JPH08147628A - Magnetic recording and reproducing head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a magnetic recording and reproducing head by which a magnetic pole and a disk can be brought into contact, and slid, satisfactorily and stably even when a pressure force is small. CONSTITUTION: A magnetic recording and reproducing head is constituted in such a way that a magnetic pole 3A at the tip of a magnetic-circuit element 3 in charge of a magnetic recording and reproducing operation is arranged at one end part of a head sliding face 6 coming into contact with a disk. Thereby, the head sliding face and the surface of the disk can be brought into contact, and slid, stably in the recording and reproducing operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic recording / reproducing head which is used by bringing a magnetic head into contact with a disk or bringing them into close contact with each other in a pseudo manner. Hereinafter, the reference to the contact type magnetic recording / reproducing head includes the pseudo contact type magnetic recording / reproducing head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a magnetic disk device used in a computer or the like, since the amount of data to be handled tends to increase, the device itself is being miniaturized and its capacity is increased, so that high density recording is achieved. Is required.

At present, there is a flying type recording / reproducing magnetic head in which the magnetic head is completely levitated above the disk surface as an example of means for performing higher density recording / reproducing. In this head, the flying height is made smaller. To reduce the magnetic gap. However, as long as this flying type magnetic head is used, a magnetic gap that causes a leakage magnetic flux is always generated, and there has been a limit to high density recording due to the improvement of the flying type magnetic head.

Therefore, various contact type magnetic recording / reproducing heads of the type in which the magnetic head is brought into contact with the disk (including pseudo contact) in order to eliminate the above-mentioned magnetic gap in order to perform higher density recording / reproducing, have been proposed. There is.

For example, as a contact-type magnetic recording / reproducing head of this kind, the shape of the recording / reproducing head has been devised so that it is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-182128 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-6032.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-2 devised on the technique shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 9 and the arrangement of the recording / reproducing head and good pressing on the disk.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-26, which uses a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 52480 or a piezoelectric element as a pressing mechanism of a recording / reproducing head.
The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5584 is proposed.

One of the important points at the time of recording / reproducing using a contact type magnetic recording / reproducing head is that the contact state between the head and the disk is reduced with the force (pressing force) for pressing the head against the disk surface reduced. Keep it stable. The reason for reducing the pressing force is to reduce the amount of wear of the head and the disc. If this pressing force is too large, the amount of wear becomes too large and the product life becomes short.

[0007]

The above-mentioned various proposed techniques are devised so as to maintain the contact state between the head and the disk in a stable manner. It was insufficient as follows.

[0008] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-182128 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-182128
In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60329, the sliding portion of the magnetic head that comes into contact with the disk surface has a flat shape, but in actual processing, the sliding surface has a certain degree of undulation or roughness in submicron units. It is unavoidable that the magnetic poles of the magnetic head do not come into contact with and slide on the disk surface due to the waviness and roughness. This phenomenon was remarkable when the pressing force was small, and the contact failure of the magnetic poles was particularly likely to occur.

In the latter Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-60329, the sliding portion of the head is processed into a side surface of a cylinder or a spherical shape instead of a flat surface to improve the contact state of the magnetic poles of the magnetic head. Although attempted, in this case too, it was not so effective when the pressing force was small.

In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-252480, a supporting member for supporting the magnetic head is made into a flexible elastic member by including a foamed urethane foam, and the magnetic pole of the magnetic head is even on the disk surface. Although contact sliding is performed with a pressing force, this method was effective when the pressing force was large to some extent, but had no effect when the pressing force was relatively small.

In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-265584, a piezoelectric element for position correction and attitude control is arranged near the sliding portion of the magnetic head, and the piezoelectric element is driven to drive the magnetic head. It discloses that the attitude of the head is controlled so that the magnetic pole normally contacts and slides on the disk, but since this method uses a piezoelectric element, the magnetic head of the magnetic head and the structure in the vicinity thereof are extremely complicated. And also leads to a significant increase in cost.

