Fujitsu Corporation

Masaharu Sugimoto

Katsuaki Ishida

Tomoo Sukagawa

Yoshiaki Nagasawa

Masaki Kameyama

Hisashi Kaneko

Tsuneyori Ino

Tsuyoshi Furukawa

Shinichi Fukuzawa

Masaki Jinbo

Yoshiharu Kasamatsu

Toru Yokohata

Yukihiro Komura

Kenrou Yamamoto

Osamu Yamazaki

Mitsuhisa Sekino

Susumu Yoshida

Kazuhiro Watanabe

Yoshifumi Mizoshita

Minoru Takahashi

Takahiro Imamura

Keiji Aruga

Takeshi Ohwe

Tomoyoshi Yamada

Hiroaki Wakamatsu

Kazuhisa Hanamoto

Hiroyuki Hyodo

Yoshimichi Asanai

Hirosi Satou

A protector protuberance is formed on a head slider incorporated in a recording medium drive such as a hard disk drive. The protector protuberance is allowed to collide against a contamination on a recording medium in front of a head element mounted on the head slider. The head element can be protected from collision against the contamination behind the protector protuberance. The protector protuberance is located as close to the head element as possible. Even with a smaller protector protuberance, the front and rear support protrusions contact the recording medium so as to hold the slider body above the surface of the recording medium. An increase can be prevented in the adsorption acting between the slider body and a lubricant agent spreading over the surface of the recording medium. A smaller protector protuberance enables the head element to approach the recording medium as close as possible upon read/write operations.

Head slider having protector protuberance in front of head element

A protection film is layered over the trailing or outflow end surface of a slider body in a head slider for a recording medium drive. A head element is embedded within the protection film. The head element generates heat in response to the supply of an electric current. The heat causes thermal expansion of the protection film. The tip end of the head element thus excessively approaches the recording disk beyond the medium-opposed surface of the head slider. The flying height of a protection protuberance is set smaller than a flying height of the head element even when the protection film suffers from thermal expansion. The protection protuberance is allowed to trace an orbit closer to the recording medium than the orbit of the head element. The protection protuberance is allowed to collide against obstacles on the recording medium in front of the head element.

Recording medium drive including head slider having protection protuberance standing on air bearing surface

The present invention provide a disk unit having a head suspension which includes a disk for storage of information, a head for writing and/or reading information on the disk, a driving unit for moving the head radially between an area above the disk and an area outside the outer periphery of the disk, and a head suspension for supporting the head and applying force to the head in a direction substantially vertical to the surface of the disk. The head suspension includes a first beam having a free end at which the head is mounted and a proximal end opposite to the free end, a second beam arranged in opposed position to the first beam and having two ends, one end thereof positioned on the side of the free end of the first beam and fixed to the first beam, the other end thereof spaced apart form the first beam, and a moving means for moving the first beam and the second beam relative to each other in a longitudinal direction.

Disk unit having a head suspension

A head assembly which can prevent an increase in the frictional force between the head and the recording medium, even if the spindle motor is rotated in the reverse direction during start-up of the disk drive. The head assembly includes a suspension having a roundedly bent portion for generating a spring load and a gimbal located on the suspension. A head slider is mounted on the gimbal. The head slider has an air bearing surface, an air inlet end, and an air outlet end. The spring load of said suspension is applied to the head slider at a load point that is offset from a center of gravity of said head slider. Preferably, the offset load point is located between the center of gravity of the head slider and its air inlet end. Additionally, the head slider preferably includes several pads extending from its air bearing surface, and the offset load point can be located at the center of gravity of the pads (as opposed to the center of gravity of the head slider in its entirety). There are two preferred configurations for realizing the offset load point of the present invention: (1) using a reinforcing plate connected to the suspension, and a pivot formed on the reinforcing plate and kept in pressure contact with the slider mounting portion of the gimbal, such that the pivot applies the spring load to the head slider; and (2) bending the gimbal at a neck portion thereof by a given angle to apply the spring load.

Head assembly and disk drive

A flying head slider comprises a flying surface opposed to the surface of the magnetic disk. Inner and outer rails are formed on the flying surface. Air bearing surfaces (ABS) are defined on the inner and outer rails. A magnetic head element is embedded in the outer rail at the protection layer attached to the end surface of the slider body. A splay is formed on the air bearing surface (ABS) of the outer rail. When the head slider takes off from the surface of the magnetic disk, the head slider takes a slant attitude with the protection layer nearest to the surface of the magnetic disk. The splay in the outer rail serves to avoid the protection layer from colliding with the surface of the magnetic disk even when the head slider rolls. The head slider is capable of making the magnetic head element thereon approach the surface of the magnetic disk as much as possible even if the head slider is expected to change its attitude.

Flying head slider having a splay formed on a flying surface enabling a lower flying height while avoiding collision with a surface of a recording disk

A magnetic head slider having an air inlet end an an air outlet end, and includes a pair of rails formed on a disk opposing surface opposed to a magnetic disk, each of the rails having a flat air bearing surface for generating a flying force during rotation of the disk, and an electromagnetic transducer formed on one of the rails in the vicinity of the air outlet end. The magnetic head slider further includes a plurality of streamlined pads formed on the air bearing surfaces of the rails in the vicinity of the air inlet end and in the vicinity of the air outlet end.

