Abstract: A method for cleaning transducer heads in a magnetic disk drive located within a device such as an electronic cash register comprising the steps of storing in a memory first data identifying the number of days of operation of the device required before a transducer head cleaning operation is to occur, storing in the memory second data identifying the number of days of operation since the last transducer head clean operation, storing in the memory third data identifying the number of transducer head cleaning operations that have been performed on the transducer heads, comparing the second data with the first data, displaying information suggesting that a transducer head clean operation be performed when the second data is equal to or greater than the first data, cleaning the transducer heads and printing the third data on a record member in response to the cleaning of the transducer heads.

Abstract: A multitrack recording apparatus includes a multi-channel recorder for recording musical timing data on a recording medium, a modulator for variably setting a recording cycle of the musical timing data, and a keyboard for designating a desired search position of the recording medium according to the musical timing data. The apparatus also includes a reproduction head for reproducing the musical timing data from the recording medium, a controller for calculating the driving position of the recording medium on the basis of the reproduced musical timing data and for controlling the driving of the recording medium to stop the recording medium at the designated search position, and a dispaly unit for displaying musical data on the basis of the reproduced musical timing data.

Abstract: A disc drive is disclosed which includes a base casting, a spindle motor mounted for supporting one or more discs for continuous rotation, an actuator for selectively positioning the transducers relative to the disc, and a cover which is to be fastened to the base casting to provide a sealed head disc environment. In order to achieve the seal in a preferred form of the invention, several corners of the base casting and/or other points along the edges of the casting are cast with upright posts. In assembly of the drive, a seal is placed around the upstanding edge of the casting, with the post protruding through the seal. The cover, which has openings matching the posts, is pressed down against the seal with the post protruding up through the cover and seal or gasket.

Abstract: Apparatus and method are disclosed for enabling rapid search of magnetic tape having information helically recorded thereon. A tape mark, consisting of an analog signal, is recorded on the magnetic tape as a physical location reference in a manner such that the mark can be detected at both normal playback speed and at faster search speeds. The recorded analog signal provides a highly reliable indication of record boundaries, including end of file, end of volume, end of directory, and the like.

Abstract: The use of powder bonded nonwoven fabrics as liners for jackets for retaining "floppy" diskettes or disks results in significant increases in production through-put rates for the blanks used to make such jackets, and to improvements in lamination and fiber retention around the cutouts in these blanks.

Abstract: A simple and inexpensive demagnetizer for the magnetic heads of a tape cassette recording and/or reproducing device includes an intermediate gear which is rotated by either one of two hub gears engaging respective drive spindles of the recording and/or reproducing device. A push-pull rod has one end pivotally connected to an outer radial position of the intermediate gear and another end pivotally connected to a source of alternating magnetic field of constant intensity. Rotation of the intermediate gear causes the magnetic field generator to be cylically and linearly reciprocated with respect to the head so as to produce a decreasing magnetic field at the head.

Abstract: Recording medium disk-hub combination wherein the hub has a central hole whose periphery is bounded at least partly by three flexure members which circumscribe a cylinder corresponding to a disk drive spindle. The three flexure members are arranged in a triangular configuration, and the parts of such flexure members that circumscribe the cylinder are coplanar, forming a flexure member plane of contact. The axial center line of the recording medium disk is spaced from the flexure member plane of contact by no more than three times the thickness of the disk itself. The combination is preferably designed with the ratio of the coefficient of thermal expansion of the hub to that of the recording medium disk being between 0.7 and 1.4. Hub is made magnetic, e.g., by attaching a magnetizable disk. The combination is especially useful for removable recording disks intended to cooperate with disk drives having circular motor spindles and magnetic hold down.

Abstract: A tape winding direction switch device of a cassette tape recorder wherein a switching operation member which is operated in accordance with a fast forward lever and a fast rewinding lever is provided so as to operate a gear engagement clutch plate which selectively rotates a pair of reel mountings, a tape winding direction switching plate is connected elastically through a switching rotary nember to the switching operation member, and the fast forward lever and the fast rewinding lever are operated without any concern with the tape winding direction switching plate.

Abstract: A device for holding a recording medium includes a casing having a front end, a rear end and a pair of sidewalls each provided with a hole at its bottom adjacent to the front end of the casing. A cover is rotatably provided at the front end of the casing and includes a pair of sidewalls located in parallel to the sidewalls of the casing. Each sidewall of the cover has a laterally projecting pin fitted in the hole of one of the casing sidewalls and an elongated hole lying in a line passing through the axis of the pin at right angles thereto. A pair of transversely spaced apart parallel sliding levers are provided within the casing immediately inwardly of its sidewalls, respectively. Each sidewall of the cover is situated between one of the levers and one of the casing sidewalls. Each lever has an upwardly bent and forwardly inclined front end provided with a laterally projecting pin fitted in the elongated hole of one of the sidewalls of the cover.

Abstract: In a video cassette auto-changer which includes a plurality of reproducing and/or recording devices or VTRs, and a plurality of cassette storage bins arrayed in horizontal and vertical directions and each adapted to store a cassette therein; a cassette transporting apparatus for selectively transporting cassettes between the storage bins and the VTRs comprises fixed horizontal upper and lower guide rails along which upper and lower sliders are movable, a movable guide rail extending vertically between the sliders and pivotally connected to the latter at ends of the movable guide rail, a carriage movable vertically along the movable guide rail, a horizontal drive connected with the sliders for moving the carriage in the direction along the fixed guide rails and a vertical drive for moving the carriage along the movable guide rail.

