Patent US3533229A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent US3893167A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3893167A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Magnetic tape duplicator
Assignee: Ampex Corp
•
Filing: 1970-04-01
•
Granted: 1975-07-01
•
Expires: 1990-04-01
Abstract
Abstract High speed contact duplicating of a magnetic copy tape from a magnetic master tape is effected by a pair of pinch rollers for pressing the tapes together and into adhesion contact such that the air is squeezed from between the tapes and they adhere together until forcibly separated, and transfer excitation means immediately downstream from the pinch rollers to cause printing of the copy tape with minimum opportunity for shearing motion of the tapes relative to one another. The path of the tape downstream from the pinch rollers is also kept straight to minimize shearing motion, and tape cleaning means are provided upstream from the pinch rollers to augment the effectiveness of the adhesion contact. For television tapes, the audio and cue tracks may be separately read from the master and the control track from the copy and re-recorded on the copy downstream from the transfer excitation means. The tapes are separated during rewind mode. A multiple tape loop vacuum column storage bin is also provided for operation of the master tape in endless form, and the vacuum supply to the bin is servoed to control the feeding of tape from the bin to the pinch rollers. Means are also provided to make repeated copies of any selected portion of the master as by automatically stopping the copy tape at the end of the selected portion of the master, and rewinding the master to the beginning of the selected portion.
Inventors
- 👤 Alfred F Stahler
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 18:40
CPC Classifications
G; G11; G11B; G11B5/00; G11B5/86; G11B5/865
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
120 words
Apparatus for magnetically duplicating a magnetic copy tape from a magnetic master tape, comprising: means including a first pair of pinch rollers for bringing the magnetic sides of said master and said copy tape into superimposed adhesion contact; means for urging said pinch rollers toward one another with sufficient pressure to squeeze out the air from between the magnetic sides of said tapes; means for applying transfer excitation to said superimposed master and copy tape; and means for guiding said superimposed master and copy tapes in a path of unchanging curvature from said pinch rollers through and beyond said transfer excitation means so as to avoid relative longitudinal shifting of said magnetic sides of said tape during the imprinting thereof.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
120 words
Apparatus for magnetically duplicating a magnetic copy tape from a magnetic master tape, comprising: means including a first pair of pinch rollers for bringing the magnetic sides of said master and said copy tape into superimposed adhesion contact; means for urging said pinch rollers toward one another with sufficient pressure to squeeze out the air from between the magnetic sides of said tapes; means for applying transfer excitation to said superimposed master and copy tape; and means for guiding said superimposed master and copy tapes in a path of unchanging curvature from said pinch rollers through and beyond said transfer excitation means so as to avoid relative longitudinal shifting of said magnetic sides of said tape during the imprinting thereof.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
16 words
Apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein: said path is straight and of unchanging zero curvature.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
Apparatus as described in claim 2, wherein: said transfer excitation means is positioned on said path downstream from said pinch rollers and imediately proximate to said pinch rollers.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
85 words
Apparatus as described in claim 3, wherein: each of said tapes is guided to have a substantial angle of wrap about one of said pinch rollers upstream from the point of tangency of said rollers; and tensioning means are provided for said tapes upstream from said pinch rollers; whereby the air film between said tapes and said rollers is squeezed out upstream from the point of tangency of said rollers and the point at which said tapes are brought into adhesion contact with one another.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
53 words
Apparatus as described in claim 4, and adapted for duplicating television signals, in that: means are provided, downstream from said transfer excitation means, for reading the control track from said copy tape and the cue and audio track, from said master and re-recording said audio, cue and control tracks on said copy tape.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
Apparatus as described in claim 4, wherein the effectiveness of said adhesion contact is augmented as by the provision of: tape cleaning means for both sides of both of said tapes upstream from said pinch rollers.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
109 words
Apparatus as described in claim 6, wherein each of said tape cleaning means includes: a pair of spaced guide elements around which said tape is guided under tension so as to be stretched tautly therebetween; a hollow tubular element between said guide elements and oriented with an open end confronting said tape and closely spaced therefrom to define a restricted scrubbing passage for air between the tubular open end and the tape; and means for drawing a vacuum pressure in said tubular element so as to cause air to pass at high velocity through said restricted passage between said open tube end and tape with a scrubbing cleaning effect.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
46 words
