Data storage card having a non-magnetic substrate and data surface region and method for using same

A data storage card includes a glass substrate having first and second edges. A data storage surface region is located on the glass substrate between the first and second edges. The data surface region includes a magnetic storage medium having at least one layer of high density, high coercivity magnetic material for storing magnetic signals. The data storage card may include a relatively hard, abradeable protective coating formed on the magnetic material layer. The protective coating has a thickness between a maximum thickness which would materially attenuate magnetic signals passing between the magnetic material layer and a transducer of a read device, and a minimum thickness enabling said protective coating to be abraded by usage in an ambient natural atmosphere operating environment for removing therefrom a known quantity of the protective coating.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a data card having a substrate and a data surface region and more particularly related to a data card having or substrate and data surface region. In the preferred embodiment, the non-magnetic substrate is a glass-ceramic substrate and the data surface region comprises a magnetic storage medium having at least one layer of high density, high coercivity magnetic material for storing magnetic signals. In addition, the data storage card may further comprise a relatively hard, abradeable protective coating formed on the magnetic material layer and is selected to have a thickness between a maximum thickness which would materially attenuate magnetic signals passing between the magnetic material layer and a transducer and a minimum thickness enabling said protective coating to be abraded by usage in an ambient natural atmosphere operating environment for removing therefrom a known quantity of the protective coating.

The data card may be in the form of an encodeable card having a magnetic or optical data storage device adapted to be used as a credit card, medical identification card, identification card or the like.

The data storage device utilizes a recording medium or a data storage medium formed on a substrate capable of reliable data recording and reproduction in an ambient natural atmospheric operating environment. Traditional hard disks require a profoundly protected environment for reliable data recording and reproduction. In the preferred embodiment, the data storage device is in the form of a magnetically encodeable credit card having a data storage capability in the order of about 1 megabyte to about 500 megabytes or more.

2. Description of Prior Art

Digital data is stored in many forms. One data storage device uses spinning disks having a magnetic surface containing the digital data. The disks typically spin at a high rate of speed with the various tracks of data accessed by a radially movable data head.

Rotating a magnetic memory storage devices generally includes two elements namely, a rigid substance having a coating of magnetic media formed on at least one surface thereof. Aluminum alloys have been conventionally used as a substrate material for magnetic memo ry disks the present trend is towards smaller disk drives driven by drive motors having less torque as such, it has become necessary to develop thin light-weight rugged disks to replace the standard metal disks formed of an aluminum alloy having a cooling of magnetic media formed thereon.

Several alternatives are known in the art for replacing a standard aluminum alloy metal disk. These alternatives include glass substrates having specifically chemically tempered glass.

Also, glass-ceramic substrates have been developed. The glass-ceramic substrate composition in crystalline phase are controlled to develop specific characteristics of the glass-ceramic which enabling use of the glass-ceramic as a rigid substrate. Glass-ceramic substrate materials may have a polished surface to enhance the lubricity, optimized thermal expansion coefficients and be free of silica, such as quartz. The known glass-ceramic substrate materials are selected to have a bulk thermal expansion which is similar to that for known rigid metal substrates used for magnetic memory disks.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,208 discloses a glass-ceramics containing lithium disilicate in tridymite. U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,056 discloses a thin film magnetic disk having a substrate made of glass or comparable rigid material.

It is also known in the art to provide texturing in a predetermined pattern on a substrate the adhesion of magnetic layers to the surface of a disk substrate. Typical texturing techniques and patterns are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,748,421; 5,725,625; 5,626,970; 5,496,606 and 4,996,622.

It is also known in the art to utilize materials other than aluminum alloy or glass for disk substrates. U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,745 discloses disks wherein a non-magnetic substrate can be formed of a metal substrate, glass substrate, ceramic substrate or a resin substrate.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,736,262 and 5,352,501 also disclose use of non-magnetic substrates which are textured and/or processed to enhance performance of magnetic recording mediums formed thereon.

Another type of data storage device is the credit card having a magnet stripe along one surface. However, such cards have limited storage capacity because of the nature of the magnetic stripe and the method of recording data onto the magnetic stripe.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,396,545 and 4,791,283 disclose typical state-of-the-art financial cards or transaction cards having a single magnetic stripe. The storage densities of single stripe magnetic cards are defined by the ANSI Standard Specifications. Prior art magnetically encoded cards may have up to three (3) data tracks as described in Table 1 below:

A general trend presently exists to develop special purpose data cards for non-financial data applications such as for driver's licenses, building security, insurance identification, medical insurance identification, personal identification, inventory identification, baggage tags and the like.

United States Patents disclosing cards having one or more magnetic strips and/or semiconductor memory include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,883,377; 5,844,230; 5,59,885 and 5,714,747. Certain of these cards using a semi-conductor memory have storage densities as high as 8 kilobytes.

Other known storage devices used in non-card applications, such as for example, data storage mediums in hard disk, have storage densities greater than the storage densities of the known credit cards having one or more magnetic stripes including three (3) data tracks. A data storage medium in a hard disc drive typically, has an 130 mm, 95 mm, 65 mm or 25 mm outer diameter with a hole in the middle for mounting the medium on a spindle motor. Hard disk drive medium is designed and manufactured for use as a rotating memory device with circumferential discrete data tracks. The medium, or disks, typically spin at a high rate of speed with the data tracks accessed by one or more a radially movable read/write heads.

Through a plating and/or a sputter process, various types and layers of magnetic or non-magnetic materials are deposited on a round substrate which, when used in conjunction with a data recording head, can read and write data to the disk. The layer which provides the data memory is formed of a high coercive force magnetic material. This high coercive force magnetic layer is designed for maximum signal-to-noise ratio. This is attained by circumferential texturing, which is a mechanical process of scratching or buffering the disk substrate surface to provide circumferential anisotropy of the magnetic domains. Thereafter, the magnetic material is deposited on the circumferentially treated surface using known plating and/or sputtering technology.

The disk drive manufacturer must exercise similar clean room conditions in order to avoid damaging or contaminating the medium. Contamination or damage to the medium will cause an unacceptable error rate for the disk drive. To further insure data integrity, the drive manufacturer mounts the heads and medium, commonly called a head/disk assembly, inside a sealed disk drive cavity. As the medium rotates, it generates airflow over the head/disk assembly. Particles or contamination inside the drive are captured by filters located within the air flow. Capillary tubes and/or breather filters located in the lid of disk drive are used to equalize pressure and prevent moisture from entering the head/disk assembly.

The magnetic head(s) that perform the read/write operations can indent, mark or damage the medium through shock, vibration or improper head/medium design. The medium layers are very thin and fragile, on the order of a few microinches thick, and can be easily destroyed by mechanical damage imposed by the head. Non-operating environmental conditions, such as those normally found outside a clean room or outside a disk drive, can also easily render the medium unusable. Some of these major concerns which adversely affect medium quality and usability are:(a) Moisture, which can cause the Cobalt in the high coercive force magnetic layer to corrode which causes the medium surface to flake off or pit and compromise medium performance;(b) Chemical contamination from out gassing of internal head/disk assembly components such as uncured epoxy and plasticizers from gaskets, and such chemical contamination can cause the head to stick to the media surface resulting in stopping the drive from spinning or causing a head/disk crash resulting in substantial loss of data;(c) Particles inside the drive which can cause a head crash that can damage the medium beyond use;(d) Handling damage by the disk or drive manufacturer including finger prints, scratches, and indentations which can cause nonreversible loss of data;(e) Shock and vibration from improper drive design or use can cause a head crash that damages the medium beyond use; and(f) Poorly designed drives can fail during drive power up cycles due to high stiction, friction, temperature/humidity conditions or improper lubricant conditions.

