Abstract: The data storage cartridge drive is designed to securely accommodate and align more than one size cartridge. Reference surfaces are provided for cartridge to drive alignment in a manner so as to enhance stability, particularly during periods when the drive may experience shock or vibration. An additional reference surface is provided to supply added resistance to shock and vibration.

Abstract: A tape guide for a digital tape mini-cartridge providing decreased tape wander in a direction transverse to the intended path. The guide provides an increased area of tape having increased transverse stiffness without interfering with an adjacent drive wheel. In one embodiment, the guide is cylindrical and has a cylindrical cut-out to provide clearance for an adjacent cylindrical drive wheel. Preferably, the guide has top and bottom flanges. If a top flange of the guide is present, the cut-out continues through the top flange of the guide. The top flange of the guide may be relatively thin to fit below a top flange of the adjacent drive wheel. Alternatively, the top flange of the guide may have a larger cut-out to avoid interference with the top flange.

Abstract: An automated window system and method for a building utilizes a pair of gas springs to bias a window panel outward from a corresponding frame. A force opposing the gas springs is supplied by a motor driven spindle selectively winding and unwinding a cord coupled to the window panel sash adjacent the jamb portion of the frame and window. The cord is slidably retained to the jamb portion of the window sash through a pair of threadable pulls in order to equalize the forces supplied opposing the gas springs in the event of uneven winding of the cord due to buffeting or other forces while the window panel is being moved between an "open" to a "closed" position thereof.

Abstract: Transverse electromagnetic mode (TEM) radiation emitted from a side edge portion of a circuit board substrate portion during operation of the circuit board is intercepted by a specially designed shield structure carried by the substrate side edge portion, and the intercepted radiation is conductively returned to the substrate ground plane, through a relatively short grounding path, for return to the emitting source(s). In one form thereof, the shield is a copper plating material extending along and covering the substrate side edge portion and adjacent peripheral portions of the opposite sides of the substrate. In another form thereof, the shield is a snap-on metal shield structure that is removably mounted around the substrate side edge portion. The shield may be electrically coupled to the substrate ground plane by directly contacting a ground plane edge portion with the copper plating, using a filter structure to couple the shield to the ground plane, or otherwise using an external grounding path.

Abstract: A computer memory backup device which utilizes standardized computer tape cartridges is disclosed. The focus of the invention is upon the techniques for ascertaining the appropriate placement of such cartridges to allow operation of the computer memory backup device. The device being connected to a computer allows for the determination of a cartridge presence through the use of an optical sensor mechanism. The sensor mechanism includes a light emitting diode (l.e.d.), light pipe and phototransistor. During any time that the cartridge is not in the computer memory device or improperly or incompletely inserted the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the l.e.d. will be directed by the light pipe to the phototransistor. In this manner a negative determination is correctly made. When the cartridge is correctly and completely inserted, the pathway of the electromagnetic radiation is blocked between the light pipe and the phototransistor. In this manner a positive determination is correctly made.

Abstract: A tape drive control system with improved overall dam transfer rate. A streaming tape drive system for a multi-track serpentine data tape is controlled by a host computer. The data tape has a fixed number of data sectors per track. The host computer monitors tape position by observing data sector identification. The drive sends a ready/not-ready status signal to the host. The drive has a default mode. In the default mode, the drive generates an error signal if the host sends motor speed commands or head movement commands when the drive is sending a not-ready status. The host computer software can command the drive to enter a special mode. In the special mode, the drive does not generate an error if the host sends motor speed commands or head movement commands when the drive is sending a not-ready status.

Abstract: The present invention provides a back-up tape drive having a precision molded chassis with a fine positioning system for a tape head. This system includes a follower nut threadingly mounted on a lead screw that is bi-directionally rotated by a stepper motor. A lever arm engages the follower nut in a manner such that torsional moments between the forces of the follower nut and lever arm are minimized. The other end of the lever arm engages a tape head mounting unit. The lever arm pivotally engages the chassis at a predetermined midpoint of the lever arm such that a mechanical advantage is derived. The positioning system is designed so the forces acting on the tape head mounting unit are aligned to minimize the torsional forces acting on the tape head mounting unit. The tape head mounting unit further includes reference features that reduce the need for azimuth and zenith adjustment.

Abstract: An optical beginning-of-tape detection device with automatic threshold adjustment. In a first embodiment, at two different locations on a tape, a comparator threshold is varied until the comparator switches states. The two locations are sufficiently far apart to guarantee that at least one measurement is not at the beginning-of-tape indication area. The greater of the two thresholds is used, with a predetermined offset for noise margin. In a second embodiment, the threshold is continuously adjusted through a diode across the comparator inputs. The threshold is initialized by moving the tape sufficiently far to guarantee that at some time during initialization the sensor is not at the beginning-of-tape indication area.

Abstract: A computer memory backup device which utilizes magnetic tape media having aperture indications at the beginning-of-tape (bot) and the end-of-tape (eot) for accomplishing the sensing of the same is disclosed. The present invention utilizes a light pipe for directing the emitted electromagnetic radiation from an isolated source to the magnetic tape media, and focuses the radiation in proximity to the media. An integral focusing lens disposed on the exit end of the light pipe serves to converge the exiting electromagnetic radiation in this fashion. The electromagnetic radiation source, shown as a light emitting diode, is pulsed in a manner such that accuracy, as well as energy conservation, is greatly increased. A time domain filtering method is employed as a means to further enhance the system's accuracy in sensing the beginning-of-tape and end-of-tape. The devices accommodate standard aperture indications as required by ANSI specifications in both dimensional and placement aspects.