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:
Dec. 18, 2007
Filed:
Apr. 07, 2005
Bruce C. Schardt, Stacey, CA (US);
Erhard Schreck, San Jose, CA (US);
Jingbo Yu, San Jose, CA (US);
Michael Mallary, Sterling, MA (US);
Scott Hughes, Cupertino, CA (US);
Duc Banh, San Jose, CA (US);
Kazuhiro Saito, San Jose, CA (US);
Donald J Brunnett, Plesanton, CA (US);
Tim Glassburn, Milpitas, CA (US);
Chris Hawks, Saratoga, CA (US);
Thao Anh Nguyen, San Jose, CA (US);
Andrew Lefebvre, Campbell, CA (US);
Joerg Ferber, San Jose, CA (US);
Richard K. Oswald, San Jose, CA (US);
Brian Strom, Cupertino, CA (US);
Bruce C. Schardt, Stacey, CA (US);
Erhard Schreck, San Jose, CA (US);
Jingbo Yu, San Jose, CA (US);
Michael Mallary, Sterling, MA (US);
Scott Hughes, Cupertino, CA (US);
Duc Banh, San Jose, CA (US);
Kazuhiro Saito, San Jose, CA (US);
Donald J Brunnett, Plesanton, CA (US);
Tim Glassburn, Milpitas, CA (US);
Chris Hawks, Saratoga, CA (US);
Thao Anh Nguyen, San Jose, CA (US);
Andrew LeFebvre, Campbell, CA (US);
Joerg Ferber, San Jose, CA (US);
Richard K. Oswald, San Jose, CA (US);
Brian Strom, Cupertino, CA (US);
Maxtor Corporation, Longmont, CO (US);
Abstract
A disk drive includes a drive housing, a storage disk, a slider and a drive circuitry. The slider magnetically interacts with the storage disk, and includes a read/write head that is positioned to have an actual head-to-disk spacing greater than zero nanometers during rotation of the storage disk. The drive circuitry can determine and/or monitor the actual head-to-disk spacing at any time during the operation of the disk drive based on an amplitude or a change in the amplitude of a signal such as a variable gain amplifier signal. In one embodiment, the slider includes a slider mover that receives current via the drive circuitry and causes a deformation of a portion of the slider to change the head-to-disk spacing based on the amplitude of the signal. In another embodiment, the read/write head moves during substantially consistent rotational velocity of the storage disk from a first actual head-to-disk spacing equal to approximately zero nanometers, to a second actual head-to-disk spacing that is greater than zero nanometers based on a desired amplitude of the signal.