LOW PROFILE MAGNETIC TAPE DRIVE WITH VACUUM ACTUATED AUTO-THREADING

摘要

Supply (22) and take-up (34) reels are mounted above a horizontal base (28) for selective powered rotation about respective vertical axes. Vertical guide surfaces (74, 74a, 74b) and a cover panel define an air tight continuous flowpath (76) extending between the peripheries of the reels past a read/write head (58). A blower (78) mounted in a hood structure (84) beneath the base sucks air through the flowpath and through a perforated center spool (48) of the take-up reel. A river of air thus pulls and guides the free end portion of the magnetic tape from the supply reel to the take-up reel as the supply reel is rotated by a drive motor to unwind the tape therefrom. The supply hub (40) is adapted to automatically center the supply reel thereon. The supply hub further includes a plurality of annularly spaced reel engaging pawls mounted in, and normally ratracted into the hub, and an over-center actuating means for selectively extending the pawls through differential rotation of a pair of separate rotors included in the hub.