Abstract: A linear web accumulator is provided wherein a web is threaded alternately between two sets of movable rollers. Each set of movable rollers is connected to the other through a mechanical connection, so that relative motion of the sets is always simultaneously toward each other or away from each other. The connection places one of the sets of rollers in counterbalance against the opposite set, thereby canceling the effects of gravity. Force can be applied to the carriages to adjust web tension, for example, by a rotational drive means such as a servomotor.