Seagate Technology Incorporated

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

International Business Machines Corporation

Hatem R Radwan

Ambrish A Misra

Miguel Dominguez

Fu-Ying Huang

Bradley David Kelemen

Walter Lloyd Prater

Gregory Michael Frees

Ming-Goei Sheu

Efim Bronshvatch

Eric Martin Albertson

Jeffrey Kerner

Boris Dushine

Embodiments of the present invention include a disk drive actuator arm for reducing amplitude of vibration modes substantially planar to a disk surface. The actuator arm comprises a plurality of head arms coupled to the actuator arm, the head arms substantially equally spaced and substantially parallel to each other. The actuator arm further includes a damping material bonded to a surface of one of the plurality of head arms, wherein the surface is substantially parallel to the plurality of head arms. The actuator arm further includes a mass bonded to the damping material wherein the mass dampens the amplitude of vibration modes substantially planar to the disk surface.

Tuned damper for disk drive actuator arm

An actuator assembly for a disk drive is provided wherein the pivot cartridge is supported within the bore of the actuator with corrugated end rings. The corrugated end rings provide a uniform distribution of forces on the pivot cartridge and effectively reduce vibrations between the pivot cartridge and the body of the actuator.

Disk drive actuator-pivot assembly with corrugated rings

A damping assembly for the actuator of high performance disk drive assembly is formed from multiple materials. The damping assembly is added to the actuator to dampen vibration that occurs during operation of the drive. The damping assembly is connected to an exterior portion of a coil region of the actuator. The damping assembly helps dampen vibration modes for coil torsion and coil bending, thereby improving dynamics settling performance to improve overall file input/output throughput performance. This also allows for a higher voice coil motor torque constant by increasing the magnet radius, thereby also improving move time, which further improves file input/output throughput performance. The overall file performance is improved by reducing settling times associated with coil torsion and coil bending modes, and allowing a higher torque constant to also improve move time. Both of these effects contribute to improving file performance.

System and method of damping vibration on coil supports in high performance disk drives with rotary actuators

A hard disk drive actuator pivot cartridge has a sleeve, a coaxial pivot shaft, and a pair of bearings therebetween. The bearings are located near the axial ends of the shaft. The sleeve has a wall thickness that is substantially greater than those of prior art sleeves. The sleeve also has a pair of annular pads that are located axially inward of the bearings. The cartridge mounts inside an actuator comb such that only the pads contact the bore of the comb. The axial location of the pads and the greater wall thickness of the sleeve significantly decrease the bending experienced by the cartridge when it is installed in the comb, and thereby increase the servo stability and performance of the disk drive.

Hard disk drive actuator pivot with inboard pads and enhanced pivot sleeve thickness for improved servo stability

An actuator assembly for a magnetic storage system wherein the end arms are dynamically tuned to reduce the modes of vibration on the actuator to improve the performance and stability of the actuator assembly in the magnetic storage system. In one embodiment, the upper and lower outer arms of the actuator assembly are thinned in the same or similar locations. In another embodiment, the upper and lower outer arms of the actuator assembly are notched at high strain energy points to reduce the stiffness of the outer arms. In still another embodiment, the upper and lower outer arms of the actuator assembly are both notched and thinned at the same or similar locations.

Dynamically tuned outer arms for improved rotary actuator performance

A rotary voice coil actuator assembly for a disc drive, including a stack of head/flexure/arm assemblies, spacers and an actuator motor coil assembly arrayed on a substantially cylindrical actuator body, all held in place between a radially extending flange at a first end of the actuator body and a nut engaged with threads at a second end of the actuator body, and further including a compliant washer interposed between the lowermost member of the stacked actuator elements and the nut. In a preferred embodiment, the compliant washer is formed with a circumferential corrugation.

Head positioner stack for high-capacity disc drives

A disc clamp formed in a circular shape from planar material. The disc clamp includes a central mounting portion having screw holes through which screws are inserted and fastened to matching tapped holes in the hub of the spindle motor. A circular corrugation is formed closely adjacent the outer diameter of the clamp forming a circular contact surface facing in the direction of the uppermost disc in a vertical stack of discs. A stiffening bend is formed at a radius lying between the central mounting portion and the circular corrugation to distribute the clamping force evenly between adjacent pairs of the screws. In a second aspect of the invention, the central mounting portion of the clamp includes a central opening and that part of the central mounting portion between the central opening and the stiffening bend is formed out-of-plane in the direction of the discs so that the central mounting portion will be substantially flattened onto the top of the hub of the spindle motor when the screws are tightened.

Disc clamp with integrated stiffener for hard disc drives

A hub has a disc concentrically mounted about the hub for rotation with the hub. The hub has a body portion with a first axial end, a second axial end and a surface extending between the first and second axial ends. A flange is disposed at the second axial end of the hub and supports the magnetic disc. A clamp is disposed about the body portion of the hub proximate the first axial end of the hub. The clamp and the flange clamp the disc for rotation with the hub. The first axial end of the hub includes a sufficient number of slots communicating with an inner surface of the clamp such that the clamp is removable by applying a radial force to the inner surface of the clamp through the slots to attain a minimum radial displacement of the clamp which exceeds a maximum radial interference between the hub and the clamp and such that strain induced in the clamp is less than a desired percent so the clamp remains unbroken upon being radially displaced.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Hatem R Radwan