Seagate Technology Incorporated

Ravishankar Ajjanagadde Shivarama

Bradley Jay Ver Meer

Razman Zambri

Christopher Unger

William Albert Challener

Kevin Arthur Gomez

Patrick Breckow Chu

Vijay Kumar

Taiho Yeom

Jason Bryce Gadbois

Roger Alan Resh

Joseph Michael Stephan

Sandeepan Bhattacharya

Jon Karsten Klarqvist

James Roger Mahoney

Scott Daemon Matzke

Jagdish L Agrawal

James A Fisher

A data storage system may utilize a gimbal test system to find open circuits and short circuits in a head gimbal assembly. The gimbal test system can have a gimbal flexure suspended between a load beam and a data storage medium with a flex circuit physically attached to the gimbal flexure to electrically connect a transducing head to a controller. The flex circuit can be tested with a test via that continuously extends through the flex circuit to a probe portion and a test pad located on an air bearing side of the gimbal flexure. The probe portion can be backed by the gimbal flexure along a plane perpendicular to a recording surface of the data storage medium.

Gimbal test system

A head suspension assembly for supporting a read/write head of a disk drive located on a rotatable drive actuator arm is disclosed. The head suspension assembly includes a baseplate end proximate to and operatively connected to a first microactuator pair, the first microactuator pair communicatively coupled to a controller. The head suspension assembly also includes a load beam movably connecting the first microactuator pair to a second microactuator pair. The head suspension assembly also includes a head transducer end proximate to and operatively connected to the second microactuator pair, the second microactuator pair communicatively coupled to the controller. The read/write head is located proximate to the head transducer end, the read/write head being flexibly connected to the load beam, and the controller is configured to selectably transmit control signals to the first and second microactuator pairs in order to improve tracking control of the read/write head.

Dual-stage head suspension assembly having additional microactuator pair

A data storage system can employ at least one transducing head that is suspended above a data storage medium to access data. The transducing head suspension can be configured with a resonance system where a gimbal flexure is mounted to a load beam via a physical connection. The gimbal flexure may support a transducing head and contact the load beam via the physical connection, a dimple, and a first contact feature concurrently while the physical connection, dimple, and first contact feature are each separate and different points of physical contact.

Transducing head suspension with resonance system

A slider adhesion system can be practiced in a data storage device with a flexure suspended from a load beam and a slider mounted to a gimbal tongue of the flexure. The slider can be aligned with an aperture of the gimbal tongue and attached to an adhesion feature of the gimbal tongue with an adhesive layer. The adhesion feature may consist of a plurality of cantilevered tabs extending into the aperture of the gimbal tongue.

Slider adhesion system

A method for assembling a head-gimbal assembly of a hard disk drive, the method including the steps of dispensing adhesive onto a top surface of a gimbal tongue, wherein the gimbal tongue is positioned adjacent to a load beam with a dimple extending from its top surface, and wherein the gimbal tongue is configured with at least one support feature that inhibits its deformation toward the dimple when subjected to downward pressure with respect to the dimple; positioning a slider on which a magnetic head is mounted adjacent to the top surface of the gimbal tongue; and pressing the slider onto the adhesive and toward the dimple of the load beam.

Gimbal detection inhibitor for head gimbal assembly

Gimbal deflection inhibitor for head gimbal assembly

A slider for use in a disk drive, the slider including a slider body having a leading surface and an opposite trailing surface, wherein the trailing surface includes portions with extensions or depressions. The extensions or depressions include a slider bond pad.

Toothed slider high density head gimbal assembly slider interconnect

A gimbal assembly includes a flex circuit with a first end extending along a loadbeam and second end having bond pads configured to be electrically coupled to a slider. The gimbal assembly includes a metallic layer with a fixed portion fixably attached to the loadbeam and a movable portion fixably attachable to the slider. The movable portion has at least one extension arm coupled to and providing support to the second end of the flex circuit. First and second linear actuators are coupled between the fixed portion and the movable portion. The first and second linear actuators cause a rotation of the slider in response to an electric signal.

Gimbal assembly with linear actuators that cause rotation of a slider

A flex circuit including a multiple layer structure is disclosed. The multiple layered structure includes a first or top layer and a second or base layer. Top traces and bond pads are fabricated on the top or obverse layer and interlayer traces and bond pads are fabricated between the first and second layers to provide an electrical interconnect to electrical components on a head assembly. In an illustrated embodiment, the flex circuit includes portions including the first or base layer and the second or top layer and one or more reduced thickness portion including the first or base layer and not the second layer. In one embodiment, the gimbal portion of the flex circuit includes the first layer and not the second layer of the multiple layer structure and in another embodiment a bending portion of the flex circuit includes the first base layer and not the second layer of the multiple layered structure to provide a reduced thickness to facilitate bending, for example in a micro-actuation region of the load beam.

Flex circuit having a multiple layered structure and interconnect

Assemblies and methods that include a flex circuit having a slider facing surface and an opposing back surface; a slider having a back surface and an opposing air bearing surface (ABS), the slider including an electrical connection region; and a through circuit electrical connection, that is in electrical connection with the electrical connection region of the slider, the back surface of the slider interfacing with the slider facing surface of the flex circuit.

Assemblies and methods for slider electrical connection containing through circuit electrical connections

Various embodiments of a method of detecting a contact event between a head and a storage medium, and a storage device that utilizes such method are disclosed. In one or more embodiments, the method includes applying an input signal to an actuator of a head of a storage device; identifying a frequency of the input signal; detecting an output signal in response to the input signal; and detecting a contact event between the head and a storage medium of the storage device if the output signal includes an even harmonic frequency and an odd harmonic frequency of the frequency of the input signal.

Nonlinearity-based contact prediction

A flex circuit including a dual sided interconnect structure to connect electrical components on a head or suspension assembly to head circuitry is described. The dual sided interconnect structure described has application for providing an electrical connection to one or more transducer elements on a slider and one or more elements of a heat assisted magnetic recording HAMR unit. In an illustrated embodiment, a flexible structure or insulating base layer includes one or more slider and heat assisted magnetic recording traces coupled to one or more slider or HAMR bond pads on an interconnect portion. As disclosed, the slider bond pads are on the obverse side of the flexible structure and the HAMR bond pads include a reverse side bonding surface to form reverse side bond pads to connect to one or more electrical or heating elements on the HAMR unit.

Flex circuit with dual sided interconnect structure

An apparatus has a slider body that includes an upper surface opposed to a media-facing surface. The slider body has an edge joined between the media-facing surface and the upper surface and facing a coupling region. The slider body includes a first bond pad on the edge and a laser submount coupled to the upper surface of the slider body. The laser submount has a second bond pad facing the coupling region. The apparatus includes a trace-gimbal assembly having first and second electrical traces facing the coupling region and electrically coupled to the respective first and second bond pad via first and second solder joints. An extension of the trace-gimbal assembly extends between the first and second solder joints preventing contact therebetween.

Trace-gimbal assembly with extension that prevents contact between solder joints

An apparatus includes a load beam, a slider coupled to the load beam by a gimbal assembly and including an optical transducer, an optical fiber for transmitting light directly toward the transducer, and a mounting structure for adjusting the position of an end of the optical fiber. Data storage devices that include the apparatus are also included.

Growing community of inventors

Bloomington, MN, United States of America

Ravishankar Ajjanagadde Shivarama