Maxtor Corporation

Quantum Corporation

Seagate Technology Incorporated

Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Timothy A Riener

Stephen Paul Williams

Francis P Crimi

Brian D Strom

Erhard Theodor Schreck

Feng Q Liu

Yunfei Ding

Michael R Hatch

Wentao Yan

Yu Lo

Yaw-Shing Tang

Douglas J Krajnovich

Steven E Stupp

Karl A Flechsig

Kaz Saito

Yan Liu

Richard Blanco

Jon Edward Jacoby

James Montgomery Low

The present disclosure generally relates to improved lifetime of a data storage device utilizing an energy assist element. Rather than applying the same current to each energy assist element of a device, each energy assist element has a write current specific to the energy assist element. The unique applied current results in the corresponding energy assist elements having substantially the same temperature during operation. Obtaining substantially the same temperature during operation provides predictable and repeatable device performance and increases the lifetime of the entire data storage device as all energy assist elements should have substantially the same lifetime.

Device lifetime improvement through constant temperature

A disk drive head-gimbal assembly includes a flexure that is modified to address the effects that the operating temperature of the disk drive may have on fly height. Generally, the flexure tongue is split into a leading edge flexure tongue section and a trailing edge flexure tongue section that are separated by a slider decoupling section. The slider decoupling section structurally interconnects the leading and trailing edge flexure tongue section, and further provides a reduced contact area with the slider. This reduced contact limits the ability of the flexure tongue to induce a positive crown on the air bearing surface of the slider.

Thermally-compensating attachment of disk drive slider to flexure

A disk drive includes a rotatable data storage disk and a vane positioned adjacent to the disk that receives airflow generated during rotation of the disk. A sensor is operably coupled to the vane and measures airflow force on the vane. Because of a known relationship between altitude and airflow force, the amount of airflow force on the vane is indicative of altitude of the disk drive. The sensor provides an output signal that is indicative of measured airflow force on the vane. The vane surface may be oriented substantially orthogonal to a plane of the disk or substantially parallel with a plane of the disk.

Disk drive with altitude detection air vane

A disk drive includes a drive circuitry, a storage disk, a suspension and a slider. The slider is supported by the suspension and receives electrical current from the drive circuitry. The slider includes a flying side that generally faces the storage disk, a read/write head, and a slider deformer that is electrically decoupled from the drive circuitry. In one embodiment, the slider deformer is formed from a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion that is greater than a coefficient of thermal expansion of other portions of the slider. In this embodiment, the slider deformer causes a deformation of a portion of the flying side when the temperature of the slider deformer changes. Thus, when the read/write head expands or contracts due to a change in temperature of the slider, the slider deformer at least partially offsets the expansion and/or contraction of the read/write head to maintain a substantially consistent head-to-disk spacing of the disk drive.

Slider deformation control by thermal-structural compensators

A conductor assembly for carrying electrical signals is provided for a disk drive having an actuator arm. The actuator arm includes a first surface lying in a first plane, a second surface lying in a second plane and an outer edge. The conductor assembly includes a first trace segment, a second trace segment and one or more segment guides for urging the trace segments together between the first and second planes. Alternatively, the conductor assembly includes a first conductor platform that supports at least the first trace segment between the first and second planes. The conductor assembly can include a first platform step so that the first conductor platform is positioned parallel to the first and second planes. In an alternate embodiment, the first trace segment that has been reshaped to be positioned between the first and second planes.

Conductor assembly for reducing track misregistration in a disk drive

A disk drive includes a storage disk, a suspension and a slider assembly. The slider assembly includes a trailing half having a surface area, and a leading half having a substantially similar surface area to that of the trailing half. The percentage of the surface area of the trailing half that is directly secured to the suspension is greater than the percentage of the surface area of the leading half that is directly secured to the suspension. In another embodiment, the slider assembly includes a top surface that is secured to the suspension so that during an increase in temperature of the suspension only a portion of the top surface is subjected to a force that causes concavity of the slider assembly along a crown and/or a cross-crown direction. In yet another embodiment, the slider assembly is secured to the suspension so that a portion of the slider assembly cantilevers away from the suspension. In a further embodiment, the slider assembly has a leading edge and an opposing trailing edge. In this embodiment, the slider assembly is secured to the suspension so that an increase in temperature of the suspension causes more cross-crown concavity relative to the storage disk at the trailing edge than at the leading edge.

Passive compensation for pole tip protrusion by slider bending

A controller for a disk drive measures track misregistration, extracts non-repeatable runout from measured track misregistration, determines one or more components of non-repeatable runout at various radial locations of a disk, and compares the determined components to known values at different altitudes to determine an operating altitude of a disk drive.

Disk drive with altitude detection via analysis of non-repeatable runout components

A suspension assembly for supporting a read/write head/slider assembly adjacent to a rotating storage disk with dynamically adjustable flying height for use within a hard disk drive is provided. The suspension assembly includes a generally elongated loadbeam that has a baseplate defined at a first end thereof and a gimbaled flexure portion defined at a second end thereof. The flexure portion includes a pair of flexure legs and a flexure tongue. The pair of flexure legs extend from the flexure tongue and each leg attaches to an opposite side of the loadbeam. The flexure tongue generally provides a mounting surface for the read/write head/slider assembly. Strips of thermal-expansion material are attached to the flexure portion. These strips are connected to a power source via a power conductor. When the strips are energized, they expand and deform a portion of the flexure portion. This deformation of the flexure portion is transposed to the read/write head/slider assembly for dynamically adjusting the flying height thereof.

Suspension assembly for supporting a read/write head over a rotating storage disk with dynamically adjustable fly height

An improved flexure for supporting a read/write head adjacent to a relatively moving storage medium in a disk drive is disclosed. The flexure is a patterned flex circuit structure that is mounted to a load beam in an actuator assembly and includes integral wiring and bonding pads for electrically connecting the head to the electronics of the disk drive. The flexure also implements a high compliance gimbal with integral wiring.

Flex circuit flexure with integral high compliance gimbal

An improved suspension for supporting a read/write head adjacent to a relatively moving storage medium in a disk drive is disclosed. The suspension includes a curved loadbeam or a curved flexure that reduces the magnitude of the gain in the first torsion resonant mode of oscillation when the Z-height of the loadbeam is configured for minimum sensitivity of the first torsion gain as a function the loadbeam Z-height, thereby providing a suspension capable of providing improved head position servo performance and improved manufacturing and assembly yields.

Suspension having reduced torsional mode gain and sensitivity

A method corrects track misregistration attributable to out-of-plane motions of a rotating disk in a hard disk drive, and includes the steps of measuring a base plate-roll-bias angle between the rotating data storage disk and the head arm with a precision measuring device, and connecting the head arm and load beam at a roll-bias angle selected to minimize track misregistration attributable to the roll-bias. A number of connection arrangements and structures are presented in order to achieve the desired reduction in track misregistration.

Roll-biased head suspension for reduced track misregistration

In a disk drive unit having disk clamp/spacer/hub flanges, impact protrusion features extend from an end of a load beam to limit slider displacement from disk surface. The impact features also compensate for stack-up of the E-block arm such that potential interference and collision between the suspension and flange is minimized, if not eliminated, thereby reducing the risk of generating debris. The impact features are etched and formed with the stiffening rails of an up-rail suspension while a dimple is formed onto a back side of the down rail or rail-less suspension, in a direction away from the slider.

Growing community of inventors

Fremont, CA, United States of America

Timothy A Riener