International Business Machines Corporation

Archibald C Munce, Jr

Robert Fontana

Oscar Jaime Ruiz

Michael Anthony Moser

Clinton David Snyder

James William Berberich

C E Yeack-Scranton, Deceased

Chih-Kung Lee

Timothy C Reiley

Long-Sheng Fan

Timothy C O'Sullivan

Hans Helmut Zappe

A method is provided for making an assembly that has an integrated suspension, actuator arm and actuator coil. At least one actuator coil layer is located in the actuator arm region. The actuator coil layer is mounted to at least one homogeneous support layer which extends between terminal ends of the assembly for supporting all layers. A hole is provided through all layers in the actuator region at a pivot point for receiving an actuator spindle. In some embodiments of the invention, a transducer coil layer may be integrated in the suspension region and may be located in substantially a common plane with the actuator coil layer. The actuator region may be provided with a silicon base which contains integrated processing circuits which are connected to the transducer coil layer. A device may be carried by the assembly for bending the suspension region with respect to the actuator arm region. A method is provided for fabricating multiple integrated assemblies substantially entirely at the wafer level, each integrated assembly having a longitudinal recording magnetic head which has a close tolerance gap.

Method of making an integrated suspension, actuator arm and coil assembly

An assembly is provided which has integrated suspension and actuator arm regions. At least one actuator coil layer is located in the actuator arm region. The actuator coil layer is mounted to at least one homogeneous support layer which extends between terminal ends of the assembly for supporting all layers. A hole is provided through all layers in the actuator region at a pivot point for receiving an actuator spindle. In some embodiments of the invention, a transducer coil layer may be integrated in the suspension region and may be located in substantially a common plane with the actuator coil layer. The actuator region may be provided with a silicon base which contains integrated processing circuits which are connected to the transducer coil layer. A device may be carried by the assembly for bending the suspension region with respect to the actuator arm region. A method is provided for fabricating multiple integrated assemblies substantially entirely at the wafer level, each integrated assembly having a longitudinal recording magnetic head which has a close tolerance gap.

Integrated suspension, actuator arm and coil assembly with common

A motor based on the wobble motor provides pure rotary motion and can be used as a spindle motor for very small disk drives. The primary components of the motor are fabricated using thin film processes. The rotor has inner and outer rings that are interconnected by flexible members, such as semicircularly-shaped spring elements, with the rings and flexible members being formed of the same material. The rotor resides within the wobble motor stator elements that are circumferentially spaced on a substrate. The inner rotor ring is supported by a bearing structure that may be a ball bearing assembly or a pin bearing comprising a post and a restraining cap. The outer rotor ring functions as the wobble motor rotor and rolls around the inside of the stator as the stator elements are sequentially electrostatically activated. The flexible members act as a transmission to convert the wobble motion of the outer rotor ring to pure rotary motion of the inner rotor ring. The motor can function as a disk drive spindle motor by attachment of a data recording disk to the inner rotor ring and use of appropriate control circuitry to drive the motor at constant speed. The disk drive actuator may be attached to the same substrate that supports the stator elements. The stator elements, the rotor, and the bearing assembly may all be fabricated on a suitable substrate using thin film processes, without the necessity of assembly of separate components.

Microfabricated rotary motion wobble motor and disk drive incorporating

A data recording disk drive includes acceleration rate sensing for controlling or modifying one or more disk drive operations in response to external shock or vibration. An acceleration rate sensor is mounted on the disk drive housing and provides direct detection of acceleration rate of the disk drive when subjected to external shock or vibration. The sensor includes two spaced-apart piezoelectric transducers that operate in current mode. The transducers are connected to an interface circuit that generates two voltage signals that are directly proportional to the angular and linear acceleration rates, respectively, when the disk drive is subjected to an external force. The disk drive microcontroller uses the voltage signals to inhibit writing of data or modify the servo control signal to maintain the heads on track during track seeking or following. The microcontroller can also combine the two signals to determine the acceleration rate of an unbalanced rotary actuator, which can then be used to modify the servo control signal. This permits the use of an unbalanced rotary actuator, which makes the disk drive smaller and lighter and reduces power consumption.

Disk drive with accerleration rate sensing

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Archibald C Munce, Jr