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EP0442660A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Air bearing surface of head core slider, and method of manufacturing it

Assignee: NGK Insulators Ltd
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Filing: 1991-02-06
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-02-06
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Abstract

Abstract The present invention discloses texturing of the slider air bearing surfaces (18a,18b) of the magnetic heads in disk drives to reduce striction that retards take-off and displaces critical lubricant in a magnetic head system. One embodiment utilizes nonuniform etching of chemically identical components of a ferrite slider material due solely to random crystal orientation relative to the exposed surface. Another embodiment utilizes a photoresist of a type used in making printed circuit boards, to form a pattern. Subsequently, the surface may be etched to form the anti-striction properties. A variety of controlled and reproducible patterns as well as a controlled depth of pattern may be utilized.

Inventors

  • 👤 Michael I. Aronoff
  • 👤 Michael Mcneil

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-29 14:48
CPC Classifications
G; G11; G11B; G11B21/00; G11B21/16; G11B21/20; G11B21/21; G11B5/00; G11B5/48; G11B5/58; G11B5/60; G11B5/6005; G11B33/00; G11B33/14; G11B5/84

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim 42 words
A head core slider for a rigid magnetic disk drive, comprising: a slider body having at least one air bearing surface contacting a magnetic disk surface, said air bearing surface being textured to include a plurality of randomly-shaped and randomly-located height variations.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 20 words
A head core slider as defined in Claim 1, wherein said slider body comprises two of said air bearing surfaces.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 52 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive, comprising: a slider body including a surface which, during use, periodically contacts the magnetic disk of said drive; and an air bearing formed on said surface, said bearing textured to reduce stiction of said slider body on said magnetic disk during said contact.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 29 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive as defined in Claim 3, wherein said air bearing is textured in accordance with the natural inhomogeneity of said surface.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 29 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive as defined in Claim 3, wherein said air bearing is textured in accordance with the mechanical anisotropy of said surface.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 21 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive as defined in Claim 3, wherein said air bearing is randomly textured.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 23 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive as defined in Claim 6, wherein said air bearing texture is random in height.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 29 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive as defined in Claim 6, wherein said air bearing texture is formed from randomly positioned height variations on said surface.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 59 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive, comprising: a slider body including a surface, wherein said surface during use periodically contacts the magnetic disk of said drive; and an air bearing formed on said surface, said bearing textured in accordance with a pattern to reduce stiction of said slider body on said magnetic disk during said contact.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 53 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive, comprising: a slider body including a surface, wherein said surface periodically contacts the magnetic disk of said drive; and an air bearing formed on said surface, said bearing textured in accordance with a pattern consisting of continuous boundaries connecting edges of said air bearing.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 23 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive as defined in Claim 10, wherein said pattern includes continuous boundaries of varying sizes.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 43 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk as defined in Claim 10, wherein said continuous boundaries have a height variation relative to an average plane of said air bearing surface, said height variation lying within a range of 1 to 10 microinches.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 27 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive as defined in Claim 10, wherein said continuous boundaries vary in different regions of said air bearing surface.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 57 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive, comprising: a slider body, including a surface wherein said surface during use, periodically contacts the magnetic disk of said drive; and an air bearing formed on said surface, said bearing textured in accordance with a pattern consisting of closed geometric forms of a single shape or different shapes.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 24 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive as defined in Claim 14, wherein said pattern includes closed geometric forms of varying sizes.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 44 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive as defined in Claim 14, wherein said closed geometric forms have height variations relative to an average plane of said air bearing surface, said height variation lying within a range of 1 to 10 microinches.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 26 words
A head core slider for a magnetic disk drive as defined in Claim 14 wherein said closed geometric forms vary in different regions of said surface.
Claim 18
Independent Claim 34 words
A method of manufacturing an air bearing surface on a head core slider for a magnetic disk drive according to any one of claims 1 to 17, comprising the step of texturing said surface.
Claim 19
Independent Claim 41 words
A method of manufacturing a head core slider for a magnetic disk drive, comprising texturing at least part of an air bearing surface of the slider by etching, the texturing occurring due to differential etching of different surface regions and/or masking.

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