Method for press-in attachment of suspension assembly in hard disk drive

A method for press fitting a stack of head suspension assemblies to actuator arms in an actuator body comprising steps of:

• A. clamping said actuator body in a fixture that prevents outward bending of actuator arms of said actuator body;
• B. locating a number of head suspension assemblies in said actuator body such that base plate hubs in said suspensions are in alignment with corresponding boss holes in said actuator arms and such that the head suspension assemblies are radially aligned, said boss holes being smaller than an outside diameter of said base plate hubs;
• C. inserting a tool between said actuator arms and opposing head suspension base plate pairs in alignment with said base plates;
• and,
• D. activating said tool a reach sufficient to urge each base plate hub into a corresponding boss hole in an actuator arm.

A method of assembling a disk drive comprising steps of:

• A. assembling a head suspension assembly comprised of a base plate with a flange portion having a flat surface and a base plate hub;
• B. clamping an actuator body having actuator arms in a fixture that provides an upper constraint and a lower constraint;
• C. locating said head suspension assembly in said actuator body, such that a base plate hub in said head suspension assembly is in alignment with a corresponding boss hole in one of said actuator arms, said boss hole being smaller than an outside diameter of said base plate hub;
• D. inserting a pair of jaws in a closed position between said actuator arms in alignment with said base plate, each jaw of said pair of jaws being of such shape that upon contact with abase plate, the shape of a portion of a jaw that contacts said flat surface of said flange portion of said base plate is such that the jaw is maintained parallel to and conforms with said flat surface of said flange portion;
• and,
• E. opening said jaws to urge said base plate hub into said boss hole.