Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Electrical device making
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-02
2003-04-29
Vo, Peter (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Electrical device making
C029S592100, C029S603040, C029S860000, C029S861000, C029S867000, C228S001100, C228S004500, C228S110100, C228S180500, C156S073100, C156S073200, C219S121690, C219S121720, C219S121850, C360S234500, C360S245800
Reexamination Certificate
active
06553647
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a wiring method for a head suspension assembly in which a tab frame formed integrally with a suspension is used, and a head suspension assembly stand used in the wiring method, and a flexure assembly, a suspension assembly, and a wiring method for the head suspension assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
In hard disk drives (HDD), by moving magnetic read and write heads in substantially the radial direction of a rotating magnetic disk, data at any location on the magnetic head is accessed. A head suspension assembly (HSA) is a member which has the magnetic heads and moves over the magnetic disk. The HSA is attached to a shaft having an axis of rotation orthogonal to the recording surface of the magnetic disk through an actuator arm or directly, and rotates on a plane parallel with the recording surface of the magnetic disk. This allows the magnetic read and write heads mounted on the top portion of the HSA to move in substantially the radial direction of the magnetic disk. The HGA typically comprises a suspension assembly, a slider, and a lead assembly.
The slider is provided with the magnetic read and write heads, and a connection pad portion to which the lead wires of these magnetic heads are connected. To the connecting pad portion, a plurality of leads are connected. The plurality of leads connect the magnetic read and write heads and a controller which transmits data between the magnetic heads. The lead assembly binds the leads in an insulated state.
The leads are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the suspension assembly. One end of the leads is electrically connected to the magnetic heads through the connecting pad portion of the slider. The other end of the leads is electrically connected to the controller. Specifically, the one in which the leads are formed of wires and these plurality of wires are insulatively sheathed by a tube of polyurethane resin or the like and collected is called a wire assembly.
In the suspension assembly, a base plate, a load beam and a flexure are integrally constructed. The base plate has an attaching portion which is attached to the actuator arm or the shaft. The load beam is spot welded to the base plate, for instance, in a plurality of positions. The flexure is provided on the top portion of the load beam, and it is bonded to the load beam by a bonding agent or spot welding. The slider is fixed to the flexure.
When the magnetic disk rotates, air enters between the magnetic disk and the slider to form a so-called air bearing. The air bearing allows the slider to rise in proximity of the disk surface. The load beam gives the slider a resilient force (spring force) against the lift (levitation force) of the slider. The flexure gives the slider riding on the air bearing flexibility accommodating the very small recesses and protrusions on the disk surface. This allows the disk and the slider to be close to each other without contacting them, so that the distance between them is kept substantially constant.
A combination of the load beam and the flexure is called a suspension in the sense that the combination elastically supports the slider. An arrangement obtained by adding the base plate or the like to the suspension is called a suspension assembly, and an arrangement obtained by attaching the slider to the suspension assembly and wiring leads is called a head suspension assembly (HSA).
As a method for arranging a plurality of wires on the suspension assembly and connecting the wires and the connecting pads on the slider, a method of assembling HSA using a tab frame formed integrally with the suspension is disclosed, for instance, in the specification of Japanese Published and Unexamined Patent Application No. 9-128726.
A conventional method of assembling HSA's is shown in
FIGS. 20 and 21
.
FIG. 20
is a top view of the top portion of the suspension assembly. Further,
FIG. 21
is a side view of the top portion of the suspension assembly shown in
FIG. 20
; FIG.
21
(
a
) is a side view only of the load beam, FIG.
21
(
b
) is a side view only of the flexure assembly, and FIG.
21
(
c
) a side view of the suspension assembly integrating them.
A suspension assembly
1
is configured by integrally stacking a load beam
10
shown in FIG.
21
(
a
) and a flexure assembly
20
shown in FIG.
21
(
b
). The suspension assembly
1
is supported by first support means, not shown, on which the suspension assembly
1
can be removably mounted. The load beam
10
is formed from sheet-like stainless steel having a thickness of several tens of mm. As shown in
FIGS. 20 and 21
, the load beam
10
comprises a plane portion
10
a
which narrows in the width toward the top end thereof, ribs
11
and
12
provided on the side edge portions on both sides of the plane portion
10
a,
and a merge lip
15
forming the topmost portion of the load beam
10
.
The ribs
11
and
12
are provided to ensure the rigidity of the load beam
10
. The plane portion
10
a
is provided with a plurality of holes
16
a,
16
b,
16
c,
16
d,
16
e,
and
16
f,
which are used to make the load beam
10
lightweight as well as for positioning in the assembling of the HSA. It is required that the HSA should be lightweight and have certain rigidity to perform its rotary motion at high speed. The HSA is exposed to the air flow generated by the rotating disk. This air flow deforms and vibrates the HSA. The load beam
10
is required to have rigidity resisting the deformation force.
Further, in the top portion of the plane portion
10
a
(rear side of the merge lip
15
), there is provided an opening window
13
for connecting four wires
40
to the corresponding bonding pads
51
on a slider
50
, respectively. On the central axis (not shown) of the suspension assembly (load beam
10
) on the rear side of the opening window
13
, there is provided a gimbal pivot
14
extending downwards in the figure.
The flexure assembly
20
is formed from a sheet of stainless steel which is thinner than the load beam
10
. As shown in
FIGS. 20 and 21
, the flexure assembly
20
has a flexure
21
and a tab frame
30
, which is configured integrally with the flexure
21
. The rear side of the flexure
21
is integrated with the load beam
10
by bonding or spot welding. On the top side of the flexure
21
, there is provided a suspension tongue
22
abutting on the gimbal pivot
14
of the load beam
10
. The suspension tongue
22
is one-point supported by the gimbal pivot
14
of the load beam
10
. A slider
50
is bonded to the suspension tongue
22
in a later step. The slider
50
is one-point supported by the gimbal pivot
14
through the suspension tongue
22
, so that it can slightly incline in any direction. The HSA having such gimbal mechanism is particularly called a head gimbal assembly (HGA: Head Gimbal Assembly).
The tab frame
30
is configured by an A-side frame
31
, a B-side frame
32
, and a C-side frame
33
which are arranged so as to surround the periphery of the top side of the load beam
10
. The A-side frame
31
and the B-side frame
32
are connected to the flexure
21
. The A-side frame
31
and the B-side frame
32
are provided symmetrically with respect to the central axis of suspension assembly
1
, and they are extending in substantially parallel with the central axis of the suspension assembly
1
, respectively. The C-side frame
33
is connected to the A-side frame
31
and the B-side frame
32
in the top side of the suspension assembly
1
.
The A-side frame
31
is connected to the flexure
21
by its connecting portions
31
a
and
31
b.
A cutout hole
31
c
is provided between the connecting portions
31
a
and
31
b.
The A-side frame
31
is connected to the C-side frame
33
by its connecting portions
31
d
and
31
e.
A cutout hole
31
f
is provided between the connecting portions
31
d
and
31
e.
Similarly, the B-side frame
32
is connected to the flexure
21
by its connecting portions
32
a
and
32
b.
A cutout hole
32
c
is provided between the
Itoh Kenji
Ono Tetsuji
Tsuchida Hiroyasu
Uematsu Yoskio
Bracewell & Patterson L.L.P.
Kim Paul
Raissinia Abdy
Vo Peter
LandOfFree
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