Patent ID: 6351345
Filing Date: 2002-02-26
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
An air bearing slider comprising:a slider body, said slider body being defined by a front face, a rear face, and two opposed side faces that generally connect said front face with said rear face, wherein said front face faces an upstream end of said slider body and said rear face faces a downstream end of said slider body; a front air bearing surface formed on a front rail that extends from a bottom of the slider body, said front rail being located near said upstream end of said slider body; a rear air bearing surface formed on a rear rail that extends from said bottom of said slider body, said rear rail being located near said downstream end of said slider body, wherein said front rail and said rear rail are separated from each other by a portion of the slider body; a front raised surface of said rear rail formed upstream of said rear air bearing surface, said front raised surface having a level that is higher, with respect to a disk surface, than that of said rear air bearing surface; a first front wall that connects an upstream end of said rear air bearing surface with a downstream end of said front raised surface; a second front wall of said rear rail located at an upstream of said rear rail; a rear wall of said rear rail located at a downstream end of said rear air bearing surface; and two side walls of said rear rail that extend between said second front wall and said rear wall and between a side edge of said rear rail and said bottom of said slider body, at least one of said side walls not being interrupted by a step; wherein said front raised surface extends from one of said side walls to the other of said side walls.