GB2175435A - Cleaning device for a video recorder/player - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for cleaning the transducer and tape transport elements of a video recorder/player includes a cassette housing, a pair of reels (14), 16 (Fig. 3) therein and a cleaning tape 26 of non-abrasive fabric. Top wall 5 of the housing has a slot 11 through which cleaning solvent may be applied to the cleaning tape wound on one of the reels, and a pivotable cover 6 is disposed over the front of the housing to shield the tape which cover has two slots 13,15 through which cleaning solvent may also be applied to the cleaning tape while the cover is closed. When the cover is pivoted open, the cleaning tape is exposed and may be withdrawn by the conventional mechanism of the recorder/player to run past the transducer and tape transport elements for cleaning. A reel lock mechanism releasable by a pin entering opening (22) (Fig. 2) comprises locking arms 36,38 cooperable with teeth on the reel flanges (Fig. 3), while opening (24) receiving a light detector, and apertures (12), are utilised in the tape end shut-off mechanism. Cover release element (90) is detailed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Cleaning device for a video recorder/player This invention relates to a cleaning device for a video recorder/player and, more particularly, to such a device which has the general external form of a video cassette and which includes a cleaning tape.

During normal usage of video recorders, deposits may build up on the usual rotary head (or heads) used to record and play back video signals, the usual audio head (or heads) for sounding recording and play back, and on the tape transport elements such as the usual capstan, pinch roller and guide rollers by which the tape is transported past the video and audio heads. Such deposits deleteriously affect the quality of the video and audio recording/reproduction and, thus, degrade the quality of the video picture and sound recorded and reproduced by the recorder/player. Deposit accumulations on the tape transport elements may result in abrasion of the recording tape and may impair the tape transport operation.

It is, of course, desirable to "clean" the video and audio heads and the tape transport elements so as to remove these deposits and accumulations. Since the headsand tape transport elements normally are contained within the video recorder/player and not easily accessible by the user without disassembly of the mechanism, so-called cleaning cassettes have been developed to effect such "cleaning". Examples of video cassette cleaners are described in U.S. Patent No. 4,462,056 and the prior art described therein. The cassette cleaner described in this patent is provided with a cleaning tape formed of, for example, synthetic suede, in place of the usual magnetic tape that normally is housed within simi larly constructed cassettes.When the cassette cleaner is loaded into a conventional video recorder/player, the cleaning tape is withdrawn in precisely the same manner as conventional recording tape would be withdrawn from a magnetic tape cassette, and the withdrawn cleaning tape is advanced past the transducers and tape transport elements of the recorder/player to clean these devices.

The cleaning tape is of limited length, and when the full extent of the tape has been transported from the supply reel to the takeup reel of the cassette cleaner (and over the tape run past the transducers and tape transport elements), the withdrawn cleaning tape is returned to the cassette and the cassette cleaner may then be removed from the recorder/player. To improve the cleaning ability of this patented cassette cleaner, a suitable cleaning fluid is applied to the tape prior to loading the cassette cleaner into the recor der/player. This fluid is applied through a small aperture in one of the peripheral side walls of the cassette housing with the hope that the fluid reaches the cleaning tape.

A disadvantage of the aforementioned patented cassette cleaner resides in the fact that, since the cleaning tape is of limited length, a relatively small number of coils of tape is wound upon the supply reel, resulting in a relatively small diameter reel of tape. The distance from the outer periphery of this small diameter reel of tape to the fluid-application aperture is sufficiently large that there is a strong possibility the fluid will be misdirected and will not impinge properly on the cleaning tape. Rather, the fluid may be applied erroneously to other components within the cassette housing, and this may deleteriously affect those components. The desired "soaking" of the cleaning tape might not be attained. No other means are suggested in this patent by which the cleaning fluid may be applied properly to the cleaning tape.

