IBM Assigned Five Patents

Beam support for staggered modules of a tilted head in storage system
IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (12512118) developed by Liang; Jason, Campbell, CA, Yee; Cory, San Jose, CA, and Hamidi; Hoodin, San Francisco, CA, for a “beam support for staggered modules of a tilted head in a storage system.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “In a module of a tape head having multiple modules, a beam support member of at least one module has an alignment leg portion projecting from a body portion of the beam support member at a position displaced from the ends of the beam support member. The alignment leg of one module is matched with the alignment leg of another module to maximize glue adhesion between the legs and minimize positional drifting of the modules after glue curing in a staggered orientation. In another aspect, the support surface of a beam support member of a tape head module extends beyond the end of the wafer chiplet disposed on the beam support member to fully support the wafer chiplet. In still another aspect, one end of a beam support member of a tape head module is chamfered to facilitate mounting the tilted tape head assembly into a tape drive actuator.”

The patent application was filed on 2024-05-10 (18/660413).

Tape head wafer design for multiple formats using same tape
IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (12482492) developed by Iben; Icko E. T., San Jose, CA, and Swanson; David Lee, Tucson, AZ, for a “tape head wafer design for multiple formats using same tape.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A tape head adapted to 32-, 64-, and 128-channel operation is provided. A plurality of elements is provided, numbering N.sub.E, comprising first and second sets of 64 evenly-spaced elements, each set comprising at least a first element and a last element. A plurality of servos is provided, comprising at least a first through sixth servo. The 64 evenly-spaced elements of each set are separated by an element pitch (W.sub.EP). The evenly-spaced elements and plurality of servos are spaced as set forth herein.”

The patent application was filed on 2024-12-26 (19/001957).

Tape drive cleaning device
IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (12475927) developed by Wendler; Peter Walter, Nave; Shawn M., Raper; Mark, and Goodman; Gregory, Tucson, AZ, for a “tape drive cleaning device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Provided are a tape drive cleaning device, tape drive library deploying a tape drive cleaning device, and method for using a tape drive cleaning device. The tape drive cleaning device is used to clean a tape drive having a tape drive loader tray in which a tape cartridge is inserted. The tape drive cleaning device includes a body and a material attached to the body. Dimensions of the body with the material are configured to fit into the tape drive loader tray to have the material engage a tray inner surfaces of the tape drive loader tray. The material is configured to collect debris on the tray inner surfaces when engaged with the tray inner surface.”

The patent application was filed on 2024-05-15 (18/665011).

Spring suspension with independent reader and writer following actuator
IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (12462836) developed by Wheelwright; Evan, Tucson, AZ, Harper; David, Vail, AZ, Steeves; Chase Alan, Tucson, AZ, and Judd; Kevin Bruce, Vail, AZ, for a “spring suspension with independent reader and writer following actuator.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “An apparatus includes a top section, a middle section, and a bottom section of a spring actuator for a tape drive that form a C-shape of the spring actuator. The middle section includes three flexor columns, where a first writer module is bonded to a first flexor column from the three flexor columns, a reader module is bonded to a second flexor column from the three flexor columns, and a second writer module is bonded to a third flexor column from the three flexor columns.”

The patent application was filed on 2024-12-12 (18/978406).

Concurrent recovery of exported physical tape data
IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, has been assigned a patent (12423195) developed by Villasenor; Ariel, Lee; Duke Andy, Fisher; Alan Joseph, Tucson, AZ, and Brettell; David Alan, Vail, AZ, for a “concurrent recovery of exported physical tape data.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Provided are a method, system, and computer program product in which operations are performed for generating a logical recovery cache partition to perform testing and to recover exported data, wherein production data is separated from recovered data. Concurrent recovery of exported physical tape data is performed by the method, system, and computer program product.”

The patent application was filed on 2023-10-13 (18/486248).