Gimbal suspension for supporting a head in a disc drive assembly
AssigneeSeagate Technology LLC
InventorsLowell J. Berg, Joseph Cheng-Tsu Liu, Zine-Eddine Boutaghou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gimbal for supporting a slider at its leading surface in a disc drive assembly includes a gimbal body, a slider support beam and a slider mounting tab. The slider support beam is carried by the gimbal body and defines a vertical slider alignment feature. The slider mounting tab extends out of plane from the slider support beam and defines a horizontal slider alignment feature. The slider mounting tab is attached to the leading surface of the slider. The design of the slider mounting tab of the present invention is useful for supporting a leading edge microactuator at a leading edge of the slider for micropositioning a transducer over ideal track centers on a disc surface.
Claims26
A head gimbal assembly of a disc drive, comprising:
- a slider including a leading surface, a trailing surface which is opposite to the leading surface, a bearing surface and an upper surface which is opposite to the bearing surface;
- and
- a gimbal including a gimbal body and a slider mounting tab, wherein the slider mounting tab extends from the gimbal body in a plane generally parallel to the leading surface and supports the slider at the leading surface.
A suspension assembly for supporting a slider having a leading surface relative to a disc surface of a disc drive, comprising:
- a load beam having a distal end;
- and
- a gimbal supported at the distal end of the load beam and comprising a gimbal body and a generally planar slider mounting tab which is supported by the gimbal body, wherein the slider mounting tab is bent out of plane with respect to the gimbal body for alignment with and attachment to the leading surface of the slider.
A gimbal for supporting a slider in a disc drive assembly, the gimbal comprising:
- a gimbal body;
- a slider support beam carried by the gimbal body and defining a vertical slider alignment feature;
- and
- a slider mounting tab extending out of plane from the slider support beam and defining a horizontal slider alignment feature.
A disc drive assembly, comprising:
- a housing;
- a spindle motor attached to the housing;
- at least one data storage disc rotatably supported in the housing;
- an actuator assembly attached to the housing;
- a gimbal supported by the actuator assembly and comprising a gimbal body and a generally planar slider mounting tab which is supported by the gimbal body and is out of plane with respect to the gimbal body;
- a slider having a leading surface relative to a direction of rotation of the disc which is parallel to the slider mounting tab, wherein the slider is carried at the leading surface by the slider mounting tab;
- and
- a transducer carried by the slider.
A head gimbal assembly comprising:
- a slider having a leading surface, a trailing surface which is opposite to the leading surface, first and second side surfaces, a bearing surface and an upper surface which is opposite to the bearing surface;
- and
- a gimbal having a gimbal body and means for supporting the slider at the leading surface to allow relative movement between the upper surface of the slider and the gimbal body.
A method of assembling a slider which has a leading surface and an upper surface to a gimbal having a slider support beam, the method comprising:
- providing a slider mounting tab on the slider support beam which lies in a plane that is generally parallel to the leading surface of the slider;
- aligning the leading surface of the slider to the slider mounting tab to provide a longitudinal alignment of the slider relative to the slider support beam;
- aligning the upper surface of the slider to the slider support beam to provide a vertical alignment of the slider relative to the slider support beam;
- and
- securing the leading surface of the slider to the slider mounting tab.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.