JPH0628804A - Slider for floating magnetic head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To resolve such a problem that a variation of an electromagnetic conversion characteristic is large on account of a large variation of a floating amt. reflecting change of a skew angle when the slider is floated above the surface of a magnetic recording medium. CONSTITUTION:Two grooves 4 in the lateral direction are formed on air bearing surfaces 2 of the slider 1 respectively. Since compressed air from an air inflow end is not dependant upon floating force of the air bearing surface 2 on the air outflow side by the grooves 4 in the lateral direction, a variation of the floating amt. can be reduced, while since contact areas between the air bearing surfaces 2 of the slider 1 and the medium are reduced, a contact start/stop charateristic is improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a slider for a magnetic head of a magnetic disk device having a rotary actuator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a slider for a movable magnetic head in a magnetic disk device having a rotary actuator performs magnetic recording on a magnetic disk 14 as shown in FIGS. A core chip 9 having a magnetic gap 8 for reproducing data is embedded and has a taper portion 3 at an end thereof. Therefore, compressed air generated between the magnetic disk 14 and the taper portion 3 is compressed by the air bearing surface 2 and the magnetic disk. Compressed air flows between the slider 1 and the surface 14 of the magnetic recording medium. As a result, a positive pressure acts on the slider 1 and the support spring 12 supporting the slider 1 balances with the pushing force of the slider 1. It is supposed to emerge. The numeral 13 in FIG. 8 indicates a rotary actuator.

In the slider 1 on the magnetic disk 14, the skew angle θ changes with the rotation speed of the rotary actuator 13 between the circumferential velocity of the air flow and the longitudinal direction of the slider 1. The skew angle θ is about ± 15 ° with respect to the rotating direction of the magnetic disk.

FIG. 9 shows the slider 1 when the skew angle is +.
Indicates the state of. The conventional slider 1 shown in FIG.
Each of the air inflow side taper portions 3 and the following air bearing surface 2 are formed, and the direction of the slider longitudinal center line is deviated from the inflow direction of the air fluid 10 by an angle θ.

When the skew angle θ changes from 0 °, the compressed air due to the wedge bearing action or the step bearing action at the air inflow end is provided to the side of the air bearing surface 2 before the air bearing surface 2 is sufficiently lifted. Since the air flows out of the slider 1, the flying height of the slider 1 decreases or the roll of the slider 1 increases. For this reason, the magnetic disk and the slider 1 are likely to come into contact with each other, and in the worst case, the slider 1 may fall and the recording on the surface of the magnetic disk may be destroyed.

As a countermeasure against these, there is a slider as shown in FIG. 11 as a magnetic head slider for further improving the conventional slider for a magnetic head as shown in FIG. 10 (G. Cliford and D. Henze, "Au Air Bearing Minimzin
g The EHects of Slide SkewAngle ", IEEE Trans.on Ma
g. vol-25, No. 5, sep., 1989, PP. 3713-3715). That is, the slider 1 has a taper portion 3 on the air inflow side, and a groove 4 in the lateral direction of the slider is provided at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the air bearing surface so that the bearing surface is an air bearing surface 5 and an air outflow side air bearing surface. It is divided into six. In the slider 1, since the pressure generated on the air bearing surface 6 on the air outlet side does not depend on the compressed air flowing in from the air inlet end, the change in the flying height due to the change in the skew angle θ can be reduced. FIG. 12 shows the flying heights of the conventional slider shown in FIG. 10 and the slider shown in FIG.

[0007]

By the way, the decrease in the pressure applied to the air bearing surface when the skew angle θ of the slider flying above the magnetic disk changes from 0 ° is large toward the air outflow end. This means that the skew angle θ is 0
This is because when it changes from °, the compressed air due to the wedge bearing action or step bearing action of the air inflow end flows out from the side of the air bearing surface before applying the levitation force to the portion of the air bearing surface near the air outflow end. .

In the conventional example as shown in FIG. 11, since compressed air flows out from the groove 4 in the lateral direction of the slider, the change in the levitation force due to the change in the skew angle θ of the air bearing surface 6 on the air outflow side can be reduced. , This wasn't enough either. Referring now to FIG. 13, this figure schematically shows the relative positions of the air bearing surface 2 and the compressed air flow 11 when the conventional slider 1 of FIG. 10 floats on the magnetic disk and the skew angle is 0 °. FIG. 14 schematically shows the relative positions of the air bearing surface 2 and the compressed air flow 11 when the slider 1 has a skew angle θ °.

When the skew angle is 0 °, the compressed air flow 11 flows on the air bearing surface 2, so positive pressure acts on the air bearing surface 2 to give a levitation force, but the skew angle is θ °. In this state, the compressed air flow 11 flows through a part of the air bearing surface 2 and
Since it flows out from the side, positive pressure acts on a part of the air bearing surface 2 to give a levitation force, so that the skew angle becomes zero.
The flying height of the slider is reduced as compared with the case of 0 °, and the compressed air flow only partially flows, which causes rolling.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the change in the flying height of the slider due to the change in the skew angle θ and improve the contact start stop (CSS) characteristic between the slider and the magnetic disk.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the slider for a floating magnetic head of the present invention has a structure in which a plurality of grooves in the lateral direction are provided on the air bearing surface.

[0012]

The slider for the floating magnetic head having the above-mentioned structure is
Since the air bearing surface is provided with the plurality of grooves, the air bearing surface is divided into an air inflow side bearing surface, a throttle surface, and an air outflow side bearing surface. Since the pressure generated on the air outflow side bearing surface does not depend on the compressed air flowing in from the air inflow end, the change in the flying height due to the change in the skew angle θ can be reduced. Further, since the contact area between the air bearing surface and the magnetic disk is reduced, the contact start stop (CSS) characteristic is improved.

