Abstract: A tape back-up drive having a head assembly. The head assembly includes a head configured to read data from a tape and to write data to the tape. The head assembly also includes at least one tape guide disposed adjacent to the head.

Abstract: In one embodiment, an arrangement of elements on a head includes a first group of data element spanning a first distance on the head and a second group of data elements spanning a second spanning distance on the head greater than the first spanning distance. The second group of elements overlaps the first group of elements such that some elements are common to both groups.

Abstract: A tape back-up drive having a head assembly. The head assembly includes a head configured to read data from a tape and to write data to the tape. The head assembly also includes at least one tape guide disposed adjacent to the head.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for electrically coupling read elements and write elements of a tape head assembly to another component includes an interconnect structure having plural layers of traces, with the traces comprising write traces electrically connected to respective write elements, and read traces electrically connected to respective read elements. The write traces and read traces are interleaved across a dimension of the interconnect structure.

Abstract: A tape head assembly comprises a transducer head having plural arrays of transducing elements, the transducing elements comprising at least one of write elements and read elements. The tape head assembly further comprises a set of conditioning elements, the conditioning elements comprising at least one of write drivers and read amplifiers. Multiplexing circuitry selectively couples the conditioning elements to one of the plural arrays of transducing elements.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a servo positioning method includes deriving a first servo signal S1 from a first servo band, deriving a second servo signal S2 from a second servo band, defining a head element reference between the servo bands, weighting each servo signal according to a ratio of distances between the head element reference and a location on each servo band, and computing a servo control signal based on the weighted servo signals.

Abstract: A data recording system includes media such as a magnetic disk or tape, a read/write head assembly, and a circuit that provides a write signal having edge placement equalization. The circuit responds to a binary serial data signal such as a run length limited signal of the type (1,x) and provides a write signal having data transitions corresponding to one of the two binary data values, the absence of a transition corresponding to the other data value. In addition, the write signal is provided with a pair of equalization transitions during periods of no data transitions. A first data transition is shifted away from the last provided equalization transition by a predetermined offset. A second data transition, provided immediately after the first data transition, may be shifted toward the last provided equalization transition. Timing of the data transitions is derived from a clock used to provide the equalization transitions.

Abstract: Noise in the readback signal of a magnetic recording device resulting from spurious pulses in the readback signal produced by transitions of the magnetic remanent state of the yoke in the read/write transducer is eliminated by controlling the occurrence of the spurious pulses. Immediately following the completion of the write process, a decreasing amplitude alternating current is applied to the read/write coil of the transducer to drive the yoke remanent state to a stable or zero remanent state prior to the commencement of the read process.

Abstract: An improved shield for field sensing transducers used in magnetic storage devices is presented. The inventive shield provides a planar surface for the transducer to rest on, a single magnetic domain in the vicinity of the transducer, low magnetic reluctance for fields from the recording media, and stability against external magnetic fields, that is, high reluctance for external magnetic fields.

Abstract: A thin film transducer is provided for inductively recording and magnetoresistively reading magnetic information. The thin film magnetoresistive (MR) element is mounted on a bottom yoke member and is provided with means, which may be a pair of legs of the MR material extending in the same direction, so as to define a single magnetic domain in the MR element. The read conductor is provided in the form of a "barber pole" so that the angled transducer gap thereof overlies the magnetic domain in the MR element. The bottom yoke is a planar surface essentially dimensionless with respect to the other elements of the transducer head while the top yoke is specifically shaped so as to have a tail portion which overlies the write conductor and is parallel to the transducer gap in the read conductor.