Gimbal deflection inhibitor for head gimbal assembly

A method of assembling a head-gimbal assembly of a hard disk drive, the method comprising the steps of:

• dispensing adhesive onto a top surface of a gimbal tongue, wherein the gimbal tongue is positioned adjacent to a dimple extending from a top surface of a load beam toward a bottom surface of the gimbal tongue, and wherein the gimbal tongue comprises:
• at least four pedestals extending upwardly from the top surface of the gimbal tongue and defining multiple corners of a representative perimeter shape;
• and
• at least one support feature extending upwardly from the top surface of the gimbal tongue toward the dimple of the load beam to inhibit deflection of the gimbal tongue when subjected to downward pressure with respect to the dimple, wherein the at least one support feature is positioned entirely within the representative perimeter shape defined by the at least four pedestals;
• wherein the adhesive is dispensed entirely within the representative perimeter shape defined by the at least four pedestals;
• positioning a slider on which a magnetic head is mounted adjacent to the top surface of the gimbal tongue, the at least four pedestals, and the at least one support feature;
• and
• pressing the slider onto the adhesive and toward the dimple of the load beam.