[0013]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. The same reference numerals are used for the same components as those of the conventional example. As shown in FIG. 1, the slider of the present embodiment is characterized in that a groove 4 in the lateral direction is provided at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of an air bearing surface 2 of the slider 1, and a gap between the intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction and the air outflow side. Also, by providing the groove 4 in the lateral direction, it is formed so as to be divided into the air inflow side air bearing surface 5, the throttle portion 7 and the air outflow side air bearing surface 6. FIG. 2 schematically shows the relative positions of the air bearing surface 2 and the compressed air flow 11 when the slider 1 of the present embodiment of FIG. 1 flies above the magnetic disk surface and the skew angle is 0 °. FIG. 3 shows that the slider 1 has a skew angle of θ °.
The relative position of the air bearing surface 2 and the compressed air flow 11 at this time is schematically shown.

Here, when the skew angle is 0 ° and θ °, the positive pressure generated on the air bearing surface 6 on the air outlet side is short when the compressed air generated on the air inlet end, that is, the taper portion 3 is short. Since it is opened by the groove 4 in the direction, it does not depend on the compressed air, so the change in the flying height of the slider 1 due to the change in the skew angle θ is small, and the occurrence of roll is small.

FIG. 4 shows the flying height of the slider of this embodiment. As described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, since the positive pressure generated on the air outflow side air bearing surface 6 does not depend on the compressed air at the air inflow end, the skew angle and the flying height shown in FIG. As described above, in the slider of this embodiment, it can be understood that the amount of change in flying height due to the change in skew angle θ is small.

FIG. 5 shows a plan view of the slider of this embodiment. In this figure, the positional relationship of the grooves 4 in the lateral direction of the air bearing surface 2 is shown as an example. First, the widthwise groove 4 is about 1/5 L from the air outflow end (L is the length in the slider longitudinal direction) and about 1/3 L from the air outflow end with a width of about 1/20 L, respectively. Deploy. The depth of the groove 4 is set sufficiently deep.

Furthermore, since two grooves 4 in the lateral direction are formed in each air bearing surface 2,
The bonding area between the air bearing surface 2 and the magnetic disk (the area where the slider and the magnetic disk surface are bonded because the magnetic disk does not rotate) is reduced. That is, since the bonding area of the air bearing surface 2 of the groove 4 in the lateral direction is reduced by the area of the two magnetic disk facing surfaces, contact start / stop (slider on the magnetic disk surface, magnetic disk for a fixed time, Repeatedly rotating and stopping rotation) characteristics are improved. This prevents the slider from scratching the magnetic disk surface and destroying the data on the magnetic disk surface, thus improving the reliability of the slider.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6
As shown in FIG. 6, at least two grooves 4 are formed in the lateral direction of the air bearing surface 2, that is, a plurality of grooves 4 (the perspective view shown in FIG. 6 is an example when n = 4). By forming the slider 1, the adhesion area between the slider 1 and the magnetic disk surface is reduced, and as shown in FIG. 7, the slider 4 is subjected to final finishing (mirror surface processing of the air bearing surface 2) to form a groove 4 in the lateral direction. The air bearing surface 2 between the grooves 4 is rounded, and the adhesion area between the slider 1 and the surface of the magnetic disk 14 is reduced to improve the CSS characteristics. That is, problems such as attraction between the slider 1 and the magnetic disk surface can be solved, and the slider 1 does not damage the surface of the magnetic disk 14 and destroy the data on the surface of the magnetic disk 14. As a result, the reliability of the slider 1 is improved.

[0019]

As is apparent from the above description of the embodiments,
According to the present invention, by forming a plurality of grooves in the lateral direction with respect to the air bearing surface of the slider for a floating magnetic head,
It is possible to reduce the skew angle dependency of the flying height of the slider. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem that the flying height of the slider is not reduced and the roll is not increased when the skew angle is added, and the contact between the magnetic disk and the slider or the slider falls to destroy the recording surface of the magnetic disk. In addition, contact start / stop (C
The SS) characteristic is improved and the reliability of the slider is guaranteed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a slider according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing compressed air flowing on an air bearing surface when the slider flies above the magnetic disk surface and the skew angle is 0 °.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing compressed air flowing on an air bearing surface when the slider has a skew angle θ °.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the flying height of the slider.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the slider.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a slider (n = 4) according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention when the slider and the magnetic disk surface are in contact with each other.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a relative positional relationship between a magnetic head having a rotary actuator and a magnetic disk.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a relative relationship between an airflow and a slider when a + skew angle is generated.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a conventional slider.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of another conventional slider.

FIG. 12 is a graph showing the flying height of a conventional slider.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing compressed air flowing on the air bearing surface when the conventional slider of FIG. 10 floats above the magnetic disk surface and the skew angle is 0 °.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing compressed air flowing on an air bearing surface when the slider has a skew angle θ °.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 slider 2 air bearing surface 3 taper portion 4 lateral groove 5 air inlet side air bearing surface 6 air outlet side air bearing surface 7 throttle surface 8 magnetic gap 9 core chip 10 air fluid 11 compressed air flow

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A slider for a magnetic head, which is supported so as to be capable of pitching and rolling motions with respect to a surface of a magnetic disk and which moves relative to the surface, the air bearing surface of the slider. And a slider for a floating magnetic head in which the air bearing surface is divided by providing two grooves in the lateral direction. 2. A slider for a floating magnetic head in which at least three lateral grooves are formed on the air bearing surface of the slider to divide the air bearing surface.