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:
Jun. 17, 2003
Filed:
Apr. 25, 2001
David L. Hall, Salt Lake City, UT (US);
Iomega Corporation, Roy, UT (US);
Abstract
An improved head assembly having a leading edge step scheme for tuned air entrainment for improved head performance in higher capacity disk drives. The head assembly having a tuned leading edge step scheme improves the performance of the heads by controlling the entrainment of air thereby forming a desired air bearing between a disk surface and the longitudinal rails of each slider of the head assembly thereby forcing the storage media to comply in an advantageous way (e.g., conform) to cause intimacy at the sensor. The improved head assembly having a leading edge step scheme allows the flying characteristics of the head to be controlled by providing a first rail including a sensor for interfacing with the disk media and having a bleed leading edge step that does not entrain air well and a second rail not having a sensor and having a structured leading edge step that entrains air better than the bleed leading edge step of the first rail. The second rail having a good leading edge step for entraining air includes a structured or shaped leading edge step formed between a pair of air dams for trapping and entraining air therebetween. The first rail having a poor leading edge step for entraining air as compared to the second rail allows the sensor to interface (e.g., contact) with the disk media, while the second rail having a good leading edge for the entrainment of air allows the second rail and the balance of the slider to fly over the surface of the disk. This helps to improve the performance of the head assembly for higher capacity disk drives. In addition, the present invention provides for forming one leading edge step differently from the other and for varying the shape and dimensions of the leading edge step to control the flying characteristics of the head assemblies.