A hard disk drive medium has no direct means to prevent demagnetization by stray magnetic fields should the drive medium be exposed to a stray field having sufficient magnetic field strength to erase the recorded data. Further, no surface of hard disk drive medium readily permits cleaning, and there are no known commercial hard disk drives that provide a means to clean the medium. For example, fingerprints cannot easily be removed from the surface of a hard disk drive medium.

Further, any attempts to use a hard disk drive magnetic medium outside of its intended clean and protected environment has been unsuccessful for a number of reasons, such as those discussed above.

As the demand for improved portable cards having increased memory storage capacity, such as credit cards, non-financial cards, transaction cards and the like increases, the driving factor as to the likely success or failure of an improved card is directly related to: (a) the storage densities available in such a card for storing and retrieving data; (b) the integrity of the magnetically encoded data in such a card; and (c) its ability to resist mechanical, chemical and magnetic degradation in an unprotected environment; such as in an ambient natural atmosphere operating environment in which financial and non-financial cards are used.

The magnetic disk media in known rigid disk drives are not designed to withstand even the most minor surface damage or degradation. The magnetic disk media for use inside the profoundly clean disk drive has a very hard but thin overcoat or protective layer. That overcoat or protective layer is typically diamond-like carbon on the order of 50 Angstroms to 300 Angstroms thick and is primarily used to control corrosion of the underlying cobalt based high coercivity layer. The underlying magnetic high coercivity film is also very thin, in the order of 150 to 500 Angstroms.

Since the protective layer includes at least one layer of a highly magnetic permeable material, the added thickness of this highly magnetic permeable material does not appear to increase the magnetic separation loss during read back as reported in U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,922.

The most prevalent type of media construction for use in hard disk drives is an aluminum substrate with a thick layer of Nickel Phosphor plated on the surface for polishing. This is an underlayer to the high coercivity magnetics. The Nickel Phosphor layer is typically 10 to 12 microns thick and is used to provide a material that can be subsequently polished to a smoother finish than the aluminum surface.

Hard disk drive media substrate range in thickness from 0.020 inches to 0.050 inches. Thinner substrates are desirable in order to be able to package more disks in the disk drive but have the problem of mechanical flutter, especially at high RPM. None of these substrates are bendable. A large bend radius of 20 inches will result in permanent deformation of the disk. A bend radius of less than 20 inches will result in permanent deformation as well as fracturing of the thick Nickel Phosphor layer. This fracturing of the Nickel Phosphor will propagate through the high coercivity magnetic layer rendering the media useless as a storage device.

No thick Nickel Phosphor underlayer is used on the portable card of the present invention. Therefore, fracturing problems associated with a thick Nickel Phosphor are avoided.

The portable card structure allows a card to be bendable to a degree depending upon the thickness and material of the substrate. For example, on one extreme are thick cards having a substrate formed of Zirconium. Such cards are 0.020 inches thick and can be bendable to a radius of approximately 10 inches. Another type of card uses a plastic substrate. Such cards are 0.030 inches thick and are bendable to a radius of approximately 4 inches. A thin card, such as a card having a substrate, formed of stainless steel, which is in the order of 0.005 inches thick and are bendable to a radius in excess of 4 inches without fracturing or becoming permanently deformed.

The protective coating of the present invention can be used with such cards in all forms of data storage devices, data storage sections, data storage medium a nd recording mediums. The known prior art media used for disk drive including the unabradable, thin protective coatings are not capable of being used in such portable cards.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a data system especially suited for use with credit card-type substrates which permits much more data to be written onto and read from the substrate than available with credit cards with conventional magnetic stripes.

The protective coating is formed of a material which resists at least one of chemical, magnetic and controlled mechanical degradation of the data storage device. The protective coating may be formed of at least one layer, wherein the least one layer includes the magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material.

In the alternative, the protective coating may have at least two layers wherein one of the at least two layers includes or comprises a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material and the other of the at least two layers includes a non-magnetic abrasion resisting layer formed on the one of the two layers.

In its broadest aspect, the invention resides in a data storage device comprising a substrate having at least one surface with at least one high density magnetically coercive material disposed on the substrate for storing magnetic signals. The magnetic material may be isotropic or anisotropic. Such materials are well known in the art. At least one layer formed of non-magnetic material, which functions as a decoupler or quantum effect insulator, may be disposed on the substrate for defining an exchange break layer. A protective coating is formed on the substrate and is selected to have a depth in a direction substantially normal to the exchange break layer to facilitate passage of magnetic signals, in an ambient natural atmospheric operating environment, through the protective layer to the coercive material having the axis of magnetization in the predetermined direction.

The data system includes broadly a substrate, such as a credit card type substrate, forming a data card and a data unit. The substrate had first and second edges and a data surface region between the edges. The data surface region is preferably plated or sputtered with nickel-cobalt as opposed to conventional credit cards which use ferrous oxide. The data unit include a base supporting several components. A substrate supports, which supports the substrate, is mounted to the base for controlled movement along a first path. The first path can be straight or curved. A data head drive is mounted to he base and includes a data head reciprocally movable along a second path. The first and second paths are generally transverse, typically perpendicular, to one another. The data head includes a data head surface which contacts the data surface region on the substrate. The data unit also includes first and second data head support surfaces positioned along the second path adjacent to the first and second edges of the substrate. The data head surface also contacts the first and second data head support surfaces as the data head moves along the second path.

The data head supports surfaces are preferably coplanar with the data surface region of the substrate. This provides a smooth transition for the data head between the data surface region and the data head support surfaces. The use of the data head support surfaces provides a region for the data head to accelerate and decelerate at each end of a pass over the data surface region so the data head can move over the data surface region at the constant surface speed.

The invention may also include a substrate handler including a substrate feeder, which delivers a substrate to and removes the substrate from the substrate support, and a substrate postioner, which automatically positions the substrate on, and secures the substrate to, the substrate support. The substrate postioner typically includes feed rollers and may also include a cleaner roller to clean the data surface region as the substrate passes through the substrate feeder.

None of the known prior art anticipates, discloses, teaches or suggests portable cards including portable data storage cards using a recording medium based standard hard disk drive medium technology with a high coercive force layer using a novel protective layer having a selected thickness and wherein such use occurs outside the disk drive protective enclosure and in natural atmosphere and environment. This invention is clearly new, novel and unobvious to persons skilled-in-the-art for all of the reasons set forth herein.

Therefore, one advantage of the data storage device or data card is that the same is capable of reliable read and write operations after handling in a non-clean, normal environment.

Another advantage of the present invention is that several media form factors can be provided for use in such a portable card or data card including a magnetically encodeable card of a standard credit card size which is capable of multiple read and write operations.

Another advantage of the present invention is that other portable card or data card sizes and configurations, such as rectangular, square or circular shaped, may utilize the teachings of the present invention.

Another advantage of the present invention is that a portable card or data card using such a data storage device can be provided with a memory capacity substantially greater than that of the conventional financial cards using a magnetic stripe.

Another advantage of the present invention is that a data storage device or data card can be provided which can be processed in a manner similar to a standard financial credit card.

Another advantage of the present invention is that a data storage device or data card can be provided which can be exposed to rough handling in a manner similar to a credit card.

