Tape cassette and drive motor with rotor rotatably supported by cassette reel
US5871166A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 2, 1997 |
| Grant date | Feb 16, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 2, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B23/0307
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A combination of a tape cassette and a tape drive motor wherein a shaft is connected to a tape reel. A tape reel support is mounted to the housing of the cassette and a tape reel shaft extends through the support. Bearings are carried by the support for rotatably supporting the tape reel shaft and thereby the tape reel on the cassette housing. The motor has a rotor rotatable about an axis with the rotor being loosely mounted in the motor when a cassette is not in the tape drive. In one embodiment of the invention, the rotor carries a magnet which in combination with magnetically attractive material carried by the shaft, operates to connect the rotor to the shaft to effect a driving relationship between the rotor and shaft when the cassette is in the tape drive. The bearings on the cassette for the tape reel shaft served as the sole bearings for the rotor for rotational support when the rotor rotates and drives the shaft and thereby the tape reel. In another embodiment of the invention, one axial end of the rotor is connected to the tape reel shaft and the opposite axial end has a pointed end which engages pivot bearings to render stability to the rotor against possible rotor whip w…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.