US 11,721,362 B2
Tape drive tension management
Markus Schäfer, Heiligenmoschel (DE); Stefan Wiedemann, Kaiserslautern (DE); Erik Rueger, Ockenheim (DE); Robert Beiderbeck, Wassenberg (DE); and Ole Asmussen, Henstedt-Ulzburg (DE)
Assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)
Filed by International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)
Filed on Dec. 15, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/644,460.
Prior Publication US 2023/0186949 A1, Jun. 15, 2023
Int. Cl. G11B 15/43 (2006.01); G11B 5/52 (2006.01); G11B 15/467 (2006.01)
CPC G11B 15/43 (2013.01) [G11B 5/52 (2013.01); G11B 15/4678 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A tape drive comprising:
a plurality of rollers spatially arranged within the tape drive to define a route for tape of a received data cartridge to travel from the received data cartridge to a tape reel;
a head with read elements and write elements configured to read from and write to the tape as tape of the received data cartridge travels along the route;
a tension sensor configured to measure tension of the tape as it travels along the route; and
control circuitry configured to:
read, prior to a leader pin assembly guiding the tape to the tape reel, a set of reference values of a cartridge memory of the received data cartridge to determine a tension threshold for the tape and a configuration of the head for the tape; and
cause both a motor to impact the tension to keep the tape within the tension threshold and the head to be configured according to the configuration as the leader pin assembly guides the tape to the tape reel.