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US 6,687,097 B1Granted
Electrostatic protection for magnetic heads
AssigneePemstar, Inc.
InventorsNathaniel C. Anderson, Robert D. Ahmann
Life of this patent
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AssigneePemstar, Inc.
InventorsNathaniel C. Anderson, Robert D. Ahmann
Estimating the term…
The present invention provides an ESD and EOS protection method and apparatus that can be easily implemented in existing disk drive designs and manufacturing process. One apparatus embodiment includes a first conductive member electrically connected to a first terminal of a magnetic head element; a second conductive member electrically connected to a first second terminal of the magnetic head element; and a variable conductive member, such as a variably conductive member. One method embodiment includes operably connecting a first conductive member to a first terminal of a magnetic head element; operably connecting a second conductive member to a second terminal of the magnetic head element; and operably connecting a variably conductive member, such as a variably conductive polymer, to the first conductive member and to the second conductive member. The variably conductive member in these embodiments acts as a conductor when a sufficiently high potential exists between the first conductive member and the second conductive member.
A shunt for protecting a magnetic head assembly having first and second terminals and an arm electronic module, the shunt comprising:
A shunt for protecting a head gimbal assembly having a probe pad and magnetic head element, the shunt comprising:
A head gimbal assembly, comprising:
A method of protecting a magnetic head element having first and second terminals, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.