Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Paceco Corp.

Tho Pham

Myeong-Eop Kim

Tu K Nguyen

Kelly Williams

Hyung Jai Lee

Gregory Tran

Joseph Chang

Pyongwon Yim

Seong Hoon Kim

Tae Yeon Hwang

Hae Sung Kwon

Edward Aguilar

Young-Hoon Kim

Seong-Woo Kang

Yun-Sik Han

Dong-Ho Oh

Woo-Sung Kim

Lam H Tran

Zhong-Qing Gong

Shiao-Hua Chen

Myeong Eop Kim

Duane Huynh

Yun Sik Han

Shiaohua Chen

Anh Hoang

Disk clamp including a disk clamp base and a disk clamp platform. Disk pack including at least one disk coupled between disk clamp and spindle motor. Hard disk drive including disk pack mounted on disk base. Manufacturing methods for disk clamp base, disk clamp platform, disk pack and hard disk drive, and these items as products of their manufacturing processes.

Method and apparatus for a disk clamp used in a hard disk drive that reduces mechanical deformation on at least one disk from tightened screws through the disk clamp

Actuator arm includes an island coupling through a mote to at least two of actuator base, first and second actuator arm bridge. Head stack including at least one actuator arm. Head stack assembly including head stack. Hard disk drive including head stack assembly. Manufacturing methods for actuator arm, head stack, head stack assembly, and hard disk drive, and the products of these processes.

Method and apparatus for an auxiliary mass damper in each actuator arm notch of a hard disk drive

The present invention includes a flexible printed circuit bracket including a crash stop rubber and/or an air block. The air block directs the air flow from the rotating disk surface(s) away from the head gimbal assemblies to minimize positional variance of the read-write heads. The crash stop rubber contacts the crash stop stub on the actuator arm block, stopping actuator assembly swinging away from the disk. The invention includes making an actuator assembly with the invention's flexible printed circuit bracket, as well as making the hard disk drive. The invention includes both the actuator assembly and the hard disk drive as the products of these processes. The invention also includes the actuator assembly and the hard disk drive containing the invention's flexible printed circuit bracket.

Method and apparatus for flexible printed circuit bracket including crash stop and/or air block in a hard disk drive

Invention protects the data region of a disk surface in hard disk drive, using a facing surface containing a radial bump near an outside region radially beyond the data region. The facing surface and radial bump may belong to a disk base, a disk damper, a disk cover and/or a cover insert attached to the disk cover, as well as the hard disk drive including at least one facing surface and radial bump. The method of making the disk base, the disk cover, the cover insert for the disk cover, the disk damper, and/or the hard disk drive, as well as the products of these manufacturing processes.

Method and apparatus reducing data damage from mechanical shock in a hard disk drive

A laminated actuator arm of a hard disk drive. The actuator arm can be laminated with a relatively stiff material and a low density material. The stiff material can provide structural integrity for the arm. The low density material may be a damping material that damps shock and vibration energy transmitted into the arm.

Laminated actuator arm in a hard disk drive

The invention includes a yoke assembly containing a top and a bottom proximity latch magnet. The invention includes a voice coil attached to a voice coil bias steel. The crash stop includes a magnetic proximity latch created by the voice coil bias steel attracted to the top and bottom proximity latch magnets. It may also include using the magnetic proximity latch with a magnetically weakened contact latch. Experiments have shown that the combined magnetic proximity latch and the magnetically weakened contact latch require significantly less initial releasing force than the prior art crash stops, and meet rotary shock requirements. The invention includes making the actuator assembly, the voice coil motor assembly, and the CSS hard disk drive. The invention includes operating the CSS hard disk drive with at least the magnetic proximity latch.

Disk drive voice coil motor yoke assembly having proximity latch magnet pair attracting and holding voice coil bias steel therebetween

A hard disk drive with a post that extends from a base of a base plate. The base has a slot adjacent to the post. The slot attenuates a shock wave that propagates through the base plate of the drive.

Hard disk drive housing having isolated post to improve mechanical shock resistance

The inventors have discovered that aerodynamic forces contribute to disk fluttering. If the flow of air about these disk surfaces is unstable, the resulting aerodynamic forces can mechanically excite the disk surfaces, causing fluttering. The invention includes media enclosures constraining such aerodynamic effects, methods of making disk drives with these enclosures, the disk drives. This includes disk drives of at most 13 millimeters in height.

Media enclosures providing reduced air gap around disk drive media surfaces of a disk drive

A servo writer that writes servo information onto a disk of a hard disk drive. The servo writer can write servo information onto a disk of a hard disk drive while the disk is within an inner chamber of a housing. The rotating disk creates a flow of fluid within the inner chamber. The disk is rotated during the servo writing process. The density of a fluid medium within the inner chamber is controlled by a medium control system so that the density of the medium is less than the density of air at one atmosphere. Lowering the density decreases the amplitude of vibrational forces created by the flow of fluid. Decreasing the amplitude reduces errors in the servo writing process. The density can be reduced by pulling a vacuum within the inner chamber. The density can also be reduced by filling the inner chamber with a gas such as helium that has a lower density than air.

Servo track writing for ultra-high TPI disk drive in low density medium condition

A hard disk drive assembly that includes a device for limiting a movement of a head of a head gimbal assembly from a surface of a disk. The head is coupled to the disk and attached to a suspension of the head gimbal assembly. The invented device limits a distance that the head can move away from a surface of the disk. Limiting the distance that the head can move away from the surface of the disk, may reduce the impact force associated with the head slapping the disk, which may reduce damage associated with head slapping.

Device for reducing damage due to head slap within a hard disk drive

A bumper that can be attached to an outer surface of a hard disk drive housing. The bumper may be constructed from a damping material that attenuates a shock load and dampens a resultant vibratory response of a shock event. The bumper may be snapped onto the disk drive housing without using external fasteners.

Shock protection skin bumper for a hard disk drive

A spindle motor assembly for a hard disk drive which has a fluid filled tube that dynamically balances the spindle motor. The assembly may include a hub which is rotated by an internal motor. A plurality of disks may be coupled to the hub and separated by a number of spacers. In one embodiment, the fluid filled tube is attached to the hub. In another embodiment, the fluid filled tube is attached to the spacer. The fluid within the tube is allowed to move during rotation of the hub. Movement of the fluid may dynamically balance the spindle motor.

Balance tube for a spindle motor assembly of a hard disk drive

A head restraint that prevents head slapping within a hard disk drive. The disk drive includes a disk that is rotated by a spindle motor. The drive also has a magnetic recording head that is mounted to a flexure arm and magnetically coupled to the disk. The head restraint includes a finger that is moved from an unrestrained position to a restrained position to engage the flexure arm and prevent the head from moving in a direction essentially perpendicular to the disk.

Head restraint device for disk drive

A latch for an actuator arm of a hard disk drive. The latch includes a damping sleeve that is molded onto a steel plate. The sleeve has a pair of collars located at opposite ends of a neck portion. The neck portion is inserted into a plastic fantail portion of an actuator arm. The steel plate becomes attached to a magnetized member of the drive when the actuator arm is rotated to an unloaded position. The attachment of the plate, latches the position of the actuator arm and prevents the disk drive heads from moving onto the data sectors of the disk. The latch is located on the longitudinal center axis of the actuator arm so that the latch does not create a twisting vibrational mode on the arm. The steel plate is located away from the voice coil magnets of the disk drive so that the latch does not create a biasing force on the arm. The latch can be assembled to the actuator arm by merely pressing the damping sleeve into an aperture of a tab that extends from the fantail of the arm.

Growing community of inventors

Milpitas, CA, United States of America

Tho Pham