De-swage machine for removal of a head from a head stack assembly

A de-swage machine for removal of a head of a head stack assembly comprising:

• a tooling unit comprising a first actuator motor and configured to receive a head stack assembly comprising a selected head for removal;
• a blade module comprising a blade and a second actuator motor;
• an imaging unit configured to generate position information of the blade and position information of the selected head;
• and
• a controller configured to perform auto gage verification and remove the selected head by at least:
• receiving an assigned position information of the blade, and an assigned position information of the selected head from a database;
• determining whether the position information of the blade matches the assigned position information of the blade;
• indicating that there is a de-swage machine error when the position information of the blade does not match the assigned position information of the blade;
• determining whether the position information of the selected head matches the assigned position information of the selected head;
• indicating that there is a de-swage machine error when the position information of the selected head does not match the assigned position information of the selected head;
• aligning the selected head with the blade using the first actuator motor and the second actuator motor;
• and
• moving the blade towards the head stack assembly to remove the selected head from the head stack assembly.

A de-swage machine for removal of a head of a head stack assembly comprising:

• a tooling unit configured to receive a head stack assembly comprising a selected head for removal;
• a blade module comprising a blade, an actuator motor, and a force sensor configured to detect force received by the blade;
• and
• a controller configured to remove the selected head by at least:
• aligning the selected head with the blade;
• detecting a force received by the blade using the force sensor;
• and
• determining whether to move the blade in a first vertical direction or a second vertical direction using the actuator motor based in part on a comparison of the detected force received by the blade with a predetermined force threshold, wherein the second vertical direction is opposite the first vertical direction.

A method for selecting and removing a head from a head stack assembly using a de-swage machine comprising a tooling unit configured to receive a head stack assembly comprising a plurality of heads and an indicia, a blade module configured to remove a head from the head stack assembly, an indicia reader configured to read the indicia, and a controller, the method comprising:

• reading the indicia using the indicia reader;
• transmitting the indicia to a database;
• receiving head stack assembly information corresponding to the indicia from the database;
• selecting the head for removal based on the head stack assembly information;
• and
• removing the selected head using the blade module.

A method for performing perform auto gage verification of a de-swage machine and removing a selected head of a head stack assembly using the de-swage machine, the de-swage machine comprising a tooling unit comprising a first actuator motor and configured to receive a head stack assembly comprising a selected head for removal, a blade module comprising a blade and a second actuator motor, an imaging unit configured to generate position information of the blade and position information of the selected head, and a controller, the method comprising:

• receiving an assigned position information of the blade, and an assigned position information of the selected head from a database;
• determining whether the position information of the blade matches the assigned position information of the blade;
• indicating that there is a de-swage machine error when the position information of the blade does not match the assigned position information of the blade;
• determining whether the position information of the selected head matches the assigned position information of the selected head;
• indicating that there is a de-swage machine error when the position information of the selected head does not match the assigned position information of the selected head;
• aligning the selected head with the blade using the first actuator motor and the second actuator motor;
• and
• moving the blade towards the head stack assembly to remove the selected head from the head stack assembly.

A method for removing a selected head of a head stack assembly using a de-swage machine comprising a tooling unit configured to receive a head stack assembly comprising a selected head for removal, a blade module comprising a blade, an actuator motor, and a force sensor configured to detect force received by the blade, and a controller, the method comprising:

• aligning the selected head with the blade;
• detecting a force received by the blade using the force sensor;
• and
• determining whether to move the blade in a first vertical direction or a second vertical direction using the actuator motor based in part on a comparison of the detected force received by the blade with a predetermined force threshold, wherein the second vertical direction is opposite the first vertical direction.