Co-located microacturator lever assembly

A suspension for a disc drive, the suspension comprising:

• a load beam having a leading portion and a trailing portion;
• a gimbal sheet mounted to the leading portion and forming a first pad, a second pad, and a displacement lever assembly including at least a first lever arm having a first end adjacent and connected to the first pad and a second end opposite the first end and connected to the second pad, wherein the displacement lever assembly is configured to translate a linear displacement of the first pad to a differing displacement of the second pad;
• a piezoelectric element attached to the first pad and extending across the second pad;
• and
• a slider attached to the second pad.

A method for providing motion to a slider on a disc drive actuator arm, the method comprising:

• providing a gimbal sheet forming a first pad, a second pad, and a displacement lever assembly including at least one lever arm having a first end adjacent and connected to the first pad and a second end opposite the first end and connected to the second pad;
• mounting a piezoelectric element to the first pad such that the piezoelectric element extends across the second pad;
• mounting a slider to the second pad;
• mounting the gimbal sheet to a load beam;
• activating the piezoelectric element to linearly move the first pad;
• and
• translating the linear movement of the first pad to a differing movement of the second pad via the displacement lever assembly.