JPH04188479A - Magnetic head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To restrain a change in the floating posture with reference to a recording medium by a method wherein a slope whose width increases gradually toward the outflow end from the inflow end of the air is formed at a corner part along an air current on the side of the floating face of a slider. CONSTITUTION:A groove 37 along the flow direction A of the air is formed in the center in a face which is faced with a magnetic disk at a slider 35. Thereby, floating faces 39 are formed on both sides of the groove 37. Taper parts 41 are formed on the side of air inflow ends at the floating faces 39. Slopes 43 whose width becomes gradually larger toward the outflow end from the inflow end of the air are formed at corner parts of the slider 35 on the side opposite to the groove 37 on the side of the floating faces 38. Since the width of the floating faces 39 is formed to be gradually smaller toward the outflow end from the inflow end of the air, the area on the side of air inflow ends at the floating faces 39 becomes large as compared with the area on the side of outflow ends, and the rigidity of air films at the floating faces 39 is increased. Thereby, it is possible to restrain a change in the floating posture of a magnetic head against an external force or dust particles and to substantially maintain the stability of the recording and replay operation of a data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention relates to a magnetic disk, for example, in which recording and reproduction is performed with a slider floating with a predetermined gap between a rotating recording medium and a rotating recording medium. The present invention relates to a magnetic head used in a device.

(Prior Art) Magnetic disk drives generally use the contact start/stop (C5S) method for starting and stopping operations, and when the device is stopped, the second
As shown in the figure, the magnetic head 1 is pressed against and in contact with the magnetic disk 5 by the suspension 3, and when the device is started, the magnetic head 1- gradually moves due to the dynamic pressure effect of the air flow generated by the rotation of the magnetic disk 5. The device levitates to the top and performs recording and playback in this floating state. When the apparatus stops from a state where the magnetic head 1 is floating, the dynamic pressure effect of the air decreases due to the decrease in the rotational speed of the magnetic disk 5, and the magnetic head 1 gradually comes into contact with the magnetic disk 5 and slides. move.

Details of this type of floating magnetic head are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, which are perspective views as seen from the side facing the magnetic disk 5. The magnetic head shown in FIG. 3 is called a monolithic head, and air bearing surfaces 9, 9 facing the magnetic disk 5 are formed on both left and right sides of a slider 7 that flies with respect to the magnetic disk 5. A tapered portion 1] is provided on the air inflow side shown by arrow A in FIG. A core]5 forming a magnetic circuit and around which a coil 13 is wound is provided on the air outflow end side of the slider 7, and a magnetic disk 5 is provided between the core]5 on the air bearing surface 9 side and the slider 7. A magnetic gap 17 is formed for recording and reproducing.

On the other hand, in the magnetic head shown in FIG. 4, a core 19 and a planar coil 2 with several to several tens of turns sandwiched between the core 19 and a slider 2 are formed using photolithography or thin film forming technology.
This is a thin film head formed on the air outflow end side of No. 3. This thin film head is also provided with an air bearing surface 9 and a tapered portion 1 for the magnetic disk 5, as in the monolithic head.

Each of the sliders 7 and 23 is designed to float with respect to the magnetic disk 5 with a minute gap of about 0.3 μm due to the dynamic pressure effect of air while being pressed by the suspension 3. FIG. 5 shows an example of the A1 calculation of the air pressure distribution on the air bearing surface 9 of the slider 7.23 when the magnetic head is flying, and the pressure is high ( Due to the balance between the dynamic pressure of the air with such a pressure distribution and the spring force of the suspension 3 that presses down the slider 7.23, the magnetic head
It floats above the magnetic disk 5 in the attitude shown in the schematic diagram in the figure.

Here, the difference a-b between the distance a from the magnetic disk at the air inflow end of the air bearing surface 9 and the distance from the magnetic disk 5 at the air outflow end is called the pitch amount Δh of the magnetic head, and this pitch amount Δh When becomes large to a certain extent, the rigidity of the air film between the air bearing surface 9 and the magnetic disk 5 increases, and the flying stability of the magnetic head improves. Furthermore, the flying height of a magnetic head generally refers to the gap at the outflow end.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, the magnetic head that flies in the above manner maintains flying stability when recording and reproducing data on the magnetic disk, and also prevents collisions between the magnetic head and the magnetic disk. In order to prevent recorded data from being destroyed, the gap 1', i between the magnetic disk and the magnetic disk is maintained even when subjected to various external forces.
? It is necessary to have a structure in which the (flying height) does not fluctuate greatly.

However, in the slider shape of the conventional magnetic head, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the width of the air bearing surface 9 is constant from the air inflow end to the air outflow end. When the air pressure difference, especially the flying height, becomes about 0.2 μm or less, the pitch amount Δh also becomes small, and the rigidity of the air film on the flying surface 9 decreases. When the rigidity decreases, fluctuations in the flying posture of the magnetic head in response to external forces increase, which impairs the stability of data recording and reproduction, and increases the risk of collision between the magnetic head and the magnetic disk.

For this reason, conventionally, a magnetic head has been proposed in which the vicinity of the tapered portion 29 on the air bearing surface 27 is widened, such as a magnetic head slider 25 shown in FIG. In this slider 25, even at a low flying height of about 0.2 μm or less as described above, the pressure near the tapered portion 29 of the air bearing surface 27 on the air inflow end side is higher than that on the outflow end side. The pitch amount Δh can be increased by
It becomes possible to increase the rigidity of the air film, thereby stabilizing the flying posture of the magnetic head.