Another video cassette cleaner is described in U.S. Patent No. 4,387,411. The cassette structure of this cleaner is provided with a removable cartridge that normally contains a reel of cleaning tape. After several uses, the reel-containing cartridge is removed from the cassette, the cleaning tape is detached from a leader normally secured to another reel housing in the cassette, and a fresh cartridge is inserted into the cassette housing with a fresh supply of cleaning tape. Although the removable cartridge is provided with "windows" through which cleaning fluid may be applied to the reel of cleaning tape therewithin, there is no assurance that the run of the tape which extends behind the usual pivotable cover of the cassette will be properly "soaked".In fact, even though a small window is provided at one end of the cover, there is a strong likelihood that substantial portions of the tape in that run will not be treated with cleaning fluid, thus reducing the overall cleaning ability of the tape when it is withdrawn from the cassette by the usual tape-loading elements of the recorder/player.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved video cassette cleaner which overcomes the above problems and disadvantages and, in particular, which has suitable openings or slots through which cleaning solvent may be more accurately applied to the cleaning tape housed within the cassette.

According to the present invention there is provided a cleaning device for cleaning the transducer and tape transport elements of a video recorder/player comprising a rectangular cassette housing having top and bottom walls and a peripheral wall extending around the two sides and rear of the housing, a pair of reels rotatably mounted in the housing, a cleaning tape of non-abrasive fabric whose ends are secured to a respective reel and which may be moved along a tape run when the reels are rotated, the top wall of the housing having a slot in it through which cleaning solvent may be applied to the cleaning tape when it is wound on one of the reels, and a pivotable cover which may be pivoted between a closed position in which it constitutes the front of the housing and covers the cleaning tape normally situated behind it and an open position in which the cleaning tape is exposed so that when the cleaning device is loaded into a recorder/player a length of the cleaning tape may be withdrawn past the transducer and tape transport elements to clean them, the pivotable cover having at least one slot through which cleaning solvent may be applied to the cleaning tape when the cover is in the closed position.

In one embodiment of the invention at least one of the reels includes a top flange having a plurality of slots therein, each being alignable with the slot in the top wall of the housing and through which cleaning solvent may be applied to the cleaning tape wound on the reel. Each slot in the top flange and also the slot in the top wall of the housing is prefera bly arcuate.

The pivotable cover is preferably provided with two elongate slots spaced from and aligned with each other along a substantially straight line. The length of the slot or slots is preferably more than half the length of the cover thereby enabling cleaning solvent to be applied to a substantial length, preferably substantially the entire length, of that portion of the tape positioned behind the cover.

Further features and details of the invention will be apparent from the following description of one specific embodiment which is given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 and 2 are top and bottom perspective views, respectively, of a video cassette cleaner incorporating the present invention; Figure 3 is a top plan view of the cassette cleaner with the top wall removed; and Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the cassette cleaner.

The cassette cleaner 2 comprises a housing 4 that is of substantially the same shape as conventional magnetic video cassettes, such as the type used in the so-called VHS format.

Housing 4 preferably is of plastics material and contains the operating elements of the cassette cleaner, namely the cleaning tape, the supply and take-up reels on which the tape is wound and between which the tape is transported, and a reel-locking mechanism, all of which are described below. As shown, housing 4 comprises a top wall 5, a bottom wall 7 (Fig. 2) and a peripheral wall 9 which extends about the rear, left and right sides of housing 4. A pivotable cover 6 is mounted so as to cover the front side of housing 4, this pivotable cover being spring-biased to its closed position, as illustrated in Figure 1, and movable to an open position when the cassette cleaner 2 is loaded into a conventional recorder/player (not shown).It will be appreciated that the pivotable cover 6 is similar to conventional pivotable covers normally provided with conventional magnetic video cassettes and, thus, may be pivotably moved from its closed position to its opened position by the usual drive mechanism normally provided in standard video recorders/players. When the pivotable cover 6 pivots in the upward direction (as viewed in Fig. 1), the cleaning tape which extends along a run behind the pivotable cover is exposed.The usual withdrawing mechanism provided in standard recorders/players then may be activated to withdraw a length of the cleaning tape from housing 4 and "wrap" that tape about the usual head drum of the recorder/player such that the tape extends along a run in which it is engaged by the typical rotary video transducer elements, the fixed audio transducer element and the tape transport elements of the recorder/player.

