Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080225437 | Head gimbal assembly with low head disk interaction response - Methods and an apparatus for producing a head gimbal assembly with minimum dynamic response and air bearing resonance during flight (e.g., head-disk contact), thereby minimizing disruptions in the desired uniformity of flying height, are described. Embodiment head gimbal assemblies may comprise at least one air bearing surface of a slider and at least one suspension assembly wherein the at least one air bearing surface of the slider and the at least one suspension assembly are individually modeled. In addition, one of the at least one air bearing surface of the slider and one of the at least one suspension assembly may be matched to minimize air bearing resonance and system dynamic response. | 09-18-2008 |
20080239572 | SUSPENSION WITH BI-LAYER FLEXURE BASE - A flexure with improved temperature sensitivity is disclosed. An embodiment of the present invention includes a bi-layered flexure that raises or lowers a read/write element a distance that is approximately equal to the distance of protrusion and retraction at varying temperatures. | 10-02-2008 |
20080239577 | BALANCED HGA FOR IMPROVED SEEKING PERFORMANCE - In a balanced head gimbal assembly for improved seeking performance, a slider having a magnetic head with a set of read elements to read data and a set of write elements to write data, an air-bearing surface, and a non-air-bearing surface is coupled to a suspension. The suspension includes a loadbeam, a flexure, and a balancing weight. The loadbeam is coupled to an actuator arm. The flexure, coupled to the loadbeam, has a window through which a dimple, coupled to the loadbeam, contacts a dimple contact point. The balancing weight, coupled to the flexure, has a configuration which permits alignment of a center of mass of the head gimbal assembly with the dimple contact point. | 10-02-2008 |
20080253025 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING AN ADDITIONAL GROUND PAD AND ELECTRIC AL CONNECTION FOR GROUNDING A MAGNETIC RECORDING HEAD - Method and apparatus are presented for electrically coupling a slider to ground. In one embodiment, a bonding pad is provided on a side of the slider body separate from the bonding pad(s) used for read/write signals. This separate bonding pad is electrically coupled within the slider body to components that are to be coupled to ground. A separate conductor provided on the suspension (e.g., a trace, a flex circuit, etc.) may be electrically coupled to the separate bonding pad via gold ball bonding. The conductor is also coupled to ground in the hard-disk drive device (e.g., via the preamplifier). The use of the separated bonding pad and trace may negate the need to use a conductive adhesive to electrically ground the slider via its attachment to the tongue of a slider. | 10-16-2008 |
20080316637 | NON-CONTACT MEASUREMENT OF SLIDER FLY HEIGHT BY ELECTROSTATIC FORCE - In a system and method for a non-contact measurement of the fly height of a slider above a magnetic data storage medium using electrostatic force, a slider with a read/write head flies over a magnetic data storage medium. A series of distinct voltages are applied between the slider and the magnetic data storage medium, and corresponding read-back signals are recorded. Using the recorded read-back signals, coefficients for an empirical curve-fit equation are calculated. The coefficients are normalized and converted into a fly height measurement. | 12-25-2008 |
20090009911 | Suspension With Locally Strengthened Gimbal - An apparatus with a head gimbal assembly designed to reduce movement and rotation of components of the head gimbal assembly structure is disclosed. One embodiment head gimbal assembly may comprise a flexure including a ramp limiter, a suspension assembly further comprising a suspension tongue, a slider further comprising a magnetic head; and a load beam further comprising a lift tab; and a ramp further comprising a step to engage and support the ramp limiter and support and constrain the movement of the slider. In certain embodiments, the flexure may further comprise a flexure rail located at its end to reduce movement and rotation of the suspension tongue. | 01-08-2009 |
20090109568 | Thermal elements for controlling and manipulating thermal pitch static attitude (PSA) - The sensitivity of the fly height of a HDD (hard disk drive) recording head to temperature variations can be greatly reduced, eliminated or controlled in a manner to enhance HDD performance under various temperature conditions by affixing a thermal element to the HGA (head gimbals assembly) flexure. The thermal element in this invention is a deposited, patterned layer of DLC (diamond-like carbon) that has a coefficient of thermal expansion that is less than that of the stainless steel flexure. As a result of the placement of this thermal element on the flexure, the temperature-induced angular variations of PSA (pitch static attitude) can be made to compensate for temperature-induced changes in the slider crown curvature, thereby reducing or eliminating fly height variations due to temperature. | 04-30-2009 |
20100172057 | Suspension gimbal designs with better dynamic performances - Gimbal designs are provided that minimize adverse dynamic performance of a HDD suspension, particularly subsequent to head-disk-interface (HDI) interactions. The improvement of operational performance can be seen in graphical representations of the vibrational modes of a gimbal mounted slider subsequent to such HDI interactions. Each gimbal design includes a ramp limiter formed as two separated arms connected by one or two transverse bars and a routing of conducting traces that relieves stress and minimally contacts these bars. | 07-08-2010 |
20110146047 | Balanced head gimbal assembly for improved seeking performance - In a balanced head gimbal assembly for improved seeking performance, a slider having a magnetic head with a set of read elements to read data and a set of write elements to write data, an air-bearing surface, and a non-air-bearing surface is coupled to a suspension. The suspension includes a loadbeam, a flexure, and a balancing weight. The loadbeam is coupled to an actuator arm. The flexure, coupled to the loadbeam, has a window through which a dimple, coupled to the loadbeam, contacts a dimple contact point. The balancing weight, coupled to the flexure, has a configuration which permits alignment of a center of mass of the head gimbal assembly with the dimple contact point. | 06-23-2011 |
20110299196 | Suspension gimbal designs with better dynamic performances - Gimbal designs are provided that minimize adverse dynamic performance of a HDD suspension, particularly subsequent to head-disk-interface (HDI) interactions. The improvement of operational performance can be seen in graphical representations of the vibrational modes of a gimbal mounted slider subsequent to such HDI interactions. Each gimbal design includes a ramp limiter formed as two separated arms connected by one or two transverse bars and a routing of conducting traces that relieves stress and minimally contacts these bars. | 12-08-2011 |