System and method for cleaning advanced LTO tape systems

A combination comprising:

• a tape drive including (i) a drive housing that is configured to selectively receive a tape cartridge;
• (ii) a head assembly positioned within the drive housing that is configured for writing data to and reading data from a tape that is retained within a cartridge housing of the tape cartridge;
• and (ii) a drive controller positioned within the drive housing that is configured to control operation of the tape drive;
• a cleaning mechanism that is configured to clean the head assembly of the tape drive under control of the drive controller, the cleaning mechanism being in the form of a cleaning brush that is positioned within the drive housing;
• wherein the cleaning brush is selectively movable with a brush actuator to be positioned directly adjacent to the head assembly;
• and wherein the drive controller controls the brush actuator to selectively move the cleaning brush across the head assembly to clean the head assembly of the tape drive;
• a power supply that is configured to supply power to the tape drive, the drive controller being electrically coupled to the power supply, the drive controller being configured to selectively turn off power to the head assembly of the tape drive while power is otherwise being supplied to operate the tape drive;
• and
• a fluid adding mechanism that is controlled by the drive controller to selectively add a cleaning fluid onto a section of the cleaning brush to create a wet section of the cleaning brush;
• the drive controller further controlling the cleaning brush so that the wet section of the cleaning tape brush moves across the head assembly to clean the head assembly of the tape drive.

A tape cartridge for use in cleaning a head assembly of a tape drive, the tape cartridge comprising:

• a cartridge housing;
• and
• a tape that is retained within the cartridge housing, the tape including a cleaning section having a tape surface and an abrasive coating that is coupled to the tape surface;
• a fluid adding mechanism that selectively adds a cleaning fluid onto the cleaning section to create a wet section of the cleaning tape, the wet section of the cleaning tape being configured to move across the head assembly to clean the head assembly of the tape drive, the fluid adding mechanism being a piezo release mechanism;
• wherein the tape has a tape thickness of between approximately three microns and seven microns;
• and
• wherein the abrasive coating has a surface roughness of at least approximately two nanometers.