Magnetic head slider and magnetic head assembly with short-circuiting switching element
US6836391B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 29, 2001 |
| Grant date | Dec 28, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 10, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B19/02
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A magnetic head slider of the present invention includes a slider body having an air bearing surface opposed to a magnetic disk, a magnetic head including a magneto-resistance effect element provided on the slider body, first and second terminals connected to the MR element, and a switching element for short-circuiting the first and second terminals in response to an external input. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of damages of the MR element due to static electricity or the like. A photo-transistor is suitable as the switching element in consideration of productivity of a magnetic disk drive unit. In this case, the external input is light incident on the photo-transistor, and when the magnetic head slider is housed in a disk enclosure and is thereby shielded from light, the photo-transistor is turned off to allow a sensing current to flow in the MR element.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.