Abstract: A disk cartridge is provided which houses an optical disk rotatably. It includes a cartridge body having formed therein a head opening through which a part of the optical disk is exposed to outside, and a shutter member supported movably on the cartridge body to uncover and cover the head opening. A first concavity is formed on a side of the cartridge body over which the shutter member slides and in a region opposite to a region where the shutter member is moved, across the head opening, a bent portion is formed along one lateral side of the shutter member to close a gap resulted between the shutter member and first concavity when the shutter member has been moved to a position to cover the head opening, and a second concavity deeper than the first concavity is formed at a part of the first concavity, adjacent to the head opening.

Abstract: Windage is the sum of multifarious airflows induced and endured inside a disk drive. The invention provides a disk drive suspension and method for use in windage conditions within a disk drive. The suspension has a base portion carrying a hinge portion that carries a beam portion having oppositely facing first and second surfaces. The second surface supports a flexible circuit. Where the beam portion first surface has surface features inducing tracking error-causing perturbations of the beam portion from windage contact with the features, an airfoil profile-defining deflector is provided in operative association with the beam portion to block windage contact with those features and eliminate track misregistration error caused by interaction of the windage and the features.

Abstract: A spindle motor assembly includes a spindle motor having a shaft and a hub that rotates on the shaft, and a hard disk having a data storage medium mounted in the form of a whole disk, and a fastener attached to the center of a bottom surface of the disk-shaped data storage medium that faces the spindle motor. The fastener is a screw or a nut. In the case in which the fastener is a screw, a head of the screw is attached to the bottom surface of the hard disk, and the body of the screw is received in a screw hole in the upper portion of the shaft of the spindle motor. In the case in which the fastener is a nut, the nut is engaged with an external thread on an outer circumferential surface of the hub of the spindle motor.

Abstract: A spin valve type magnetoresistive effect element for vertical electric conduction includes a magnetoresistive effect film in which a resistance adjustment layer made of a material containing conductive carriers not more than 1022/cm3 is inserted. Thus the resistance value of a portion in change of spin-relied conduction is raised to an adequate value, thereby to increase the resistance variable amount.

Abstract: A magnetic recording device which can write magnetic information with high density. The device uses, for a magnetic recording layer of a magnetic recording medium, a magnetic material whose anisotropy energy varies with an applied electric field. The head has an electrode for applying an electric field to a recording area of the magnetic recording medium. Magnetic recording is performed by applying an AC electric field from the electrode while a DC magnetic field is applied to the recording area of the magnetic recording layer.

Abstract: The present invention provides a magazine-based data cartridge library that, in one embodiment, comprises a plurality of shelves that are capable of holding a plurality of data cartridge magazines, one or more drives, a magazine transport for moving magazines within the cabinet, and a cartridge transport for moving data cartridges between a magazine and a drive.

Abstract: In a magnetic disk device, cost reduction is designed by improving productivity, and increase in recording density and increase in capacity of the device or size reduction are designed with reliability being ensured. In one embodiment, a magnetic disk device has a magnetic disk arranged rotatably, a magnetic head slider arranged in a manner of facing a surface of the magnetic disk, and a driving device for moving the magnetic head slider in a radial direction of the surface of the magnetic disk. The magnetic head slider has a silicon slider-substrate-portion and a thin-film head portion which is formed on the slider substrate portion using a thin-film process and forms an air-bearing surface along with the slider substrate portion.

Abstract: Structure for a load beam used in hard disk drive devices includes an asymmetric structure. The load beam exhibits longitudinal asymmetry (i.e., asymmetry along its long axis) in regard to the weight distribution, but has a center of mass that lies along its longitudinal axis due to the provisioning of counterbalancing features, such as the addition of material, the removal of material, or a combination of adding material and removing material.

Abstract: The present invention provides a highly reliable disk apparatus which is reduced in size, thickness and weight, and which can surely prevent the double insertion of disk-shaped recording media with a simple structure to thereby prevent a contact between each of the disk-shaped recording media. In the disk apparatus of the present invention, a disk guide is rotatably held in the proximity of an opening for inserting and ejecting a disk-shaped recording medium, which is formed in the stationary frame fixed to the casing, and the disk guide leads the disk-shaped recording medium to the inserting and ejecting operations and also closes at least a part of the above opening.

Abstract: There is provided an actuator for a disk drive. The actuator includes an actuator body defining an axis of rotation. The actuator further includes a coil. The actuator further includes a wrap-around support extending from the actuator body radially beyond the coil with respect to the axis of rotation without encircling the coil. The actuator further includes a tang supported by the wrap-around support. The coil is positioned radially between the tang and the axis of rotation. The actuator body, the wrap-around support, and the tang are all a single components comprising a metal material having material continuity rather than an assembly of subcomponents.

