Appeal No. 2001-2189
Application No. 09/060,636
surface contact between the slider and the disc. The feet have a
variable hardness along their lengths to afford a desired balance
between wear resistance for the feet and damage control for the
disc. Representative claims 1 and 10 read as follows:
1. A data storage system comprising:
a storage medium having a data surface;
a transducer element; and
a slider carrying the transducer element and supported
relative to the storage medium, the slider including a bearing
surface facing the data surface for positioning the transducing
element proximate the data surface during operation, the slider
including at least one foot extending from the bearing surface in
a direction toward the data surface and the at least one foot
having a hardness which varies in the direction toward the data
surface.
10. A slider adapted to support transducer elements
relative to a data surface of a disc drive, comprising:
a bearing having a bearing surface for operating the slider
for proximity recording, said slider including at least one foot
extending from the bearing surface, the at least one foot being
formed of a variable hardness along the extent of the at least
one foot.
THE PRIOR ART
The references relied on by the examiner to support the
final rejection are:
Fontana, Jr. et al. (Fontana) 5,734,519 Mar. 31, 1998
Kasamatsu et al. (Kasamatsu) 5,841,608 Nov. 24, 1998
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