Tape cutting-out equipment and tape production supporting apparatus

Abstract

Tape cutting-out equipment to wind and cut out tape supplied from a pancake in plural kinds of winding lengths on a reel, the equipment is equipped with a tape supplying device supplying tape from the pancake P, a tape winding device winding the supplied tape from the tape supplying device, a memory unit memorizing position data of defect portions of the tape in the pancake, a winding length deciding unit deciding a winding length of the tape based on the position data read out from the memory unit, a cutting device cutting the tape, and a cutting control unit controlling making the cutting device cut the tape at a timing when the tape winding device winds tape of the winding length decided by the winding length deciding unit.

1 . Tape cutting-out equipment to wind and cut out tape supplied from a pancake in plural kinds of winding lengths on a reel, the equipment comprising: 
 a tape supplying device that supplies a tape from a pancake to a tape winding device that winds the supplied tape;    a memory unit that memorizes position data of defect portions of the tape in said pancake;    a winding length deciding unit that decides a winding length of said tape based on the position data read out from said memory unit, wherein when said winding length deciding unit determines that no defect exists in said winding length, said winding length deciding unit determines that said winding length is the winding length to be wound by said tape winding device, and when said winding length deciding unit determines that a defect portion does exist in said winding length, said winding length deciding unit determines the winding length to be wound by said tape winding device by determining whether or not said defect exists in a shorter winding length than said winding length;    a cutting device that cuts said tape; and    a cutting control unit which controls said cutting device to cut said tape when said tape winding device winds said tape said winding length, which was decided by said winding length deciding unit.    
     
     
         2 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 1 , wherein when said winding length deciding unit determines that no defect exists in a plurality of winding lengths, said winding length deciding unit determines that a longest winding length of said winding lengths is the winding length to be wound; and 
 wherein when said winding length deciding unit determines that no defect exists in said winding lengths, said winding length deciding unit determines a next plurality of winding lengths by determining whether or not another defect exists in said next plurality of said winding lengths.    
     
     
         3 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 1 , wherein said winding length deciding unit calculates combinations of winding lengths in which said tape can be wound without including any defect portions and with the least waste of said tape from said pancake based on position data read from said memory unit.  
     
     
         4 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 3 , wherein said winding length deciding unit calculates a plurality of combinations of winding lengths which are equal to or less than a length from a first defect to a second defect, compares said winding lengths in each combination calculated, and selects the longest winding length combination.  
     
     
         5 . A tape production supporting apparatus to cut out tape from a pancake, the apparatus comprising: 
 an input unit used in setting a plurality of winding lengths scheduled to be produced in a production plan of a current day;    a memory unit which memorizes position data of defect portions of a tape in a pancake;    a computing unit which calculates combinations of winding lengths which can be wound without including the defect portions and with a least amount of waste, said combination calculations being based on the position data read from said memory unit and the plurality of winding lengths;    a ratio computing unit which obtains a ratio of usable tape from said pancake based on the combinations of the winding lengths calculated by said computing unit; and    an output unit which outputs judgment results of said ratio computing unit.    
     
     
         6 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 1 , wherein said tape is a magnetic tape.  
     
     
         7 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 2 , wherein said tape is a magnetic tape.  
     
     
         8 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 3 , wherein said tape is a magnetic tape.  
     
     
         9 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 4 , wherein said tape is a magnetic tape.  
     
     
         10 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 5 , wherein said tape is a magnetic tape.  
     
     
         11 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 1 , wherein said tape is an optical recording tape.  
     
     
         12 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 2 , wherein said tape is an optical recording tape.  
     
     
         13 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 3 , wherein said tape is an optical recording tape.  
     
     
         14 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 4 , wherein said tape is an optical recording tape.  
     
     
         15 . The tape cutting-out equipment according to  claim 5 , wherein said tape is an optical recording tape.  
     
     
         16 . A tape production supporting apparatus to cut out tape from a pancake, the apparatus comprising: 
 an input unit used in setting a plurality of winding lengths scheduled to be produced in a production plan of a current day;    a memory unit which memorizes position data of defect portions of a tape in a pancake;    a computing unit which calculates combinations of winding lengths which can be wound without including the defect portions, said combination calculations being based on the position data read from said memory unit and the plurality of winding lengths;    a ratio computing unit which obtains a ratio of usable tape from said pancake based on the combinations of the winding lengths calculated by said computing unit; and    an output unit which outputs judgment results of said ratio computing unit.