JPH0363978A - Floating slider - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To suppress the reduction of positive pressure on a side rail and to keep a floating posture by providing steps, which rear ends are formed to be smoothly inclined surfaces, on the side rail of a positive pressure generating surface. CONSTITUTION:When an angle theta is formed between the advancing direction of a slider and the flowing direction of an air lubricating film, an air current is promoted by taper parts 13 and 14 in the front end of the slider. Then, the positive pressure is increased in front of the side rail and in back of the side rail, however, the positive pressure is lowered. The inclined surface-shaped step parts are equipped with the function like these taper parts 13 and 14. Then, even when the air current obliquely flows in, the direction of the air current is changed to the advancing direction of the slider and the reduction of the positive pressure is suppressed in the rear end of the side rail. Thus, even when the advancing direction of the slider is different from the flowing direction of the air lubricating film, the reduction of sliding amount is suppressed and a stable floating state can be kept.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a floating slider equipped with an electromagnetic transducer for transferring data to and from a recording medium in a magnetic recording/reproducing device. .

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, the density of magnetic disk drives has increased dramatically, and the flying height of magnetic heads has been lowered as the characteristics of recording media have improved. In order to perform recording and reproduction at high density and high output, it is necessary to keep the distance between the flying slider and the recording medium extremely small and to maintain a stable floating state.

The magnetic head conventionally used in magnetic disk drives is a positive pressure floating type that levitates due to the combination of the positive pressure generated on the side rails due to high-speed rotation of the recording medium and the spring load applied to the magnetic head. Sliders have been used. Nowadays, negative pressure type floating sliders have been developed in response to the demand for lower flying heights, and negative pressure type floating sliders have also been developed that make it possible to obtain a nearly constant flying height regardless of the circumferential speed of the medium. Proposed. This is because a concave stepped portion is newly provided on the side rail. A conventional floating slider having a concave stepped portion on a side rail will be described below.

6 and 7 show a conventional negative pressure floating slider having a concave groove on a side rail. A pair of side rails 2 and 3 are provided on both sides of the stepped surface 1, which is the negative pressure generating part of the slider body.
and a cross rail 4 and a side rail I that are orthogonal between each side rail.
A plurality of tapered portions 5 and 6 are formed at the front end of each of v2 and v3. ) Concave groove portion 7 near the center of each side rail.
8 is formed at a depth that does not reach the negative pressure generating portion 1.

The operation of the negative pressure floating slider having the concave grooves configured as described above will be described below.

When the slider floats to the recording medium without a groove and with a predetermined gap,
Air flow enters from the tapered portion 5.6, and a positive pressure higher than atmospheric pressure is generated on the fluid lubricated surface of the side rail/I/2.3 excluding the concave groove 7.8. Negative pressure is generated,
By generating both pressures, it floats stably above the recording medium.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, conventional positive-pressure floating sliders have had the problem that when the flying height is lowered, fluctuations in flying height become large due to disturbances and vibrations of the medium, resulting in fluctuations in output.

In addition, in the case of a conventional negative pressure floating slider without grooves on the side rails, if the air inflow direction is not parallel to the slider entry direction and the positioner is one-sided, the flow from the side along with the flow in the longitudinal direction of the floating slider. There was a problem in that flow occurred and the positive pressure at the rear end of the side rails decreased, resulting in a decrease in flying height. In addition, when the flying height is low, the surface vibration due to the rotation of the recording medium and high-speed contact with defects, abnormal protrusions, etc. cause wear of the medium, and minute wear particles and dust enter the flying space of the slider, generating negative pressure. Easy to adhere to stepped surfaces. Particularly, when there is a concave groove on the side rail, abrasion particles and dust are likely to adhere to the step portion rising at right angles at the rear end of the concave portion. Due to the abrasion powder adhering to the concave step portion on the side rail, the slider may change its flying height and deteriorate its flying posture, making it difficult to maintain a stable flying condition, and in the worst case, it may cause a crash. There is a problem in that this causes damage to the information recorded on the recording medium.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by providing a stepped portion having a gently sloped rear end on the side rail of the positive pressure generating surface of the air lubricating film.

By forming a step surface with a gently sloped rear end on this side rail, it prevents wear of the recording medium, buttons and wear particles,
To prevent dust etc. from adhering to the slider and to maintain a stable flying posture without reducing the flying height by suppressing the drop in positive pressure behind the side rail even when the slider traveling direction and air inflow direction are not parallel. becomes possible.

Embodiment As an embodiment of the floating slider of the present invention, a negative pressure floating slider will be described with reference to FIG. The negative pressure type floating slider of the present invention has a negative pressure generating surface 9 of the air lubricating film.
A pair of side rails 10.11 are formed on both sides of the rail, a cross rail 12 is disposed perpendicularly between the side rails, and tapered portions 13, 14 are formed at the front ends of the side rails 10, 11. There is. Further, near the center of the side rail 10.11, a stepped portion 15.16 is formed whose rear end does not rise at a right angle but has a gentle slope. The depth of this stepped portion does not reach the negative pressure generating surface 9. The situation of this slope-like stepped portion will be explained using a sectional view taken along the Y-Y' plane in FIG. 2.

