Hitachi, Ltd.

Hiroshi Maejima

Yoshihisa Kamo

Fujio Tajima

Atsushi Ichikawa

Zenji Tsutsumi

Munetake Kanna

The invention relates to a tape transport mechanism in which two reels are respectively driven by different motors, thereby transporting a magnetic tape from one reel to another reel by passing through the portion of a read/write head without any variation in tension. At the initial stage to transport the magnetic tape, an acceleration time from a stop state of the tape until a tape speed reaches a reference speed and an average tension deviation to be applied to the magnetic tape during this time are obtained. Correction values to correct variations in run characteristics of two reel drive systems are calculated by use of the acceleration time and the average tension deviation. Upon next and the subsequent magnetic tape transport, currents to be supplied to the motors to drive two reels are controlled by use of the drive current command values corrected by those correction values.

Apparatus and method for controlling tape tension using acceleration and

The difference between the two gain control signals for two amplifiers which correspond to two of a plurality of read heads which have the maximum and minimum output levels is detected. Whether or not the difference exceeds a predetermined value indicates an abnormality of the outputs of the read heads due to dust adhering thereto.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Hiroshi Maejima