Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Seagate Technology Incorporated

Hgst Netherlands, B.v.

Chiao-Ping (Roger) Ku

Lin Yang

Jin Hui Ou-Yang

Wei Hsin Yao

Bruno Jean Marchon

Jen-Tai Lin

Gary C Griffin

Michael G Choy

David Shiao-Min Kuo

Shuo-Hao Chen

Aaron J Hanna

Alex Yu-Chih Tsay

Toshiki Hirano

David S Kuo

Lidu Huang

Li-Ping Wang

John R Gustafson

Robert J McNab

Aaron D Little

Serge Hauert

Yuh-Jen Cheng

Thomas R Prentice

Sudha Narayanan

Gary C Griffen

Gwo-Jeng Lo

Franc Orangel Leon-Mendez

A disk drive can include an enclosure and a media disk rotatably mounted to the enclosure via a spindle. A fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) can be mounted between the enclosure and the spindle of the media disk. The FDB may include an integrally formed shaft and lower thrust bush formed together from a single material.

System, method and apparatus for disk drive fluid dynamic bearing

There is provided a disk drive including a disk drive base, a disk rotatably coupled to the disk drive base, and a spindle motor attached to the disk drive base and configured to support the disk for rotating the disk with respect to the disk drive base. The disk drive further includes a filter component. The filter component includes a filter housing coupled to the disk drive base, and a filter element disposed within the filter housing for filtering disk rotation induced airflow. The filter element includes a coarse section and a fine section. The coarse section has a porosity greater than a porosity of the fine section.

Disk drive including a filter component with coarse and fine sections

There is provided a disk drive including a disk drive base, a disk rotatably coupled to the disk drive base, and a spindle motor attached to the disk drive base and configured to support the disk for rotating the disk with respect to the disk drive base. The disk drive further includes a filter component. The filter component includes a filter housing coupled to the disk drive base, and a pair of filter elements disposed within the filter housing for filtering disk rotation induced airflow. Each filter element includes a coarse section and a fine section, wherein the coarse section is positioned upstream of the fine section relative to a direction of the induced airflow.

A disk drive includes a disk drive base, a disk, and a head stack assembly rotatably coupled to the base adjacent the disk surface of the disk. The disk drive includes an airflow channeling enclosure. The enclosure includes an airflow inlet disposed downstream of the head stack assembly and configured to receive the disk rotation induced airflow therethrough. The enclosure further includes an airflow channel extending along the disk surface from the airflow inlet. The enclosure further includes an outer wall extending along the disk surface from the airflow inlet and defining the airflow channel radially interior to the outer wall. The enclosure further includes an airflow outlet disposed upstream of the head stack assembly extending from the outer wall and the channel opposite the airflow inlet for modifying the disk rotation induced airflow passing from the channel.

Disk drive with airflow channeling enclosure

A disk drive including a disk drive base, a disk coupled to the disk drive base, and a head stack assembly coupled to the disk drive base. The disk drive further includes an airflow diverter filter component disposed upstream of the head stack assembly with respect to disk rotation induced airflow for modifying the disk rotation induced airflow adjacent the head stack assembly. The filter component includes a first filter element disposed adjacent the disk surface, a second filter element disposed between the first filter element and the head stack assembly, and a third filter element having a porosity finer than the first and second filter elements. The third filter element is generally radially further than the second filter element from the axis of rotation. The disk rotation induced airflow generally enters the filter component through the first filter element and exits through the second and third filter elements.

Disk drive with airflow diverter filter component

A disk drive includes a base, a spindle motor attached to the base, the spindle motor including a hub having hub apertures, a plurality of disks on the spindle motor and including a first and a second disk, a disk spacer between the first and second disks, and a disk clamp. The disk spacer has a plurality of spacer through apertures. Each of the spacer through apertures extend radially through the disk spacer. The disk clamp has clamp through apertures adjacent to an inner diameter of the disk clamp. Each of the clamp through apertures extend longitudinally through the disk clamp. The clamp through apertures, the hub apertures and the spacer through apertures are aligned for allowing airflow to pass through the apertures when the disks are rotating.

Disk drive having apertures aligned near the inner diameter of a disk stack for allowing airflow to pass through the apertures to reduce disk flutter

A disk drive includes a disk clamp for clamping a plurality of disks to a spindle motor, and a disk spacer positioned between first and second disks. The first disk has a plurality of first disk through apertures adjacent its inner diameter. The first disk through apertures are circumferentially spaced-apart and extend longitudinally through the first disk. The disk spacer has a plurality of spacer apertures that are circumferentially spaced-apart and extend longitudinally through a portion of a thickness of the disk spacer. The disk clamp is adjacent to the first disk and has a plurality of clamp through apertures adjacent an outer diameter of the disk clamp. The clamp through apertures are circumferentially spaced-apart and extend longitudinally through the disk clamp. The first disk through apertures, the spacer apertures, and the clamp through apertures are aligned for allowing airflow to pass through when the plurality of disks is rotating.

