JPH04341984A - Magnetic head slider - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure the stable floating characteristic of a magnetic head slider against a magnetic disk by withdrawing small protrusions for landing by a driving device back to their height not to project downward from a slider surface and holding the slider surface to be a flat and specular surface. CONSTITUTION:At the time of recording and/or reproducing a hard disk 11, a voltage to be impressed upon plural piezoelectric elements is cut off, and thickness of these elements 10 is withdrawn in the direction of an arrow (a), so that contact surfaces 9b of these small protrusions 9 are formed to be incorporated as the slider surface. Then, the whole slider surface 5 becomes the flat and specular surface, and hence floating force by an airflow in the direction of an arrow (c) to be generated attending upon the rotation of the hard disk 11 under high speed rotation in the direction of the arrow (c) is uniformly received by the whole slider surface 5. Then, at the time of stopping, the voltage is impressed upon the plural piezoelectric elements 10, so that the thickness of these elements 10 is expanded in the direction of an arrow (b), and hence the plural small protrusions 9 are projected downward from the slider surface in the direction of (b), thus preventing the slider 1 from sticking to the disk.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic head slider suitable for application to, for example, hard disk drives.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, hard disk drives have used magnetic head sliders, such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-57087, in which the magnetic head slider is levitated by high-speed rotation of a hard disk, which is a magnetic disk. The hard disk is used for recording and/or playback. Furthermore, conventionally, in hard disk drives, as seen in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-16023, Contact Start Stop (hereinafter referred to as CSS ) method has been adopted.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in recent hard disk drives, in order to cope with the increase in capacity due to high-density recording, the flying height of the magnetic head slider relative to the hard disk has been reduced (flying on the order of submicrons). It is being said. In order to do this, it is necessary to finish both the hard disk and the slider surface of the magnetic head slider (the surface facing the hard disk) to a near-mirror surface.In CSS type hard disk drives, the magnetic head is placed on top of the stopped hard disk. After the slider lands on the slider surface, the magnetic head slider surface sticks to the hard disk due to the adhesion between the mirror surfaces (adhesion) of the magnetic head slider.
There was a problem that this was likely to occur.

[0004] Some hard disks have a texture (rough surface) processed on the CSS zone (landing zone), but due to repeated landings of the magnetic head slider, the CSS zone wears out and the surface eventually becomes mirror-like. However, sticking of the magnetic head slider still occurs, and the fundamental problem has not yet been solved.

[0005]Also, it is possible to reduce the contact area of the slider surface with the CSS zone by processing small protrusions or textures on the slider surface of the magnetic head slider, but the slider surface is not processed into a flat mirror surface. As a result, stable flying characteristics of the magnetic head slider relative to the hard disk cannot be obtained.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and can ensure stable flying characteristics of the magnetic head slider and prevent the magnetic head slider from sticking to the magnetic disk. The object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic head slider.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A magnetic head slider of the present invention for achieving the above object includes a slider surface, a small landing protrusion having an area sufficiently smaller than the slider surface, and a small protrusion that connects the small protrusion to the slider surface. It is equipped with a driving means for driving it to move in and out of the surface.

[0008]

[Function] In the magnetic head slider of the present invention constructed as described above, during recording and/or reproduction, the small landing protrusion is retracted by the driving means to a height that does not protrude downward from the slider surface. The slider surface can be maintained as a flat mirror surface. On the other hand, when landing the magnetic head slider in the CSS zone of a stopped magnetic disk, the small projection for landing is projected downward from the slider surface by the driving means, and this small projection is
By contacting the SS zone, the contact area of the magnetic head slider with the magnetic disk can be greatly reduced.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a magnetic head slider of a hard disk drive will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment, in which a slider body 2 of a magnetic head slider 1
A plurality of rails 3 and grooves 4 between these rails 3 are provided on the bottom surface of the
are integrally formed, and the lower surfaces of the plurality of rails 3 are formed on the slider surface 5. A slope 6 is formed at one end of the plurality of slider surfaces 5, and a magnetic head 7 is attached to the other end of a predetermined slider surface 5.

One or more notches 8 are formed in the plurality of slider surfaces 5, and small landing protrusions 9 are formed in these notches 8 in a direction perpendicular to the slider surface 5, as indicated by arrow a. , and is housed so that it can be freely entered and exited in the b direction. Then, the ceiling surface 8a of the plurality of notches 8 and the plurality of small protrusions 9
A piezoelectric element 10 serving as a driving means is attached between the upper end surface 9a and the upper end surface 9a by adhesive or the like, and these piezoelectric elements 10 allow the small protrusion 9 to move in and out in the directions of arrows a and b. Note that the piezoelectric element 10 is stacked in the directions of arrows a and b, and electrodes 10a and 10b are formed on the top and bottom. The lower surfaces of the plurality of small protrusions 9 are formed as contact surfaces 9b with respect to the CSS zone 12 of the hard disk 11, which is a magnetic disk, and these contact surfaces 9b are formed in an area sufficiently smaller than the slider surface 5. Note that the small protrusions 9 are made of a wear-resistant material.

