Suspension assembly for magnetic head

A suspension assembly for carrying a magnetic recording head in close following relation to the surface of a moving recording media, said suspension assembly comprising:

• (a) a rigid suspension arm;
• (b) gimbal mounting means attached to said suspension arm for engaging the recording head such that the recording head is permitted resilient transverse, pitch, and roll movements;
• (c) a flexible, substantially flat, cantilevered spring tongue attached to and extending from said suspension arm;
• and
• (d) a rigid load arm attached at one end to the free end of said spring tongue, the distal end of said load arm contacting said gimbal mounting means adjacent the recording head;
• (e) said load arm being configured such that said spring tongue is caused to resiliently deflect by a predetermined amount resulting in a load force being transmitted through said load arm to the recording head, thereby urging the recording head toward the recording media such that the recording head is spaced from the recording media by a predetermined flying height with the magnitude of the load force and, therefore, the predetermined flying height being established by the configuration of said load arm.