The present invention focuses on the above problems,
The present invention has been devised to effectively solve this problem, and its object is to provide a magnetic recording / reproducing head that enables good and stable contact sliding between the magnetic pole and the disk even when the pressing force is small.

[0013]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, a magnetic pole at the tip of a magnetic circuit element for magnetic recording / reproducing is arranged at one end of a head sliding surface which comes into contact with a disk. It is configured in.

Further, it is preferable that one end of the head sliding surface on which the magnetic pole is arranged is a trailing edge of the head sliding surface. Furthermore, when the head sliding surface contacts the disk surface,
Set to make contact at a predetermined elevation angle.

The magnetic circuit element may be covered with a protective film except for the magnetic pole portion. Further, the front edge of the head sliding surface may be angled by a predetermined angle, for example, an acute angle. Further, the area of the head sliding surface is preferably set to 0.0001 mm ² or less.

[0016]

When the recording / reproducing head of the present invention is used, since the magnetic pole of the magnetic circuit element is arranged at one end of the head sliding surface, good contact sliding between the magnetic pole of the head and the disk is possible. You can In particular, stable contact and sliding can be performed even when the pressing force for pressing the head against the disk surface is small.

Further, by providing a magnetic pole of the head at the sliding trailing edge of the head sliding surface or by bringing the head sliding surface into contact with the disk surface at a predetermined elevation angle, better contact sliding is realized. be able to.

Further, by covering most of the magnetic circuit element except the magnetic pole portion with a protective film, it is possible to prevent the magnetic circuit element from being destroyed by an external force applied to the head, or to corrode the element. Can also be prevented. Furthermore, by setting a predetermined angle on the front edge of the head sliding surface, dust and the like can be prevented from entering between the head and the disk surface, and stable contact sliding can be performed. In addition, the area of the head sliding surface is 0.0001 mm ²
By making the following settings, more stable contact sliding can be performed.

[0019]

An embodiment of a magnetic recording / reproducing head according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a contact type magnetic recording / reproducing head according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view showing a state in which the recording / reproducing head shown in FIG. 1 is attached to a cantilever. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of the magnetic pole when the recording / reproducing head shown in FIG. 2 is in contact. The contact-type magnetic recording / reproducing head 1 shown in the figure has a head chip 2 molded in a stepped portion, and a magnetic circuit element 3 for performing magnetic recording / reproduction with respect to the disk is formed at this stepped portion. A part of the circuit element 3 is connected to a lead-out coupling section 4 for connecting a wiring (not shown) for extracting a reproduction signal from the circuit element 3 during reproduction or for supplying a recording signal to the circuit element 3 during recording. Is provided.

At the center of the upper surface of the step of the head chip 2,
A sliding portion 5 protruding upward in the drawing is formed, and the upper surface of the sliding portion 5 in the drawing is flattened to form a square head sliding surface 6. The magnetic circuit element 3
The material of the head chip 2 other than the pull-out coupling section 4 is made of, for example, Al ₂ O ₃ .TiC, and the magnetic circuit element 3 and the pull-out coupling section 4 are formed by a normal thin film head manufacturing process, for example, a sputtering film forming technique. Or a CVD film forming technique.

In the present invention, the magnetic pole 3A at the tip of the magnetic circuit element 3 is connected to one end of the head sliding surface 6, specifically, the head sliding surface 6 as shown in FIG. It is located at the center of the sliding trailing edge 8 of the head sliding surface 6, which is located on the downstream side in the disk rotation direction when it is slid on the surface of the head. That is, by positioning the tip magnetic pole 3A of the magnetic circuit element 3 at the center of the trailing side edge of the head sliding surface 6, stable contact sliding between the magnetic pole 3A of the head and the disk surface will be described later. It is possible.

