Head suspension with connected actuator arm and load beam in a laminate, monocoque construction
AssigneeHutchinson Technology Incorporated
InventorsStevenson J. Marek, Mark T. Girard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A head suspension for supporting a read/write head of a rotary data storage device combines an actuator arm and load beam in a longitudinally compact construction. The construction includes overlapping laminae with one laminae extending over a hole provided in the other laminae, resulting in a monocoque construction of the head suspension that minimizes rotational inertia while maintaining desirable levels of shock, resonance and deflection performance of the head suspension.
Claims25
A head suspension for supporting a read/write head adjacent a rotary data storage device, the head suspension comprising:
- a load beam having a longitudinal length with opposite proximal and distal regions and a spring region therebetween;
- an actuator arm having a longitudinal length with opposite proximal and distal regions, the proximal region of the actuator arm having an actuator connector structure thereon adapted for attachment on a head actuator column of a rotary data storage device and the distal region of the actuator arm having a hole therein, the distal region of the actuator arm being connected to the proximal region of the load beam with the proximal region of the load beam extending over and completely covering the hole in the actuator arm distal end.
A head suspension for supporting a read/write head adjacent a data storage device, the head suspension having a longitudinal length and a lateral width, opposite top and bottom surfaces, an actuator connector structure for attachment on a head actuator of a data storage device, a resilient spring region formed in the suspension, and a rigid region between the spring region and the actuator connector structure which is constructed of first and second lamina having mutually opposed interior surfaces that are secured together, each of the first and second lamina has a thickness, and the interior surface of at least one of the first and second lamina has a hole therein which is completely covered by the other of the first and second lamina, the hole defining a hollow interior volume between the top and bottom surfaces.
A method of manufacturing a head suspension for supporting a read/write head adjacent a data storage device, the method of manufacturing the head suspension comprising the steps of:
- fabricating a load beam from a sheet of flat, resilient material, the load beam having a longitudinal length with opposite proximal and distal ends and opposite first and second surfaces;
- fabricating an actuator arm from a sheet of flat material, the actuator arm having a longitudinal length with opposite proximal and distal ends and opposite first and second surfaces;
- forming a hole in the first surface of the actuator arm;
- attaching the first surface of the load beam to the first surface of the actuator arm with the first surface of the load beam extending over and completely covering the hole in the actuator arm, the hole defining a hollow interior volume between the load beam second surface and the actuator arm second surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.