Resistive temperature sensors for improved asperity, head-media spacing, and/or head-media contact detection
US9123381B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 17, 2011 |
| Grant date | Sep 1, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 22, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B7/121
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A sensor supported by a head transducer has a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and a sensor resistance. The sensor operates at a temperature above ambient and is responsive to changes in sensor-medium spacing. Conductive contacts connected to the sensor have a contact resistance and a cross-sectional area adjacent to the sensor larger than that of the sensor, such that the contact resistance is small relative to the sensor resistance and negligibly contributes to a signal generated by the sensor. A multiplicity of head transducers each support a TCR sensor and a power source can supply bias power to each sensor of each head to maintain each sensor at a fixed temperature above an ambient temperature in the presence of heat transfer changes impacting the sensors. A TCR sensor of a head transducer can include a track-oriented TCR sensor wire for sensing one or both of asperities of the medium.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.