As clearly shown in Figure 1, the pivotable cover 6 is provided with a pair of longitudinal slots 13 and 15 spaced apart from and aligned with each other along a generally straight line. When the cassette 2 is not disposed in a video recorder/player, the pivotable cover 6 is normally in its closed position so as to cover the cleaning tape behind it. Longitudinal slots 13 and 15 thus provide suitable elongated openings through which cleaning solvent may be applied to the cleaning tape. It may be seen that these longitudinal slots extend along a substantial length of the tape behind the cover 6 and thus allow for the application of the cleaning solvent along a sufficient length of the tape to improve the quality of the cleaning operation.

Top wall 5 is provided with a clear plastic panel 8 to provide visibility for the tape reel (e.g. the take-up reel) inside housing 4. Such a clear panel is used conventionally in video cassettes housing magnetic recording tape.

Top wall 5 is also provided with an arcuate slot 11 disposed over the supply reel within housing 4, this arcuate slot being in alignment with similar arcuate slots 17 (Fig. 3) that are provided on the top flange of the supply reel.

It will be appreciated, as shown in Figure 3, that the cleaning tape which is wound upon the supply reel is exposed through the slots 17 in the supply reel flange and through the arcuate slot 11 in the top wail 5. Cleaning solvent may be applied through the arcuate slot 11 to the cleaning tape that is wound upon the supply reel, this solvent passing through both the arcuate slot 11 and the similar slots 17 in the supply reel flange. Thus, the provision of the arcuate slot 11 permits a sufficient amount of cleaning solvent to be applied in an axial direction over significant lengths of tape that are wound upon the supply reel.It will be seen that the combination of slots 1 1,13 and 15 thus ensure the application of cleaning solvent to a sufficient length of the cleaning tape, whereby improved cleaning of the transducers and tape transport elements of the recorder/player is obtained. It will be further appreciated that slots 11,13 and 15 allow far greater lengths of the cleaning tape to be soaked with cleaning solvent than the limited "windows" provided in the cartridge of U.S. Patent 4,387,411 or the small aperture of the cassette described in U.S. Patent 4,462,056. In the present invention, successive coils of cleaning tape wound upon the supply reel are soaked by the application of cleaning solvent through the arcuate slot 11, each such coil being soaked along an arcuate length defined by this slot.Furthermore, the use of longitudinal slots 13 and 15 (as opposed to a simple, small window suggested in U.S. Patent 4,387,411) increases the length of tape to which the cleaning solvent is applied.

The underside of the cassette cleaner 2 is illustrated in Figure 2 and it will be seen that the bottom wall 7 is provided with circular openings 18 and 20 through which the supply reel 14 and the take-up reel 16 may be viewed. The supply and take-up reels may be of substantially identical construction, each provided with a central core to which a hub is secured, the hub having suitable affixing members to which the opposite ends of the cleaning tape are affixed to the supply and take-up reels, respectively. The central core is provided with a bore having ribs extending in the axial direction and protruding radially from the circular surface of the bore. As is conventional, these ribs are adapted to engage the supply and take-up drive spindles, respectively, of the video recorder/player.As these spindles rotate, the engagement with the ribs provided on the central bores results in corresponding rotation of the supply and take-up reels within the housing 4.

The bottom wall 7 of the housing 4 is also provided with an opening 22 which, as will be described below, is aligned with an internal reel lock mechanism which normally engages and locks the supply and take-up reels from rotation. When the cassette cleaner 2 is loaded into a recorder/player, a suitable pin, normally provided on the recorder/player, passes through opening 22 of bottom wall 7 to engage the reel lock mechanism and thereby release that mechanism to permit the supply and take-up reels to rotate freely within housing 4. Thus, when the cassette cleaner is not disposed within the recorder/player, undesired rotation of the reels and a concomitant slackening and possible jamming of the tape within the housing 4 is avoided by reason of the reel lock mechanism.