In this embodiment, the head chip 2 is used.
Is set to a size of, for example, about 1.0 mm × 0.75 mm × 0.8 mm, and the dimension of the head sliding surface 6 is
For example, it is set to about 0.3 mm × 0.25 mm. The recording / reproducing head 1 thus formed is attached to the tip of a cantilever 9 used for causing the head 1 to follow the surface wobbling of the disk 7, as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of this embodiment constructed as described above will be described. First, when information is recorded on or reproduced from the disk 7, the magnetic recording / reproducing head 1 attached to the tip of the cantilever 9 is directed downward as shown in FIG. Contact. In this case, by controlling the attitude of the cantilever 9, the head contact surface 6 is tilted upward by a slight angle in the direction opposite to the disk rotation direction so that the head sliding surface 6 has a predetermined elevation angle θ with respect to the disk surface. .

This elevation angle θ is actually 0.5 degrees or less,
It is preferably within the range of 0 ≦ θ ≦ 1 degree. This is because if this elevation angle is too large, the pressure per unit area of the contact portion becomes large and wear becomes severe. In FIG. 2 and the subsequent figures, the elevation angle θ is shown considerably large for easy understanding of the invention. In this manner, the tip magnetic pole 3A of the magnetic circuit element 3 is provided at one end of the head sliding surface 6 so that the head sliding surface 6 makes a slight elevation angle θ with respect to the disk surface when contacting with the disk surface. Since both of them contact and slide with each other, the tip magnetic pole 3A located at the end is in good contact and slide with the surface of the disk 7.

This state will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. As described above, the surface of the head contact surface 6 is slightly undulated on the order of submicron in actual processing, but the undulation 1
There is 0 or roughness. Therefore, when the head sliding surface 6 is brought into contact with and slides on the disk surface at an elevation angle of zero, that is, in a completely horizontal state, the magnetic pole 3A at the tip is slightly moved from the disk surface due to the undulations 10 and the like. Although it is a distance, there is a risk that it will rise.

On the other hand, in the present invention, since the head sliding surface 6 is slightly tilted upward and is contacted with the elevation angle θ, it is not affected by the undulation 10 and the roughness described above. The magnetic pole 3A can be stably brought into contact with and slid on the disk surface. That is, the magnetic pole 3 slides as if it were in point contact with the disk surface, and therefore, even when the pressing force for pressing the head against the disk surface becomes small, stable contact sliding between the magnetic pole and the disk is performed. Therefore, high density recording / reproducing can be performed.

(Embodiment 2) In Embodiment 1 described above, the magnetic circuit element 3 is in a bare state, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. Most part may be covered with the protective film 11.
In this case, the protective film 11 is not formed only on the tip magnetic pole 3A in order to prevent the stable contact / sliding between the head and the disk as described in the first embodiment. Leave exposed. The length L3 of the exposed magnetic pole 3A is, for example, 5 to 10
and the protective film 11 is made of, for example, Si.
O ₂ can be used.

In this case, since the basic structure is the same as that of the first embodiment, the tip magnetic pole 3A of the magnetic circuit element 3 and the disk 7 can be brought into stable contact sliding. Furthermore,
Since most of the magnetic circuit element 3 is covered with the protective film 11, the magnetic circuit element 3 has high durability against external pressure and is not easily damaged, and the magnetic circuit element 3 itself is not corroded. It can be prevented and corrosion resistance can be improved.

(Embodiment 3) In Embodiments 1 and 2, the head sliding surface 6 has a quadrangular shape, and the head sliding surface 6 is arranged so that the sides of the quadrangle correspond to the disk rotating direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be configured as shown in FIG. 5, for example. FIG. 5 shows an enlarged bottom view of the magnetic recording / reproducing head, and the head sliding surface 6 has, for example, a shape in which one of the four corners of a square is slightly cut off, that is, the lengths of four sides are substantially equal. It has a square shape. The head sliding surface is formed so that the corner 12 facing the cut-off portion is located on the most upstream side in the disc rotation direction. The tip magnetic pole 3A of the magnetic circuit element is arranged on the sliding trailing edge 8 which is the cut-off side.

Therefore, the two sides located on the upstream side of the head sliding surface 6 in the disk rotation direction, that is, the front edge portion 13, are
The disc is angled at a predetermined angle α with respect to the rotating direction of the disc, so that the dust that rides on the disc surface and rotates can be removed in the lateral direction (vertical direction in the figure).
In the present embodiment, the angle α is set to, for example, 90 degrees, but this angle may be smaller than 180 degrees, and is preferably formed into an acute angle smaller than 90 degrees. In this embodiment, both end sides L forming the front edge portion 13 of the head sliding surface 6
The lengths of 1 and L2 are both set to about 0.3 mm.

