Appeal No. 2001-2565 Page 3
Application No. 09/173,497
Drag torque is minimized, however, by lowering only "one or a limited number of
read/write heads [of an HDD] . . . at a given time." (Id. at 13.)
A further understanding of the invention can be achieved by reading the following
claim.
21. A read/write head assembly positioned on a suspension arm,
the read/write head assembly comprising:
a read/write head; and
an electrostatic head lifter operable to position the read/write head
with respect to the suspension arm in a first position and a second
position, wherein said head lifter includes a microelectromechanical
system to move said read/write head from said first position to said
second position and a mechanical system to move said read/write head
from said second position to said first position.
Claims 21-31 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious over U.S.
Patent No. 5,082,827 ("Barnes") in view of U.S. Patent No. 5,717,630 ("Koshikawa")
further in view of Denny K. Miu and Yu-Chong Tai ("Miu"), Silicon Micromachined
SCALED Technology, IEEE Transactions on Indus. Engineering, June 1995, at 234-39.
OPINION
Rather than reiterate the positions of the examiner or the appellant in toto, we
address the main point of contention therebetween. The examiner asserts, "[o]ne of
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