Differential capstan for multiple tape sizes

Claim 1

A DRIVE MECHANISM FOR USE INTERCHANGEABLY WITH A FIRST TAPE OF A FIRST WIDTH AND A SECOND TAPE OF A SECOND WIDTH LESS THAN THE FIRST WIDTH TO FORM THE TAPE INTO A TENSIONED LOOP AROUND A RETURN CAPSTAN WITH AN INGOING LEG OF THE LOOP TRAVELING FROM THE DRIVE MECHANISM TO THE RETURN CAPSTAN AND AN OUTGOING LEG OF THE TENSIONED LOOP TRAVELING FROM THE RETURN CAPSTAN TO THE DRIVE MECHANISM AND WITH TRANSDUCER MEANS ADJACENT AT LEAST ONE OF THE TWO LEGS IN AN AREA OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM TENSION, SAID DRIVE MECHANISM COMPRISING: A ROTARY DRIVE CAPSTAN; A FIRST NIP ROLLER COOPERATIVE WITH THE DRIVE CAPSTAN TO DRIVE THE INGOING LEG OF THE LOOP; AND A SECOND NIP ROLLER COOPERATIVE WITH THE DRIVE CAPSTAN TO DRIVE THE OUTGOING LEG OF THE LOOP, THE DRIVE CAPSTAN HAVING A PERIPHERAL DRIVING AREA COMPRISING FIVE CIRCUMFERENTIALLY FLAT DRIVING ZONES TO DRIVE THE FIRST TAPE, NAMELY A CENTRAL CIRCUMFERENTIALLY FLAT DRIVING ZONE OF A GIVEN DIAMETER, TWO END CIRCUMFERENTIALLY FLAT DRIVING END ZONES OF THE SAME DIAMETER AND TWO INTERMEDIATE CIRCUMFERENTIALLY FLAT DRIVING ZONES OF A DIFFERENT DIAMETER, SUBSTANTIALLY ONE HALF OF THE PERIPHERAL DRIVING AREA BEING ADAPTED TO DRIVE THE RECORD TAPE OF THE SECOND WIDTH, THE ONE-HALF OF THE PERIPHERAL DRIVING AREA COMPRISING APPROXIMATELY A HALF PORTION OF THE CENTRAL ZONE A PARTICULAR PORTION OF THE END ZONE OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME WIDTH AS THE HALF PORTION OF THE CENTRAL ZONE AND THE FULL WIDTH OF THE CORRESPONDING INTERMEDIATE DRIVING ZONE, THE WIDTH OF THE INTERMEDIATE DRIVING ZONE BEING APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE SUM OF THE WIDTHS OF THE HALF PORTION OF THE CENTRAL ZONE AND THE PARTICULAR PORTION OF THE END ZONE, ONE OF THE TWO NIP ROLLERS HAVING THREE CIRCUMFERENTIAL PORTIONS OF A DIAMETER TO COOPERATE RESPECTIVELY WITH THE CENTRAL CIRCUMFERENTIAL DRIVING ZONE AND THE TWO END CIRCUMFERENTIAL DRIVING ZONES OF THE DRIVE CAPSTAN, THE OTHER OF THE TWO NIP ROLLERS HAVING TWO CIRCUMFERENTIAL ZONES OF A DIAMETER TO COOPERATE RESPECTIVELY WITH THE TWO INTERMEDIATE ZONES OF THE DRIVE CAPSTAN.