Wide tape cartridge

A cartridge system for a tape cartridge, comprising:

• a tape drive for moving a wide recording tape disposed in the tape cartridge along a tape transport path, and
• a positioning mechanism for positioning a recording head relative to the recording tape,
• said tape cartridge comprising:
• a housing having a width, a length and a height, said height being smaller than said length and said width, and
• a tape assembly disposed in said housing and comprising at least one supply tape reel and at least one take-up tape reel, said magnetic recording tape extending between said supply tape reel and said take-up tape reel and having a tape width which is substantially equal to the width of the housing,
• wherein said tape reels are rotatably mounted in the tape assembly so as to rotate about respective axes which are substantially parallel to the width of the housing.

A cartridge system for a tape cartridge, comprising:

• tape drive means for moving a wide recording tape disposed in the tape cartridge along a tape transport path, and
• positioning means for positioning the recording tape relative to a recording head,
• said tape cartridge comprising:
• housing means having a width, a length and a height, said height being smaller than said length and said width, and
• tape support means disposed in said housing means and comprising tape supply means and tape take-up means, said recording tape extending between said supply means and said tape take-up means and having a tape width which is substantially equal to the width of the housing means,
• wherein said tape supply means and tape take-up means are rotatably mounted in the tape support means so as to rotate about respective axes which are substantially parallel to the width of the housing means.

A method for recording information on a wide recording tape disposed in a tape cartridge, comprising:

• providing a housing having a width, a length and a height, said height being smaller than said length and said width,
• providing a wide recording tape for transport in a direction substantially perpendicular to the width of the housing along a tape transport path located inside the housing, the wide recording tape having a tape width which is substantially equal to the width of the housing,
• transporting the wide recording tape to a predetermined tape location along the tape transport path,
• inserting a recording head in the housing in a direction perpendicular to the tape transport path,
• positioning the recording head, while inside the housing, relative to a recording track extending substantially parallel to the tape transport path, and
• recording the information on the recording track.