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:
May. 27, 2003
Filed:
May. 23, 2000
William J. Vanderheyden, Loveland, CO (US);
Kevin S. Fletcher, Boulder, CO (US);
Michael J. O'Keeffe, Boulder, CO (US);
David B. Daniel, Longmont, CO (US);
Quantum Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
The half-inch tape drive comprises a novel takeup reel, tape deck, PC board packaging, loading mechanism, and housing. The takeup reel comprises a pair of segmented flanges that define a first and second tape containment section. The tape deck is approximately half the height of a conventional tape deck and includes reinforcing ribs to provide structural rigidity and maintain alignment of the moving components of the tape drive during operation. The loading mechanism comprises a horizontally mounted load motor that employs a worm gear to engage a simplified gear train. The printed circuit board is segmented into multiple sections that are mounted in various locations on the tape drive to maximize spatial efficiencies and reduce the overall height of the tape drive. The tape drive housing provides a protective exterior for the tape drive components and provides the structure for mounting the present tape drive in a single drive bay of a computer housing.