JPH0435833B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention provides a practical method for holding a magnetic head and stably facing a recording medium with a predetermined gap between the magnetic heads and performing good magnetic recording and reproduction. Regarding a highly flexible floating head slider.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

2. Description of the Related Art Magnetic disk storage devices using so-called hard disks as recording media are often used as large-capacity storage devices for information processing systems. This device rotates a hard disk at high speed while a magnetic head is placed opposite the information recording surface of the hard disk with a small gap therebetween, thereby performing magnetic recording and reproducing of information at high speed. Conventionally, therefore, a floating head slider has been exclusively used to make the magnetic head face the information recording surface of the disk across the minute gap. In this floating head slider, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a magnetic head 3 is attached to the end of a slider body 2, which has two parallel smooth surfaces 1a and 1b formed on the surface facing the information recording surface. It is something. The smooth surfaces 1a and 1b are provided in the direction of relative movement between the magnetic head 3 and the disk, and the front end thereof, that is, the end opposite to the mounting part of the magnetic head 3, is cut out to increase pressure. The tapered surfaces 4a and 4b serve as mechanisms.

According to the floating head slider holding the magnetic head 3 having such a structure, when it is placed facing the information recording surface of the disk 5 as shown in FIG. Accompanied by
Air flows between the information recording surface and the smooth surfaces 1a and 1b, and the air compressed through the tapered surfaces 4a and 4b generates a pressure as shown in FIG. 2b as a floating force of the slider. be done. This floating force and the load applied to the slider work together to set a predetermined minute gap between the smooth surfaces 1a, 1b and the information recording surface.

By the way, when performing magnetic recording and reproducing using the magnetic head 3 held by such a floating head slider, the minute gap between the information recording surface and the information recording surface set by the head slider has a very important meaning. have For example, if the load is increased and the gap is narrowed, the followability of the head 3 to the disk 5 will improve and good magnetic recording and reproducing will be possible, but on the other hand, when the disk 5 starts rotating or stops rotating, the levitation force disk 5 because it does not occur sufficiently.
There will be more friction with the As a result, the smooth surfaces 1a, 1
b and the magnetic head 3, resulting in a significant deterioration in their lifespan and operational stability. Furthermore, if the load is lightened to widen the minute gap, good magnetic recording and reproduction cannot be expected. Therefore, it is very difficult to optimally set the above-mentioned load to enable good magnetic recording and reproduction.

In addition, the tapered surfaces 4a and 4b that obtain the above-mentioned levitation force
The taper angle of is very small, usually around (0°20'). Therefore, such tapered surfaces 4a, 4b
It was very difficult to form the film with high precision, and there was also the problem that the manufacturing yield was low.

In other words, the floating head slider of the conventional structure has problems such as not only being difficult to manufacture, but also requiring highly accurate adjustment when incorporated into a device. It has been difficult to prevent this wear and to always perform stable and good magnetic recording and reproduction.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to stably set a minute gap between the recording medium and prevent its wear, thereby enabling good magnetic recording and reproduction. The object of the present invention is to provide a floating head slider that is inexpensive and practical.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention sets a predetermined minute gap between the slider body and the recording medium on a smooth surface of the slider body facing the recording medium by utilizing airflow between the smooth surface and the recording medium. A pressure adjustment groove is provided with a plurality of grooves with different groove depths and placed close to each other, or a plurality of grooves with different groove depths are installed in the same step. It is characterized in that it is provided at a certain position.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Thus, according to the present invention, a plurality of grooves having different groove depths as pressure adjustment grooves work together to generate a stable slider flying force regardless of changes in the relative movement speed with the recording medium. do. Therefore, the minute gap between the recording medium and the magnetic head (smooth surface of the slider body) can be stably kept constant from when the recording medium is running at low speed to when it is running at high speed in its steady state. Good recording and reproducing is possible by stabilizing the posture. In addition, the above configuration provides a stable levitation force, which effectively prevents wear on the smooth surface, and the grooves can be formed easily and with high precision, making it an inexpensive and highly practical floating device. A head slider can be provided.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a floating head slider according to an embodiment, and the same parts as those of the conventional slider shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. The floating head slider according to this embodiment is characterized by the recording medium 5 of the slider body 2.
A conventional tapered surface 4 is provided on the smooth surfaces 1a and 1b facing the
Pressure adjustment groove 1 instead of forming grooves a and 4b
It is located at the point where numbers 1, 12, 13, and 14 are formed. These pressure adjustment grooves 11, 12, 13, and 14 are constituted by a plurality of grooves of different groove depths provided close to each other, as shown in FIG. 4, for example. These grooves are provided in the smooth surfaces 1a, 1b with highly accurate dimensions controlled using, for example, ion etching or sputter etching. Note that these plurality of grooves are, for example, the fifth groove.
As shown in the figure, a stepped portion may be formed and provided at the same position.