Another advantage of the present invention is that a portable card utilizing the teachings of the present invention can be stored in a wallet and can be freely handled without concerns for contamination and without regard to whether or not the card is impervious to scratches stray magnetic fields, fingerprints and other types of damage which would cause a prior art hard disk medium to fail.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the data storage device including its use as a portable card, data card or magnetically encodeable card may include a high permeability protection coating in combination with a protective coating to prevent stray weak to medium strength (e.g. all but the strongest) magnetic fields from demagnetizing and/or erasing the recorded data.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the data storage device or data card utilizes a recording medium having a protective coating formed on the uppermost surface thereby permitting cleaning of a magnetically encodeable credit card by pressure pads, abrasive materials and chemicals without damage to the recording medium including the magnetic signals stored therein.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the data storage device or data card may be used in a method of processing magnetic signals using a magnetic recording medium having a high density magnetically coercive material for storing magnetic signals with the coercive material axes of magnetization oriented in a predetermined direction and a protective coating as described herein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the data card of the present invention, it is envisioned that an appropriate non-magnetic substrate may be used for practicing this invention. Typical of such non-magnetic substrates include, but is not limited to, glass substrates, crystallized glass substrates, aluminum substrates, ceramic substrates, carbon substrates, silicon substrates and the like.

In addition, it is further envisioned that substrates formed of ceramic material or glass-ceramic material may be used in practicing this invention.

A ceramic is typically a product made by the baking or firing of a non-metallic mineral, such as tile, cement, plaster refractories and brick. Ceramic coatings comprise a non-metallic, inorganic coating made of sprayed aluminum oxide or of zirconium oxide are a cemented coating of an inter-metallic compound such as aluminum disilicide, of essentially crystalline nature, applied as a protective film on metal.

It is known in the art that glass comp rises a hard, amorphous, inorganic, usually transparent, brittle substance made by fusing silicates, sometimes borates and phosphates, with certain basic oxides and then rapidly cooling to prevent crystallization. A glass-ceramic material is a non-magnetic material which is formed of a pre-determined composition of glass and ceramic.

It is also known in the art that a substrate for a magnetic disk can be formed of a resin material as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,745.

It is also known in the art that a non-magnetic substrate may be treated, textured or coated with a non-magnetic primer layer enhancing adhesion of the magnetic medium formed thereon.

All the above substrates are well known in the art and have been used in fabrication of magnetic disks used in disk drives.

The discussion set forth below is directed to several embodiments of the invention, the preferred embodiments which utilizes a magnetic storage medium having at least one layer of high density, high coercivity magnetic material for storing magnetic signals. In addition, the data storage card or data card may further comprise a relatively hard, abradeable protective coating formed on the magnetic material layer.

FIG. 1illustrates, in a relatively simple schematic form, a data system1mad according to the invention. Data system1comprises a data unit2and a substrate3; substrate3is preferably in the form of a data card or credit card-size card3. Data unit2includes a base, which supports the various other components, a data head driver6, which drives a data head8along a second path10, a substrate or card support assembly12, which moves card3or another substrate along a first path14, and a substrate feeder16, which drives card3to and form the substrate support assembly.

Card3is preferably a sandwich construction 0.51 mm (0.020 inch) thick ceramic core and upper and lower surfaces made of a suitable plastic material about 0.13 mm (0.005 inch) thick.FIG. 2Aillustrates the front or bottom side20(relative to the figures) of card3having an embossed letter area22and a back, data or top side24having a data surface region26extending between first and second edges28,30of the card.

Side24is also preferable includes a magnetic typically ferrous oxide, stripe32similar to that used with conventional credit cards. Data surface region26is preferably a magnetic region, and may also include ferrous oxide as a magnetic material. However, because of the use environment, to be discussed below, it is desired that region26be smooth and resistant to abrasion. This can be achieved in various conventional ways, such as by sputtering with carbon.

In the preferred embodiment ofFIGS. 2A-2C, only a portion of side24is covered by data surface region26. In some embodiment it may be desired to cover most or all of the surface24with data surface region26. A directional arrow34may also be included to aid the user in proper insertion of card3into card entry36shown inFIGS. 1,3,4A and4B. As illustrated inFIG. 3, the opening38in card entry36had an enlarged portion to accommodate embossed letter area22shown inFIGS. 2A and 2B.

FIGS. 4A and 4Billustrate a portion of substrate feeder16, including card entry36mounted to the front panel40of data unit2. The user begins the read/write process by inserting a card3into opening38of card entry36sufficiently far to trip a light beam in a card sensor42which causes three sets of feed rollers44,46, and48to begin rotating as indicated by the arrows inFIGS. 4B and 5D. Feed rollers44,46, and48are driven by a feed system motor50through various pulleys52and belts54. Once the user pushes card3far enough into unit2so that the first edge28of card3is captured that the nip of rollers44, the feed rollers automatically move card3thorough substrate feeder16as suggested byFIGS. 5A-7A.

FIGS. 1,5A and5B illustrate the use of a magnetic stripe reader56which reads, in a conventional fashion, any information on magnetic stripe32as appropriate. Substrate feeder16also includes a counter-rotating cleaning roller58. Cleaning roller58is not shown inFIG. 1for clarity. Cleaning roller58is used to ensure that data surface region26is clean of particles and debris prior to being accessed by data head8. Substrate feeder16also includes a reflective sensor54which senses the presence of data surface region26. If card3has no data surface region26, then feed rollers44,46reverse the direction of card3and return it to the user with only magnetic stripe32having been read by magnetic stripe reader56. Assuming card3includes a data surface region26, feed rollers44,46,48continue the movement of card3past optical sensor61and towards card support60of card support assembly12.

One end62of card support60is open to permit the free entry of card3onto the card support surface64of the card support. Card support surface64has an opening66formed through the middle of the surface as will be described below with reference toFIGS. 9A and 9B. Referring now also toFIGS. 7A and 7B, card support60is seen to include a stationary side registration member68and a movable side registration member70. Members68and70have overhanging lips72,74. When card support60is in the load/unload position ofFIGS. 6A,6B and7A, which corresponds to the dashed-line positions of card3inFIG. 1, movable side registration member70is pivoted to its position ofFIG. 7Aby the engagement of the lower end76of member70with a stationary stud78extending upwardly form base4. This permits card3to be freely driven onto surface64of card support60between registration members68,70. The initial movement of assembly12along path14towards data head driver6causes registration member70to engage a fourth edge81of card3and drive the third edge79o the card against registration member68.

First edge29of card3is driven against abutment edge80of card support60by the movement of card support60along the first path14towards data head driver6, that is from the dashed-line position to the solid-line position of FIG.1. Such movement along first path14causes second edge30of card3to engage an angled card guide82which drives card3fully onto card support60as shown inFIGS. 8A and 8B. Abutment edge80is sized so that its upper edge84, seeFIG. 6B, is slightly below, such as 0.38 mm (0.015 inch) below the top surface24of card3when the card is pressed upwardly to engage lips72,74of members68,70in the manner discussed below.

Card support60is mount ed to and is carried by the carriage86, the carriage being slidable along a pair of guide shafts88, the guide shafts being supported on base4by shaft clamps80, only one of which is shown in FIG.1. Carriage86, and thus card support60with card3thereon, is driven along first path14by a carriage motor92.

