US 5,499,149 A · Slider with transverse ridge sections supporting air-bearing pads and disk drive incorporating the slider

Abstract

A data recording disk drive has an improved head-disk interface provided by a transducer carrier which is essentially a low-flying air-bearing slider that is also able to be in contact and near contact with the lubricant film on the disk. The slider has a front air-bearing surface in the form of a pair of equally-spaced air-bearing pads, a rear air-bearing pad, and a central nonair-bearing recessed surface which separates the front and rear air-bearing pads. The two front pads have a surface area greater than that of the rear pad and thus provide a positive pitch up of the slider. This causes the rear pad to also be pitched up so that air can flow beneath the rear pad to generate an air bearing in the rear portion of the slider. The presence of the central nonair-bearing region eliminates any lift in the central part of the slider, which allows for the low-flying height. The flying height of the rear pad of the slider above the disk is controlled by the width of the rear air-bearing pad. The rear pad has its leading edge wider than its trailing edge so that it is able to withstand contact with the lubricant film on the disk, typically at the lower disk velocities near the disk inside diameter, without generating unacceptable drag forces or depleting the lubricant from the disk. The rear pad also has a skewed leading edge which compensates for skew of the slider to minimize the flying height variation from the disk inside diameter to outside diameter.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A magnetic recording disk drive comprising:

at least one magnetic recording disk having a lubricant film thereon;
a motor connected to the disk for rotating the disk;
a slider having a disk side, a side opposite the disk side, a front ridge section generally transverse to the slider longitudinal centerline and supporting two front air-bearing pads generally equally spaced about the slider longitudinal centerline, a rear ridge section generally parallel to the front ridge section and supporting a generally rectangularly shaped rear air-bearing pad located on the slider longitudinal centerline, and a nonair-bearing surface recessed from and separating the front and rear ridge sections, the total surface area of the front air-bearing pads being greater than the surface area of the rear air-bearing pad, whereby the slider is pitched up during operation of the disk drive;
a magnetic head located on the slider near the rear air-bearing pad for reading data from or writing data to the disk;
an actuator for moving the slider generally radially across the disk so the head may access different regions of data on the disk;
a suspension attached to the side of the slider opposite the disk side and connecting the slider to the actuator for maintaining the air-bearing pads of the slider near the disk during operation of the disk drive;
and
means for supporting the motor and actuator.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Slider with transverse ridge sections supporting air-bearing pads and disk drive incorporating the slider

Life of this patent

Slider with transverse ridge sections supporting air-bearing pads and disk drive incorporating the slider

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20