Next, the operation will be explained. First, (A
), when recording and/or reproducing on the hard disk 11, the application of voltage to the plurality of piezoelectric elements 10 is cut off, and the thickness of these piezoelectric elements 10 is reduced in the direction of arrow a, thereby forming a plurality of small piezoelectric elements 10. The protrusions 9 are drawn into the slider surface 5 in the direction of arrow a, so that the contact surfaces 9b of these small protrusions 9 are flush with the slider surface 5.

Then, the entire slider surface 5 becomes a flat mirror surface, and the hard disk 11 rotates at high speed in the direction of arrow c.
The entire slider surface 5 uniformly receives the floating force due to the air flow in the direction of arrow c generated as the slider rotates. As a result, the magnetic head slider 1 is stably floated with respect to the hard disk 11 at a low flying height H1 on the order of submicrons, allowing high-density recording and/or reproduction of the hard disk 11.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, when stopped, a voltage is applied to the plurality of piezoelectric elements 10, and the thickness of these piezoelectric elements 10 is expanded in the direction of arrow b, so that a plurality of small 0 in the direction of arrow b, which is downward with respect to the slider surface 5.
．． It protrudes to a protrusion amount H2 of about 5 to 3 μm. Then, when the rotation of the hard disk 11 is stopped, the magnetic head slider 1 is caused to land on the CSS zone 12 of the hard disk 11 using the small area contact surfaces 9b of the plurality of small protrusions 9.

As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce the contact area of the magnetic head slider 1 with the CSS zone 12 of the hard disk 11, thereby preventing the magnetic head slider 1 from sticking (adhesion) to the hard disk 11. can do.

Next, FIGS. 3 and 4 show a second embodiment, in which a plurality of notches 13 are formed in the upper part of the groove 4 of the slider body 2, and one end 14a is integrated with the slider body 2. Alternatively, an elastic arm 14 fixed by adhesive or the like and capable of bending in the directions of arrows d and e is arranged horizontally within the notch 13, and the small protrusion 9 adhered to the lower surface of the elastic arm 14 is housed within the notch 13. However, the piezoelectric element 10 is bonded to the upper surface of the elastic arm 14.

Next, the operation will be explained. First, (A
), when recording and/or reproducing the hard disk 11, the voltage application to the plurality of piezoelectric elements 10 is cut off, the plurality of elastic arms 14 are elastically returned in the direction of arrow d, and the plurality of small protrusions 9 is pulled in to a height that is almost flush with the ceiling surface 4a of the groove 4.

As a result, the flying characteristics of the slider surface 5 and the inside of the groove 4 are not adversely affected by the plurality of small projections 9, and stable flying characteristics of the magnetic head slider 1 can be obtained.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, when stopped, a voltage is applied to the plurality of piezoelectric elements 10 to bend the plurality of elastic arms 14 in the direction of the arrow e, thereby bending the plurality of small protrusions. 9 is made to protrude below the slider surface 5 by the protrusion amount H2. Then, as the hard disk 11 stops rotating,
The magnetic head slider 1 is caused to land on the CSS zone 12 of the hard disk 11 using a plurality of small protrusions 9, and the same effects as in the first embodiment can be achieved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

[0021]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the magnetic head slider of the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects.

During recording and/or reproducing operations, the small landing protrusion is retracted by the driving means to a height where it does not protrude downward from the slider surface, so that the slider surface can be held on a flat mirror surface. Therefore, stable flying characteristics of the magnetic head slider with respect to the magnetic disk can be ensured, and high-density recording and/or reproduction can be performed.

[0023] However, the CS of the stopped magnetic disk
When landing the magnetic head slider on the S zone, the driving means projects a small landing protrusion downward from the slider surface and brings this small protrusion into contact with the CSS zone, thereby reducing the contact area of the magnetic head slider with the magnetic disk. Since the magnetic head slider can be greatly reduced, it is possible to prevent the magnetic head slider from sticking to the magnetic disk, and the reliability can be dramatically improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating the floating and landing operations of a magnetic head slider according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the magnetic head slider same as above.

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating the floating and landing operations of the magnetic head slider according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the magnetic head slider same as above.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Magnetic head slider 5 Slider surface 9 Small projection for landing 10 Piezoelectric element (driving means) 11 Hard disk (magnetic disk) 12
CSS zone

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic head slider comprising a slider surface, a small landing protrusion having an area sufficiently smaller than the slider surface, and a driving means for driving the small protrusion to move in and out of the slider surface.