Maxtor Corporation

Rick E Rupp

John D McCrandall

Dennis L Zekoff

In the assembly and testing of hard disk drive systems, a station having the capability of performing soldering and testing operations on a disk drive subassembly unit, such as a head gimbal assembly. The subassembly unit is placed onto a fixture. The fixture firmly holds the subassembly unit during both the soldering and testing operations. Wires are reflow soldered onto solder pads of a flex circuit. Afterwards, the subassembly unit is subjected to a variety electrical tests. The results of these tests are displayed to the operator. If these results indicate that there might be a problem with the wiring and/or soldering, the operator can readily 'retouch' or resolder the wiring and repeat the testing procedure to verify that the remedial measures have corrected the problem.

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Berthoud, CO, United States of America

Rick E Rupp