Five and one-quarter inch form factor combination DAT tape drive and cassette magazine loader

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a combination DAT tape drive and cassette magazine loader which will fit within the full height five and one-quarter inch form factor.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a peripheral memory storage device for a computer that will fit within the full height five and one-quarter inch form factor and permit unattended recording of data on a plurality of DAT cassettes loaded in a magazine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a peripheral memory storage device of the aforementioned type which can automatically sense a plurality of failure modes and respond with a plurality of predetermined corrective actions.
According to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a generally rectangular outer housing is sized to fit within the full height five and one-quarter inch form factor.
A drawer is mounted for sliding motion within the housing along a longitudinal axis thereof from a retracted position in which the drawer is substantially fully contained within the housing to an extended position in which a forward portion of the drawer extends beyond a forward transverse end of the housing.
A DAT tape drive is mounted within a rear portion of the drawer and has a forwardly opening cassette insertion slot.
A cassette magazine is provided that has a plurality of vertically spaced receptacles for holding a plurality of DAT cassettes in a vertically stacked configuration.
A magazine loader is mounted in the forward portion of the drawer for receiving and vertically reciprocating the cassette magazine and for selectively transferring cassettes between the magazine and the cassette insertion slot of the DAT tape drive.