Patent ID: 7800863

Claim:
A tape guide configured to position a tape media, said tape guide comprising: a central component comprising a cylindrical section having an axis, one or more grooves formed in an outer surface of the cylindrical section of the central component and first and second ends in spaced apart relationship; first and second end components fixably joined in a contiguous relationship with said first and second ends, respectively, of said central component to collectively form an integral structure disposed to engage a side of said tape media as it moves along a path of travel; said first end component having a generally frustoconically shaped outer surface extending along said axis from said central component outward to a first flange portion and being configured to apply a first force to said tape media to urge said tape media along said axis away from the first flange portion of said first component toward the central component, said first force increasing as a linear function of the position of said tape media along said axis; and said second end component having a generally frustoconically shaped outer surface extending along said axis from said central component outward from the second end of the central component and being configured to apply a second force to said tape media to urge said tape media along said axis away from a second end of said second component toward the central component, said second force likewise increasing as a linear function of the position of said tape media along said axis, the collective effect of said first and second forces tending to urge said tape media to a preselected position between said first and second end components as said tape media moves along said path of travel, wherein said first force is generated by a first air bearing, formed between said frustoconically shaped outer surface of the first end component and said tape media, and said second force is generated by a second air bearing, formed between said frustoconically shaped outer surface of the second end component and said tape media, wherein the one or more grooves are formed in the outer surface of said central component, the one or more grooves extending from adjacent the first end of the central component to adjacent the second end of the central component, the one or more grooves operating to bleed air away from a joint between said central component and any portion of the tape media in engagement therewith, and to thereby decouple said first and second air bearings from one another, wherein said first and second air bearings collectively act to enable only a comparatively small portion of said tape media, measured along its width, to contact the surface of said integral structure as said tape media moves along its path of travel.