Pliant disk magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus

Claim 1

In an apparatus for magnetically recording and/or reproducing electrical signals and which comprises a rotatable shaft, drive means for rotating said shaft, a pliant record disk mounted at its center on said shaft for rotation with the latter and having a magnetizable surface, first and second spaced support plates respectively confronting said magnetizable surface and the opposite surface of said record disk and located to be spaced from said record disk when the latter is centrifugally urged to a substantially planar configuration in response to rotation of said shaft, apertures in said support plates through which air enters when the record disk is rotated for forming air films flowing radially outward between said record disk and support plates and maintaining the spacing therebetween, and electromagnetic transducer means for pressing against and contacting said magnetizable surface and tracing at least one record track in a respective annular area of said magnetizable surface upon rotation of said record disk with said shaft; at least one of said support plates being perforate over the area thereof that extends in the radial direction of said record disk from at least inside said annular area of the record track traced by said transducer means to at least the outer periphery of said record disk, and said one support plate having a conically dished configuration so that the spacing between said support plates is progressively reduced in the radial direction from the center to the outer periphery of said record disk.