Head suspension assembly having parallel-coupled load/gimbal springs

A method of suspending a magnetic head in a position to read data on a surface of a disk comprising:

• connecting a rigid support arm to an actuator motor of a drive system such that an end of said support arm opposite to said actuator motor is positioned to be adjacent to said disk;
• attaching a gimbal to said end of said support arm to accommodate rotational motion about perpendicular axes that are each parallel to said surface of said disk, including providing said gimbal to include an outer frame and an inner slider-receiving pendant and serpentine legs extending from said frame to said pendant, said serpentine legs having frame-attachment ends and having slider-support ends that extend to said pendant, said serpentine legs being structurally independent of each other;
• mounting an air bearing slider to said pendant of said gimbal such that said air bearing slider is separated from said surface of said disk by an air cushion and such that said slider-support end and said frame-attachment end of each serpentine leg are associated with a single side of said air bearing slider in traversing a distance from said frame to said pendant;
• and
• applying a load spring from said support arm to said gimbal such that said load spring and said serpentine legs collectively define a load force of said gimbal in a direction perpendicular to said surface of said disk, including applying said load force to accommodate maintaining said air cushion between said surface and said air bearing slider.