The vertical movement or indexing of card3is achieved by the use of a C-shaped spring94mounted to the interior of carriage86. An upper end96of spring94is aligned with and passes through opening66formed in card support surface64and illustrated inFIG. 6AAs carriage86moves along first path14from the load/unload position corresponding to he dashed-line position ofFIG. 1, towards data head driver6, spring94rides up onto a cam98extending upwardly from base4. This causes card3to be biased upwardly against lips72,74and held in place against inadvertent movement during read/write operations.

Returning again toFIG. 1, card3is shown with data head9at track “000”position. Data head9is preferably of the magnetic head contact-type which contacts data surface region as data head8is move along second path10. Data head8is mounted to the distal end of an arm98which is mounted to a head carriage100. Head carriage100is slidably mounted to a pair of guide shafts102, the guide shafts mounted to a motor mount plate104by a pair of shaft clamps106. Motor mount plate104is adjustably mounted to base4by four spacer mounts108. Data head driver6also includes a read/write head motor110which drives a pulley112in alternating clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. Pulley112is coupled to carriage100by a drive band114which passes around a pair of roller bearings116as well as pulley112.

The position of data head8relative to data surface region18is provided by the rotary position of pulley112and by a sensor interrupter118being sensed by a pair of sensors119. Sensors119are generally aligned with edges28,30of card3when the card is in the read/write position of FIG.1.

Second path10extends beyond first and second edges2,30onto data head support surfaces120,122. Data head support surfaces120,122are generally coplanar with data surface region18so that data head8moves smoothly form region1onto support surfaces120,122are generally coplanar with data surface region18so that data head8moves smoothly from region18onto support surface120,122. The use of support surfaces120,122permits data head8to move across data surface region18onto support surfaces120,122. The use of support surfaces120,122permits data head8to move across data surface region18at full speed. Preferably, data head8slows down, stops, reverses direction, and then speeds up for each subsequent pass while on one of data surfaces120,122. During this deceleration, stopping, reversal of direction, and acceleration, carriage motor92has a chance to index card3one track width along first path14. Therefore, by the time data head8is ready to reengage data surface region18, the next track, which may or may not be the adjacent track, is aligned with second path10and thus can be read by or written to by data head8. Data head support surface120,122are preferably low friction, low abrasion surfaces suitable for the sliding movement of data head8thereover. To ensure proper alignment, each data surface120is preferably provided with appropriate height adjusters124is preferably provided with appropriate height adjusters124. The gap between surfaces120,122and card3is preferably small enough so that data head8traverses the gap smoothly. If necessary support at the gap can be provided by, for example, a small jet of air.

Data head8is preferably at the rest position on data head support surface120or data head support surface122when card3is moved form a dashed-line to the solid-line positions of FIG.1. This keeps data head8from contacting side registration member68during such movement. At the completion of read/write operations, carriage86moves tot he load/unload position ofFIGS. 7A and 10whereupon a push solenoid126is actuated, seeFIG. 10, to push card3until the card is captured between third feed rollers48. Push solenoid126has a plunger127which passes through a gap128in abutment edge80to engage first edge28of card3. Feed rollers44,46and48, all rotating in the opposite direction indicated inFIG. 5B, drive card3back through opening38in card entry36to about he position of FIG.4B.

In use, a user inserts a card3through opening38in card entry36whereupon substrate reader16drives it past magnetic stripe reader56and to reflective sensor59. Assuming reflective sensor59senses the presence of data surface region26, rollers46,48continue driving card3towards substrate support assembly12. After card3has passed third feed rollers48, the inertia of the card causes the card to continue moving onto support surface64of card support60. To ensure first edge28of card3abuts abutment edge80of card support60, a card guide82is used to engage second edge30as card3moves from the load/unload position ofFIG. 7A, that is the dash line position ofFIG. 1, to the read/write position, that is the solid line position ofFIG. 7A, that is the dash line position ofFIG. 1, to the read/write position, that is the solid line position of FIG.1. Third edge79of card3is driven against stationary side registration member68by the pivotal movement of spring biased side registration member70during the initial movement of the card from the dashed position toward the solid-line position of FIG.1. Continued movement of card3toward the solid-lien position ofFIG. 1causes spring94to be biased upwardly to drive card3upwardly until the lateral edges79,81of the card engage lips72,74of registration members68,70.

Once in the initial read/write position ofFIG. 1, motor110drives data head9from one of data head support surfaces120,122and data surface region26of card3. In the pre erred embodiment, motor110is designed to cause data head8to reach its desired speed of, for example, 318 cm per second 125 inches per second) by the time data head9reaches card3. It is desired that information on data surface region26be written at the rate of 36,000 bits per inch or greater. The density of the recording is determined by several factors, including the uniformity in movement at which data head8passes over region26, the construction of head8, the construction of data surface region6, the frequency of the read/write clock, and other conventional factors.

At the end of each pass, while data head8is moving over data head support surface24during its deceleration, stopping, reversal of direction, and acceleration, card3is indexed to the next track position to be accessed. If desired, the accessing of the track sequential or particular tracks can be selected, such as track000, followed by track023, followed by track085, followed by track085, followed by track031, etc. The organization of the data recorded on data surface region26is dependent largely by the controller selected. The controller for unit2may be of a conventional type, such as one made by Realtec of San Diego, Calif. and sold as product number TCNGEO9. In one embodiment, 350 tracks, each track having 56 sectors with 256 bytes per sector for a total 5,017,600 bytes, will be sued.

When it is desired to remove card3from the unit data head8is parked on one of the two support surfaces120,122and then motor92drives carriage86back to the load/unload position at which point push solenoid126is actuated. Plunger127, which passes through gap128in abutment edge80, pushes card3until card3is engaged by third rollers48, at this time being rotated in directions opposite of the directions ofFIGS. 5B and 6B. Card3is then delivered to the user in substantially the position as indicated in FIG.4B.

In the preferred embodiment data head8physically contact data surface region26and support surfaces120,122. It may be possible to use a so-called flying head in which data head8would not contact data surface region26. However, it is believed that the gaps at edges28,30would create turbulence causing the flying head to crash onto data surface region26. Also, the invention has been described with reference to magnetic, digitally encoded data. If desired, the data could be analog in nature and could be optical or magneto optical in character.

FIG. 11illustrates portions of an alternative embodiment of the invention with like reference numerals referring to like elements. In this case, data unit2A uses an oscillating data head8A which passes along an arcuate second path10A. Data head support surfaces120A,122A are positioned somewhat differently, but proved the same service: support of data head8A at each end of its movement. Sensors119A indicate when data head8has passed form data surface region26A so that data head8can begin its deceleration and reverse acceleration movement as card3A is indexed along first path14.

It is envisioned that the data card of the present invention would comprise a substrate having first and second edges in a data surface region therebetween. The substrate will include at least one layer comprising a non-magnetic material which is adapted to be relatively rigid and which is to have a magnetic media formed directly on the surface thereof. The non-magnetic material for the substrate may be selected from the group of a metal substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, a glass-ceramic substrate and a resin substrate. The substrate may be formed of an at least one layer acting as a single layer or may have outer layers mounted thereto.

A method for reading a data card with a card reader may be used for practicing the invention. The method will include the steps of forming a substrate for a data card having first and second edges and surface region therebetween wherein the substrate includes at least one layer comprising a non-magnetic ceramic material which is adapted to interact with a data processing station when said card and said data processing station are moved relative to each other to at least one of write encoding signals in said data surface section as encoded signals and read encoded signals from said data surface section; and moving said substrate and data processing station relative to each other to interface said data surface region relative to a transducer to enable data flow therebetween.

