Micro-burnishing flex head structure

Claim 2

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, said head structure having an overall length of about 0.4-inches, an overall width of about 0.01- to about 0.02-inches, a flexure-body thickness of about 0.001- to about 0.003-inches, an abrader-head thickness of about 0.004-inches, and an abrader-head mass of about 100-micrograms.

Claim 3

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body having a length of about 0.4-inches, a width of about 0.01- to about 0.02-inches, a thickness of about 0.001- to about 0.003-inches, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof, adapted for abrasive sliding contact with such a surface, said abrader head having a length of about 0.015-inches, an abrader head thickness of about 0.004-inches, an abrader head width substantially equaling that of said flexure body, and an abrader head mass of about 100-micrograms.

Claim 4

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body having a length of about 0.4-inches, a width of about 0.01- to about 0.02-inches, a thickness of about 0.001- to about 0.003-inches, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof, adapted for abrasive sliding contact with such a surface, said abrader head having a length of about 0.015-inches, an abrader head thickness of about 0.004-inches, an abrader head width substantially equaling that of said flexure body, and an abrader head mass of about 100-micrograms.

Claim 5

The head structure of claim 1 which is designed to operate with an effective load in the range of about 20- to about 100-mg.

Claim 6

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof, including a leading edge adapted to lie generally in the plane of such a surface for abrasive sliding contact with the same, said leading edge being self sharpening by virtue of the fact that the same is defined by the intersection between a leading planar face and a bottom planar surface in the head structure which intersect at an acute angle subtending between about 30- and about 80-degrees.

Claim 7

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof, including a leading edge adapted to lie generally in the plane of such a surface for abrasive sliding contact with the same, said leading edge being self sharpening by virtue of the fact that the same is defined by the intersection between a leading planar face and a bottom planar surface in the head structure which intersect at an acute angle subtending between about 30- and about 80-degrees.

Claim 8

The head structure of claim 4, wherein said leading edge resides at an angle which is off-normal relative both to the long axis of said flexure body and to the relative direction of travel of such a medium.

Claim 9

The head structure of claim 4, wherein said abrader head comprises a high-hardness material formed as a single crystal.

Claim 10

The head structure of claim 4, wherein said abrader head is formed of a high-hardness, low-porosity polycrystalline material having a fine-grain structure characterized by a grain size of about 5-microns or less.

Claim 11

An integrated, unitary, generally comb-like micro-burnishing head structure for use with a single side surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising plural, elongate, generally parallel, side-by-side positioned, independently flexible flexure bodies joined adjacent one set of ends to a common joinder structure, and free adjacent the opposite set of ends, and for each body, an abrader head joined thereto adjacent the body's said free opposite end, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface.

Claim 12

An integrated, unitary, generally comb-like micro-burnishing head structure for use with a single side surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising plural, elongate, generally parallel, side-by-side positioned, independently flexible flexure bodies joined adjacent one set of ends to a common joinder structure, and free adjacent the opposite set of ends, and for each body, an abrader head joined thereto adjacent the body's said free opposite end, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface.

Claim 13

The head structure of claim 8, wherein each flexure body has an overall length of about 0.4-inches, an overall width of about 0.01- to about 0.02-inches, a thickness of about 0.001- to about 0.003-inches, and each abrader head has a width substantially equaling that of said flexure body, a thickness of about 0.004-inches and a mass of about 100-micrograms.

Claim 14

The head structure of claims 8 or 9, wherein each combined/associated flexure body and abrader head is designed to operate with an effective load in the range of about 20- to about 100-mg.

Claim 15

The head structure of claim 8, wherein each abrader head has a self-sharpening leading edge.

Claim 16

The head structure of claim 11, wherein each leading edge is formed by the intersection of substantially planar faces which intersect, nominally, at an angle that lies within the range of about 30° to about 80°.

Claim 17

The head structure of claims 11 or 12, wherein said leading edge resides at an angle which is off-normal relative both to the long axis of said flexure body and to the relative direction of travel of such a medium.

Claim 18

The head structure of claims 8, 11 or 12, wherein said abrader head comprises a high-hardness material formed as a single crystal.

Claim 19

The head structure of claims 8, 11 or 12, wherein each abrader head is formed of a high-hardness, low-porosity polycrystaline material having a fine-grain structure characterized by a grain size of about 5-microns or less.

