Patents by Inventor Timothy Bouwkamp

Timothy Bouwkamp 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).

  • Disk drive comprising thermal asperity protection by reducing an electrical bias supplied to a magneto-resistive head
    Patent number: 6552880
    Abstract: The present invention may be regarded as a disk drive with protection against damage due to a thermal asperity. The disk drive comprises a disk having a surface with an asperity, and a magneto-resistive head actuated radially over the surface of the disk for generating a read signal comprising a thermal asperity component caused by the magneto-resistive head contacting the asperity on the surface of the disk. A bias generator is provided for generating an electrical bias applied to the magneto-resistive head, and a thermal asperity detector detects the thermal asperity component in the read signal. When the thermal asperity component is detected, the electrical bias is reduced for a time interval, thereby protecting the magneto-resistive head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Gary L. Dunbar, David M. Hannon, James Weispfenning, Jodie A. Christner, Timothy Bouwkamp