Air bearing tape support for guiding tape and sensing tape tension

A tape drive including a substantially cylindrical tape support having an arcuate surface around which a tape is passed and top and bottom ends, said arcuate surface having a plurality of apertures therein through which a gaseous medium can be supplied under pressure for supporting said tape on a gaseous cushion, said tape drive comprising:

• a port in said arcuate surface for sensing gaseous pressure between said tape and said arcuate surface;
• a solid state sensing transducer connected to said bottom end of said substantially cylindrical tape support and extending perpendicular therefrom, said transducer coupled to said port by a right angle sense line, containing compacted molecules of said gaseous medium, said sense line having substantially the same internal diameter from said port to said transducer, said transducer first calibrated by putting a known amount of tension on said tape such that said transducer produces an output voltage proportional to the gain of said transducer multiplied by the air pressure measured at said port plus an offset voltage dependent upon said transducer, after calibration the output voltage of said transducer providing a direct indication of the pressure existing at said port and the tension on said tape
• a purge line located at the port end of said sense line providing a continuous air flow out of said sense line keeping said port clear of contaminants and preventing said tape from collapsing on said port due to a vacuum within said sense line;
• and
• first and second flanges affixed to the top and bottom ends, respectively, of said substantially cylindrical tape support for guiding said tape at a wrap angle on the order of 180 degrees around said arcuate surface and for maintaining said tape in substantially constant proximity to said port, said first and second flanges each comprising a first semidisk-shaped section, and a second semidisk-shaped section joined to said first semidisk-shaped section, said tape contacting the flanges and being guided thereby only at the points where said first semidisk-shaped and second semidisk-shaped sections are joined, said first semidisk-shaped section having a peripheral portion of a thickness less than the thickness of the peripheral portion of said second semidisk-shaped section, to form vents so that the edges of said tape will not contact said first semidisk-shaped section and said gaseous medium can escape to prevent tape vibration caused by a take-up reel.