DEVICE FOR DRIVING MAGNETIC TAPE AT HIGH SPEED

Abstract: A reel motor drives a tape at high speeds and a capstan motor drives the tape at a constant speed. The tape is wound on a cylinder for mounting the rotary head and the tape is driven FF/REW at high speeds. A predetermined amount of tape wound on the reel under the FF/REW condition is detected, and at least either a predetermined running speed of the tape or a predetermined current of the reel motor is also sensed. A control switches the source of driving the tape from the reel motor to the capstan motor depending upon a detect signal.

Description: [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an high-speed magnetic tape transfer apparatus for transferring magnetic tape between two reels set in a magnetic data-recording/reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a high-speed magnetic tape transfer apparatus for performing fast-forward/rewinding (hereinafter, referred to as FF/REW) of magnetic tape by full-loading method in a video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to as VTR). [Background Art] To perform the FF/REW of magnetic tape by the full-loading method in a VTR, with the magnetic tape wrapped around the cylinder which has a magnetic head mounted on it, the reel mounts supporting the tape are driven at high speed, while the standard-speed drive system having capstans and pinch rollers is held in released condition. More precisely, as is shown in Fig. 1, the tape 2 fed supplied from a supply (S) reel mount 1 is wrapped about half around the cylinder 3, as it is transferred at the standard speed during the playback/recording (PLAY/REC) operation. The tape 2 is guided by an audio-control erase (ACE) head 4 and a capstan 5 and is taken up around a take-up (T) reel mount 6. The ACE head 4 detects control pulses, and index search is carried out. The winding or fast-forward transfer of the tape 2 is performed by the S reel mount 1 or the T reel mount 6 being rotated by a idler 8 which in turn is rotated by a reel motor 7. If the end portion of the tape 2 is transferred at high speed, the tape 2 will be removed from the reel due to the time-lag between the detecting of the tape end and the braking of the reel mount. Therefore, the voltage applied on the reel motor 7 is controlled to reduce the speed of the motor 7, thus decreasing the speed of the tape 2. When a clutch-less reel-driving mechanism is employed, this mechanism must perform, with high reliability, both the PLAY/REC operation which is a low-speed operation, and the FF/REW operation which requires great torque. When the clutch-less reel-driving mechanism transfers the tape 2 performs both the low-speed PLAY/REC operation and the high-speed, large-load FF/REW operation, the reel motor 7 must provide a large starting torque. Further, the reel motor 7 must have a long lifetime despite of the great load applied on it, and must be able to rotate stably even at a low speed. Hence, it must be an expensive one. When the tape 2 is a much damaged one, the load applied during the FF/REW operation is, in some cases, so large that the tape 2 can no longer taken up. Numeral 9 designates a capstan motor, and numeral 20 denotes a pinch roller. The pinch roller 20 is out of contact with the capstan 5 during the FF/REW operation. [Disclosure of the Invention] As has been described, the conventional high-speed tape transfer mechanism has the drawback that it requires an expensive reel motor. This is because the reel motor must provide a great starting torque and resist a large load while magnetic tape, full-loaded on the cylinder, is being transferred at high speed during the FF/REW operation, and also must transfer the magnetic tape at a standard low speed during the PLAY/REC operation. Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a high-speed magnetic tape transfer apparatus which can reduce the torque which a reel motor must provide, and can therefore use an inexpensive reel motor. To attain the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a high-speed magnetic tape transfer apparatus having a reel motor for transferring tape at high speed, and a capstan motor for transferring the tape at a standard speed, and designed for use in a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus wherein the tape is wrapped around a cylinder having a rotary head and transferred at high speed during FF/REW operation, said apparatus comprising: means for detecting a predetermined amount of tape wound around a reel during the FF/REW operation; at least one of detector means for detecting a predetermined speed of the tape and detector means for detecting a predetermined current supplied to the reel motor; and control means for switching a device for transferring the tape, from the reel motor to the capstan motor, in response to a detection signal supplied from said at least one detector means. In the apparatus described above, an electric signal is generated which substantially corresponds to the amount of tape wound around a reel is generated by detecting the position of the tape, the speed of the tape, or the current flowing in the reel motor. When this electric signal rises above a predetermined value, the control means switches the device for transferring the tape, from the reel motor to the capstan motor. Hence, the torque which the reel motor must provide is reduced, and an inexpensive motor can be used