Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Seagate Technology Incorporated

Ministor Peripherals International Limited

Chunjer Chuck Cheng

Tao Lin

Gang Herbert Lin

Lin Yang

Jin Hui Ou-Yang

Alex Y Tsay

Chih-Wu Jen

Chen-Chi Lin

Charles D Flanigan

Walter W Butler

Kamran Oveyssi

Keith R Berding

John R Gustafson

Ken L Chang

Yao-Hsin Huang

Thomas J Hitchner

Keith Freeman Wood

Neyram Hemati

May Ching Kung

David Joseph Bagaoisan

Sudha Narayan

Geoffrey A Hales

Craig W Congdon

Robert E Lloyd

Xiaoyang Shen

James Demuth

Mahdad Manavi

R Mark Watson

Charles E Ketchu

Jules Moritz, Jr

According to one embodiment, a head stack assembly cartridge is provided. The head stack assembly cartridge includes a base plate having a pivot shaft for pivotally mounting a head stack assembly and a base voice coil motor magnet attached to an inner surface of the base plate. The base voice coil motor magnet is arranged on the inner surface of the base plate to be adjacent to a coil of the head stack assembly pivotally mounted on the pivot shaft. The head stack assembly cartridge further includes a cover removably attached to the base plate and a pivot clamp removably attached to the cover and configured to secure the head stack assembly pivotally mounted on the pivot shaft.

Method for test mounting a head stack assembly cartridge

A disk spindle assembly cartridge is described. The disk spindle assembly cartridge includes a base, a spindle motor attached to the base, a disk seated on the spindle motor, a disk clamp attached to the spindle motor, wherein the disk clamp secures the disk to the spindle motor, and a cover attached to the base. The base is configured to detachably mount a head stack assembly cartridge, where the disk is accessible to a head stack assembly pivotally mounted in the head stack assembly cartridge via an opening defined by the base and the cover.

Disk spindle assembly cartridge

Removable actuator assemblies for testing head gimbal assemblies of a storage device are provided. One such removable test assembly for a head gimbal assembly (HGA) includes an actuator base including at least one guide pin, a shoe assembly including a body including a first end portion opposite to a second end portion, a first attachment means for releaseably coupling the shoe assembly with the actuator base, the first attachment means positioned along the first end portion and including at least one hole in the body configured to receive the at least one guide pin, and a locking cam configured to rotate such that a portion of the cam is positioned over a portion of the at least one hole, and a second attachment means for releaseably coupling the shoe assembly with the HGA, the second attachment means positioned along the second end portion.

Removable actuator assemblies for testing head gimbal assemblies of a storage device

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a head stack assembly cartridge is provided. The head stack assembly cartridge includes a base plate having a pivot shaft for pivotally mounting a head stack assembly and a base voice coil motor magnet attached to an inner surface of the base plate. The base voice coil motor magnet is arranged on the inner surface of the base plate to be adjacent to a coil of the head stack assembly pivotally mounted on the pivot shaft. The head stack assembly cartridge further includes a cover removably attached to the base plate and a pivot clamp removably attached to the cover and configured to secure the head stack assembly pivotally mounted on the pivot shaft.

Head stack assembly cartridge

A novel disk drive includes a disk and a spindle motor to which the disk is attached to rotate about an axis of rotation. The disk drive also includes a stationary plate facing and disposed over the disk, wherein the stationary plate includes a plurality of grooves through which rotation-induced air flows from an inlet end to an outlet end. The disk drive also includes a recirculation filter coupled to and immediately adjacent said outlet end of said plurality of grooves.

Disk drive having a stationary plate facing a disk and with a recirculation filter coupled to grooves in the stationary plate

An apparatus is provided for releasably holding a contact pad of a head gimbal assembly in electrical contact with a flex cable assembly of an actuator coil assembly. The apparatus includes a clamp body pivotally connected to an actuator body of the actuator coil assembly and moveable between an open position and a closed position, and a latch rotatably connected to the clamp body and operable to selectively position the clamp body in the open and closed positions. The clamp body is configured to apply pressure to the contact pad of the head gimbal assembly to make electrical contact with the flex cable assembly when the contact pad is arranged on the flex cable assembly and the clamp body in the closed position.

