Independent double hub take-up reel arrangement for use with a single reel cartridge tape drive

摘要

A take-up leader is wound onto an inner driven hub of a take- up reel until a take-up link, which is connected to the end of the take- up leader, is pulled into a recess defined between the inner driven hub and a free- wheeling outer hub and abuts a stopper feature formed on the outer hub member. The inner hub is operatively connected to the outer abutment on the hub and both undergo synchronous rotation. A cartridge link, connected to the take-up link, is also drawn into the recess. The end surface of the cartridge link has a curved shape formed essentially contiguous with the outer periphery of the outer hub. A cartridge leader, which is connected to the cartridge link, is then induced to wind onto the outer periphery of the outer hub with essentially no loss of circularity. The cartridge leader can be made of the same material as the take-up leader, or can be an extension of the magnetic tape which is stored in the cartridge.