The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 24, 1998
Filed:
May. 25, 1994
Jeffry S Bennin, Hutchinson, MN (US);
Todd W Boucher, Stewart, MN (US);
James H Dettmann, Duluth, MN (US);
Lloyd C Goss, Bloomington, MN (US);
Gary E Gustafson, Darwin, MN (US);
Michael T Hofflander, Edina, MN (US);
Brent D Lien, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Dean E Myers, Stewart, MN (US);
Hutchinson Technology Incorporated, Hutchinson, MN (US);
Abstract
Laminate structures for attachment to a head suspension assembly in a hard disk drive. The laminate structures include a spring metal layer, a conductive layer, and an intermediate insulator/adhesive layer. The conductive layer can act as an interconnect assembly, as a gimbal, and as a spring region. The method of manufacture of the laminate structures incorporates manufacture of an interconnect assembly into the manufacture of spring structures such as a load beam or a gimbal. The laminate structures are manufactured by etching the layers from the outside in, using other layers as etching masks. Unique configurations are possible where either or both metal layers can be discontinuous, thanks to the manufacturing support of the second layer. The second layer can also be shaped into a plurality of panels, thus freeing the metal layers to act as the spring elements.