as reel motor. [Brief Description of the Drawings] The above object and other objects of the present invention, and the features of the invention will be understood from the following description of some embodiments, which has been made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the tape path of a VTR; Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a magnetic tape transfer apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the transmission mechanism shown in Fig. 2, which comprises a cam gear and a pinch roller; and Figs. 4 and 5 are graphs representing the relationship between a take-up time and the current of the reel motor, which is observed in the embodiment of the invention, and that observed in the conventional apparatus. [Best Mode of Embodying the Invention] A high-speed tape transfer apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of the invention. In this figure, the components identical or similar to those of the tape path shown in Fig. 1 are designated by the same numerals. The tape path shown in Fig. 2 is similar to the conventional one, and will not be described in detail. A reel mount 1 or a reel mount 6 is selected and rotated as an idler 8 is rotated by a reel motor 7. These reel mounts 1 and 6 are supported by a reel base 10. Pulse detectors 11 are attached to the reel base 10, for detecting the rotation of the reels (not shown) placed on the reel mounts 1 and 6. The amount of the tape wound around each reel is determined from the number of rotations of the reel, which has been detected by the pulse detector 11. A reel motor controller 12 and a system controller 17 (later described) are connected to the reel motor 7. The controller 12 stops the reel motor 7 when the amount of tape determined by either pulse detector 11 reaches a predetermined value. A capstan servo circuit 13 and a rotational speed detector (FG) 14 are connected to a capstan motor 9. A cam gear 15 is rotated to set various operation modes to a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, whereby a cam switch 16 is operated for switching the system controller 17. The system controller 17 drives a loading motor 18 to set prescribed operation modes in accordance with the operation at an operation section 19. A transmission mechanism 18a transmits the rotation of the loading motor 18 to the cam gear 15. Also, the system controller 17 controls the capstan servo circuit 13 and the reel motor controller 12 in accordance with the operation modes, whereby the capstan motor 9 and the reel motor 7 are driven under the control of the system controller 17. In Fig. 2, numeral 20 denotes a pinch roller. This pinch roller 20 can be attached to, and detached from, a capstan 5 by means of a transmission mechanism 21 (later described) which functions in interlock with the cam gear 15. The operation of the embodiment will now be explained. It is assumed here that the operation section 19 has been operated, setting the FF mode to the system controller 17. In the FF mode, the tape 2 drawn from the reel on the S reel mount 1 is wrapped around a cylinder 3, is guided by an ACE head 4 and a capstan 5, and is taken up at high speed around the reel on the T reel mount 6, as is illustrated in Fig. 1. At the beginning, the tape 2 is taken up at high speed by rotating the T reel mount 6 by means of the reel motor 7 and the idler 8. During this high-speed transfer of the tape 2, the pinch roller 20 is not pressed onto the capstan 5. As the tape transfer proceeds, and the diameter of the tape roll on the T reel mount 6 increases, the amount of tape detected by the pulse detector 11 reaches and surpasses the predetermined value. Then, the reel motor controller 12 stops the reel motor 7 temporarily, and the system controller 17 drives the loading motor 18 and hence the cam gear 15, thereby pressing the pinch roller 20 onto the capstan 5. As a result, the capstan motor transfers the tape 2. In this condition, the reel motor 7 is rotating again, but the load on the motor 7 has been much reduced. Therefore, the torque required to transfer the tape 2 is small. When the REW mode is set, the tape 2 will be transferred from the T reel mount 6 to the S reel mount 1, in the same way as has been described. Fig. 3 shows the transmission mechanism 21 in detail. The same numerals are used in this figure to denote the same components as shown in Fig. 2. The cam gear 15, which is rotated by the loading motor 18 and the transmission mechanism 18a, has various grooves (not shown) defining the operation modes and a groove 15a designed for controlling the pinch roller 20. A first lever 21a has a pin P partly placed in this groove 15. The first lever 21a is moved, along with a second lever 21b, in the direction of arrow A when the cam gear 15 is rotated. The pinch lever 21c, which is linked to the second lever 21b, is rotated in the direction of arrow B. The pinch roller 20, which is rotatably supported by the distal end of the pinch lever 21c, moves from the position a indicated by solid lines to the position b indicated by broken lines, thus pressing the tape 2 onto the capstan 5. In other words, the pinch roller 20 can come into or out of contact with the capstan 5, in accordance with the position of the cam gear 15. In this embodiment, the tape 2 is transferred mainly by the capstan motor 9, and the current flowing in the capstan motor 9 is substantially constant after the