In addition, a method for reading a data card with a card reader using the teachings of the present invention it is disclosed. The method includes the steps of forming a substrate for a data card having first and second edges and a data surface section location therebetween wherein the substrate includes at least one layer comprising a non-magnetic material selected from the group of a metal substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate a glass-ceramic substrate and a resin substrate and wherein said data surface region includes a magnetic material for storing data; and moving said data card and data processing station relative to each other to interface said data storage section relative to a transducer to enable data flow therebetween.

It is also within the teaching of the present invention that the surface of the non-magnetic substrate material can be processed, textured or otherwise treated to enhance the adhesion of a magnetic media, such as a nickel-cobalt recording layer.

The recording medium of the present invention has been intentionally designed to be exposed to and to tolerate mechanical degradation of the surface without any degradation of the underlying high coercivity recording layer. The head or transducer operating as the read/write device on medium or data storage device of this invention can either operate in absolute contact with the outer surface of the protective coating or can “fly” in “quasi” contact to 10 microinches above the outer surface of the protective coating.

FIG. 12is a pictorial representation of a prior art recording medium400having substrate402, a Ti Seed Layer404(having a thickness of approximately 100 Angstroms), a layer406of NiP having formed around a layer408of Cr, a high density magnetic material layer412having its axis of magnetization extending in a substantially horizontal direction relative to at least one surface of the substrate402, and wherein the layer412is coated or sealed with a glass or PLC coating414. The recording medium400is exemplary of the type of recording medium used for a data storage device operating in a protective environment.

The selected thickness and relative hardness of the protective coating permits substantial abrasion due to particulate contamination during read/write operation in a normal ambient atmosphere operating environment as well as during abrasive cleaning, where the outer surface of the protective coating may be abraded. The protective coating has been designed to abrade away upon impact with particulate matter including particles occurring between the head and media and during cleaning and handling leaving the underlying high coercivity recording material intact.

In the present invention, a relatively hard, abradeable protective coating is formed on the magnetic material layer and the selected thickness of the protective layer is an important criteria for rendering this invention operable. The thickness is selected to be between a maximum thickness which would materially attenuate magnetic signals passing between the magnetic material layer and a transducer and a minimum thickness enabling the protective coating to be abraded by usage in an ambient natural atmosphere operating environment for removing therefrom a known quantity of the protective coating.

As such, the protective coating in the preferred embodiment is a bendable, diamond-like hardness protective coating having a selected thickness which allows passage of magnetic signals in an ambient natural atmospheric operating environment through the protective layer and between said at least one high density magnetically coercive material layer and a transducer and is formed of a material which resists at least one of chemical, magnetic and controlled mechanical degradation of the data storage device.

FIG. 13is a pictorial representation of one embodiment of a recording medium shown generally as430which is formed of a plurality of layers of material to provide the most ideal recording medium possible for practicing this invention. The recording medium430has a substrate432which functions as the portable card substrate. A base layer434is deposited on the substrate432. A seed layer436, which may be optional, is deposited on the base layer434a layer438formed of chromium is deposited on the seed layer436. A layer442of high density magnetic material having its axis of magnetization extending in a substantially horizontal direction relative to at least one surface of the substrate432is deposited on the chrome layer438. A layer446of non-magnetic material, which functions as a “break layer”, “exchange break layer” or a “decoupling layer”, is deposited on the magnetic layer442. A protective coating shown by bracket454is applied to the layer446. The protective coating454is formed of two layers, namely a magnetically permeable, low coercivity layer460, which is deposited on the layer446to form a “keeper” layer, and a second layer458which preferably is a hard, diamond like material.

The structure, function and operation of a “keeper” layer and other known prior art relating to a “keeper” layer is described in PCT Application US92/10485 filed Dec. 7, 1992 and published on Jul. 8, 1993.

The protective coating454may have formed thereon a bonded lubrication layer460which functions as a cleaning material layer permitting the cleaning of debris, fingerprints and other particulate material from the surface of the recording medium230.

FIG. 14is a pictorial representation of another embodiment of a recording medium470for practicing this invention. This structure represents a recording medium having a significantly less number of layers of material compared to the embodiment and structure described above in connection with FIG.13.

A substrate472, which is used as the portable card, has a chromium underlayer476deposited on at least one surface of the substrate472. A high density magnetic material layer480is deposited on the underlayer476wherein the high density magnetic material layer480has its axis of magnetization extending in a substantially horizontal direction relative to at least one surface of the substrate472. A layer of non-magnetic material482defining an exchange break layer is deposited on the magnetic layer480. A protective coating488, which is in the form of a single layer, includes a magnetically permeable, low coercivity magnetic material which is separated from the high density magnetic material layer480by the exchange break layer482which enables a magnetic image field to be stored in the magnetically permeable, low coercivity magnetic material forming the protective coating488.

FIG.15(A) is a pictorial representation of yet another embodiment of a recording medium492for practicing this invention. In this embodiment, the protective coating is a single layer and includes a magnetically permeable, low coercivity magnetic material which also functions as the “keeper” layer. The recording medium492includes a substrate496which is preferable formed of a non-magnetic material. A high density magnetic material layer498is deposited on the at least one surface of the substrate496wherein the high density magnetic material has its axis of magnetization extending in a substantially horizontal direction relative to at least one surface of the substrate496. A layer402of non-magnetic material, defining an exchange break layer, is deposited on the magnetic layer498. The protective coating404comprises one layer including a magnetically permeable, low coercivity layer of magnetic material which is separated from the high density magnetic material layer498by the exchange break layer402. The exchange break layer402enables a magnetic image field to be stored in the magnetically permeable, low coercivity material.

In FIG.15(A), the recording medium is illustrated to interact with a magnetic control device shown by dashed rectangle491having a bias field shown by arrow493which is adapted to increase through the protective coating504and the and the exchange break layer502the reluctance of the magnetic saturable, magnetically permeable material in the protective coating504to enable the magnetic signals to pass between the high density magnetically coercive material through the exchange break layer502and the protective coating504to a magnetic transducer495.

The magnetic transducer is typically forms part of or is located in a data processing station and is adapted to interact with the portable card containing the data storage device492when the portable card and data processing station are moved relative to each other to position the data storage device proximate the data processing station to enable data flow between the magnetic layer in the data storage device and the transducer.

The bias field493causes or drives the magnetic saturable, magnetically permeable material in the protective coating504into saturation enabling the magnetic signals to easily pass from the magnetic layer498, through the exchange break layer302and the protective coating504to the transducer495. The portion of the protective coating that does have the bias filed493applied thereto remains in an unsaturated condition and retains or keeps the magnetic signals encoded in the magnetic layer498.

A drive member, depicted by rectangle497, is operatively coupled to at least one of the transducer295and the portable card containing the recording medium492to provide the relative movement therebetween.

The drive member is used to perform one of the following: (i) position the portable card proximate the data processing station to enable data flow there between; (ii) move the portable card relative to the data processing station; (iii) move the data processing station relative to the portable card; and (iv) the portable card and the data processing station are moved relative to each other.

The transducer495maybe be: (i) an inductive head; (ii) a thin film magnetic head; (iii) a magnetoresistive head; (iv) a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) head, and (v) a magnetoresistive head including a dual stripe magnetoresistive element. In addition, the magnetoresistive head may include a magnetic flux guide shown by dashed line499in FIG.15(A) for conducting magnetic flux from the data storage device of the portable card read by such a magnetoresistive head.

