Patent ID: 7256962

Claim:
A magnet tape drive comprising: a tape travel unit to be used for a magnetic tape travel; a magnetic head; and an AC erase current generator which supplies an AC erase current, for performing an AC erase on a data track of a magnetic tape, to respective AC erase elements provided on the magnetic head, wherein the magnetic head includes a plurality of head element units which are provided along a width direction with respect to the magnetic tape, wherein each head element unit is provided with at least one recording element for recording a data signal on the magnetic tape and at least one reproducing element for reproducing a data signal from the magnetic tape, and wherein the AC erase element is positioned upstream in a tape travel direction with respect to the recording element, said tape drive further comprising means ( 7 ) for generating the AC erase current to produce a magnetic field having a frequency that is higher than the frequency of the data signal, produced by the recording current, which is supplied to the recording element.