Patent · US Expired

Air bearing slider and head gimbal assembly

US6021021A · kind A · utility

5Cited by
24References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 21, 1997
Grant dateFeb 1, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 21, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11B5/4826
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In accordance with this invention, an air bearing slider has a mounting side which has a relieved portion formed by a stepped-contour or a tapered contour. The stepped-contour includes an adherent surface adjacent the rear face of the air bearing slider and a notch surface adjacent the front face of the air bearing slider. The notch surface is closer to the air bearing surface than the adherent surface. The tapered contour includes an adherent surface adjacent the rear face and a taper surface adjacent the front face such that the taper surface is at an angle to the adherent surface. The clearance provided by the relieved portion eliminates interference between the air bearing slider and the load beam surround portions which support the air bearing slider. Depth of the relieved portion of the air bearing slider can be altered easily during grinding for customized multiple drive designs without major retooling effort. To eliminate any potential contact between the corners of the adherent surface of the air bearing slider and the load beam surround portions, cutouts and/or etched regions are provided to the load beam surround portions adjacent to the adherent surface. The relieved po…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.