Hutchinson Technology Corporation

Mound Laser & Photonics Center, Inc.

Cambridge Mechatronics Limited

Paul Valentine Pesavento

Peter Francis Ladwig

Kurt C Swanson

Michael Wayne Davis

Timothy A McDaniel

Douglas P Riemer

John A Theget

Joel B Michaletz

Philip W Anderson

Jacob D Bjorstrom

Zachary A Pokornowski

Ryan N Ruzicka

Clark T Olsen

Nole D German

Allan D Tokuda

Steven R Lagergren

Patrick R LaLonde

Jeffry S Bennin

Andrew Benjamin David Brown

Bryan John Scheele

Richard Rodger Jenneke

Matthew S Lang

Kyle T Tobias

Darrell C Sydlo

Kurt F Fischer

Matthew J Horner

Todd Austin Peter

Joseph D Starkey

Christopher J Sperl

Ritesh K Tiwari

Maryam O Yusuf

Alexander W Haas

Collin M Grove

David A Brouchous

Carl C Minton

David D Smahel

Timothy Alan Mcdaniel

A neutralizing composition comprising ascorbic acid as a reducing agent, citric acid as a chelator and a pH adjusting agent applied to microetched copper substrates bussed to stainless steel, which have been cleaned with an agent comprising permanganate ions. Unlike the prior art neutralizing agents comprising oxalic acid, which leave insoluble residue on the surface of the copper substrate, the present neutralizing composition leaves no residue and acts quickly. A surprising reduction in defects of Ni—Au plated copper substrates is achieved by utilization of the neutralization composition in a manufacturing process.

Microetch neutralizer chemistry for Ni—Au plating defect elimination

Methods for producing flexible circuits can include creating treating a surface of the flexible circuit with at least one of an atmospheric plasma and a beam of ions. The atmospheric plasma is formed by directing a flow of gas between an electrode and the surface of the flexible circuit and generating a voltage between the electrode and the flexible circuit to create a plasma from the gas. A mean ion energy of the ions in the ion beam ranges from about 500 electron volts to about 1,500 electron volts.

Plasma treatments for flexures of hard disk drives

Treatment solutions and methods for improving adhesion of gold electroplating onto metal surfaces are provided herein. More specifically, the disclosure relates to micro-etching stainless steel surfaces using to remove any organic contamination and chromium oxide formed on the surface, neutralize and strip the surface of any iron content, and repassivate the surface with a thin chromium oxide layer, prior to gold electroplating of the stainless steel surfaces.

Treatment methods and solutions for improving adhesion of gold electroplating on metal surfaces

A device includes a dielectric layer having a first surface and a second surface. The device also includes a first set of high-aspect ratio electroplated structures disposed on the first surface of the dielectric layer and a second set of high-aspect ratio electroplated structures disposed on the second surface of the dielectric layer opposite the first set of high-aspect ratio electroplated structures.

High-aspect ratio electroplated structures and anisotropic electroplating processes

A method for forming a cutting tool includes masking a metal base with one or more masks, the one or more masks including at least one variable permeability mask, and chemically etching the masked metal base to form a blade of the cutting tool.

Chemically sharpening blades

A chemically etched needle is provided herein. The chemically etched needle includes a metal base having a first side and a second side. The chemically etched needle also includes a chemically etched blade at one end of the metal base and formed at an intersection of a distal diverging surface and a proximal diverging surface, at least one of the diverging surfaces slopes inward towards the second side.

Needle with rounded edge

An apparatus and related methods are described. The apparatus is described that includes a structural metal element including a metallic foam layer. The apparatus also includes a second metal element and a nonmetallic spacer. The nonmetallic spacer arranged between the structural metal element and the second metal element, the metallic foam layer joined to the nonmetallic spacer.

Metallized components and surgical instruments

A miniature camera () comprising at least one SMA actuator wire () arranged to effect focus, zoom or optical image stabilization. The SMA actuator wire () is coated with an electrically insulating layer () of thickness in the range from 0.3 &#x3bc;m to 10 &#x3bc;m. The layer () provides electrical insulation whilst permitting cooling that provides a rapid response time of the SMA actuator wire ().

Insulation of SMA actuator wires in a miniature camera

A surgical instrument and related methods are described. The surgical instrument includes a first jaw including a first structural jaw element and a first sealplate fixed to the first structural jaw element and a second jaw including a second structural jaw element and a second sealplate fixed to the second structural jaw element. The second structural jaw element is moveably coupled to the first structural jaw element to facilitate pinching tissue between the first and second sealplates. The first and second sealplates are configured to facilitate sealing tissue pinched therebetween. The first jaw further includes a metallized tie layer between the first sealplate and the first structural jaw element, wherein the first sealplate is fixed to the first structural jaw element via a metal to metal joint between the first sealplate and the metallized tie layer.

A chemically etched cutting tool includes a metal base having a first side and a second side, and a chemically etched blade on at least one side of the metal base, the chemically etched blade forming a cutting edge at the intersection of the first side of the chemically etched blade and the second side of the chemically etched blade. The first side of the chemically etched blade includes one or more concave portions and one or more convex portions with at least one inflection point between the concave portions and one or more convex portions. The second side of the chemically etched blade includes one or more concave portions and one or more convex portions with at least one inflection point between the concave portions and one or more convex portions.

Chemically sharpened blades

Various embodiments concern a method for manufacturing a disk drive head suspension component. Such methods can comprise providing a head suspension component comprising a layer of insulating material on a spring metal layer. Such methods can further comprise forming a strain gauge element and a trace seed layer by depositing a first metal on the insulating material layer, such as by sputtering. The strain gauge element and the trace seed layer can be formed simultaneously by the depositing of the first metal as part of the same process step. The first metal can be of a strain gauge class of metal having relatively high resistivity, such as constantan. Such methods can further comprise plating a second metal on the trace seed layer to form one or more traces.

Head suspension flexure with integrated strain sensor and sputtered traces

Various embodiments concern a dual stage actuation flexure having a motor contact paddle for connecting to a terminal of a piezoelectric motor. The flexure comprises a paddle having a top side and a bottom side, the paddle comprising at least one void, each void extending through the paddle from the bottom side to the top side. The paddle further comprises a stainless steel base, a conductor comprising a layer of metal, and a dielectric layer having a first section and a second section, the first section positioned between the conductor and the stainless steel base to overlap the stainless steel base and the second section extending beyond the stainless steel base to not overlap the stainless steel base. The bottom side of the paddle is configured to connect to the terminal with electrically conductive adhesive.

Electrical contacts to motors in dual stage actuated suspensions

Growing community of inventors

Hutchinson, MN, United States of America

Paul Valentine Pesavento