Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval – Head mounting – For moving head into/out of transducing position
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-29
2004-03-09
Renner, Craig A. (Department: 2652)
Dynamic magnetic information storage or retrieval
Head mounting
For moving head into/out of transducing position
C360S256200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06704168
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for releasably locking an transducer actuator assembly at a fixed position relative to a disk. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved apparatus and method for releasably locking an actuator assembly.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The assignee of the present invention has pioneered the concept of an aerodynamically released actuator latch for hard disk drive. By way of example, the reader's attention is directed to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,193 for “Aerodynamically Released Safety Latch for Data Transducer Assembly in Rotating Rigid Disk Data Storage Device”. The disclosure of the referenced patent is incorporated herein by reference. The reader's attention is further directed to U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,511 for “Aerodynamic Actuator Latch with Magnetic Return Spring for Hard Disk Drive” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,544 for “Pressure Differential Latch for a Disk Drive”. The disclosures of the referenced patents are also incorporated herein by reference.
Aerodynamically released shipping latches of the type described in the referenced patents have proven very successful in operation. The distinct advantages of an aerodynamically released shipping latch and its manner of operation are explained in these prior patents. Several drawbacks of aerodynamically released shipping latches in accordance with the inventions described in the cited patents have remained unsolved until the present invention. One drawback is associated with the type of latch shown in
FIG. 1
a
. As shown, an air vane portion of this type of latch extends above, below and/or in between the disks when the latch is engaged with the actuator assembly
12
, which is parked in a landing zone
14
when the disks
15
are not rotating. In the magnified view of
FIG. 1
b
, it can be seen that a latching arm
32
engages a latching extention
12
a
of actuator assembly
12
, thereby preventing the actuator from rotating away from the landing zone
14
. Referring to
FIGS. 2
a
and
2
b
, as the disk drive powers on and the disks
15
rotate, a resultant airflow impinges upon the air vane portion
11
, forcing the latch
16
to rotate in a clockwise direction to disengage from the actuator assembly
12
as the actuator assembly
12
also rotates in a clockwise direction away from the landing zone
14
and onto the data zone
17
. Accordingly, this type of shipping latch is susceptible to disengagement by a rotary shock that causes the latch and actuator to rotate in the clockwise direction, resulting in possible damage to the disk surface, transducer head and data zone. Another drawback of this design is that the air vane portion, which extends into the airflow generated by the rotating disk, causes aerodynamic drag, which increases the power consumption of the drive. Since aerodynamic drag is proportional to the square of velocity, this is a particular concern for high speed drives e.g. 10,000 rpm.
Another drawback is associated with the type of latch shown in
FIG. 3
a
, which shows the latch
86
in a latched position. As shown, this type of latch is positioned “downstream” of the actuator assembly
12
. The forces that operate this type of latch is created as the actuator assembly partially blocks a portion of the airflow generated by the disk rotation. This creates a difference in air pressure between the regions
80
and
85
as shown in
FIG. 3
a
. As the disk
15
rotates, the pressure difference integrated over the air vane portion
87
overcomes a bias mechanism (not shown) to rotate the latch in the direction, indicated by arrow C, disengaging itself from the actuator, as illustrated in
FIG. 3
b
. This type of latch occupies space that may also be needed to route a flex circuit. Because of the lack of overall space within a disk drive, and the lack of alternative positions to locate the flex circuit, positioning a latching mechanism downstream from the actuator assembly makes routing the flex circuit cumbersome and time consuming. Another drawback of this type of latch is that it requires an arm attached to the actuator, which increases inertia and cost and is susceptible to vibration.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved, simple and cost efficient latching mechanism which can effectively use the airflow generated by a spinning disk, which does not require increased power use and is not susceptible to rotary shock.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The latching mechanism of the present invention satisfies these needs.
A general object of the present invention is to provide a latching mechanism for a transducer actuator assembly of a disk drive assembly which overcomes the limitations and drawbacks of the prior art latching devices.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a latching mechanism utilizing a single rigid air vane positioned in close proximity to the rotating data storage disks, which is deflected to rotate in a counter clockwise direction and to release a transducer actuator assembly by diverted airflow within a disk drive assembly. In an open position, the latching mechanism blocks airflow generated by the spinning disk, thereby creating an area of static high pressure. This static high pressure maintains the latching mechanism in the unlocked position until the disk stops spinning.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5036416 (1991-07-01), Mastache
patent: 5319511 (1994-06-01), Lin
patent: 5555146 (1996-09-01), Hickox et al.
patent: 5602700 (1997-02-01), Viskochil et al.
patent: 5668683 (1997-09-01), Stone
patent: 5717544 (1998-02-01), Michael
patent: 5734527 (1998-03-01), Reinhart
patent: 5768057 (1998-06-01), Fernandes et al.
patent: 5793572 (1998-08-01), Lalouette et al.
patent: 6108162 (2000-08-01), Amirkiai et al.
patent: 6462912 (2002-10-01), Pasupathy et al.
patent: WO 9726654 (1997-07-01), None
Bento Joaquim A.
Michael David
Robertson William D.
Wittig Larry E.
Broder James P.
Maxtor Corporation
Renner Craig A.
Roeder Steven G.
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