Low recession tape head
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorRobert Biskeborn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A magnetic recording head is provided comprising a flat contour head having a deposited closure. An ion-milled trench or recess is provided near the substrate edge to create a lip or wear zone between the trench edge and the substrate/gap interface. As the tape passes over the head, the lip begins to wear and acquires a bevel. After up to a few hundred hours of runtime, the bevel spans the entire length of the lip after which the bevel length remains constant resulting in a constant rate of head wear. The width of the lip or wear zone is chosen such that head wear chases gap and transducer wear resulting in reduced recession of the transducer from the recording tape.
Claims20
A magnetic head, comprising:
- a rowbar substrate having a transducing surface and a gap surface at a substrate edge;
- a transducer row having at least one thin film transducer on the gap surface of the first rowbar substrate, said transducer row forming a portion of the transducing surface;
- a first closure covering the transducer row on a side thereof opposite the gap surface of the rowbar substrate, said closure forming a portion of the transducing surface;
- and
- a trench formed in the transducing surface of the first rowbar substrate, said trench having first and second edges parallel to the substrate edge, and wherein the substrate edge and the first edge define the width of a wear zone on the transducing surface.
A magnetic head, comprising:
- a rowbar substrate having a transducing surface and a gap surface at a substrate edge;
- a transducer row having at least one thin film transducer on the gap surface of the rowbar substrate;
- a trench formed in the transducing surface, said trench having a substantially rectangular shape with a length extending parallel to the transducer row and a width perpendicular to the transducer row;
- and
- wherein said trench defines a wear zone on the transducer surface of the rowbar substrate between the substrate edge and a first edge of the trench.
A magnetic tape recorder system, comprising:
- a magnetic recording tape;
- a tape drive for moving the magnetic recording tape linearly and bi-directionally;
- a magnetic head for magnetically recording data on the magnetic recording tape and for sensing magnetically recorded data on the magnetic recording tape, said magnetic head comprising:
- a rowbar substrate having a transducing surface and a gap surface at a substrate edge;
- a transducer row having at least one thin film transducer on the gap surface of the rowbar substrate, said transducer row forming a portion of the transducing surface;
- a first closure covering the transducer row on a side thereof opposite the gap surface of the first rowbar substrate, said closure forming a portion of the transducing surface;
- and
- a trench formed in the transducing surface of the first rowbar substrate, said trench having first and second edges parallel to the substrate edge, and wherein the substrate edge and the first edge define the width of a wear zone on the transducing surface;
- an actuator for positioning said magnetic head to access various tracks on the magnetic recording tape;
- and
- a read/write channel coupled electrically to the magnetic head for magnetically recording data on the magnetic recording tape and for reading data recorded on the magnetic recording tape.
The magnetic tape recorder system as recited in claim 111 wherein the trench has a width between the first and second edges of about 70 microns.
A magnetic tape recorder system, comprising:
- a magnetic recording tape;
- a tape drive for moving the magnetic recording tape linearly and bi-directionally;
- a magnetic head for magnetically recording data on the magnetic recording tape and for sensing magnetically recorded data on the magnetic recording tape, said magnetic head comprising:
- a rowbar substrate having a transducing surface and a gap surface at a substrate edge;
- a transducer row having at least one thin film transducer on the gap surface of the rowbar substrate;
- a trench formed in the transducing surface, said trench having a substantially rectangular shape with a length extending parallel to the transducer row and a width perpendicular to the transducer row;
- and
- wherein said trench defines a wear zone on the transducer surface of the rowbar substrate between the substrate edge and a first edge of the trench.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.