Appeal No. 2001-1268
Application No. 09/100,698
the advantage over the prior art lies in the reduction of static
friction, or “stiction,” caused by formation of a liquid meniscus
between the air bearing structure and the disc surface, due to
the unavoidable presence of water vapor within the disc drive
housing. While the prior art sought to overcome the stiction
problem by adding landing pads extending beyond the air bearing
surfaces in the direction of the disc, reducing contact area
between the head assembly and the disc, this also served to limit
the proximity of the transducer on the head assembly to the disc.
In attempts to increase proximity of transducer to disc, the
height of the landing pads was reduced, but this increased
stiction.
While prior art designers were faced with mutually
contradictory alternatives for allowing for increased areal
recording density by lowering the height of the landing pads, or
reducing the stiction by raising the height of the landing pads,
the instant invention is said to overcome this mutually exclusive
requirement by decoupling the overall height of the landing pads
from the extent by which the landing pads extend below the air
bearing surfaces. This is accomplished by providing recessed
surfaces from which the landing pads extend. Accordingly, the
overall height of the landing pad features can be optimized to
-2–
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007