In the typical video recorder/player with which the~cassette cleaner of the present invention is intended to be used, an optical arrangement is provided to detect when the usual magnetic recording tape has been fully wound or unwound. This optical end-of-tape sensor operates to deactivate the tape drive mechanism within the recorder/player to avoid inadvertent breaking of the tape after it has been fully wound (or rewound). It is intended that this optical end-of-tape sensor also be used to sense when the cleaning tape housed within housing 4 is fully wound (or rewound) and to this end the bottom wall 7 of the housing 4 is provided with an opening 24 to receive the usual light detector normally provided in the recorder/player.An aperture 12 is provided in the left side wall of the housing 4 and also in the right side wall thereof, these apertures permitting light emitted from a suitable light source normally provided inthe recorder/player to pass through a hole provided at each end of the cleaning tape, this light impinging upon the light detector that is received within opening 24. Thus, when the cleaning tape is fully wound (or rewound), light passes through aperture 12 and the hole of the cleaning tape that is aligned with this aperture and impinges upon the light detector to trigger the usual shut-off mechanism of the recorder/player. Of course, when the cleaning tape is not fully wound (or rewound), the aforementioned holes in the cleaning tape are not aligned with aperture 12 and, thus, light is blocked from reaching the light detector.

As best seen in Figure 3, the supply reel 14 and take-up reel 16 are maintained in their proper position within the housing 4 by guide walls disposed within the housing and curved to conform with the circular shape of the reels. The reels are urged downwardly against the bottom wall 7 by a flexible leaf spring mechanism that is affixed to the inner surface of the top wall 5 (not shown), as is conventional. The cleaning tape 26, which is formed of a non-abrasive fabric such as synthetic suede, chamois cloth, a spunbonded olefin of high-density polyethylene fibres such as manufactured by E. I. Du Pont under the trade mark "Tyvek", or other cleaning fabrics that have been used to clean magnetic heads, is affixed at its opposite ends to the respective hubs of the supply reel 14 and the take-up reel 16.

Locking tabs (not shown) of the type conventionally used to secure magnetic tape to a reel hub may be used to affix the opposite ends of the cleaning tape to the hubs of the supply and take-up reels, respectively.

As shown in Figure 3, the top flanges of the supply and take-up reels are provided with arcuate slots 17 and 19, respectively, these slots being disposed at a radial location aligned with the outer surfaces of the supply and take-up reel hubs so as to expose the cleaning tape 26 that may be wound upon those hubs. As mentioned above, the slots 17 of supply reel 14 are radially aligned with the arcuate slot 11 in top wall 5 of housing 4 so that cleaning solvent may be applied through the slot 11 and an aligned slot 17 to soak arcuate sections of those coils of the cleaning tape 26 that are wound upon the supply reel hub.Although the arcuate slots 19 may be omitted, if desired, the supply and take-up reels preferably are of substantially identical construction to minimize the number of different parts that are needed in the cassette cleaner and thereby reduce the cost of manufacturing and assembly.

When in its quiescent state, that is, when the cassette cleaner 2 is not loaded into a recorder/player, the pivotable cover is normally closed, as mentioned above, and the cleaning tape 26 extends in a run from the supply reel 14 to the take-up reel 16, guided by suitable guide rollers or pins, this run having a length which extends behind the cover 6.

A notch 32 is formed in the bottom wall 7 and also in the front wall of the housing 4 to receive a pinch roller of the tape transport mechanism of the video recorder/cleaner, this pinch roller cooperating with a drive capstan (also included in the tape transport mechanism) to pinch the cleaning tape therebetween when the cassette cleaner 2 is loaded into the recorder/player. It will be appreciated that the pinch roller and capstan cooperate to drive the tape from the supply reel 14 to the take-up reel 16. Furthermore, and as is conventional, when the cassette cleaner 2 is loaded into the recorder/player, a length of cleaning tape 26 is withdrawn from the housing 4 and wrapped around the usual tape guide drum of the recorder/player to extend along a run which inc!udes the audio transducer.As the tape is driven by the capstan and pinch roller, it advances past the audio transducer and also along a portion of the surface of the tape guide drum so as to contact the rotating video head (or heads), thereby cleaning the audio and video transducers as well as the capstan and pinch roller and the usual tape guide pins and rollers normally provided in the recorder/player to define the tape run.