Also in this case, since the magnetic pole 3A is arranged on the sliding trailing edge 8 of the head sliding surface 6 as in the case of the first embodiment, stable contact sliding between the head and the disk is possible. Not only is it possible, but since the front edge 13 of the head sliding surface 6 is angled by a predetermined angle α with respect to the disk rotation direction, dust that gets on the surface of the disk can be caught by this front edge 13.
It is possible to remove the dust in the lateral direction, and to prevent this dust from entering between the head sliding surface 6 and the disk surface. Therefore, the contact sliding between the magnetic pole 3A and the disk surface can be performed more stably. In this case, the protective film is formed except for the tip magnetic pole as in the second embodiment.

(Embodiment 4) In Embodiment 3, the lengths L1 and L2 of both end sides forming the front edge portion 13 of the head sliding surface 6 are set.
Are set to 0.3 mm, but the lengths L1 and L2 of both end sides have the same arrangement and shape as the head sliding surface 6.
Were set to very small values of 10 μm. In this way, the area of the head sliding surface 6 is 0.0001 mm ² (10 μm
(m × 10 μm), the head was attached to a cantilever having the same attitude as in Example 1 and slid in contact with the disk, and even better contact sliding was possible. In the present embodiment, the magnetic pole at the tip of the magnetic circuit element was able to satisfactorily contact and slide with the disk surface even when the elevation angle θ was 0 degrees.

(Comparative Example 1) In Example 2, most of the magnetic circuit element 3 except the tip magnetic pole 3A was covered with the protective film 11. However, all of the magnetic circuit element 3 including the tip magnetic pole 3A was protected. A comparative example was manufactured by covering with the film 11. As shown in FIG. 6, the head was slid in contact with the head sliding surface 6 and the disk surface at an angle θ of 0 °. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the tip magnetic pole 3A at that time.

In this case, as described above, since the surface of the head sliding surface 6 has undulations 10 and roughness in actual processing, this adversely affects the contact state of the head, and the tip end thereof is adversely affected. The gap G1 is frequently generated between the magnetic pole 3A and the disk surface. Therefore, the magnetic pole 3
It was difficult to obtain stable contact sliding between A and the disk 6.

(Comparative Example 2) Using the magnetic recording / reproducing head manufactured in Comparative Example 1, the head sliding surface was changed to the disk surface in the same manner as in Example 1 at the time of contact sliding on the disk as shown in FIG. A comparative example was carried out by inclining and contacting and sliding at a predetermined angle θ. In this case, since the entire magnetic circuit element 3 is covered with the protective film 11, the magnetic pole 3A is not arranged at one end of the head sliding surface 6. Therefore, when the head sliding surface 6 is tilted by an angle θ with respect to the disk 6, the tip portion 11A of the protective film 11 is
Comes into contact with the disk surface, and the gap G2 is frequently generated between the tip magnetic pole 3A and the disk surface. Therefore, also in this case, the magnetic pole 3A is the same as in Comparative Example 1.
It was difficult to obtain stable contact sliding with the disk 6.

(Evaluation) The above-mentioned Examples 1 to 4 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 were evaluated by the following methods. The contact state between the tip magnetic pole and the disk was evaluated based on the size of the reproduction output and the stability of the output when the disk was rotated for magnetic recording and reproduction. Also, the damage due to the force from the outside causes an abnormality in the circuit of the magnetic circuit element after the head is sandwiched between the metal tweezers and handled, or the magnetic circuit element portion or the protective film portion is scratched by the metal needle. It was evaluated by whether or not.

Further, regarding the corrosion resistance of the magnetic circuit element,
The head was allowed to stand at a temperature of 60 ° C. and a humidity of 90% for 100 hours, and then evaluation was made based on whether or not there was an abnormality in the magnetic circuit element circuit. The evaluation results at this time are summarized in Table 1.

