Patents by Inventor Bradley Frederick Baumgartner

Bradley Frederick Baumgartner has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7064659
    Abstract: A method is presented for glide testing a disk which tests the glide head fly-height by inducing a collision between the glide head and a disk under test. The glide test system is initially calibrated using calibration disks. The method of the invention periodically tests the calibration without interrupting the production testing by lowering the rotation rate until the glide head collides with the rotating disk surface. The rotation rate at which the collision occurs is then compared with the value expected based on knowledge of disk samples and the initial calibration. Parameters for acceptable high and low values are established to detect changes in the glide test system performance to trigger automatic or manual recalibration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2006
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, Norman Chu, Patricia Galindo, Hang Fai Ngo, Yu Lo, Nalin Zhou
  • Patent number: 6935925
    Abstract: An in-situ technique for the acoustic emission monitoring of burnish heads while they are cleaning or burnishing magnetic media is described. The burnishing process is monitored and controlled to identify interaction or contact between the head and media due to, for example, burnish head damage, substrate curvature problems, and lube pick-up problems. A piezoelectric sensor is mounted on the burnish arm that holds the burnish heads. When head-disk interaction occurs, stress waves travel through the head to the sensor and an amplified signal is gathered in a tester database as an acoustic emission. Abnormal conditions will trigger an unusual emission that is detected to trigger an alert.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2005
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Parul Agrawal, Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, Norman Chu, Charles Lee, Tony Mello, Christopher Ramm, Bob Clyde Robinson
  • Patent number: 6771453
    Abstract: A calibration method for determining the flying height of a glide slider for disk glide height testing is disclosed. The method utilizes a disk with bumps in situ on a disk glide height tester. The method automatically takes into account disk topography, mounting tolerances, and slider roll.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2004
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, An-Chou Andrew Chen, Norman H. Chu, Shanlin Duan, Patricia Galindo, Roger Yu Lo, Connie H. Moy, Hang Fai Ngo
  • Patent number: 6662623
    Abstract: A disk for calibrating glide heads utilizes a dual-zone configuration of multiple laser melt bumps having selected heights. Averaging the PZT response over many bumps significantly narrows the response distribution, resulting in greater certainty and correlation of the PZT amplitude to bump height. The multiple calibration bumps are circumferentially arranged on a disk surface at a selected radius in a ring-like manner. A second head cleaning zone is provided near the inner diameter of the disk to provide for increased reproducibility of the PZT calibration response. The second zone is densely textured and serves to clean the glide head prior to its use in the calibration zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2003
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, James Hammond Brannon, Jorge Daniel Colonia, Huyen D. Do, Shanlin Duan, Connie H. Moy, Hang Fai Ngo, Yu Lo
  • Patent number: 6580266
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for detecting and marking delamination defects on thin film disks are disclosed. The apparatus includes a read/write (R/W) head and a burnishing head mounted on separate arms that access the disk while spinning on the test stand. The controller uses the R/W head to perform an initial magnetic test of selected areas on the disk to establish an initial defect map. The burnish head is then flown over the surface for an extended time to accelerate and open up the latent delamination defects by impacting protruding material. The R/W head is then used to perform a second magnetic test which is compared against the first test to identify the delamination defects which have been developed by the burnishing. The delamination defects are then marked with a magnetic pattern which aids in optically locating the defect during subsequent failure analysis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2003
    Assignee: Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.
