1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head suspension for supporting a slider of a disk drive incorporated in an information processor such as a personal computer, and to a method of processing such a head suspension.
2. Description of Related Art
A hard disk drive (HDD) such as a magnetic disk drive employs hard disks that are rotated at high speed. On each rotating hard disk, a slider attached to a head of a head suspension is slightly floated to write and read data to and from the hard disk through a transducer incorporated in the slider. Namely, the head with the slider is supported with the head suspension so that the slider may be slightly raised from the hard disk.
When stopping the disks, the magnetic disk drive must retract the slider from recording tracks of the hard disk. For this, there are two known methods, i.e., a contact start/stop (CSS) method and a load/unload (LUL) method.
In
The LUL method of
In this way, the LUL method separates the slider 109 away from the hard disk 105 when the hard disk 105 is stopped. As a result, no friction occurs between the slider 109 and the hard disk 105, and even if the hard disk 105 turns while the disk drive is being carried, the slider 109 is free from friction.
On the other hand, the CSS method has some problems.
According to the CSS method, the slider 109 takes off when the hard disk 105 is turned and lands when the hard disk 105 is stopped. Friction between the hard disk 105 and the slider 109 applies frictional force to the slider 109 in a rotating direction of the hard disk 105; In
As is apparent in
To increase the storage capacity of the hard disk 105, the fly height of the slider 109 must be minimized. To achieve this, the hard disk 105 must not have the irregularities mentioned above. In some cases, the height of the slider is limited to restrict a lubricant thickness. These situations, which are frequently seen these days, increase frictional force between the slider 109 and the hard disk 105.
When the hard disk 105 is stopped, a motor to drive the hard disk 105 is put in a free state. The motor in the free state may reversely turn to rotate the hard disk 105 in a reverse direction when, for example, the disk drive is carried. If this happens, frictional force occurs between the hard disk 105 and the slider 109, to displace a tongue of the head toward a carriage that holds the head suspension in the disk drive.
In
If the deformation of the outriggers 115 advances to buckling, the flexure 117 will be permanently deformed to disable read/write operation.
The graph of
The buckling of the flexure 117 excessively displaces the tongue of the head of the head suspension. To restrict displacement of the tongue, there is a head suspension having a limiter.
To correctly write and read a hard disk with a slider in a disk drive employing the CSS method, what is important is to suppress deformation of a flexure when the hard disk is reversely turned (for example, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,136).
An object of the present invention is to provide a head suspension capable of restricting deformation of a flexure caused by frictional force produced when a hard disk turns in a reverse direction. Also provided is a method of processing such a head suspension.
In order to accomplish the objects, an aspect of the present invention provides a head suspension having a limiter formed on a flexure or a load beam, to restrict deformation of a tongue caused by frictional force produced between a hard disk and a slider when the hard disk reversely turns.
When the hard disk turns in a reverse direction, the limiter restricts deformation of the tongue within a given range, to thereby maintain a correct pitch angle for the slider and prevent the buckling of the flexure.
Head suspensions according to embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. In each embodiment, the head suspension is used in a hard disk drive, to support a head that writes and reads data to and from a disk that is rotated by a motor in the hard disk drive. Each embodiment provides the head suspension with a limiter to restrict deformation of a flexure of the head suspension due to frictional force produced when the hard disk rotates in a reverse direction.
[General Configuration of Head Suspension]
In
The load beam 3 applies load to a head 19 and has a rigid part 9 and a resilient part 11. The rigid part 9 is made of, for example, stainless steel and is relatively thick, for example, about 100 μm thick.
The resilient part 11 is independent of the rigid part 9 and is made of, for example, a thin resilient stainless-steel rolled plate. The resilient part 11 has a precise spring constant that is lower than that of the rigid part 9. The resilient part 11 has a thickness “t” of, for example, 40 μm. A first end of the resilient part 11 is fixed to a rear end of the rigid part 9 by, for example, laser welding. A second end of the resilient part 11 is integral with a reinforcing plate 13.
The base 5 has a base plate 15. The base plate 15 is laid over the reinforcing plate 13 and is fixed thereto by, for example, laser welding. The reinforcing plate 13 reinforces the base plate 15, to thereby form the base 5. The base 5 is attached to an arm of a carriage and is driven around an axis. The base 5 serves as a component of the arm that resiliently supports the load beam 3.
The flexure 7 has a metal base made of, for example, a thin resilient stainless-steel rolled plate, an insulating layer formed on a surface of the metal base, and conductive wiring 17 formed on the insulating layer. The flexure 7 is fixed to the rigid part 9 by, for example, laser welding. A first end of the wiring 17 is connected to write and read terminals 21 of the head 19 and a second end thereof is extended toward the base 5.
The flexure 7 has left and right outriggers 23 that extend along the head 19. Front ends of the outriggers 23 support a cantilever tongue 25. The tongue 25 has a free end 27 oriented toward the base 5. The tongue 25 is arranged between the left and right outriggers 23 with substantially uniform gaps 29 interposed between the tongue 25 and the outriggers 23. Between the tongue 25 and the outriggers 23, the wiring 17 runs over the left and right gaps 29.
The tongue 25 is in contact with a dimple 31 formed on the load beam 3. The height of the dimple 31 is about 70 μm. The tongue 25 and dimple 31 are in contact with each other to maintain the swaying freedom of the head 19. As shown in
[Limiter]
The flexure 7 has a limiter 35. The limiter 35 restricts displacement of the tongue 25 that may occur due to frictional force produced between the hard disk and the slider 33 when the hard disk turns in a reverse direction.