In FIG.15(A), a programmable control device depicted by dashed box501is operatively connected to the magnetic control device491to cause the bias field493to be applied to the recording medium492when a selected magnetic image is located substantially adjacent the transducer495. The use of such a programmable control device is known in the magnetic recording and reproducing art.

FIGS.15(B),15(C) and15(D) are variations of the structure of FIG.15(A) and the same numbers are used in each figure to identify similar elements for purposes of the following descriptions.

In FIG.15(B), the structure of the recording medium510is substantially the same as that of the recording medium492of FIG.15(A) except that the protective coating504is formed of two layers, one layer of which is a “keeper” layer516and the other of which is a layer518formed preferably of a hard, diamond like material.

In FIG.15(C), the structure of the recording medium522is similar to that of the recording medium510of FIG.15(B) except that an additional layer428of a bonded lubricant material is deposited on the layer518. The bonded lubricant material may be any well known bonded lubricating material applicable for coating onto a recording medium, such as for example perflouroether or phosphozene.

In FIG.15(D), the structure of the recording medium532is similar to that of FIG.15(A) except that the protective coating504is applied to both the recording medium formed on the substrate, which coats one side of the substrate296, and to the opposite side of the substrate536.

Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5 set forth below provide examples of the various materials that can be used for various layers of materials as described in the embodiments ofFIGS. 13,14,15(A),15(B),15(C) and15(D), the thickness thereof and other important characteristics thereof. The examples set forth herein are not intended to be limiting in nature or teachings, but rather are examples of materials that can be used in practicing this invention. It is envisioned that other materials not disclosed herein, but which are known to persons skilled-in-the art, can also be used in practicing the present invention, and such materials as well, as any after developed material that are substantially equivalent to the materials disclosed herein, are deemed to be within or as using the teachings of the present invention.

In an unsaturated state, the magnetic permeable, magnetically saturable material, which may be use alone as protective coating, provides a shunt path that contains substantially all of the magnetic flux from the recorded data in the high coercivity layer. The effectiveness of the protecting coating becomes degraded at a thickness where the material commences to emit a detectable quantity of magnetic flux leakage.

Also, the protective layer minimum thickness due to known quantity of magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable material being removed by usage is that minimum thickness thereof which is capable of supporting magnetic flux density of a reading signal.

It is highly desirable that the magnetic flux from the data stored in the high coercivity magnetic layer is substantially retained in the magnetic permeable protective layer.

Upon application of a localized saturating flux, such as DC bias field, an electrical aperture is created in the magnetic permeable, magnetically saturable layer. The flux lines from a bit cell of data are now unconstrained, e.g., a state of high reluctance, and can extend outside the magnetic permeable protective layer and into interaction with a transducer for detection and subsequent data processing. Flux from all of the other bit cells remain substantially contained in the non-saturated magnetic permeability, magnetically saturable protective coating; e.g. a state of low reluctance. Relative motion between the medium and the transducer will “move” the localized saturated aperture in the magnetic permeable, magnetically saturable layer, forming the protective coating, to permit additional cells of data to be accessible by the read transducer.

In the preferred embodiment where the protective coating is a magnetic permeability, magnetically saturable material, substantial amounts of the magnetic permeable protection layer can be abraded or worn away by sliding transducer contact, by an abrasive cleaning, by removing or slighting abrading as required to remove debris, fingerprints and the like from the card or by rough handling without affecting the integrity of the data stored in the high coercivity data memory layer. In the preferred embodiment, the magnetic permeable protection layer may be formed from a wide variety of low coercivity, high permeability materials, materials typically used as core material in magnetic read/write transducers. Such materials include Permalloy (NiFe), Sendust (AlFeSil) and super Sendust (AlFeSilNi).

The thickness of the magnetic permeable protection layer should be sufficient to retain all of the flux from the high coercivity memory layer with some additional material to permit substantial mechanical wear while still containing the underlying magnetic flux. However, even if nearly all of the magnetic permeable protection layer is worn away to the thickness where a slight amount of flux leakage occurs, some retention of the underlying flux will still occur.

Mechanical damage to the high coercivity layer will not occur as long as some material in the protective layer remains intact. Because of the protective coating of the present invention being so robust and bendable, a very severe grinding action would be required to remove all of the protection layer, exposing the underlying break layer and high coercivity data recording layer.

When a magnetically encodeable card having a protective coating of the present invention is exposed to stray magnetic field, such as adjacent credits cards for example, the magnetic permeability, magnetically saturable material causes the magnetic filed to be captured with the saturable material thereby providing magnetic protection to the material storage layer.

Likewise the relatively hard protective coating, if immersed in a chemical solution or other fluid, which may contain chemicals, the protective coating protects the material storage layer from being degraded by such chemicals which come into contact with the data storage device.

The relatively hard, abradeable protective coating of the present invention is formed on the magnetic material layer. The protective coating is selected to have a thickness between a maximum thickness which would materially attenuate magnetic signals passing between the magnetic material layer and a transducer and a minimum thickness enabling the protective coating to be abraded by usage in an ambient natural atmosphere operating environment for removing therefrom a known quantity of the protective coating. The maximum thickness and minimum thickness can be empirically determined and are generally a function of the data storage device materials, the protective coating materials, the transducer and the like. The protective coating may be a single layer which includes a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable material or at least two layers wherein one of the layers include a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable material and the other of the layers may be a non-magnetic friction reducing layer formed on the one of the layers.

The term “diamond-like hardness” is well known in the art and is described in detail at page 599 and pages 629 through 638 in TRIBOLOGY AND MECHANICS OF MAGNETIC STORAGE DEVICES by Bharat Bhushan published by Springer-Verlag of New York. Generally the term diamond-like hardness refers to an amorphous or diamond-like carbon (DLC) deposited by sputtering or plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition techniques that has been developed for applications, such as the magnetic thin-film disks, which require extremely low friction, and wear at a range of environmental conditions, e.g. inside the protected environment of the disk drive.

FIG.15(B) is a pictorial representation of the recording medium340of FIG.15(A) having a plurality of substantially parallel magnetic tracks346and illustrating that specific domain areas348are used for recording magnetic signals therein.

In FIG.15(A), the recording medium is illustrated to interact with a magnetic control device shown by dashed rectangle291having a bias field shown by arrow293which is adapted to increase through the protective coating304and the and the exchange break layer302the reluctance of the magnetic saturable, magnetically permeable material in the protective coating304to enable the magnetic signals to pass between the high density magnetically coercive material through the exchange break layer302and the protective coating304to a magnetic transducer295.

The magnetic transducer is typically forms part of or is located in a data processing station and is adapted to interact with the portable card containing the data storage device292when the portable card and data processing station are moved relative to each other to position the data storage device proximate the data processing station to enable data flow between the magnetic layer in the data storage device and the transducer.

The bias field293causes or drives the magnetic saturable, magnetically permeable material in the protective coating304into saturation enabling the magnetic signals to easily pass from the magnetic layer298, through the exchange break layer302and the protective coating304to the transducer295. The portion of the protective coating that does have the bias filed293applied thereto remains in an unsaturated condition and retains or keeps the magnetic signals encoded in the magnetic layer298.

A drive member, depicted by rectangle297, is operatively coupled to at least one of the transducer295and the portable card containing the recording medium292to provide the relative movement therebetween.

The drive member is used to perform one of the following: (i) position the portable card proximate the data processing station to enable data flow therebetween; (ii) move the portable card relative to the data processing station; (iii) move the data processing station relative to the portable card; and (iv) the portable card and the data processing station are moved relative to each other.

