Appeal No. 97-2421
Application 08/202,411
a slider which is floated by an air flow that is directed near the surface of the rotating
disc-shaped recording medium;
a suspension, made of an elastic member, for supporting the floating-type head;
a raising and lowering means for moving the floating-type head away from the
disc-shaped recording medium when the rotation of the disc-shaped recording medium is
stopped and for allowing the floating-type head to approach a floating height above the
disc-shaped recording medium when the disc-shaped recording medium is rotated, said raising
and lowering means including a lever having an L-shape, one portion of which extends and
remains substantially parallel to the rotating disc-shaped recording medium, the lever pivoting
around a support shaft so as to raise and lower the suspension, wherein the support shaft
supports the lever; and
a control means for controlling the raising and lowering means so that the
floating-type head is controllably brought to the floating height above the disc-shaped
recording medium and is moved away from the disc-shaped recording medium.
The examiner relies on the following references:
Carteau et al. (Carteau) 4,786,994 November 22, 1988
Kitagawa Japanese Kokai 4-42479 February 13, 19922
Carteau discloses a drive mechanism for lowering and raising a transducer head of a magnetic
disk memory. Carteau discloses that the head should be lowered from an idle position height H to
the hovering height h at a velocity between a pair of predetermined values because if the velocity is
excessive there is a risk of a head crash, whereas if the velocity is too slow the head is likely to
oscillate which may also cause a head crash (column 4, lines 7-17). Carteau's desired lowering speed
is between 8 and 16 mm/sec. (column 4, lines 11-12); appellants' desired lowering speed is between
2
A translation has been prepared for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and a copy
accompanies this decision.
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