Calcomp Inc.

Kennedy Company

William C Chow

James Lawrence

Franklin J Davio

Donald O Rasmussen

A support arm for use in a pen plotter having a platen with a platen extension in front of it spaced to provide a slot therebetween to rotatably support a pinch roller above the platen to prevent the edges of plotting media inserted between the platen and the pinch roller from entering the slot. The arm is slidably supported under the platen on one end and passes through the slot to rotatably support a pinch roller above the platen on the opposite end. The arm has a bridging finger extending horizontally in the slot from a point adjacent the opposite end towards the plotting media from a side edge thereof. Preferably, the bridging finger is of a width substantially equal to the width of the slot and has a top surface at the same level as a top surface of the platen.

Pinch roller for pen plotters including platen bridge to prevent media

Pedestal-mounted case for a pen plotter

In a magnetic tape drive in which the supply reel is contained within a cartridge, the tape is automatically threaded from the supply reel within the cartridge past a magnetic head assembly to the take-up reel by a vacuum source coupled via apertures in the hub of the take-up reel to a generally enclosed continuous flowpath extending between the supply and take-up reels. The vacuum source causes air to flow into the cartridge through air inlet ports and around the opposite sides of the supply reel to an opposite tape exit port communicating with the flowpath so as to pull the leading end of a length of magnetic tape wound on the supply reel through the flowpath and onto the take-up reel. The supply reel is initially rotated in a second direction to ensure that the length of magnetic tape is completely wound thereon, following which the supply reel is rotated in an opposite first direction to enable the leading end of the length of tape to be picked off the supply reel and fed into the flowpath to the take-up reel. The take-up reel is rotated in a second direction opposite the first direction. The tape cartridge has a door in the housing thereof which closes over the tape exit port when the cartridge is removed from the magnetic tape drive.

Growing community of inventors

West Covina, CA, United States of America

William C Chow