The transducer295maybe be: (i) an inductive head; (ii) a thin film magnetic head; (iii) a magnetoresistive head; (iv) a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) head, and (v) a magnetoresistive head including a dual stripe magnetoresistive element. In addition, the magnetoresistive head may include a magnetic flux guide shown by dashed line299in FIG.40(A) for conducting magnetic flux from the data storage device of the portable card read by such a magnetoresistive head.

In FIG.40(A), a programmable control device depicted by dashed box301is operatively connected to the magnetic control device291to cause the bias field293to be applied to the recording medium292when a selected magnetic image is located substantially adjacent the transducer295. The use of such a programmable control device is known in the magnetic recording and reproducing art.

Table 2 sets forth materials which can be used for the protective coating, “keeper layer”, break layer and magnetic layer:

Table 3 sets forth materials which can be used for an Underlayer, Optional seed layer, Optional base layer and card substrate:

Table 4 sets forth the range in Angstroms, for the Overcoat thickness, the Keeper thickness, the break layer thickness and magnetic layer thickness, as determined in a direction substantially normal to the surface of the substrate:

Table 5 sets forth the range in Angstroms, for the underlayer thickness, the seed layer thickness, the base layer thickness and card substrate, as determined in a direction substantially normal to the surface of the substrate:

The substrate surface may be treated by texturing to enhance orientation of anistropic* materials. The known texturing procedures that can be used include: (i) circumferential texturing; (ii) radial texturing; (iii) chemical texturing; and (iv) laser texturing.

The simplified schematic diagram ofFIG. 16discloses a card reader for reading and reproducing information a portable card utilizing the teachings of the present invention.

The simplified card reader schematic that illustrates that the portable card is inserted into the card reader as depicted by box600. The card reader is programmed to be in a standby condition as depicted by box602. When the portable card is inserted into the card reader, the card reader is activated as depicted by box606. The card reader then performs a self-calibration step as depicted by box610. The card reader then determines if the format of the portable card is acceptable and this step is depicted by box612. The portable card and the data processing station located within and forming part of the card reader are moved relative to each other to cause the passage of magnetic signals between the data storage device and a transducer located within the data processing station. The relative movement between the portable card and the data processing station performs the required data transactions as depicted by box614. To the extent that in the data corrections, recording of data, writing of data and the like, such operations are performed during such relative movement as described above and this step is depicted by box616.

Upon completion of the data transaction614and data correction or other similar operations616, a decision is made as to how the portable card is to be further processed. To the extent that any additional transactions are required before the portable card is returned to the user, the card reader completes such of the transactions as depicted by box618. The portable card is then transported to a removable location for removal by the user and this is depicted by box620. Upon completion of the other transactions as depicted by box618, the card reader is placed into a standby mode in preparation for the next transaction.

If a decision is made that the data and/or card is damaged and the transaction should be rejected and/or the card is retained, that process step is depicted by box622. Upon completion of the step depicted by box622, the card reader is placed into a standby mode in preparation for the next transaction.

As discussed hereinbefore, it is anticipated that the protective coating could be subject to the collection of debris, finger prints or the like from normal handling by a user in an ambient and normal environment, as differentiated form a protected environment required for hard disk drive devices.

Therefore, the accuracy and reliability of reproducing (reading) encoded data from the portable card by a card reading apparatus and/or by methods for processing the portable card can be improved or enhanced by use of a card cleaner and process for cleaning a portable card prior to the card reader processing the portable card.

A protective coating is formed on the at least one thin film layer of high density, high coercivity magnetic material and is selected to have a thickness to facilitate passage of magnetic signals in an ambient natural atmospheric operating environment through the protective coating and the thin film layer. The protective coating may be formed of a material which resists at least one of chemical, magnetic and mechanical degradation of the data storage device. The protective coating is adapted to interface with and be responsive to a data processing station when the substrate and data processing stations are moved relative to each other to enable data flow therebetween.

The at least one thin film layer of high density, high coercivity magnetic material may be a sputtered layer or a platted layer. The transducer may be a thin film magnetic head, a magnetoresistive head or a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) head. The magnetoresistive head may include a dual stripe magnetoresistive element. In addition, the magnetoresistive head may include a magnetic flux guide for conducting magnetic flux from the data storage section of the card read by said reader to the magnetoresistive head.

The data storage section may include data tracks having a predetermined width formed on a selected surface of the card and the predetermined width may be wider than said magnetoresistive head or have a predetermined width in the range of about “1” times to about “2” times wider than the magnetoresistive head.

A method for reading a card with a card reader is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of (a) forming on a substrate of a card a data storage section adapted to interact with a data processing station when the card and the data processing station are moved relative to each other to at least one of encode signals in the data storage section and read encoded signals from the data storage section; (b) forming a relatively hard, abradeable protective coating on said data storage section having a thickness between a maximum thickness which would materially attenuate encoding and encoded signals passing between said data storage section and a transducer and a minimum thickness enabling said protective coating to be abraded by usage in an ambient natural atmosphere operating environment for removing therefrom a known quantity of the protective coating; and (c) moving the card and data processing station relative to each other to interface the data storage section relative to a transducer to enable data flow therebetween. The step of forming may include forming a data storage section having at least one thin film layer of high density, high coercivity magnetic material having a predetermined magnetic field orientation for storing data.

The step of moving may include using a transducer which is a thin film head, a magnetoresistive head or a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) head.

The step of forming may include forming a data storage section having at least one thin film layer of high density, optical recording material which is capable of reading and storing data in optical form. The step of moving may include using a transducer which is a laser adapted to reading and record optical data on the optical recording material.

In the preferred embodiment, a method for reading a card with a card reader may comprise the steps of: (a) forming on a substrate of a non-magnetic material of a card a data storage section including a thin film of magnetic material having a predetermined magnetic orientation for storing data in a predetermined axis; (b) providing a protective coating including a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable material which is disposed on an exchange break layer and responsive through the exchange break layer to the coercive material axes of magnetization to produce a magnetic image field in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction, the protection coating being formed of a material which resists at least one of chemical, magnetic and controllable mechanical degradation of the magnetic recording medium; and (c) moving the card and data processing station relative to each other to interface the data storage section relative to a transducer to enable data flow therebetween.

Also disclosed is a data storage device comprising a substrate having at least one surface. At least one high density magnetically coercive material layer is disposed on the substrate for storing magnetic signals with the coercive material axis of magnetization oriented in a predetermined direction relative to the at least one surface of the substrate. At least one non-magnetic material layer is disposed on the substrate for defining an exchange break layer. A protective coating is formed on the substrate and is selected to have a depth in a direction substantially normal to said exchange break layer to facilitate passage of magnetic signals in an ambient natural atmospheric operating environment through the exchange break layer and the coercive material having the axis of magnetization in the predetermined direction. The protective layer is formed of a material which resists at least one of chemical, magnetic and mechanical degradation of the data storage device.

The substrate is preferably a non-magnetic substrate and the protective coating includes a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material disposed on the substrate and which is responsive through the exchange break layer to the coercive material axis of magnetization in the predetermined direction to produce a magnetic image field in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction.

The protective coating may include the magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material as a separate independent layer disposed on the exchange break layer. Optionally, the protective coating may include a non-magnetic abrasion resisting layer as a separate independent layer disposed on the magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material layer.

