The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 01, 1989
Filed:
Sep. 14, 1988
Jeffrey S McGee, San Diego, CA (US);
Thomas C Kadien, Vista, CA (US);
Cipher Data Products, Inc., San Diego, CA (US);
Abstract
A tape transport for a leader block tape cartridge has a threading mechanism including a threader pin for engaging the leader block and extracting it from the cartridge after it has been loaded into the transport adjacent a first end of a tape path. The threading mechanism pulls the leader block along the tape path past a read/write head, and inserts the leader block into a take-up hub adjacent a second end of the tape path during a threading operation. During a rewinding operation, the threading mechanism extracts the leader block from the take-up hub, pulls the leader block past the read/write head and inserts the leader block back into the cartridge. A first guide assembly adjacent the first end of the tape path engages and guides the leader block to ensure proper insertion thereof back into the cartridge during the rewinding operation. A second guide assembly adjacent the second end of the tape path engages and guides the leader block to ensure proper insertion thereof into the take-up hub during the threading operation. This accommodates the tolerance variations in the positions of the cartridge and take-up hub, and in the dimensions of the cartridge, leader block, take-up hub and threader pin which can otherwise lead to failures in the automatic insertion of the leader block into the cartridge and/or take-up hub.