Simplified tape drive

A tape drive comprising a supply reel and a take-up reel, said supply reel being provided with a wide rim and said take-up reel being provided with a narrow rim, a portion of said supply reel rim extending below said take-up reel rim, said reels being rotatably mounted on a deck, a magnetic head being positioned in a path of tape moving from one to the other of said reels, drive means for advancing and rewinding said tape, said drive means including a platform disposed between said reels, means pivotally mounting said platform on said deck for free pivotal movement in a plane between first and second positions, said platform including a planar plate provided with spaced protuberances distributed about a periphery of one surface of said planar plate, said protuberances abutting against said deck to permit said planar plate to slidably move relative to said deck, a shaft projecting from said plate and being oriented in a direction substantially normal to said plane, a drive disc rotatably mounted on said shaft with said drive disc being movable with said plate about a pivot point of said plate between said first and second positions, friction means disposed between said drive disc and said plate for transmitting rotational forces to said plate in response to rotary movement of said drive disc on said shaft, said friction means including a helical spring mounted concentrically on said shaft with opposing free ends of said spring frictionally abutting against said drive disc and said plate, a motor shaft frictionally engaging a periphery of said drive disc for rotating said drive disc, biasing means connected to said plate for urging said plate in direction of said motor shaft to insure frictional engagement between said drive disc and said motor shaft, said drive disc including coaxial smaller and larger diameter discs vertically spaced from one another along axes thereof and fixed to one another for simultaneous rotation, said larger diameter disc being disposed at a low level to be engageable only with said supply reel rim, said smaller diameter disc being disposed at a higher level to be engageable only with said take-up reel rim, positions of said drive disc with respect to said pivot point of said platform being determined by direction of rotation of said motor shaft, said drive disc moving to said first position to engage said large diameter disc with said supply reel rim for turning said supply reel when said motor shaft turns in one direction, and said drive disc moving to said second position to engage said smaller diameter disc with said take-up reel rim for turning said take-up reel when said motor shaft turns in an opposite direction, whereby rewinding said tape by turning said supply reel is at a higher speed than advancing said tape by turning said take-up reel.