The at least one high density magnetically coercive material layer is disposed on the substrate for storing magnetic signals with the coercive material axis of magnetization oriented in a predetermined direction relative to the at least one surface of the substrate, and the predetermined direction may be: (i) orientated substantially parallel to said at least one surface of said substrate; (ii) orientated at an acute angle to said at least one surface of the substrate; (iii) orientated substantially perpendicular to the at least one surface of the substrate.

Also disclosed herein is a magnetically encodeable card comprising a non-magnetic substrate having at least one surface having a thin film, high density magnetically coercive material disposed on the substrate for storing magnetic signals with the coercive material axis of magnetization oriented in a predetermined direction relative to the at least on surface of said substrate. A non magnetic material is disposed on the substrate for defining an exchange break layer.

A protective coating is formed on the substrate in a direction substantially normal to the exchange break layer and the protective coating includes a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material disposed on the substrate and which is responsive through the exchange break layer and the magnetically saturable storage material to the coercive material axis of magnetization to produce a magnetic image field in a direction to facilitate passage of magnetic signals in an ambient natural atmospheric operating environment through the exchange break layer and the magnetically saturable storage material. The protective coating is formed of a material which resists at least one of chemical, magnetic and mechanical degradation of the data storage device.

Alternatively, the protective coating may include the magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material being an independent layer disposed on the substrate. In addition, the protective coating may include a non-magnetic abrasion resisting material as a separate layer disposed on the magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material.

In the magnetically encodeable card, the at least one high density magnetically coercive material layer is disposed on the substrate for storing magnetic signals with the coercive material axis of magnetization oriented in a predetermined direction relative to the at least one surface of the substrate, and the predetermined direction may be: (i) orientated substantially parallel to said at least one surface of said substrate; (ii) orientated at an acute angle to said at least one surface of the substrate; (iii) orientated substantially perpendicular to the at least one surface of the substrate.

The magnetically coercive material has a coercivity, in the preferred embodiment, of at least 1,000 Oersteds and the magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material has a coercivity of less than about 100 Oersteds.

A magnetic signal processing apparatus is disclosed comprising a magnetic recording medium having a high density magnetically coercive material for storing magnetic signals with the coercive material axes of magnetization oriented in a predetermined direction; a non-magnetic material disposed on the high density magnetically coercive material for defining a exchange break layer and a protective coating which includes a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable material which is disposed on the exchange break layer and which is responsive through the exchange break layer to the coercive material axes of magnetization to produce a magnetic image field in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction. The protective coating is formed of a material which resists at least one of chemical, magnetic and mechanical degradation of the magnetic recording medium.

The apparatus includes a magnetic transducer positioned relative to a surface of the recording medium for transferring signals with respect to the recording medium. A drive member is operatively coupled to at least one of the transducer and the recording medium to provide relative movement therebetween. A magnetic control device having a bias field adapted to increase, through the protective coating and the exchange break layer, the reluctance of the magnetic saturable, magnetically permeable material to enable a magnetic signal to pass between the high density magnetically coercive material through the exchange break layer and the protective coating to the magnetic transducer.

A method of processing magnetic signals using a magnetic recording medium having a high density magnetically coercive material for storing magnetic signals with the coercive material axes of magnetization oriented in a predetermined direction is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: (a) providing a layer of a non-magnetic material disposed on said high density magnetically coercive material for defining a exchange break layer; (b) providing a protective coating including a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable material which is disposed on the exchange break layer and responsive through the exchange break layer to the coercive material axes of magnetization to produce a magnetic image field in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction. The protective coating is formed of a material which resists at least one of chemical, magnetic and mechanical degradation of the magnetic recording medium; and (c) generating with a magnetic control device having a bias field adapted to increase through the protective coating and the exchange break layer the reluctance of the magnetic saturable, magnetically permeable material to enable the magnetic signal to pass between the high density magnetically coercive material through the exchange break layer and the protective coating to a magnetic transducer.

A system is disclosed which comprises a magnetic recording medium having a high density magnetically coercive material for storing magnetic signals with the coercive material axes of magnetization oriented in a predetermined direction. A non-magnetic material is disposed on the high density magnetically coercive material for defining a exchange break layer. A protective coating including a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable material disposed on the exchange break layer and which is responsive through the exchange break layer to the coercive material axes of magnetization to produce a magnetic image field in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction. The protective coating is formed of a material which resists at least one of chemical, magnetic and mechanical degradation of the magnetic recording medium.

A magnetic transducer is positioned relative to a surface of the recording medium for transferring signals with respect to the recording medium. A drive member is operatively coupled to at least one of the transducer and the recording medium to provide relative movement therebetween.

A magnetic control device having a bias field adapted to increase through the protective coating and the exchange break layer the reluctance of the magnetic saturable, magnetically permeable material to enable the magnetic signal to pass between the high density magnetically coercive material through the exchange break layer and the protective coating to the magnetic transducer.

A programmable control device operatively connected to the magnetic control device is used to cause the bias field to be applied to the recording medium when a selected magnetic image is located substantially adjacent the transducer.

The protective coating may have at least one layer which includes a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material. Alternatively, the protective coating may have at least two layers wherein one of the layers includes a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material and the other of the layers is a non-magnetic abrasion resisting layer formed on the one of the layers.

The data storage device may further include a non-magnetic material layer positioned between the protective coating and the at least one thin film layer. The magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material is responsive through the non-magnetic layer to the coercive material axis of magnetization in the predetermine direction to produce a magnetic image field in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction.

Alternatively, the protective coating may have at least two layers wherein one of the layers includes a magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material and the other of the layers is a non-magnetic abrasion resisting layer formed on the one of the layers.

In such a device, the data storage device may further includes a non-magnetic material layer positioned between the one of the layers of the protective coating and the at least one thin film layer and wherein the magnetically permeable, magnetically saturable storage material is responsive through the non-magnetic layer to the coercive material axis of magnetization in the predetermine direction to produce a magnetic image field in a direction opposite to the predetermined direction.

The portable card utilizing the teachings of the present invention has wide and multiple applications and is essentially a multi-use portable card having a data storage device. As such, the data storage device in the form of a portable card can be utilized for either or both, either solely or jointly, as a financial or credit card, and/or for non-financial data storage and/or any other transaction type card requiring the storing of magnetic signals.

For magnetically encodeable cards, portable cards, data cards or other cards or the like employing the teaching of the present invention for use with magnetics, the present invention may be practiced with a wide variety of horizontal or vertical recording materials, soft magnetic materials, non-magnetic materials and substrates. In addition conventional deposition, sputtering, plating, oxidating and web coating methods may be employed to prepare the recording medium or data storage section, or a data storage section combined with a substrate to from a data storage device, or data storage device. Media used for hard disks, floppy disks and recording mediums when used with the protective coating of the present invention may be used for practicing this invention. Further, the above-described advantages may be achieved by the addition of a relatively hard, bendable protective coating to the data storage device that can yield with movement of the card and wherein it is anticipated that a predetermined quantity of the protective coating will be abraded therefrom during normal use in an ambient normal atmospheric operating or usage environment.

The storage material which can be sued for practicing this invention include, without limitation: (i) magnetic material; optical recording material; and (iii) magneto-optical material. Such material are well known to persons skilled-in-the art, and they need not be discussed in detail herein.

All such variations and incorporating of the teachings of the present invention are envisioned to be covered by and anticipated by the teachings set forth herein.

Other modifications and variation can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the subject of the invention as defined in the following claims.