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:
Aug. 27, 1991
Filed:
Oct. 13, 1989
Wolfgang D Pohl, Adliswil, CH;
Conrad W Schneiker, Austin, TX (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A distance-controlled tunneling transducer comprises a plurality of tunnel tips arranged in an array at a tunneling distance from an electrically conductive surface of a storage medium. Each tip is attached to a respective cantilever beam permitting the distance between each tip and the surface to be individually pre-adjusted electrostatically. Arranged in juxtaposition with each cantilever beam is an active control circuit for adjusting the tip-to-surface distance during operation of the storage unit, thus preventing crashes of the associated tip into possible asperities on the surface of the recording medium. Each control circuit is designed such that its operating voltage concurrently serves to pre-adjust its associated cantilever beam and to maintain the tip-to-surface distance essentially constant.