Abstract: A combined linear-rotary direct drive step motor, having a rotary section and a linear section in a single housing, comprising a cylindrically shaped variable reluctance linear step motor; a modified hybrid permanent-magnet rotary step motor; and a common shaft shared by said linear step motor and said rotary step motor. The teeth of the rotary motor are circumferentially spaced around the stator pole faces and rotor; while in the linear portion of the motor, the teeth are longitudinally spaced along the face of the stator poles and rotor. Except for the teeth, the shape of the stator poles in the rotary and linear sections are identical. The laminated stators and rotors reduce eddy current losses at high stepping speeds. The stator coils of both motor sections are separate and can be energized independently allowing any combination of rotary or linear motion. According to alternative embodiments of the motor, the rotor is fabricated from stacked laminations, in a waffle board like configuration.

Abstract: A combined linear-rotary direct drive step motor, having a rotary section and a linear section in a single housing, comprising a cylindrically shaped variable reluctance linear step motor; a modified hybrid permanent-magnet rotary step motor; and a common shaft shared by said linear step motor and said rotary step motor. The teeth of the rotary motor are circumferentially spaced around the stator pole faces and rotor; while in the linear portion of the motor, the teeth are longitudinally spaced along the face of the stator poles and rotor. Except for the teeth, the shape of the stator poles in the rotary and linear sections are identical. The laminated stators and rotors reduce eddy current losses at high stepping speeds. The stator coils of both motor sections are separate and can be energized independently allowing any combination of rotary or linear motion. According to alternate embodiments of the invention, the rotor is fabricated from stacked laminations, in a waffle board like configuration.

Abstract: An apparatus for the linear translation of read/write heads in a data recording system is disclosed herein. The apparatus comprises a compound parallel bending element suspension with a driver connected thereto. The compound parallel suspension comprises two sets of cantilevered bendable elements. One end of each bendable element is attached to a movable connector to connect the elements together. The other ends of two bendable elements are attached to a non-movable support post. The other ends of the remaining two elements are connected to the read/write head assembly and driver. The driver can be any of a number of conventional stepping and voice coil motor configurations including but not limited to friction drives, taut band drives, rack and pinion drives.

Abstract: Uniform holes with a diameter of the order of 1 micrometer or larger can be formed by an etching operation which employs the combination properties of the surface tension of the etch coupled with a force on the meniscus of the etch in the hole to cause the etching to stop when one hole reaches the proper size and to permit the etching to continue on all other holes until they reach the same size.

Abstract: The invention provides a reinforced mask which enables closely spaced strips or other narrowly separated parts of a deposited pattern to be formed upon a substrate by a non-line-of-sight deposition process (such as ion plating or sputter deposition) without causing unwanted voids or discontinuities to appear in the deposited pattern at points that underlie the reinforcing ribs on the mask. The mask is formed by a selective material removing process that produces a thin web adjoining one or more relatively thick ribs that provide rigidity to the web.