Seagate Technology Incorporated

K. R. Precision Public Company Limited

Tracy M Hagen

Scott Robert Warmka

Michael Sweney Lucas

A flexure includes a base and a pair of beams coupled to the base at fixed-ends. The pair of beams are joined by a cross-beam at free-ends of the beams. A tongue extends from the cross-beam between the pair of beams towards the base. The flexure also includes a bend in each of the beams, which displaces the free ends out-of-plane relative to the fixed ends.

Flexure including controlled static attitude and load point contact

A gimbal formed integral with a load beam by through etching a H pattern at the end of the beam to define a pair of tabs connected by a pair of beams; half etching from the head direction one tab with an defined area masked to form a load button; and half etching the beam from the other direction to provide the proper gimbal stiffness. In practice, the head is glued to the other tab and load is applied through the button.

Method for forming a one-piece flexure for small magnetic heads

A chemically etched metallic head flexure device and method of fabrication for a head/gimbal assembly having at least one strategically plated surface. The chemically etched flexure device includes a protected surface and an exposed etched surface which are oriented relative one another to form at least one generally sharp edge therebetween. A metallic plated layer is provided which is formed on the exposed etched surface in a region adjacent the protected surface in an amount sufficient to substantially cover or reduce the sharpness of the sharp edge. Hence, transducer wires which contact the plated edge will not be nicked or cut by the edge during extended operation.

One piece flexure for a hard disc file head with selective nickel plating

A new gimbal for a disk drive head assembly includes a weld plate, a pair of compliant beams, a lateral beam, and a slider supporting surface. The gimbal also encompasses a cross beam that links the pair of compliant beams, thereby enhancing the transverse stiffness of the gimbal. In the preferred embodiment the cross beam is also provided with a cantilever tab to enhance the vertical stiffness of the gimbal. An S-shaped bend may be provided normal to the centerline of the gimbal to offset the plane of the slider supporting surface from the main gimbal. In addition, the gimbal may be provided with a formed edge along the outer length of the lateral beam to reduce the danger of damaged transducer wires. Finally, the gimbal may be combined with a carrier strip that eliminates the need for a large tooling hole within the weld plate of the gimbal.

Gimbal assembly with offset slider pad and cross beam for pitch and roll

An air bearing slider for supporting a transducer proximate a rotating disc utilizes a raised air bearing surface that interacts with pressurized air to support the slider. The slider includes a slider body that has a leading edge and trailing edge relative to motion of the rotating disc. The air bearing surface has a leading edge portion proximate the leading edge of the slider body that is greater in width than a trailing edge portion positioned proximate and central with respect to the trailing edge of the slider body. The leading edge of the raised air bearing surface extends the entire width of the raised air bearing portion.

Air bearing slider having shaped air bearing surface extending portion

One-piece flexure for small magnetic heads

A head-gimbal assembly supports a transducer proximate a magnetic surface for magnetic recording. This assembly comprises a flexure used in conjunction with a slider having a recess of sufficient depth provided in its top surface such that when a flexure member is set in the recess, and the member is attached during the HGA assembly process, the top of the flexure is flush with or is below the top surface of the slider. The gimbal component of the flexure is further provided with lateral alignment tab(s) to contact an interior wall of the recess, thereby providing alignment of the slider to the gimbal in the lateral direction, and longitudinal alignment tabs to contact the trailing surface of the slider, thereby providing alignment in the longitudinal direction. The slider is further provided with an identifying code on a non-recessed portion of the top surface of the slider such that the code is not obstructed by the flexure in the top plan view.

Head-gimbal assembly with reduced vertical spacing envelope and

Disc storage device having a magnetic head air bearing slider

A flexure for mounting a head in a hard disc drive. The gimbal of the flexure includes a load point tab which retains the full thickness of the original flexure material for most of its area and further includes a thinned area local to and surrounding a desired location for a load point button. The thinned area is formed out-of-plane from the remainder of the flexure by approximately one-half the material thickness. The size of the thinned area is selected to be such that the thinned area is substantially non-compliant under intended load forces.

Flexure with reduced unloaded height for hard disc drive heads

A one-piece flexure assembly, formed of a single piece of planar material, for mounting a magnetic head in a disc drive, which includes a load point button formed in a desired shape at a desired location by partially etching away that portion of the material surrounding the desired shape and location. In a preferred embodiment, the flexure includes an elongated load beam, a first tab integral with the load beam and including the load point button, a second tab, also integral with the load beam and forming a mounting surface for the head and a pair of laterally placed longitudinally extending partially etched gimbal beams connecting the two tabs.

A visual head alignment reference feature for determining the correct alignment of the slider body of a head relative to the load point of the gimbal which forms a portion of a hard disc drive head/flexure assembly. The head alignment reference feature includes laterally and longitudinally extending edges whose lengths define the allowable range of variation in slider placement along the respective axes. In a preferred embodiment, a laterally opposed pair of reference features are located on both lateral sides of the gimbal, enabling skew misalignment of the slider relative to the gimbal to be detected.

Head alignment reference feature in a hard disk drive head-gimbal

A process for making a gimbal formed integral with a load beam by through etching a H pattern at the end of the beam to define a pair of tabs connected by a pair of gimbal beams; half etching from the head direction one tab with an defined area masked to form a load button; and half etching the beam from the other direction to provide the proper gimbal stiffness. In practice, the head is glued to the other tab and load is applied through the button.

Process for making a one-piece flexure for small magnetic heads

One-piece flexure having an etched load point button

A flexure support plate having a pair of half etched legs which insert into slots formed in the sides of an actuators arm. A pair of flexure support plates may be insert into a single slot thereby permitting close disc spacing.

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Edina, MN, United States of America

Tracy M Hagen