Intri-plex Technologies Inc.

David Django Dexter

Ryan John Schmidt

Kevin Patrick Hanrahan

Damon Douglas Brink

Paul Wesley Smith

Matthew S Sprankle

Philippe Jacques Parsy

Adam Donald Sutton

Sven Gronemann

A method of fabricating a base plate for piezoelectric actuation, comprises providing a plate having a major surface, striking a first removable portion of the plate in a first direction substantially normal to the major surface to shear the first removable portion relative to the plate by a shear distance that is less than the plate thickness. Striking the first removable portion in a second direction substantially opposite the first direction to reduce the shear distance by a reduction in shear that is less than the plate thickness. Leaving it the first removable portion in place rather than removing. Alternately, the removable portion may be created by lancing one or more portions spanning at least one opening through a base plate adjacent a first side of at least one opening and adjacent a second side of the at least one opening.

Method of fabricating a base plate for piezo actuation

A swage mount is manufactured for attaching a head suspension assembly to a head actuator arm for a hard disk drive. A conductive material is deposited on a predetermined part of the swage mount. A coating material is deposited on the swage mount including the predetermined part. Heat is applied to the swage mount, forming a mixture of the conductive material and the coating material. The mixture is conductive and supports a reliable connection between the swage mount and other disk drive components. Furthermore, the mixture enhances cleanliness by reducing particles shed from the swage mount. The conductive material is preferably gold, and the coating material is preferably nickel-based.

Method of manufacturing swage mount having a mixture of conductive material and a coating material

In certain embodiments, a method of fabricating a base plate for piezoelectric actuation, comprises providing a plate having a major surface; striking a first removable portion of the plate in a first direction substantially normal to the major surface to shear the first removable portion relative to the plate by a shear distance that is less than the plate thickness; striking the first removable portion in a second direction substantially opposite the first direction to reduce the shear distance by a reduction in shear that is less than the plate thickness; and leaving the first removable portion in place rather than removing the first removable portion. In other embodiments, the removable portion may be created by lancing one or more portions spanning at least one opening through a base plate adjacent a first side of at least one opening and adjacent a second side of the at least one opening.

Method to fabricate a base plate for piezo actuation

A swage mount is provided for attaching a head suspension assembly to a head actuator arm for a hard disk drive. The swage mount has a flange body with a thickness for providing clearance from the underlying disk. The swage mount may have a tip for in-plane movement. The tip may be 'T' shaped. The tip has a thickness that is greater than the thickness of the flange body for withstanding out-of-plane loads and for enhancing performance of the hard disk drive, for example, during reading/writing of data using the head. Mass properties of the swage mount, the twisting/bending yield load, modal frequency responses, and other performance metrics are analyzed to design the dimensions of the swage mount having favorable in-plane compliance and superior out-of-plane robustness.

Swage mount for hard disk drives

Swage mount having a mixture of a conductive material and a coating material and method of manufacturing the swage mount

A novel tolerance ring includes a hollow cylindrical body defining a longitudinal axis that passes axially through its center. A circumferential gap divides the hollow cylindrical body so that the hollow cylindrical body includes first and second longitudinal edges that define the circumferential gap. A plurality of bumps protrude radially from the hollow cylindrical body, and consists of a plurality of gap-adjacent bumps and a plurality of non-gap-adjacent bumps. At least one of the plurality of bumps is circumferentially between the gap and each of the non-gap-adjacent bumps. None of the plurality of bumps is circumferentially between the gap and each of the gap-adjacent bumps. The tolerance ring includes a means for increasing an otherwise lower average radial compressive stiffness of the gap-adjacent bumps to become substantially equal to an average radial stiffness of the non-gap-adjacent bumps.

Tolerance ring with edge bump difference

Various methods and apparatus relating to disk drive actuators and methods of manufacturing them are disclosed and claimed. In certain embodiments, a disk drive actuator assembly comprises a pivot bearing defining a pivot bearing rotational axis; an actuator arm including a bore, the pivot bearing disposed at least partially within the bore; a first tapered shim, interposed in the bore between the pivot bearing and the actuator arm, the first tapered shim having a thickness at a first end greater than a thickness at a second end; and a second tapered shim, interposed in the bore between the pivot bearing and the actuator arm, the second tapered shim having a thickness at a third end greater than a thickness at a fourth end; wherein the second tapered shim frictionally engages the first tapered shim to hold the pivot bearing substantially in place relative to the actuator arm.

Pivot attach method for disk drive actuator using taper lock shims

A tolerance ring configured to improve mass eccentricity of an actuator arm assembly. The tolerance ring has a cylinder with a predetermined length between two ends, with a gap along the predetermined length of the cylinder, the gap having a first and a second edge, the cylinder having an aperture in the surface of the cylinder at the second edge.

Tolerance ring for data storage with cut-out feature for mass control

A tolerance ring configured to prevent interlocking during shipping and handling. The tolerance ring has a cylinder with a first radius about an axis of rotation and a gap in the cylinder surface having a first edge and second edge extending along the axis. The gap in the cylindrical base has a first tab on the first edge and a second tab on the second edge. The first tab is adapted for coupling to the second tab and thereby prevents the interlocking of one tolerance ring with another. The gap can be configured to be non-linear.

Tolerance ring having various end tab designs to prevent interlocking

A tolerance ring for applications requiring high axial static friction has contacting portions having a novel profile. The use of multiple contacting portions having a smaller size that are wedge-shaped increases rigidity and provides a directional grip that increases axial static function. Using multiple wedge-shaped contacting portions with appropriate opposite slants provides a balanced and symmetrical grip. Using inter-level wedge-shaped contacting portions with opposite slants provides a more aggressive grip while providing a tolerance ring that is more dynamically stable and has a high resonant frequency.

Tolerance ring with high axial static friction

A tolerance ring configured to reduce torque ripple for a pivot bearing in an actuator arm assembly. The tolerance ring comprises a cylinder having a predetermined length, and a first and a second row of contacting portions arranged around the surface of the cylinder, the contacting portions of the second row are circumferentially displaced with respect to the first row by a distance greater than zero but less than the distance of the contacting portion and the spacing between adjacent contacting portions in the first row.

Tolerance ring having variable height and/or assymmetrically located bumps

A tolerance ring for coupling an actuator arm to a pivot bearing while maintaining mass eccentricity of the actuator arm. The tolerance ring having a substantially cylindrical base portion with a first radius about a central axis and extending a length parallel to the central axis, the cylindrical base portion has a first tab and a second tab extending along the length of the cylindrical base portion, the first tab being positioned proximate to the second tab. The tolerance ring improves mass eccentricity by radially displacing the first tab at a second radius about the axis such that a radial gap is formed between the first tab and second tab.

Tolerance ring for data storage with overlapping tab feature for mass control

A snap ring for applications requiring cleanliness has a novel recessed interior contour that reduces debris generation during installation of the snap ring. The snap ring is suitable for applications where a reduction in debris generation is desirable, such as to retain an actuator pivot bearing in information storage devices like magnetic hard disk drives.

Snap ring with recessed interior contour

A magnetic head supporting structure comprises a metal purified by vacuum arc remelting, vacuum induction melting, electroslag remelting, or electroslag remelting under vacuum, in at least one of the regions that undergo plastic deformation during disk drive manufacture, to reduce small hard inclusions that might be released into the disk drive interior environment.

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Goleta, CA, United States of America

David Django Dexter