Western Digital (fremont), Inc.

Western Digital Corporation

Yimin Niu

Edmund Bruno Fanslau, Jr

Weijin Li

Martin John McCaslin

Muhammad A Hawwa

Kenneth Frederick Young

Edmund B Fanslau, Jr

Kah Yuen Kam

A rotary microactuator-based head-gimbal assembly design controls the unwanted deflection of a flexure in a data storage device and eliminates hinge deformation. The head-gimbal assembly maintains the co-planarity of the hinged islands in the microactuator under the applied load acting on the flexure and two associated hinged islands. The dimple post is placed at the dimple loading region of the flexure tongue and has the same height as adhesive dams on paddles secured to the hinged islands. The dimple post is formed by branching one of the existing conductive traces covered by a photoresist layer to the dimple loading region on flexure tongue. In an alternative embodiment, the dimple post is secured to the dimple loading region of the flexure tongue by means of adhesives with a variety of viscosity and elastic moduli.

Dimple pivot post for a rotary co-located microactuator

An actuator is coupled between a head and a flexure, the actuator providing submicron positioning of the head while reducing undesirable vibrations of the flexure. The actuator includes a stator and a rotor, with a plurality of deformable elements coupled between the stator and the rotor. In one aspect the rotor, stator and deformable elements are constructed so that the rotor has a substantially fixed axis of rotation relative to the stator, and the actuation of a transducer in the head is magnified. In another aspect the rotor is coupled to the head so that the axis of rotation is substantially aligned with the center of mass of the head and rotor, increasing the frequency at which the actuator can move the head and reducing vibrations in the flexure caused by actuation of the head.

Piezoelectric microactuators with substantially fixed axis of rotation and magnified stroke

A micro-actuator is comprised of a piezoelectric motor mounted on a flexure tongue with offsetting hinges, to perform a fine positioning of the magnetic read/write head. The substantial gain in the frequency response greatly improves the performance and accuracy of the track-follow control for fine positioning. The simplicity of the enhanced micro-actuator design results in a manufacturing efficiency that enables a high-volume, low-cost production. The micro-actuator is interposed between a flexure tongue and a slider to perform an active control of the fly height of the magnetic read/write head. The induced slider crown and camber are used to compensate for thermal expansion of the magnetic read/write head, which causes the slider to be displaced at an unintended fly height position relative to the surface of the magnetic recording disk. The enhanced micro-actuator design results in reduced altitude sensitivity, ABS tolerances, and reduced stiction. The controlled fly height of the magnetic read/write head prevents a possibility of a head crash, while improving the performance and data integrity.

Active fly height control crown actuator

A microactuator comprised of a piezoelectric motor mounted on a flexure tongue with offsetting hinges, to perform a fine positioning of the magnetic read/write head. The substantial gain in the frequency response greatly improves the performance and accuracy of the track-follow control for fine positioning. The simplicity of the enhanced microactuator design results in a manufacturing efficiency that enables a high-volume, low-cost production.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Yimin Niu