A drive chassis for magnetic tapes, the chassis having adjustable azimuth for a magnetic head. The magnetic head is mounted onto a plate. The plate has one end forming a hinge surface. The hinge surface is forced into contact with a stationary hinge surface on the chassis. A second end of the plate is moveable, permitting the plate to rotate around the hinge surfaces, thereby rotating the magnetic head. A spring in contact with the second end of the plate forces the hinge surface of the plate against the hinge surface on the chassis. In a preferred embodiment, the spring is integral with a side wall of the chassis.
An opening device is provided for opening a lid of a tape cassette in a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus which can be constructed to receive a first and second tape cassette having different sizes. The opening device includes first and second opening sections for opening the lid of the tape cassette which has been loaded in the apparatus. The first and second opening sections are integrally formed and disposed on a predetermined position on a main base of the apparatus, thus resulting in a more compact size.
A magnetic tape head tilting mechanism for adjusting the zenith of the magnetic head. The zenith adjustment mechanism eliminates the cumulative tolerances inherent in the components of mechanisms of prior art. The zenith adjustment mechanism utilizes a single adjustment screw to align the magnetic head such that the face is in parallel alignment relative to the tape path, along the transverse direction.
A magnetic tape head tilting mechanism for tilting the magnetic head to a desired azimuth angle. The azimuth tilting mechanism uses a worm gear and worm, driven by a stepper motor, which automatically adjusts the position of the magnetic head during recording of the signal onto the tape by the write head gap to maintain the strongest signal that is received by the read head gap. The fine angular resolution enables writing very high track densities and providing strong read signals.
