Western Digital Technologies Assigned Patent

Western Digital Technologies, Inc., San Jose, CA, has been assigned a patent (11,211,086) developed by Uefune, Kouki, Kanagawa, Japan, Takahashi, Toshio, Tokyo, Japan, and Hiramatsu, Tomoki, Kanagawa, Japan, for an “embedded tape reel lock mechanism for tape embedded storage drive.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “The present disclosure generally relates to a lock mechanism for a tape embedded drive. The tape embedded drive comprises an enclosure enclosing a first tape reel, a second tape reel, and a lock mechanism. The first tape reel comprises a first gear, the second tape reel comprises a second gear, and the lock mechanism is disposed between the first and second gears. The lock mechanism comprises a latch lock, one or more latch tips disposed at a first end of the latch lock, a magnet disposed at a second end of the latch lock, and an electromagnet disposed adjacent to the magnet. When the electromagnet is activated, the latch lock moves to an unlocked position. When the electromagnet is de-activated, the latch lock moves to a locked position where the one or more latch tips are in contact with the first and second gears.”

The patent application was filed on February 24, 2021 (17/184,550).