A cleaning cassette capable of accomplishing a safe and positive cleaning operation while ensuring smooth and stable running of a cleaning tape. The cleaning cassette includes a tape passing mechanism arranged at a front portion of a casing for ensuring satisfactory traveling of the cleaning tape while reducing contact between the cleaning tape and a head cylinder of a cassette tape deck. The mechanism includes a pair of rollers through which the cleaning tape is passed, a support member for supporting each of the rollers at each of its respective ends such that each roller can rotate and a pair of partitions provided between insertion recesses of the casing. The support member on which the rollers are supported in a manner to be laterally spaced from each other is loosely fitted between the partitions so as to reciprocatively movable in a longitudinal direction of the casing or protrude from the casing and retract into the casing when loading and unloading of the cassette with respect to the cassette tape deck is carried out, respectively.
A magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus for selectively having a normal cassette containing a recording and reproducing tape or a cleaning cassette containing a cleaning tape loaded therein is provided to detect, for example, on the basis of information stored in a semiconductor memory or an ID board of each cassette, whether the loaded cassette is a normal cassette or a cleaning cassette and, if a cleaning cassette is detected, to limit performance of a cleaning operation to only a predetermined time.
The cleaning tape comprises a substrate on which is overlaid a coating that provides a mechanical abrading surface to clean the elements in the tape path, such as the read/write heads. The coating has a high coefficient of friction to remove and retain the residues that have accumulated on the read/write heads. The coating is impregnated with or encloses a cleaning solvent that is controllably released by the mechanical movement of the cleaning tape over the read/write heads. The cleaning solvent can be isopropyl alcohol or other solvents that are encapsulated in some manner in the cleaning tape. As the solvent is released on to the read/write heads, it chemically loosens the debris which the abrasive coating can then mechanically remove from the read/write heads and also retain on the abrasive coating.
A magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus for selectively having a normal cassette containing a recording and reproducing tape or a cleaning cassette containing a cleaning tape loaded therein is provided to detect, for example, on the basis of information stored in a semiconductor memory or an ID board of each cassette, whether the loaded cassette is a normal cassette or a cleaning cassette and, if a cleaning cassette is detected, to limit performance of a cleaning operation to only a predetermined time.
A magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus for selectively having a normal cassette containing a recording and reproducing tape or a cleaning cassette containing a cleaning tape loaded therein is provided to detect, for example, on the basis of information stored in a semiconductor memory or an ID board of each cassette, whether the loaded cassette is a normal cassette or a cleaning cassette and, if a cleaning cassette is detected, to limit performance of a cleaning operation to only a predetermined time.
A cleaning device (1) for cleaning components (4,5,6,7,9,10,11) of a video unit comprises a cassette housing (15) having a pair of spools (24) rotatably mounted therein. A cleaning tape (30) is wound onto the spools (24) and is transferred from one spool (24) to the other on rotation thereof. The cleaning tape (30) when in a cleaning position engages the components (4,5,5,7,9,10,11) of the video unit. The cleaning tape (30) defines a central longitudinal central axis (46) which defines a sinusoidal waveform so that as the cleaning tape is wound from one spool (24) to the other along the magnetic tape path, the cleaning tape (30) cycles progressively over the components (4,5,6,7,9,10,11) for cleaning the magnetic tape path area (40) of the component and margin areas (41,42) on opposite sides of the area (40). The cycling of the cleaning tape (30) may be achieved by mechanical means.
