A negative-pressure air bearing slider structure includes a slider surface disposed adjacent to a data storage medium, and a leading edge relative to the motion of the data storage medium. A U-shaped rail with a closed end facing the leading edge and an open end facing the trailing edge is formed on the slider surface. The closed end of the U-shaped rail extends laterally across less than the width of the slider surface. In a first set of embodiments, there is a single U-shaped rail centered between two side rails. In a second set of embodiments, there are two U-shaped rails, each disposed along a respective side of the slider surface.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 07/967,359, filed Oct. 28, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,467.
The present invention is directed to a slider, a head, a head device and a read/write apparatus that are extremely effective for achieving high density writing and an increase in the storage capacity. The slider comprises a front flat surface, a first positive pressure generating portion, a second positive pressure generating portion and a first negative pressure generating portion. The front flat surface, which is provided starting at a leading edge, ends at an intermediate point along a lengthwise direction. The first and second positive pressure generating portions have flat surfaces which are essentially of equal heights and are positioned separated from each other over a distance at two sides in a widthwise direction running perpendicular to a lengthwise direction, with edges at one end located toward the leading edge forming step faces rising up from the front flat surface in a step. The first negative pressure generating portion is provided behind the front flat surface relative to the airflow direction and has a base surface with a height which is lower than the height of the front flat surface.
The present invention is directed to a slider, a head, a head device and a read/write apparatus that are extremely effective for achieving high density writing and an increase in the storage capacity. The slider comprises a front flat surface, a first positive pressure generating portion, a second positive pressure generating portion and a first negative pressure generating portion. The front flat surface, which is provided starting at a leading edge, ends at an intermediate point along a lengthwise direction. The first and second positive pressure generating portions have flat surfaces which are essentially of equal heights and are positioned separated from each other over a distance at two sides in a widthwise direction running perpendicular to a lengthwise direction, with edges at one end located toward the leading edge forming step faces rising up from the front flat surface in a step. The first negative pressure generating portion is provided behind the front flat surface relative to the airflow direction and has a base surface with a height which is lower than the height of the front flat surface.
A slider for supporting a transducing head proximate to a rotating disc. The slider has a slider body having a disc opposing face and a longitudinal axis. The disc opposing face is bounded by a leading edge, a trailing edge, and first and second side edges. An air bearing surface is defined on the disc opposing face with the air bearing surface having at least one pad located behind the leading edge. A cavity is positioned on the disc opposing face and the cavity is recessed from the air bearing surface at a cavity depth. At least a portion of the cavity precedes the pad. A funnel directs airflow within the cavity from the leading edge to the pad.
A disc head slider includes a slider body having a disc-opposing face with leading and trailing slider edges, a slider length measured between the leading and trailing slider edges, a bearing surface, a recessed area, an inlet and a convergent channel. The recessed area is recessed from the bearing surface. The inlet has a leading channel end, which is open to air flow from the leading slider edge, channel side walls and a trailing channel end. The convergent channel has a leading channel end, which is open to fluid flow from the inlet, channel side walls and a trailing channel end, which is closed to the fluid flow. The trailing channel end of the convergent channel is located along the slider length rearward of at least a portion of the recessed area and forward of at least a portion of the bearing surface.
A magnetic disk unit includes a magnetic disk attached to a spindle so as to be rotatable, a slider having a magnetic head for reading/writing data onto/from the magnetic disk, a suspension for providing the slider with a predetermined load, and an actuator arm for positioning the slider attached to the suspension on the magnetic disk. A first pad including the magnetic head and second pads including no magnetic heads are disposed on an air bearing surface of the slider. During rotation of said magnetic disk, a part of the first pad keeps in contact with the magnetic disk. A load point of the suspension with respect to the slider is positioned between a leading edge of the slider and a position located at a distance equivalent to substantially 0.42 times a whole length of the slider from the leading edge of the slider.
