Abstract: A magnetic/encoder assembly has a compact design and combines the features of motor, encoder and chuck locating feature within a single motor housing. The motor/encoder includes a DC brushless motor with an inner magnetic rotor. The motor windings and the commutation electronics are mounted towards the bottom side of a printed circuit board. The rotor of the motor is extended above the surface of the printed circuit board. The extended rotor provides a precision seat for the magnetic wheel with multiple poles. The top surface of the printed circuit board mounts the sensor for the encoder. The extension of the rotor provides the precision mounting surface of the cartridge driving chuck.

Abstract: A dual hub take-reel for a tape drive comprises an inner hub operatively connectable to a motor and a flexible leader connected at a first to the inner hub so as to be wound on to the inner hub when driven, to rotate by the motor. An outer hub is disposed about the inner hub and has an opening through which the flexible leader extends. The outer hub is arranged on the inner hub and is selectively freely rotatable about the inner hub or locked against the inner hub to rotate with the inner hub. A locking element is responsive to pressure supplied by a tape wrap to press against the inner hub and lock the outer hub to the inner hub by interaction of an engagement surface against the inner hub.

Abstract: A tape drive apparatus is provided with a base plate and tape path components on this base plate. The apparatus includes a bracket that is adjustably coupled to the base plate, the bracket carrying a magnetic head for reading and writing to a tape transported by the tape path components. Adjustment couplings couple the bracket to the base plate and are lockably settable to adjust and lock the spatial orientation of the magnetic head with respect to a tape transported by the tape path components. Pre-loaded jackscrews of the adjustment couplings are rotated to adjust and lock the azimuth and zenith settings for the magnetic head. A separate penetration screw independently controls the penetration of the magnetic head into the path of the magnetic tape.

Abstract: A magnetic/encoder assembly has a compact design and combines the features of motor, encoder and chuck locating feature within a single motor housing. The motor/encoder includes a DC brushless motor with an inner magnetic rotor. The motor windings and the commutation electronics are mounted towards the bottom side of a printed circuit board. The rotor of the motor is extended above the surface of the printed circuit board. The extended rotor provides a precision seat for the magnetic wheel with multiple poles. The top surface of the printed circuit board mounts the sensor for the encoder. The extension of the rotor provides the precision mounting surface of the cartridge driving chuck.

Abstract: A magnetic/encoder assembly has a compact design and combines the features of motor, encoder and chuck locating feature within a single motor housing. The motor/encoder includes a DC brushless motor with an inner magnetic rotor. The motor windings and the commutation electronics are mounted towards the bottom side of a printed circuit board. The rotor of the motor is extended above the surface of the printed circuit board. The extended rotor provides a precision seat for the magnetic wheel with multiple poles. The top surface of the printed circuit board mounts the sensor for the encoder. The extension of the rotor provides the precision mounting surface of the cartridge driving chuck.

Abstract: A magnetic/encoder assembly has a compact design and combines the features of motor, encoder and chuck locating feature within a single motor housing. The motor/encoder includes a DC brushless motor with an inner magnetic rotor. The motor windings and the commutation electronics are mounted towards the bottom side of a printed circuit board. The rotor of the motor is extended above the surface of the printed circuit board. The extended rotor provides a precision seat for the magnetic wheel with multiple poles. The top surface of the printed circuit board mounts the sensor for the encoder. The extension of the rotor provides the precision mounting surface of the cartridge driving chuck.

Abstract: A tape drive arrangement is configured to automatically adapt to drive different size tape cassettes and includes a sensor that senses the size of a tape cassette inserted into the tape drive. A controller is automatically responsive to the signals provided by the sensor to move drive spindles to respective different positions to drive different size tape cassettes.

Abstract: A tape drive apparatus with an arrangement for capturing, retaining and releasing a leader pin from the tape cartridge provides a leader pin holding assembly having a body and a swing pivotally coupled to the body. Upon movement into the tape cartridge, the swing is controllably pivoted against the force of a spring into an open position to capture the leader pin within the tape cartridge. Closing the swing retains the leader pin between the swing and the body of the leader pin holding assembly. A minimum number of external actuators is achieved by employing a hub leader that controls the opening and closing of the swing with relation to the body.

Abstract: A cartridge handling system and method initialize a data storage cartridge having rewritable media and a cartridge memory for tamper resistant write once recording. A write-once flag is written to a lockable section of the cartridge memory also having a cartridge memory serial number, and the section locked to read-only. A write-once flag and the serial number are written to a required data set of the rewritable media, both thereby appearing in both locations of the cartridge.

Abstract: Ascertaining through integration a bias calibration level for a current control loop of a driver motor of a tape drive. The driver motor includes a current controller having as inputs a demand signal, a bias signal, and a feedback signal. The current controller includes an integrator coupled to the output. The method includes setting the demand signal to a zero current level, setting the bias signal to a level that substantially prevents the integrator from driving itself high, stepping down the bias signal to form a stepped down bias signal, measuring a sense parameter at the output of the current controller, determining whether the sense parameter is high for the stepped down bias signal, and setting the bias calibration level to a level sufficiently above the stepped down bias signal such that the integrator is not driven high when the demand signal is set to the zero current level.

Abstract: A method and apparatus to quickly and correctly re-initialize a tape drive mechanism after power loss employs a non-volatile memory to store functional state data during normal operation of the tape drive mechanism. After a power loss, the functional state data is read from the non-volatile memory so that the tape drive mechanism can be properly re-initialized based on the recovered functional state data.

Abstract: An arrangement and method for compensating for the written-in tracking error for a linear tape drive filters out spatial error components of a position error signal (PES). The position information contained within A, B pairs of servo stripes, and within C, D pairs of stripes is preserved. The timing between the A and C bursts and the C and A bursts is filtered, such as by low pass filtering, to filter out the error that can be written-in by a servo writer. The timing signal for the A, B bursts and C, D bursts are divided by the filtered timing signals for the AC and CA timing signals, respectively. This ratio provides the filtered PES signal used by a head positioner to precisely position the head with respect to the tape.

Abstract: A method and apparatus to quickly and correctly re-initialize a tape drive mechanism after power loss employs a non-volatile memory to store functional state data during normal operation of the tape drive mechanism. After a power loss, the functional state data is read from the non-volatile memory so that the tape drive mechanism can be properly re-initialized based on the recovered functional state data.

Abstract: A tape drive head cleaner has a brush that is driven to sweep over a write/read head in the direction of longitudinal grooves on the write/read head. Debris that are within the grooves are swept out of the grooves by the movement of the brush in the direction of the grooves. The brush is carried by a tape drive head cleaner mechanism that includes a lead screw driven by a stepper motor that engages the half nut attached to a brush carriage that carries the brush. The brush carriage is guided by fixed guide shafts so that the brush is precisely swept over the write/read head.