! First, in machining the step surface, the step surface is formed so that the rear end thereof does not stand up perpendicularly to the side rails in the direction in which the slider moves, but forms a gentle slope. Further, this stepped surface does not need to have a constant depth, and depending on the processing, the front end may also be processed into a slightly sloped shape, but this is not a problem. The slope starting point C of this slope can be arbitrarily set between a and b. Furthermore, the shape of this slope may be either linear or rounded from the slope start point C to the slope end point.

With the above configuration, when the slider faces the medium in a predetermined low flying state, the airflow flows through the tapered portion 13 at the front end of the side rail.
, 14, positive pressure higher than atmospheric pressure is generated on the upper surface of the side rail/L'10.11 excluding the sloped step portion 15.16, and negative pressure is generated at the sloped step portion. do.

The slider floats above the recording medium in a well-balanced manner due to the generation of this side pressure.

When the direction of movement of the slider and the direction of inflow of the air lubricant film form an angle θ, if the slider does not have a sloped step on the side rail, the positive pressure decreases toward the rear of the side rail, and the flying height decreases. will be invited. Airflow is facilitated by the tapered portions 13, 14 at the front end of the slider, increasing the positive pressure in front of the side rails, but lowering it behind the side rails as described above.

The slanted step part works like this taper part 13, 14 to change the direction of the air flow in the direction of movement of the slider even if the air flow flows in from an angle, and creates a positive pressure at the rear end of the side rail. Suppress the decline. As a result, even when the direction in which the slider moves and the direction in which the air lubrication film flows in are different, a decrease in flying height can be suppressed, and a stable flying state can be maintained. FIGS. 3 and 4 show the floating postures of the negative pressure floating slider when there is no inclined surface at the center of the side rail and when there is an inclined surface at the center of the side rail. Since the side rail has a new tapered slope in the center, there is almost no reduction in the flying height behind the side rail, and the side rail flies almost parallel to the medium surface. Furthermore, Figure 6 shows the degree of positive pressure generated on the side rail when the airflow angle θ is formed between a negative pressure slider with a concave groove on the side rail and a negative pressure slider with a sloped step. It shows. It is better to have a slope-like step,
The drop in positive pressure behind the side rail is small.

In addition, this sloping stepped portion Y-Y' (Fig. 6) is machined into a gentle sloping shape, and the rear end does not rise vertically, so that contact with protrusions on the recording medium is softened.
Abrasion of the medium is also reduced. Even if abrasion particles and dust from the recording medium enter the slider floating space, it is difficult for them to adhere to this stepped portion because of the sloped shape. Therefore, a stable flying posture can be maintained in a low flying state.

The slider is made of ferrite or the like, and the sloped step is formed by changing the incident angle of the beam and the thickness and shape of the resist using the ion □-ring method.

In addition, if it is difficult to form a block with an ion □-ring,
The front and rear parts of the slider are separated and machined to form slope-like steps, and then glued together.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention provides a step on the side rail of the positive pressure generating surface so that the rear end becomes a gently sloped surface. Also, it is possible to suppress the drop in positive pressure on the side rails and obtain stable levitation. Further, the shape of the step has the effect of suppressing wear on the recording medium and preventing adhesion of abrasion powder and dust, and allows a stable flying posture to be maintained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a floating negative pressure slider having a side rail-like rear end with a gently sloped surface, which is an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a processed cross section of the sloped surface Y-Y'. Figure, 3rd
Figure 4 shows the air flow and floating posture of a floating slider with grooves on the side rails and a floating slider with sloped grooves on the side rails, respectively, and Figure 5 shows the side A characteristic diagram showing the degree of positive pressure generated on the side rail of a floating slider that has concave grooves and sloped grooves on the rail. Figure 6 is a characteristic diagram showing the degree of positive pressure generated on the side rail of a floating slider that has concave grooves and sloped grooves on the rail. A perspective view of the type negative pressure slider, Fig. 7 shows the concave groove x-x'
FIG. 1...Air lubricating surface, 2.3...° side rail, 4
......Intersection L/-IV, 6, 6...Tapered portion, 718...Concave step, 9...
Air lubricated surface, 10.11... side L/-/L',
12...Cross rail, 13.14...
Tapered part, 15.16...Slope step.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a negative pressure floating slider whose surface facing the magnetic recording medium is an air lubricated surface, a pair of protruding side rails are provided on both sides of the negative pressure generating section, and an air inflow end is provided at the front end of the side rail. What is claimed is: 1. A floating slider comprising: a sloped surface; and a stepped portion near the center of each side rail that does not reach the negative pressure generating portion; and a rear end of the stepped portion has a gently sloped surface. (2) The floating slider according to claim 1, wherein each of the pair of side rails has two sloped steps serving as air inflow ends. (2) The slope-like stepped portion at the center of the side rail is not at a constant depth with respect to the side rail, and the rear end of the stepped portion is not perpendicular to the side rail with respect to the slider advancing direction. A floating slider according to claim 1.