Magnetic head and method for compensating for magnetic tape dimensional instability

A method of determining positions of transducers in a magnetic head arrangement for writing and reading data in tracks of a magnetic tape, said magnetic head having an array of transducer pairs, each transducer pair having a write transducer and a read transducer, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) dividing sources of transducer-to-track alignment errors into biased and non-biased sources;
• (b) calculating preferred margins for said write and read transducers to at least partially compensate for said non-biased sources of transducer-to-rack alignment errors during write/read operations of said data in said tracks;
• and
• (c) at least partially compensating for said biased sources of transducer-to-track alignment errors by adjusting said preferred margins based upon distances of said transducer pairs from a reference plane through said transducer array, including increasing the distance between centerlines through write and read transducers of said transducer pairs with increasing distance from said reference plane through said transducer array.

A multi-track magnetic tape data storage device comprising:

• positioning means for positioning magnetic tape having a plurality of substantially parallel data tracks positioned laterally along a width of said tape;
• drive means for moving said magnetic tape along a tape path;
• and
• a magnetic head extending across at least a portion of said width of said tape, said magnetic head having an array of transducer pairs along a length of said magnetic head, said length of said magnetic head being parallel to said width of said tape, each transducer pair having a read transducer with a center and a read centerline passing therethrough and having a write transducer with a center and a write centerline passing therethrough, said read centerline and said write centerline being substantially parallel to each other, and wherein a first pitch between adjacent read centerlines is less than a second pitch between adjacent write centerlines.

A transducer arrangement for writing and reading data on a plurality of data tracks of a magnetic tape progressing along a magnetic tape path, said transducer arrangement comprising:

• an array of transducer pairs positioned in a widthwise direction across at least a portion of a width of said magnetic tape path, each transducer pair having a write transducer and a read transducer dedicated to writing and reading data on a particular data track, said write transducers being on a same side of said read transducers within said array, said write and read transducers having orientations such that first centerlines through said write transducers are generally parallel to second centerlines through said read transducers, distances between said first and second centerlines within transducer pairs being greater with distance of said transducer pairs from a first reference point for positioning said array relative to said magnetic tape;
• wherein for each of said transducer pairs, said distance between said first and second centerlines is a selected distance (δκ) based upon compensating for a fixed percentage (m) of an amount (S) of anticipated change in a magnetic tape width over a predetermined useful life of the magnetic tape divided by an original magnetic tape width, said selected distance being calculated as follows:
• δκ=m(S)(C−Wrκ)
• where:
• κ=1, 2, . . . N and where N is the number of transducer pairs in the array;
• Wrκ=the distance of the write transducer κ from a predetermined second reference point P on a Y axis that extends perpendicular to said magnetic tape path;
• and
• C=the distance of said first reference point from said predetermined second reference point P on said Y axis.