UV curable and electrically conductive adhesive for bonding magnetic disk drive components
AssigneeWestern Digital (Fremont), LLC
InventorWeijin Li
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrically conductive adhesive includes a resin component, a photoinitiator, and metal-coated polymer beads. The beads have an average diameter and a very narrow size distribution around the average diameter. The adhesive is applied between a read/write head and a suspension to attach the two, and the adhesive is cured by exposure to an illumination and/or heat. A pad spacer is included between the read/write head and the suspension to define a spacing and parallelism therebetween. The beads in the adhesive can form one or more layers between the read/write head and the suspension or can be disordered. The metal coating of the beads provide electrical conductivity between the read/write head and the suspension.
Claims34
A head gimbal assembly for a hard disk drive comprising:
- a suspension;
- a read/write head attached to the suspension by an electrically conductive adhesive including
- a binder having a resin component and a photoinitiator, and
- a filler having metal-coated polymer beads dispersed within the binder;
- and
- a pad spacer disposed between the suspension and the read/write head.
A hard disk drive comprising:
- a rotary magnetic storage disk;
- and
- a head gimbal assembly for positioning a read/write head proximate to the magnetic storage disk and including
- a suspension,
- the read/write head attached to the suspension by an electrically conductive adhesive having
- a binder having a resin component and a photoinitiator, and
- a filler having metal-coated polymer beads dispersed within the binder, and
- a pad spacer disposed between the suspension and the read/write head.
A method for attaching a read/write head to a suspension, comprising:
- providing the suspension including a bonding surface and a pad spacer extending from the bonding surface;
- applying to the bonding surface a drop of an electrically conductive adhesive including
- a binder having a resin component and a photoinitiator, and
- a filler having metal-coated polymer beads dispersed within the binder;
- pressing the read/write head against the drop on the bonding surface with a compressive force;
- and
- exposing the adhesive to an illumination.
A method for attaching a read/write head to a suspension, comprising:
- providing the read/write head including a bonding surface and a pad spacer extending from the bonding surface;
- applying to the bonding surface a drop of an electrically conductive adhesive including
- a binder having a resin component and a photoinitiator, and
- a filler having metal-coated polymer beads dispersed within the binder;
- pressing the suspension against the drop on the bonding surface with a compressive force;
- and
- exposing the adhesive to an illumination.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.