A portion of the top flanges of the supply reel 14 and the take-up reel 16 are broken away in Figure 3 to illustrate the teeth provided about the periphery of the bottom flanges of these reels. These teeth cooperate with a locking mechanism comprising a pair of pivotal locking arms 36, 38 mounted on respective bushings and spring-biased in a direction that urges engaging picks disposed at the free ends of these arms against the teeth of the supply and take-up reels. Engagement of these engaging picks with the teeth prevent the respective reels from rotating. Thus, the reels are locked from rotation and there is little danger of slackening of the cleaning tape and possible jamming within the housing 4.

Integral with the locking arms 36 and 38 are contact legs which are adapted to be contacted by release levers 42 (coupled to a release member) which are driven against the contact legs to pivot the locking arms away from the teeth of the supply and take-up reels when a suitable release pin (normally provided in the recorder/player) is inserted into the aperture 22 in the bottom wall 7 (Figure 2) to contact the release member. The release levers thus drive the locking arms 36 and 38 in a direction that opposes the spring bias exerted on those locking arms. It will be appreciated that when the locking arms 36 and 38 are driven free of the teeth of the supply and take-up reels, these reels are free to rotate and transport cleaning tape 26 from one reel to the other.Of course, when the cassette cleaner 2 is removed from the video recorder/player, the pin which had contacted the release member to urge the release levers against the contact legs integrally formed with the locking arms 36 and 38 is withdrawn from the aperture 22, whereupon the bias springs are unopposed in returning the locking arms into the positions in which the engaging picks engage the teeth of the reels. The reels thus are locked once again against rotation.

Referring now to the exploded perspective view of Figure 4, it will be seen that the pivotable cover 6 having longitudinal slots 13 and 15 therein is pivotally hinged to the left and right side walls of the housing 4. In particular, the cover 6 is provided with flanges 76 and 78 at its opposite ends, flange 78 having a pin 80 which is seated in a corresponding opening of the right side wall, the flange 76 having a pin 82 on which a coil spring 84 is located to bias the cover 6 to its illustrated closed position. A suitable mating notch is provided on the inner surface of the top cover 5 to receive and locate the pin 82.

The cleaning tape 26 is shown fully extended between the supply reel 14 and takeup reel 16, these reels also being provided with top flanges having arcuate slots 17 and 19 therein and bottom flanges having the aforementioned teeth disposed about their periphery. Figure 4 also illustrates the housing being formed of upper and lower halves, respectively, which are assembled after the reels 14 and 16, locking arms 36 and 38, release levers 42, cover release element 90 and guide pins 98 and 100 are inserted therein. The two halves are secured to each other by means of screws, one of which is illustrated at 102.

The opposite ends of the cleaning tape 26 are provided with suitable openings 86 and 88 which cooperate with the aforementioned light source and light detector of the recorder/player for sensing the end of the tape. In particular, opening 86 is adapted to be aligned with the aperture 12 disposed on the right side wall of the housing 4 to permit light to pass through the aperture and opening and impinge upon the light detector received by the opening 24, thereby detecting when the cleaning tape 26 has been fully wound up on the take-up reel 16. Similarly, opening 88 moves into alignment with the aperture 12 on the left side wall of the housing 4 to permit light to pass through that aperture and opening and impinge upon the light detector received by opening 24 when the cleaning tape 26 has been fully rewound up on the supply reel.As mentioned above, the automatic shutoff mechanism of the recorder/player is triggered when light impinges upon the light detector thus indicating the end of the tape. The cover release element 90 (Figure 4) is mounted adjacent the left side wall of the housing 4 and is provided with a bias spring to urge this element against the side wall.

