Magnetic recording disk drive with self-limiting wearable contact pad air-bearing slider in hermetically sealed environment
US6762909B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 2, 2002 |
| Grant date | Jul 13, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 24, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B5/6005
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A magnetic recording disk drive has self-limiting wear contact type air-bearing sliders that support the read/write heads. The magnetic elements of the read/write head extend into and are surrounded by a wearable pad that protrudes beyond the air-bearing surface of the slider. The end of the protrusion pad and the ends of the magnetic elements are covered by a corrosion-resistant overcoat that protects the magnetic elements during slider fabrication and disk drive assembly. The overcoated protrusion pad sliders are assembled into the disk drive in a special environment, typically air with humidity controlled below a level above which corrosion of the magnetic elements would occur. The drive is then hermetically sealed and the drive is operated with the protrusion pads in contact with the disks until the overcoats and a portion of the pads are worn or burnished away. The combination of protrusion pad air bearing sliders with a hermetically sealed disk drive in a controlled atmosphere, and the burnishing of the head overcoat either after the drive has been sealed or under controlled humidity conditions prior to sealing, allows for a very low magnetic spacing to be achieved in manufac…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.