A system for reading or recording indicia on a flexible disc. The disc is rotated between a pair of surfaces, one of which is flat and the other of which is elongated and curved. The opposed flat and curved elongated surfaces stabilize the disc at a precise point therebetween to enable recording or reading of the indicia thereon. The flexible disc may be to have indicia optically carried thereon. In such applications optical means is disposed in the surfaces defining means positioned on opposite sides of the disc to record or read the optical indicia. The optical means mounted in the curved surface is offset slightly in the direction of rotation of the disc. The means defining the flat and curved surfaces are radially translated with respect to the rotating disc within a radial slot provided in a base plate over which the disc rotates. Thus, by radially translating the surfaces containing the optical means with respect to the disc, the desired indicia can be recorded or detected.

A self-loading slider for a magnetic head assembly is formed with an air bearing surface having spaced rails and a negative pressure region between the rails. Shallow recesses or reliefs are formed in the rails so that ambient pressure is substantially maintained in the areas of such recesses along the rails. The slider is relatively insensitive to skew and disk curvature due to flutter or static deformation.

An optical transducer system reproduces a videodisk record by rotating the disc at a low speed. A record guiding means is comprised of a ribbed gate region. The ribs engage the disc on opposite margins of the optical images recorded on the disc and extend in a circumferential direction.

A flying head slider supporting mechanism comprises a rigid body disposed away from the surface of a magnetic recording medium by a predetermined distance, an air flow passage extending through the rigid body to the surface of the magnetic recording medium, a device for generating an air flow passing through the air flow passage toward the surface of the magnetic recording medium or generating an air flow passing from the surface, a read/write head for reproducing data recording on the magnetic recording medium or recording the same on the magnetic recording medium, a head slider disposed in the air flow and supporting the read/write head, a device for supporting the head slider movable relative to the rigid body in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the magnetic recording medium, and a device for generating a relative movement between the head slider and the magnetic recording medium.

A disk cartridge and a disk recording and/or reproduction apparatus including a protrusion group which is made up of a plurality of protrusions and formed within a case housing a disk or within a housing in which a disk is loaded. Accordingly, the protrusions induce the flow of air generated during the rotation of the disk to serve as a force generated by variations in flow velocity and pressure. Therefore, foreign materials can be effectively removed from the surface of the disk using the flow of air without a separate cleaning apparatus.