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:
Jul. 20, 1999
Filed:
May. 30, 1997
John C Briggs, Layton, UT (US);
Iomega Corporation, Roy, UT (US);
Abstract
An actuator for carrying a read/write head into engagement with a surface of a recording medium includes a carriage assembly including a load beam upon which the read/write head is mounted, and a pair of barriers disposed on opposite sides of the load beam to constrain lateral movement of the load beam to prevent damage to the read/write head when the disk drive undergoes shock. Extending from the load beam may be a pair of wings that ride upon ramped surfaces that are, disposed within the disk drive, as the actuator moves to engage and disengage a data storage medium. Preferably, the barriers are disposed outboard of the wings, so that the wings will contact the barriers and thereby restrain movement of the actuator when a mechanical shock is applied to the disk drive. By restraining movement of the actuator, the barriers protect the heads from mechanical shock.