Floating magnetic head system with variable curvature shoe

Claim 1

A floating magnetic head system operable on a fluid medium over the record surface of a rapidly moving magnetic carrier, comprising a magnetic head, means for supporting said magnetic head, a bias member for holding said support at a desired distance from the record carrier against the medium flow, and means for adjusting the floating height of the magnetic head, said adjusting means reducing the height of said head above said record surface by varying said support surface from a first curvature oriented towards the record carrier for establishing a first floating height, to a second floating height established by a second curvature smaller than the first curvature and also oriented towards the record carrier, for establishing said second and reduced floating height, said adjusting means comprising two sheets of prepolarized piezo-electric material each attached to said magnetic support on a side thereof, each sheet electrically connected to the other and to a voltage source, the directions of polarization of said sheets and their electric connection to each other being such that the electric field strength provided by said voltage source to said sheets varies in opposite senses.