International Business Machines Corporation

George Frederick Adams

Edwin Ralph Childers

Armando Jesus Argumedo

Vincent N Kahwaty

Disclosed is a portable tape cartridge for containing two separate lengths of recording tape for providing rapid access to data by a single tape drive. Two access openings on the inboard side (with respect to the tape drive) of the tape cartridge are respectively positioned toward the left or right. Two sets of tape bearings each respectively supports a length of tape at each of the access openings, and each length of tape is wound on two tape spools. The left set of tape bearings and tape spools are positioned with respect to each other identically to the positioning of the right set of tape bearings and tape spools with respect to each other. This allows the cartridge to be translated sidewise by the tape drive for reading and writing on the left or the right length of tape. The two lengths of tape are wound, when not in use in a drive, so as to have substantially equal lengths thereof wound on each of the spools, and so that the tape at the respective set of tape bearings is the approximate midpoint of the length of tape.

Tape cartridge for two separate lengths of recording tape

Disclosed is a single reel tape cartridge having a supply reel positioned within a central cavity of a shell. The supply reel is coupled to the attachment end of a length of recording tape which is wound in a sequence of wraps from an inner circumference to a maximum outer circumference when the length of recording tape is fully wound on the supply reel. A tape guide and bearing assembly positioned within the central cavity closely adjacent the maximum outer circumference, faces towards an aperture in the shell and away from the supply reel. The tape guide and bearing assembly defines a tape path for the outermost wrap from the supply reel to the tape guide and bearing assembly, across an aperture in the shell for interfacing the outermost wrap with the tape head of the tape drive at the aperture. The tape path then extends to an isolator, e.g. the supply reel, for isolating the tape path at the tape guide and bearing assembly from the free end of the length of recording tape as the free end is wound at a take up reel in the drive. A stable head to tape interface is thus provided at the cartridge tape guide and bearing assembly, which allows a small form factor tape drive having a short tape path to the take up reel.

Single reel tape cartridge with integral tape guide

A magnetic head assembly is provided which has top and bottom zones for processing a magnetic tape alternately in opposite directions. Each zone contains a top write element and read element pair and a bottom write element and read element pair, the write element of each pair being located on a first gap line and the read element of each pair being located on a second gap line. Located between the read elements on the second gap line are a plurality of servo elements. The pitch of the servo elements is a multiple of the track pitch of the magnetic tape and the pitch of the write elements is a multiple of the pitch of the servo elements. The servo elements are totally dedicated to servoing on pre-recorded servo tracks on the magnetic tape. A servo element on the first gap line is on a common servo track with one of the servo elements on the second gap line so as to provide a pair of servos on the same servo track. During initialization of the tape drive, this pair of servo elements transmits signals to compensate for any track misregistration (TMR) due to head assembly inaccuracies during fabrication or tape skew. The bottom zone of the head assembly is a mirror image of the top zone. Each of the servo elements in the same gap line sequentially servo through all of the servo tracks so that the write elements in the same gap line can write a top and bottom sets of data tracks. When one servo element transition through all of the servo tracks, then the adjacent servo takes over and transitions through all of the servo tracks and so on until all of the sets of write tracks have been completed. This servoing and writing operation alternates between the top and bottom zones sequentially as the tape reverses its direction, one tape pitch at a time. When one of the zones is operational, one of its servos is a primary servo and the mirror image of this servo in the opposite zone serves as a back-up auxiliary servo for maintaining the write elements on track. When a scratch or tape defect is detected by the primary servo, control is transferred to the auxiliary servo to maintain the write elements on track.

Growing community of inventors

Tucson, AZ, United States of America

George Frederick Adams