Hydrodynamic bearing head providing constant spacing
AssigneeMCA Disco-Vision, Inc.
InventorManfred H. Jarsen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A player for video disc includes a vacuum reading head to "read" recorded information from a thin, flexible video disc. A rotating turntable provides a fluid cushion bearing to support the disc and the vacuum associated with the transducing head assembly "draws" the disc toward the head and maintains an optimum head-to-disc spacing.
Claims10
In an information handling system including an information bearing medium having indicia established therein and having a surface, and a transducer head assembly for communicating with the medium and adapted to access the surface, the transducer head assembly having a surface for generating a hydrodynamic bearing and being supported at a predetermined distance interval from the surface by a hydrodynamic bearing created by relative motion between the medium surface and the transducer hydrodynamic bearing generating surface while being immersed in a fluid medium, apparatus for modifying the interval between the transducer and the medium surface comprising:
- a. a source of fluid under less than ambient pressure;
- and
- b. communicating means between said less than ambient pressure fluid source and the area between the transducer head assembly and the medium surface, said means being coupled to the transducer head assembly and carried thereby,
- whereby the relative spacing defining the interval between the transducer head assembly and the medium surface is changed by modifying the fluid pressure existing in the interval between the transducer head assembly and the medium surface.
For use with an information handling system including an information bearing medium having indicia established therein and having a surface, a source of fluid under less than ambient pressure, a transducer head assembly for communicating with the medium and adapted to access the surface, the transducer head assembly being supported at a predetermined distance interval from the surface by a hydrodynamic bearing created by relative motion between the surface and the transducer while being immersed in a fluid medium, the transducer head assembly comprising:
- a. a transducer head body including a hydrodynamic bearing surface adjacent the information bearing medium for creating a hydrodynamic bearing between said head assembly and the medium surface;
- b. a chamber interior said transducer head body coupled to the source of fluid under less than ambient pressure;
- c. at least one orifice in said hydrodynamic bearing surface connecting the hydrodynamic bearing surface and the chamber for establishing fluid communication between the source of fluid under less than ambient pressure and the interval between the hydrodynamic bearing surface and medium surface;
- and
- d. information transmission means operatively employing said orifice for transmitting information between the information bearing medium and the information handling system,
- whereby changes in the fluid pressure within said chamber are communicated to the interval between said hydrodynamic bearing surface and the medium surface for changing the magnitude of the interval.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.