Tabs 92 and 94 are formed on the release element 90 and extend through suitable apertures provided in the front corner of the left side wall of housing 4 to be contacted by a conventional release arm (or other member) of the video recorder/player. The tab 94 engages a notch provided on the inner surface of the pivotable cover 6 in the vicinity of the flange 76 to prevent the cover from pivoting to its opened position. However, when the aforementioned release lever actuates the tab 92, for example, the release element 90 pivots away from the left side wall of the housing 4, thus removing the tab 94 from the aforementioned notch of the pivotable cover. The cover is thus free to pivot to its opened position.

Preferably, the release element 90 is springbiased such that when the release lever of the recorder/player is withdrawn from the tab 92, the element 90 pivots toward the right side wall of the housing and the tab 94 extends through the illustrated aperture. When the pivotable cover 6 subsequently pivots to its closed position, the tab 94 engages the aforementioned notch of the inner surface of the cover to retain that cover in its closed position.

Figure 4 also illustrates the use of a bottle 70 containing suitable cleaning solvent, such as a fluorocarbon, to apply that solvent through the arcuate slot 11 (and also through aligned slots 17) to a portion of the tape 26 wound on the supply reel 14. The same bottle of cleaning solvent is used to apply that solvent through the longitudinal slots 13 and 15 of the pivotable cover 6 to soak the run of cleaning tape 26 disposed behind these slots.

It will be appreciated that solvent is applied through the slot 11 when the cassette cleaner 2 is held by the user in a horizontal position (such as shown in Figure 1), and the cleaning solvent is applied to the tape through the slots 13 and 15 when the user rotates the cassette to the vertical position with the slots 13 and 15 disposed in a generally horizontal plane. Preferably, the bottle 70 is provided with an appropriate applicator tip to minimise waste and spillage of the cleaning solvent.

This applicator tip fits within the slots 11, 13 and 15 and may contact the cleaning tape wound on the supply reel and extending in a run behind the pivotable cover 6. The cleaning solvent is readily absorbed by the non-abrasive fabric which constitutes the cleaning tape 26 and facilitates the cleaning of the transducers and tape transport elements as the cleaning tape is driven along the usual tape run within the recorder/player.

It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment disclosed above. For example, in place of individual longitudinal slots 13 and 15 in the pivotable cover 6, a single longitudinal slot may extend substantially the entire length of this cover. Similarly, the top wall 5 may be provided with a plurality of arcuate slots rather than a single slot 11 illustrated herein.

Also, the reel 14 may constitute the take-up reel with the reel 16 as the supply reel.

Claims (7)

1. A cleaning device for cleaning the transducer and tape transport elements of a video recorder/player comprising a rectangular cassette housing having top and bottom walls and a peripheral wall extending around the two sides and rear of the housing, a pair of reels rotatably mounted in the housing, a cleaning tape of non-abrasive fabric whose ends are secured to a respective reel and which may be moved along a tape run when the reels are rotated, the top wall of the housing having a slot in it through which cleaning solvent may be applied to the cleaning tape when it is wound on one of the reels, and a pivotable cover which may be pivoted between a closed position in which it constitutes the front of the housing and covers the cleaning tape normally situated behind it and an open position in which the cleaning tape is exposed so that when the cleaning device is loaded into the recorder/player a length of the cleaning tape may be withdrawn past the transducer and tape transport elements to clean them, the pivotable cover having at least one slot through which cleaning solvent may be applied to the cleaning tape when the cover is in the closed position.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which at least one of the reels includes a top flange having a plurality of slots therein, each being alignable with the slot in the top wall of the housing and through which cleaning solvent may be applied to the cleaning tape wound on the reel.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, in which each of the slots in the top flange is arcuate.

4. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the slot in the top wall of the housing is arcuate.

5. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the pivotable cover is provided with two elongate slots spaced from and aligned with each other along a substantially straight line.

6. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the cleaning tape is a spunbonded olefin of high-density polyethylene fibres.

7. A cleaning device for cleaning the transducer and tape transport elements of a video recorder/player substantially as specifically herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.