnetic head. Can be removed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a magnetic head cleaning device, in which A is a state in which a cleaning roller is in rolling contact with a rotary head drum, and B is a state in which the cleaning roller is separated from the rotary head drum.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a cleaning roller rollingly contacted with a rotary head drum.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the surface portion of the cleaning roller (embodiment of the first invention).

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the surface portion of the cleaning roller (another embodiment of the first invention).

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a cleaning roller (an embodiment of the second invention).

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cleaning roller (another embodiment of the second invention).

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the surface portion of the cleaning roller (embodiment of the third invention).

8 is an enlarged photograph (micrograph) showing the shape of fibers on the surface of the cleaning roller of FIG.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a conventional cleaning roller.

FIG. 10 is an illustration of a conventional cleaning roller.

FIG. 11 is an illustration of a conventional cleaning roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Rotating Head Drum 4 Magnetic Head 100 Cleaning Roller 110 Micro Abrasive Grains 200 Abrasive Material 201 Abrasive Paint 202 Base Film 210 Woven Fabric 300 Cylindrical Roller

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Kobayashi 6-735 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Masahiro Kiko 6-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo No. Sony Corporation

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus comprising a cleaning roller for cleaning a magnetic head by rolling contact with a rotary head drum for recording / reproducing on a magnetic tape, wherein the cleaning roller is a cylindrical roller having elasticity, and the cleaning roller. A magnetic head cleaning device, which is made of a material having an abrading property that covers a peripheral surface of a roller. 2. The magnetic head cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the abrasive material is a non-woven fabric having fine abrasive grains attached thereto. 3. The magnetic head cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the material having abrasiveness is a precision polishing tape coated with fine abrasive grains. 4. An apparatus comprising a cleaning roller for cleaning a magnetic head by rollingly contacting a rotary head drum for recording / reproducing on / from a magnetic tape. A magnetic head cleaning device characterized in that materials having no property are alternately arranged. 5. The magnetic head cleaning apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the abrasive material is a woven cloth or a non-woven cloth to which fine abrasive grains are attached. 6. An apparatus comprising a cleaning roller for cleaning a magnetic head by rollingly contacting a rotary head drum for recording / reproducing on a magnetic tape, wherein the cleaning roller is an elastic cylindrical roller, and A magnetic head cleaning device comprising a woven cloth covering a peripheral surface of a roller. 7. The magnetic head cleaning device according to claim 6, wherein the woven fabric is a woven fabric of ultrafine fibers having a fiber diameter of several μm or less.