Patent ID: 7961430

Claim:
In a tape drive, a tape path control system for controlling the position of a tape medium in said tape drive comprising: a first tape guide roller; a second tape guide roller spaced from said first roller; each of said rollers having a tape bearing surface; said rollers each being rotatable about a roller axis at a roller angular velocity and having a roller diameter that extends through said axis from one point to another on said tape bearing surface of said rollers; a transducing head situated between said first and second rollers; a precision alignment system associated with said second roller that when operable allows said second roller to be adjustably aligned relative to said first roller in order to control lateral tape movement when a tape medium streams across said rollers in operative engagement with said transducing head; said first and second rollers being configured and arranged to further control said lateral tape movement by sizing said roller diameters to achieve a desired minimizing of said roller angular velocity and a desired maximizing of a tape contact area on said tape bearing surface of said rollers, and by spacing said rollers to establish a minimum achievable tape span distance therebetween, even if said rollers are nearly adjacent to each other, but without said rollers contacting each other or interfering with said transducing head or other components; said second roller being spaced from said first roller at a roller diameter/center-to-center spacing ratio of approximately 1:1 while still accommodating said transducing head therebetween and without said rollers contacting each other; and said transducing head being positioned to lie on an opposite side of said tape medium from said first and second rollers.