The endless tape cartridge has a
tape transport that allows forward movement only. The magnetic tape can have start and end markers, like a magnetic beacon, an electric conductive splice, a hole that can be optically scanned, or a transparent splice tape. The cartridge was invented by sound engineer
Bernard A. Cousino and it dominated the North American market for many years. One of the first products that used the endless tape technology was the Audio Vendor from 1952, an invention of Cousino's. It was registered as patent US2804401A. The tape is passed through an inner ring of loose tape
reel, where the recording is stored, and looped back through the outer ring of the reel. Initially, this mechanism was to be implemented in a
reel-to-reel audio tape recorder. Later, Cousino developed a plastic case that could be hung up on some existing tape recorders. This cartridge was marketed by
John Herbert Orr as Orrtronic Tapette. In this generation, the magnetic coating of the tape was wound on the inside of the reel. Later cartridge types had the magnetic layer aligned to the outside of the cartridge, which required a specially designed recorder to play it. One traction of the tape by
capstan was added, which allowed users the convenience of just pushing the cartridge into the recorder without having to thread the tape. These cassettes needed no internal space for the
tape head slider because they accessed the tape from outside the cartridge. Based on these new cassettes,
George Eash developed the
Fidelipac cartridge in 1954.
PlayTape and the
8-track tape and endless
compact cassettes for the announcement text of
answering machines were made with this technique. The take-up roll got a table and the
perforation for
traction was removed. There was no rear winding roll inside such a cassette so rewinding was impossible. Previously, a similar technique was used to store
Tefifon's vinyl sonic tape in the Tefi cartridge. Another invention patented by Cousino was the
graphite coating applied to the bottom side of the tape in endless cartridges.{{citation|magazine=Billboard|volume=83|publisher=Billboard Publications|page=134|date=January 1971|language=German|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UfMiAQAAMAAJ|access-date=2018-05-08 == Technological predecessor of the endless cartridge ==