Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

Norifumi Miyamoto

Kenji Itoh

Takehiko Hamaguchi

Hiroshi Ide

Yoji Maruyama

Kazuhiko Washizu

Akira Morinaga

Hiroshi Umezaki

Embodiments of the invention provide an inexpensive magnetic head tester employing component parts of a production HDD and capable of exercising functions very close to those of a production HDD. In one embodiment, a magnetic head tester employs the VCM actuator and the control circuit of a production HDD and has a lightweight, simple HGA fixing mechanism mounted on an actuator arm. The HGA fixing mechanism fixes an HGA to the actuator arm by a method using a very light holding spring mounted on the arm, a method of mechanically clamping an HGA by using air pressure, or a method of fixing an HGA to the arm by elastically deforming a rubber clamping member by air pressure. Servo control is achieved by the actuator of a production VCM. An end part of the VCM actuator is stopped by a stopping mechanism and is held by a holding spring to prevent the runaway of the VCM actuator. Servo control is performed by balancing the driving force of the VCM and the resilience of the spring.

Magnetic head tester and method of manufacturing magnetic disk drive

A write head's material having a great thermal expansion coefficient expands due to Joule heat resulting from a write current and a temperature rise dependent on high-frequency core loss, thereby causing the head's flying surface to protrude toward a magnetic disk. This phenomenon is called TPR (thermal protrusion). It is essential that the flying height be accurately determined and managed in consideration of TPR. A magnetic disk drive for actual use or a magnetic disk drive that is in a testing process but similar to the one for actual use is used to measure TPR amount changes resulting from a write operation, store the resulting measured data in a memory or on the magnetic disk, and perform flying height management with the stored measured data. Further, flying height management is performed as needed in conjunction with a SMART function. The present invention makes it possible to perform high-reliability flying height management.

Magnetic disk drive having a function for using a thermal protrusion amount for flying height management and an inspection device having such a function

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Norifumi Miyamoto