[0039]

[Table 1]

When the surface of the magnetic circuit element is entirely covered with the protective film and no magnetic pole is arranged at one end of the head sliding surface, regardless of the angle θ between the head sliding surface and the disk, The contact state between the magnetic pole and the disk is not stable, which is not preferable (Comparative Examples 1 and 2). On the other hand, when the magnetic pole was arranged at one end of the head sliding surface, the magnetic pole and the disk could be contacted and slid stably (Examples 1 to 1).
4).

Particularly, when the front edge of the head sliding surface is angled at a predetermined angle, dust is removed even if there is dust on the disc, so that the contact state between the magnetic pole and the disc is kept good. (Examples 3 and 4), and when the area of the head sliding surface is set to 0.0001 mm ² or less,
The contact state between the magnetic pole and the disk can be maintained particularly well regardless of the presence or absence of dust (Example 4).

Further, by forming a protective film on the surface of the magnetic circuit element excluding the tip magnetic pole, damage resistance and corrosion resistance of the element can be improved. In each of the above embodiments, the head sliding surface having a substantially square or pentagonal shape has been described as an example, but it goes without saying that the shape is not limited to this.

[0043]

As described above, according to the magnetic recording / reproducing head of the present invention, the following excellent operational effects can be exhibited. Since the magnetic pole at the tip of the magnetic circuit element is provided at one end of the head sliding surface, contact sliding between the magnetic pole and the disk can be stably performed even when the pressing force is small, and high density recording / reproducing Can be done. Further, by bringing the head sliding surface into contact with the disk surface at a predetermined elevation angle, contact sliding between the magnetic pole and the disk can be performed more stably. Furthermore, by making a predetermined angle on the front edge of the head sliding surface, it is possible to remove dust and the like adhering to the disk surface and prevent it from entering the head sliding surface and the disk surface. ,
Further, contact sliding can be performed stably. Further, by setting the area of the head sliding surface to be 0.0001 mm ² or less, the contact sliding can be performed more stably. Further, by covering the magnetic circuit element with a protective film, damage resistance and corrosion resistance can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a contact type magnetic recording / reproducing head according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the recording / reproducing head shown in FIG. 1 is attached to a cantilever.

3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of a magnetic pole when the recording / reproducing head shown in FIG. 2 is in contact.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of a magnetic pole at the time of contact of a recording / reproducing head in which most of magnetic circuit elements are covered with a protective film.

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged bottom view of the recording / reproducing head of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of a magnetic pole when a recording / reproducing head is in contact as a comparative example.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of a magnetic pole when a recording / reproducing head is in contact as a comparative example.

[Description of Codes] 1 ... Magnetic recording / reproducing head, 3 ... Magnetic circuit element, 3A ... Magnetic pole at tip of magnetic circuit element, 4 ... Pull-out coupling portion, 5 ... Sliding portion, 6 ... Head sliding surface, 7 ... Disk , 8 ... sliding trailing edge,
9 ... Cantilever, 10 ... Waviness, 11 ... Protective film, 13
… Leading edge.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic recording / reproducing head characterized in that a magnetic pole at the tip of a magnetic circuit element responsible for magnetic recording / reproducing is arranged at one end of a head sliding surface in contact with a disk. 2. The magnetic recording / reproducing head according to claim 1, wherein one end of the head sliding surface is a sliding trailing edge of the head sliding surface. 3. The magnetic recording / reproducing head according to claim 1, wherein the head sliding surface is set so as to contact the disk surface at a predetermined elevation angle. 4. The magnetic recording / reproducing head according to claim 1, wherein most of the magnetic circuit element is covered with a protective film except for the magnetic pole portion. 5. The magnetic recording / reproducing head according to claim 1, wherein a front edge portion of the head sliding surface is formed at a predetermined angle with respect to a rotation direction of the disk. 6. The magnetic recording / reproducing head according to claim 1, wherein the area of the head sliding surface is 100 square microns (0.0001 mm ² ) or less.