predetermined amount of the tape 2 has been taken up, as can be understood from Fig. 4, whereas in the conventional apparatus, the load on the reel motor 7 increases in the period A as more and more tape is taken up in the FF/REW mode, and the current flowing in the reel motor 7 abruptly increases, as is evident from Fig. 5. In addition, since the load on the reel motor 7 is reduced very much reduced, the current flowing in the reel motor 7 does not increase while the end portion of the tape is being taken up. Hence, the capacity of the reel motor can be reduced, and the lifetime thereof can be lengthened. Further, even if the tape 2 has been damaged too much to be transferred in the FF/REW mode, it can be taken up, merely by switching the transfer mode to the capstan-drive mode. The apparatus is thus greatly reliable. In the embodiment described above, the tape transfer is switched from the transfer achieved by the reel motor 7 to the transfer achieved by the capstan motor 9, when either pulse detector 11 detects that the amount of the tape taken up around a reel reaches the predetermined value. Instead, as is shown in Fig. 2, a current-detecting circuit 22 can be used to detect the current flowing through the reel motor 7, and the tape transfer can be switched from the transfer achieved by the reel motor 7 to the transfer achieved by the capstan motor 9 when the current increases to a predetermined value or more. Alternatively, the switching of the transfer mode can be performed by detecting the transfer speed of the tape. As has been described, according to the present invention, during the FF/REW operation of a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, wherein tape is fully loaded on a cylinder, the device for transferring tape is switched from the reel motor to the capstan motor in accordance with the amount of the tape taken up around a reel. Therefore, the capacity of the reel motor can be reduced, and the lifetime thereof can be lengthened, whereby the tape can be taken up with high reliability. [Industrial Applicability) The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring tape at high speed in a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, and can apply, in particular, to the full-loading FF/REW operation in a VTR.

Claims: A high-speed magnetic tape transfer apparatus having a reel motor (7) for transferring tape (2) at high speed, and a capstan motor (9) for transferring the tape (2) at a standard speed, and designed for use in a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus wherein the tape (2) is wrapped around a cylinder (3) having a rotary head and transferred at high speed during fast-forward/rewinding operation, said apparatus comprising: mode-setting means (15-17) for setting a high-speed tape transfer mode for transferring the tape (2) forward and rewinding the tape (2) at high speed by means of said reel motor (7); detecting means (11) for detecting a predetermined amount of tape wound around a reel (1, 6) in the high-speed tape transfer mode set by said mode-setting means (15-17); and control means (17) for switching a device for transferring the tape (2), from the reel motor (7) to the capstan motor (9), in response to a detection signal supplied from said detecting means (11). A high-speed magnetic tape transfer apparatus having a reel motor (7) for transferring tape (2) at high speed, and a capstan motor (9) for transferring the tape (2) at a standard speed, and designed for use in a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus wherein the tape (2) is wrapped around a cylinder (3) having a rotary head and transferred at high speed during fast-forward/rewinding operation, said apparatus comprising: mode-setting means (15-17) for setting a high-speed tape transfer mode for transferring the tape (2) forward and rewinding the tape (2) at high speed by means of said reel motor (7); detecting means for detecting a predetermined speed of tape being transferred in the high-speed tape transfer mode set by said mode-setting means (15-17); and control means (17) for switching a device for transferring the tape (2), from the reel motor (7) to the capstan motor (9), in response to a detection signal supplied from said detecting means. A high-speed magnetic tape transfer apparatus having a reel motor (7) for transferring tape (2) at high speed, and a capstan motor (9) for transferring the tape (2) at a standard speed, and designed for use in a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus wherein the tape (2) is wrapped around a cylinder (3) having a rotary head and transferred at high speed during fast-forward/rewinding operation, said apparatus comprising: mode-setting means (15-17) for setting a high-speed tape transfer mode for transferring the tape (2) forward and rewinding the tape (2) at high speed by means of said reel motor (7); detecting means (22) for detecting a predetermined current flowing in the reel motor (7) in the high-speed tape transfer mode set by said mode-setting means (15-17); and control means (17) for switching a device for transferring the tape (2), from the reel motor (7) to the capstan motor (9), in response to a detection signal supplied from said detecting means (22).

Inventors: KONDO YUJI, KONDO, YUJI
Applicants: TOSHIBA KK, KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
Application year: 1988
Main classification: G11B15
IPC codes: G11B15