Magnetic head preamplifier/driver

Claim 1

A combination driver and preamplifier circuit for use with a magnetic transducer having a winding with a center tap and first and second end taps, said circuit powered by a current source having the first of its two terminals connected to the center tap and supplying read and write levels of current responsive respectively to the read and write states of a read/write control signal, and by a power supply having first and second terminals of polarity respectively matching the polarity of the first and second terminals of the current source, the second of its two terminals being connected to the second of the current source terminals, said circuit modulating the write current flow through the winding responsive to a bipolar write data signal, and preamplifying the read-back signal generated in the winding by a fluctuating magnetic field applied thereto, comprising: (a) first and second transistors each having their emitters connected to the first and second end taps respectively; (b) a pair of pull-up resistors, each connected between one transistor base and the first power supply terminal; (c) a pair of write data lines, each connected at a first end to one transistor base and each receiving one half of the bipolar write data signal at the second end thereof; (d) a pair of clamp circuits, each connected between one write line and an AC ground point, and receiving the read/write control signal, and responsive to the read and write mode states respectively of the read/write control signal, clamping and unclamping the write data lines to AC ground; (e) a pair of read data lines, each connected at its first end to one transistor collector, and supplying at their second ends the preamplified read-back signal; and (f) a pair of non-linear collector pull-up impedances each connected between the second end of one read data line and the first power supply terminal.