Appeal No. 95-5142
Application 08/078,917
Claim 1, the sole independent claim, uses the term "soft
active layer" in place of "soft secondary layer":2
1. A magnetoresistive read transducer for sensing
magnetic signals and converting said signals to
electrical signals, comprising:
a unitary magnetoresistive layer;
a soft active layer for providing a longitudinal
bias to said transducer;[3]
a spacer layer, interposed between said unitary
magnetoresistive layer and said soft active layer; and
an exchange layer, in contact with said soft active
layer and on the opposite side of said soft active layer
from said spacer layer for generating an exchange field
along a direction transverse to said soft active layer,
thereby reducing the sense current required to saturate
said soft active layer;
so that a sense current is generated in said
transducer when said transducer is passed over magnetic
storage media.
We note that the claim does not preclude the MR layer
from being formed of a "soft" magnetic material.
The sole reference relied on by the examiner is:
2Incorrect copies of claim 1 were submitted with
Appellant's substitute brief filed April 10, 1995
(hereinafter, Brief), with the letter received (by mail) on
July 22, 1996, and with the letter received (by fax) on
December 11, 1997.
3This limitation appears to be inconsistent with
Appellant's specification, which, as noted earlier, states
that longitudinal biasing is provided by end regions 48 and
that the function of the soft secondary layer and the exchange
layer is to provide transverse biasing.
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