Flying height adjustment for air bearing sliders
US6344949B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 13, 1999 |
| Grant date | Feb 5, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 13, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S977/934
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Flying height Adjustment for Air Bearing Sliders An air bearing slider for sliding over a medium surface of a recording medium and having an air bearing surface facing the disk surface, a back surface perpendicular to the air bearing surface and a head at the back surface. During operation the head is maintained at a flying height above the disk surface with the aid of a flying height adjustment mechanism consisting of one or more ducts, each having an inlet at the air bearing surface and an outlet at the back surface. A valve mechanism controls an air flow through the duct or ducts by opening and closing the valve or valves together or independently. Alternatively, a deformable surface feature located on the back surface of the slider is used to alter the air flow to thus control the flying height. The mechanism of the invention allows one to achieve accurate flying height control in a range between 5 and 50 nm and between 0 nm and 15 nm as required for near-field or contact disk drives. By adjusting the flying height the contact can be limited to times of reading or writing data to the disk, thereby lowering the total contact time thereby reducing head/disk interface wear.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.