Abstract: Slider used to access data on rotating disk in hard disk drive, including heating element as vertical micro-actuator coupled to deformation region including read-write head and to expansion chamber, plate thermally coupled to heat sink. Slider further includes vertical control signal stimulating heating element coupled to film to alter vertical position, and expansion chamber, plate, and heat sink minimizing thermal pole tip protrusion. Flexure finger including micro-actuator assembly for coupling to slider, and possibly providing vertical control signal to heating element. Head gimbal assembly including flexure finger coupled to the slider. A head stack assembly including at least one of the head gimbal assemblies coupled to a head stack. Hard disk drive including head stack assembly. The invention includes manufacturing the slider, the head gimbal assembly, the head stack assembly, and the hard disk drive, as well as these items as products of the invention's manufacturing processes.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to perform a pickup feed operation and a turntable raising/lowering operation by the use of a rotatable drive source mechanism (54) for rotatably driving an optical disk including, for example, a CD while avoiding interference between an optical pickup (57) and the same drive source (54) in an optical disk device (1) for recording and reproducing a signal on the optical disk. To accomplish the above-mentioned object, a dual-purpose drive source mechanism (62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68) generates a driving force for a pickup drive mechanism (57a) and a turntable raising/lowering mechanism (51c, 15).

Abstract: An extraordinary magnetoresistive device EMR sensor that is capable of reading two separate tracks of data simultaneously. The EMR sensor has a semiconductor structure with an electrically conductive shunt structure at one side. The other side of the semiconductor structure is connected with a pair of current leads. Each of the current leads is disposed between a pair of voltage leads. Each pair of voltage leads is capable of independently reading a magnetic signal by measuring the voltage potential change across the pair of voltage leads. The EMR structure minimizes the number of leads needed to read two magnetic signals by using a single pair of current leads to read two tracks of data.

Abstract: A tape deployment system for a digital data transfer apparatus includes a tape guide movable from a non-deployed position to a plurality of deployed positions and a cam arrangement for determining the deployed position to which the tape guide moves.

Abstract: An assembly for attaching a first element to a second element. The assembly includes a first non-metallic connecting member. The first non-metallic connecting member includes a first member having a first surface and a second member. The second member extends substantially perpendicular from a first end adjacent the first surface to a second end and has an outer surface. Apertures in the first and second elements receive the second member.

Abstract: A magnetoresistive sensor comprises stacked layers. The stacked layers comprises a first magnetic layer, a second non-magnetic intermediate layer, and a second magnetic layer in which a direction of magnetization is variable depending on an external magnetic field. The first magnetic layer, the second non-magnetic intermediate layer, and the second magnetic layer are stacked in this order to form the stacked layers. The first magnetic layer has a first ferromagnetic layer in which a direction of magnetization is pinned relative to the external magnetic field, a first non-magnetic intermediate layer, and a second ferromagnetic layer in which a direction of magnetization is pinned in a direction opposite to the direction of magnetization of the first ferromagnetic layer. The first ferromagnetic layer, the first non-magnetic intermediate layer, and the second ferromagnetic layer are stacked in this order. A sense current flows through the stacked layers substantially in the direction of stacking.

Abstract: On a disk-facing surface of a magnetic head slider, rail surfaces that are at the same height as a magnetic device surface and raised leading surfaces connect the magnetic device surface to the raised leading surfaces. Moreover, a central step surface at a level lower than the magnetic device surface and higher than a recessed area extends from an area between the raised leading surfaces to an area between the rail surfaces. Therefore, even if the amount of Air intake is reduced due to atmospheric pressure changes or the like, air can be efficiently guided to the magnetic device surface and thus, the flying position of the magnetic head slider can be stabilized.

Abstract: A magnetic sensing element and exchange coupling film is disclosed. The magnetic sensing element has a free magnetic layer, nonmagnetic material layers disposed on the top and bottom of the free magnetic layer, pinned magnetic layers disposed on the top of one nonmagnetic material layer and on the bottom of the other nonmagnetic material layer, and antiferromagnetic layers containing IrMn disposed on the top of one pinned magnetic layer and on the bottom of the other pinned magnetic layer. The magnetization of the free magnetic layer is aligned in a direction orthogonal to the magnetization direction of the pinned magnetic layers. The exchange coupling film is formed by the antiferromagnetic layer and the pinned magnetic layer above the free magnetic layer. At least an interfacial portion of the ferromagnetic layer which is adjacent to the antiferromagnetic layer contains Co100-xFex wherein 30%?x?90% in atomic percent.

Abstract: Part gap spacers that are disposed between parts in a fluid dynamic bearing motor or hard disk assembly are provided herein. Part gap spacers are designed to off-set adjacent parts such that part-to-part spacing has less variation in tolerance accumulation. Part gap spacers also allow for greater control of bond line thickness of adhesives, and control of gap distances for bearing fluids, and allows for electrical conductivity across bonded parts.

Abstract: A stopper 60 is provided which detects a projected part formed on an upper cartridge case of a shield type cartridge so as to prevent the shield type cartridge from being inserted. Accordingly, mechanical lock caused by the insertion of the shield type cartridge can be prevented.