International Business Machines Corporation

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

Steven Harry Voss

Albert John Wallash

Earl Albert Cunningham

Darrick Taylor Smith

Jerry Lee Neubauer

David Malcolm Hannon

Jeffrey B Brown

Raymond Patrick Mallette

Paul Sheldon Tyler

Carl Robert Mendel

Nickolas Christopher Apuzzo

Samir Elias Abboud

William Woodrow Brooks, Jr

Wesley LeRoy Hillman

Laurence J Schmidt

Dennis James Veerkamp

Randall George Simmons

Lowell James Berg

Wing Chun Shum

Darrell Dean Palmer

Richard Greenberg

Ullal Vasant Nayak

Jerome Thomas Coffey

Donald John Wanek

John R Reidenbach

Hong S Seing

Lyle R Tufty

Peter M Herman

Bob Clyde Robinson

Daniel L Good

Walter E Zahn

Tony Mello

John Charles Jans, Sr

Kenneth William Meyer

Randall L Severson

Edward Kou-Wei King

Pete M Herman

Boyd M Brue

Disclosed is an apparatus and method for dynamic fly height and roll adjustment of a physical asperity sensor (PAS) head. The PAS head is used to test disk asperity heights and mechanical interference (commonly known as glide height and take off height). The PAS may be adjusted through a pivoting device such as a joystick coupled through one or more actuators to the pivoting device by actuator arms. In one embodiment, the actuator is a piezoelectric motor. The PAS head may utilize a detector to indicate the distance of the disk asperity from the PAS head. The method comprises receiving the signal and in response, operating the actuators to adjust the position of the pivoting device to obtain a selected positioning of either the fly height or the roll of the PAS.

Apparatus and method for dynamic fly height adjustment

A tool block holds an integrated lead suspension during assembly. The tool block has a number of features for precisely positioning the integrated lead suspension while transducer heads are being mechanically and electrically connected to it. The most critical feature is a movable datum clamping pin which is positioned to precisely engage a mount plate on the integrated lead suspension. Other features of the tool block include a platform support, a locating hole, a platform clamp and a pivot arm.

Method for processing an integrated lead suspension

A clamp assembly holds an integrated lead suspension during assembly. The clamp assembly has a number of features for precisely positioning the integrated lead suspension while transducer heads are being mechanically and electrically connected to it. The clamp assembly works in conjunction with a stationary platform which restricts movement of the suspension in three directions. The clamp assembly includes upper and lower support plates which compensate for lateral misalignment, and a pair of clamps which independently isolate the suspension and slider while compensating for rotational misalignment.

Self-aligning slider and platform clamping system for manufacturing

Integrated lead suspension tool block

A low profile, high capacity, high performance disk drive includes a plurality of disk surfaces mounted in parallel for simultaneous rotation about an axis. Each of a plurality of data transducer heads for reading and/or writing data to the data surfaces is attached to a slider. A stacked arm actuator for moving the data transducer heads in a radial direction across the disk surfaces includes a supporting arm and a suspension load beam attached to the supporting arm. The suspension load beam connects the supporting arm to the slider. The suspension load beam includes a load dimple bearing on the slider and has opposed stiffening flanges extending in a plane adjacent the slider. The actuator includes a stack of 9 head arm suspension assemblies and the stack has a height of 16.634 mm. An interdisk spacing of less than 1.4 mm provides a height dimension of 14.635 for a stack of 8 disks. Shock and electrical isolation is accomplished using four mounting blocks carrying energy absorbing, highly damped, resilient material.

High capacity, high performance low profile disk drive

An integrated suspension for a slider in a magnetic storage system has a simplified structure that is relatively easy to manufacture. The novel integrated suspension may be assembled from separate pieces, including a load beam, a flexure and a mounting plate. The load beam provides rigid structural support of the flexure. The flexure includes a flexible member and leads integrally formed thereon. A section of the flexible member is fixedly attached to the load member, and another section having the slider mounted thereon presses against a pivot projection in the load beam for gimbal motions. An interlocking structure is provided to limit the extent of gimbal motions of the flexible member, comprising a tab extending from the flexible member into an aperture in the load beam. Alternatively, a tang is formed in the flexible member which is used to form a clip which serves to limit gimbal motions as it interacts with the load beam.

Multi-piece integrated suspension assembly for a magnetic storage system

The magnetic states of MR reproducing heads are reinitialized during media drive manufacturing by applying initializing magnetic fields to the transducers after they have been manufactured and incorporated into media drive assemblies.

Magnetic reinitialization of thin film magnetoresistive reproducing

A system is disclosed for clamping disks in a spaced parallel relationship around a circular hub in a disk drive storage system. An annular clamp is provided which includes tabs extending inwardly into the aperture of the annular clamp which define a slightly smaller aperture. When a collapsing force is applied to the annular clamp, these tabs are displaced outwardly such that the annular clamp may be placed over the circular hub. The circular hub includes a lip for receiving the tabs and prohibiting axial movement of the annular clamp in response to a release of the collapsing force. Annular spacers are also disposed around the circular hub between adjacent disks. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each annular spacer includes multiple pads on each side thereof, minimizing any disk distortion which may be caused by spacer size variations.

System for clamping a plurality of disks to a hub

A disk pack assembly for use in a disk drive has disks which are alternately diametrically offset about a spindle axis of rotation. The disks are positioned as a function of their outer edges such that alternate opposite outer edges line up as though they were the outer edges of centered nominal diameter disks. This results in an increase in the number of axial nodal points for potential imbalance moments and reduces the amplitude of associated vibrations. Disk spacers are also alternately diametrically offset about the spindle axis so tht pairs of like components tend to balance each other to minimize potential vibrations.

Alternately centered disk pack assembly and method

A disk file data disk stack assembly is clamped using a preloaded heat shrink ring that has an interference fit with the assembly hub. In addition to an inner diameter slightly smaller than the cooperating hub surface, the shrink ring has a full or extended outer cylindrical surface and a reduced area inner cylindrical surface and a reduced area axial end surface to permit effective heat transfer to the ring with minimal conductive heat transfer to the hub and clamping element to enable a differential temperature for effecting shrink ring removal when required.

Shrink ring for disk clamping

Growing community of inventors

Rochester, MN, United States of America

Steven Harry Voss