    Inventors: Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, Shanlin Duan, Yan Liu, Bob C. Robinson, Li Tang, Ka Chi Wong
  • Publication number: 20030107830
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for detecting and marking delamination defects on thin film disks are disclosed. The apparatus includes a read/write (R/W) head and a burnishing head mounted on separate arms that access the disk while spinning on the test stand. The controller uses the R/W head to perform an initial magnetic test of selected areas on the disk to establish an initial defect map. The burnish head is then flown over the surface for an extended time to accelerate and open up the latent delamination defects by impacting protruding material. The R/W head is then used to perform a second magnetic test which is compared against the first test to identify the delamination defects which have been developed by the burnishing. The delamination defects are then marked with a magnetic pattern which aids in optically locating the defect during subsequent failure analysis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2001
    Publication date: June 12, 2003
    Inventors: Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, Shanlin Duan, Yan Liu, Bob C. Robinson, Li Tang, Ka Chi Wong
  • Patent number: 6567240
    Abstract: A disk for a disk drive uses a circular platter having first and second sides and a circumferential edge. The circumferential edge of the disk has four symmetrically spaced apart shadows and a fifth or additional shadow that gives the disk an asymmetrical shadow signature. The fifth shadow is offset relative to the other shadows, which have congruent arcuate lengths and separation. The fifth shadow has an arcuate length that is about half as long as those of the other shadows, and is closely spaced adjacent to one of the other shadows. The asymmetric shadow signatures of the disk is used to precisely determine both the circumferential position of the platters and their planar orientation (i.e., A-side or B-side). For example, when the disk is mounted on a tool spindle and rotated, an optical detector detects the pattern of the shadows and feeds the data to a computer system. The rotational position of the spindle also is relayed to the computer for coordinating the processing of the rotating disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2003
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, Andrew John Buhler, Erich Chuh, Hang Fai Ngo, Alma Lujan Ortega-Avery, Bob C. Robinson, Song How Wong-Jessel, Elmer Tyree York
  • Publication number: 20030086197
    Abstract: A calibration method for determining the flying height of a glide slider for disk glide height testing is disclosed. The method utilizes a disk with bumps in situ on a disk glide height tester. The method automatically takes into account disk topography, mounting tolerances, and slider roll.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2001
    Publication date: May 8, 2003
    Inventors: Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, An-Chou Andrew Chen, Norman H. Chu, Shanlin Duan, Patricia Galindo, Roger Yu Lo, Connie H. Moy, Hang Fai Ngo
  • Publication number: 20030085701
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for detecting and marking delamination defects on thin film disks are disclosed. The apparatus includes a read/write (R/W) head and a burnishing head mounted on separate arms that access the disk while spinning on the test stand. The controller uses the R/W head to perform an initial magnetic test of selected areas on the disk to establish an initial defect map. The burnish head is then flown over the surface for an extended time to accelerate and open up the latent delamination defects by impacting protruding material. The R/W head is then used to perform a second magnetic test which is compared against the first test to identify the delamination defects which have been developed by the burnishing. The delamination defects are then marked with a magnetic pattern which aids in optically locating the defect during subsequent failure analysis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Publication date: May 8, 2003
    Inventors: Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, Shanlin Duan, Yan Liu, Bob C. Robinson, Li Tang, Ka Chi Wong
  • Publication number: 20030051529
    Abstract: A disk for calibrating glide heads utilizes a dual-zone configuration of multiple laser melt bumps having selected heights. Averaging the PZT response over many bumps significantly narrows the response distribution, resulting in greater certainty and correlation of the PZT amplitude to bump height. The multiple calibration bumps are circumferentially arranged on a disk surface at a selected radius in a ring-like manner. A second head cleaning zone is provided near the inner diameter of the disk to provide for increased reproducibility of the PZT calibration response. The second zone is densely textured and serves to clean the glide head prior to its use in the calibration zone.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2001
    Publication date: March 20, 2003
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corp.
    Inventors: Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, James Hammond Brannon, Jorge Daniel Colonia, Huyen D. Do, Shanlin Duan, Connie H. Moy, Hang Fai Ngo, Yu Lo
  • Publication number: 20020118630
    Abstract: A disk for a disk drive uses a circular platter having first and second sides and a circumferential edge. The circumferential edge of the disk has four symmetrically spaced apart shadows and a fifth or additional shadow that gives the disk an asymmetrical shadow signature. The fifth shadow is offset relative to the other shadows, which have congruent arcuate lengths and separation. The fifth shadow has an arcuate length that is about half as long as those of the other shadows, and is closely spaced adjacent to one of the other shadows. The asymmetric shadow signatures of the disk is used to precisely determine both the circumferential position of the platters and their planar orientation (i.e., A-side or B-side). For example, when the disk is mounted on a tool spindle and rotated, an optical detector detects the pattern of the shadows and feeds the data to a computer system. The rotational position of the spindle also is relayed to the computer for coordinating the processing of the rotating disk.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2001
    Publication date: August 29, 2002
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Bradley Frederick Baumgartner, Andrew John Buhler, Erich Chuh, Hang Fai Ngo, Alma Lujan Ortega-Avery, Bob C. Robinson, Song How Wong-Jessel, Elmer Tyree York