Electromagnetic damping locking apparatus for the disk drive unit
AssigneeSAE Magnetics (H.K.) Ltd.
InventorMingGao Yao
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electromagnetic damping apparatus for locking an actuator for a head stack assembly including at least one read/write head thereon is provided. In certain example embodiments, the electromagnetic damping apparatus may comprise a magnetic element and a metal element that cooperate in response to an electromagnetic field created by a current (e.g. an eddy current) to lock the actuator in a predetermined position. One of said magnetic element and said metal element may be fixed, and the other one may be movable by said actuator. The damping apparatus may be operable to selectively apply the current to lock the actuator by preventing the magnetic element and the metal element from moving apart. Certain electromagnetic damping apparatuses may be used with a disk drive device.
Claims20
An electromagnetic damping apparatus for locking an actuator for a head stack assembly including at least one read/write head thereon, said electromagnetic damping apparatus comprising:
- a magnetic element and a metal element that cooperate in response to an electromagnetic field created by a current to lock the actuator in a predetermined position;
- wherein one of said magnetic element and said metal element is fixed and the other one is movable by said actuator, and further wherein the damping apparatus is operable to selectively apply the current to lock the actuator by preventing the magnetic element and the metal element from moving apart.
A disk drive device, comprising:
- a head stack assembly including a head gimbal assembly having a slider with a read/write head thereon and a drive arm connected to the head gimbal assembly;
- a disk operable to be read from and/or written to by said read/write head;
- a spindle motor operable to spin the disk;
- and
- an electromagnetic damping apparatus for locking an actuator for the head stack assembly,
- wherein said electromagnetic damping apparatus further comprises:
- a magnetic element and a metal element that cooperate in response to an electromagnetic field created by a current to lock the actuator in a predetermined position;
- wherein one of said magnetic element and said metal element is fixed and the other one is movable by said actuator, and further wherein the damping apparatus is operable to selectively apply the current to lock the actuator by preventing the magnetic element and the metal element from moving apart.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.