Patents by Inventor Paul P. Howard

Paul P. Howard 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).

  • Transducer head flying height monitoring methods and apparatus for disk drive system
    Patent number: 5168413
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for measuring flying height changes of a transducer head relative to a disk surface of a rotating disk in a disk file. A predetermined pattern is written on at least one predetermined region of the disk file. The predetermined region is normally not rewritten during operation of the disk file. At least one readback signal is sensed from at least one predetermined region of the disk surface. A plurality of sample values are identified corresponding to each readback signal. A change in the flying height is calculated utilizing the identified sample values. A frequency equalization number K can be utilized to calculate the magnitude and sign of the flying height change. Alternatively, real-time digital analysis of a predetermined pattern written on at least one predetermined region of the disk surface can be utilized to calculate the magnitude and sign of the flying height change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 1, 1992
    Assignee: IBM Corporation
    Inventors: Jonathan D. Coker, Richard L. Galbraith, Paul P. Howard, Gregory J. Kerwin, Gordon J. Smith