Claim 20

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, said abrader head including a first, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the structure's region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 21

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, said abrader head including a first, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the structure's region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 22

The head structure of claim 16, wherein said abrader head further includes a second, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion that joins through a step with said first facial expanse portion, and which is disposed to confront such a surface in a manner more remote than said first facial expanse portion.

Claim 23

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof including a self-sharpening leading edge adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, said abrader head including a first, continuous media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the structure's region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 24

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof including a self-sharpening leading edge adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, said abrader head including a first, continuous media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the structure's region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 25

The head structure of claim 18, wherein said abrader head further includes a second, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion that joins through a step with said first facial expanse portion, and which is disposed to confront such a surface in a manner more remote than said first facial expanse portion.

Claim 26

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof including a self-sharpening leading edge formed by the intersection of substantially planar faces which intersect, nominally, at an angle that lies within the range of about 30- to about 80-degress adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, said abrader head including, in addition, a first, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the structure's region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 27

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising an elongate flexure body, and an abrader head joined to said body adjacent one end thereof including a self-sharpening leading edge formed by the intersection of substantially planar faces which intersect, nominally, at an angle that lies within the range of about 30- to about 80-degress adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, said abrader head including, in addition, a first, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the structure's region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 28

The head structure of claim 20, wherein said abrader head further includes a second, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion that joins through a step with said first facial expanse portion, and which is disposed to confront such a surface in a manner more remote than said first facial expanse portion.

Claim 29

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising plural, elongate, generally parallel, independently flexible flexure bodies joined adjacent one set of ends to a common joinder structure, and free adjacent the opposite set of ends, and for each body, an abrader head joined thereto adjacent the body's said free opposite end, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, each abrader head including a first, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 30

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising plural, elongate, generally parallel, independently flexible flexure bodies joined adjacent one set of ends to a common joinder structure, and free adjacent the opposite set of ends, and for each body, an abrader head joined thereto adjacent the body's said free opposite end, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, each abrader head including a first, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 31

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising plural, elongate, generally parallel, independently flexible flexure bodies joined adjacent one set of ends to a common joinder structure, and free adjacent the opposite set of ends, and for each body, an abrader head having a self-sharpening leading edge joined to the body adjacent the body's said free opposite end, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, each abrader head including a first, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 32

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising plural, elongate, generally parallel, independently flexible flexure bodies joined adjacent one set of ends to a common joinder structure, and free adjacent the opposite set of ends, and for each body, an abrader head having a self-sharpening leading edge joined to the body adjacent the body's said free opposite end, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, each abrader head including a first, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 33

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising plural, elongate, generally parallel, independently flexible flexure bodies joined adjacent one set of ends to a common joinder structure, and free adjacent the opposite set of ends, and for each body, an abrader head including a self-sharpening leading edge formed by the intersection of substantially planar faces which intersect, nominally, at an angle that lies within the range of about 30- to about 80-degrees joined adjacent the body's said free opposite end, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, each abrader head including a first, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 34

An integrated, unitary micro-burnishing head structure for use with the surface of rigid magnetic recording media comprising plural, elongate, generally parallel, independently flexible flexure bodies joined adjacent one set of ends to a common joinder structure, and free adjacent the opposite set of ends, and for each body, an abrader head including a self-sharpening leading edge formed by the intersection of substantially planar faces which intersect, nominally, at an angle that lies within the range of about 30- to about 80-degrees joined adjacent the body's said free opposite end, adapted for abrasive, sliding contact with such a surface, each abrader head including a first, continuous, media-confronting facial expanse portion extending away from the region of intended contact with such a surface, said portion, with the structure in operative condition relative to such a surface, diverging from the surface progressing in a direction away from said region.

Claim 35

The head structure of claim 22, wherein each abrader head further includes a second, continuous media-confronting facial expanse portion which joins through a step with said first facial expanse portion, and which is disposed to confront such a surface in a manner more remote than said first facial expanse portion.

Claim 36

The head structure of claim 23, wherein each abrader head further includes a second, continuous media-confronting facial expanse portion which joins through a step with said first facial expanse portion, and which is disposed to confront such a surface in a manner more remote than said first facial expanse portion.

Claim 37

The head structure of claim 24, wherein each abrader head further includes a second, continuous media-confronting facial expanse portion which joins through a step with said first facial expanse portion, and which is disposed to confront such a surface in a manner more remote than said first facial expanse portion.