The magnetic discs could be mounted on a straight shaft, but the heads would have to move in a straight line. It was thought more desirable, but less space efficient, to mount the discs on a circular bearing shaft, and mount the heads on a rotating device. This reduced the inertia of the head mounting assembly and made the wiring to the heads simpler.
Jacob Rabinow, the inventor, is demonstrating the large magnetic disc to Sam Alexander, head of the NIST computer laboratory. The decision was made to make the first discs 0.5 meter (20 in) in diameter and to drive them by two friction wheels contacting the discs near their outside edge. Starting each disc was done by a swinging mechanism that would engage a notch located on the outside edge of each disc.
Last Updated on October 29, 2004
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