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:
Jul. 19, 2011
Filed:
Dec. 08, 2008
Youping Deng, Saratoga, CA (US);
Randall G. Simmons, San Jose, CA (US);
Wing T. Tang, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Huiping Yang, JiangXi, CN;
Youping Deng, Saratoga, CA (US);
Randall G. Simmons, San Jose, CA (US);
Wing T. Tang, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Huiping Yang, JiangXi, CN;
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V., Amsterdam, NL;
Abstract
A method and apparatus for detecting predetermined surface characteristics in head gimbal assemblies to improve hard disk drive reliability. The predetermined surface characteristics include head slider protrusions such as scratches or contamination that can cause damage to the head or disk in hard drives. By detecting these protrusions, those drives with an increased chance of failure can be removed from a test group, thereby increasing the quality and reliability of the remaining disk drives. The invention provides a method of detecting these protrusions that is a more practical option than using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to inspect each head slider.