Tape guidance for belt driven cartridge

Abstract

A tape cartridge of the type including walls defining an enclosure in which a magnetic tape is directed along a tape guidance path adjacent an edge of the cartridge for access by a magnetic transducer further includes at least three pins bearing against one or both major surfaces of the tape in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the tape, an enlarged shoulder extending from each of the pins toward the tape to bear upon an edge of the tape and provide a containment force parallel to the plane of the tape and in a direction transverse to the direction of tape motion. The shoulders of the pins are arranged alternately along the tape path so that the shoulders of successive pins bear against opposite edges of the tape, and the planes containing the shoulders are spaced a distance equal to or less than the width of the tape to ensure contact between all of the shoulders and the tape edges and positive confinement of the tape in the direction transverse to tape motion.