Disk drive having apertures near the ID of a disk stack for allowing airflow to pass through the apertures to reduce disk flutter

Disk drives including suspensions and head gimbal assemblies in which the load beam pitch angle is reduced exhibit a reduced disk flutter induced track mis-registration (TMR) at the disk outer diameter. The reduction in the load beam pitch angle may be achieved through variations in the load beam, hinge and/or mount plate configurations, relative positions and/or thickness.

Suspension design for attenuation of disk flutter induced track mis-registration of a hard disk drive by manipulation of the hinge and/or load beam

A disk drive includes a head gimbal assembly that includes structure that decreases the pitch angle of the load beam, which decreases disk flutter induced track mis-registration. According to one embodiment, the disk drive includes a body portion including a bore defining a pivot axis; an actuator arm cantilevered from the body portion and a head gimbal assembly (HGA) supported at the actuator arm. The HGA includes a load beam having a first end and a second end, the first end being attached to the actuator arm, the load beam defining a load beam feature near the second end, at least a portion of the load beam feature defining an extension that is parallel to the pivot axis and that has a rectangular cross-section having a length to width aspect ratio that is greater than 1. A slider is coupled to a free end of the load beam extension, and a gimbal coupled to the second end of the load beam and to the slider.

Suspension design for attenuation of disk flutter induced track mis-registration of a hard disk drive by manipulation of load beam pitch angle

A magnetic data recording medium substrate has a contact zone and a data zone. The contact zone is textured by forming multiple texturing features, each having a bell-shaped profile resembling a Gaussian curve. The features preferably are formed by pulsed laser energy applied to a glass substrate, or to an aluminum nickel-phosphorous substrate coated with a glass layer. As compared to previous laser texturing approaches, the laser beam is less narrowly focused to provide a beam impingement area with a diameter of at least three microns, forming texturing features with diameters of at least three microns. The texturing features preferably are uniform in height and diameter, and may be symmetrical or have asymmetrical aspects, so long as bell-shaped profiles are present in the direction of travel of the recording medium, relative to transducing heads.

Media contact zone with bell-shaped texturing features

A disk drive including a disk drive base. The disk drive further includes at least one rotatable disk which includes a disk surface extending to an outer disk edge. The disk drive further includes a head stack assembly rotatably attached to the disk drive base in operable communication with the disk. The disk drive further includes an airflow suppressor comb coupled to the disk drive base and stationary relative to the disk drive base during operation of the disk drive. The comb includes a comb body disposed adjacent to the outer disk edge, and at least one tine extending from the comb body along the disk surface for mitigating disk rotation induced airflow upon the head stack assembly adjacent to the disk surface.

Disk drive having airflow suppressor comb for reduced disk rotation induced airflow

A disk surface asperities tester including a glidehead member having a piezoelectric sensor fabricated directly on the glidehead member. The piezoelectric sensors are useful in applications utilizing 70%, 50%, 30%, or smaller glideheads. The invention discloses a method for manufacturing sensors utilizing microchip fabrication techniques to form the piezoelectric sensors directly on glidehead surfaces, including standard Al O .TiC glideheads. The fabricated piezoelectric sensors are used in combination with signal processors to detect and analyze asperities in a disk drive surface.

Advanced glidehead sensor for small slider

A glide test head assembly glide test head assembly in which the mounting orientation of the piezo element has been modified. The glide test head assembly mounts the piezo element with one of its major surfaces coincident with the surface of the laterally-extending wing on which it is mounted. The mounting orientation of the piezo element allows the piezo element to be mounted fully on the laterally-extending wing of the glide test head assembly, raising the resonant frequency of the piezo element, decreasing the glide test head assembly's sensitivity to excitation caused by air flow disturbances, and increasing the reliability of glide test results.

Glide test head assembly with enhanced signal output

A disk surface asperities tester including a glidehead member having a piezoelectric sensor fabricated directly on the glidehead member. The piezoelectric sensors are useful in applications utilizing 70%, 50%, 30%, or smaller glideheads. The invention discloses a method for manufacturing sensors utilizing microchip fabrication techniques to form the piezoelectric sensors directly on glidehead surfaces, including standard Al,O,.TiC glideheads. The fabricated piezoelectric sensors are used in combination with signal processors to detect and analyze asperities in a disk drive surface.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Chiao-Ping (Roger) Ku