摘要 |
A method of and apparatus for automatically threading a web material from a supply reel to a take-up reel along an external transport path. In a preferred embodiment, the transport path is defined by a plurality of transport elements, arranged to cooperatively communicate with the oxide surface (the information-bearing side) of a magnetic tape, to cooperatively guide the tape along its transport path past a magnetic head station. A vacuum source serves for establishing an air pressure gradient the effect of which is to controllably pull tape, spanning the tape supply and take-up reels, toward the transport elements in the form of an expandable loop which takes the shape of the tape transport path when the loop expands to bring the information-bearing side of the tape into operative engagement with each transport element.
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