Head slider having streamlined pads

A quasi contact head comprises a slider with a flying surface opposed to a magnetic disk. A composite layer is formed on the slider at its trailing end so as to contain a head element such as an MR element. The head element is exposed at an exposure surface formed on the composite layer. A step serves to retract the exposure surface from the flying surface. An edge formed between the step and flying surface is subjected to grinding. The edge wears off during the initial rotation of the magnetic disk, so that the flying height of the slider can be set lower.

Quasi contact head having a disk contacting portion

A magnetic disk drive having one or more magnetic disks, one or more read/write heads each recording or reproducing information for a corresponding one of the magnetic disks, a servo head reading control information from a predetermined one of the magnetic disks, and an actuator supporting the one or more read/write heads and the servo head includes first leads extending from the one or more read/write heads along one side of the actuator, and second leads extending from the servo head along the other side of the actuator so that the second leads can be distanced in space from the first leads.

Magnetic disk drive and flexible printed board used in such drive

A method of obtaining a limit glide height in flying a head above a recording medium being rotated. The first step is storing the medium and the head into a chamber, stepwise reducing an air pressure in the chamber, and measuring a flying height of the head and a frequency of contact of the head with the medium in each step. The second step is performing head vanish to polish away projections on the medium by means of the head under such conditions that the head at least intermittently comes into contact with the medium. The third step is reproducing the air pressure in each step in the first step, and again measuring a flying height of the head and a frequency of contact of the head with the medium in each step. The final step is comparing a measured value of the frequency of contact in each step in the first step and a measured value of the frequency of contact in each step in the third step, and obtaining the limit glide height defined as a flying height of the head corresponding to the step in which a rate of change in the frequency of contact becomes largest.

Apparatus for evaluating magnetic recording medium

A breather filter unit for a magnetic disk drive including a base and a cover fixed to the base, the cover having a vent. The breather filter unit includes a casing fixed to an inner surface of the cover, the casing having a vent inlet communicating with the vent of the cover and a vent outlet communicating with an inside of the magnetic disk drive, and a first filter contained in the casing at a position adjacent to the vent inlet, the first filter being formed from a plurality of fibers extending in a direction substantially parallel to that of an air flow from the vent inlet to the vent outlet. The breather filter unit further includes a second filter bonded to the casing so as to cover the vent outlet, and an activated carbon layer contained in the casing at a position between the first filter and the second filter.

Breather filter unit for magnetic disk drive

Disclosed is a magnetic disk apparatus having a large internal accommodation space. This magnetic disk apparatus comprises a case defining accommodation space inside, magnetic disks disposed in the accommodation space, a spindle motor, magnetic heads and a rotary actuator. The case includes a cover having a first flat portion and a first upright portion standing upright on the first flat portion at a peripheral portion thereof, and a base having a second flat portion and a second upright portion standing upright on the second flat portion at a peripheral portion thereof. This design can ensure a sufficient strength even if the case is made thin, thus allowing the internal accommodation space to be increased. The magnetic disk apparatus also has a printed circuit board, which is provided at the case and has a control circuit mounted thereon for controlling the magnetic heads. The printed circuit board supplies a source voltage to the case. Accordingly, the magnetic disks and the magnetic heads can be kept at the same potential via the case.

Magnetic disk apparatus

A magnetic disk device includes a flexible printed circuit board having a first portion provided with read/write ICs for read/write heads and first printed patterns connected to the read/write ICs and a second portion positioned within the first portion, an end of the second portion being connected to the first portion so as to be bendably projected from the first portion, the second portion being provided with a servo IC for the servo head and second printed patterns connected to the servo IC, the flexible printed circuit board being mounted on an actuator body such that one end of the first portion lies outside the actuator and the second portion lies on the actuator body. The magnetic disk device also includes first lead wires of the read/write heads extending to the flexible printed circuit board and being connected to the first patterns, and second lead wires of the servo head extending to the flexible printed circuit board and being connected to the second printed patterns. The first lead wires and the read/write ICs are on one side of an imaginary plane while the second wires and the servo IC are on an opposite side of the imaginary plane, the imaginary plane passing through the tip end of an arm structure and a shaft of the actuator body and being parallel to the shaft.

Magnetic disk drive and flexible printed circuit board

A magnetic disk storage apparatus comprising a rotary actuator which prevents head positioning error resulting from vibration and impact. Since head positioning error is generated when the enclosure makes rotating movement due to translational vibration input due to vibration, a vibration proof mechanism consisting of a plurality of vibration proof supporting members are provided between the enclosure and frame. The plural vibration proof supporting members are disposed so that the linear moment around the gravity center of the enclosure is balanced against translational external force applied to the enclosure.

Growing community of inventors

Kawasaki, Japan

Masaharu Sugimoto