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:
Jun. 01, 1993
Filed:
Sep. 04, 1990
James A Barnard, Conesus, NY (US);
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, NY (US);
Abstract
An optical tape recording medium is provided with a transparent flexible membrane which covers the recording surface of the tape and is bonded to its edges so as to trap a small bubble of fluid, e.g., gas or liquid. During recording, the trapped bubble displaces dust particles resting on the film's upper surface to a location out of the zone of focus of a read/write beam. As the tape is longitudinally transported, the trapped bubble is held stationary at the read/write station of the recording apparatus. In a tape cassette, the optically writable tape is wound around two reels with sufficient tension to trap the bubble in that portion of the tape stretched between the supply and take-up reels. In one embodiment of the invention, the bubble contains a transparent magnetic liquid which can be properly positioned by a magnet when the cassette is first inserted into an optical recording or playback apparatus. The invention is generally useful with any optically writable media, including optical and magneto-optical write/read media.