Dual-state clamping mechanism

An apparatus for detachably mounting a head gimbal assembly to an actuator coil assembly is described. The apparatus includes a lever pivotally connected to an upper surface of an arm of the actuator coil assembly and operable to pivot between a release position and a mount position. A capture pin extends from the lever into a mounting hole of the arm. The capture pin is substantially perpendicular to the lever and is collectively pivotable with the lever between the release position and the mount position. A spring is arranged to exert a force on the lever in a direction from the release position to the mount position. The capture pin is configured to engage the head gimbal assembly positioned on a lower mounting surface of the arm opposite the upper surface of the arm via the mounting hole and to press the head gimbal assembly into the arm when in the mount position.

Head gimbal assembly mounting mechanism

A novel disk drive includes a top cover having a plurality of integral anchor tabs extending towards a disk drive base. Each of the plurality of anchor tabs includes a hooking surface that faces the top cover. The disk drive base includes a plurality of retention cavities, each of the retention cavities including a catching surface that faces away from the top cover. Each of the plurality of anchor tabs protrudes into a respective one of the plurality of retention cavities, and may be deformed so that the hooking surface of the anchor tab is in contact with the catching surface of the retention cavity.

Disk drive having a top cover with anchor tabs

A novel disk drive is disclosed and claimed. The disk drive includes a disk and a spindle motor to which the disk is attached to rotate about an axis of rotation. The disk drive also includes a stationary plate facing and disposed over the disk, wherein the stationary plate includes a plurality of grooves through which rotation-induced air flows from an inlet end to an outlet end. The disk drive also includes a recirculation filter coupled to and immediately adjacent said outlet end of said plurality of grooves.

A disk drive includes an opaque cover secured to a base, where the opaque cover has an opening. A see-through insert, which includes an electrically conductive material, is affixed to the opaque cover over the opening. The electrically conductive material may be a coating applied to the see-through insert which, in one embodiment is a polymer coating having a certain surface resistivity. Alternatively, the coating's ESD-dissipative properties may be due to the presence of sputtered gold, sputtered indium tin oxide or a metal film. The electrically conductive material may alternatively be embedded in the see-through insert.

Disk drive cover having a see-through insert including an electrically conductive material

A stationary plate functions as a vibration damper and has an integrated air filtration guide. In one embodiment the stationary plate is disposed between two adjacent disks, and the guide comprises one or more grooves through which rotation-induced air may flow. In another embodiment, a plurality of stationary plates may be disposed between a plurality of disks, wherein each of the plurality of stationary plates has a grooved side through which the rotation-induced air may flow. In still another embodiment, the orientation of the grooves in the stationary plate is such that the rotationally-induced airflow impinges the disk drive's voice coil motor.

Disk vibration damper having an integrated air circulation guide

A disk drive includes a base, and a spindle motor coupled to the base. The spindle motor includes a hub defining an axis of rotation. The disk drive further includes a disk disposed about the hub and including a disk inner diameter biased against the hub at a contact location of the hub. The disk drive further includes a balancing element including a cylindrical portion disposed about the hub. The balancing element further includes a first cavity defining a first cavity centroid disposed on a same side of the axis of rotation as the contact location, and a second cavity defining a second cavity centroid disposed on a side of the axis of rotation opposite the first cavity centroid. The second cavity centroid is spaced apart from the first cavity centroid in a direction along the axis of rotation.

Disk drive including a balancing element with first and second cavities and a cylindrical portion disposed about a spindle motor hub

There is provided a disk drive including a disk and an actuator. The actuator includes a first actuator arm. The first actuator arm has a region of reduced thickness between an arm longitudinal axis and a disk axis of rotation. An average thickness of the first actuator arm in the region of reduced thickness is less than an average thickness of the first actuator arm at an equal distance from an actuator axis of rotation but on an opposing side of the arm longitudinal axis. The actuator includes a suspension assembly having first and second flexible legs. The suspension assembly is coupled to the first actuator arm via the flexible legs. The second flexible leg is disposed further from the disk in a direction parallel to the disk axis of rotation than the first flexible leg and closer to the disk axis of rotation than the first flexible leg.

Disk drive including an actuator arm with a region of reduced thickness between an arm longitudinal axis and a disk axis of rotation

A head stack assembly for a disk drive. The head stack assembly includes an actuator defining an axis of rotation. The actuator includes an actuator arm defining a longitudinal axis orthogonal to the axis of rotation. The actuator includes an actuator body formed of overmolded plastic. The actuator includes first and second locking pins extending from the actuator body orthogonal to the axis of rotation. The flex cable includes a first opening engaged with the first locking pin in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axis for retaining the flex cable. The flex cable includes a second opening engaged with the second locking pin in a direction generally parallel to the axis of rotation for retaining the flex cable.

Growing community of inventors

Saratoga, CA, United States of America

Chunjer Chuck Cheng