Researchers Submit Patent Application, "Low Friction Tape Head and System Implementing Same", for Approval

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Information Technology Newsweekly -- From Washington, D.C., VerticalNews journalists report that a patent application by the inventors Biskeborn, Robert G. (Hollister, CA), filed on May 26, 2011, was cleared for further review on December 6, 2012.

The patent's assignee for patent serial number 117013 is International Business Machines Corporation.

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: "The present invention relates to magnetic tape storage systems, and more particularly, this invention relates to a low friction tape head.

"Business, science and entertainment applications depend upon computers to process and record data, often with large volumes of the data being stored or transferred to nonvolatile storage media, such as magnetic discs, magnetic tape cartridges, optical disk cartridges, floppy diskettes, or floptical diskettes. Typically, magnetic tape is the most economical and convenient means of storing or archiving the data. Storage technology is continually pushed to increase storage capacity and storage reliability. Improvement in data storage densities in magnetic storage media, for example, has resulted from improved medium materials, improved magnetic read/write heads, improved error correction techniques and decreased areal bit sizes. The data capacity of half-inch magnetic tape, for example, is now measured in tens of terabytes (thousands of gigabytes) on 2000 or more data tracks.

"An important and continuing goal in the data storage industry is that of increasing the density of data stored on a medium. For tape storage systems, that goal has led to increasing the track and linear bit density on recording tape, and decreasing the thickness of the magnetic tape medium. However, the development of higher performance tape drive systems has created various problems in the design and manufacture of a tape head assembly for use in such systems.

"In a tape drive system, magnetic tape is moved over the surface of the tape head at high speed. Usually the tape head is designed to minimize the spacing between the head and the tape. The spacing between the magnetic head and the magnetic tape is crucial so that the recording gaps of the transducers, which are the source of the magnetic recording flux, are in near contact with the tape to effect efficient signal transfer, and so that the read element is in near contact with the tape to provide effective coupling of the magnetic field from the tape to the read element."

As a supplement to the background information on this patent application, VerticalNews correspondents also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent: "A magnetic head according to one embodiment includes outer modules each having a tape bearing surface and an array of transducers selected from a group consisting of readers and writers; and an inner module positioned between the outer modules, the inner module having a tape bearing surface and an array of transducers selected from a group consisting of readers and writers, wherein portions of edges of the tape bearing surface of the inner module are non-skiving in regions not aligned with the array of transducers in a direction of media travel thereacross, wherein an outer edge of the tape bearing surface of each of the outer modules are adapted for skiving air from the magnetic medium when the magnetic medium travels in a direction from the respective outer module towards the inner module.

"A magnetic head according to another embodiment includes outer modules each having a tape bearing surface and an array of transducers selected from a group consisting of readers and writers; and an inner module positioned between the outer modules, the inner module having a tape bearing surface and an array of transducers selected from a group consisting of readers and writers, wherein portions of the tape bearing surface of the inner module positioned laterally to the array of transducers are rough, wherein an outer edge of the tape bearing surface of each of the outer modules are adapted for skiving air from the magnetic medium when the magnetic medium travels in a direction from the respective outer module towards the inner module.

"A magnetic head according to yet another embodiment includes outer modules each having a tape bearing surface and an array of transducers selected from a group consisting of readers and writers; and an inner module positioned between the outer modules, the inner module having a tape bearing surface and an array of transducers selected from a group consisting of readers and writers, wherein portions of inner edges of the tape bearing surface of the each of the outer modules are non-skiving in regions not aligned with the array of transducers in a direction of media travel thereacross, the inner edges facing the inner module.

"Any of these embodiments may be implemented in a magnetic data storage system such as a tape drive system, which may include a magnetic head, a drive mechanism for passing a magnetic medium (e.g., recording tape) over the magnetic head, and a controller electrically coupled to the magnetic head.

"Other aspects and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, when taken in conjunction with the drawings, illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention."

For additional information on this patent application, see: Biskeborn, Robert G. Low Friction Tape Head and System Implementing Same. U.S. Patent Serial Number 117013, filed May 26, 2011, and posted December 6, 2012. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=4016&p=81&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&S1=20121129.PD.&OS=PD/20121129&RS=PD/20121129

Keywords for this news article include: Information Technology, Information and Data Storage, International Business Machines Corporation.

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