Apparatus as described in claim 7, wherein: said open end of said hollow tubular element is sharpened to define a knife-like edge, so as to cause maximum acceleration and scrubbing impact of said air entering said restricted passage between said open tubular end and said tape.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
86 words
Apparatus as described in claim 4, wherein: a second pair of pinch rollers are positioned downstream from said first pair of pinch rollers; record-rewind control means are provided for selectively operating any of said pinch rollers as a driving capstan in either direction; and tape engaging and retraction control means are provided for withdrawing said pinch rollers associated with one of said tapes a substantial distance from the rollers associated with the other tape for ensuring a transfer inhibiting spacing between Said tapes during rewind thereof.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
77 words
Apparatus as recited in claim 9, wherein: said record-rewind control means is arranged to operate one of said second pinch rollers as a driving capstan during the recording mode; tachometer means are provided on the other second pinch roller for delivering a signal representing the speed of the tape at the capstan; and said record-rewind control means is arranged to operate said first pinch rollers as a drag tensioning means for said tape during said reocrd mode.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
59 words
Apparatus as described in claim 10, wherein: said record-rewind control means is arranged to operate said tape engaging and retraction control means to withdraw said withdrawing rollers during the rewind mode; and said record-rewind control means is further arranged to operate said first pinch rollers as driving capstans and said second pinch rollers as idlers during said rewind mode.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus as described in claim 11, wherein: said transfer excitation means is mounted to confront the copy tape at a predetermined spacing therefrom both during the record and the rewind modes.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
42 words
Apparatus as described in claim 12, wherein: an air jet means is mounted to confront said master tape, opposite said transfer excitation means, and to be spaced from said master tape for a predetermined spacing in both said record and rewind modes.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
80 words
Apparatus as described in claim 13, wherein: said copy tape and said master tape are each wound on a pair of supply and takeup reels, and two pairs of first tape loop vacuum columns with loop length sensing means are provided between said respective reels and pinch rollers, said loop length sensing means being arranged to control the operation of the respective reels so as to maintain the lengths of said loops at a predetermined intermediate value in said columns.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
130 words
Apparatus as described in claim 14, wherein said apparatus is adapted for the repeated copying of a selected portion of said master tape, as by the provision of: beginning and ending marker means applied to said master tape at a predetermined distance downstream from the beginning and ending of said selected portion thereof; and means positioned on the master tape path at said predetermined distance downstream from said transfer excitation means for sensing the arrival of said beginning and ending markers on said master tape; said sensing means being coupled to said record-rewind control means to cause said apparatus to operate in the recording mode when the beginning marker is sensed, and to operate in the rewind mode, but with the copy tape stopped, when said ending marker is sensed.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
132 words
Apparatus as described in claim 14, wherein: a multiple second vacuum column tape loop storage bin is provided for operation of the master tape in endless loop form; said bin being provided with a common manifold for said multiple vacuum columns thereof; a vacuum source and regulating valve are coupled to draw vacuum in said multiple columns through said common manifold thereof; and means are coupled between at least one of said first master tape loop vacuum columns and said regulating valve to control the operation of said regulating valve so as to control the feeding and takeup of tape from said first master tape loop columns during operation with an endless master tape, and so as to maintain the loop lengths in said first master columns at said predetermined intermediate value.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
165 words
Apparatus as described in claim 16, wherein: said regulating valve control means is coupled to receive a loop length sensing signal from said loop length sensing means of said first master supply reel tape loop vacuum column and to operate said regulating valve to decrease the orifice defined by said valve when the first master supply reel tape loop is shorter than said predetermined intermediate value, whereby the vacuum pressure in said second multiple bin columns is permitted to increase towaRd gauge pressure as by the leakage of air around the edges of said multiple tape loops, and tape is fed from said second multiple storage columns to cause corrective lengthening of said first master supply reel tape loop; said regulating valve being conversely operated to increase the orifice defined therey when said first master supply reel tape loop is longer than said predetermined intermediate value, whereby tape is drawn into said multiple bin columns to correctively shorten said first master supply reel tape loop.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US2747026A
Cited
US3037090A
Cited
US3091794A
Cited
US3298006A
Cited
US3161120A
Cited
US3519760A
Cited
US3472971A
Cited
US3600523A
Cited
US3573390A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-06-30 | 1978-12-30 | 1979-07-01 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-06-30 | 1982-12-30 | 1983-07-01 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-06-30 | 1986-12-30 | 1987-07-01 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |