Apparatus for measuring friction force between a magnetic head and a magnetic disk

A static friction force measuring apparatus for measuring the static friction characteristic between a first object and a second object in contact with the first object, comprising:

• a mounting base having said first object fixed at an end thereof and the other end thereof secured to a first fixed end of said apparatus;
• a holder having an end thereof holding said second object and the other end thereof secured to a second fixed end of the apparatus;
• a frictional force detector, arranged at an arbitrary position between said holder-side fixed end and said mounting base side fixed end other than the portion where said first end and second objects are in contact with each other, for measuring a maximum static friction force immediately before the displacement begins between said two objects;
• drive means for applying an external force to a selected one of (a) between said holder and said holder-side fixed end and (b) between said mounting base and said mounting base side fixed end of the apparatus in a direction substantially parallel with the contact surface between said two objects;
• an external force buffer for suppressing the displacement between the relative positions of said two objects to the extent that the external force, exerted substantially in parallel with the contact surface of the two objects, exceeds the maximum static friction force, said buffer being arranged between said mounting base and said mounting base side fixed end of the apparatus;
• and
• a speed controller mounted on said drive means for controlling the relative speeds of said holder and said mounting base to a level sufficiently low as compared with the resonance frequency of said frictional force detector.