Abstract: A head positioning device used for a disc type memory system comprises a head being movable by a metallic band wherein the metallic band is extended between a capstan and an idle roller in a loop form, and the metallic band is wound around the capstan with at least one turn.

Abstract: A magnetic disk apparatus including a disc drive assembly for driving a magnetic disc and a head supporting assembly for supporting a plurality of magnetic heads at predetermined relationships with respect to the magnetic disc for facilitating magnetic recording and reproducing thereon. The head supporting assembly comprises an actuator arm, a plurality of suspension arms, each having the magnetic head at one end thereof and connected to the actuator arm at the other end thereof, and a plurality of screws disposed through holes formed in the actuator arm and suspension arms for detachably connecting the suspension arms to the actuator arm. The screws are disposed in a staggered relationship with respect to each other in terms of the direction of access thereto and accessible for fastening and unfastening from two opposite sides in the direction substantially perpendicular to the disc surface.

Abstract: A rotary magnetic head assembly comprises rotatable and stationary cylinders disposed in confronting relation to each other. A rotary transformer is arranged between the cylinders and includes confronting rotatable and stationary transformer cores fixedly mounted respectively to the rotatable and stationary cylinders. An annular supporting member is located at an outer peripheral surface of the stationary transformer core and includes support portions for supporting the stationary transformer core. Signal transmission junction elements are provided on the outer peripheral portion of the supporting member. The outer peripheral portion of the supporting member is provided with bores through which fixing members are inserted to fix the stationary transformer core to the stationary cylinder.

Abstract: A magnetic read/write head is mounted on a carriage having a bore therein. The carriage is slidable along a stationary guide rod which extends into the bore. A lead screw threads into a nut which is keyed to the carriage so that rotation of the lead screw moves the carriage along the guide rod. A torsion spring engages the carriage and provides a force to bias the carriage so as to eliminate any undesired clearance between the carriage and the nut and between the carriage and the guide rod. The force is applied at an angle relative to the axis of motion of the carriage. As the carriage moves, the spring is deflected, causing the angle of the force to change and the amount of the force to change. The spring is oriented so that the total force directed parallel to the axis of the motion of the carriage remains constant. The amount of the total force is predetermined to minimize vibration of the carriage and head.

Abstract: A magnetic disc cartridge loading and unloading mechanism comprises a shutter opening mechanism which applies no pushing force on a magnetic disc cartridge in a cartridge ejecting direction when the shutter opening mechanism is in an operating state where a shutter of the magnetic disc cartridge is opened. The magnetic disc cartridge loading and unloading mechanism is also provided with a pushing mechanism which pushes the magnetic disc cartridge slightly in the cartridge ejecting direction after sufficient gaps are formed between the shutter and magnetic heads when a holder which holds the magnetic disc cartridge rises to a predetermined height position during a cartridge unloading operation.

Abstract: In a mode-change mechanism for a tape recorder, a driving bar is mounted for movement between a record/playback mode position and a stop mode position, a partially toothless gear has a cam thereon engageable by a cam follower on the driving bar for moving the latter between its mode selecting positions in response to turning of the partially toothless gear between immobile positions thereof in which opposed first and second toothless portions on the outer periphery respectively face a driving gear for intermittently rotating the partially toothless gear, a lock lever is selectively engageable with one of a pair of stop elements on the partially toothless gear for halting rotation of the latter in a respective one of the immobile positions thereof, and a spring urges the driving bar toward one of its mode selecting positions, with the cam, toothless portions and stop elements on the partially toothless gear being angularly positioned in respect to each other so that, when the lock lever is disengaged from one

Abstract: A composite magnetic head is integrally formed with a recording/reproducing head section having a recording/reproducing gap and an erasing head section having two erasing gaps. The magnetic head has formed in its surface facing a magnetic recording medium two parallel diagonal grooves extending across the two head sections which are inclined with respect to the gaps and spaced apart so as to define the outer ends of the recording/reproducing gap and respective inner ends of each of the erasing gaps.

Abstract: An index signal generation timing control system of this invention comprises a rotation signal generating section which generates a rotation signal representing the rotational state of a customer engineer (CE) disk set on a spindle. A burst signal generating section generates a burst signal from burst data written on the CE disk. A measuring section measures the time from time when an index signal becomes active to time when the burst signal is generated by the burst signal generating section. A calculation control section subtracts a predetermined time from the measured time and determines delay time data corresponding to the subtraction result. The determined delay time data is written in memory at the address that is generated in accordance with a write control signal from the calculation control section.

Abstract: A cassette loading apparatus including a cassette guide provided adjacent to an insertion opening of a tape cassette, a cassette holder, a pair of said plates for guiding the cassette holder during displacement thereof and a chassis having the cassette guide secured thereto, is characterized in that the side plates are mounted on the cassette guide from above with at least one portion of each of the side plates secured to the cassette guide and at least another portion of each of the side plates secured to the chassis.

Abstract: A mechanism for use with a magnetic tape recorder having a tape drive composed of take-up and take-off reels, of buffer chambers allocated thereto, and a single tape capstan arranged between the buffer chambers and next to a write/read head. The tape capstan is reversible in the running direction. The mechanism of the present invention is for damping which opposes local deformations of the magnetic tape in the region of the head mirror of the magnetic head. This mechanism has a damping element in the form of a pneumatically acting jet comb comprising a plurality of nozzles residing under pressurization. These nozzles are arranged along a line proceeding transversely relative to the conveying direction of the magnetic tape and an air jet output by them impinges in the region of the leading ledge for the magnetic tape at the mirror of the magnetic head acting with a slight force component in tape conveying direction.