Patent ID: 7180708

Claim:
A stationary tape guide for a tape drive, comprising: a mounting portion made of a first material; a guide surface portion made of a second material different from the first material and mounted to the mounting portion, the guide surface portion including a tape guide surface; and a spring arrangement mounted directly on the mounting portion to apply pressure to a to edge of the tape during guiding of the tape; wherein the first material is a molded plastics and includes integral mounting elements that mate with mounting elements of the spring arrangement and mounting elements of the guide surface portion to respectively mount the spring arrangement and the guide surface portion; wherein the spring arrangement includes first and second spring beams, each spring beam having a pad finger mounted on an undersurface thereof, and a connecting notch between the first and second spring beams to connect the first and second spring beams to provide a synchronous mode of biasing by the pad fingers against the tape; and wherein the spring arrangement further includes a third beam parallel to and connected to the first and second spring beams at the ends of the first and second spring beams; and damping disks mounted on an upper surface at the ends of the first and second spring beams.