The limiter 35 extends in a longitudinal direction, in which the load beam 3 is extended, of the load beam 3 and is on the arm side, i.e., the base 5 side relative to the free end 27 of the tongue 25. The limiter 35 is integral with a part 37 of the flexure 7 and faces the tongue 25.
The limiter 35 is formed by bending the part 37 of the flexure 7. The part 37 of the flexure 7 has an edge 39 that is substantially parallel to the free end 27 of the tongue 25. Between the edge 39 and the free end 27 of the tongue 25, there is a space 41. In the space 41, the limiter 35 is formed by bending the part 37.
More precisely, a projection 43 is integrally extended from the edge 39 of the flexure 7 into the space 41. The projection 43 has a rectangular plan shape and has an edge 45 that is parallel to the free end 27 of the tongue 25. One side of the projection 43 is bent and raised to form the limiter 35.
The projection 43 is bent substantially at a right angle along a line 47 that is in the longitudinal direction X (
[Displacement Restriction]
When the hard disk is stopped, the motor for driving the hard disk is put in a free state. The free-state motor may reversely turn to reversely rotate the hard disk. The reverse rotation of the hard disk produces frictional force between the hard disk and the slider 33, to displace the tongue 25 of the head 19 toward the base 5, i.e., toward the carriage.
The force on the tongue 25 gradually deforms the outriggers 23, and the tongue 25 moves toward the limiter 35. When the movement of the tongue 25 in the longitudinal direction of the load beam 3 reaches the gap S (50 μm in the embodiment), the free end 27 of the tongue 25 comes in contact with the contacting part 51 of the limiter 35, to prevent further displacement of the tongue 25. At this time, stress acting on the limiter 35 is in a compressing direction, and therefore, the limiter 35 itself will not deform due to extending the limiter 35 in the longitudinal direction of the load beam 3.
In
This results in limiting the deformation of the outriggers 23 within a given range. Resilient force of the outriggers 23 can prevent from changing a pitch angle of the slider 33, and thereby, secure a pitch angle of the slider 33. The limiter 35 prevents the outriggers 23 from excessively deforming, thereby preventing the buckling of the flexure 7. Therefore, the head suspension 1 can accurately read and write data from and to the hard disk by the slider 33.
According to the embodiment, the limiter 35 is formed on the base 5 side, i.e., on the arm side with respect to the free end 27 of the tongue 25 in the longitudinal direction of the load beam 3. This configuration secures the space 41 for forming the limiter 35 by bending the part 37 of the flexure 7. Namely, the limiter 35 needs no space in the gaps 29 between the outriggers 23 and the tongue 25.
If the gaps 29 must include a space for the limiter 35 in addition to spaces for the wiring 17 that is arranged before bending the limiter 35, the gaps 29 will be unnecessarily wide after bending the limiter 35, to excessively widen the head 19 including the outriggers 23. By separating the space 41 from the gaps 29, the first embodiment can properly narrow the gaps 29 to reduce the size of the head 19.
The second embodiment adds an embossment 53 to the configuration of the first embodiment. The embossment 53 protrudes in the same direction in which the limiter 35 protrudes. The embossment 53 extends from the edge 39 to the projection 43 of the flexure 7 in the longitudinal direction of the load beam 3.
The embossment 53 improves the rigidity of the projection 43 in the contacting direction of the tongue 25. This results in more steeply increasing the reaction of the limiter 35 and more surely suppressing deformation of the outriggers 23.
The limiter 35A according to the third embodiment is bent obliquely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the load beam, to face the free end 27 of the tongue 25. Namely, the limiter 35A is bent along a bend line 55 that is oblique relative to the longitudinal direction (arrow X) of the load beam as shown in
In
With these arrangements, the third embodiment can surely limit deformation of the flexure 7.
The fourth embodiment is characterized by two limiters 35B that are bent from left and right sides of a projection 43B.
Namely, the fourth embodiment has two contacting parts 51B that come in contact with the tongue 25. When received with the contacting parts 51B of the left and right limiters 35B, the tongue 25 is restricted in deformation in left and right directions in addition to a longitudinal direction.
The fifth embodiment is characterized by a limiter 35C formed from a projection 43C that is integrally extended from the free end 27 of the tongue 25. Namely, the limiter 35C is bent from the projection 43C along a bend line 47C, to face the part 37 of the flexure 7. The bend line 47C is in the longitudinal direction (arrow X) of the load beam 3. A contacting part 51C of the limiter 35C comes in contact with the edge 39 of the part 37 of the flexure 7.
When the tongue 25 is displaced, the contacting part 51C of the limiter 35C comes in contact with the edge 39 of the flexure 7, to restrict deformation of the flexure 7.
The fifth embodiment may have the embossment of the second embodiment. The limiter of the fifth embodiment may be obliquely bent relative to the longitudinal direction of the load beam 3 like the third embodiment, or may be divided into left and right pieces like the fourth embodiment.
The head suspension 1 of the sixth embodiment is characterized by a limiter 35D integrally formed from a part of a load beam 3D, to face the tongue 25. On the flexure 7, the sixth embodiment has no projection 43 nor limiter 35 of the first embodiment. Instead, the sixth embodiment cuts and bends the limiter 35D from an area 41D of the load beam 3D.
The limiter 35D of the sixth embodiment stops the tongue 25, to thereby limit deformation of the flexure 7.
The sixth embodiment may have the embossment of the second embodiment. The limiter of the sixth embodiment may be obliquely bent relative to the longitudinal direction of the load beam 3 like the third embodiment, or may be divided into left and right pieces like the fourth embodiment.
In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the limiter is integral with the flexure or the load beam. Instead, the limiter may be separately prepared and attached to the flexure or the load beam with, for example, adhesive.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2004-366335 | Dec 2004 | JP | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20060132979 A1 | Jun 2006 | US |