However, manufacturing such sliders requires special processing called ion beam processing, which is a precision processing technology that utilizes the sputtering effect by irradiating an ion beam of an inert gas such as argon gas. , which has extremely poor manufacturability and leads to high costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic head that suppresses fluctuations in flying posture relative to a recording medium and has excellent manufacturability.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method in which the slider can maintain a predetermined gap with respect to the recording medium by introducing an air flow between the slider and the rotating recording medium. In a magnetic head that performs recording and reproducing while floating, the width of the air bearing surface facing the recording medium of the slider in a direction substantially perpendicular to the air flow is such that the width gradually narrows from the air inflow end to the air outflow end. , at a corner along the air flow on the air bearing surface side of the slider,
The structure is such that an inclined surface is provided whose width gradually increases from the air inflow end to the air outflow end.

(Function) An inclined surface that gradually increases in width from the air inlet end to the outflow end of the slider is provided at the corner of the air bearing surface of the slider along the air flow, so the width of the slider air bearing surface relative to the recording medium is is larger on the air inlet end side than on the air outflow end side. As a result, the pressure caused by the air flow on the air bearing surface becomes higher than that at the air inflow end or air outflow end, thereby stabilizing the flying posture of the magnetic head.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a magnetic head used in a magnetic disk device showing one embodiment of the present invention, viewed from the side facing a magnetic disk, which is a recording medium (not shown). Due to the air flow in the direction of arrow A generated by the rotation of the magnetic disk, the magnetic disk floats a small amount relative to the magnetic disk. Similar to the magnetic heads shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the magnetic head described above has a core 31 and a coil 33 formed on a slider 35 using photolithography or thin film forming technology.
This is a thin film head formed on the air outlet end 35a side of the head. Both ends of the coil 33 are drawn out toward the center of the air outflow end 35a.

A groove 37 is formed in the center of the surface of the slider 35 facing the magnetic disk along the air flow direction A, and thereby air bearing surfaces 39 are formed on both sides of the groove 37. A tapered portion 41 is formed on the air inflow end side of the air bearing surface 39. At the corner of the slider 35 on the side opposite to the groove 37 on the three air bearing surfaces, an inclined surface 43 is formed which gradually increases in width from the air inflow end to the air outflow end. By forming such an inclined surface 43, the width of the air bearing surface 39 relative to the magnetic disk in a direction substantially perpendicular to the air flow is gradually narrowed from the air inflow end to the air outflow end.

Since the width of the air bearing surface 39 is gradually narrowed from the air inflow end to the air outflow end, the area of the air bearing surface 39 on the air inflow end side becomes larger than the area on the outflow end side, and the magnetic head Even when the flying height relative to the magnetic disk is 0.2 μm or less, the pitch amount Δh in FIG. 6 becomes large, and the rigidity of the air film on the flying surface 39 increases. This suppresses fluctuations in the flying posture of the magnetic head due to external forces or dust, and maintains good stability in data recording and reproduction. By stabilizing the flying posture of the magnetic head, collision between the magnetic head and the magnetic disk is avoided.

In addition, by forming the inclined surface 43, the corners on both sides of the slider 35 are chamfered to eliminate sharp angles, which may cause the slider 35 to damage the magnetic disk when starting or stopping the device. Malfunctions are also prevented.

The inclined surface 43 does not require special processing such as ion beam processing, and can be easily formed by machining, and has excellent manufacturability.

Note that the position of the end of the inclined surface 43 on the tapered portion 41 side, the inclined surface 4
The width and inclination angle of the magnetic head 3 are not particularly defined, but are determined by the flying height of the magnetic head. Also,
Although a thin film magnetic head has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention may also be applied to a monolithic head as shown in FIG.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, an inclined surface whose width gradually increases from the air inlet end to the outflow end of the slider is provided at the corner of the air bearing surface of the slider. , the width of the air bearing surface of the slider relative to the recording medium is set so that the air inflow end side is larger than the air outflow end side, so that the area on the air bearing surface on the air inflow end side is equal to the same area on the outflow end side, -. As a result, the air pressure at the air bearing surface becomes higher than that at either the inflow end or the outflow end, and the flying posture of the magnetic head can be stabilized. Further, since the inclined surface is formed at the corner of the slider, there is no need for special processing, and it can be easily performed by machining, resulting in excellent manufacturability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a magnetic head showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of main parts inside a magnetic disk device, FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of a conventional magnetic head, respectively. Figure 5 is a pressure distribution diagram on the air bearing surface of a conventional magnetic head;
The figure is a schematic diagram showing the flying posture of the magnetic head, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another conventional magnetic head. 35... Slider 39... Air bearing surface 43... Inclined surface

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a magnetic head that performs recording and reproduction in which the slider floats with a predetermined gap relative to the recording medium due to the air flow entering between the rotating recording medium, the air flow on the air bearing surface of the slider facing the recording medium and At the corner of the slider along the air flow on the air bearing surface side, the width in the almost orthogonal direction gradually narrows from the air inflow end to the air outflow end. A magnetic head characterized by having an inclined surface whose width gradually increases.