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:
Oct. 30, 2012
Filed:
Mar. 16, 2009
William Omar Liners, Minnetonka, MN (US);
Mallika Roy, Edina, MN (US);
Francis Anthony Mcginnity, Eglinton, GB;
Gavin Lee Brinkley, Killea, IE;
William Omar Liners, Minnetonka, MN (US);
Mallika Roy, Edina, MN (US);
Francis Anthony McGinnity, Eglinton, GB;
Gavin Lee Brinkley, Killea, IE;
Seagate Technology LLC, Scotts Valley, CA (US);
Abstract
A glide head with a slider body that has a leading edge, a trailing edge and an air bearing surface is disclosed. The glide head also has an array of thermal proximity sensing elements connected in a bridge circuit that are adjacent both the trailing edge and the air bearing surface, a heating element mounted to the glide body for elevating the temperature of the thermal proximity sensing elements in relation to the temperature of an inspected surface, and a controller coupled to the array of thermal proximity sensing elements. The controller receives signals from the thermal proximity sensing elements, and determines the existence of a surface variation in the inspected surface based upon differences in the signals received from the thermal proximity sensing elements.