The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 10, 2026
Filed:
Nov. 27, 2024
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Bernhard E. Knigge, San Jose, CA (US);
Yuichi Aoki, Fujisawa, JP;
Yukio Kato, Fujisawa, JP;
Wangzhen Zhao, Fujisawa, JP;
Western Digital Technologies, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A data storage device comprises a disk and a recording head. A thermal fly-height control (TFC) heater thermally adjusts a spacing of the recording head from a surface of the disk. A thermal proximity sensor detects a spacing of the recording head from the disk surface and generates a thermal proximity sensor signal indicative of the detected spacing. A height of smear accumulated on the recording head is determined by dithering the TFC heater about a DC power level, measuring a skewness in the thermal proximity sensor signal while the TFC heater is being dithered, and determining the smear height from the measured skewness.