Therefore, the plurality of grooves 11a, 11b, and 11c constituting the pressure adjustment groove 11 are, for example, so-called "dog-shaped" grooves that are tapered toward the rear side in the direction of relative movement with the magnetic recording medium 5. Realized.
The groove depth of each of these grooves 11a, 11b, and 11c is controlled within ±, for example, by controlling the etching time at an etching rate of 1 to 2 μm per hour.
The dimensions are highly precisely regulated with an error accuracy of 0.1 μm or less.

Thus, with the pressure adjustment groove having such a shape, the air flow flowing between the head slider and the recording medium 5 as the recording medium 5 rotates flows into the pressure adjustment groove and is locally compressed. The floating force of the head slider is generated. In other words, a pressurizing effect is exerted. The pressure increasing effect of the pressure adjusting groove is related to the shape of the groove, the speed of the air flow flowing therein, and the depth of the groove relative to the gap between the recording medium and the smooth surface. In particular, if the groove depth relative to the upper gap is too large, a sufficient pressurizing effect cannot be obtained, and the maximum pressurizing effect is usually obtained when the groove depth is about twice as large.

Taking these things into consideration, the groove depth of the pressure adjustment groove is set to obtain a stable predetermined number of minute gaps during steady high-speed rotation of the recording medium 5. When the running speed is slow, such as when starting or stopping rotation, there is a problem that a sufficient pressure increasing effect cannot be obtained with the grooves having the groove depth set as described above. Therefore, in the head slider according to the present invention, in addition to the groove that functions in the steady state, another groove with a shallow groove depth is provided near the groove, and this groove is used to allow the recording medium 5 to run at low speed. At times, sufficient pressure boosting effects can be obtained.

That is, the floating pressure obtained by the groove changes as shown in FIG. 6 in relation to the groove depth and floating gap. The maximum floating pressure f(+) is generated when the groove depth is approximately three times the floating gap. Therefore,
If the groove depth is set considering this relationship,
The efficiency of pressure generation using airflow has become very high, and for example, in practical terms, it is possible to reduce the groove depth to the floating gap.
Just set it to 1.5 to 5.0 times. In this way, it is possible to obtain a pressure that can control the flying clearance of the slider very effectively. and,
If shallow grooves are formed in the grooves having such a depth in order to obtain floating force when the recording medium runs at low speed, the above-mentioned effects can be maximized.

Therefore, with such a pressure adjustment groove in which a plurality of grooves with different groove depths are provided close to each other, a sufficient air flow cannot be obtained when the recording medium 5 is running at low speed.
When the gap between the slider body 2 and the recording medium 5 is narrow, a boosting effect is mainly generated by the shallow grooves, and a floating force is obtained so that the gap becomes a predetermined floating gap. On the other hand, when the recording medium 5 travels at high speed, a sufficient air flow is obtained and the deep grooves mainly exert a pressure increasing effect. As a result,
The floating gap is controlled by the deep groove. In other words, each of the deep grooves and the shallow grooves exhibits a pressure increasing function depending on the traveling speed of the recording medium 5, thereby stably controlling the flying clearance of the slider relative to the recording medium 5.

Therefore, the pressure regulating groove 11 having the above-described configuration,
12, 13, and 14 on the sliding surfaces 1a and 1b, the friction traveling distance between the slider body and the recording medium when the recording medium 5 starts rotating and when it stops rotating can be made sufficiently small. The wear can be sufficiently reduced. Moreover, the plurality of grooves with different groove depths each exhibit a pressure increasing effect according to the running speed of the recording medium 5, and the floating gap is stably controlled, thereby dramatically improving the stability of the dynamic posture of the slider. . As a result, it becomes possible to perform stable and reliable recording and reproduction using the magnetic head 3 attached to the slider body 2. Moreover, as described above, the pressure regulating groove can be formed simply and with high precision, so the manufacturing yield is high and it can be provided at low cost. Therefore, there is a high practical advantage in this respect as well.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the number of grooves constituting the pressure adjustment groove, their groove shape and groove depth may be determined in accordance with specifications such as the running speed of the recording medium and the desired flying clearance. Further, the position and number of pressure regulating grooves provided on the smooth surface may be determined according to specifications, and in short, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional floating head slider, and FIGS. 2 a and b are diagrams showing the operating posture and levitation force pressure distribution of the floating head slider shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a floating head slider according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams showing the configuration of pressure adjustment grooves, and FIG. 6 is a relationship between generated pressure and groove depth. FIG. 1a, 1b...smooth surface, 2...slider body, 3
... Magnetic head, 5 ... Recording medium, 11, 12,
13, 14...Pressure adjustment groove.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A slider body that holds a magnetic head facing a recording medium and has a smooth surface facing the recording medium, and a slider body that is provided on the smooth surface of the slider body and that passes between the smooth surface and the recording medium. and a pressure adjustment groove that controls the floating gap between the smooth surface and the recording medium by adjusting the pressure of the flowing air, and the pressure adjustment groove is configured to connect a plurality of grooves with different groove depths to each other. A floating head slider characterized in that the head sliders are provided with steps formed close to each other or at the same position.